Set a Man on Fire . . .

Dan's Comments
DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc., Harry Dresden is the property of Jim Butcher, Carl Kolchak is the property of ABC/Universal Television, Ranma Saotome is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor Jupiter is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

"Harry Dresden, man of action," he murmured as he watched the massing army through an actual crystal ball. He wondered about Makoto's comment about growing his fingernails 'like Beryl' as he moved his fingers around the skull-shaped crystal. With the brass Tommie Helmet tipped forward and the weird horn jutting out of its head he thought it looked as tacky as a lot of other `mystical implements` that poseurs used.

But this one actually works, he thought, Not as well as Bob, but well enough. He sighed and made more notes on the troop dispositions, their movements and anything else that would identify them when the battle started. Why do they all look like they went a round or two against canister fire? He wondered as he watched, the picture growing more dire as he gathered intel.

He looked up at the brightly colored alicorn staring at the artifact. "Can I help you?"

"The fucking, three-pronged, one-slot widget, that goddamned horn thing in the fucking skull," the bronicorn said, one of the few mares among the ground and easily the most butch and foul-mouthed of the group, "What the fucking fuck man, how is that even fucking possible?"

"Magical horses flying around and you want to know about an optical illusion? They're both magic," Harry said.

"That's a fucking pussy out if I've fucking ever heard one," the bronicorn said.

Dresden remembered a quote from Tolkien about Orc speech. "In magical pony land 2 plus 2 equals four, why? Magic."

"If you aren't a brony, what the fuck are you fucking doing here? It's not like the elves don't already have their hooks in you deep, so what? Fucking Mab needs you to fucking whack some other elf-bitch who got in her fucking way? Plausible fucking deniability? Fuck that."

"No idea," Harry said, "It's not like I like or know any of them."

"Doesn't it fucking bug you?" the bronicorn asked.

Not as much as your 'hood' attitude and way of talking, he didn't say aloud, Probably a pasty-white, `bicurious`, dateless, suburbanite college student. But a pasty-white, `bicurious`, dateless, suburbanite college student with the power of a full wizard.

"Nope," he told her and watched her frown.

"Why don't they let us hit those bastards," she said as she walked away, "I fucking need to unload a cap in some ass."

Called it, Harry thought and went back to scanning.
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Makoto looked up as Patrick and Carl entered the throne room.

"It's dealt with," Patrick told her, not elaborating on the elven warbands that had slipped into the caverns under Canterlot that Carl had been exploring after Cadence had been trapped there by Chrysalis.

I wonder if he hoped to find other victims, or if he was just curious, Makoto thought as she considered the outlay of forces and the strength of the enemy after Harry's very depressing update, Chrysalis still thinks she can win, so someone/something is backing her, even while she is in prison. So was it the infiltrating warbands, was it additional Changeling hives, what? She nodded and they headed out. Carl for more searching, and Patrick to join the 'dragon corps'.

Soldier, Scholar, Special Pops, and Tactical Sneak were working with the ponies on their defenses, which Armor admitted was a great help.

"The Fellowship tried to go through the Mines of Moria, met the Balrog, and didn't have a Gandalf," she told them, hoping they'd get the cavern battle reference.

" 'Speak 'Friend' and Enter' wouldn't be a good password here," Scholar said.

"Did he steal all their stuff?" Sneak asked smiling, then shrugged and looked around, "Hey Munchkin, what can I say?"

"Probably all booby trapped," Soldier said, "If not like an IED, then like the Ring."

Makoto nodded. "Probably set aside to decontaminate later," Makoto said and looked at Sneak, "As much to keep the Crusaders away as more interesting customers."

Sneak shrugged.

"This is going to make a great novel, once I grind off all the trademarked material," Scholar said.

"Wait until you meet the other dragons," Soldier said, "Find some pantheon, or just a collection of ancient gods fading in power and looking for a new home, and coming here."

Makoto smiled at their banter, a little miffed she'd been `promoted` to honorary brony instead of pegasister. Well, I've got Ranma and Patrick, maybe Celestia will lock us all in the same cell, Makoto thought and hid a grin at that prospect.
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"She's not coming," Runner said as he paced, "After she smashes the Equestrians, there's no point in us being here."

"Boy has a point," Baker added, "If they're back to hunter/gatherer nomads, a cake shop really doesn't serve any purpose."

"And we'll all be so glad to crawl back under her thumb?" Scotty retorted, "Hah, I'd sooner stay here and help them rebuild. I've labored for the ungrateful for centuries. I don't care about adding a century to help friends, yes there I said it: their magic is friendship, and we can be that."

"How many of you are actually required to fulfill the contract?" Bruce asked.

They looked around, old habits of concealing themselves flaring up as they remembered 'the tree in the corner' was a person.

"Technically one," Baker said.

"But neither Baker nor I would trust the other alone," Scotty said and glanced apologetically to Baker, "Were elves, being tricksy is our nature."

"Okay, so we three, the rest go help Celestia," Bruce said, "The question is, what can we do, or rather what can we do without revealing ourselves to all the ponies, Celestia and Luna can know, in fact it might be better they do."

"The Dragon didn't seem to think so," Runner said.

"That was while you were `illegal aliens`, if you are loyal citizen-soldiers, that's quite another thing entirely," Bruce explained, he enjoyed the tricksy looks among the elves and even Runner seemed buoyed up by the optimism.
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Celestia was napping, they would be fighting through the night and might have to intervene at any moment, so all of them were taking the opportunity to rest as much as they could.

So she knew she was dreaming when the black shadow eclipsed the sun and a dragon larger, more brutal and evil than any Equestria ever birthed flew over her and settled behind her. Fear beyond anything she knew gripped her soul. Luna might have manipulated the dreamstuff to fight, but Celestia had little skill in that. She shied as the surprisingly soft and warm wings settled like a high-peaked cloak on her shoulders.

The voice was soft, even loving as he sang, "Remember what I taught you, dear Celestia, you are afeared."

"I am afeared," she replied.

"And you are ugly," he said.

Celestia smirked and sang, "And I am ugly."

Where is this going? she wondered.

"And these are crimes for which the world shows little pity, you do not comprehend," he sang.

Celestia was carried along with the song, but she felt that things were not as they had been. She found herself as an Earth Pony and she was in Canterlot helping with the defense, using her physical might and intelligence to go here and there helping ponies and unkinking the problems 'where the horseshoes met the ground'. An extra set of hooves and eyes and a brain. Then she was a pegasus in Las Pegasus helping with the weather patrol dealing with a hard storm. She heard the song in her mind with `Celestia` singing, but her earth pony and pegasus forms had not been singing. Then she was a unicorn in Ponyville, among the dozens who had assembled to watch Ranma and Spike/Spikezilla practicing. She bucked up a few of the more timid ponies that the huge dragon was still Spike, and he was doing this to protect them and his other friends.

Again, she heard herself singing while the unicorn simply talked to the others and watched Spike practice, pushing himself as hard as Twilight often did. With Ranma watching over him, keeping him on track and in check.

Then she was back in her dream as Princess Celestia the Alicorn, singing, "I'll have spent, one day, out there."

She looked around nervously as if any one would be there tut-tutting her for her unseemly outburst.

She woke to find almost two hours had passed. Was that dream within a dream only a dream, Celestia wondered, Or was I actually out among my ponies? She put the dream and the song aside as she went out to join the others. I'll have to ask Luna, she thought, Once the war is over. Thank you, who ever you are, I do appreciate a few hours not as 'Princess' but as somepony allowed to help.
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Nurse Redheart wanted to ask the very battered, purple-pink unicorn who'd practically landed on the Hospital's doorstep, how? The injuries were typical of a long fall, and the sudden stop at the end of it, but the passage through the tree near the hospital had seriously lengthened the hospital stay and recovery time for the unicorn.

Without that tree-through, Redheart thought, Treatment would have been instantaneous. Just shovel it into a bag and drop it in a hole. Why are the powerful unicorns all crazy and reckless? Too bad she's a blank flank, otherwise I might have something I could send out to get more information. Weird that, someone that old without a cutie mark.

The mare, at least everypony hoped `it` had always been a mare, was resting none too comfortably with all limbs in traction. There'd been little internal organ damage, but the skull and her horn were points of concern.

The horn damage was going to take some rehabilitation and however powerful the mare had been, without most of her horn, she wasn't that powerful any more.

Redheart checked a few things then left the mare's room. Normally she hated the craziness that any town with Twilight Sparkle or Pinkie Pie in it had, but the flip side of that coin was that any craziness could be hooved off to them or their friends, and the pony who did it had honestly done the best they could.

They aren't here, Spike is otherwise occupied, Redheart thought, And prepared a sketch and relevant information to give to the guard to circulate against any missing ponies who cropped up in the next few weeks.