Parting Ways, Partying Ways

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.

Pinkie wasn't normally nervous about parties. She was intent, focused, concerned, but never nervous. Even the wedding hadn't had her on tenterhooks like this one.

She glanced over at Bruce, who was meeting Makoto's fellow senshi, who included a male alicorn. Patrick had gotten Karl some 'ASA 1000 film', and threatened to break Karl over his knee if he kept using the flash. Karl was happily snapping pictures of the whole scene, sans his annoying and blinding flash gun.

Parties are punishment, she thought, How do I explain that they aren't for the rest of us. It is a puzzlement.

"Give me my list back," Twilight growled to Rarity.

"Fabulocity demands I refuse," Rarity tossed her mane and replied.

Nothing Rarity had done could get Patrick to reveal the secret of Makoto and Ranko's dresses. His 'it's magic' answer had been consistent, and unacceptable.

No pony is going to keep Rarity from that secret, Pinkie reminded herself, I've never met a more obsessed pony.

"So he holds the guy over the edge so he's staring straight into Hell," Scholar said, "Saint Peter asks, you got one of those in Texas? The Texan says, Hell, no, Red Adair'd have that out by now."

Sailor Pluto seemed to get the message that being unimpressed with Canterlot because 'the Moon Kingdom was better' was both easily noticed and not appreciated. The other senshi, and the new friends were still enjoying the prettiness of it, even if it didn't come up to home in their eyes. A new place not being as good as `home` was more acceptable.

Everypony thinks home is best, Pinkie thought, and wondered about the reformed enemies, They were mostly humans or human-shaped in the other world, why are they mostly ponies, or griffon, or dragons in this one?

"Because Discord took a bit of us," an Ursa Extremely Minor no bigger than Celestia explained, "And let us express ourselves in that form."

"You can read my mind?" Pinkie gasped.

"No, Ursas just read the subtitles," the former chaos senshi explained, and walked over to join the others.

"Then why no draconequi?" Pinkie muttered.

"Tradition!" Discord announced, and the entire court thundered back "Tradition! Tradition!"

"Hold it!" Patrick shouted, "We aren't doing that one. Their lawyers are too good. You know that."

"Shoggoth on the Roof?" Discord offered.

"Their lawyers eat the other guys' lawyers," Bruce added.

"That's it!" Pinkie exclaimed and raced away.

She briefly heard Dresden say, "You can all hang out at my place for a week."
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Celestia looked around and wondered how Pinkie had gotten to the throne room ahead of them and put up most of the Nightmare Night decorations and a few of the Hearth's Warming Eve decorations that still fit the Nightmare Night theme.

"If this is supposed to be scary," Sailor Mars said looking around, "Nobody would -" She facepalmed as she looked at Sailor Moon glommed onto Tuxedo Mask, Makoto glommed onto Patrick and Ranma, and Sailor Neptune glaring at an oblivious Sailor Uranus.

"I think there's scary," Discord said while standing on Mars' head, "And there's using an excuse. Which shows the greater understanding and intelligence?"

"Get off my head," Mars replied.

Discord wiped his feet then jumped off. "I still think it's good to be home." He ignored the furious Mars and looked around. "They had a realty scary religion. They worshiped bureaucracy."

"Every government on the planet is filled with people who worship bureaucracy," Harry said. Ignoring Mars' growing ire.

"Why?" Celestia asked with undisguised horror.

"Because the theme of the party is scary stories," Applejack said as she glanced around, "No party games around, and no beds, so this is like the first part of a sleep over where we tell scary stories."

"Well, pin the tail on the pony would get confusing for a lot of the newcomers," Discord said as the put a gold star on Applejack's nose, "And with the special senses a lot of us have, hide and seek would not be fun, or possible."

"Scary stories," Celestia said, "Why don't we let Carl go first? He's a professional, but without powers, he's probably been at the greatest risk facing something the rest of us would brush aside."

"Or blow up," Chibi-Usa added.

"Or blow up," Celestia agreed.

The dark, ominous airship landing on the field outside drew them all to the balcony. Then had them jumping en masse over the edge to float or be lowered to the ground. Then charging towards it, the senshi and bronicorns unconsciously forming a line in front of the alicorns and ponies.

They waited as the ramp dropped and the troll walked down the ramp. "Ponies of Equestria! We come on behalf of the fearsome . . .

The civilian ponies gasped.

"The powerful . . .

The guards and civilians gasped.

"The almighty . . .

The guards, civilians, the younger senshi and both Discords gasped.

"Storm King!"

The princesses, guards, civilians, the younger senshi and both Discords gasped.

A unicorn appeared at the top of the ramp. The ponies gasped at her hornless condition. "How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"

"Moko Takabisha Ultimate!"

The blast obliterated the airship, dropping trolls and a hornless unicorn to the ground. The trolls were singed but still breathing. The unicorn looked at the horror approaching her in the form of Bruce, while Ranma approached the spokesman. "I have had enough of people threatening my friends for one day," Ranma told the cowering creature.

Patrick and Sailor Jupiter rushed forward and picked Ranma off his feet before he could lay his hands on the Storm King's cowering spoketroll.

"You tell your 'Storm King' that we're feeling magnanimous, and if you all run away, we'll let him live," Ranma said, the malevolence of his tone diminished not one bit by being held off his feet by the pair of equally grim warriors. "I am Ranma Saotome, I've seen off gods, the only people who ever beat me are behind me, you are before me. If you do not value your own lives, but value the Storm King's, be somewhere else."

The trolls took to their heels, most tottering away. Hundreds who hadn't been seen rushed past and through the flocks of ponies.

Bruce had the unicorn's saddlebags and was rummaging through them. He pulled out a sphere with a growing, green crystal in it, and immediately dropped it in one of his mouths. Even the hornless unicorn gasped as he was covered with black crystals. Most sighed with relief as the crystals faded/retracted, and Bruce popped another in a different mouth, and the petrifaction - depetrifaction occurred again.

"These are delicious!" Bruce shouted, and ate a couple more, before stopping with the last in his tentacle and seemed to focus on the stunned assemblage all staring at him. "Uh, got carried away, we can split the last one."

"Be our guest," Celestia said. Bruce happily tossed up the last one.

"Be our guest," Sailor Uranus added.

"Be our guest," Sailor Neptune said. Bruce caught and swallowed it.

"SILENCE!" Sailor Jupiter said, "Pinkie quit trying to fit a clock costume for Twilight. Rainbow put down the candles." She turned to the senshi. "Guys, songs have unexpected effects here, if we'd sung Uchuu Senkan Yamato, Ranma would have turned into the Space Battleship Yamato before he fired."

"People!" Discord shouted and pointed at the Tirek look alike, presumably the 'Storm King' climbing over the parapet. He threw another of the spheres at the collection of princesses.

"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" Bruce shouted from multiple mouths before catching the sphere, landing gently, then downing it in one gulp. The instant he had returned to normal, he rushed of to the utterly stunned Storm King, dragged him off the parapet and shook him violently, "GIVE ME THE RECIPE OR I'LL RIP IT OUT OF YOU CELL BY CELL, SCINTILLA BY SCINTILLA! ALL OF IT STORM KING! ALL OF IT! NOW! EVAN'S SPIKED TENTACLES OF FORCED INTRUSION!" Hooked crystalline spikes grew out of the ends of Bruce's tentacles that waved before the Storm King.

The Storm King fainted. His unicorn assistant fainted. Bruce set the comatose figure down gently. "I know I had help, but do I win the scary story contest?"

"If you didn't," Carl said, "I don't want to hear a competitor."

The smallest troll, who'd wandered over to the side of the hornless unicorn looked around. "Uh, who do I talk to about our surrender?"
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Tempest heard the arguing, but then clearly heard Grubber's whisper. "Just stay down and stay quiet," he whispered, "We may get out of this."

"No offense, the food around here tastes like the pictures of food. Your finest cake tastes like somepony drew a picture of cake with crayons, and I'm eating the drawing."

"If there's better cake out there," Grubber said, "I'm goin'."

"There has been a president set," the alien in the horrible tree costume was talking to the princesses, "Of exile from where they were a criminal, to another place where they can be productive. Ask Patrick if he wants to march over to Los Pegasus and destroy the bakers. These senshi are welcome here, not so much in their homelands, if they have homelands."

"Sorry about your horn, the boss admitted he never intended to fix it, if he could," Grubber said.

I hadn't believed my hopes could fall farther, Tempest thought, I was wrong.

"How do you intend to deal with Fizzlepop Berrytwist's infirmity?" she heard Twilight ask.

"If I can't fix it, then Harry, Patrick and I can," the tree said.

"Wait a second!" Tempest shouted, "Fizzlepop Berrytwist is me! How are you supposed to fix this?" She tried to point to her horn, but the manacles prevented it. Grubber and one of the bipeds caught her before she could fall over.

The pink-maned pegasus pushed a bowl heaping with kibble-like food towards her. "You need to eat up to get your strength back, and then they'll regrow it."

" 'For healthy mommy bunnies'?" she read from the bag the pegasus had tried to hide from her.

"All the nutrients for healthy bones," Discord said.

"Healthy fur," another Discord in a paisley-striped skirt said.

"All translates into a new, healthy horn," the first Discord said.

"And a temporary craving for carrots," the skirted Discord said as he set down a bushel basket of carrots, "But such a small price to pay."

"Why are you trying to sell me on this?" Tempest asked, moderating her tone considering Grubber's warning gestures.

Discord smiled, clasped his paws with the other Discord and danced around Tempest and Grubber. "Oh, friendship, love, forgiveness, and returning you to the pony fold," he said, then both glared at her, "And because reducing your feigning-surrender boss to a grease-stain upset everypony so much, we decided to let them have the lead when dealing with you."

"Told ya," Grubber whispered, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for ya." He stepped up. "I think it's a good thing, and I'll take responsibility for her. I was the Storm King's second-in-command, I was responsible for her before, I'll be responsible for her now."

"Grubber," Tempest said.

"You do realize," the tree asked, "If she betrays, you'll get eaten right alongside her?"

Grubber gulped, then nodded.

"That's good enough for me," Princess Cadence said.

"No," a blonde-maned biped said, "Uh, not the sentence of exile, that's good, but you, Patrick and Harry doing the healing. We'll all do it." The biped looked at the other assembled bipeds. "It's not fair to ask you to risk it alone."

One of the bipeds became an alicorn stallion, and approached Tempest. "It would be better for you to be asleep for this. It won't hurt, but - there are things not for mortal eyes to see."

"Uh, it'll be okay," Grubber said, "They already fixed up some of the others when they surrendered." He looked at the stallion. "I already saw it."

"As you wish," the stallion said, and waited from Tempest to lie down, and nod.

The stallion rolled his eyes. "You have to eat the food first, that's where we get the biomass for the horn growth."

Tempest looked at all the eyes, pony and not, watching her as she ate heartily.
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Cadence was carrying a half-dozen utterly exhausted figures. Shining Armor had adapted his shield to carry an even dozen. Rarity was helping with a couple of others.

Most were glad to be clear of the interrogation that Fizzlepop Berrytwist was getting from Twilight and the Princesses.

"Just a few more minutes," Usagi murmured as she held onto her lover.

Cadence and Armor grinned at the pair and the other pairs they were carrying to guest quarters. Although Cadence was carrying Patrick, Makoto and Ranma, nopony was going to trust Rarity alone with those three while the dress mystery hung over the kingdom. Considering the attempted invasion, nopony was going to credit Rarity's continuing ignorance as 'the worst possible thing'.

Bruce had remained in the throne room, letting three of his five nodes rest, then rotating through them over half hour periods.

"She seems a completely different mare now that she has her horn back," Cadence said.

"She has a future," Armor said, "She didn't really have one before."

Cadence nodded as they dropped off the assembled senshi. "Was it safe to let Pinkie carry Harry to his room?"

"No, that's why I sent Applejack along with her," Armor said, "Between the two of them, it should be okay."

"This has been a strange couple of weeks," Cadence said.

"As strange as Luna's return? She ran the staff ragged as they tried to get her acclimated," Armor said, "Although I guess these people must feel the same."

"It's good they have friends," Cadence said as they delivered the last of the bipeds to the specially prepared guest quarters, and saw Pinkie Pie and Applejack leaving Harry's room.

"So guys," Pinkie asked, "Tomorrow morning's the party, right?"

She didn't understand the universal face hoofing.
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The bipedal figured stopped, looked at her red hair and shook her head. "I thought I'd turn back into a pony." She adjusted the black, silk pants and red, silk shirt, before advancing again on her quest for the Element of Magic.

She completely missed the large panda dropping behind her, and bundling her into a sack. The sign the Panda held up reading 'Stupid boy, you've let your training drop' wouldn't have edified her as the bag was opaque and the sign was in Japanese. A moment later the panda stepped between the pair of Discords, who bowed, let the panda transit back home, and waited for the portal to vanish before high- fiving each other.