Disclaimer: I don’t own The Dresden Files or My Little Pony, that is Jim Butcher and Hasbro, respectively. This is a fanfiction only. Comments are appreciated, trolling is not. This takes place before season two in MLP and between books five and six in the Dresden Files.

Prologue

My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, and I'm a wizard. No, don't roll your eyes, I'm serious. Things that go bump in the night are real, and in Chicago I'm the only one who can handle them. Most of my work comes from the police. When a vampire leaves a dead victim or a faerie steals a child, normal investigative methods don't work. I think in the paperwork I'm listed as a psychic consultant. Today, though, I was just visiting Edinburgh, the wizards' capital. The higher-ups of the White Council wanted me to hand in my report over the duel with Ortega personally. I grimaced. The Council was not my favorite group of people, and I knew they were going to rake me over the coals for the way the duel went south. Despite my dread, I was making good time. I was about half an hour from the end of the Way when everything went wrong...

The forest was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault. If the screeching little monsters chasing me hadn’t dodged the flames I’d shot at them, none of the trees would be on fire. I was completely blameless for this round of property damage.

There was another shriek to my left, closer this time, and I was actually able to see the beast before I blasted. Vearens; they look a lot like gibbons, but these long-armed monkeys were different in some very important ways. Like the hundreds of needle-sharp teeth, the huge claws, the large scorpion stinger at the end of a long tail, and the intense bloodlust that made a pack of piranha look like a school of goldfish.

“Hell’s bells” I cursed softly, “How do I end up in these situations?” Being a professional wizard and all, I could have taken a single vearen without any trouble, even here on their turf. Hell, I could probably fight a dozen without any serious wounds. Unfortunately, the pack chasing me numbered somewhere around fifty.

One of the faster ones had caught up with me, and it flung itself forward with a howl of fury. “Riflettum!” I yelled as I forced energy into the shield bracelet on my left wrist. It pulsed with magic, and a quarter-dome of translucent blue sprung up between me and the horrifying little predator. The vearen bounced off and smacked into a tree hard enough to bring a rain of bright red fruit down on its head.

“Yeah! How d’ya like those apples?!” I yelled, and then started cursing as his friends caught up. “This is not how my day was supposed to go,” I panted, complaining to nobody. “I mean, I know the Nevernever is dangerous, but come on ‘It’s just a short stretch o’ forest til you reach the gate to Edinburgh,’ ” I said, mocking my mentor’s accent. “ ‘No trouble, right boy?’ ” I jinked to my right and started running along a stream, hoping that fewer trees would mean less pursuit. It didn’t. The vearens abandoned the canopy to follow me without hestitation.

My lungs were burning, and my side felt ready to split open. I had to stop soon or I’d just keel over, and I’d be damned if those things got me without a fight. I stretched my magical senses to look for a path back to Earth, but there wasn’t anything. The Nevernever connected to everything, so it could take me anywhere, theoretically. It was only a theory because the most horrifying creatures in existence made it their home, and only an idiot would leave the safety of the well-known Ways. In my defense, I had a few dozen good reasons for doing so. Still, I had no idea what world this particular bit of forest might connect to.

I burst through a small clump of bushes into an open meadow and skidded to a halt. The meadow was lovely, a beautiful, serene place, but I hadn’t stopped to admire it. I’d stopped because on the other side of the meadow was another pack of vearens, just as big as the one already chasing me. I stared at them. They stared at me. The first pack had caught up and halted at the sight of their new rivals. Growls filled the air as both groups started to cautiously spread out along the edge of the meadow. Maybe, if I was lucky, the packs would fight over me and I could use the confusion to escape. The two alphas approached each other until they were nearly eye to eye. I tensed to run, hoping Lady Luck would come through for once.

They nodded to each other and turned to face me, baring their teeth. Their packs did likewise.

Lady Luck is a real bitch. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

“Aparturum!” I screamed, ripping open the fabric between the Nevernever and whatever world it connected to here. The vearens couldn’t follow me through, and whatever was on the other side had to be better than a hundred bloodthirsty, venomous monkeys.

…Right?