//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen // Story: The Dresden Fillies: Great Power // by psychicscubadiver //------------------------------// Edited by: SilentCarto Proofreader: Coandco Disclaimer: I don’t own The Dresden Files or My Little Pony, that is Jim Butcher and Hasbro respectively. This story takes place between books Eight and Nine in the Dresden Files. It was all her fault. Twilight felt the weight of each one of those words as they dropped from the fore of her mind to the pit of her stomach. There was a part of her, her more logical side, that argued against such a thought. That part had facts and figures to argue its case, and although they were tentative facts and ad hoc figures, it promised that on deeper analysis they would prove to be correct. There was certainly a share of fault that could be assigned to her, but it was both ridiculously inaccurate and totally egotistical to believe– It was all her fault. –the entire outcome of this battle had rested on her shoulders. But those tentative facts didn’t change a number of disturbing truths. Dash was gone, captured by the dragon and taken away to Harmony-knew where. Dresden had ripped off his mask and was vomiting profusely in the corner, showing all the signs of a concussion. But worst of all was Spike. She knew– It was all her fault. –his injuries weren’t likely to be fatal. As awful as the necrotic-black, crumbling scales looked, they weren’t life threatening. Even the still-glowing portions that prevented Fluttershy from applying burn salve were rapidly cooling and he was unlikely to be infected once the dead tissue was debrided. He would most likely heal. Even at worst he would only lose his left arm and– It was all her fault. –the burns on his chest and right arm would leave scars. Spike’s eyes fluttered as he attempted to open them and Twilight’s heart fluttered in time with them. At first the only way they’d been sure he was alive was from the continuous rise and fall of his chest. “Twilight?” his voice sounded smokey which didn’t make much sense given he hadn’t been the one breathing fi– Focus! “Yes! Spike, do-do you need anything?” Twilight felt words tumbling from her mouth, not even certain what she was saying. He frowned, then winced, “No. Is everypony okay? Did I make it in time?” He needed an answer, but Twilight felt tongue-tied since that was the last thing she’d expected him to ask. “You did a great job,” Fluttershy told him gently. “You saved everypony from that fire ray.” She stroked the crest atop his head and he smiled tiredly. “That’s good. Tell Mister Dresden that we’re square now. I’m… I’m going to sleep for a little bit. I’ll feel better after a nap.” His eyes shut again and his breathing became slow and regular. Twilight stood and watched him sleep until– “TWILIGHT!” –she belatedly realized someone was calling her name, and had been for a while. “Yes, sorry. What did you say, Applejack?” Her friend wore a frustrated grimace, but it quickly softened. “I was sayin’ we need to get together and figure out where that snake took Dash. We gotta get her back pronto, and that means tracking this critter down to whatever she calls a lair.” Applejack pulled Twilight away from where Fluttershy was doing her best to care for Spike and led her to the rest of the group, standing in a loose circle. Dresden was still rubbing his temples, but otherwise he seemed healthy enough. Rarity stood with little of her usual poise, constantly looking over her shoulder to check on Spike. Pinkie was as serious as Twilight had ever seen her, barring the time she’d been warped by Discord. Will and Georgia had transformed back into humans, wearing the loose clothing they had stashed in the van. Dresden sighed and winced. “Okay, we need to brainstorm and make it quick. My head is spinning like we went a couple rounds with an elder Dragon. So let’s hear what happened after the Dragon blasted us through those crates.” He turned to Rarity and so did everypony else. “There’s isn’t much to say. She grabbed Dash, blasted everyone with her attack, and took to the sky through the hole in the ceiling. Then she faded into obscurity with a ripple of magic.” “Dash still in her claws?” Applejack asked. Rarity and Georgia nodded. “But why?” Will asked, scowling. “The dragon left all those dead ghouls behind, so it’s not like she’s hungry.” A chill went through Twilight like someone had walked over her grave. The very thought that– It was all her fault –the dragon might eat Dash was nightmarish. But the pile of half-eaten bodies showed that in terms of depravity, she was far beyond the villains Twilight was familiar with. “Yeah, she seemed weirdly fixated on Dash,” Dresden said, sounding like his head hurt from more than just the concussion. “Even back at the fight on Navy Pier, Miss Dense took her time sniffing Rainbow instead of biting her.” Everyone frowned at that, trying to make sense of what sounded nonsensical, but was evidently true given the dragon’s obsession with catching Dash in the most recent battle. Pinkie seemed to be the only one unconcerned with the question. “Maybe she just likes the smells of ponies, huh? It’s not like she got a chance to smell anypony else.” “Pinkie!” Applejack said, glaring at her friend. “This ain’t no time to be joking.” “No, she’s right,” Dresden said slowly, realization dawning. “Rainbow is the only pony she got a chance to sniff. And from her expression, Miss Dense recognized the scent.” “And the first thing the dragon said when she saw us was that she was planning how to track you all down,” Georgia added. “But what does all that add up to?” Applejack asked. “Don’tcha get it, Applejack?” Pinkie gasped. “The dragon lady knows what ponies smell like, which means she must know we’re from Equestria! And she wanted to find us to force somepony to show her the way back! But Dashie would never talk.” Dresden rubbed his chin, “No, she wouldn’t talk if it was just her life on the line, but if that monster threatens somebody else, she’ll crack. But that works in our favor. The only path Rainbow knows between here and Equestria is through the Nevernever desert. Which is the perfect place to ambush Miss Dense without having to worry about collateral damage.” “Dash may even come to the same conclusion herself,” Rarity replied, a fire sparking to life in her eyes. “After all, even if the dragon is a swift flier, it will take hours to reach that cave, while we can arrive there by teleport.” “Right, we’ll regroup and hit her again in the desert. We can’t let her get past us,” Dresden said, his face grim. “Your world might be home to dragons, but I’m willing to bet that none of them are on the level of that thing.” “Darn tootin’,” Applejack agreed. “Even the one Fluttershy sent packin’ weren’t nothing compared to that beast.” “Okay, Will and Georgia,” Dresden barked, all energy and action now that he had a plan. “Get a safe distance from the mages, pop the batteries back in your cellphones, and give Marcone and Lara a call. They should be finished with their bombs by now. Let them know that we’re done with ours and tell Lara to send Thomas to St. Mary of the Angels. Applejack, secure the van. Rarity, help Fluttershy prep Spike to move. We’ll drop him off at the church while we pick up Thomas. Father Forthill can watch him. Unless God’s a bigger dick than I usually take him for, Michael will be there too. After that it’s just a matter of dropping by my place for some supplies and Twilight can teleport us to the cave. Then, we’ll set the ambush.” Twilight started at the sound of her name. Right. Teleport. She could do that, couldn’t she? It wasn’t like she’d already screwed it up the first time she’d done that after arriving on Earth. It wasn’t like everything that had happened since they arrived was– All her fault. Twilight’s hands shook, so she tucked them beneath her arms. But still they trembled even there. A minute or so later, she belatedly realized that Dresden was beside her and Pinkie was with him. Instead of her usual manic energy, Pinkie wore a soft, gentle smile. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re going to be okay, Twilight. Spike and Dashie are going to be okay.” “You don’t know that,” Twilight retorted softly. Dresden sighed. “Pinkie, do you think you could check up on Applejack?” “Oh, I absolutely could,” Pinkie said, as she stood for several seconds without any movement to leave. Eventually Dresden caved. “Would you go check on Applejack? I want to talk to Twilight for a moment.” Pinkie frowned, but then shrugged. “Alright, but don’t blame me if she doesn’t cheer up without her good ol’ pal Pinkie Pie.” It was almost enough to make Twilight giggle. Which was no doubt, Pinkie’s intention, but it was hard to laugh when– It was all her fault. –everything was so deadly serious. But eventually Pinkie left and it was just the two of them in that big empty room. A room that felt all the emptier, because Fluttershy and Rarity had already left with Spike. She had watched him go knowing that– “It’s not your fault.” Her chin shot up and her eyes met Dresden’s. There was no fear of his ‘Soul Gaze’; that ship had already sailed. She stared at him slowly growing angry as he stared calmly back. “It is my fault,” she told him as bits and pieces of her hair sprang out of place. “Twilight, none of us knew what we were up against. Nobody expected Miss Dense to be a literal freaking Dragon.” “I was the one who let Spike tag along even though he’s just a kid.” She met him stare for stare. Dresden grunted and scowled. “Then in that case, it’s my fault for letting all of you come with me. I knew how dangerous it would be and I still let all of you, including Spike, come with us.” Her hair grew all the more frazzled as Twilight’s glare intensified. He couldn’t just brush this aside as if she wasn’t responsible. She wouldn’t let him take the blame for it in some misguided attempt to make her feel better and it was making her angry to think that he’d even try. “I was the one that demanded that we help with your investigation!” Without a pause he shouted back. “And I was the one that accepted the case!” “All of us being here is my fault in the first place!” Twilight screamed at him, hair fully frizzed. “I made the plans, I convinced everypony that this would be a great vacation, I brought us here, and all for what? Because of my stupid one-sided school-filly crush on you!” Dresden fell quiet and in the silence Twilight realized what she’d just said. She could feel blood rushing to her face, heating her cheeks and no doubt turning them an embarrassing shade of red. Suddenly she couldn’t even look Dresden in the face, much less lock gazes with him. “I-I mean it is stupid, right? There are a hundred reasons it wouldn’t work. We’re different species. We live in different worlds. It isn’t fair to ask either of us to give up everything just to be with the other person. And ‘long-distance relationship’ doesn’t begin to cover what a travesty inter-dimensional dating would be.” She was rambling, and she knew she was rambling, but there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it, because she had just awkwardly blurted out her feelings at the worst possible time in the worst possible way and there wasn’t a chance that he would– Dresden’s hand slid under her chin and turned her head back to face his. Oh dear Harmony, was he going to kiss her? She wasn’t prepared! She hadn’t done any of the 15 items on her pre-kiss checklist. She didn’t even have any breath mints with her! Dresden brought her eyes back into contact with his, but instead of drawing close for a kiss he simply locked gazes with her. “It’s never stupid to care about somebody.” Twilight’s blush only grew, but she didn’t try to pull away. “You’re right that it wouldn’t work, for more reasons than you know, but take it from somebody who knows: Love isn’t stupid. Somebody in love can be stupid, but Love itself is pure magic. Even more than friendship.” Twilight didn’t know if she’d go that far and the thought must have been evident from the look on her face given how he chuckled. Then Dresden leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. It was roughly where her horn would’ve been if she were still a unicorn, but as a human it didn’t feel much different than a kiss on the cheek. “There. Maybe not what you wanted, but maybe it’s enough to let go of that guilt complex so we can go rescue our friend and save the day.” He’d rejected her. He had done it nicely, but she couldn’t see what he’d done as anything else. Her rational mind had known it would happen. There were far too many perfectly logical reasons that a relationship between them would never work out. But there was somewhere distinctly illogical inside her heart that had wanted to give it a chance anyway. To forget what made sense and gamble on an uncertain future. It hurt. Not as much as she’d feared; her heart wasn’t shattered, like the melodramatic heroines of the romance novels she’d occasionally tried. It was a new and strange pain, but one she didn’t regret. Because looking into his eyes she could see a pang of regret for Dresden too. Maybe she was imagining it, but it was comforting to think that he had wanted this just as much, but had been too level-headed, or too burned by past experience, to take the risk that she did. It hurt, but she couldn’t help but smile. “Ahhhhhhhhhh!!” Twilight and Dresden both turned slowly towards the doorframe where Pinkie Pie stood with her mouth hanging open. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Is it official now? Twilight and Dresden are the new cross-dimensional power-couple!?” “That’s not–” Dresden began, but a mischievous impulse in Twilight wouldn’t let him finish. “Well, of course! You saw him kiss me and according to Equestrian Law that means we’re bound to be married now. But don’t tell anypony just yet. I want to make the announcement when we’re ready.” “Ahhh! That means I get to plan a bachelor's and  a bachelorette’s party!” Pinkie cheered, with no more understanding of ‘Equestrian law’ than one of the rocks on her family’s farm. “And a wedding party!” She dashed off while Dresden was already sweating bullets as he slowly turned to face Twilight. “Wait, no, did I really just…” Twilight let him stew for a moment more, “No, it’s traditionally a kiss on the lips to seal a wedding, but that’s after both parties already agreed to it. Even if it weren’t, I wouldn’t try to trap you with customs of which you weren’t aware.” A look of relief settled over Dresden before he gave her a wan smile. “You’d be about the first woman that didn’t,” he said. It was strange seeing that smile and knowing that it would never truly be hers. There was still a pang in her heart, but somehow Twilight felt better than she had before confessing to him. It wasn’t that the situation had grown any less serious. There was the issue that– It was all her– Shut up. She had led her friends into something dangerous and one of them had been captured and the other injured. But she could lead them out of it too. It wasn’t like they hadn’t faced impossible odds before. Discord’s revival, Nightmare Trixie, the Changelings' attack, the Order Triune, even the first time they’d met had involved facing down Nightmare Moon herself. “That’s more like it,” Dresden said, in an approving voice, with a daredevil’s smile on his face. He seemed to shine in situations like this. Becoming stronger and more determined just when everything seemed bleakest. It sent another fleeting pain through her heart, but he was right. It was better than the choking miasma of guilt she’d felt after seeing what had happened to Spike. If she wanted to save her friends, she couldn’t be paralyzed by fear. “I hope you’ve got lots of paper and a good pen, because I’ve got some serious calculations to make.” He snorted and shook his head before waving her to follow.. “Not exactly the most badass one-liner, but it will have to do.” ……… The feeling of flying snapped Dash back to consciousness. She immediately moved to flare her wings, catch the wind and gain some altitude. Her muscle memory assumed she’d passed out mid-flight from pulling too tight of a turn before she even had time for a conscious thought. But her wings didn’t flare. Instead, foreign muscles flexed weakly against something as hard and unyielding as a mountain. Dash’s eyes shot open and everything came rushing back to her. The weird building, the fight, the dragon, the Dresden spell, the arm exploding out of the rubble and dashing her head against the hard concrete. Everything was a little jumbled and part of her head felt sticky, but nothing majorly wrong as far as she could tell. She tried to reach up to touch her head, but found that her arms wouldn’t move. Dash was trapped in the claw of the dragon, held in an iron grip, as the dragon flew through the clouds. She threw everything into a twisting motion with her whole body, trying to force her way out of the weak point in the grip where the talons met the top of the claw. Nothing budged. Turned out the claw had no weak point and all she did was wrench herself into an uncomfortable position. Never one to quit, Dash kept squirming and struggling to free herself. She hadn’t thought about what would come next since her human form couldn’t exactly fly, but Dash was certain she’d come up with something in time. The claw suddenly tightened, driving the breath out of her. “Cease your struggle, horse, or I will bite off one of your limbs.” Dash froze in place. She hated doing what the bad guy wanted, but she’d seen more than enough evidence to know that this dragon wasn’t the kind to make an empty threat. Still she wanted to say something like ‘I’m a pony!’ or ‘Where are you taking me?’ but she had no air to breathe, much less to speak. The dragon evidently didn’t notice or care and just continued talking. “Good. Now, I have a deal to make with you, horse. We are flying back to the Nevernever, to the desert that you and your companions passed through to reach this land. You will lead me through the spells and deceptions that protect your realm, and in exchange I will let you leave with your life. I will swear this by my Name and my Power. Will you accept?” Dash let out a small squeak that sounded a bit like Fluttershy in one of her shyer moods. Fortunately the dragon realized what that meant and loosened her claw enough to let Dash breathe. After a few hasty gasps, Dash rasped out, “You’ve gotta be kidding me! No way am I gonna betray Equestria! No deal!” The crushing grip returned again, but even tighter. “I could kill you right now, you flitting little insect. Consider your next words more carefully.” Dash only growled in response. The dragon fell silent then her claw loosened once more. “Ah, mortal ‘courage’. The need to sacrifice oneself to ensure the survival of the group. Very well. I see a human town ahead. Accept my deal or I will raze it to the ground. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, will die. Refuse me again and I’ll find another town and do the same. Refuse me a third time and I will simply eat you and take one of your companions, offering them the same deal.” A horrible sinking feeling filled Dash’s entire stomach. She couldn’t let this thing into Equestria. The dragon was a monster more depraved and twisted than anything they’d fought before. But Dash couldn’t just let her kill innocent humans or hurt her friends. The dragon may have run from the battle after capturing her, but she had no doubt that those threats to return for her friends were deadly serious. She didn’t know what to do, every option was bad, and she couldn’t fight back, trapped in both the dragon’s claw and the wrong body. The more she pored over the choice in her head, the more she realized she couldn’t fix this. She couldn’t beat this. Not alone. But then, she wasn’t alone was she? “If I agree to your deal, what about my friends?” “I shall do no further harm to you or your friends if you uphold your end of the bargain. I will not seek you out or hunt you down. Challenge me again and I will not hold back, but stay out of my way and you all may do as you wish.” The dragon practically purred in satisfaction, already thinking that Dash would cave. “You aren’t afraid we’ll tell everypony about you?” The dragon actually laughed at that in choking, raspy tones. “Even if anyone believes you, nothing in your world could contest me when last I visited. I doubt it has changed much in the intervening time. And given the spells of secrecy shrouding your trail, I doubt your mages would call upon the Fae Courts to deal with me. That would be like inviting a nest of vipers into your house to deal with a single rat. The laughter died off and the dragon twisted her head to stare at Dash with three piercing eyes. “Now, what shall it be, horse? I’m nearly over the human town now. Will they die or will you accept my offer? Accept it, live to fight another day. Maybe you can rally your world against me, maybe you’ll find a way to win. Or you can choose to die fruitlessly.” The stare intensified and the claw tightened ever so slightly. “What shall it be?” A sour taste built in Dash’s mouth. She wanted to throw up. “I accept.” “Then by my Name and Power I, Ouroboros, do swear to honor this pact. In exchange for truthful directions to your Realm I will release you unharmed and shall not seek out you or your companions. By my Name and Power I swear. Thrice by my Name and Power, I swear this.” A strange sensation of alien power washed over Dash. There was magic in what the dragon had said and she could feel it. There was an ancient edge to the creature that she hadn’t felt even when fighting Nightmare Moon, a legend from a thousand years ago. There was something primal in this monster, something that belonged to a wild past before ponies built cities or moved in groups larger than a herd. It scared her. So she really couldn’t resist smack-talking her. “Ouroboros? More like Ouro-boring.” The claw suddenly squeezed her like a vice, her bones creaking in protest as they were pushed to just short of their breaking point. Moment after agonizing moment passed until Ouroboros finally stopped. For a minute Dash just breathed shallowly, adrenaline still rushing through her. Eventually she said “I thought you said ‘unharmed’.” Ouroboros turned to stare at her again, twisting enough to let Dash see all six eyes narrowed in anger. “Our deal does not grant you immunity to punishment for any half-witted gibes. I would rather suffer the consequences of breaking my word than listen to mockery from a creature so far beneath me. Now, speak respectfully, or better yet, not at all.” Dash returned the dragon’s glare with the same fierce intensity and did one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. She kept her mouth shut. “Good,” Ouroboros said and returned her attention to their flight. Dash remained silent. As hard as it was, she had to wait this out. She couldn’t beat Ouroboros alone, but it wouldn’t be long until she got her chance. She just had to trust in her friends and wait.