The Dresden Fillies: Great Power

by psychicscubadiver


Chapter Three

Edited by: SilentCarto
Proofreader: Coandco

Disclaimer: I don’t own The Dresden Files or My Little Pony, let’s find out who actually reads this. The first person to use Harry’s full name in a comment can name a minor character. This story takes place between books Eight and Nine in the Dresden Files.


“And that one?” Spike asked, pointing to another weird doohickey on the police officer’s belt.

“That’s pepper spray,” Officer Rawlins answered patiently.

A condiment dispenser? That’s clever, Spike thought. I guess it’s more convenient than a shaker when you’re on the go. 

“And that one?”

“That’s my radio.”

Cool, they can listen to music and stuff anywhere.

“And that one?”

“Collapsible baton.”

Spike frowned, trying to imagine why Officer Rawlins would need to conduct an orchestra. He just shrugged his shoulders. “You guys are really prepared for anything, aren’t you?”

Officer Rawlins chuckled. “You bet, kid.”

Things at the police station had calmed down after Sgt. Murphy called Dresden. She didn’t quite seem to trust them yet, but at least all of the police had put away their ‘guns’. From the way Officer Rawlins described them, guns were sort of like handheld cannons. That was pretty cool, but at the same time, he was glad he hadn’t known that back when there was a whole room full of guns pointed at him. Spike had seen the Royal Guards practice with some cannons before, and there wasn’t much left of whatever they hit.

“So, if you twist it like that,” Sergeant Murphy said, demonstrating some kind of martial arts move to Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie for some reason, “then you have all the leverage and it doesn’t matter how strong the other person is. You have control of their arm, and if they struggle you can dislocate it with a little bit of pressure. Between the pain and losing the use of one arm, that will stop them from fighting without doing more serious damage.”

“That’s very kind of you to share,” Twilight said, her face turning red as Sgt. Murphy held one arm behind her back, “but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I suggested an exchange of knowledge.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have shorted out my computer,” Sgt. Murphy mumbled under her breath.

Spike hid a chuckle, fiddling with the sunglasses Officer Rawlin had found for him. Apparently humans didn’t have slit pupils, so he was better off covering up his eyes. That was a little annoying, but the sunglasses looked swanky, so he couldn’t complain too hard.

Bored, he considered trying to comfort Rarity again. She’d been in a state of shock ever since the police had explained human underwear in a little more detail. She took a slow sip of coffee, her hands still shaking. It was better than her quiet chant of ‘Am I still a proper lady?’ over and over, so Spike was willing to look on the bright side. He didn’t think it was that big a deal, but he still felt sorry for her.

There was a clatter and some fast footsteps coming from the hallway outside. The door swung open, and Dresden strode into the room. “Okay, the wizard has landed,” he announced. He was tall as ever, but he didn’t tower over Spike like he used to. It felt weird being more than half his height, but Spike didn’t mind. Being this tall was pretty fun.

Then Dresden got a better look at the room and all the ponies-turned-human. His confident grin vanished, and his face paled. “Oh, no...” He said in hushed tones.

“Dresden!” Pinkie yelled, bouncing out of her seat and across the room in a single hop. Before Dresden could so much as say a word, she wrapped her arms around him in an inescapable hug. “We missed you so much!” She buried her head in his chest, the highest place it could reach, and began nuzzling him.

Twilight’s hands flickered purple and she disappeared from Sgt. Murphy’s grasp with a bang. She reappeared next to him and smiled brightly. “It’s so nice to see you again, Dresden,” she said joining in the hug and nuzzling.

“C’mon, everyp– body!” Pinkie shouted, and the rest of the group joined in. Spike skipped on the nuzzling. Hugging was okay, but nuzzling another guy was just weird. Dash didn’t try nuzzling him either, but that could have just been because she wasn’t close enough. There wasn’t really enough space to go around.

The police watched in near silence, interrupted by a couple of awkward coughs, until the hug was done. “Is there something you want to tell us, Harry?” Sgt. Murphy asked, the expression on her face unreadable.

“I died,” Dresden said. “I died, and this is Hell.”

The police all laughed, and Dresden turned bright red. Picking up on those subtle clues, Twilight turned to Sgt. Murphy, her face confused. “Did we do something wrong? This isn’t like the underwear thing, is it?” Dresden coughed and turned brighter red at that.

“No, no,” Officer Rawlins said, still chuckling. “You’re just a little more, ah, open with your affection than we are.”

“Damnit, Rawlins,” Dresden said, his face still flushed. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“You sure, Sensei? Because from where I’m standing it certainly looks that way,” said a tall girl behind him. She edged past the pony pile and stepped into the room, glaring the whole way. She reminded Spike of Applejack for the most part, but she wasn’t as muscular. Or she didn’t look it, anyway. Her hair alternated between pink and blue, which made Spike nod in appreciation. Seeing bright colored hair like that was a relief after passing so many humans with subdued manes. Maybe the group wouldn’t stick out too bad after all.

“Well, maybe now that you’ve stopped sulking in the doorway, you’d have a better view. Anyway, girls – and Spike – these are Molly Carpenter and the fine officers of the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago Police. Everyone, these are my, er… foreign friends. Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Spike.”

“Dresden!” Rarity exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest. “How could you reveal our True Names like that?”

“You can’t give away another person’s True Name,” he replied, giving a small snort. “Unless they specifically sold it to you, but that’s a whole other can of worms. That’s where introductions come from; that way people could exchange names without giving anyone else power over them.”

Spike nodded. That made sense. That probably explained why humans seemed to have so many names, too. Some of the police weren’t as impressed, and Spike saw one roll his eyes. Huh. Even though they’re prepared to fight magical creatures, it seems like they don’t all buy into all the rules of magic. That was some food for thought.

“Besides,” Dresden continued with a glare at Twilight, “you bunch are the last people to be criticizing others for that. I heard what you did, and it scared me half to death. Even ‘harmless’ Name use feels like a slap in the face.”

Twilight’s cheeks flushed pink at that, and she looked down. “Well, it was Plan F for a reason.”

“That aside, thanks for introducin’ us, then,” Applejack said, stretching her arm towards Molly for a ‘handshake’. “Pleased to meetcha, Molly. Dresden’s told us all ‘bout you.”

Molly snorted and didn’t offer her hand in return. “Funny, he never mentioned any of you.” Applejack’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she let her hand fall back to her side.

“Molly,” Dresden warned, his tone disapproving.

“Hardly surprising, since the Princess asked him not to speak of us,” Rarity replied. “I’m sorry that precluded you from his confidences, but it is a relief to hear that he kept his word.”

Molly sniffed and crossed her arms. Spike frowned. She seemed upset over something, but he couldn’t even begin to guess why. He shrugged, not like it mattered. Girls would be girls, whether they were pony or human.

“Okay, speaking of confidences and everything else, what are all of you doing here?” His face suddenly turned hard, and in an instant he went from ‘goofy, overwhelmed tall guy’ to ‘furious battle wizard’. Shadows crossed his face, and his long-fingered hand tightened on the tall staff at his side. When he spoke his voice was threaded with a cold and merciless anger. “If some monster or something is wrecking Eq– your home, then we don’t have a minute to lose.”

Spike felt a chill go down his back, but at the same time he felt like cheering. That was what an alien-wizard-hero should look like. Comics were fun and all, but an adventure with Dresden was like living a comic book. Including all the danger and scary bits, Spike thought, hiding a shiver.

“No worries there, buddy,” Dash said giving him a light punch in the shoulder. “Everything’s fine back home. Sure, there were a couple scares – ancient chaos spirit running crazy, shapeshifter invasion, yadda yadda. But we took care of those.”

The tension and violence slowly drained out of Dresden and he frowned. “Then… why are all of you here?”

“To visit you, of course!” Pinkie exclaimed, darting back in for another quick hug. “We hadn’t seen you in ages, and letters are no replacements for quality time spent together.”

“Plus, we figured getting a chance to visit Chicago would be pretty cool,” Dash said. “Gotta admit, I’m a little impressed. This place isn’t half-bad.”

Dresden frown deepened with something that looked like confusion. “And the Princess was just… okay with that?” He rubbed his left hand like he was scratching an unconscious itch.

“Of course,” Twilight replied happily. “I sent her a full itinerary, and the risk analysis on the possible dangers of traveling. I was so worried she would turn it down, because of how cautious she is about the Nevernever, but she gave full permission.”

Dresden’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “Seriously?” he asked, disbelief thick in his voice.

“Yes,” Twilight said, seeming put out at his less than happy response. “I dictated the letter to Spike, and he received a response a bit later. Isn’t that right?” She turned to look at Spike. So did Dresden and more than half the room.

“Errr…”

………

“– and given the time variable I have calculated using the span between our sent letters and replies, we should be gone for no longer than two weeks. Please use a Sending if we take longer. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Spike echoed a few moments later. His right claw ached and cramped, which wasn’t surprising considering the mountain of filled sheets next to him. Twilight had been dictating her plan for their Earth vacation off and on for past two days. Still, Spike was certain the trip would be completely awesome and well worth all this effort.

“Excellent,” Twilight said beaming happily. Now, I need to make a copy of every page, just in case it gets lost or damaged, and we’ll be good to go. An hour later, hmm… or maybe two hours, to read through each page and make certain each copy spell worked perfectly, we’ll finally be ready to send it to Princess Celestia and get her permission. Oh, I’m so excited, Spike!”

“Two hours?” Spike said, the boredom already crushing his spirits. “C’mon, Twilight, we don’t need to bother with that. I can guarantee you it won’t get lost or damaged.”

“Oh?” she replied, arching an eyebrow skeptically. “You guarantee it? You know, you’ll be the one re-writing it if you’re wrong.” His writing claw twinged again at the thought of repeating everything he’d already finished. But what she didn’t know was that he had a secret weapon.

Spike casually dusted his knuckles on his chest scales. “You’re not the only one who’s been practicing, Twilight. I can send a letter to Celestia, wherever she is now. No more ‘Canterlot Castle’ only.”

“That’s terrific, Spike!” Twilight said, wrapping him in a big hug. “I’m very proud that you’ve mastered your Dragonfire to that degree.”

“Yep! Before you know, I’ll be full-grown dragon! Only… y’know, not the rampaging kind,” he finished lamely, still embarrassed over that time his greed got the better of him.

“I know,” Twilight sighed, squeezing him tighter for a brief second. “All right, go on and send the letter. I expect she’ll take a while to send a reply; though, she may come to a decision before finishing the report.” She paused. “I hope so, actually. My analysis on the possible dangers meeting our evil human doppelgangers and how to defeat them is a bit weak. I just don’t have enough data there, so I stuck it in close to the end.”

Spike freed himself from her grip and rose to his full, dignified height of two-and-a-half feet tall (including his crest). Sheesh, he wasn’t an egg-toothed hatchling anymore, even if he was still technically a ‘baby dragon’. “No worries, Twilight. Spike is on the job!”

She laughed softly and nuzzled the top of his head. “I’ll hold you to that, my number one assistant. In the meantime, I’m going to visit the girls and let them know.” She trotted downstairs, and Spike heard the front door of the library open and close.

“Okay,” he said, eyeing the towering stack of paper that he just guaranteed Twilight, he could handle. “Time to put up or shut up, Spike.” He breathed in slowly, but deeply, stoking his inner fires and preparing to transport the papers. He used to envision Princess Celestia from the many times he’d seen her in the castle, and those surroundings had helped to anchor the image in his mind, but he didn’t need that anymore. Instead he focused solely on Princess Celestia: her appearance, the sound of her voice, the downy softness of her wings when she used them in a hug, her loving and motherly personality. When that was complete, he released both fire and magic in a rush that instantly incinerated the papers before him without so much as scorching the desk they sat on.

He paused for a moment, blinking after the rush of power that had left him, but he felt confident. That gout of flames had been good; he could almost sense it soaring faster than the wind to reach Princess Celestia. Spike allowed himself a feeling of deep contentment. He had done well. And as a reward for doing so well, he really deserved a little something. There was still half a tub of choco-strawberry ice cream in the freezer. Plus, he could grab a piece of ice for his still-aching writing claw.

He’d barely gotten to the bottom of the stairs when he felt the sudden upwelling of magic inside of him that indicated a response. With a small belch, and contorted expression, he brought up a sealed scroll.

I’m sorry, Spike, but I’m afraid the papers you sent were utterly consumed by a ball of sunfire. Luna and I were sparring at her insistence, and your sending was unfortunately caught in the crossfire. I am, however, very proud that you have mastered your Dragonfire to the point that you can transport items directly to the recipient's side. Yours, Princess Celestia

For a long moment Spike couldn’t feel his heartbeat. What were they doing sparring?! They were Princesses, not guards! Why did this have to happen to him? And right after he’d told Twilight she didn’t need to make a copy. His claw started twinging again at the thought of re-writing so many pages. Not to mention letting Twilight down after she’d trusted him.

Slowly, Spike got himself back under control. This wasn’t the end of the world. Most of Twilight’s stuff had been … well, junk. All she was really asking for was Celestia’s permission to take a couple of weeks off. Princess Celestia didn’t need a step-by-step guide to all of Twilight’s plans and contingencies. Spike nodded to himself, feeling certain in his decision. He began a new letter.

Hey, don’t worry. All of that was Twilight’s way of asking if she, me, and her friends could have two weeks of vacation time next month. Thanks, Spike.

Spike fidgeted in place, waiting nervously, until a few minutes later he finally got a response.

Of course I will give my approval. Both of you have certainly earned the time off and spending time with your friends is a wonderful way to use it. Please let Twilight know that sending reams of information on her travel plans is unnecessary. I trust her judgment and have no doubt she is well prepared. Perhaps even too prepared. Half of the fun of traveling is in being surprised. Should worst come to worst, she will have you there to send me a letter. Do not hesitate if you find yourselves in need, but I suspect you will all simply have a good time together, and I wish you the best. Yours, Princess Celestia

Letting out a sigh of relief, Spike wiped his brow. “Jeez, that could have been bad,” he commented to himself. And hey, panicking gave a guy an appetite. He moved into the kitchen, his mind already on the remains of that ice cream tub.

………

“Of course. I could even show you the Princess’s response,” Spike said, grinning widely. He felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. Dresden still seemed suspicious, but Twilight was satisfied.

“See? I know this is a bit last minute, but we wanted to surprise you. If you’d like, you and I could work together to rearrange your schedule to fit us in.” She grinned, and with a quick flick of her hands summoned three small notebooks from one of their backpacks. “Oh, this will be so much fun!”

“Okay, as fun as it is to see Harry floundering,” Sgt. Murphy interrupted, “we’re trying to run a police department here. Let’s get everyone on the road.” She aimed a look at Dresden and mouthed ‘Princess?’.

Dresden gave her a look halfway between annoyed and exasperated that said ‘not now’. Then he shook his head and sighed. “Good idea, but we’ve got a problem. There’s no way I can move everyone in my VW bug. Not to mention that don’t have the cash to drop on getting decent hotel rooms for everyone.”

“We aren’t staying with you?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Her expression slipped into a small pout. “I wanted to see Mouse again.”

“My place isn’t nearly big enough. I’ve only got one bed and a sofa.”

“So? If it’s a big enough bed we could all share it. Just like we did after that night at Trixie’s castle,” Pinkie said. There was more silence and awkward coughs from all the humans in the room at that.

Twilight kneaded her forehead with a hand and sighed. “Pinkie, those were considerably different circumstances. Not only did we have to shove two beds together to make enough room, but the only reason we even managed any sleep was because everyone was so exhausted. Also, Spike wasn’t there so we’d be even more crowded if we tried it here.”

Spike nodded sagely in agreement. Even if he hadn’t gotten bigger turning into a human, he still wouldn’t want to try crowding everyone together on a single mattress.

“Twilight,” Dresden said, sounding pained. “I’m know you’re trying to help, but please…”

Dash chuckled. “Yeah, I get it. That night was pretty crazy. I was sore for two weeks after that.” Dresden winced, but she didn’t seem to notice. “So what’re we doing? I dunno about sleeping, but I could really go for some food right now.”

Dresden sighed “Well–”

“My shift’s almost up,” Sgt. Murphy said, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. She sounded kind of like Twilight when she found a jam-stained clawprint on one of the library books. Like she was angry but trying not to be angry, only she was still actually super angry underneath the calm. Spike usually took that as a cue to leave the library for a few hours. “Let’s grab some food, and then we can set up some sleeping arrangements. I can put up four of them at my house.”

“And we’ve got room for two more at my parent’s house,” Molly interjected.

“Hey–” Dresden started.

“Then it’s settled,” Sgt. Murphy said, ignoring Dresden’s indignant expression. “You girls can sort out which four are coming with me, the other two will stay with the Carpenters, and ‘Emperor Drakon’ can spend the night with Dresden.”

Spike flushed and scowled. Somehow the way she said it, his totally amazing title sounded… stupid. Still, a sleepover at Dresden’s would be a ton of fun. A real guy’s night out. Or ‘in’, maybe, since they weren’t going anywhere. Hopefully, Dresden stocked ice cream. Oh, and human comics. Spike couldn’t wait to get a look at some of those.

“Fine,” Dresden said, sighing. “What were you thinking?”

Sgt. Murphy grabbed her purse and a thin jacket. “Hmm… IHOP.”

“So do I!” Pinkie Pie confided, throwing an arm over Sgt. Murphy’s shoulders. “But for now let’s focus on getting some dinner.”

Dresden and Molly chuckled, and Sgt. Murphy rolled her eyes. “Fine, how about we go to the International House of Pancakes?”

Spike’s mouth watered at the thought. Pancakes were delicious, and any restaurant dedicated to them had to make some tasty stuff. He nodded happily, gathering his backpack of Rarity’s belongings. “I could go for that.”

The rest of the group made various approving noises and everyone shuffled out of the room, following Sgt. Murphy. Dresden’s car wasn’t as nice as the police’s car, but it was still pretty cool. Rarity made a face after getting a look at it and rode with Sgt. Murphy. The trip didn’t take very long, which was another neat thing about cars, but Spike had to wonder if Dresden’s car was supposed to be making some of those sounds.

IHOP smelled delicious, but the building wasn’t that impressive for a place that was supposed to be ‘international’. Dresden grabbed a long table that was half booth and half seats and waved somebody over. The server brought over some menus and promised she’d be back in minute to take drink orders.

“Ooo, look at that! A whole rack of flavored syrups!” Pinkie said. She paused and frowned. “But they’re so little.”

“They’ll bring you more if we run out,” Molly said, examining her menu. “Or you can always take one from an empty table.”

Dresden folded his menu and sighed. “I hope it doesn’t hurt your feelings, but I’m really in the mood for something savory. I’m going to get a combo with plenty of meat.”

Everyone glanced back and forth, confused. “Dresden,” Twilight began, “why would that hurt our feelings? We may not eat meat, but we have, ah… neighbors that do. So long as you aren’t eating anything intelligent or making animals suffer unnecessarily, then we won’t judge.”

“Yeah, just don’t ask me to try any,” Dash joked, then picked her menu back up. “I dunno about you guys, but I want an omelette.”

“Lookie! All-you-can-eat pancakes! If that wasn’t made for me, I don’t know what was!” Pinkie said, licking her lips at the thought. The server returned and everyone gave their drink orders.

Spike slumped slightly. He been through the whole menu and hadn’t seen what he hoped against hope for. “No gems?” he said sadly, checking the ‘combos’ page once more just to be certain.

“You eat gems?” Molly gaped.

“Spike,” Twilight said sternly, then she sighed. “Yes, he does, but from what I  gather, gemstones are far more common where we’re from.”

“Quite so,” Rarity said. “In fact, considering that all of us visiting you unannounced could be something of a financial burden, I took the liberty of bringing a small selection of gemstones from my shop. I thought we could use those to cover the cost of our visit.”

“You’ve complained for years about paying rent and making ends meet,” Sgt. Murphy said, shaking her head in disbelief. “And all this time you’ve had a backdoor to some place where jewels are so common that people eat them.”

“Hey!” Dresden said, raising his hands in protest. “I didn’t exactly have the chance to go digging for diamonds either time I was there. I could have if I really needed to, but that brings up the bigger issues–”

He stopped suddenly as their server bustled up with a tray full of drinks balanced on one hand. “Are you folks ready to order?” she asked as she passed them out.

“Sure. I'll get the Original Buttermilk Pancakes,” Sgt. Murphy said.

Molly took Sgt. Murphy's menu and piled it up with her own. “Double BLT for me.”

“All right. And you, miss?”

Twilight passed her menu to Molly in turn. “The New York Cheesecake Pancakes sound delicious,” she said.

“That one’s my favorite,” the server confided. “And for you?”

“Harvest Grain n’ Nut with the apple topping,” Applejack said. “I’m curious to see how they stack up to Granny Smith’s.”

“I want a cheese omelette,” Dash put in, leaning her chair back on two legs. “But it better have lots of cheese.”

“All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes!” Pinkie burst out on Dash’s heels, her voice a little too loud with excitement.

“And I want the Breakfast Sampler,” Dresden said, practically licking his chops.

“All right then. And you, hon?” the server said, looking to Spike.

“I’ll get the Rooty Tooty Fresh n’ Fruity Pancakes,” he said. Long ago, he had noticed a positive correlation between how ridiculously a food was named and how tasty it was. The Cakes’ MMMM was a prime example.

“And which topping?” she asked. “Whipped cream, peaches, strawberries, or cinnamon apple compote?”

“Oh, uh, whipped cream is fine,” Spike said.

“I shall have the raspberry and peach pancakes,” Rarity stated primly. “A short stack, if you please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The girl looked expectantly at Fluttershy. “And for you, miss?” she prompted after a moment.

“Um, I’d like the strawberry-banana pancakes, please. Thank you very much.”

“You got it. Can I bring you anything else while you wait?” Everyone shook their heads. “All right. My name’s Mabel, if you need anything.”

Dresden watched her go, then leaned forward to put his elbows on the table and went back to what he was saying. “So, anyway. Without proof of where I suddenly came up with a bunch of jewels, just about any legitimate dealer would assume they were stolen or smuggled. That means I’d have to go underground to sell them, and that means dealing with Marcone’s people.”

Spike frowned at that. He didn’t remember Dresden ever mentioning this ‘Marcone’ in any of his letters, but if he lived underground and dealt in jewels, he must be something like a Diamond Dog. Spike disliked him instantly.

“And if I started trading in gems regularly, those same people would start wondering where I got them. I’m good at sneaking around the city, but it wouldn’t be hard to tail me out of town, and that throws the whole ‘secrecy’ thing out the window.”

Sgt. Murphy considered that and nodded. “Makes sense, but I doubt you’re ready to foot their room and board for a week out of your own pocket. As long as it doesn’t involve anything illegal, one sale shouldn’t put anyone at risk.”

Dresden grunted. “It’ll hurt my pride, but better that than my wallet. We’ll go see one of Marcone’s people in the morning.”

“I’m sorry to cause you such discomfort, Mr. Dresden,” Rarity put in. “I truly thought gemstones would pass for currency practically anywhere.”

“Don’t worry,” Murphy said with a wicked little smirk. “He’ll live. His pride could use a little deflating.”

The server brought the plates out on a huge platter a few moments later, stifling any reply, and then everyone was too busy eating to talk. Mostly.

“Do we have to use these?” Applejack asked as she fumbled with her silverware, glaring at it. “I get that y’all’s flat faces ain’t the best for eatin’ like normal folk, but I reckon I can manage just fine with my hands.”

Molly stared at her flatly. “If you’re okay with getting your hands sticky and, no offense, looking like a slob, then go for it.”

“Thanks!” Applejack said brightly, shoving her fork and knife away from her.
Pinkie went through her first stack of pancakes like a buzzsaw and sent the server back for more almost as soon as the poor girl had stepped away. Syrup flowed in steady streams up and down the table, and Sgt. Murphy wore an expression that could only be called jealousy.

“How any of you keep those figures is beyond me. You supernatural types have all the luck,” she said, but that didn’t stop her from drowning her own pancakes in strawberry sauce. Everyone set to work on their plate of food, or plates in Pinkie’s case, and before too long the table was finished.

“So,” Twilight said, carefully dabbing away a spot of jam with her napkin, “four at Miss Murphy’s, two at Molly’s, and Spike is going with Dresden? How do we want to decide who goes where?”

“I want to hang with Murphy for the night,” Dash said, grinning widely and nodding towards the sergeant. “You’ve still got plenty of those eye-key-dough moves to show me.”

Sgt. Murphy gave a small eye roll. “Aikido, but that’s fine with me.  I’ve only got one guest bed, but it’s a double, and I have a couple of couches.”

“We’ve only got the one couch, and our family’s guest bed is a twin.” Molly shrugged. “Still, with all the kids and beds in our house we could probably scare up another one if nobody wanted the couch.”

“You live with a big family?” Applejack asked. “Shoot, I don’t mind taking a couch.. Be pretty interestin’ to see how big families here compare to the Apple family.”

“Lots of kids?” Pinkie exclaimed, licking clean her tenth plate. She’d stolen at least two of every kind of syrup bottle from the nearby tables in the process. “Count me in! This will be super fun!” Molly stared, and Spike chuckled. Molly’s family was going to get more than they’d bargained for after all the sugar Pinkie had just downed.

“That settles that,” Rarity said, taking a sip of her tea. She’d been disappointed to find that IHOP served it in a coffee mug instead of a proper teacup, but she was drinking it anyway. “I wouldn’t mind a quiet night at Sgt. Murphy’s. After all the walking we’ve done today, my– erm, ‘feet’ are killing me.”

Sgt. Murphy nodded. “I’ve got work in the morning, so I’ll drop all of you off at Dresden’s about seven thirty and you can figure out the hotel situation from there.” She fixed Dresden with an icy glare. “And you and I can have a talk about all this.” Dresden winced, and gave her a sheepish smile.

Twilight gave a small cough, her face set in hard lines, and got Sgt. Murphy’s attention. “I’d like to remind you that Dresden only did what we asked. Given the kind of supernatural threats of which you’re aware, is it surprising that we asked him to keep us a secret?”

“No,” Sgt. Murphy retorted, “but I don’t appreciate being forced to fly blind when my job is protecting this city. I trust Dresden when he says you aren’t a threat, but I’d like to have that trust reciprocated instead of being shut out.”

Twilight chewed that over. “That’s… understandable,” she admitted, but didn’t say anything more.

“Anyway, let’s get going,” Dresden said. “It’s a school night, and we’ve got plenty to do in the morning.”

“But I haven’t had all I can eat,” Pinkie whined, pouting.

“If we waited on that, we’d be here half the night, sugarcube.” Applejack chuckled. Pinkie shrugged, but her expression said that Applejack wasn’t wrong, and she got up to follow everyone.

“Thanks,” Pinkie said cheerfully to the shellshocked server that had barely kept pace with her. “That was de~lish!” She dug around in her hair and brought out a small sapphire that she flipped to her to cover the tip.

Night in Chicago was surprisingly bright. There were lamps or whatever on tall poles all around. Some of them were softly illuminated, but most cast a harsh glare that made the shadows around them stand out even more. Out in the ‘parking lot’, everyone exchanged hugs and Twilight reminded everyone to behave themselves. Spike understood why she gave Pinkie a look to go with the warning, but for some reason Twilight included him too. Still, glare or not, this was exciting. He’d never been to an all-guy sleepover before. Even if it was just the two of them.

Molly, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie got out at a neat looking little house. Pinkie was almost shaking with excitement, and Molly was looking more and more like she regretted her decision. She gave Dresden one last despairing look, but he just shook his head. “You chose this path, Padawan. Now you have to live with it.”

She flinched at that, but leaned in. “Okay, so we’re still working on your say-so, but she is safe, right?”

Dresden chucked. “She’s fine, but a little excited. Applejack should help you keep her under control; that girl has a good head on her shoulders.”

Molly bit her lip. “Yeah, but…”

“Aw, shucks,” Applejack said, slapping her hand onto Molly’s shoulder and staggering the girl for a second. “I know what it’s like, lookin’ out for your family. Pinkie and I are a mite odd, I won’t deny that, but we don’t mean no harm. I promise. Right, Pinkie?” She glanced beside her to find that Pinkie was missing.

“Come on, come on,” she whined, standing by the front door already. She fidgeted in place like a little filly that needed the bathroom.

Molly sighed. “Fine, make yourselves at home. Just let me dig out my front door key…”

“Woo-hoo! IT’S PARTY TIME!” Pinkie shouted, throwing open the front door of Molly’s house. Then she dove in. There was the sound of panicked shouting from within, accompanied by sugar-fueled maniacal laughter.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Dresden said. “Try to keep your mom from killing her, or we’ll have an interdimensional incident on our hands. See you tomorrow.”

Dresden raced – well, scooted – off into the night as Molly and Applejack sprinted into the house. Spike could have sworn he heard Dresden mumble under his breath, “Suspect the worst of me, will they? Those chickens are coming home to roost.” Spike was certain he must have misheard, because there wasn’t anything to do with chickens in this situation.

Spike tried to strike up a conversation, but Dresden seemed focused on something else. All of his replies were one syllable. Spike figured he must have a lot on his mind and shrugged. Instead, he watched the Chicago scenery go by, struck again by just how much of it there was. You could fit all of Ponyville into one of the parks so long as you didn’t include any farmland.

As it turned out, Dresden didn’t have a house.

He had a lair.

“This is so cool,” Spike said, throwing himself onto the old, cushy couch.

Dresden snorted. “This might be the first time my place has impressed anyone, ever.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’ll be in the lab, working on a case. There’re plenty of books and a few comics if you’re bored. I think there’s still some ice cream in the ice box, too. You can help yourself there. Thomas, my roommate, hasn’t been home most nights of the past week. He normally takes the couch, but he shouldn’t need it. If he shows up, tell him to take it up with me.”

Spike stopped bouncing, and his face fell. “We aren’t going to hang out? Even if you’ve got work, I could help! I’m Twilight’s number one assistant for a reason.”

“Thanks, but unless you can do my brand of magic or have some kind of dragon tracking ability, it’s better that I work alone. Besides, I’d hate to work you on your vacation.”

“I guess,” Spike said. Dresden nodded and went over to a corner, lifting up a rug and revealing a trap door – an actual secret trap door – and disappeared into his ‘lab’ down below. Totally a lair. He just needed some of Twilight’s science stuff and a secret entrance and he would be just like one of those brooding anti-heroes that were all the rage in today’s comics. That Thomas guy was probably his sidekick.

“Speaking of which,” Spike said, wandering over to a couple of over stuffed bookshelves. He clucked his tongue looking at the state of most of Dresden’s paperbacks. Twilight would have a fit if she saw these. His comics looked like they were in better condition. “Spider-Man, huh? Looks like he’s got a lot of these. Let’s see how human heroes stack up.”

………

Some days Officer Pearson regretted becoming a state trooper. Most often during the summer, when every one of Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes seemed full of mosquitoes. It wasn’t summer right now. September was usually that perfect time of the year, when the bugs of summer had died down but the frigid winter wasn’t here just yet. There was a crisp sort of perfection to the autumn woods, especially this far from major cities. Today should’ve been a day that Officer Pearson could enjoy.

“But no,” he mumbled under his breath, following an old logging trail into the deeper parts of the forest near town. “I have to be stuck out here dealing with this bullshit. ‘I swear I saw a snake, Chief Saunders. It was big enough to make off with my dog.’ Hmph.” If Austin wasn’t the Chief’s nephew there was no way he’d have been taken seriously. And now poor old Officer Pearson was out here on a snipe hunt for no better reason than he didn’t look busy enough when the Chief glanced into the room.

It was late afternoon, but a chill wind was starting to blow. Officer Pearson shivered slightly, and glared at the surrounding woods. He’d spend another hour looking, but then he was going back. Stupid assignment. This kind of thing should be Animal Control’s job anyway.

There was a rasping movement through forest, stirring the underbrush. He stopped and unholstered his pistol. It was probably nothing, but he didn’t want to be unprepared if a coyote or a wolf decided to attack him. He noticed distantly that the faint bird song of the forest had stopped. Everything was dead silent.

Officer Pearson swallowed nervously, and began to back slowly away, keeping his pistol trained on the area where he had heard the rustling come from. He glanced back to make sure he wasn’t about to walk into anything. When his eyes snapped back, he almost dropped his gun in shock.

There was a snake rearing up out of the bushes beside the trail. It was as thick around as an anaconda, and it was holding its head almost high enough to look him in the eye. Maybe Austin hadn’t just been telling tales. Only, this thing wasn’t really a snake. The head was too wide, the mouth filled with row upon row of teeth, and it had six eyes, three on each side. Bat-like wings stretched out from its back and a pair of stubby little arms or legs grasped the branches beside it.

Whatever it was, its body language said one thing clearly. It considered him dinner. Officer Pearson lined up his shot and stopped his hands from shaking. The gun went off with a roar, and the creature screamed and fell back into the bush. Officer Pearson stayed where he was, neither running or advancing. It probably wasn’t dead, and wounded animals were dangerous to approach. Running would just mark him as a target. Instead, he slowly backed away, never taking his eyes off where he had last seen it.

The underbrush rustled again, this time accompanied by a low pitched growl. That scream must have been more anger than pain. He kept his gun trained, but the thing suddenly shot out from under the bush, moving faster than he would have believed possible. It covered the distance in a sinuous motion that threw off his aim. He squeezed the trigger smoothly several times, then started jerking it frantically as the thing closed, but his shots just threw up soil and leaves around the creature, and then it was on him. It didn’t so much slam into him as clamber up his body, overbearing him with its weight and driving him to the ground. The gun went flying from his hand in the struggle. He tried to shove it off, but its stubby arms latched onto his shoulders and dug their claws in deep. Officer Pearson howled in pain and his arms lost all their strength.

Six eyes met his own, and suddenly the pain from his shoulders was nothing. There was a weird mental pressure on him, a relentless tide battering against his mind. It pressed on him for a moment, then broke through like a pick-ax to the skull. A breathless scream trailed out of him as memories and thoughts were torn to pieces, gobbled down like scraps of meat. Ghostly sounds and images began to flash before his eyes, meaningless. It eventually stopped, but far too late; he felt hazy, thoughts slipping through his fingers almost as soon as they formed. As the light began to die in his eyes, the creature started to change. Three eyes merged into one, scales smoothed into dirty ghost white skin, and stringy red hair grew from its scalp as the mouth and jaw shrank to human proportions.

The creature that crouched over him would have passed for a young woman that had once been pretty, but had spent the last few years strung out on meth and physically abused. Ribs poked from beneath tight-drawn skin, and she had nothing in the way of breasts. If she weren’t completely naked, he might never have realized she was a woman. Officer Pearson thought it was odd that his last moments should end in a haze of hallucinations, but it was probably better than feeling whatever that snake-creature was doing to his body for real.

“My, my,” she said smacking her lips as though she had just enjoyed something tasty. “You apes have done well for yourselves in my absence, haven’t you?” She locked eyes with him and he felt himself slipping away, the afternoon sunlight growing dim around him. “Shhh… don’t struggle. This is simply the… circle of life. The natural order. You’ve served your purpose.”

Everything was dark. He couldn’t feel his legs. Or his arms. Or anything, really.

“After all, meat is best when it’s fresh.”