The Dresden Fillies: Great Power

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.

Thresholds typically need years if not decades to get going, but humanity has always been good at finding loopholes. And pretty early on we realized that the easiest way to drum up a powerful threshold fast was building a church or temple or whatever. The specific religion didn’t really matter all that much so long as you had a core group of people that truly, deeply believed in whatever the church preached. Of course, the bigger the group and the more devout their belief, the stronger the threshold, but even a small village with a new building could keep out minor supernatural predators. Not so much other humans, but that was a different problem.

Saint Mary of the Angels had served thousands of Catholic families for almost a hundred years in addition to being a brick monster of a building. It had a threshold that surpassed even the strongest home. Plus, given that a Knight of the Cross regularly worshiped here, I’d be shocked if there wasn’t at least one literal angel watching the grounds.

I wasn’t expecting Miss Dense to suddenly come back and attack us, but even so, it just made sense to regroup here before we set out. I wasn’t particularly religious – there was too much wrong with the world for me to believe that any ‘creator’ was particularly wise or merciful – but I’d take whatever allies I could get.

And if Lasciel was quiet whenever I visited a church, then that was just a bonus.

“My host?”

Usually quiet, at least.

I was pacing in the antechamber, waiting for Thomas to arrive. The ponies were in the backrooms of the church with Father Forthill and Michael, who (surprise, surprise) had been here already.

She appeared before me, clad in the same toga as usual. But her bearing was less sure, less confident than it usually was. She typically looked and acted like she had all the answers, but now her eyes were downcast and she seemed subdued.

I glanced to make sure there was nobody around before I replied. “Careful there, Lasciel. Bump into the holy water by accident and you might just disappear.”

She rolled her eyes at me and swept her arm straight through the baptismal fount. The water didn’t even ripple at her passing. “Please, you know more than well enough at this point that this form is nothing more than an illusion.”

“And if I dropped the coin in there?”

Lasciel smiled wryly. “I could teach you to call it to your side if that is what you wished to do, my host.” But there was no real energy to her pitch. She already knew what I’d say.

I snorted and shook my head. “If it were that simple you jokers would’ve been exorcised a long time ago. But that’s neither here, nor there. What are you here for? Do you have any tantalizing tidbits about the Dragon we’re fighting?”

She paused as though she hadn’t considered that, which was odd, but then began speaking. “Yes. Her name is Ouroboros, the eldest of Dragons,” she replied.

I frowned, “I thought Ferrovax was the oldest Dragon around.”

“So did he. Until I saw her earlier I would have thought so also. As far as anyone knew, she was locked away thousands of years ago by the united efforts of both Fae Courts. Left to wither and fade until the stars grew cold,” Lasciel sighed softly. “I will be of little help to you, my host. Most of what I know of her has passed into myth and legend at this point and scarcely applies to your present difficulties. Were she still the beast I recall, you’d already be dead.”

“That’s hardly encouraging,” I told her flatly.

She gave me a small smile. “That you are still here should offer some measure of hope, then. Ouroboros appears greatly weakened by her imprisonment, even if she is regaining power quickly.” Her smile disappeared. “But there is something else I wished to tell you…”

Lasciel trailed off, hesitation in her body language before she straightened her back. Even after seeing her hand pass through solid stone it was hard to remember that I was looking at an illusion, only seeing what she wanted me to. She could seem so real, so genuine sometimes.

“I think you were correct to turn down Twilight’s advances.”

That wasn’t the last thing I’d thought she’d say, but it definitely made the top ten. “I’m sorry, what? We’re facing a creature out of myths more ancient than most religions and you’re trying to counsel me on my love life?”

Lasciel didn’t answer for a moment. She stared at the other end of the church. There was nobody present. Nobody praying in the pews or taking care of the altar, which gave the scene a solemn sort of loneliness. Dressed stonework stood beside delicately sculpted statues. Painted scenes of divine figures were lit by the sinking sun, filtered through stained glass in a rainbow of colors. It was a scene of beautiful serenity and I had to wonder what a Fallen Angel, even the Shadow of one, thought about when looking at it.

For all that I don’t put much stock in religion, it drove people to create some of the most inspired art the world has ever seen.

Eventually she answered. “Yes, for all that it seems foolish now that you point it out. Perhaps I’m just glad that I don’t have to share you.”

I had a wealth of reasons not to date Twilight. Everything from her species to her age to the fact that we lived in two different dimensions. But hearing Lasciel approve my decision for that reason was more than a little chilling. She’d seen firsthand the kind of power Twilight and her friends could bring to bear. Was she genuinely afraid of what might happen if I had accepted Twilight into my life? And if so, what did that mean?

“Afraid that True Love’s kiss would’ve broken your hold? That I’d be free of you?” I went for snark, but somehow my heart wasn’t into it.

For only a heartbeat there was an expression on her face that was a layered combination of shock, sadness, and… pain. But then it was gone and in its place was a mask of cold civility. “If you truly believe so, then perhaps you should call her back and tell her that you’ve reconsidered. I apologize for appearing before you without your direct permission, my host. Should you require my aid, you need only ask.”

And she vanished.

Those expressions had been fake, the hint of a tear in her eye was part of her illusion. The slight trembling in her voice as she gave me the cold shoulder was just what she wanted me to hear. I still remembered the taste of her lips when she was pretending to be ‘Sheila’ even though they hadn’t been any more real than the rest of her appearance.

I knew it was all fake, all a way to tempt me into caring about her, listening to her, and eventually taking up the coin.

But there was a part of me that didn’t care. A part that wanted it to be real so much that it hurt.

Which, I reminded myself, is the whole point in the first place.

I don’t know how long I stood there and watched where she’d vanished, but eventually the door to the church opened, breaking my reverie. Thomas looked tired, but none worse for the wear. Unlike Red and Black Court vampires, the White Court were human enough to enter a church. How much of his Hunger’s power he could draw on was a different question, but the powerful threshold didn’t even slow his stride.

“You look tense,” he said, quietly. “I’m guessing that this isn’t over just yet. Is it another bomb? More ghouls?”

“I wish. Walk with me.”

Thomas frowned. “Did Ortega Jr. get away? You’re being awful cagey.”

I glanced around again just to make certain no old ladies looking to pray had wandered in while I was spaced out, but the church was still empty. “Lara mentioned the creature at Navy Pier, right?”

The frown transformed into a scowl. “No, can’t say that she did.”

Odd. But maybe she was being petty. Or just hadn’t wanted Thomas distracted from whatever skullduggery she’d set him on.

“Long story short, me, Michael and the new girls tangled with something on Navy Pier. It was working for Ortega Jr. at the time, but turns out it’s actually an ancient Dragon that was lying low, prepping for a comeback. It was waiting at the second bomb location and snatched one of the girls. We think it’s going to force her to let it into their country so it can wreak havoc there.”

My strides were long and quick, so we were already out of the main area of the church and into its back hallways, but Thomas didn’t have any trouble keeping up.

“Empty Night, Harry. It can’t ever be something simple, can it?” he jokingly complained. Then he paused. “You said ‘their country’. I was a little too distracted when we first met to ask, but just who are these girls?”

I grimaced. “Okay, now this part gets a little weird–”

“This part gets weird?”

“– but it turns out that the Nevernever connects Earth to other dimensions. The girls are from another reality that I accidentally stumbled across when I got lost a few years ago. I helped save their friend from a demon-possessed sorceress and we’ve traded letters ever since. They decided to visit me for vacation and chaos ensued.”

Thomas looked pensive. “So you’re telling me those are their natural hair colors? Did you open a portal into some kind Japanese cartoon world?”

Now it was my turn to be confused. “You’re taking this awfully well.”

“I’ve been to the Nevernever,” he said with a snort. “You could tell me the Evil Goatee universe from Star Trek was somewhere in there, and I’d take your word for it.”

We came to a stop in front of an old wooden door. I could faintly hear the chatter of young women talking beyond, with the occasional deeper voice of Michael or Father Forthill adding to the discussion. “Well, that makes things simpler at least. The issue is that we mean to rescue that girl from the Dragon, so I’m gathering a posse. All the girls are combat-experienced, and Michael’s onboard. I was hoping you would join.”

Thomas’s face clouded with shadows. “Harry,” he began, then stopped. After a moment he resumed. “I’m grateful you trust me that much and I want to help, but I don’t think you realize how tempting those girls were. Even being on guard and aware, they would be a constant distraction. And that’s not even mentioning what could happen if I get damaged in the fight and my Hunger needs to recharge.” Fingers that could bend steel were digging into his palms enough to draw faintly pink blood. “You might have to save them from me, if I went with you.”

“I get it. It’s hard, but I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t trust you. And we’ve taken steps to help. You won’t be tempted by them this time.” I paused. “Or you shouldn’t at least.”

“You don’t get it,” he bit out, his features hard. “You think because we’re in a church or you dressed them modestly it’ll help? You could stuff them in a burlap sack and it wouldn’t change a thing.”

Seeing was believing, so rather than argue with him further, I just twisted the knob and shoved the door. The sound of it opening got the attention of everyone inside and they all turned to look at us. Except Spike, who was still unconscious, and Twilight, who was absorbed in her papers. Two adult men, one young woman and four multicolored little ponies all stared at my brother and me.

“Now,” I told him, trying not to laugh. “If you still find them so ravishingly beautiful that you can’t help yourself, I understand. We’ll leave you off the team.”

Thomas let out a long, low sigh. “You’re a real dick. You know that?” But there was relief in his voice as he said it. There were a lot of things you could call my brother, but it was a relief to see firsthand that at least he wasn’t as big of a pervert as Bob.

Twilight finally looked up, her brows still furrowed in concentration. “I’m glad you’re here, please get whatever gear you plan to bring with you and return immediately. I’m going to need precise dimensions and weight for this teleport to go as smoothly as possible.”

“Teleport?” Thomas suddenly looked apprehensive.

I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ve done it before and it won’t kill you. But you might lose your lunch if her calculations are off so I’d do what she says.”

He gave me a long-suffering look. “Fine, I’ll grab the rest of my gear out of my car. Be right back.” He made good on his promise and hightailed it back the way he came, but before I could enter the room the sole human female threaded her way over to me.

“Harry,” Molly said, fidgeting awkwardly. “Can we talk?”

That made me raise an eyebrow, but I somehow managed to refrain from cracking a joke. “Sure, Molly. I’m pretty sure Father Forthill has an office around here somewhere.” I shut the door behind me so no casual passersby got an eyeful of several alien horses and moved down the hall toward one of the many offices that lined it.

“So…” I drawled once we were alone. “What do we need to talk about?”

Molly dove straight into it. “You need to convince my Dad that I should come with all of you. He said I should stay here!”

For a long moment I didn’t reply. “And what makes you think he’s wrong?”

A bright red flush spread across her cheeks, but give her credit, Molly mastered her emotions and the blush receded almost as quickly as it had arrived. “I’m your apprentice, of course I need to be with you! You have to give me a chance to prove myself.”

I didn’t have to do anything, but I didn’t press Molly on that at the moment. Instead, I leaned back against the wall and stared at her. We had already Soulgazed, so that wasn’t a concern, but even so, she could only meet my stare for so long before she had to look away.

“You’ve been my apprentice for less than a year. I’ll admit that you’re older than most first-year apprentices, but even so most wizards don’t take their apprentices into battle until they’re full-fledged wizards in their own right, and even those apprentices that go have several years of experience.” I softened my voice to something less severe. “It’s dangerous, Molly. Dangerous enough that we cannot afford to have anyone who isn’t absolutely essential there. Will and Georgia aren’t going. Why should you?”

She hemmed and hawed and made excuses about how helpful she would be, but I think she knew as much as I did that this wasn’t a genuine attempt to help. It was a way to patch her ego after how useless she’d been when the ghouls ambushed her and the girls outside the mall.

I remained silent until eventually she ran out of steam. Then I stayed quiet for a moment more just to let the gravity of the situation sink in.

“If I’m going to let you come with us,” I started, and I could see the hope flare in her eyes, “then you’ll need to pass a test.” That hope quickly transformed into wary concern. Good, at least I’d taught her that much. “You have to promise me; you have to swear on your Power that you’ll stay here if you fail. But if you succeed, you can come with us.”

Molly bit her lower lip and sucked in a quick breath. “Is it a fair test?”

I couldn’t help laughing. She really was picking up what it meant to be a wizard. “As fair as I can make it.” I promised her. “And I’ll swear to that on my Power if I need to.”

Eventually, she nodded. “I, Molly Carpenter, do swear upon my Power to abide by the test my Master has posed and to stay here in Chicago if I fail.” I could feel the power of her Oath wrap in upon itself. Which was good, since the last thing I needed was her disrupting Twilight’s teleport by sneaking into the circle while invisible. I nodded in approval and pulled out the item I had prepared.

I’d been expecting something like this for weeks so I’d made something that was a near replica to what Ebenezar had tortured me with as a dumb teenager.

Molly stared curiously as I revealed a plain string of thirteen glass beads.

“The test is simple. Lift the beads from the bottom of the string to the top using magic. No workarounds, no tricks, no flipping the string upside-down. If you can’t lift each and every bead then you fail.”

She stared at the string and smiled. It had been a few weeks since we’d covered levitation, but she still felt confident. Same as I’d been at that age.

I gave her the string and she held it vertically, so the beads hung at the end with a scant few inches separating them from the knot at the top. Molly licked her lips and focused on the beads, shutting out the rest of the world around her. She lifted one in only a couple of seconds, and the second one followed almost as quickly. But by the third bead the effort was clearly wearing on her. It moved slowly, crawling up the string as sweat beaded on her brow. It finally clicked into place behind the second bead, but the fourth bead only trembled for a second before all of them collapsed.

“It’s decided then,” I said. “You’ll stay here.”

“Wait! Wait! Give me another chance! I know I can do it! I lifted stuff way heavier than these before.”

I sighed. “Listen. If you aren’t ready, you aren’t ready. Keep the beads and practice, but you aren’t coming today.” I paused a second then added “You swore on your Power. Don’t take that lightly or you won’t be a wizard for long.”

Nobody wants to be told they’re sulky, but there honestly wasn’t a better word for Molly’s expression. “This is so unfair. There has to be some kind of trick to it.” Her eyes flickered to me and I could practically hear her thoughts. I hadn’t actually sworn on my Power that the test was fair even though I’d offered to.

I reached out for the bracelet and she reluctantly handed it over. I dangled it in front of her, thought about the lessons I’d learned as a teenager, about my time fighting evil, and most of all why I was about to square off against an Elder Dragon, a creature so far out of my League that I was barely fit to play ball boy against it. All thirteen beads zipped up one after the other with barely a pause between them.

“I guess it really is that easy,” Molly said, definitely not sounding jealous.

I gave her a hollow chuckle as I handed back the bracelet. “It’s never easy, Molly. But nothing worth doing ever is. Practice, Padawan. Nobody becomes a Jedi overnight.”

We rejoined the group in time to see Twilight sizing up my brother, taking a variety of measurements for both him and his gear. That was expected. The presence of the small blonde cop in the corner wasn’t.

I made my way over to her, accepting a warm cookie that Pinkie pressed into my hand as I passed her (though I hadn’t gotten the faintest idea how she’d gotten access to the church’s oven) and leaned against the wall, casually glancing down at my good friend Sgt. Murphy. “I hope Marcone and Lara kept things quiet enough that Chicago PD wasn’t getting too many calls,” I said.

She gave me an even stare and that made me worry.

If she had been here to yell at me for not telling her about the gas bombs until after the fact, then I’d have understood. If she was calm because she understood my reasoning, then why was she here? And if she was angry, even coldly angry, then I should have been able to read it somewhere in her expression.

“There were scattered reports of ‘unusual noises’ in a few neighborhoods,” she recited mechanically, “but no confirmed gunshots and no established claims of personal or property damage.” She reached slightly up to poke my chest with a finger. “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

“Put it on my tab,” I told her. “Things went from zero to one hundred really quickly today and I didn’t have the time to call everyone.”

That earned me an actual scowl. “Bullshit, Harry. You had enough time to get Marcone and the vampires involved. You could have spared the thirty seconds it took to give me a call.” She lowered her voice. “My demotion wasn’t your fault. Don’t be afraid to let me be involved.”

I fought not to flinch and I don’t think I succeeded all that well . “Dammit, Murph. I wasn’t gonna send you and your people into a ghoul’s nest. Especially not one where you’d have to explain the presence of several canisters of nerve gas to your superiors.” Her face went professionally blank at that and I realized that she hadn’t been quite as clued in as I’d just assumed. “I don’t think, ‘I got an anonymous tipoff’ would have held up once Homeland Security got involved and started asking questions.”

There was a moment of silence that stretched between us. Broken only when Murphy took in a deep breath and then let it out in a long sigh.

“I hate it when you keep things from me, Harry,” she said, her expression grim. “The only thing I hate more than that is knowing that sometimes you’re right.”

I gave her a sidelong glance. “So that does that mean I’m off the hook?”

She let out a breathless laugh. “Only on one condition.” She paused and nodded to Twilight and the growing pile of scribbled pages. “I’m coming with.”

The phrase ‘The Hell you are’ made it as far as the back of my mouth before my better sense choked it dead only moments before I said it out loud. Instead I gave it a moment’s thought and tried a more diplomatic approach. “I don’t know if anyone told you, but this isn’t exactly going to be a summer picnic. We’re hunting an actual, factual Dragon. It will take a miracle for all of us to survive, much less win.”

“Which I’m assuming is why you brought Michael,” she replied, gesturing to the man praying in the corner of the room. Molly was kneeling with him, although I suspected her lips were moving more out of rote memory than any particular devotion at the moment.

“I’m not joking. This thing’s scales are so thick that a pistol may as may be a squirt gun. Even your fancy Belgian gun won’t make her itch. There’s no shame in sitting this one out, Murph.”

Murphy didn’t respond in words.

She responded by pulling the sheet off of something that had been leaning against the wall next to her. I had noticed it of course, but this was a room cluttered with a lot of things and I had assumed it was a mop or some curtain rods. Maybe a some kinda fancy Catholic candle stand.

It was not a candle stand.

It was a gun almost as tall as Murphy.

“This is a Barrett M82 anti-material rifle. It’s a semi-automatic rifle that can accurately shoot a 50 caliber round over a mile. In WWII they would’ve called it an anti-tank rifle.” She took her attention away from the gun to glance at me for a second. “I call mine, ‘Harry’.”

I belatedly realized the entire room had fallen silent and everyone was looking at us. And I felt like I had to ask. “Because…”

“Because it’s also a huge pain in my neck.”

That earned her a smattering of chuckles, but the biggest reaction was a frustrated sigh from Twilight as she tore out a page of notes, made them vanish in a flash of heatless fire, and gestured for Murphy to approach her table.

The woman in question ignored her for the moment. “Trust me, I’ve got no intention of being a hero. I’ve got every intention of camping underneath the best illusion one of you mages can cook up and shooting that bitch anywhere she doesn’t have scales until we get Rainbow back.” She quirked an eyebrow at me. “So, am I on the team, coach?”

I nodded to her, suppressing a chuckle. “Decision has already been taken outta my hands,” I said, gesturing to the impatient unicorn and her levitating pens. “Just get your ass in motion and promise me you won’t take any stupid risks.”

Her grin was self-satisfied to say the least, “You mean other than following you?”

“Just cuz all the cool kids are doing it doesn’t mean you need to join in.”

She laughed as she lugged her ridiculous rifle over her shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. Next you’ll tell me the Surgeon General has put out a warning that it’ll get me killed some day.”

I said nothing as she got all of her particulars sorted out with Twilight. Partly because she’d more than proven her point. And partly because I was afraid she’d be proven all too right.

I just hoped it wouldn’t be today.

………

It may have taken her a bit time and about three notebooks, but you’ve got to give her this: Twilight’s fully prepared teleport was miles ahead of the rough jumps she usually did. My sight blurred for only a moment between the scene of St. Mary’s backrooms before the small parking lot of the cave near Snake’s Bend focused into view.

Twilight had re-assured me that even if there was something occupying our target location, the magic would gently push it aside as we arrived. The single car in the parking lot, an old beat-up sedan, was shoved back a few inches so I don’t know how ‘gentle’ it would’ve been on a person, but fortunately we didn’t need to find out.

Nobody was in the car, but I wouldn’t have been worried even if there were. Unless we hit the catastrophically bad odds of arriving in front of an actively filming news crew, it wasn’t like anybody would believe someone who claimed to see us. Hell, once upon a time there had been a video of me killing a werewolf on camera and most people just complained that the special effects were lousy.

“Wowee, that was slick, Twilight!” Pinkie announced, as proudly as if she’d taught Twilight herself.

Twilight let out a quiet puff of breath and I got the impression that she was trying not to roll her eyes. “Thanks, Pinkie. The spell is much easier when you have a definite start and end point in mind and the ability to set all of the variables in chalk as part of the spell matrix rather than having to make estimates and hold them in mind while casting. It’s much slower, but human magic and its circles have a lot of in-built efficiency.”

“Hey, so long as my stomach isn’t lurching, take as long as you need, Ms. Purple,” Thomas flippantly replied.

“I don’t sense Miss Dense anywhere, but let’s not get overconfident. We need to get in position ASAP.” I gestured to the cave that was our ticket to the Nevernever purely for the benefit of the newcomers in our group.

Michael nodded sagely. “I remember dropping you off here a couple of years ago.” He glanced at the colorful ponies following my lead. “Not that I ever would have guessed what it was in service of.”

The door to the cave was open again and for a moment I was afraid that we’d arrived too late, until I noticed that the only part missing was the lock. “What did you girls do on your way here, melt the lock?”

“Nah,” Applejack supplied. “After a couple minutes a’ lock pickin’ didn’t do it, Twilight just ripped’er right out.” Twilight flushed and glanced away, but it was honestly more patience than I’d have shown.

Unfortunately, an open cave had more consequences than we might have guessed and after only a short walk we soon met the owners of the only car in the parking lot.

“Holy shit, bro. This time it’s purple.”

“And there’s one with a cowboy hat.”

“What about the white one? I really like her mane…”

A small group of what I hoped were legal adults were laying around the cave floor of the area where the gate to the Nevernever desert was. I couldn’t tell you what their substance of choice was, but I knew for a fact that they weren’t just high on life.

“All right kids, yeah, the pretty ponies are great. Now let’s get all of you out of here before the dragon starts chasing you.”

“Are the rest of you seeing this NBA Clint Eastwood?” one of the local Lotus Eaters asked.

I carefully started counting to ten, but before I even hit seven Murphy had touched my arm and softly murmured “Let me take care of this.” She stepped forward, cleared her throat and pulled out her badge. “I’m Sgt. Murphy of the Chicago PD and I want every one of you to line up for substance testing.”

If I had blinked, I’d have missed how quickly those kids exited stage left.

With a few muttered words I soon opened the rift between dimensions and we were once more in the endless desert that I had trekked multiple times to visit the world of ponies. Once we were all across, Twilight and Fluttershy blinked out of existence. The rest of us were left to trudge our way through the desert at least a mile or so away from the cave entrance so Miss Dense couldn’t just turn tail and flee once we’d sprung our trap. Meanwhile, Twilight had taken everyone’s favorite yellow pegasus to the other exit and shoved her across another dimensional barrier to alert Celestia and collect the Elements of Harmony.

It was a bit of hope on our end that Celestia and Fluttershy would return before Miss Dense showed up, but it was better than letting the oldest Dragon into a world where she could essentially hunt and kill to her heart’s content.

And so we picked our ground and waited. After a few minutes, I felt the unpleasant twinge of my True Name being used again and Twilight popped back beside me. At some point I really needed to tell her just how awful that felt, but for now I was willing to endure it.

“What’s the situation?” Twilight asked almost the moment after she had flashed back.

“Rarity and Murphy are disguised on the ridgeline. Applejack and Thomas are south of the trail, Pinkie and Michael are north, and I’m building another gravity charge to knock that bitch out of the sky the moment she comes within range.”

Twilight glanced at the circle I was outlining in chalk. “I see you’re using some of my notations.”

I shrugged. “What can I say, your command of magic is inspiring even to an old hand like mine.”

She blushed as if I’d just called her the most beautiful girl in the world. Internally, I cursed myself. I had to watch saying things like that. I’d finally convinced her that I cared even if I didn’t love her. It wasn’t fair to lead her on, even if that wasn’t what I had been intending with that comment.

“What do you think our odds are?” Twilight asked as she stared at the horizon.

“Depends,” I answered, focused on finishing my array. Wizards are hell on wheels when it comes to prepared magic. Fae can craft enhancements that last decades and vampires can curse you to death, but when it comes to good old-fashioned earth-shaking magic nobody can craft spells like a wizard. There’s a creativity and flexibility to human spellcasting that lets us do damn near anything, provided we’ve got enough skill and prep time. There’s a reason my mentor was able to satellite-drop the original Ortega’s compound with little more than a telescope and some math.

I didn’t care how much magic she was carrying, Miss Dense still had to pay at least notional homage to gravity, and I was about to multiply her cost to that particular deity ten-fold. “So long as Fluttershy shows up with Celestia and the Elements, I’d be 95% confident that we win.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

I drew the last chalk stroke and shrugged. “I dunno, about 10%?”

Twilight grunted softly.

“Why?”

“Because the dragon is almost here.”