From Outside

Scrape'em Off, Jim

Dan's Comments
DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc., Harry Dresden is the property of Jim Butcher, Carl Kolchak is the property of ABC/Universal Television, Ranma Saotome is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor Jupiter is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

If you had pressed Ranma to say one good thing about his master Happosai, he would without hesitation say 'he does his best to help kids'. For all the old turd's reprehensible habits, tactics, and attitudes, he did his pathetic best to help children in real need when he encountered them.

So the elves Carl had accidently led Ranma to had his blood boiling. Many of the soldiers, politicians and diplomats had their kids together where the changelings couldn't easily get at them. That did mean the elves had one target, and that while invulnerable to changelings, were ill-prepared against elves.

He'd sent Carl off to raise the alarm, while Ranma did what he was best at: attack.

He was running along the ornamental features on the outside of the palace, jumping from balcony to gargoyle to drain channel, as he flanked and got ahead of the elven band.

He was glad the window was ordinary glass when he went through it, there were some pretty, stained-glass windows and he would have hated ruining one. It also had the advantage of shocking the elves enough that he got the first few shots in. The lightning sword that Makoto gave him in dreams worked here just as effectively. Blades and armor parted under its force.

It is getting weaker though, he realized, So it has a charge, or needs to be closer to Makoto. Not a problem this will be over soon.

"They're after the kids!" he shouted to the guards, hoping some of what he was saying got through.

Then the blade changed from bluish, to green-white. Now Ranma smiled at the remaining elves who were tossing spells at him he was parrying with the blade.

Now they're scared, Ranma thought as he went from running ahead of them, to running behind. Although if Ranma had been able to see it, he would have known the real reason the elves had turned and fled. When the blade had recharged Ranma had it in his right hand. But the elves looking at him realized the left side of his face was brilliantly illuminated by it, the right side facing the blade was in total darkness.

Nightmare was making noises like a car trying to start on a cold day.

What's so funny? Sailor Jupiter asked.

Oh, just that when we recharged the lightning sword, I also SNERK gave Ranma protection from CREZITS, ow that hurt, so he'd keep his night vision. Excuse me. BWAHAHA SNORT!

I don't think you answered my question, but on second thought, that's okay, Sailor Jupiter thought, and left Nightmare to her rather painful laughter, 'Love was when I loved you, one true time I hold to. In my life we'll always go on'.

Soldier led a trio of Wonderbolts through the flanking attack on the changeling formation. The spell Lightbulb used, Soldier thought as he beat up a glowing Scholar, which dropped out of the sky as a battered Changeling, Every real changeling glows, makes shapeshift brawls useless. Lose sight of your buddy, he shows up glowing, you beat the shit out of him.

The Wonderbolts were doing the same.

Do not appear as Spitfire to Fleetfoot, Soldier noted as the mare did a number on three changelings with her leader's appearance, Don't know if it's love or hate, but the anger is real.

"Don't kill'em, Celestia wouldn't approve," he shouted at his wingmare.

Fleetfoot looked a little guilty, but then shrugged.

"Help!" Butch shouted, on getting swarmed by Leviathans

Soldier uttered a curse about newly-minted, West Point, know-it-alls and their first firefight. "Time to save the moron." He turned towards the scrum. " 'Bust a cap in somelings ass' MY ass."

The elves had been winnowed down, and Ranma pursued the last few up a spiral staircase. Oh noes, the turns cramp me sword arm! he thought as he changed the lightning blade to the other hand, just in time to stab an elf through the heart.

The figure looked offended as he fell to the ground.

Or is it a she, can't really tell half the time, Ranma thought, Most of them are too pretty and too flat-chested to tell. And none seem to have Adam's Apples.

He'd only made the mistake of chopping one in the throat once. Ranma never repeated a move that didn't work, except as a strategy.

The last one managed to get to the top of the tower and slam the door. Unfortunately, the door could be locked independently from either side, so Ranma would have to burst through it, into whatever trap the elf had set, or figure something out.

Saotome secret technique on the attack, Ranma thought, Never expected to need that.

Then he caught the face in the tower arrow loop, and smiled back at it.

Oh this is too good, he thought as he used the blade to cut the hinges and the bolt, and let the door fall outwards. The elf's spear was instantly where Ranma's face would have been had he charged after the door. Instead the elf was silhouetted against the glow of Shining's shield. "You think you have the high ground," Ranma shouted at him/her/it, "But you underestimate my power!"

"Then try it," said the obvious non-movie buff.

Ranma feinted a leap, and winced as the cast iron frying pan caught the elf in the back of the head. "Good job, Spider," he said and offered a hand to the petitest and cutest of the bronicorns. The poor mare couldn't fly, but she could walk or gallop across any surface, be it a ceiling, a pond or a wire.

She handed/hooved the badly dented pan to Ranma and climbed over the parapet from the outside of the tower. "I figured you'd want me out of the way, but close, until you needed me?"

"Can you teach Akane how to do that?" Ranma asked.

"The girl who couldn't swim because she kept breathing underwater?" the bronicorn mare asked, "Ask for World Peace, it'd be easier."

Ranma sighed, Harry had said much the same thing.

Ranma cocked his head, and noted that Spider was doing the same. They heard, 'Near, far, wherever you are, I believe that the heart does go on.'

"I wish I knew what Makoto-chan was doing with that song," Ranma said.

" 'Chan'?" Spider asked with eyebrows raised, "What would Akane say?"

" 'Baka Ranma!'" they said together, breaking the tension of the moment, they were laughing as they descended the stairs.

Harry must hate being the bearer of bad news, Makoto though as she looked at the diagrams on the map, Dawn is coming, so is the storm.

"Evidently they weren't going after Bruce, they are coming here," Harry told them as he outlined the various null points that indicated the presence of a large elven army.

"While we have the numbers, we don't have the viciousness," Makoto said, and glanced at the various soldierly bronicorns. She'd sent them out in groups of 5 and 10, with twice that number resting in reserve, rotating through the force to keep them fresher.

But everypony is worn, Makoto thought, 'Once more you open the door and you're here in my heart, and my heart will go on and on.' In for a sen, in for a dollar.

"Captain Armor, you and Prince Blueblood coordinate the defense with Mister Dresden, I am surrendering the city to you." She looked at her ally. "Sorry Harry, you and Carl can't fly, so you stay behind. Soldier rouse everyone. Have someone bring Spike. We'll hit them so hard they wind up on Hello Kitty."

"What about you?" Blueblood asked.

"What does a traitor to the crown get in Equestria?" Makoto asked, "Better by an enemy in battle, than by a friend meting out justice."

The ponies looked nervously at each other.

"A fair trial and a chance to defend yourself," Armor said, nods from the others accented his feelings.

"Trial by combat then," Soldier said as the entire force of bronicorns was policed up, and Spike arrived in his basket, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you."

"Celestia would be proud of all of you," Makoto said, swept the small force with her eyes, then transformed into a Nightmare Moonish senshi-alicorn. "Ranma can ride with me, Spider stays with Spike." She smiled. "The Death Ride awaits."

" 'She keeps Moet et Chandon in her pretty cabinet. 'Let them eat cake' she says, just like Marie Antoinette,'" Scholar sang as they headed out.

The formation was a flattened X with Alicorn Sailor Jupiter at the center. The three dragons in a V-formation above and behind them. Ranma was riding Makoto's back, and looking all the directions Makoto couldn't as she kept the formation and watched the null point that Harry had sighted, this one definitely containing an elven army.

"This really isn't to the death is it?" Ranma asked.

The elves going after the kids, I'm only a little guilty about ending them, Ranma thought, But these may just be soldiers who may try to surrender. I'm not okay with just killing them.

"No," Makoto said, "That the odds were so against us, and we went out to die, it'll make it easier for Celestia to pardon us, and we're not there to resist her takeover."

Ah! Ranma thought as he glanced at the null point that Harry had detected, said it was an elven army, at least, inside and that they'd have to fight. As long as I can just beat them into submission, Ranma thought, I'm okay with that.

Right on cue, the distortion of the null point vanished and revealed the elven army. Ranma almost laughed. The flying horses and chariots were clearly not stable or tractable, so most of the elven army looked vaguely airsick. Then he focused on what he'd assumed was a cloud. Others had focused on the cloud first.

"Aw fuck me!"

" 'Game over man, game over!'"

" 'Get to the choppa!'"

"We need a bigger boat."

" 'I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit!'"

" 'We happy few, we band of brothers,'" he heard from Patrick-dragon.

"That's a big dragon," Makoto said, and glanced back at Ranma, "Remember when I said it was all show, it isn't now."

"Yeah," Ranma said, he'd been impressed with Spike, this one was as big, and as mean-looking as the black one on their side. "Never killed a dragon before," he said and loosened up to prepare for the fight, "Drop me on him and I'll ground him."

"Agreed," Makoto said.