From Outside

Equus Ex Machina

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.

Prince Blueblood and Shining Armor were overjoyed to see the safe return of their sovereigns. And their sovereigns were just as overjoyed to be back.

The one who wasn't looking as happy was one Harry Dresden. He felt he was kicking a happy puppy who didn't deserve it. "Your mission went well," he told them, "Discord's hit a snag."

"Why when you say 'snag' I imagine the fabric of reality unwinding?" Luna asked, glanced briefly at the trio of artifacts of evil and corruption that seemed to get no traction on humans, then glanced away, "As much as I enjoyed the battle against Saotome's maddened throng, I did not expect it to be a warmup to the main event."

"As for that, I don't know," Harry said, as he shifted the crystal skull with the weird hat and horn behind his back so he could still talk to them, but not distracted them from his words, "But I do have a solution."

Celestia grinned. "One worthy of Discord no doubt."

That didn't make Harry feel much better about himself, the influence the object might be having on him, or what he was going to reveal.

Makoto normally hated cheaters, but with the world at stake, there was no such thing as cheating. Patrick had disrupted the gate that Galaxia had used to bring in her minions while Ranma had rendered her gate-supporters hors de combat. Galaxia had tried the heart crystal trick, only to discover neither had one.

That had been all the advantage they needed to close the distance. Ranma still bore the lightning sword Makoto had provided him with. Patrick drew a blade that would have looked in place on a medieval battlefield, no frippery or polishing, just a workman-like blade. Both proved equally effective. Galaxia's blade was sheared off and her armor and martial arts couldn't hold off the absolute battering she took from the boys.

Per their plan, Makoto held off some of those rushing to Galaxia's aid, with Spikezilla absolutely incinerating many of the others.

'We'll save you Galaxia!' became the death scream of dozens of these alien senshi, and infuriated their master that she needed saving, and that her vassals had acknowledged she needed saving.

Her armor was ill-fitting now, dented, some plates hanging loose, and what exposed skin there was, was covered with cuts and blood, hers.

Ranma extinguished the blade, ran up behind Galaxia, grabbed her uniform through the gaps in her armor and pulled her off her feet. He couldn't pull it over her head, but Makoto winced at the thought of what the woman had to feel like.

You just made a mistake, Makoto thought as she watched Galaxia fall to the ground and her determined expression change to fury. She briefly ignored Patrick to focus on Ranma who stood tauntingly out of reach. Never defend your dignity, when your life is on the line, Makoto thought as Patrick's dagger slipped between plates in the armpit and struck home.

Galaxia's backhand threw Patrick away like a ragdoll, but the damage was done. As she stood, blood flowed down her leg as the patches of her fuku that could be seen under her armor turned bright red. As she raised her hand, to teleport away, Ranma reignited his blade and raced in. Galaxia's body vanished. Her severed head bounced along the ground toward Patrick, as if seeking some final vengeance on her slayer. Patrick had scrambled out of reach, acknowledging the possibility himself. He approached the head, and disintegrated it.

"A trophy would have been useful, but it's a risk we can't take," he said, finally showing the fatigue he must have felt.

Makoto draped his arm over her shoulder, then added an equally spent Ranma's, and hoisted both to their feet. She half-dragged, half-carried the pair 'who just needed a moment to rest' near the crest of a hill, so they could see the rest of the battlefield.

"Oh," Patrick said of the massive host assailing the position held by the senshi and the two Discords. Overhead, the dragons flew, keeping the position from being enveloped vertically.

"I think I'm gonna need a nap and a lunch break before we fight our way through that," Ranma admitted.

"Are nuclear weapons still off the table?" Patrick asked.

"Can you get just the enemy?" Makoto asked, as dispirited as the two boys.

"No," Patrick admitted.

"Then yes," Makoto said.

Patrick sighed and stared in thought at the host between them and 'Senshi Hill'.

"Why couldn't Galaxia get your heart crystals? If she could have, she would have destroyed you," Makoto asked.

Patrick snorted, then leaned against her and started laughing. Ranma immediately joined him.

Makoto looked at the two hugging her and laughing themselves sick. "What's so funny about that? It's now like you don't have them . . . " Makoto trailed off as she realized the answer, "Oh." She covered her blushing face, but was soon laughing herself.

Discord looked at the situation, his tiring allies, and thought, I've never run from a fight in my life. I've been beaten, in my youth, badly beaten until I grew up, but I never ran from a fight. If I'd done that against the Bearers, I might have done better.

He looked at the waves of faux or aberrant senshi, various monsters, and the few bosses that pressed in on the fortified perimeter the Inners and Outers were maintaining. The last rush had been repulsed at heavy losses to the enemy, and only minor injuries to his force.

But we're all getting tired, Discord thought, I already learned I can't use my powers directly on these creatures. He glanced at Sailor Saturn, little Hotaru who'd saved his life after he'd learned the effect of his powers when directed at the chaos creatures. I don't know what a 'Super Sigh-In' is, it sounds like Celly during a budget meeting, but I don't want to meet another one.

He considered the dragons and bronicorns who had kept the baddies and the battle contained within the bubble even after it went down. I can't bring them back to save me . . . us, and if I move our group, these things may disperse and then it's a hundred battles and they'll be able to take better advantage of their numbers.

He summoned a rock, let it become real, and dropped it on a group who were hanging back during the last attack. They scattered and he only got a few of them. The delay is giving them too much warning, but if I don't let the chaos disparate, it'd be like assaulting Pinkie Pie with cake, he thought, And Sailor Chaos can't even summon his own rocks, anything he conjures has the supercharging effects, so he has to use whatever already exists.

We've buried waves under tides of earth, or in walls of fire, but the targets were senshi, they were injured but only kills count, Discord thought as he studied this new emotion, Despair, knowing I can't win this. Not forever. If we don't beat them here, they'll eventually come for me in my home.

"How are we doing?" Discord asked.

"I could do with some sherbert," Moon said, and laughed as every senshi face-palmed. Discord and Sailor Discord summoned a small dish of sherbert for each of the senshi, then watched the enemy for the inevitable rush. Rather than rush during the small pause that refreshes, the enemy was too busy staring above them and doing little celebrations.

"Warp gates, I thought Jupiter's group defeated Galaxia," Sailor Pluto said, and the others looked up in growing despair at the huge number forming in the sky high above.

"Those aren't chaos-based," Sailor Discord said as if confused.

What poured out of the warp gates were Celestias, Lunas, other Alicorns, Element Bearers, and one, very smug, human wizard riding the skeleton of an immense dragon with wings of lightning. Some of the ponies were more martial, some were more bipedal, some were different genders, some of the Bearers were different, or Celestial and Luna still bore the Elements, there were even a few who weren't ponies. One or two wore the sailor fuku of senshi. But all of them took in the defenders of the hill, and then focused on the hordes of Chaos.

"We are the Equestrian Legion, Earth, Tokyo, and these people are under our protection. Withdraw, or be destroyed," came from dozens of Celestias and a few Day Breakers.

"We are masters here, you are merely children's toys made manifest," Pharaoh 90 told them as he rose to meet them.

Pharaoh 90 became Pharaoh 0.9 as dozens of Lunas, Nightmare Moons, and several Bearer groups fired a blast as unified as the voice of the Legion had been. What was left of the chaos lord lightly dusted the horrified horde as they gazed up at the Legion.

With a scream of rage, nearly a third of the horde hurled themselves at knot of senshi on the hill. The remainder threw themselves on the ground or behind cover.

"Be ready," Sailor Discord shouted.

While the attempt at Shock and Awe hadn't been perfect, the same could not be said of the aimed fire. Perhaps only Discord and the Celestias could have picked out the individual bolts from the corona that formed in front of the embattled senshi and swept back the horde. None of the hordelings came within a dozen yards of the bulwarks the senshi had thrown up to defend themselves. Thunder shook the air as beams the heat of the sun swept through the horde. Within seconds, the killing zone before them had been swept clean of every active hordeling, but those who'd surrendered had been singed at most from the fury of the fusillade.

"Oni," Ranma said as he jogged from well behind the beaten zone and began policing up the surrendered chaos warriors, "Sorry, Ogres."

"Bolos," Patrick corrected as he pointed to the immense land-battleships hovering in the air that had been hiding behind a ridge line. They were painted in very familiar colors, and marked with some very recognizable insignia.

"It's not the Enterprise, but it'll do," Discord said as he popped off the hill and appeared next to Celestia, "Your idea?" he asked and jabbed a thumb at Dresden, "Or his."

"He pointed out that the bronicorns believed we were just elements in a story, and they knew where there were hundreds of thousands of such stories with familiar people," Celestia replied. Struggling not to grin at the cleverness of the plan.

A big smugly, Discord thought, And you, you big dummy, your commenters are going to demand you write up the adventures of the Friendship Brigade, the Dinachrome Elements, or whatever they call themselves. Although it might render The Last War bit moot.

While the chaos forces still heavily outnumbered the senshi, the constant glances at the floating battlelines above and to the side reminded the chaos warriors that the senshi were the least of their worries, Sailor Moon and Sailor Discord were the eager carrot, the rest were the reluctant but pitiless stick. Most took the opportunity to renew their vows of fealty to chaos, although a few approached Q.

"We can't stay here," the rather mauled equine chaos warrior said, "Too much bad blood. We would come with you, if you'll have us."

For the first time in his long life, Discord felt a rising panic.

"Say 'yes'," came a soothing voice in his ear. He glanced over and practically heard the ting on Celestia's halo.

"Time for a little revenge," Discord said, and laughed at Celestia's stricken expression, "Prncess Celestia rules there, I don't, you must plead your case to her."

The ears-splayed look of utter horror on Celestia's face made Discord want to giggle. Paperwork, Chaos' ultimate weapon! Discord thought as he handed out the standard Equestrian immigration package to all the eager new, would-be citizens. All fifty pages of it.

"If you don't have pencils, I have needles," Discord told them, "You can sign it in blood."

Celestia was openly horrified that it didn't dissuade any of the applicants a bit.

Patrick spoiled the whole thing by teaming up with Sailor Mercury, scanning the form into her computer, scanning the applicants, and printing out completed forms for them to review, fill out a few blocks, signing them and handing the papers as they were completed to Twilight, Celestia and Luna to review.

Party pooper, Discord thought.

"If you don't like it, go talk to Washu," Patrick said.

"I shall!" Discord said and vanished.