//------------------------------// // Resort: We Were Friends // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Side by side, Dan and Phoenix returned to the castle entrance. Behind them, the townsfolk, their friends, were already planning their bake sale. Ponies, people... everyone in Equestria seemed to be like that. Most didn't spend much time moping, especially when they were together as a group. Not only that, they all had something to do, something to progress towards. What Vice seemed to have a problem understanding was all around him. Progress wasn't just reaching that brighter tomorrow. Sometimes, it was just being happy tomorrow comes and trying to make it a little brighter in your own way. But then, Vice wasn't Vice right now- he was Rice, as he had been all along. "So, who all is going with us to All's Well?" Phoenix asked. Dan raised his eyebrow. "With 'us', Nicky? Pretty presumptuous of you to assume I'm taking you." "It's also assuming Twilight lets you go," Phoenix countered. "But, it's probably going to be hot, dangerous, uncomfortable, dangerous, nerve-wrackingly dangerous and dangerous." "Don't forget dangerous." "That too, so I figured you'd probably drag me along for the ride," Phoenix said, grinning slightly. "Besides, I knew you'd always take your best friend along for the ride, so it's only a matter of finding out who else we're bringing with us." Dan nodded. "I guess you got me there. You know, sometimes I wonder what was the point of going on vacation," he pondered aloud. "If our lives are just one random adventure after the next, why bother taking time off?" "To trap everyone in town on a boat and force them to do whatever you say for a few days?" "Ah. Yeah, there was also that. Good point, Nicky." "I want separate boats next time." "No." They walked up the stone steps to the door, smiling contently. It was nice just to have a plan and be among friends, especially after such a long day. Phoenix reached out to grab the handle of one side of the door, Dan the other. Phoenix's hands brushed against the flat surface. "Uh, Dan?" "Yeah Nicky?" "You notice anything strange about the door?" he asked. The old doorknob didn't seem to be a doorknob. In fact, it seemed it was imprinted on the door itself. More than that, the door itself was only a print of something larger. Dan's own fingers poked at the door until he stopped and frowned. "As a matter of fact, I do." It took Phoenix a few moments longer. He tried to feel the sides of the door, but there weren't any. "This isn't a door." "No, no it is not." The realization suddenly dawned on him. He turned to Dan. "It's a static backdrop." Dan nodded. "That it be, Nicky." "But who would... RICE! WE'VE BEEN DUPED!" "Eeyep." "HE'S IN THE CASTLE WITH TWILIGHT!" "Right again, Nicky," Dan said stoically, still frowning. "What do we do, Dan? We don't have anything to slow him down with this time, we're out of time!" Phoenix yelled. Dan placed his palm on the taller man's forehead. "Nicky! Becalm yourself. BECALM." Phoenix removed Dan's hand. "Right, so, we have a few things going for us. One, we have the element of surprise. Two, we have experts in stealth and sneaking tactics like Stevie, Redfield and that Jedi guy Brad. Three, we're a team and he's just one guy. Working together, we can use our skills and numbers and tactics to get the drop on him and beat him." "Right," Phoenix nodded. "He has no idea we're coming. So what do we do?" Dan grinned. "Oh, I think you know what we're gonna do." The tank smashed through the static backdrop, tearing a massive hole in it and ripping the rest apart in chunks. The tank's wheels sped through the castle grounds, kicking up dirt and grass and destroying the landscape. "Dan! The tank's not going to fit through the door!" Phoenix yelled from the backseat. Dan fired the tank's main cannon at the door. The shot exploded, but did little damage. Not even Twilight knew, but the castle, even in its destroyed state, had a spell cast over it that protected it. This spell was very potent, similar to ones used on the other inactive castles, designed to protect them from nature while the princesses were away. There was only so much they could do, however, especially since the spell was only meant to maintain the castle rather than protect it from all-out assault. "Dan!" "FIT THIS!" "DAN!" The tank smashed through the doorway, exploding the entrance in an eruption of stones. Crushed masonry and dust filled the hall beyond, littering the entrance with rubble but the tank just kept on going. Dan sped the tank through the grand hall all the way to the throne room and crushed both thrones under its massive wheels. The walls shook as it thundered through the castle. In the backseat, Phoenix Wright was holding on with both hands, trying to stop himself from bouncing so much. "Seriously, we don't have to destroy- we could be more GENTLE!!" his voice became a high shriek as the tank crashed through the back wall of the throne room. The tank exploded out of the back of the castle like a tank exploding out of the back of a castle. It was a very, very specific explosion. Parts of the castle crumpled in on itself, walls collapsing even further as the tank weakened already-weak foundations. It rolled through the courtyard like a fast bulldozer with a cannon attached to it, so, basically a tank. Again, the image of a tank is kind of iconic all its own. Even "bulldozer with a cannon attached to it" is trumped by just saying tank. It's a tank, it dominates, that's what it does. Essentially, tank is frank. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do lifted the fountain in the center of the courtyard as the tank came rolling through. Finally, it reached the castle keep. "Dan, that's a wall," Phoenix said, pointing out of the slot ahead of them to the wall in front of them. The keep had an additional wall with entrances to either side for protection, the chamber inside. None of them were tank-sized. "I know, Nicky. Watch this." "Watch it? We're about to FEEL IT!" The tank's wheels bashed against the wall but didn't go through it. The tank bounced off of it, but Dan kept the hammer down and the tank slammed into it again. The second time, the front wheels' treads dug into the wall itself and slowly began to carry the tank up the slope. The tank climbed the wall. "Haha! How's that for traction!? I love this tank, Nicky!" "I want separate everything next time!" "NO!" Finally, the tank crashed through the doors to the chamber of the elements. Rice was holding Twilight and Spike captive atop a stone column, levitating another column just above them in a threatening manner. But Dan needed no introduction to the situation; he fired the tank's main cannon the moment he came through. The tank rounds destroyed Harmony's Mantle, the centerpiece in the room that held the original Elements of Harmony. It crumbled like it was made of old, dry ceramic, breaking into hollow chunks. Dan continued firing, destroying several of the other columns, hitting part of the wall, in fact the tank flipped over from the momentum of it crashing through the door. Twilight and Spike, under Twilight's shield, were hit once by one of the tank's shells. As the tank skidded to the back of the room on its side, still firing, everything except Rice had been hit at least twice. The scientist hovered, dumbfounded. He watched as the tank spun, propelled by its own wheels, almost flailing while it fired. He shook his head. "I understand why ponies put their faith in Tia. I understand why Tia put her faith in you. But one thing, that quite frankly amazes, positively confounds me beyond all reason," he turned to Twilight, "is why YOU put YOUR faith in HIM." "Well," Twilight said, actually considering, "He... he hasn't threatened to nuke anyone. Yet." Dan popped out of the hatch and chucked a tank shell at Rice. "I WILL NUKE YOU AND THE CRATER IT LEAVES BEHIND AFTER I NUKE YOU!!!" The tank shell exploded meters under Rice. Rice turned back to Twilight. He said nothing. But Twilight was resolute on her Dan-stance. "Dan is our friend, chancellor. You've never wanted to be friends- you just want to be a ruler." Rice grinned. "Dear Princess Twilight... I am a ruler." The column raised high above their heads. "And I did want to be friends. We were friends. But now, I don't want your friendship. I just want revenge." Twilight raised her hooves above her head. The column came crashing down on her and Spike, breaking their shield. It smashed into the column below them. "RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCEEEE!!!!!" Dan yelled.