//------------------------------// // Director's Orders // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Unlike Shining Armor, Cadence and some of the other prisoners, King Sombra was not imprisoned within the dungeons of the Steel Palace. Instead, Vice Grip had placed King Sombra in a cage where every pony could see him: in the middle of the market square. While exposed to the elements(of nature), the deposed tyrant was in no danger of being trapped in bad weather. The air had been still in the Empire since Vice took over. A pale-yellow flash of magic appeared along with Dan, Phoenix, Spike and the Director at the entrance to the market square. "Why do we need to free King Sombra?" Dan asked, continuing the conversation. He looked around mid-sentence, not letting the abrupt change in location interrupt him. "Former Chief Resource Advisor to the Crystal Council and self-proclaimed King Sedicosos Solitario Sombra, he is currently the only known practitioner of umbaran magic still renegade and the only known user of geo-umbaran magic," The Director explained. Dan, Phoenix and Spike exchanged confused glances. "He's a what?" "Ugh," the Director held a hoof to his forehead. "He's a bad guy." "Oh," Dan said. "Yeah, I think it says that in the brochure. 'Welcome to the Crystal Empire and watch out for the local bad guy, King Sombra! No flash photography please; it reflects off the crystals and causes temporary blindness!'" "I've heard about him as well but what did you mean about magic?" Phoenix asked. The Director faced him directly. "Heh, glad you're paying attention, Mr. Wright. Umbaran magic, creepy-dark 'evil' magic that most ponies consider forbidden. Sombra's able to make solid strata using his powers and corrupt existing crystals, they call that geo-umbaran. How he figured it out isn't known but there are those in the arcane and science ministries that would like to know." "So he's the only one who knows how to do what he does," Phoenix said. The hooded creature chuckled. "It would appear that way, yes. I suppose the higher echelons of complex magic will always appear taboo when viewed from a simpler, basic level." Dan shrugged. "Maybe some just prefer to master the basics." "You'd be surprised what Twilight can do with just unicorn magic," Spike said. "No," the Director said to the small dragon. The creature's head lifted up revealing pale, white eyes that a light shown through. It illuminated the dark street in all the wrong ways. "I'm afraid I wouldn't." The Director's visage was enough to silence any further comments from the three. A creepy smile crested the creatures pale gray muzzle. "I'll leave you to it, then. Vice Grip may be short a few circuits but he's still quite dangerous. In three days, the Swords will be ready to launch and they'll destroy every city on Earth. If you want to stop him, you'll need to find evidence to challenge his claim of regency before then." Dan shook his head. "How is getting him impeached going to stop him from nuking Earth?" The Director turned his smile to Dan. "The magic that's controlling the Crystal Empire is tied in with the current rulers of the Empire. They only obey those with authority over the Cogstal Heart. If he's thrown out of office, they'll throw him out shortly thereafter." (The current rulers… not ruler. Back underneath the palace, Twilight followed the Director's instructions over Vice Grip's. So that means, he must also have some kind of power here.) "What exactly are you doing all of this for? Why help us?" Phoenix asked. "Vice Grip and I are helping to realize each others' dreams. Perhaps I decided I wanted a little… something more," the Director looked at Phoenix. "The Sword Spells won't destroy all of humanity. There'll be survivors, something he's counting on. He promised me I'd be able to take all the bronies err… I mean-" "What?" Spike asked. "What's a… brony?" The Director pulled its hood down. "The humans on Earth that survive the Sword Spells will be placed in my care after the invasion." "And… what exactly are you planning on doing with these broni-" "I have my reasons," the Director replied. "Break a leg!" In another flash, the strange hooded figure was gone. "Does anybody else get a really creepy vibe from that guy?" Spike asked. "Yes." "Oh yeah," Dan said, turning around. "Now, I'm gonna head to the nearest crystal hardware store and we're gonna start taking apart these Magic Gears. Nicky, I want you to go find a really big mirror and Spike, you go get a megaphone." The lawyer stopped him. "Dan, you really can't be thinking about disassembling every one of those things. There's no way we'll be able to take them apart safely in just three days." "Yeah, I really don't think that's a good idea," Spike said. "Not that I'm against blowing up a bunch of robots, y'know. I don't think violence will work this time." "Not with that attitude," Dan replied. "And the longer we spend here talking about it, the less time we have to scrap them all when they're in nice, neat little rows. Of hate." "Dan," Phoenix grabbed him by the collar as he tried to walk off. "We have to find another way to neutralize the Magic Gears. You can't take on the whole Empire yourself." "Yes I can." "Dan," Spike stood by Nick's side. "What if you accidentally set one of those things off? And we still have to rescue Twilight, Chrys and Fluffle Puff. If we break his robots, he'll just make more. We have to take him down directly." Dan considered the words of his two friends. He thought long and hard, weighing his options: burning down all the Magic Gears in a violent display of defiance or listening to two individuals he didn't trust and defending one of them in court. And then he thought of Twilight, Chrys and Fluffle. He sighed heavily. "Finnnne. So what's the plan?" Phoenix looked back down the street. "I'm going to defend King Sombra."