//------------------------------//
// The Enclave Exchange? 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

Dan pulled out his phone and finished another cup of tea while the Director recovered. After a few moments of struggling, he actually was surprised to find he got some amount of reception. He quickly called Phoenix while he still had a connection.

"Dan? Hello? Are you there?"

"Yeah Nicky, I am. Not sure where I am at the moment but I'm all right."

"What do you mean? Are you still in the base?"

"No idea, at the moment," Dan said, looking around. "I don't think I'm in the base any more... might not even be on Equestria. You remember that creepy cloaked pony from the CE?"

"Yeah, the one who said we had to rescue Sam."

"Yeah, well he showed up again. Or she. Or... something. The Director intercepted me in the base and warped me to somewhere else. I have no idea where it is or how far away I am."

"That's not good."

"Tell me about it." As Dan spoke on the phone, the Director hovered out of the house towards him. And she didn't look happy.

"You defiled the Paradise Estate!"

Dan paused, looked at the floating, cloaked creature and said, "I'll call you back, Nicky."

"Be careful, Dan." *click*

"You defiled the Paradise Estate!" the Director yelled again.

Dan cast a glance around them. "Lady, have you seen this place? Your house was defiled long before I came here. I mean, seriously, it looks like Barbie's Malibu Beach house after it was hit by an earthquake. And a tornado."

"This is sacred ground!"

"And a riot."

"SHUT UP!" she yelled in his face. The human was silenced as she hovered less than an inch from him, teeth gritted, eyes glowing red with rage. She huffed for a few moments, then slowly began to regain her composure. The creature giggled. "Good one!"

"Good... what?" Dan asked, now more confused.

"As I said, I have a proposition for you," the Director said, floating down into the seat next to his again. The tea kettle and cup hovered behind her and appeared to prepare themselves. But instead, they simply poured their contents on the ground and then flew away in a bizarre, spinning fashion. "I was wondering if we could make a trade," she leaned in, intently.

"What, uh, what kind of trade exactly?"

"A prisoner exchange, of sorts." She snapped her fingers. General Sharp Winter appeared, suspended in midair by two swirling rings. It happened so abruptly, Dan nearly fell out of his chair as he scrambled to get out of the way. The pegasus general spun slowly, eyes closed as if unconscious or sleeping.

"That's... where did you get him?! Wait, in the base..." he remembered back to when Sharp had disappeared. "Was that...?"

The Director nodded. "Part of the Enclave's agreement for using our equipment was that they obey us, or rather, me, unconditionally. But, you defeated him fair and square, so now he's your piece."

Dan shook his head in disbelief. "The buck are you even talking about?"

"Heeheehee, spoils to the victor, silly," she said. "This is you versus Vice Grip. You have your pieces, he has his. He beat Celestia, Luna and five of the Mane Six, so he has those pieces. You beat Gust and his fleet and now Sharp Winter and his Enclave. Now, I propose a trade."

"Pieces..." Dan repeated. "Those... these are real, live people you're talking about! Well... ponies, mostly and the bird guys-"

"Griffons."

"Yeah, those but you're talking like they're toys or something!"

She smiled. "Ah, finally, you understand. Took Vice a while to get it, too."

"I... I-I..." he stammered, still stunned in disbelief. This was all a game to her, a literal game! But not one she was playing, one that she was WATCHING. The sickness was enough to make him practically vomit. Nope... he actually did throw up a bit. "Haagh... tha... that's disgusting. You... you are disgusting."

The Director shrugged. "I'm a practical... something, Dan. But I'm also fair. Vice has some big advantages over you so I just do my best to even things out a bit."

Practical... yeah, that was one way of looking at it. He braced himself on the chair as he recovered. At the very least, he knew a little bit more of how the Director thought. Individuals were just toys to her. It wasn't a very original mindset but appeared to be one she'd taken to the fullest and dove off the deep end with. In fact, even the Paradise Estate seemed to look like a toy playset of some kind upon closer inspection. And thinking back... even Halberd Base did. How much of this was her doing?

He looked up at the dangling pony. "Ah... uh..., you said we were trading."

She nodded. "I did."

Dan wiped his mouth off and regained his strength, steadying himself. "So, if that's my.... piece... where's yours? Or Vice's?"

The Director raised her other hand and snapped her opposite fingers. After a brief flash of light, an object illuminated the area, spinning next to the general. Dan recognized exactly what it was.

"A Sword Spell?" Dan asked, looking at the red horn-shaped missile.

"The same one from Hearth's Warm-err, Christmas," she said, smiling. "The only one left at the moment since your influence changed the others into harmless fireworks."

The red warhead glowed just as it did those months ago. Inside, darker red spheres, potent orbs of magic, bobbed up and down as if they were suspended in a constantly-fluctuating liquid. "What am I going to do with a bomb?" Dan asked, looking at it.

"Whatever you want to do with it," she cooed. "Use it... destroy Vice and all his machines. Or, give it to Twilight so she can study it... and unlock its secrets," a malevolent smile spread across her face.

Dan raised an eyebrow. "And what would you have me do with it? Why is Sharpy here more important to you than your last ICBM?"

"That's not part of the deal," the Director said sternly. "But know this- if you decline, you'll be throwing away your best chance to defend against Vice Grip's threats."

The human grinned and folded his arms. "No dice, little blue darkling hood. Besides, I know two mares that can make any bomb there is, so I'll get me a Sword Spell eventually."

The Director scowled. "So be it. I've distracted you long enough anyway."

Dan's face went pale. "Distracted?"

Without another word, she snapped her fingers and both Sharp Winter and the Sword Spell disappeared. "Well, I suppose it's time you rejoined your friends, Dan. I enjoyed this little conversation."

"Yeah, and I enjoyed using your crapper," Dan said, grinning. "Almost reminds me of Blueblood's golden outhouse only not as tacky."

She scowled again. "You're lucky I need you to make them see." She rose her hands and Dan began to feel himself being pulled back. "There's only ever been one of you."

He fought against the pull. The vortex appeared behind him; he didn't need to look over his shoulder to see it. The wind whipped around him, sucked into the portal that was dragging him in. He braced against it. "What do you mean make them see?!"

She didn't answer him. Even as the vortex pulled on him more and more, finally sucking him into it, all he heard was the Director's echoing laughter.