//------------------------------// // OSP: Mission Statement // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// The Magic Gear tromped towards them. Its huge, heavy hooves left hoof prints like craters in the sand. A pair of landmines detonated and even a Bouncing Betty, the spring-launched antipersonnel mine variant was triggered by the Gear and exploded. They didn't even make a dent in its armor, didn't slow it down as it marched towards Dan, Phoenix, the Vice Grips and the others. True to its name, the machine advanced relentlessly. "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF *squee* ON A *squee*ING *squee* SUNDAE WITH *squee*ING *squee* SAUCE ON THE *squee*ING SIDE ALL UNDER A *squeee* WITH A *squee* AND TWO *squee*S NEXT TO A *squee*ING PENGUIN IN *squee*ING CARGO SHORTS!!" "Dan, you might want to call down- you're gonna wear out the squeensor," Phoenix cautioned. (Wow... he just out-swore Vegeta.) "DOES IT LOOK LIKE I GIVE A-" Dan raised his voice, then stopped himself. "Fine. But seriously... look at what we're up against." "Yeah," Phoenix said, watching as the Magic Gear strode towards them. "We're in deep squee." Vice laughed. "Hahahaha! Eloquently put, Mr. Wright. And if there's no further objections-" "OBJECTION!" The Magic Gear stopped. Even the Vice-mob was stunned briefly by the outburst. Both the clones and the machine all stared at the lawyer pointing at them in a stance of confrontational advocacy. Except Dan. "PFFF-ah-hahaha! Now that's what I call denying a motion!" "Yayyy!" the Blasties cheered from their captive positions. "I guess you could say he stopped 'em-" "WRIGHT in their tracks!!" Silence. A tumbleweed rolled by, triggered another landmine and was blown to smithereens. "Ha," Dan said. "I get it, it's because that joke... totally... bombed, wow that was bad even for us." "I thought it was funny!" Derpy yelled. The Vice Grips pinched their foreheads. "Okay. New plan: I'm going to kill you-" "That's not new." "Shut UP. I'm going to kill you both-" "Not much of a plan, either," Phoenix added. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH WITH MY MAGIC GEAR AND RECORD IT!" Vice yelled, angrily. "If I need a human for something, I'll grab that judge you like so much in the Crystal Empire!" "No!" Powdy yelled. "Not judge Judgey!" "I'll think of something painful and scientifically productive to do with the rest of you idiots later," the scientist said. "For now, come to daddy, Magic Gear! Come and destroy all of my enemies!" The sand rumbled with every step the machine made. Its glowing eyes were narrowed in an expression of hostile determination. The machine smashed through the remains of the fence surrounding the base, approaching Dan and the others until it was finally standing right in front of them. Dan and Phoenix turned to face it, caught between an army and the filly mecha-goliath. "Nicky?" "Dan?" "You got any ideas?" Dan asked, glancing over. "I was about to ask you that." The stood next to each other, the shadow of the titan eclipsing them both, blocking out the sun behind. Phoenix felt the oddest thing- Dan's fingers reaching for his. They said nothing, did not look at each other but simply stood there, together. United no matter what. The Magic Gear looked at them both. She could easily destroy them with a swipe of one of her hooves, a blast from one or more of her cannons, a salvo of missiles, flurry of rockets or any number of weapons she had at her disposal. Her eyes analyzed their every detail, categorized them and compiled data at lightning speeds, cross-referenced it with other scenarios and a multitude of variables, finally cascading into a list of options which were graded on a scale to select the most optimum one. She knew their strengths and weaknesses in an instant, predicted their responses in a flash and simultaneously calculated the actions that would allow her to achieve victory over them. "Kill the American first," Vice ordered. "Then the Jap." She looked at Vice. Then back to them. And she decided what to do. "Self-defense mode engaged." The Gear's legs braced as it prepared for action. "You wanted Equestria to be your world so much, seems only fitting you should die defending it. Farewell, Dan, my noble adversary... Equestria will miss your pathetic defiance." The Gear raised its hoof. "Leg drive motor... EMP pulse at maximum!" "What?!" The humans looked up. The Gear's horn glowed red. Swirling bits of light rose up from the horn and dissipated as the glow intensified. "What's it doing?" Phoenix asked. "Is this some kind of weapon?" "I don't really have a manual for these things, Nicky, so your guess is as good as mine," Dan said. "Stop!" the Vices ordered. "Override code four-dash-*kssht*-ex-si*kzzt*-eight-*kzz-zhhh-zhht!*" Phoenix turned around. "Hey, the Vice Grips!" "What?" "Dan, the Vice Grips, something's going on with them!" The Vice clones were all distorting. Errors, freezing and static blared across the pony's images revealing the Enclave ponies underneath. They switched between different expressions and errors, like the blurring of a picture on a screen. The Vice Grips lagged and flickered, releasing their captives. "I think he needs to hit the antenna box," Dan said. "That usually works for me." "No," Phoenix said, spinning around. "It's the Magic Gear! It's doing something to them!" The first Vice Grip walked towards Dan, flickering between himself and an entranced General Sharp Winter, walking upright at them. "You *kzzt* think this *zrrt* changes anything? The only revolution *ksss-zzzt* here is... hers." The Vice Grips faded. In their place, there were the Enclave pegasi, all standing upright, still frozen in the positions Vice Grip had them in as puppets. But the gloves, the lab coats, the boots and guns, every trace of the mad scientist himself... were gone. They all slumped to the ground, unconscious. Blast Fuse picked one up. "I think these guys are done." "Oh, hey Hex Ray!" Derpy said, suddenly surprised at the pony who had only moments ago held her at gunpoint. "I have a letter for you!" she popped open the unconscious mare's mouth and slid the letter in. "There ya go! I... guess you can read it when you wake up." Dan spun around to the Magic Gear again. "You... you did this. Why?" "Your mission is to defend Equestria!" the Gear said, a recording of Dan's own voice. Suddenly, Dan understood. "It's you... Knight." And the Magic Gear nodded. "Unit designate Knight is fully-operational and awaiting orders. Mission: to defend Equestria. Unit designate Dan equals similar mission. Unit cooperation projected to increase success potential by eighty-one-point-three-one percent. New Directive: be friends, destroy enemies. Proceed?" she asked. "Uh... what?" "She's asking if you want to team up," a voice said. Striding over to them was another bipedal figure in a lab coat but this one wasn't a pony. It was Colress. And he wasn't alone. "She's still a machine and the hardware needs a yes or no answer, even if she can think for herself," Daring Do said, walking with him. "Ah..." Dan said, nodding. "So I get my own Magic Gear finally? Cool," he grinned. "Yes, Knight, proceed and begin rebuilding my new base!" The Magic Gear grinned back. "Engaging hide-and-seek mode." She then immediately jumped up, over the wall and behind the base. "HEY! That's not what I ordered!!" Phoenix walked over and patted Dan on the shoulder. "You just adopted a nuclear-powered, giant metal filly. She wants to play with you first." Dan looked up at him. "I changed my mind. I wanna blow it up again." "Found you!!" the Blasties yelled simultaneously on the other side of the base. "Self-defense mode engaged." Several explosions rocked the side of the base, rumbling through the ground. "Haha, sounds like those three are already having fun," Tuxley said, joining the group. "Miss Daring! And Mr. Colress, too! How good to see you both!" The scientist bowed, the archaeologist gave them both a nod. "Hey Tux, hey Reggie. You guys holding up alright?" "Ah, but of course, Miss Daring. Nothing like a good bit of scrape before four to get the adrenaline pumping, I always say!" "Heh, I'll bet," she said, removing her helmet. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you guys in on the secret, though." Tux and Reggie exchanged a glance. "Secret? So, you really hadn't betrayed Dan the whole time?" Dan pulled out the book he'd had Daring sign just last night. "She told me not to read what she'd wrote until AFTER we kicked the Enclave's asses but I actually remembered that was the same thing that Mystic Mystique told her to do in Daring Do and the Mystery of Myriad Maze Marvels!" he explained. Reggie gasped. "Of course! That was the one where-" "Shhhh! Hey!" Phoenix stopped him. "I still haven't read that one. No spoilers." "Oh. Apologies," the crystal pony said. "But anyway, you knew what to do because you read it in her book?" Dan nodded, smiling. "Eeeyep. It turns out, she knew the Enclave was aware about the attack already and we had to hit them faster than we were planning. So, she pretended to defect to them with our explosives the Blast Sisters made so she could sneak onboard the Cogsdale and blow it up while we kept all the Enclavers busy." "Wait," Phoenix stopped them. "So you guys were working together the whole time?" Both Dan and Daring nodded. "Yep again. Sorry we couldn't let you in on the secret, Nicky but the house was bugged. And of course, in the event the house is bugged-" "Plan D- we act like the house isn't under surveillance and immediately proceed with direct action," Phoenix finished. "Wow... that's... some kind of genius. It all fits together." "Yeah, something like that," Dan said, slapping the other human on the back. "Of course, there's always the alternative that we made the whole thing up off the top of our heads but hey, what are the odds of that?" "..." (Urge to object is rising.) Dan and Daring, shoulder to shoulder, walked over to the Enclave ponies which were now being tended to by the Rogues, Derpy and the others. "Only thing left to do is... decide what to do with the Enclave." She looked up at Dan. It was clear that whatever choice there was to be made, it was his. "You could give them to me," Colress said, stepping up to them. "And the griffons, too, if you wish. I could ensure you they won't trouble you in Equestria ever again. Or you could possibly try to integrate all of them, bolster Equestria's air forces. The choice is yours." The scientist held a pen and clipboard, ready to write. "What? Is this some kind of absolute-permanent-moral-decision thingy?" Dan asked. "Every moral decision is permanent," Colress responded. "Once an action is made, it can't be undone." "He means "yes." Phoenix said. "It's okay- I speak cryptic scientist bullshit. It's almost like dubious prosecutor bullshit only with more science." "Are you allowed to say that?" Daring asked. "We kinda wore out the squeensor at the beginning of the chapter." "Oh." "Hmmm..." Dan rubbed his chin. "I think I know exactly what we'll do with them. We're gonna need paint." And so, the long process of rebuilding Halberd Base began. Along with Knight and the other ponies, now working together, they rebuilt the fortress along Dan's specifications. At the behest of Twilight, Dan did not dismantle their fandom; the only thing Dan changed about the Enclave was their logo. Using the giant letter E in the center, he added the letters J, R and K to every emblem, flag and label of the Enclave in the base. He did the same to their armor, after fixing it, and soon the Jerklave was up and running. As they did this, a pony in a dark cloak watched them, though none of them noticed. The Director: It's true that every war is a civil war. The enemy you're fighting, they could be your brother, your sister, your family and they always are in some way. You always fight a potential ally, sometimes yourself. We're divided by much and united by little. As our desires keep us moving forward, our fears and doubts keep us looking over our shoulders. When we look to each other, sometimes, we can see friend or foe. But we never see both at the same time. Twilight: We all have things that we want. Everypony has their own goals, their own desires and their own dreams that they work towards every day, and each one is different. Some of us have bigger goals than others and it's true that we may not reach them all. Sometimes, we fail. And when we do, it's rarely something we can cope with easily. Chrys: It's easy to blame others for the mistakes we, ourselves make. When things don't go the way we want them to, we tend to blame everything else first and take some small responsibility, if any, when everything's ended. But it doesn't change the fact that we didn't get what we want. That what we tried so hard to do just didn't work out as we had planned. Responsibility is different for every situation, every circumstance and those involved in them. That's something that tends to be forgotten, especially in the heat of the moment and in the aftermath. The Director: There are many who seek to shift blame for their actions. Those who try to cover up the past, shirk from their duty, or pin the blame on others. It's almost the same as framing someone else for a crime, allowing someone else to face the consequences of your own actions. In a way, blaming someone else is the ultimate betrayal- you betray yourself, the other person, everyone around you and history itself for lying to it. There's no greater form of corruption or cowardice. ~Headlines~ Dan Defeats Enclave! Equestria Reclaims The Skies! Enclave Apology: Dan forgives Pegasi, Welcomed back to Ponyville Enclave Forces to Rebuild Cloudsdale General Manager Sharp Winter Commits Enclave to Defend Equestrian Air Space Manehattan Disappears After Assault by Zebras Twilight: We all make mistakes, we all disagree... these things just happen. How we deal with other peoples' mistakes is just as important as how we deal with our own. "Well... I guess you did alright, nuggets," Dan said. "Heheh, thanks. You're not bad yourself, Danny bro," Gust said, patting him on the back. "Don't touch me." Chrys: It takes a lot to enact justice. But it takes a whole lot more to enact something else: redemption. The Director: If one truly is to truly deserve forgiveness, they must be able to give it as well. Fortunately, Dan has proven he has that strength. ~More Headlines~ Gust Grasp Honored for Valor in Battle! Former Raiders Distinguish themselves in fight against FIST Pirate Turned Protector: Gust Grasp receives Medal for Defending Equestria! Treaty Signed! Equestrian-Griffon Alliance is Official! Dan Declares War: "Vice Grip is going down. That SOB's days are numbered." Twilight: As we continue onward, into whatever the future may have in store for us and Equestria, we must remember that our friends and families are by our side. The things we do- for ourselves, for Equestria and for them- define us and shape the world we live in, both future and past. Chrys: We continue on this road together. Vice Grip: We continue building towards a brighter future. Phoenix: We do this with the knowledge that there are those who oppose us. But we know in our hearts that we are right. Because we remain true to ourselves and always pursue what is right. Lightning Claw: It is this belief that unites us. Fire Dancer: It is this belief that divides us. Twilight: And we accept this belief and continue onward because we're always examining it. Vice Grip: We take responsibility for our actions, our mistakes. As we continue on this road, we look back at the steps we've taken- Chrys: -to make sure the mistakes we've made are not repeated in the steps of others. That is how- Twilight: That is how- Vice Grip: That is how- All: That is how we build a better future. We forge it in every step we take, in every move and every decision we make and the ways we make it. Chrys: Even if it seems like it's sometimes one step forward and two steps back- Daring Do: We're mindful of every step. And because we do this- "-the future we strive for gets a little bit closer every day. For Ponyville Action News, I'm Barro the Broadcaster saying thanks for watching and we'll be back with more as soon. See you then!"