//------------------------------//
// Some Are Silver 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

At the same time
Golden Oakes Library

Twilight, Chrys and Spike arrived back, eager for a respite after a few solid hours' work. Overseeing the construction of Dan's planned fortifications to Ponyville was an exhausting task, but a necessary one. Everypony and even Gust's griffons were working with enthusiasm towards building up Ponyville, Cloudsdale and even Canterlot. There was a lot that had to be done, multiple simultaneous projects but the strange thing was, there were no problems. From the repatriated Enclave ponies to the reformed pirates and zebras, all the former enemies of Equestria were working for them now, eager to please.

But they weren't doing it for Twilight, for the princesses or even for Equestria. They did it for Dan.

As part of their security plan, Chrys was masquerading as Dan to give the appearance he hadn't left Twilight's side. And the effect was obvious: everyone loved Dan. By standing up in the face of impossible odds, the perpetually-angry, ill-mannered self-proclaimed jerk had united the entire country. Ponies were beginning to act like him and exaggerated tales of his exploits circulated constantly throughout town.

Chrys transformed back into herself as the door closed behind her. "Fluffle Puff? Got three more for you."

Fluffle Puff slid across the floor, covered in necklaces of flowers, gems and trinkets. Chrys levitated another three that had been thrown around her neck by ponies in town while she was Dan and gave them to Fluffle. The fluffy mare continued decorating herself with them, but ran out of space with the last one. Finding Spike standing next to her, she put it on him.

The small dragon removed the necklace, but did so with care. "It seems like everypony thinks Dan's a real hero."

"Hmm, everypony except Dan," Chrys said with a smile.

"He charged off into the unknown to rescue Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. But he also went out for revenge. So  he's being both heroic and his usual, vengeful self at the same time," Twilight remarked.

Spike sighed. "He acts like he's just doing whatever anyone else would be doing... even if they wouldn't. Because he believes they should." The necklace he held had tiny trinkets on it. As Spike held it in his claws, he flipped it back and fourth, and the trinkets slid to one side or the other. Never in the middle for long, but always together. "He's being the change he wants to see in the world."

Twilight nodded and put her hoof on her friend's shoulder. She was proud of him; overcoming jealousy, especially the romantic kind was not easy. Less easy because Spike was a romantic.

"We've all done our share of heroic things at this point. Especially you," Chrys said, remembering back to when Spike saved them all from the evil day spa.

"I must concur most wholeheartedly," Tuxley said, entering from the kitchen. He held his afternoon tea in an outstretched claw. "We are all pitching in for Queen-err, princess and country. Master Dan's exploits are just a bit more pronounced in volume and so garner equal attention."

"Of course, sir," Reginald said, more of an interjection than just agreement. "But one cannot help but notice the... newfound adoration we're seeing for Master Dan." Eyes in the room slowly turned to the crystal pony. "To say the least, the fervor is quite excessive indeed. It begs to ask what wouldn't ponies do for their new hero."

The dinosaur turned a frown at his observant servant. "Balderdash, Reginald. To think that ponies could become... Dan-fanatics is of the highest grade of reproachable."

Reginald raised a brow. "Really? Because I do recall seeing at least two statues to Dan nearing completion on the nor-eastern side of town by the music shop. What did Vinyl call that quarter of town again?"

"The Dan District," Chrys admitted. "To be fair, Vinyl put a statue of Dan on the roof after he agreed to help them patch it. She and Tavi thought it would help their karma."

"Hmm... perhaps things are proceeding quickly," Tuxley said.

"I have faith in Dan," Twilight said. "I had a thought about Dan becoming a tyrant once. But it would never work because if he ever became a dictator, he'd make a rule that he'd break and he'd end up overthrowing himself."

Chrys giggled. "Actually, he put that in the contingency plans. Plan K for King. If he ever becomes an oppressive ruler, we're to help him overthrow himself and install a provisional government led by him, but with the reminder of what he's not supposed to do again."

"Hear that, Reginald? Dan thought of that, too so we're covered."

"Yeah, we got it covered," Spike said. They all nodded in agreement. "For once, it really feels like we thought of everythi-" Spike stopped. He'd tossed the necklace up in the air just before he started speaking again, and now it hung there in midair.

Twilight looked around. "Spike? Guys?" Everyone suddenly stopped. She tried to move the floating necklace with magic but it wouldn't budge. The world around her had frozen in time. Her heart traveled up her throat and began to beat just behind her tonsils. "Tuxley? Chrys?!"

Panic began to take hold. She ran up to Fluffle Puff who's face was frozen in perpetual "Thppppth." "Fluffle Puff..." What had happened? The clock on the wall had stopped. Frantically, Twilight looked around for any sign of time, of life, of anything. "What's going on...?"

Music began to play from upstairs. Like a moth to flame, she walked up her own stairway to her own room where the music was coming from. Using her magic, she opened her door, happy at least something wasn't completely frozen. But when she stepped into her own study, she found herself frozen... because she was not the only one there.

Sitting at her desk was a figure in a dark cloak. Hunched over and writing, its back was towards her. Twilight felt herself begin to calm down. She closed the doorway behind her but left it open, just a crack. "The Pet Store Colts?"

"Always On My Mind, yes," the Director said. "Dan's such an 80s fan, isn't he?" The music continued playing as they spoke.

"He is," Twilight said, stepping cautiously closer. "May I ask what it is you're doing here?"

The Arcane Apology lifted up above the Director's head, open to one of the back pages. "I was wanting to check out a book. I hope you don't mind- it was mine originally, after all."

Twilight swallowed but continued. "The Arcane Apology is yours... meaning you wrote it?"

"No," she answered sternly. "But it was written for me... about me, in many ways. And I used it for a time." She turned around, even though the chair was not meant to turn, it somehow faced her along with her. "There is much that cannot be solved with spell, faithful student."

"What do you want from me?"

"To protect you, Twilight Sparkle. Always to protect you..." she said.

Twilight had to guess. "From myself? From something else?"

The Director looked up. She stared at Twilight with eyes like the void of space opening up before her, an infinite abyss of twinkling lights, of tiny sparkles in the twilight. "From me." She pulled back her hood... and Twilight found herself staring back at her.

She stepped back as if in horror. "What... what is this? Are you a changeling? What are you?!!"

"I'm many things, Twilight Sparkle," she stood. She had Twilight's face, her ears, her muzzle, even her eyes now that the hood was gone but her hands were like nothing Twilight had ever seen. "I have watched you since before you came to be, Twilight. I guided you as you grew, cared for you and your friends waiting for the day you would be together, all this according to Her plan, the Recreator's plan."

"You're a-a princess?"

The Director smiled. "No, child. I am Equestria."

And Twilight's jaw hit the floor just as she felt her flank hit the door, closing it all the way shut. "That... can't... be..." She shook her head in disbelief. "That's not even possible. You can't be... Equestria."

"But I am," she said, stepping closer in long strides. Her face changed to that of an azure, almost statue-like equine's head. Her eyes shown radiantly like jewels and in fact, were gems. She smiled. "I know this is difficult to understand. But I have always been this place, this world, the energy of life and magic that flows through it. Feel it in your heart, my little pony. I have always been here."

Twilight's head felt like it was swimming. The Pet Store Colts record finally stopped as the Director knelt down to her, sitting beside her. The tall blue woman rested her hands just below her knees, an almost natural position for a child... or one who was a child at heart. "I... I don't understand."

"Hmm, a lot to take in, isn't it?" she hid her muzzle behind her hands. "I was created alongside the King and Queen, you know? Not the ones you know of- the real King and Queen of Equestria... of me."

"But, how?" Twilight asked. "How can you be this, this whole planet? The world, the magic, the... well, everything?"

The Director sighed. "And you wonder why I prefer to just be called the Director."

"That too, I guess."

She stood. "Well, for one, it's a bit more specific than just calling myself the Collector or the Coordinator. It's easier, anyway. I can't control the plants or the trees or anything that lives, but I am the magic of friendship," she turned to Twilight. "The thing you have been striving so much to understand, to protect, that you fight for... is me. I represent all of it in me."

Twilight opened her mouth, but no words came out. So many questions jammed in her throat, each struggling for control of her voice that she only uttered a squeak in response. When she finally found her voice, the only thing she said was "Why?"

"To protect you," the Director repeated.

"How?" Twilight asked. "By kidnapping me? By brainwashing me and my friends? By allying with-"

"By any means necessary," her voice thundered. It was like the royal Canterlot voice magnified by a hundred in power but half the volume, a sound of power that reverberated in her very bones. Every syllable shook the fabric of dimensions themselves, echoing across time and space until they finally collided in an explosion of resonance that radiated outward, filling every measurable amount of existence with its reason. The room began to grow cold.

"To protect me from... what?" Twilight asked, her voice barely a squee against the vastness of creation.

"You are not the first, Twilight Sparkle. And you will not be the last," the Director said, her voice normal now. "I was... originally created to be the harmony of this world, to be your Earth. And with magic, I gained a life of my own. I watched as ponies played across my surface, warmed themselves under my sun, frolicked in my seasons for years and felt my heart beating with more joy than can be described in every laugh, in every smile, in every rainbow."

Twilight looked up at her. Slowly, her mind began to form the connections between history, between the pieces of the past until they finally connected to the present. "The Old Equestria... was that you as well? Are you this..." she whispered even softer, as if asking herself simultaneously, "are you this universe?"

And the Director nodded. "The spirit of it, at least. And each time... I was not good enough. Or they weren't. And my beautiful slate was wiped clean and laid barren, my loved ones, my family and my... my friends, taken from me." She turned her head down. "You do not know what such loss feels like. To have everything taken from you and be left alone... in this void of time and space unto yourself."

For the first time, Twilight was no longer afraid. She could see fear, however, in the one that stood before her. Trembling, sorrow being held back. She stood up and moved towards the Director again. "It's okay. I'm here right now."

In a flash, the Director's hands cupped Twilight's hoof in a cold, icy grip. When Twilight looked up, the Director was staring at her, her own reflection in her eyes. And on her muzzle was a grin too wide for a horse. "I know. And this time, I'm not going to let you go."

Twilight felt herself being raised up. The room began to pull away, reality began to give way to a realm of only concepts, of twinkling lights in a void that could have been either thoughts becoming dreams, particles forming atoms or stars and planets in space coming together to create entire galaxies. Time had no meaning, space had no meaning, what was and what wasn't had no meaning, there was only her desire like an anathema of oblivion incarnate, hunger and darkness and death. A nightmare's nightmare.

"Don't you see, Twilight? This is the only way I can protect you and your friends. This world is doomed and all who are in it will be taken from me, spirited away to a place I cannot go. Because I am not perfect and neither are you. But, we can create a new Equestria, break this cycle once and for all. And you will be My Little Ponies once again, for now and forever!!!"

Scree-eeee-EEEEECCH!! The sound of a record scratching beyond anything else that could have been heard broke through the distortion Twilight and the Director were in, bringing them back to reality. Even the Director gripped her ears and released Twilight's hoof. She fell to the floor.

"What?" The Director turned around.

Twilight looked up to see a figure in golden armor standing next to her phonograph. His talons held the needle of the record player. "Step away from her."

"You... I do not know you," the Director said. "And where were you summoned from? Which book did you pop out of?"

"The history books," the figure answered. "Maybe you should brush up on yours sometime. Forcing others to do what you want never works out."

"I'll be sure to make a note of that in the new ones. Unfortunately, my new form doesn't have room for everyone."

"Maybe if you left out some of your ego, there would be."

"Haha," the Director laughed. "You're funny. He's funny, Twilight! Let's take him with us. Oh, but let's take him apart first so he's easier to pack." A force erupted from the Director's arms that tossed the Gold Baron back to the wall. He hit it hard and fell behind Twilight's desk.

"Stop! Don't hurt him," Twilight said. Hoof outstretched, she put up a barrier between the Director and her own desk. And the Director walked through it like it wasn't even there.

"Your spells won't work against magic itself, Twilight Sparkle. Or myself. But I promise to teach you everything about magic when we reach our new world."

The Gold Baron jumped up. "Maybe I can teach you a thing or two. Like how to dance!" He scratched the record on the phonograph. The screeching noise distorted the song, creating an ear-piercing yet musical sound that was near deafening.

The Director scowled and grabbed her ears. "You used to wonder what friendship could be... IT CANNOT BE THIS!!!" She reached out with her hand and the Gold Baron shot forward, knocking over the record player. He flew towards the Director's hand like a magnet and she wrapped her fingers around his golden neck. "You are a curious toy. But I don't want to play with you."

The Gold Baron groaned. "It's just the same." The armor of his chest opened up. Inside, Philomena the Phoenix raised his wings and in a blinding flash of light, burst into flame. "I play to win!!"

"AAAHHH!" The explosion of fire burst from the Gold Baron's armor, setting the Director's cloak ablaze. "NOOO! NOOOOOO!!!" She jumped onto the Baron and began to claw at him madly, mauling him in a crazed frenzy as she burned. Like the pages of a time-worn book did her cloak burn and her body melted like a plastic doll. Her mane caught fire, her eyes burned into cinders and still she swatted, ripping at the figure's golden armor, rending it.

"STOP IT!!" Twilight blasted the Director out her window, a blast more powerful than even she had intended. The Director's form, whatever it had been evaporated into cinders before it hit the ground, disappearing into the nether once more.

The world started up again. The phonograph began playing a different song on the record now, something else entirely. Twilight walked over carefully to where the Gold Baron laid.

"Philomena?" Twilight asked. The ashes of Celestia's pet phoenix were everywhere. "Are you alright?"

The Gold Baron coughed. "I have... been better," he said. Piece by piece, the armor that made him began to pop off. The legs first, then the arms and the torso until just the head remained. Twilight had no idea what she was looking at until one of the arms grew tiny green legs and began to walk around.

Bewildered, Twilight lifted up the leg. And underneath it was an old and very dear friend. "Gummy?"

The baby alligator looked up at her. Silent as ever, he blinked, and she thought she saw the faintest outline of a smile. "Gummy? Oh my goodness, Gummy!" she grabbed the alligator and embraced him.

A pair of rabbit ears popped out of the other leg. And Angel Bunny soon appeared after them. He shook his head, a bit dazed. "Angel? Angel Bunny!"

The other armor pieces soon made their own presences known: Tank and Winona, both arms. Philomena rises from her ashes, shaking off what little was left. And Twilight embraced these three as well.

"You- you all... you all risked your lives for me," she hugged them tightly. They were her friends' pets, but her friends and theirs as well. They hugged back tightly.

"Had to... do something," the Gold Baron said, the last piece of armor speaking. "Do... something, do... something, do... something..."

Twilight and the others walked over to the helmet. "You..."

"Have... al-way-zzz... trie-d. To. Pro-tech-t you. You are... my friend." The helmet's face plate popped up.

"Owlowiscious!" Twilight grabbed it and her friend, holding both up against her tightly. The tiny owl was gripping the controls inside the helmet with his talons.

"Hoooooo..." he hooted weakly. "I. Am. Happy. You. Are. Saffffffffe. "Hoo... hoo-hooo..." he hooted again, and the machine translated. "Have. Always. Tried to lo-look out for you."

"I, I know, I mean- I didn't," she held him tightly. Her eyes began to blur, her heart hit her throat again. "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."

"Hoooo..." "I. Know. I... love you. Twilight. Love... you..." The lights in the machine faded.

Twilight held her friends and her friends' friends all at the same time. They sat in her room, holding each other tightly and cried. It didn't matter how much time had passed; for them, time might as well have stopped.