//------------------------------//
// Central: Motivations 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

A couple hours later, Dan descended from the staircase, a satisfied grin on his face as he stretched. "Ahhh, that's the stuff." He scratched himself in an unflattering manner, contented self-satisfied smile and half-glazed eyes settling on his expression as he entered the kitchen. He acknowledged no one, leaned back in his chair and put his feet in an adjacent chair between Twilight and Khan at the head of the table.

"What were you doing up there with the..."

Dan glared at him. "Chrys. MY girlfriend."

"Oh. Well, that explains it."

"It sounded like you were fighting up there," Spike said, curiosity clear in his tone. He'd gotten over his jealousy after Dan taught him "the moves" and had now accepted the position of eager learner in the field of romance. It was a subject even Twilight wasn't well-versed in, being more of an experience-based learning subject rather than books. She was not entirely inexperienced though, and like Spike, she was also eager to learn, as usual.

"You could say that," Dan said, smirking.

"So, what exactly was it you were doing up there?" Twilight inquired. Phoenix remained uncharacteristically silent. His cell phone buzzed and he opened it.

"We were... making a... sandwich," Dan said. Which was kind of true, what with Fluffle Puff being involved.

"You were making a sandwich? With all that yelling?"

Dan turned, looking across the table at Twilight. "It was a very angry sandwich. It tastes better when it's... made with rage."

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "It... does?"

Dan nodded and silently mouthed, like you have no idea.

"Wow," Twilight said, eyes wide. "I... would not have imagined that."

Khan, listening quietly and intently, simply raised his teacup and offered, "When Love speaks, the voice of all the gods, makes heaven drowsy with the harmony."

"Shakespeare," Captain America said, munching a sandwich of his own. "That's from umm..."

"Love's Labour's Lost," Khan replied, delighted. "You enjoy theater, captain?"

He nodded, still eating. "Yeah, they do a lot of Shakespeare in Central Park. Bucky and I used to try to take girls there during the summer. "Try" being the uh, operative word."

"Well, if you don't mind me asking," Twilight began, eyes drawing towards her. "How did you get here, Mr. America?"

"It's just Steve, actually, Steve Rogers," Cap replied. "Captain America's... well, more of a nickname."

"You mean it's a title," Chris corrected. "We call him Cap- that's the nickname."

"Thank you for that, Redfield," Cap said, chiding him. "Anyway, Steve, Cap, whatever. It's fine. And to be honest, we don't really know how we got here," he said, looking around the room. "Chris and I were looking for his sister in Las Vegas. We ended up finding a former Umbrella agent who had infiltrated both Hydra and SHIELD, some girl calling herself 'The Opportunist.' Chased her through a couple of hotels, then opened one door and... wound up here."

"You're sure it wasn't Ada?" Phoenix asked, looking up from his phone.

Chris glared at the lawyer. "It wasn't Ada. Last I heard, Leon and Rebecca were searching for her in New Zealand."

"Again?" Cap, Phoenix and surprisingly Spike asked him all at the same time.

Chris looked down. "Yes, again," he muttered.

"Huh. I opened the wrong door on an airplane and fell through a hole in the sky, wound up here," Dan said, continuing to casually lean back. Finally, they all looked over to address the proverbial elephant in the room, Khan. "So... how'd you get here?"

"Well, we're from Colorado Springs," Blast Fuse began. "We were originally supposed to be in a Fallout Equestria story, but then we got into Game of Thrones for a while and then-"

"Not you two destructive dinguses. OR YOU," Dan said, silencing Spinner before she could speak. "I'm talking to Khanie over here. So, Montalban, what brought you here?"

Khan paused to take a sip of tea. "Well, I must admit, I am just as perplexed as all of you. What I do know is that I was recovered by the crew of the... Danfiant, as you call it now. It would seem Starfleet was more reluctant to awaken me this time. I remained dormant, locked in stasis within the casing of the Genesis Torpedo, when Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor found me." Another sip, another smile. "Was it curiousity or fate that guided them to me, I wonder?"

"Neither, it would seem," Tuxley offered. "If you were indeed brought here for a reason, to fulfill some other purpose, tis most likely the aptly-named Director is responsible, as you suspected. We have encountered her already and it would seem she has the power to transport certain figures from other realms into this one."

"We don't have any evidence of that," Phoenix pointed out. "The only things we really know about her are what we've seen, what she's said and what we've heard. We still don't really know-"

Twilight got out of her seat. "She's a lot of things, just like she told us. She is... Equestria." The room was quiet, even Khan looking concerned at the revelation. Twilight looked out of the kitchen window. "She showed me a lot of things. Where she came from, what had happened, her past and her future... who she is, is a lot of things. What she is, is simpler. The Director is a majora."

"Oh, dear," Tuxley said.

"Oh no," Dan added, as if he already knew, strangely.

Spike raised his claw. "What's a majora?"

Twilight turned around. "There's a theory that when a universe is born, it requires an antithesis. An act of creation of such magnitude simultaneously requires an opposing force of annihilation. A majora is that antithesis: an evil spirit composed of dark thoughts and a desire for complete and utter destruction of everything. The Director's name is Cleo and... it doesn't appear she wants to be a majora any more."

"Fascinating," Khan said, the first to process the new information. "A being of such destructive power... I am almost reminded of Genesis."

"The Bible book or the science project you came out of?" Cap asked.

Khan smirked. "Both, captain."

"Majoras have trouble existing in the physical world. They usually attach themselves to items- like a book or a doll."

"Or a mask," Tux stated, voice even.

"And then, they can possess others through that item, filling their minds with dark thoughts. But the Director doesn't seem to be doing that. She's made up of disused ideas and concepts from other universes, other Equestrias that she has killed. That she was forced to kill. I saw her, and she's..." Twilight swallowed. "She looks like the Fausticorn. The Director is a mirror of the Creator, like Her if She was twisted and dark and... evil."

Blast Fuse and Blast Powder raised their hooves. "We were created by a dude, though."

"That explains so much- nothing at all. That explains nothing at all, thank you," Dan said. He put his feet down, finally, and leaned forward to grab a scone. "How do we beat her? To beat or not to beat, THAT is the question. See? I know how to Shakespeare, too. No thanks to Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theater," he said between bites.

"To be or not to be," Khan corrected. "Hamlet. A tale of madness and vengeance. Both of which are familiar to us, are they not?" He raised his glass to Dan. The shorter human rolled his eyes and scarfed another scone.

"I'm not sure we can destroy her," Twilight admitted, difficulty creeping into her voice. "Or that we even should. She is Equestria, the past Equestrias, the magic of this world and... more. She came into being unintentionally, if I'm right, and she's meant to destroy this world at a certain time. But she's done this to so many other Equestrias she no longer wants this. She's tired of it and... she just wants to be with her friends."

Dan had nothing to say to that. He sat there, mouth between bites of scone, staring at Twilight. The others were the same.

"And when th-"

"Holy squee!" Dan exclaimed. "She just popped up out of nowhere! Holy crap, jeez, don't do that. Okay, I'm fine, I'm fine... you can keep going now."

"And when the fields were bare at the end of the harvest, this reaper threw down her scythe and begged to leave. But there was no one around. The skies grew dark and on that day, she wished she could cry for after all souls had been harvested, she was alone. The only soul she wanted to take was her own."

Twilight nodded. "Equestria, the Equestrias before, they're like... tests. Some ponies like Starswirl are chosen to be spared from it when the world is... wiped clean, so to speak. Someone picks and chooses who lives and who is, well, erased. And the Director is the eraser and doesn't want to erase any more. She's trying to bring the world close to destruction in order to avert this path... and she wants to save us in the process. She was here," Twilight looked down. "And she tried to 'save' me and my friends."

"Ah!" Khan said, surprised. "Nicholas, did you hear?"

Phoenix looked up from his phone. "Oh, uh... yes?"

"Motive, dear defense attorney. Yes, we have uncovered what may be the motive of the Director," he said, leaning forward. "She is a creature of substantial power but must wield it for a purpose she does not desire. She seeks to save her friends, which is why the two of you were trapped in the underground facility. This Cleo... we are all special to her. Destined to destroy this world but in her heart, she longs to deliver us. This explains her motivations."

"Again," Dan leaned forward, hitting his teacup on the table, "this doesn't help us. If she's trying to save us, she's doing a pretty bad job of it considering as how we nearly died like fifty times. And the planet nearly exploded. Where was she while we were in the evil tube?"

"That was when she came to me," Twilight said. "She tried to convince me to come with her. I fought her and I must've hurt her, somehow. She must've been incapacitated while you were underground."

"Huh. Alright, that explains that, but onto the important matter... HOW DO WE TAKE THIS WITCH OUT?!"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. Even understanding her and her powers, I really don't know what to do or where she is. I'm not sure she can be really fought."

"Is there someone who does know?" Captain America asked. "If there was anyone who did know, who would they be?"

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said without missing a beat. "And she's still missing."

"So finding her is priority numero-uno," Dan stated. "I think we can safely rule out Douchebag Central for now. If they were there, they're probably extra crispy by now. So how are we going to find the princesses?"

It was an important question, but silence was his answer. None of them even knew where to begin. Until.

"Oh. OH! Crap, I know a place we can look," Spinner said.

"Oh, yes. Well, we can at least give you some idea, I mean," Springer, still next to her, added.

"Where?"

"Canterlantis. That's where the rest of FIST went. The sea ponies made a deal with Vice to invade Equestria along with Gust Grasp and Zen Zeal. Unlike those two, the sea ponies didn't go through with it. Not from what we can tell, anyway. But they might know where Vice took the princesses," Springer explained.