Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1)

by Barrobroadcaster

Central Final: Dan with a Plan

"Okay, new problem: how do we get to Atlantis?"

"Canterlantis."

"Whatever," Dan said. "We find it, we kick seapony bass until they give up our friends. We put the fear'a Dan into 'em, they won't screw with us again."

Twilight nodded. "I'll do some research. But seaponies are mostly considered myth in Equestrian lore. They haven't been seen in hundreds of years... many believe they don't exist."

The room was quiet. Gust, who had slipped to the living room, had only been casually listening in when he realized he could help. Took him almost a full minute to realize it, but realize it he did. "Uhh... what?"

"Gust? What are you doing?"

"I was just listening-"

Twilight frowned. "Put it back."

Gust waved his claws defensively. "I didn't steal anything this time! Okay, I checked everyone's pockets, but I didn't take anything. But seriously, I overheard what you guys were talking about. The seaponies? I know about those guys."

"You do?" Twilight asked. "What can you tell us? Do you know where Canterlantis is, where they come from?"

"Oh yeah, we know loads about 'em. They show up near icebergs in the Easterly Easy Sea sometimes."

"Icebergs?" Tux asked. "Do you mean they're frozen in ice?"

Gust nodded. "Some of 'em, yeah. Lots of stuff is frozen in those ice caps, they say. All sorts of creatures we thought vanished a long time ago. Us griffons like to harvest icebergs; we just yank the things out of the water and then boom, got all the ice cubes you want. They'll last over a year if you keep them really cold. But sometimes, we had to fight the sea ponies to get 'em. We only do that when we really, really want the ice, though, like if we think something's buried in it."

Twilight braced her hooves on the table. "Wait wait wait wait, you said you fought them? You actually fought them? Your pirate crew?"

He nodded again. "Few times, yeah. Their magic is pretty tough, and they got tech to match."

That immediately got attention from Twilight, Phoenix, Cap and Dan. "Magic? What kind of magic?"

"Uhh, the 'magic' kind?" He shrugged. "They didn't pull any rabbits out of a hat, if that's what you're asking."

Twilight shook her head. "No, I mean spells. There are three core types of spells: energy spells like shields and beams, natural spells which involve the elements, illusionary... which would be like the rabbit-hat trick."

"I like that one," Dan said. "Everyone loves bunnies."

Gust thought for a moment. "I, hmm... I guess they used a lot of all three. But it was mostly based on the water. Like, they used the ocean for most of their stuff."

"Okay, now what about this technology? What kind of weapons were they using?" Cap asked. "Anything you can tell us could be helpful."

"Hmmm," Gust through, remembering back. "They used a lot of harpoons, drills and... suits."

"Suits?" Cap repeated as soon as Gust said it. "What kind of suits? Were they heavily armored and could they fly?"

"I doubt they were anything from Tony's arsenal," Phoenix said, patting his friend on the back. (Though, with some of the things we've seen, I wouldn't be surprised.)

The griffon shook his head, to some relief from the others. "Nah, they were like, reverse-diving suits or something. They were super-heavy armored with lights on the heads or something. Some of 'em had big drills or something on the hoof parts and others..." he thought hard. "Nail guns. Rivets, I think, big ones."

"Rivet guns?" Phoenix asked.

Gust nodded. "Yeah, I think so. They were tough and they could use magic with these suits. They threw fireballs and stuff at us, one time they summoned a swarm of bees."

"Bees?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "Bees? In the middle of the E.E. Sea? That's not... that's almost impossible, even for most nature spells."

"I'm telling ya, I had deckhands covered in bee stings for like a whole week."

"Hmmm," Dan thought. "An armored suit that throws fireballs, shoots bees and comes with heavy weapons. I want one."

Twilight nodded. "This merits a deeper investigation, in more ways than one. If you've spotted seaponies in the Easterly Easy Sea, then that's a good place to start looking."

Dan grinned. "YES! And the plan practically makes itself! We get a big block of ice, dump it in the water, wait for the seaponies to show up and then nab 'em! We catch them in like a big net or something, an electric net, break 'em out of their suits and make them tell us where Canterlantis is. Ice fishing for seaponies with an iceberg as bait. How's that for a fishing story?"

Phoenix gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Our Dan with a plan is back! Knew you hadn't lost the touch, buddy!" (Dan's back for better AND worse!)

"It'll take us some time to set up this trap," Twilight said. "In the meantime, I'm going to try and learn everything I can about the seaponies and their magic. Gust, I will need your assistance."

"You got it, prin-bro-cess... err, princess-bro... umm," he thought. "... Crap. I can't think of a good combination of princess and bro," Gust admitted, stumped.

"What about bro and pony?" Twilight suggested with a twinkly smile.

"Oh, please," Dan rolled his eyes, getting up. "As if anyone would ever combine bro and pony."

Spike pointed. "Don't you say brony sometimes?"

Dan glared at him. "That's a fair point, although, counterpoint: shut up." Spike just smiled a him slyly. "Anyway, in the meantime, I'm going to check in with the rest of the town, make sure the defenses are up to and running."

Blast Fuse and Blast Powder raised their hooves. "We volunteer to protect the town!"

"While you guys are hunting seapones."

"We already gave everyone in the town a free bomb!"

"So now we should really get around to teaching them how to use them."

Twilight nodded. "That's a good idea. And another potential disaster. Mr. Tuxley and Mr. Reginald?"

"Mm, yes, Miss Twilight?"

"Can you both supervise the two bomb sisters? Make sure they don't turn Ponyville into a giant crater?"

Tux removed his hat. "We will do our best, Miss Twilight."

"Khannie, you wanna join me?" Dan asked. "I can show ya around town and I can show you what real superiority looks like."

Khan laughed, a mixture of surprise and genuine amusement. "Hahaha, truly? Yes, I'm sure there is much I could learn from a tour. I look forward to it, shall we?"

"Absolutely, new buddy. C'mon." Dan ushered him out the door and closed it behind both of them.

"Okay. I'm gonna hit the books. Gust? Come on... I'm sure you'll like hearing about all the treasure seaponies undoubtedly have," Twilight said, tempting him.

"Oooooh. Yes, I would like to be your study-buddy."

Twilight chuckled. A little motivation never hurt, when it was the proper kind and the proper goal. Phoenix stopped her before she left. "Uh, hold on, Twi?"

"Yes?"

"I think you might wanna check in on... Chrys, when you get a moment," Phoenix said, pointing upstairs. "She's been up there for a while."

"Okay...?" Twilight said. "Let's go, Gust. There's a treasure trove of learning waiting for us."

Gust smiled. "That sounds really lame. Go back to talking about seapony treasure."

She rolled her eyes. "Sunken treasure, then."

"Mmmmmmm..." The pair hopped up the stairs but made a quick stop at Dan and Chrys' room. Twilight opened the door.

"Huh?" And behind it, she found... Dan. Sitting up in his bed. Eating a sandwich, typing on his cellphone.

"Hey, Twilight. Mmm, tastes better when you make it with rage." Fluffle Puff was under him, being used as a pillow.

Twilight did a double-take. Then a triple-take. "But- weren't you just- wait. Chrys?"

Dan smiled, shaking his head. "She just left. Her Dansguise is getting pretty good, isn't it?"

Twilight pointed. "That was Chrys?! That whole time?!"

Dan stretched. "I was tired, needed a break, so I let Chrys be me for a while. Now, I'm talking to her on this headset and texting Phoenix while they're out showing Khan exactly what I want him to see."

"Wow," Gust said. "But wait, how do we know that wasn't the real Dan down there and you're not Chrys pretending to be Dan?"

The human grinned, winked at Twilight. "Ah, turkey sandwich," he took another bite. "I think you'll always be able to tell what's really going on... if you look below the surface."