//------------------------------// // Mirror Dorkly: Working As Intended // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// "Keep firing! Keep firing! Hold!!" Mirror Daring Do shouted. The beach was ablaze. In foxholes, trenches and pillboxes, the forces of the Solar Empire fought to hold the beach and prevent the Resistance from landing heavier equipment like tanks. They had to hold onto the beach for as long as they could to stall for either a counter-attack or evacuation, the latter being more likely, they all knew. Resistance attacks were disorganized a lot of the times. They lacked the discipline of the Solar Empire, that made them unpredictable. Sometimes, it worked in the Empire's favor and sometimes it didn't. In most of Equestria's universes, pegasi were the first line of both offense and defense. Their position in the clouds served them as an early-warning system and also made them superb scouts. Speed let them reach and attack targets quickly. It was no surprise the Resistance sent an overwhelming amount of pegasi, griffons and human airships to attack their forces; on an island, they were isolated. After taking down the Imperial cloud cover, they were storming the island from all sides. But it was clear there was no plan of attack- attacking was their plan. The Resistance UR-Beat Bombers rained down destruction on the island, but it wasn't in a set pattern. The bombs dropped on their own forces more than the Imperials. Their paratroopers had no coordination, just attacked the nearest thing. The Empire had anticipated this to an extent, focusing most of its defense into the sky. Although broken, their defense had exhausted the Resistance aerial forces, buying the Imperials time to engage them on the ground. There was no way to know how large the Resistance assault force was but it was probably enough to overwhelm them. It was time for miracles, Daring thought. Either praying for them or making them happen. "Enemy armor dropping in! Reinforcements coming again!" Mirror Zecora announced. The zebra was among the last of her kind since the Zebra Republic was obliterated. Her stripes had faded to the point she almost looked like a regular pony. "Gimme the Stamper!" "Here!" "Braeburn, Stamps! Double-up!" "I copy!" An armored ray flew in low to the beach. A larger ray wearing a harness, the poor creature was overburdened and struggling to stay in the air. Two Resistance tanks, stolen from the Imperial arsenal, detached from its wings, much to the ray's relief. Daring leveled the Stamper and aimed at the enemy. The Stamper, or Stable Tactical Assault Missile Platform, was a missile launcher used by the Solar Empire. It was usually mounted on a tripod and had a barrel full of missiles attached to the back, but could be removed and used as a bazooka when needed. Without the mount, the missiles had to be loaded individually. She got the tank in her sights. The vehicle stalled as its wheels dug into the damp sand. It wasn't only damp with water, though. Daring just hoped she was far enough away. She squeezed the trigger and yelled, "Fire!!" Twin missiles launched simultaneously from the pillboxes. They penetrated both tanks and exploded, blasting their entire frames apart. The fire ignited the oil-soaked sand underneath them, spreading until the entire beach was awash in flames. The Resistance troopers screamed and burned, running back into the sea to douse the flames. "Thunderlane, now!" Lightning shot out from the remaining storm clouds, electrifying the water close to the shore. The electricity surged through the soaked and burning Resist troopers. A few paratroopers dropped in from overhead, some landing in the water and others in the flames. It didn't end well wherever they landed. One of the bombers saw things or maybe the pilot got a request over the radio. The bomber dipped in low to make a run at the pillboxes and entrenched Solar troops, but was struck by lighting. His ship flipped over mid-flight and crashed into the jungle a couple hundred meters from the beach. "Good job, good job everypony!" Daring called. She knew there wouldn't be much time to celebrate, but every little bit helped. "Clear the beach! Salvage what we can. Carrot Top, get me an ammo count!" "Captain!" Sierra, one of the Terran conscripts, came running to her. "Captain, scouts report they're breaking off!" Daring Do turned around. A few of their rays and bombers were flying away. It was too much to believe they were in retreat, though. "P-Probably just regrouping, but this should buy us some time. Get me a line to somepony in command, now!" While regular Daring Do was a cunning rogue, mirror Daring was a calculated coward. She was a pegasus, but to fight on the ground meant she was doing her wings a disservice. In truth, she had worked her way through the command chain and gotten herself the position as unit captain of the rear guard. But with the rest of the Solar Imperial troopers so depleted, she and her unit were pressed into action, much to her dismay. Despite her reluctance to fight, she was good at it, or at least very lucky, she thought. "Captain Do! They're disengaging up here!" Thunderlane's voice said over the radio. "I think they might be retreating!" She breathed in and out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Let's get the beach defenses set up again." The smell of burning oil, sand and brine filled the air with an oddly-refreshing scent. She sat down her STAMP and started to check the ammo. A shockwave reverberated through the sand. And another. And another. She turned around, they all did, back to the shoreline that was still burning. The blackened and scorched Resistance troopers, still alive because E-rating, dove out of the way and scrambled out of the water. A massive figure, taller than a two-story building strode out of the waves. Its glowing eyes focused on the beach. Daring Do felt her heart sink. "Oh squee." "It's here!! It's here!!" "Fire! Fire everything!" Daring shouted. So the troopers did. "Get the cannons up here, now! Now!" Phasers, lasers, bullets, explosives, some odd combination of all four, pinged off the smooth armor of Magic Gear ALT. Towering over the beach and its defenders, the Magic Gear strode out of the ocean, water sliding off its polished frame. Even now, its eyes glowing eyes pierced the night, evaluating the situation. Its long legs walked over the fire, the water dripping off it extinguishing a good portion of the flames. The Imperials scrambled to get back into offensive position but many were wounded or carrying wounded. Their weapons uselessly bounced off the Magic Gear's armor, not even slowing it down. "Analyzing attack pattern. Defensive structures detected." The Magic Gear's voice projected over the roar of weaponry. No one knew quite why Magic Gears spoke before attacking, narrating their actions. Some believed it was the software the prime universe Vice Grip had used when building them, that it was part of testing their weapons that was never removed. Others thought it was because video game bosses tended to talk a lot and forecast their actions, giving players a chance to dodge or defend. But for the poor souls who had to actually fight against the Magic Gears, its cold, feminine, mechanical voice, not unlike GLaDOS, was nothing short of totally demoralizing. Even more demoralizing was the fact the machines were built to resemble giant alicorn fillies, mockeries of Empress Celestia and Empress Luna. The Solar Empire had engaged one Magic Gear, ALT, on multiple occasions. They had yet to even make it blink. "Keep firing! And where are my cannons?!" She reloaded the stamper again and took aim. She got its left eye in the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. Her missile streaked out from her pillbox and exploded, smashing the Gear's eye dead center. But when the smoke cleared, the Gear hadn't even batted an eyelash. "Defensive structures analyzed. Engaging." Magic Gear ALT engaged a high-powered water jet from its belly and sprayed the beach. A few Imp troopers were in the way of the flames and got blasted back. The same jets that sprayed water then spewed flames of their own, this time aiming at the troopers. "Aaahh! AAAHHH!!" "Fallback to defensive positions! Hold the line!!" Daring yelled. "Beginning offensive protocols. Weapons online. Engaging combatants." Magic Gear ALT opened fire. Using its water jets and flamethrowers had just been to clear an area for itself. Now, it opened fire with its miniguns and auto-lasers. Beams of light and streams of lead unleashed from its shoulder and chin-mounts. Targeting was the most complex part of the Magic Gear, just like Dan's security system back home. Because it could use nuclear ordinance, its targeting systems had to be incredibly sophisticated. This meant that while piloting it, it was a little more complicated than just pointing a gun on the pony and shooting it. Mirror Vice Grip, stoically piloting the machine, found it easier to just classify whatever attacked him as an "enemy combatant" and Magic Gear ALT would engage it. If he made any of them a specific target, the machine went after them exclusively. This was because the other Vice Grip had designed them to specifically target Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The Imperial troopers rushed into the pillboxes and the defensive line at the forest. Dozens of them were cut down by the independently-targeting weapons on the machine, zapped by lasers or riddled with bullets. It used its water and flame jets to blast soldiers from their foxholes, sprayed them out of the trenches and set them on fire. Another one of the Resistance bombers came in too low and smashed into ALT's mane. The cockpit of the vehicle crumpled like an aluminum can and exploded in flames, pieces of fiery wreckage falling to the ground. ALT hadn't budged an inch. Sierra, bleeding from her leg, threw herself into the pillbox. "Sir! Sir, we can't stop it." Daring Do gritted her teeth. "Get your rifle ready, soldier! For the Empire!" Sierra said nothing but reloaded her gun. Lightning shot out from the clouds again, mirror Thunderlane and his squad responding. But their bolts of lightning bounced off the metal beast, the few that actually did hit. Magic Gear ALT simply looked upward and fired its cannons at the pegasi Imperial griffons. Their bodies fell from the sky, most hitting the jungle canopy. "Firing missiles." ALT finally launched her own missiles, directly up. One of them tracked and hit Thunderlane, blasting him out of the sky in a ball of fire. "Captain, the cannons have arrived!" "Alright, target her head! Everyone, target her head and fire at my command!" "Launching S-mines." Two bombs shot up from ALT's back. They hovered for a moment and then exploded in midair, dividing into five separate mini-bombs. The mini-bombs shot down to the ground, propelled by the force of the initial detonation and exploded, blasting soldiers nearby. Her flamethrowers coated the treeline in flames, scorching the ponies and Terrans hoping to use them for cover. But all of this had allowed enough time for their artillery to arrive. The three cannons rolled up from the prison compound and took aim. They resembled Pinkie Pie's party cannon, but were military instead of recreational. Along with the troopers in the pillboxes, they took aim at Magic Gear ALT. "FIRE!!!" "EMP at maximum." The cannons unleashed, Daring Do fired her STAMP again. All the remaining soldiers of the Solar Empire threw everything they had at Magic Gear ALT. The beach burned again, the jungle around them burned as hot smoke blew green and bark off trees. "Keep firing! Keep firing!" Daring Do shouted, reloading. She slammed the missile into the Stamper, took aim at the middle of the cloud of smoke that had engulfed Magic Gear ALT and fired again. "I'm out!" "Out of ammo!" "C'mon, c'mon..." Daring said. She looked through the rangefinder again. The smoke cleared. And her heart sank twice. Not only was Magic Gear ALT not even scratched, but every shot they had fired hung in midair. They hadn't even made contact. ALT's horn glowed red, pulsing as some kind of red lettering glowed on the outside. Their missiles, bombs and bullets then spun round like tops. "What's it doing?" "GET DOWN!" The ordinance flew back at them like it had been shot out of the same cannons. Explosions ripped through the defenders, blasting their armor. The cannons exploded as their own shells blasted them, shooting their crews up into the air and sending them flying. Daring dove as the missile she'd fired came right back at her, exploding in the pillbox. Mirror Zecora and the human girl Sierra were blown out of the box. "Leg drive motor charging!" Magic Gear ALT pulled back its right hoof and then brought it down in a straight punch at the adjacent pillbox. She then swept and knocked the roof off Daring Do's box. Rubble from her stone bunker fell on her and her comrades, knocking her unconscious. The Solar Empire's troopers had all been wasted. Bodies lay burnt and blackened all around. Magic Gear ALT surveyed the area and detected no remaining combatants. "Area secure." She then walked onward towards the Sand Castle and her intended target. The Resistance was, in fact, regrouping but the losses it had sustained were significant. Still, their hatred drove them onward, their goal of destroying the Solar Empire. Dr. Vice Grip, in command of Magic Gear ALT, could not have cared less about their cause, nor did he care that they followed in the wake of the carnage he created. The fact that they had the same goal- destroying the Empire, did nothing for either group. If Resistance soldiers got in the way of Vice and his target, or were caught in the crossfire, they suffered the same fate. Often times, the Resistance even tried to help Magic Gear ALT in its advances but more often than not, they would get in the way. They'd suffered significant losses from ALT, from the one time they tried to wrest its control from the doctor to the times where they attempted to assist it. Perhaps it was fitting that the Magic Gear, a weapon designed to be unstoppable and to defeat alicorns, was only successful in its original mission in an alternate reality. ALT, as her name suggested, was an experiment involving teleportation to alternate universes that prime Vice conducted. The experiment had been a success, though, due to lack of oversight, he was unable to recall ALT from her location. He had no way of knowing that his only successful Magic Gear was working exactly as intended- just not in the universe he intended. A couple hours later, Mirror Daring Do woke up. After taking stock of what happened, seeing her fellow soldiers lying defeated and destroyed, she removed her armor, stretched her wings and flew away. She left behind the Solar Empire and the Resistance, but decided someone, somepony should know what happened here. She found a wealthy griffon banker named Gust Grasp and began her career as a writer.