//------------------------------//
// Rad: People That Matter 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

Both Dan and Sendback screamed as the Smooze chased them down the hall. The muck sloshed, sludged and oozed forth like a tidal wave. As they turned corners, the crud smashed into walls, briefly slowing it down, time enough for Dan and Sendback to keep running. The sound of their screeching voices and scrambling legs echoed off the walls surprisingly effectively as the Smooze pursued them.

The plan began to work! Back in the central yard, the Smooze began to drain into the prison, slowly receding from the yard as the entity's full attention was snared by Dan and Sendback. Again, the Smooze wasn't smart but more than that, it was easily distracted. They didn't even really have to have Dan and Sendback do it; pretty much anybody would've worked as bait. Using the two loudest members did ensure success, though, but mostly, Samule just wanted to torture Dan again. That plan was also working.

"This was a great idea! Great idea, I'm so HAPPY whoever came up with it did AND THEN VOLUNTEERED ME FOR IT! ISN'T THIS A GREAT IDEA, NICKY?!" Dan shouted, looking over at Phoenix running right beside him. Except Phoenix wasn't right beside him.

"Oh, right, you're on the roof. I HATE THIS PLAN!!"

"I hate it too!" Sendback's voice echoed from the distance.

"NOT AS MUCH AS I DO!"

Back on top of the roof, the three teams began their advance. Although the Smooze was draining, some parts of it remained active, kind of the person in the crowd that didn't know why there was a crowd there or what was going on. Some of those dimmer parts of the Smooze noticed the teams exiting the safety of the shield and threw sludge bombs at them. If any of them were hit, it had a thirty-percent chance of poisoning them.

"Hey! Hey, where are you going?"
"I don't know where I am."
"Get out of my way!"
"Who are they?"
"Smooze them!"
"Smooze them!"

The Smooze argued with itself, but mostly drained into the prison. The laws of liquid volume displacement had the strongest effect on the muck, it seemed. A good amount of it stuck around to continue chucking balls of itself though, which became the responsibility of Tuxley, Reginald and Chris Redfield.

Back at the southern garrison, Tux removed his top hat, flipped it over and sat it on the balcony.

"Gentlemen," Tux announced, "This one is for all the marbles." Eyes downrange, they lined up their rifles on the balcony and began to take score.

Captain America led the first two teams along the south-east wall, blocking flying Smooze bombs with his shield. Phoenix and Knight made their way across the south-west wall using Rarity's shield to support them. They had to change up some positions in the teams because Dan was playing decoy. Meaning another member had to take the place in the team heading to the final garrison in the north with Volcanus.

Once the first two teams were in position, it was the last member's time to shine.

"So are you a pony, a spider or a robot?"

"At this point, I have no idea!" Volcanus said delightedly. "And you're a pony, a doctor and an alien?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I am!" Doctor Whooves said. "But you can just call me The Doctor!"

"Doctor who?"

"You're bloody damn right!" No shield at all, Doctor Whooves relied only on his own grit, determination and agile mind to see him safely towards the north garrison. He deftly dodged, ducked and dove over and under slung Smooze with the mini-Magic Gear Volcanus on his back, the tiny machine's six legs clutching him tightly. He heard the other teams through the Magic Gears' built-in radio system. Colress tweaked them so they could get reception even during an apocalypse.

"Doctor, we're in position and powering up the generators now!"
"Better hurry; I can't keep this up forever!"
"Just a bit longer, Cap! Hurry Doc!"

"We're almost in position- the lights'll be back on quicker than the power company! Don't you worry!"

Smooze flew past the Doctor's muzzle. To make it even more disgusting, some of it actually had eyes forming on it, which was partly why it was so accurate, and the globs sizzled both in front and behind him as they went past.

With the power from Ace and Knight, the generators on the east and west side powered up. The prison shifted and shuddered and lights began flickering on. Both inside and outside the prison, the power started to return.

Dan and Sendback noticed this as they ran through the corridors. Not having to dodge anything, the pair reached the north end of the prison much faster, nearly running into each other.

"Woah!"
"HEY!"
"STAIRS!!"
"OKAY!"

That was the extent of their conversation. With the Smooze filling the lower levels of the prison, they were forced to the second level. Now stuffed in the prison, Colress was able to lower the doors to the yard on the east and west garrison towers, trapping most of it while the rest sludged its way into the north tower. Its attention fully on Dan and Sendback, the scum rushed into the prison as much as it could, falling right into the trap.

All was left was to get the last generator activated. That's where Doctor Whooves encountered a problem.

"Freeze!"

Team Rocket grunts aimed rifles at the Doctor. The fourth and final generator was being used as a staging area for something. Back down in the prison, Dan and Sendback had just discovered why, but didn't know it yet.

"Where did all the villains go?!"

"I have no idea. Nobody tells me anything. You think I got a notice before they said I was going to be a prison administrator?" Sendback asked.

"I know how it is," Dan said.

"No, you don't."

Dan and Sendback ran through the rogue-less rogue's gallery, unaware that the occupants were being unloaded just above them.





"Looks like you were wrong, Cobalt. We will be getting the good doctor after all."

"I didn't think we had the Good Doctor yet-"

"No- you," Writhe N. Payne face-hoofed. "You know what I'm talking about. Today has been long enough."

Doctor Whooves raised his hooves slowly. In front of him, the Team Rocket grunts, the ones that weren't pointing guns at him, were busy loading the statue-fied villains from the prison into Boba Fett's Slave I. It was clear now what they had been doing, what their plan had been all along. What their plan had been from the start.

"Payne!" Whooves exclaimed. "The same one from the train?"

The yellow stallion smirked. "Maybe, maybe not." And then he removed his trademark glasses, the glasses that were iconic of all Payne prosecutors, pony or otherwise. In that moment, Doctor Whooves realized the pony he was addressing was not a Payne at all.

"Do you know why the GenoHaradan like a nice, harmonious government like Equestria, Doctor? It makes it easier to move around. Assassins do their best work in the shadows. And you can't have a lot of shadow without a lot of light."

Doctor Whooves was beginning to piece it together. "You're that assassin character, then? The one that tried to recruit Dan and then murder us?"

Standing on his hindlegs, the pony descended the loading ramp. "Oh, make no mistake, it's not that I enjoy killing valuable people. But if you're determined not to cooperate, what choice do I have? Besides, I wasn't trying to kill you- I just needed to motivate you."

Cobalt, next to him, flashed a grin. "Thanks for getting us through the front door, by the way."

The Doctor felt his body grow cold. That was a bad sign, considering he still had some of his timelord physiology as a pony, including the two hearts. It felt like both of them just skipped a solid beat. He was now beginning to fathom just how deep the deception went, and the thought was more chilling the deeper he took it.

"I wanted to use Dan willingly, but he made it difficult. So, if he was determined to do things his own way, why stop him?" Visor said. "I needed to get into Stable 4, you got me in. I needed to get into Donquestria, you knocked down the wall for me. I needed to get into Bursavis... you lead me right here. It's all been thanks to you and Dan, Doctor."

Doctor Whooves snarled. "And now that you've got what you wanted you're planning on leaving us high and dry? If we're so useful, why not take us along for the ride?"

The yellow stallion grinned again. "Who says I'm not?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!! OUT OF MY WAY!!"

"Right on schedule."

As if on cue, Dan and Sendback burst through the door to the roof. They crashed into a group of Team Rocket grunts, knocking several over, but there were more than enough who were able to get their arms around the pair.

"Hey- HEY! What gives?! Where did you cronies come from? Who hired the thug brigade? I WANT NAMES!" Dan exclaimed.

"Oh, I see how it is! I see how all this is, they give the black man the worst job, then they have a bunch of pasty scumbags ready to arrest him- get your hands off me, I'm not going to be man-handled! THIS IS INJUSTIC-"

"Will someone please shut them up?" Visor asked. Two grunts gagged Dan and Sendback and slapped the muzzle-shields on their helmets down, silencing them. "That's better."

Another pair of Team Rocket grunts flanked Doctor Whooves on either side. They ushered him forward with their weapons; he did not resist them. Cobalt plucked Volcanus off his shoulders and used her radio to contact the other GenoHaradan teams. Soon, Captain America, Phoenix and Redfield and their accompanying members all joined them, unwillingly.

It wasn't just the Team Rocket grunts among the assassins. The hooded figures from the arenas, the thugs from the auction, the random raiders, and finally, Boba Fett, all escorted the Jerk Team allies to the bounty hunter's ship waiting on the northern garrison. All very neatly fell into place, just as Visor had intended.

Prisoners, Dan and company were lined up against the ledge of the balcony. The Smooze below was congregating. Although it was low enough that it could no longer reach the top of the tower, it was still filling the yard to the point the ground could not be seen. It bobbed and sloshed, confused as to what to do next.

"This is going to be very simple," Visor announced. "You all have one thing in common: you are all survivors. That is the real reason you were all brought here, all joined together. Rebels, Imperials, scientists, Halo troopers. The last of the dinosaurs AND possibly the last true gentlemen. And more symbolic survivors, like the enduring American spirit in Captain Rogers. You were all brought here by the Director to teach her and ponies how to survive. Now, your mission is complete."

"Survivors of what?" Cap asked.

"Everything," Visor replied. "Everything Equestria could possibly throw at you. Even its destruction. The Director is a Majora, meant to destroy and erase this world, as she has before. But she got tired of this after a while."

"Oh god," Phoenix said. "There's ANOTHER secret motive behind everything? What is this, the fourth or fifth one? Who's been keeping track?" He looked over to Dan. He held up five fingers. (Well, maybe we can finally find out which one is the right one...) He reached into his pocket and clutched the magatama tightly. But in that same moment, he felt something else in his pocket.

"It's actually quite simple, Mr. Wright. The Director is this world's version of death, but like everything else in this world, it was affected by magic. Eventually, it got tired of doing its job and wanted to make friends. So she cobbled together a physical form for herself from trashed storyboards, discarded characters and concepts. She figured if she screwed this world up enough, or tried to steer it to some other apocalyptic vector like Fallout: Equestria, she wouldn't have to destroy it. The Stables were also a way for her to save and play with you at the same time."

Phoenix squeezed the magatama. He looked Visor right in the eye. There was no psyche-lock, even if he wanted there to be one. The pony assassin was telling the truth, the final version of it.

"So what is it you want?" Doctor Whooves asked. "Join us or die, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't think you'll find us very willing-"

"Throw the racist over the side."

Sendback's eyes went wide. The nearest Team Rocket grunt simply flipped him over the side of the balcony, sending him tumbling into the Smooze. Still gagged, he was unable to scream, though certainly wanted to. Some of the others looked behind them, tried to see over the side, but none fully could. The sickening splat sound that followed shortly after told them what they already knew.

"That man was an idiot. You- all of you, you can be useful. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, as they say. Team Rocket was just the first to realize the simplest thing: people make the difference. Gold, oil, gems, they're only worth something because people decide they do. There's no difference between one lump of gold and the next. People, they are what is really unique, really rare, really worth anything," Visor explained. "Rarity next."

Two grunts pushed Rarity by her shoulders. She tumbled over the side and into the Smooze.

Everyone else immediately shot up from where they knelt. Even gagged, Dan tore apart his restraints, and ripped through the cloth with his teeth. "YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" Only to be quickly jabbed by the grunts repeatedly, until he doubled over.

Visor smiled. "She was a collector's item. Worth quite a lot. But there will be other Rarity's, and even one with ninja-skills isn't valuable to us if it can't be controlled. If I have to worry about her escaping, which she has proven she can do, she's too much of a risk."

Doctor Whooves was so disgusted he could spit. Not just for losing Rarity, but for everything else about this snide, contemptuous scumbag in front of him.

"I don't know which is more positively foul," Whooves said. "You... or the Smooze."

"Come now, Doctor... you of all people should understand the value of a life," Visor said, approaching him. "The last of the Time-lords. Now that's a tale of survival worthy of Daring Do's next novel. And Cleo didn't even know about you."

"I swear..." Dan said, coughing. "I'm going to kill you. I'M GOING TO KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"

Visor simply rolled his eyes. "As worthless a threat as you yourself are, Dan. We tried selling Dan and even merchandising him but to be honest, he's just not very unique. Another angry, pale American that goes around acting like a jerk. Don't know who in their right mind would be interested in such a character."

"You'd be surprised," Phoenix said. "Also, Dan... you're about to get your wish." The lawyer shot up and drew the pistol Dan gave him. He fired at Visor.

*chink*

"Ha. You forgot to say "Objection!", Mr. Wright," Visor said. He walked over to where the lawyer stood and took the pistol from him. "And you forgot that the museum display you stole this from... didn't include the bullets." He tossed the gun over the balcony. Phoenix felt his psyche-gauge drop with it.