//------------------------------//
// Wrath: The Legend of ZelDan and Galaga 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

A man in a bathrobe sword-fighting a pony wasn't exactly that weird, compared to what Dan and company usually faced. But Dan enjoyed a good show, and so he found himself watching the one in front of him rather than trying to run. Phoenix was just doing his best to keep his distance, but it was clear the two strange combatants had engaged each other. They were locked into a duel until it was done, and they were evenly matched.

Naturally, when Dan saw two opponents who were evenly matched, he did his very best to make things uneven. Fair fights became boring fights when they lasted too long, sword fights included. Sure, at first, it's cool when two guys are very nearly killing each other with sharp objects, but then they start going through rotations of blocking and parrying and then you're just watching two people clinking metal rods together.

No offense to fencing, kendo or the other sword arts, on or offline, but they're not huge spectator sports in real life.

"I know what to do!" Dan announced.

"And that is?"

"Nicky! Run down to the armory and get something to help Pone Link. I gotta go find Colress and the others!"

Phoenix's eyes darted between Dan bolting and Link and Eric fighting. "Wait, what am I supposed to get? Why can't we go TOGETHER?!"

"You'll know what to do! I have faith in you!"

"Is this about us getting tricked again?"

"YES!" Dan shouted, bolting to the spiral stairs.

Phoenix looked back at the dark horse and the white wizard. Pitched in close combat, the pair exchanged blows in a series of clangs and scrapes. This was not some elaborate dance or choreographed pageant of swordplay; this was brawling with blades. They had entered the phase of combat where they sought to erode each others' endurance until an opening presented itself. It was a game of who would break first. The one that held out until just after that point would be the victor.

Pony Link braced against his shield as Eric battered it. With two blades, Eric was piling on the offense, feeling it was the better strategy. In truth, using two swords at the same time required a lot of dexterity and focus, but it made him more unpredictable. The swords clattered and twanged against Link's Hylian shield while he readied the Master Sword.

As the pony blocked both of his blades with the shield, Eric had to keep himself open for counterattack. If Link was able to repulse both blades at the same time, a simple thrust from the pony would be all it took to end the fight. They were both master swordsmen, but they shared more than talents. They shared history.

"That's a new look for you, boy. Same hat, same sword..." he knocked Link nearly to his feet with the hilt of his sword, momentarily lowering his shield. "Same technique!"

But Pony Link blocked Eric's right-hand sword with his own. Not everything about him was the same.

Shield locked on sword, sword locked on sword, the two were sword-locked, unable to break away and unwilling to relent. They pushed off each other, the furthest the two men had been apart since the fight began.

Eric's eyes glowed a burning red. "This could have been different! This was our ONE CHANCE!"

Link panted, but said nothing. They both knew he wouldn't. Eric held his sword up at him, aiming the steel blade at his neck.

"Still silent, after all these years... are you even a man? Do you even understand what I'm saying to you?"

Link nodded, much to young Ganondorf's surprise. Like every other world the two were reincarnated in, it was as something a little different. The spirit of the hero, Link, had been reincarnated as a young boy on an island, a young man from a ranching town, an elderly blacksmith, a fox, a wolf, and an astronomer to name a few things. Ganondorf likewise had been reincarnated many times, always as a fierce warrior. In Equestria, Link's spirit became a pony while Ganon was reborn as an albino Gerudo.

Eric grinned. "Ha ha ha ha... it's always the same between us. Never victory or defeat total." And then his smile turned to pure rage. "It could've been different this time! The cycle, it could have been broken! Do you even know what that means?"

Link shrugged.

"You clueless idiot!!" Eric ignited his right hand in fire and enshrouded the left one in ice. The corresponding blades took on the elements in his hands. He thrusted his left blade into the ground, and the floor instantly froze over. With the other blade, he slashed through the air, sending fireballs in Link's direction.

Link leaped to the side and immediately regretted that decision. He slipped and slid into the wall, which put him in the perfect position for one of Ganon's fireballs to land right on top of him. He raised his shield, his only defense and was rewarded when the flames were deflected off of it. The fireballs heated up his shield, but he knew he could take the momentary heat to avoid the bursts of flames.

Eric/Young Ganondorf charged forward at the nearly-defenseless Link. Still on the floor, Ganon's magic exhausted, he was going to skewer the pony before he could get up. He ran right for Link, swords held high... and he slid right past him and fell over.





At the same time, Phoenix was carefully considering his options in the armory. Except he didn't have any.

(Damn it! They didn't return the weapons after the Smooze swept through here!) To be fair, they were cleaning the weapons after the Smooze had been destroyed. The foodimals were helping with that. Fortunately, Phoenix did find a toolbox that had been overlooked.

(Okay, what do we have here...) A cordless drill, rubber mallet, industrial glue, measuring tape... Dan could've found a way to combine these things into some kind of weapon, but Phoenix Wright wasn't Dan.

(No, no, no, can't think like that. Alright, Nick... what would Dan do?) The image of Dan riding through the prison on a go-kart with a grenade launcher entered Phoenix's mind. (...Maybe that's not the best idea.) He would have to think on his feet, and he knew it. Without another moment's hesitation, he grabbed the toolbox and left.

At the same time, Dan had arrived in the control tower.

"Colress!"

"Hmm? Oh, hello. Sorry, I tend to get a bit sidetracked when I'm working on calculations. We're almost ready."

Samule, Sendback, the ODSTs, the Imperials Colress were overseeing the repairs to the cannon. The Spiral Staircase, as the cannon was called, hadn't been used in over a thousand years. With the recent damage, it was going to take everything they had just to restore it to fire a single time. Let alone the real problem.

"I need you to work on some new calculations. We're not going to be firing us the first time," Dan said.

"We're not?" Colress looked up, followed by the two donkeys.

Dan shook his head. "You're still going to be aiming for the moon but we need to fire something else first. A bomb."

"You want to blow up the moon now?" Dollars asked. His mask de-blurred for a moment to show the shock on his face.

"I'm not surprised," Samule said.

Kelsan folded his arms. "The planet's stability is rapidly degrading. We may not be able to fire more than one shot."

"We're going to have to," Dan said.

Colress, ever the objective scientist, simply asked, "Why do we need to launch a bomb first?"

"To blow up the moon."

"I called it," Dollars said. The stormtroopers and Kelsan through up their hands, the donkeys only smirked and shook their heads.

"There's a REASON," Dan stared them all down, "Vice Grip is planning on scamming us. He WANTS us to try to take him out and go to Earth. It's a trap."

"Ohhhhh," everybody went.

Dan nodded. "All the crap he's built, the Magic Gears, the Sword Spells, the artificial alicorns, the pink stuff, I'm pretty sure I know what he's going to do next."

"Really?"

"That's a first."

Kelsan walked over to him. "I can see you're learning to think ahead, commendable, but I must ask... what DO you know, Dan? Are you SURE about any of this?"

Dan nodded again, because he had to admit it was a fair question. "He's stolen everything else from us so far. I'm betting he's planning on imprisoning us in the moon. All of us in one place, everything we have with us where he can get to it easiest, I'm betting that was his plan the whole time."

"Actually, he was planning on turning you to stone and hurling you into the sun," a familiar voice said. "But other threats, other civilizations, I'm sure he's going to imprison in the moon. I have to admit though, the whole plan is pretty impressive. A bit impersonal for my taste, but impressive."

The voice was being piped in from the prison's intercom system. It played on every speaker simultaneously, and somehow, it could also pick up what Dan and others were saying. Dan looked around. Security cameras, were trained on him, not the first time, but the first time when he expected to have the home field advantage.

"You just NOW decided to say something?" Dan asked. "You been watching us the whole time?"

"Mostly listening," Barro said. "Not that it's ever been hard to listen to you, Dan. You're like me; we're both good at commanding attention."

"But who's doing the commanding now? You... or Vice Grip?"

"It's Rice, actually. Rice Puddinghead the Fourth. He wasn't lying about that. Neither was anyone else, for that matter."

Dan sighed. "Yes, I get it, his son was killed in a coup attempt and history covered it-."

"Not just history, Dan," the intercom interrupted. "It's been ongoing. There's been many opportunities for the truth to come out. I've been covering this story for a long time- do you realize why Mayor Mare betrayed us?"

Dan spun around. He tried to signal to Colress to trace the signal, even if there probably wasn't much of a point.

"What about you? Going turncoat on us with one of your little space projects. I know your game, too, Mr. Galaga. That's it, isn't it? The ship you're using is the one from the Galaga arcade games that keep popping up?"

"Right again, Dan! Very impressive. And like the ship from the original game-"

Dan remembered back to his time wasting quarters. "It can shoot down anything with a single shot."

"Looks like you've finally figured it out. But actually, the Galaga Gun only works in space, like the game. I've been using a modified ion cannon to hit things on Equestria- remove a few 'troublesome spots.' Mostly to motivate you, though. I needed you to round up the stragglers."

Dan nodded, biting his lip. "The assassins... what was left of Cleo and the guys in the underground fight club."

Kelsan, the gray-shirted Imperial, produced a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead. He'd been sweating.

"I thought you were doing this because of that friend of yours, Barro. The one that's always going on about the raffle? What happened to him? You shoot him down, too?"

"At first, I was. But Rice made me realize how foolish I'd been. I got tired of reporting on dead heroes, being unable to do anything about it. I was going to raise an army right here, use it to finally make things right in my own universe. Rice..." Barro's voice paused for a long moment. "Rice's way is more efficient. Why go to another universe when you can just bring everything to you?"

Dan looked up. "Is that what Rice's latest plan is?"

"Hahaha, no, you don't get to learn that right away I'm afraid."

He threw up his arms. "So what happens now, then? You going to kill us? Wait for us to get up there and just blast us to bits? That it?"

"I'm sure that's what Rice would want me to do. But you know, I'll convince Rice to let you all go on your merry way if..." his voice trailed off into silence. Prompting them all to ask,

"If...?"

"You give me the Imperials with you. The two stormtroopers and the officer, that's all."

Dan looked at Kelsan, Norman and the other guy. He'd never gotten his name. "Just the three of them?"

"Just those three, yes."

A long moment of silence passed. The Imperials stared at Dan- nervous, agitated, ready to run or fight, he didn't know. Maybe all of that.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"I'm going to finish what I started, Dan. I'm going to kill them."

Kelsan drew his sidearm. "And what's stopping you now? The walls, is that it?"

*Krzzzzssshht... krzzzzzt...* The intercom blared static. They didn't know what to think, but they didn't have to; it changed to something far worse a second later.

"Mayday! Mayday, this is ISS Veracity  on all channels! We're going down! Repeat, we're going-"
"Open distress call broadcasting on all channels: Battle Group Orion sustaining massive casualties, our location is-"
"Systems failing, all hands abandon ship! ISS Duantless reporting critical systems failure!"
"My scope is dead! Can anyone see the shooter?"
"CONTROLS ARE DOWN! ISS Reprisal, fleet support is out of action!"
"I copy: cruiser one-dash-one-three-eight is down."
"I can't see anything!"
"Oh my god..."
"Repeat! Battle Group Orion out of action, the fleet is- *kzzzzzzzztt*"

Dollars looked around. "You ever get the feeling that we're completely alone and no help is coming?" Jake nodded.

"That was the rest of your fleet, you know, the one sent to 'establish an Imperial presence' on Equestria? Ring any bells?"

Dan looked back down at Kelsan. "What's he talking about?"

"You ever wonder why they were REALLY here, Dan? You didn't buy that BS about them just doing a little research, did you? No, the Empire doesn't do much research."

"You LIED to me!" Dan yelled. "When we SAVED you!"

Kelsan's hand shook as he held the blaster at Dan. He swallowed hard, and then, for some reason, he slowly lowered it, along with the stormtroopers.

"What I told you... was in good faith. Yes, usually research recon missions are a prelude to occupation but we had not signed off on it yet."

"Oh, bullshit!" Barro said before Dan could answer. "You pompous assholes were swooping in to plant your flag, land troops and install your own governor. Walking around, all over everyone like you own the place. Business as usual."

Dan said nothing. He stared back at the Imps, waiting for them to answer.

Kelsan knew it, and he shrugged again. "He's... well, he's right. There's a substantial Rebel presence on this planet as well. We would have expunged it, then established a permanent occupation to ensure Imperial compliance."

"Occupation. Compliance," Dan repeated, like he could spit both those words out. "You're just a bunch of bureaucratic thugs. No thought, no independent will, just orders. Orders and orders and orders. Your order to establish your own order. No matter what anyone else thinks or says. Disgraceful. Disgusting. It's wrong."

"Wait!" Dollars held up his hand. "It IS wrong." Dan and Kelsan both looked at Dollars, but the soldier pointed to Kelsan. "What HE just said. The Rebels, you made peace with them."

Kelsan squinted. "What are you talking about?"

And that was when Norman took off his helmet. "He's right, sir. We brokered a truce with the Rebel Alliance on Equestria. They agreed to cooperate."

"Oh this is rich. This is just TOO rich. How many times has the Empire betrayed a cease fire before? We've cooperated together before. It never lasts."

Kelsan shrugged a third time. "He's right about that, too."

"ANSWER me this," Dan raised his voice, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You made friends with the Rebels here. This guy did, at least. That's a start. It's at the very, VERY least a step in the right direction, a single good thing." He stepped up to Kelsan and looked him right in the eye, "and the rest of your Imp buddies were on their way."

"Not any more."

"Shut up," Dan said. He took Kelsan's gun out of his own holster. "My question is this: would you have fought for it?"

"What?"

"Would you have fought to keep that truce? Yes or no." Dan had the pistol raised. With a flick, he could have shot Kelsan in the head.

The Imperial officer felt his heart in his chest. He looked down the barrel of his own weapon, then to his subordinates. He didn't really think of them as friends... but they were the closest thing he had to them. He felt the same with everyone else. Something had changed in him, and he didn't know what or why. He didn't know if he could trust the Rebels, Dan or anyone else. The only thing he was sure of was that he was an Imperial officer, born, raised and trained. It was what he was made for.

It was the only thing he was certain of. And he chose to throw that certainty away.

"Yes."

Dan gave a solemn nod. *Blam! Blam-blam-blam!*

*Kreeeessssshhht*

"That's what I think of your offer, Barro," Dan said. He handed the gun back to Kelsan. He left them completely stunned. "Well? Get back to work!"

"What do you mean? What are you going to do about Barro?"

Dan turned around. "I'm going to take Mr. Broadcaster off the air."

The intercom speaker crackled on the ground. "Will there still be time for a raffle?"
"Shut up, Michael."