Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1)

by Barrobroadcaster

Errands: The Breakdown

We all have a role to play. We have ours, our daughters have theirs. Even She had Her own role to play here, and She entrusted us with what She left behind. One long unbroken chain, our path in history. It winds ever outward from our place of birth, spanning across time and space. In Her hoofsteps do we walk, always.

We remember our place. We know our role in things. You may think we've forgotten, that we lost our way. You focus so much on what we lost out there, in the void, you never considered what we found. That is why we return now, to bring you the truth. You don't understand, but you will. You all will.

We didn't stray from our roles. You did.

So, Dan explained the plan to all of them. If Celestia's parents thought what they were doing was good, that they were the heroes, then all of Equestria would be the villains. It was an elaborate double-bluff; act like Equestria had been conquered already. Lure the enemies of Equestria in, then blow them all up. Pretty straight-forward.

The Terrans, the deranged king and queen, Dan was duping all of them. The Terran Empire was tempted by the starships Dan was building behind the moon, clear signs that he would invade the Mirror Universe first. Further corrupting Equestria with dark magic would tempt the king and queen to solve the issue themselves instead of using pawns, which they were likely to use first. And finally, giving Equestria a nightmarish, villainous makeover would confuse the crap out of anyone else threatening them.

"So who's ready to be a bad guy?"

"Why are you enjoying this so much?" Phoenix asked.

"And how the heck do you know ALL the enemies of Equestria are going to attack us all at the same time?" Spike asked. He was the dragon that asked the important questions.

"Barro's helping us out. His broadcast station is broadcasting images of all our stuff, everything that's happening out into space. Into other dimensions," Dan said.

Twilight/Nightfall nodded. "Uh huh. Because nothing is scarier than the evening news, right?"

Spike rubbed his chin. "But he never agreed to that. Today, when we were at the Ponyville Action News Team Station, you just tried to get him to help you kill Rice Puddinghead."

Dan nodded, then grinned. "Welll, let's just say Barro may not have agreed to anything."

"What did you do?" Twilight asked. "Wait... you didn't hack the news station, did you?"

"You barely know how to program the security system," Spike commented. "And it's been on the fritz again lately."

"I know, but no- I put a bug in the broadcast station! Right in the studio!"

"You put a bug in the PANTS?" Chrys asked.

Spike was still scratching his chin. "So wait a minute... was that really your plan the whole time, coming to run errands with me?"

Dan shrugged. "I actually DID run errands with you, Spike. To be fair. I just had a few errands of my own to run."

Twilight had a stern look on her face, and not just because she loomed demonic right now. "I understand why you did this, Dan. But keeping secrets like this is..."

He patted her shoulder armor. Both of them looked like villains. "Don't think of it as a secret. Because you'll always find out eventually. Think of what I do as... more of a surprise."

She smiled slightly, and after a moment, nodded. "I think I can accept that."

"Good. Because I have PLENTY more surprises in store!"

"Let's not overdo- oh gawd, when don't we over do it?"

"Do I get a villain costume, Dan?" Chrys asked, excited.

"Uhh... well..." Chrys' ability to transform into pretty much anything threw Dan off a bit on this one. Anything he made for her, she could already make herself. Her magic allowed her to produce outfits when she transformed, though the clothes would disappear back into the ether when she switched back. So, Dan did the next best thing.

"I had a few ideas of things you could transform into."

"Mm-hmm."

"Are you both blushing? Aww, that's so cute," Phoenix said. They both glared at him. "Right, back to pizza."

But Twilight noticed them blushing, too. She didn't say anything. She thought of herself and Spike. Both of them were in the same position in the romantic sense. They had both been forced to sacrifice much time, effort and energy for the sake of princess and country. It had been rewarding in its own way and necessary, but maybe there was something to thinking of her own desires.

Maybe Nightfall could help get Twilight what she wanted. What they both wanted. A new kingdom, a safe place for all their friends and family, a... boyfriend.

"I think... I think maybe we could work something out. With Zen Zeal, I mean."

They all turned to her. "What?"
"Come again?"

"Well... I'm just thinking that more land WOULD be nice."

Dan held up his hands, weighing the options. "More land... fascist zebras... more land... talking to Zeal again." Bit of a toss-up; Zeal was still a conqueror and a selfish, ruthless, militaristic prick. For all they knew, the land could've been poisoned or tainted or cursed in some way. They DID have ways to counteract it... and land was land.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to talk with him. But we should probably go get him before he leaves town."

"He hasn't left," Twilight said. "He's heading to Zecora's hut in the Everfree. And there's a few zebras waiting for him, his cadre, I think."

They turned to her again. "How do you know that?"

"I-" Twilight stopped. How DID she know that? The image of Zeal trudging angrily through the forest, seething, she could feel his anger in every hoofstep. She felt the cold trees around him, the predatory plantlife and fauna welcoming him like a friend. Zebras had a unity with the forest, so that was expected, but it was like Twilight was seeing it unfold with a second set of eyes. She heard his breath. He was angry, angry at them and angry at himself.

There was a battle to be fought and Zeal didn't just want to watch. He wanted to be a part of it, he craved it. It was like it was a part of him. To deny him his ability to fight when battle was upon him was like cutting off a limb. Twilight could feel his anger mixed with pain, the pain of lifetimes. No wonder he was offering so much for a chance to fight the king and queen.

Chrys shrugged. "Probably her new nightmare powers."

"Dark magic powers," Twilight corrected. A bit more sharpness in her voice than intended. "I mean, um, they do seem kinda nightmare-y."

"Yeah," Chrys nodded, smiling. "It's a nice look. I bet our enemies will all be terrified of you."

"It's my friends I'm worried about..." she said, looking down. She knew AJ, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie would all accept her, of course. So why did it still worry her? "I still need to figure out how to change back to normal."

Spike, who had been quiet up until then, finished his pizza, downed his drink and cleaned off his part of the table. Calmly, he approached Twilight.

"Twilight, I... I learned a long time ago that... well, Equestria has to keep turning. We all have to make it through the day, at the end of the day and... we do. Sometimes, big stuff has to be put off to another day. No matter how big it is."

Twilight looked down at herself. "This is pretty big, to be honest." She felt like she could fracture reality by making the wrong step with her hooves, rotating her fetlock the wrong way. She could sense more things than she ever could if she wanted to, but she could also turn off those senses, like taking off a pair of glasses.

Maybe this form for her was like Dan said- a costume. It felt like more, but could she turn that around?

I liked the idea with the new kingdom. We could make our own Cloudsdale. I mean, if you think about it, do we really even need land?

The new voice in her head prattled on. For now, her voice and Nightfall, her new persona... ponysona... whatever it was, were in harmony. She didn't know if that would always be the case.

We could have ten boyfriends. Handsome, strong, fit to worship us. Getting us stuff, doing our bidding, a new one every day. Ten, but one will be the prince and the others... just fun servants. One for each day of the week.

"The week has SEVEN days in it," she said out loud.

Been thinking about that- we could make it longer. I mean, Twilight Day really should have already been a thing. Twiliday for short.

"I don't want a DAY named after me!"

How 'bout a night, then?

"SHUT UP!!"

Suddenly, she felt Chrys' hooves on her shoulders. "Twilight, getting out of the house helped Dan. I think you need to take it easy. Get some rest."

"I..." she looked in Chrys' eyes. "I think I will do just that. Thank you."

"We have to put things aside sometimes. It doesn't mean they're not there, or that they're not important, just that... other things are in front of them. Other stuff has to come first. The best way to do these things sometimes isn't with careful planning or immediate action but to... take things day-to-day," Dan said.

Phoenix nodded. "A nice bookend to put on today, Dan."

"That, and I'm ready to pass out anyway," Twilight said. She trotted upstairs.

"Can we get another pizza before you leave?" Dan asked. The sound of Twilight's door slamming was his answer.

Still in his costume, Dan thought she had the right idea. "Think I'll do the same. Wanna come help me take off my costume, Chrys?"

"I-ba-da-wa-ga-ja-doh-gabba-wannee-"

"I'll take that as a yes."

Phoenix stretched. "Yeah, I'm gonna call it a night, too." They all headed up to bed together.

"So who's gonna help clean up the kitchen?" A door slamming was Spike's answer as well. He shook his head. "Yeah, some things can wait but that doesn't apply to everything." Being at home so often made the dragon a bit of a neat-freak, SOMETIMES. Cleaning up evil pizza and punch, that definitely qualified as one of those times.

While cleaning, he heard a knock on the front door.

"Delivery."

Spike opened the door. One of the clerks from the supermarket was there, as were several pallets behind him of the supplies he'd ordered. "I- thanks ,but we weren't expecting you until morning."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting your friend to take out my produce display."

Spike winced. "I'm, uh... sorry about all that."

"Sure, sure. Also, we delivered everything, but the transaction only went partly through when you paid for this stuff. Manager decided to be nice, since a lot of ponies' accounts are overdrawn but you guys should really sort it out with your bank."

"I- okay, thanks. Wait, what? Overdrawn?"

"Goodnight!" The pony said. Nothing to sign, he was just off, several pallets of supplies now occupying their lawn.

Spike slowly closed the door. Problem with the bank... what could that mean? He went upstairs and knocked on Twilight's door.

"Hey Twilight."

"Hey, Spike." She was lying on her bed, her longer limbs now stretched over it. A pillow covered her face, evidence of how she felt right now.

"They delivered the stuff from the grocery store, but they said there's something wrong with our account. He said we might be overdrawn or something."

"Overdrawn?" Twilight asked. She took the pillow off her face. "But the account's linked to the royal treasury."

"Yeah," Spike chuckled. "It couldn't be overdrawn. That would mean the whole kingdom was broke."

"Yeah," Twilight said, and they both laughed. They laughed for a solid minute, probably longer than they should, to the point where it became awkward, then uncomfortable, then looped back around to being funny again. Then, the realization hit.

"Well, it can still wait until tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, totally," Twilight said. "It's- it's, you know, probably nothing. Just a... bank error. Or something. Those happen, right? I mean, it hasn't happened since we've been here, in pretty much the history of Equestria but... there's a first time for everything... right?"

Spike looked into the distance with a long, hard stare. "I guess so."

Twilight grinned. "Hey Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna run errands with me tomorrow?"