//------------------------------// // Cheese…Cake // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// "I… I thought you'd never ask," Dan said, delightedly stunned. A smile crested over his face as Twilight had said the word, uplifting him in more ways than one. He practically teleported outside himself, dashing through the mall entrance with speed only possible in a cartoon and in a flash had returned with the Segway. He presented it to Twilight, overjoyed. "I love you magic purple pony." Chrys' eyes lit up. "I can be violent, too! Somepony get me a segway!!" Spike looked around. "I think that might've been the last one." The changeling queen's heart sank as another chance to impress Dan escaped her. The purple dragon patted her drooped head. "I feel ya, sister." But Twilight's gaze was fixated on Vice Grip. Her magical aura enveloped the scooter and levitated it into the air. Vice's own eyes were alert. Cautious but not afraid. Twilight didn't care; he'd gone too far. Messing with her friends and family was not something she would allow in any sense, under any circumstances. There was doubt in her heart. She would do what was needed. The purple princess advanced upon the scientist, eyes narrow. "You have exceeded your authority, professor," she said, venom in her tone. She gestured the handle of the segway at him, almost forcing him to lean back. He did so anyway, unexpectedly threatened. But when it looked like she was going to hit him with it, she turned around, still holding the scooter in her magical grasp. "But… but… but…" Dan watched in dismay as Twilight walked away, back to the elevator bank. Chrys trotted up to her side. "Twilight, are you-" "I know what I'm doing." The sharpness in Twilight's voice stopped Chrys in her tracks. It hadn't been directed at her but it was clear she wasn't going to let anything, or anypony get in her way. Something had happened to Twilight that Chrys had never really seen before: she was angry. Dan walked up to Chrys' side. He didn't say anything but a quick glance at his expression informed her that he was no longer happy to see Twilight this way. But some pony else, just behind the group but ever watchful, was. Twilight approached the central area again, the altar surrounded by tubes. Wires and pipes of all kinds ran from the Steel Heart up to the ceiling and down into the floor around them, some even into the the room her brother and Cadence were begin kept in. All of it looked wrong. And felt worse. Her magic lifted the segway higher. "Twilight, what are you doing?" Shining asked, seeing her from down below. "I'm getting both of you out! Both of you, hide behind a shield now!" "Twilight!" The segway came down like a hammer, bashing into the crystal floor. The force of the blow bent the scooter at an odd angle, causing a novelty horn to play. While ruining the segway, Twilight's efforts had no visible effect on the floor. Usually, Twilight would've examined the effect her attempt made before continuing. Her mind was analytical and rarely did she do anything without studying the immediate result afterward. But this was anything but usual. Twilight gritted her teeth and smacked the scooter into floor even harder, breaking the plastic case. Again and again she slammed the segway into the ground, turning it quickly into metallic pulp. White smears appeared on the crystal, streaks where the plastic struck the surface but no cracks appeared. The floor shook from the force of each blow. Several of the elevator doors dinged and opened but no pony was inside. Dan and the others had never seen Twilight act with such rage. It was honestly scary. But not to one pony. "Fascinating…" Vice remarked. The utterance of words was enough to draw the attention of the others who noticed him penciling something down on a notepad. It was only more evidence that Vice Grip was manipulating them all, including Twilight. "Absolutely fascinating." And that was enough for Dan. "Where do you get off?!" "Whatever do you mean?" Vice asked innocently, quickly pocketing the notepad. "Why are you making her do this?!" Vice chuckled. "But Dan… she's don't this all on her own. I don't control Princess Twilight Sparkle. Age twenty-two, Golden Oakes Library, Ponyville, Equestri-" "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Dan roared. "You dangle her family like a worm on a hook in front of her and… and…" he just realized what he said. But he had no idea what it meant. He shook his head, now angry at his own confusion. "WHY THE FRIK ARE YOU DOING THIS?!!" "Dan," Phoenix said. "I think you might want to calm down." "Nicky, get me another segway." "Dan…" "NICK! I am calm," Dan declared, not even turning around. "And I'm gonna CALMLY beat the snot out of this arrogant piece of-" "Dan!" Chrys yelled. "WHAT?!" Too late. Dan turned around not fast enough to see all the eyes of the steel ponies staring at them. Spike and Fluffle Puff huddled in a ball of dragon-puffiness. Slowly, Dan turned back to Vice Grip. "Oh, you son of a bitch. You SON OF A BITCH! You're trying to make US look like the bad guys!" Vice shrugged. "Well, your friend is defacing public property, trying to free a pair of suspected arsonists." "I'm gonna stick your head up your OWN arse if Twilight-" *Crang! KRSSSH!* The sound of the segway exploding and clattering to the floor cut Dan off. He turned to see Twilight, now down on her knees. But her rage had fizzled out. "I… I can't…" she muttered, panting. "I can't break it. I'm not… strong enough." "It's… it's okay, Twilight," Cadence said, holding Shining and being held by him. "You tried your best, little sis," Shining added. She nodded, tears falling from her eyes. She gripped the remains of the scooter again, part of the wheels on its base and hit it against the floor feebly with her magic. When it barely even made a thud, she threw it at the steel heart in frustration. Much to everyone's surprise, the heart-shaped artifact smashed to pieces when the remains of the segway collided with it. The heart itself broke open and the base holding it up fell, as if it was made of tin. It clattered to the floor, spilling thousands of crystal beads on the ground. "What?" Twilight asked, looking around. Chrys walked over and picked one up. "Uh… I don't think this was the Crystal Heart." Dan and the others followed suit, wading into the beads. "Well, if that wasn't the mcguffin, what the heck was it?" "Nice," Vice said, unamused. "You just broke my crystal popcorn popper. Great job." "Popcorn?" Chrys asked, examining the beads. "Oh… I get it. It's unpopped so it's still a crystal…" Spike picked up a handful and munched them right off the floor. "Not bad. Needs salt. Maybe some crystal butter." Fluffle smacked the back of his head. "Thpppp!" "Hey, what was that for?!" "Thpp-thppddppdd-thpp-thpp!" Chrys looked over her shoulder. "She says, "The five second rule doesn't apply when we're in the bad guy's shopping mall." "Oh…" Spike said. "I'm sorry. I'm kinda hungry, though. Can't blame me; haven't eaten since this morning." "Well," Vice said nonchalantly, "if you're all done trying to vandalize public property, I'm willing to help us reach a solution that we all can benefit from. If you'll allow me to explain." Dan shook an angry finger at him. "Oh no no no no NO, you've HAD your chance to explain! You've tried to kill me on at least two different occasions-" "Three," Vice corrected. "Or four. I may have lost count myself." Dan blinked as fury built behind his eyes. "You can explain it in a jail cell, because I've had ENOUGH of your-" "Dan…" Twilight stopped him. She sat on the floor looking through the crystal but not at her brother and Cadence. She looked away and past the surface, past everything, as if understanding how foggy things were through the scratched-up crystals beneath her. "We're gonna hear him out." "We're not ACTUALLY going through with this are we?" Twilight sighed. "We… are." "GrrrrrAAAAARRRGGGGGRRrrrrr," Dan groan-growled. And Twilight, and all of the others, sympathized with him. But there was nothing any of them could do to change it. And for once, Twilight was feeling defeated. Vice smiled. "Well, if you'll all just follow me to the elevator, I think you'll find we can be very agreeable." Twilight started, then Chrys and the others quickly followed her. Her pace quickly slowed, though, her head dipping low as the feeling of powerlessness overtook her. Phoenix walked up beside her. "Hey, don't despair, Twilight. It's not over yet." "But he's winning," Twilight said. "No," Phoenix corrected, "it just means we're playing by his rules for the moment. But just because it's his game doesn't mean we can't play it our way." "You're right," Twilight said, nodding. "And we can win it." She quickly ran back to the altar, brushing some of the crystal beads aside to see her brother again. "Hang in there, guys! We're going to get you out!" "I know you will, Twily!" Shining called back. "Be careful!" Cadence warned. "And please, keep an eye out for Nightshade! We haven't seen him since we told him to call you." "Okay, I will! Just hold on!" "We will!" Twilight ran back to the elevator to join the others, edging quickly in just as the doors closed. Vice reached his foreleg gauntlet through the others to hit the button at the side of the door. The elevator lurched upward and the awkward ascent to the second level began accompanied by music from the local radio station. "Up next, we've got the latest track from Flash Sentry and the Political Prisoner Band. They call this song 'Help Me Please I'm Being Held Against My Will' and they say it's based on a true story. Here's one from the heart, Crystal Empire." Fortunately, the radio faded out as the elevator began to move upward. The transparent windows around them lead a perfect view of the mall, which was, they had to admit, impressive. The steel ponies all moved about, shopping and even talking to one another. But there was a rigidness in the way they walked, little expression in their faces. They looked determined, changed but none of them understood how. Twilight noticed all their cutie marks had the same purple cog-shaped ring around them now. It was clear indication Vice had done something to brainwash them, control them somehow but there was no indication of what he'd done. But they all seemed… somehow, hostile. At her and maybe even at the world. What had changed? "We're in a small room with him now," Dan said, not even bothering that Vice was right next to him. "We could kill him and make it look like an accident. No one would know." Vice smirked. "Security cameras, Dan. And if any harm comes to me, I'm afraid Shining and Cadence would find themselves in for quite a shock, if you catch my meaning." Dan growled again, seething. The others remained silent as the elevator continued to ascend. The doors finally dinged and opened, Vice shoving past the group to be the first out. "So, I was thinking we all sit down and maybe have a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory, discuss this whole thing," the villain suggested. "Oh, sure," Dan said sarcastically. "Let's all just forget the diabolical plan for the moment and have cheesecake with the douchebag. That's a great idea." "They actually have quite a large menu and-" "I'm not hungry," Twilight said, walking past Vice. Chrys shrugged. "I like cheesecake." "Splendid, I'll get us a table," Vice jumped on the small amount of approval he obtained. The Heartview Mall's Cheesecake Factory was situated towards the south-west end of the second floor with a balcony eating area directly in front of it overlooking the first floor. It was the same chain restaurant Dan and Phoenix knew about from Earth though neither of them had ever eaten at one; Dan because of his previous lactose intolerance and Phoenix because it was usually outside his price range. Vice Grip ordered drinks for the group and even a cheesecake for Chrys, Fluffle Puff and Spike to share, them being the only ones who were hungry. They were served almost immediately because of the steel ponies' newfound dedication to efficiency and also because like the chain on Earth, no one else was there. "This is what I was able to build in a week," Vice said, diving right into the subject as they all got settled. "This is the future. Not just for Equestria but for all of us. Convenience, innovation, fulfillment. And this is just a taste of what's to come." "So, you want me to nuke Earth so you can build shopping malls for ponies?" Dan asked. "Earth already has plenty of shopping malls," Phoenix said. "That's all the future is to you? Cheap stores, scooters and helicopters?" Vice sipped his drink. "That's what the future is for a lot of humans, in case you hadn't noticed. No, what I want is the future Equestria was robbed of. A chance for us to build things with our minds instead of magic." As they discussed, Chrys, Spike and Fluffle munched on the cheesecake. "Hmm," Chrys said. "This cheesecake is kinda strong." Fluffle didn't notice, instead continuing to lick the frosting off one of the pieces. "Why do you need to nuke Earth to do that?" Twilight asked. "Why can't you just find a piece of Equestria to build your techno-city or whatever in?" Vice folded his metal hands. "You know why…" he said, angry. "The princesses," Phoenix surmised. Vice nodded. "More or less. Magic is a part of this world, even part of ponies and I can't deny that. But we're so ingrained in it we can't function without it. What we need is a fresh start." Chrys nibbled on the cheesecake, trying to understand why it tasted so strong. "Why does this cheesecake taste so… off? What did they make this out of?" "And you want that fresh start to be Earth," Dan said. "And all you have to do to get it is lay waste to all of humanity." Vice innocently shrugged. "More or less. I have a lot of respect for the humans. Honestly, I have nothing against you guys but I feel ponies can do a lot better with your potential. I mean, seriously, it seems like both our worlds have what the other is lacking. I mean, why else would you two love it here so much?" "I DO love it here," Dan said. "You're right; humanity COULD learn a thing or two from the ponies. BUT THEY'RE NOT GONNA LEARN ANYTHING IF YOU BLOW THEM ALL UP!" he slammed his fist on the table. Chrys scraped some of the frosting off the rest of the cheesecake. "Oh gawd… it's not a cheesecake. THEY JUST PUT WHIP CREAM ON A CHEESE WHEEL AND CALLED IT CAKE!!" The changeling queen fell off her chair, gagging. Fluffle Puff shrugged and continued eating the cheese… cake. Spike put his piece back on its plate. "The cheesecake was a-" "Thppp," Fluffle interrupted. "What did that mean?" he asked Chrys. "Lie?" "Actually, that just meant 'thppp'," Dan answered for Chrys, who was gagging on the floor. "So, if we don't nuke Earth, you're going to keep doing this to the Crystal Empire," Twilight guessed at the rest of Vice's plan. "I don't want to hurt Equestria," Vice said. "Seriously, I know the company I'm in. If I try to go up against the princesses or even you directly, I could wind up as a lawn ornament like Discord or sent to the sun, moon or tartarus. I'm not an idiot." Dan grinned. "You say that and yet you're the one who just built a crap ton of nukes and parked them all around your fancy new mall." Vice frowned. "Maybe… maybe you should see the whole plan. Before you have a chance to decide. You'll see why I'm doing what needs to be done." "Uh huh," Dan said, leaning back. "Somehow I doubt that."