//------------------------------// // Mirror Darkly: Do No Harm // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// "What… what do you want from me?!" Vice's voice broke high. He cowered against the wall as if to hide from the gun pointed at him, futile as he knew it would be. "I told you: I'm not a rebel!" "Yet you're treating dozens of them," Dan said, his voice stern and stoic. "Summers, Bandwidth, Ice Pick- not to mention several humans." Vice swallowed. "I… I've only been here since this morning. I don't have any control over who's admitted!" he said, a half-truth. While the nightshift had admitted most of the patients, imperial and rebel alike, Vice wouldn't have turned any of them away either. It was their duty. Dan smirked again. He aimed his phaser low for just a moment and vaporized Vice's desk in-between the two of them. The desk glowed bright red and disintegrated, melting into red sparks that evaporated into the air leaving behind nothing. The process happened so fast, the picture on Vice's desk of him and his parents fell and shattered. "You had to know something about the attack," Dan said, stepping through the empty space where the desk had been to Vice. He took small, deliberate steps, keeping his eyes on the cowering doctor, every inch forward a threatening message. He kept the phaser at his side, casually aimed at Vice. "The outer fortifications attacked, several city blocks leveled, relatively light casualties, three areas of the city hit and despite all this, somehow, the only reported injuries are admitted to this one hospital? That's just too perfect. But I've heard you're famous for miracle cures, before, doctor." "I'm telling you the truth!" Vice protested. "They didn't tell me anything! I admitted the patients, but-" Dan vaporized one of the chair legs under Vice. The chair rapidly disintegrated and Vice fell to the floor. The human cooly stood over him, phaser still aimed and hot. "The attack's not over!" Vice screamed. The human held his fire. He raised the phaser, pointing it finally at the ceiling. Vice looked up at Dan towering over him, his dark, tanned visage made almost alien-like by the fluorescent lighting overhead. "There's more to it?" Vice held his hands up as if to block the next shot. "Get up," Dan ordered, pulling the doctor to his feet. "What do you mean, the attack's not over?" "It's not over," Vice stammered. "La-last night w-w-was only the first phase. They have more planned, a lot more." Dan took a step back, lowering the weapon. "What do they have planned?" "They're going afterl the Empress," Vice said. Dan quirked an eyebrow. "They're planning on getting White Horse? How?" "They're going to attack Canterlot again when the Empresses arrive tomorrow. An ambush." "Heh… hehahahaha…" A smile spread across Dan's face. "Hahahaha! I love it. They hit Canterlot while White Horse and Night Horse are away to lure them back. Back to a city that they already hit once unsuccessfully, and one of the most heavily-fortified positions in Equestria, just so they'll feel safe when they hit them again. And of course, because they just attacked the place last night, no one would ever expect them to attack the same place again so soon. I have to admit, that's some kind of genius." Vice nodded. "They don't know which one is coming yet but they're planning on taking out either one or both and then negotiating with the royal family for a treaty. They'll be forced to recognize the rights and freedom of ponies and terrans alike or at the very least, recognize the Resistance's territory." "And the royal family, without White n' Night horses' guidance, are just sniveling and groveling enough to sign it to save their own hides," Dan finished for him. "But the Empresses are too powerful. Nothing the rebels can hit them with will even phase them, let alone subdue one. Vice shrugged. "They think they've found something that can." "Something that can actually match an alicorn?" Dan scoffed. "Not possible. The Empresses have ruled for centuries dealing with uprisings like this. There's never been a weapon that could match them before. They know every kind of magic in the book and they've got the armies of two entire planets to cover them. What could the resistance possibly have to beat that?" Vice pulled out the holoprojector and switched it on. "They have this." Blue light swirled into the form of an alicorn filly in front of them. It rotated slowly as text scrawled around it, the details of its weapons and systems being listed. Like Vice, Dan was almost instantly mesmerized by the sight of it. "What is it?" "They call it a Magic Gear. It's a forty-foot tall pony robot that can destroy entire cities with its weapons. And it's completely immune to magic," Vice explained. A smile, almost genuine, spread across Dan's face. "They think this can actually beat them?" "No," Vice said. "They think it can destroy them." Dan nodded, rubbing his chin as he looked at the display. "Immune to magical spells… now that might actually do the trick. At the very least, it'll be a major threat to them, to the entire Solar Empire. There's just one thing that bothers me," he said, looking up to Vice. "Why did they tell you about this?" Vice swallowed. He decided not to tell the whole truth. "They wanted me to evacuate the hospital today. They said they had a weapon that would annihilate the entire city, all of Canterlot but I didn't believe them so they showed it to me this morning. The weapon is real, this threat is very real." "And what, they showed you this little trinket to convince you?" Dan asked. "They're sending me to retrieve it," Vice quickly added. "I'm to use my position in the Medecins Sans Frontieres in order to get the weapon from the Zebra Republic." Dan turned to him quickly. "The zebs have it? But they're all pacifists. What would those hippies want with a WMD?" Vice swallowed. "Th-they're the ones that built it. For the Resistance." The human rubbed his chin again, buying it. "Haaaaah… that actually makes sense. The zebs have been thumbing their noses at the Empire for years. We suspected they were supplying the rebels but up until now, nopony could prove it." "Heheheh," Vice chuckled nervously. "Well uh, like you said, until now." In truth, the Zebra Republic was largely pacifist. The zebras were a peaceful and friendly race that sought to spread harmony and love throughout the world. They were known for their incredible generosity and peace-loving ways, never resorting to violence and trying to promote health and well-being to other nations. Naturally, everybody hated them. Other nations rarely if ever dealt with them in any way. The train tracks ended and deliberately went around their entire nation. The Solar Empire publicly denounced the zebras as a race of savages unfit for even slave labor. Empress Luna claimed to have seen the Republic and declared it a wasteland devoid of any usable or valuable resources. In reality, the zebras were the first and only nation so far to repel an invasion by the Solar Empire. How was still a mystery. Some say it was the result of bad weather, others say that the zebras had help from aliens but regardless of who you believe, the fact remained that Empress Luna led a force of four-hundred thousand troops, airships and armored battle wagons into the Zebra Republic one night just a year ago. And only Luna came out. The reemergence of the Crystal Kingdom, longtime allies of the Solar Empire had quickly given the Empire the boost it needed. The failed invasion was covered up quickly by the return of the crystal ponies. Inquiries into the lost Imperial army and troops were dismissed. Luna claimed to have banished the entire army under her command to the moon for their failure to find an acceptable land to conquer. But that would've required the Components of Control to do. And Twilight had told Dan that they hadn't been used. "So, the hippies have taken a side in the war?" Dan asked. "Maybe they heard about Earth, found out what's there." "Maybe," Vice said, shrugging. "But, you know I don't want my hospital destroyed." Dan smirked again. "Ah, I smell a proposition, my equine comrade." "The resistance wants me to recover the weapon but you know I'm not onboard with them. You help me destroy the Magic Gear and I'll let you take all the credit. You come back to Canterlot a big hero and by that time, all my patients will be discharged. I get to keep my hospital, you get to hit the Resistance where it hurts," Vice said. Dan mulled the idea over for a moment, gingerly gnawing on the key emitter of his phaser. "What about the resistance? They're not going to come after you for breaking their new toy?" The doctor shook his head. "They're not like that. They probably won't rely on me after this but dammit Jim, I'm a doctor- not some kind of rebel mechanic with a giant robot. From the future. Repaired with spare car parts and a video game interface." "Hmmm…," Dan thought it over. "I could just shoot you right now, take your projector, maybe dress up as a doctor and fly there myself. Take the Magic Gear back, maybe even take over the whole Empire myself." "You could try that," Vice said, smirking. He walked over to where the human was holding the phaser pointed at him and let it touch him, end still lightly red. But Vice just looked Dan right in the eyes. "But who's going to believe you're a doctor." "I could take your scrubs." "But you can't take my access codes." "…Crap. All right, let's get going," Dan said. He dialed a number into the cell phone part of his phaser and held it up to his ear. "Waylon? Pick me up on the east side. We're taking some… medical leave." The human lead Vice Grip outside of his office and back into the hallway. "Medical leave?" a voice on the cell phone asked in a distinctively western accent. "You said this job was for an easy get-in-and-get-out, brother man. Waylon's gonna expect a bigger paycheck for this." "Duly noted," Dan said sarcastically. "We're picking up a passenger and then we've got a trip to take. Just taking a doctor out for a little house call is all." "Doctor? It ain't Dr. Morris, is it? Because if it is, I'm grabbin' the noise-cancling headset and the-" "Relax, Waylon. And be ready for a quick pickup." "Heheheheh, is there any other kind, brother man?" Dan flicked off the cell phone and put it away without answering him. "Friend of yours?" Vice asked as he followed. "Let's call him an acquaintance." "Tend to meet plenty of those in this line of work," Vice said. Dan looked over his shoulder. "You have no idea." Vice stopped briefly. Dan's words almost sounded threatening. Considering where they were going, what they were doing, that made sense. He hurried to follow the human down the hall to the exit.