//------------------------------//
// Mirror Darkly: Where We're Different 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

Dan barreled the Flutterbird as low as he could, skimming the beady surface of crystal as it flew towards the massive equine mech. Its neck was craned downward towards the lake, like it was drinking. But Dan knew robots didn't do that. Did they?

"GYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAA!!" Vice yelled, gripping his seat with both hands.

"We've got to get on the ground, let it see you!" Dan yelled.

"Let it see me?! But it'll try to shoot me!!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, doctor, it's trying to shoot us now!" Dan yanked the controls, pulling the craft into a turn around the Magic Gear. He kept his eyes on the massive machine and saw the giant machine lift its head up to turn and look at them. The human felt something turn cold in the pit of his stomach as out of the corner of his eye, just as they passed it, he saw its left eye glare at them. A massive red orb, like a supernova around its own galaxy of icy shards. He swallowed.

"Okay, maybe we come up with another plan!"

"I have another plan!" Vice shouted. "We fly away as fast as we can and never look back! That's the plan!"

"Patience, doctor, we've come this far! There's no going back now!" Dan yelled, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"THERE COULD BE GOING BACK IF YOU JUST GIVE ME THE CONTROLS!!"

Down on the ground, the Magic Gear turned to face them. Despite the damage she sustained from the zebras accidentally detonating her own Sword Spell while it was still connected to her, her sensors were still fully operational and continued to track the bogey. She was a mess in more ways than one; damage to her structure, severe damage to her front left leg and her horn dangled from her head, still connected by thick wires and cabling. The machine side of her may have been battle-ready but the filly side of her was exhausted and hurt physically and frustrated, alone, frightened and angry emotionally. The two parts of her personality coalesced into a single resolve to be done with the new threat quickly and find a way home.

Unknown to all but the Director, the Vice Grip from the prime universe had indeed based his design for the Magic Gears upon the defunct CIA Peacewalker Project. The remains of the original Peacewalker, Shagohod and even Metal Gear ZEKE were all back at the Prosperity Mountain Base and continued to be the basis for all functional Magic Gears, ALT included. The problem with these designs was that they had all been designed to operate at peak efficiency- defense was only a last resort. While Vice had worked to correct the work of Granin, Sokolov and Emmerich, some of the basic flaws of the design and programming remained. In many ways, prime Vice had not made any more progress than his predecessors.

But there was one way in which he had.

An explosion rocked the craft from behind, one of the missiles detonated. "I'm getting ready to land now!"

"No!"

Another explosion, the other missile. "Get ready to jump out!" 

"NO!"

Dan pulled the Flutterbird around. "Doctor-"

"NO!" Vice screamed. "I'M NOT MOVING! I'M NOT MOVING! I'M-" As the craft turned to face the oncoming Gear, Vice finally got a good look at the machine. But it didn't look like a machine to him. He leaned forward in his chair, suddenly calm. "It's… it's…"

Twin miniguns on the shoulders of the colossal machine opened up. Two streams of bullets filled the space between the craft and the Gear. Dan pulled downward on the yolk, trying to get lower again. The hail of fire flew over the craft and quickly turned down to track it.

"It's firing at us, I know!" Dan yelled. Stray bullets pinged off the hull, broke through the windshield of the craft and hit the interior behind Vice.

"It's…"

"It's coming right at us, I know!"

"No," Vice shook his head, voice level. "It's hurt."

"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!" Too low. The leading edge of the Flutterbird pitched into the crystal surface and the rest of the craft went with it. The craft plowed its way through the crystals, carving a a path through the sea of gem shards. They didn't seem to slow down; the shards were less dense than dirt and lighter than they appeared. Both starboard wings snapped off, followed by the landing gear. The wings on the left side continued powering uselessly as the craft sailed past the Magic Gear all the way to the edge of the river.

Dan ducked his head as low as he could get it, putting it almost between his legs. Eyes closed and teeth gritted, he waited for the inevitable. Vice covered his face with his gloves, unable to do anything else.

Carried by its forward momentum, the Flutterbird plowed over the ledge and into the river. It splashed down into the purplish-blue inky substance.

"Ugh… ohhh…," Vice groaned. He unclipped his restraints as quickly as he could. "Dan… Dan…"

The human lifted his head up. The yolk had snapped off in his hands, he it to the floor. Water was already beginning to leak in from the cracks in the windshield. "Doctor… Vice?"

"Dan, are you all right?" 

"Yeah," Dan said, rubbing his head. "With all the safety features installed on this thing, I'm surprised they didn't install a-" *BRRUUUZZSSH* The human's body was engulfed by a giant balloon.

"Airbag."

Vice pulled him out of the airbag, puncturing the sack in the process. The two had to steady each other against the slant of the craft. Shoulder to shoulder, they helped each other to the hatch and opened it.

The Flutterbird was designed for emergency situations like submersion. The hatch burst open against the water, breaking off its hinges. Dan and Vice swam out to the shore… where something was waiting for them.

Vice looked up at the massive mare staring down at them. "I'm guessing you're not with baggage claim."

The Magic Gear glared at the pair and aimed its twin miniguns in their direction.

Dan held up Vice's arm. "He's the one you want! LOOK! It's the guy that made you! You wouldn't fire on your own creator, would you?"

A hum filled the air as the minigun barrels began to spin.

"EEEEP!" Dan took the opportunity to hide behind Vice. At five-thousand RPM though, any round that went through Vice would also have gone through Dan and probably through what was left of the Flutterbird behind them.

Vice Grip didn't know much about weapons; they all did the same thing. So he didn't pay attention to the guns. He was busy diagnosing the Magic Gear. As it was about to fire, he held up a hand. "You're hurt. How did you get hurt?"

The spinning of the barrels was at its highest pitch now. But they didn't fire. The Magic Gear quirked its head at the two, just slightly, still glaring.

"I'm a doctor," Vice said, his voice loud. "My name is Vice Grip. Do you have a name?"

The machine quirked its head again. "You are not Vice Grip. Scan indicates point ninety-nine-point-oh-four percent DNA match, cognitive and behavioral analysis indicates zero point-oh-oh-four percent match."

"I'm not the Vice Grip you know of," Vice said. Dan continued to tremble behind him. "But I am the Vice Grip of this world. What is your name?"

The Magic Gear seemed to consider its options. Finally, it retracted its weapons but kept them deployed. "My designation is Unit X-456 assigned to FIST Special Operations Group Omega. Unit code is one-six-three-oh-nine."

"I," Vice started to speak, didn't know how to phrase the words.

"Be careful how you speak to that thing, doctor. We don't want it-"

"Let go of my arm," Vice shook him off.

"EEEEP!"

"Do you have a shorter name?" Vice asked. "Like, Exie or uh, Ruby or something? Not a number, a real name?"

The Magic Gear thought for a moment. "Subcommander Lightning Claw gave me another name. Alt." She paused again, then looked back to Vice. "My name is Alt."

"Alt," Vice repeated, smiling. "I guess that's appropriate. My name is Dr. Vice Grip, Alt. If you don't shoot me, I can help you."

The machine glared harder at him, then turned and started walking away. "You are not a certified FIST repair technician. You are not suitable to repair Magic Gear."

"Okay, good job, doctor. You got it to leave, now let's-"

Vice reached forward to stop it. "You're shifting your weight off of your left leg. You've got a joint fracture in your left shoulder, I can tell. I've treated a lot of those."

Alt stopped. She looked at her left shoulder, then turned back to them. "I am not a pony. I am a machine. You are a doctor. You are not an engineer. You would not… know how to fix me."

"It's…" Vice considered his words carefully. He had to admit, she was right. "You're right. I'm not an engineer. Hell, I don't even know how to set the clock on my VCR. But I can tell you're hurt, in pain. I can do everything I can to try and heal you. It might… it might help."

The massive machine looked down. The fragments of crystal reflected to her a different appearance of herself, like staring into a broken mirror. But maybe in the distorted reflection was an image of herself she needed to see. "Why would you help me?"

"I'm a doctor," Vice said. "It's my job, what I was meant to do."

"I am a weapon. This," she gestured all around her, "this is what I am meant to do. This is what I was built for, my job."

"Maybe you could get a new job," Vice said. "I do this because I want to. You didn't want to do all this, did you?"

She shook her head. "No. I… I don't want to cause any more harm."

"Then it doesn't sound like it's your job," Vice shrugged. "Look, we can't always choose what we have to do or where we have to go… but wherever we are, we try to do what's right. That's my job because I'm a doctor. And it's a doctor's job to make sure no further harm is done," he pointed at her leg. "But if you leave now, that fracture is only going to get worse. Now, are you going to keep talking about how I'm not the right guy or are you going to let me do my job?"

She thought again and this time, the decision took her a lot less time to make. "Okay."

"And uh, I'm his assistant!" Dan called out, finally stepping out from behind Vice. "Dr. Dan and Dr. Vice are here to uh, help!"

The Magic Gear regarded him with large, red glowing eyes.

Vice looked over to Dan. The human's expression was the kind of smile a bad insurance salesman would make, the kind of desperation you could see… and smell. He practically sweated a plea for help, mercy, anything as he did his best to hold the toothy grin as sincerely as possible and looked back to Vice.

"'Dr. Dan'? And you received a medical degree when?"

"Ummm…" Dan actually started to perspire. "Can I borrow one of yours?"

Vice sighed. "Okay, rule number one, you never lie to the patient."

Dan frowned. "But what about the times when-"

"You NEVER lie to the patient," Vice reiterated. "You focus on the positive, you work with what you have, you emphasize what good there is about a prognosis but you NEVER lie."

"But what if I-"

"Do you want to help or not, volunteer Dan?"

Dan's lip trembled. "Can I at least be Head Nurse Dan?"

Vice glared. "Do you have a nurse's license?"

"Paramedic Dan?"

"Are you a registered paramedic?"

"First responder Dan?"

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW CPR?!"

The human thought. "Is that the thing you said you can't set the clock on?"

"No, that's a VCR YOU IDIOT!" Vice yelled. "You're VOLUNTEER Dan and you're lucky I'm letting you be that."

"Okay, okay," Dan waved defensively. "So what do I get to do?"

Vice pointed at the river. "Go get the trauma kits and the toolbox out of the Flutterbird."

Dan looked back to the Flutterbird. Almost completely submerged, only its left wings were sticking out of the soupy-looking water that flowed south. "Can… can I be patient counselor Dan instead?"

The pony patted the reluctant human on the back. "No, but Alt here can pretend to be a lifeguard while you search the wreckage of our sinking helicopter for the supplies we need."

"I can't swim."

"Urrrrrgggggg," Vice groaned. "Time to learn."

After about twenty minutes of alternating yelling and screaming, Alt was beginning to regret her decision to let the pair help her. She calculated a ninety-nine percent probability that despite one of them claiming to be a doctor, they were both in fact morons. Still, she knew she wouldn't get far with her drive motor cracked and there wasn't anything else to look at except a sea of broken, shimmering beads for miles. So she watched the idiots splash frantically, struggle, hit things including each other and periodically come back up for air to shout angrily or in Dan's case, in terror.

At last, they returned to the shore. "I can't believe it…" Vice said, catching his breath.

"I know," Dan said, grabbing his knees. "We're alive."

"No, I CAN'T BELIEVE THE TOOLBOX WAS FULL OF YOUR STUPID CANDY!!"

"Hey, candy can be an invaluable tool too!"

"SHUT UP!" Vice yelled.

Alt turned to Vice. "He is attempting to render assistance. Perhaps you should be more patient."

"I… I-yes," Vice pinched his forehead. "Yes, yes you're right. I'm sorry, it's just- I've been through a lot."

Dan patted Vice on the back. "Hey, we both have. But we're going to get this done, aren't we?"

Vice nodded. "Yes… despite the lack of tools, we're going to do our best."

"Right," Dan said confidently. "So let's get to work!"

They started by trying to repair the outside damage. From what few tools they had, they removed and replaced the damaged armor pieces on Alt's legs and shoulders. Dan hammered out the dents while Vice climbed inside the Magic Gear's chassis itself to diagnose the more extensive damage.

Dan wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I may not be a doctor but after this, I'm putting Mechanic Dan on my resume." He put his head inside of a hole. "You almost done in there?"

"I'm getting close," Vice's voice echoed back. He had to marvel at how sophisticated the Magic Gear really was. In many ways, it was a living organism. It had a heart, lungs, everything a pony had only larger and metal… or crystal. And some parts were made of materials and polymers that Vice had no idea what they were made out of. But he knew what they were supposed to do because of his knowledge of pony anatomy. He was able to fix… to heal it.

Periodically, Dan and Vice had to return to the Flutterbird to salvage materials. Occasionally, they had a toblerpone or two to satisfy hunger. Alt helped them drag the helicopter to the shore using the winch on the craft and they began breaking it down piece by soggy piece. While they disassembled it, Alt waited, curled up and resting.

"From what I can tell, the river is mostly water mixed with potion serum. Drinking it is helping her to restore her weapon functions including the Sword Spell," Vice said.

"So it was actually trying to repair itself to nuke something else?" Dan asked. "Figures. Machines like that, all they know how to do is destroy."

"I don't think she was trying to do that," Vice said, removing one of the Flutterbird's wings. "Trusting others, much less total strangers, isn't something machines do. It's… it's what living, thinking beings do."

"Ha," Dan scoffed and folded his arms. "You're sure it's not just using us to fix it so it can kill us then? You see, that's where you and I are different- you see kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, laughter, magic and that junk and you think that's the indication of some kind of virtue, an indication of a good guy. But I know how those things can be used to their advantage. Believe me; it's all just a facade. Everybody wants to look like a good guy just to stab you in the back. Only way people get ahead."

"You're forgetting sometimes it can be genuine," Vice said. "Stabbing people in the back isn't the only way to get ahead. Sometimes, being an actual nice person can have its own advantages. Competition might lead to improvement for one but cooperation can lead to improvement for everybody."

"Heh," Dan chuckled. "It's certainly led to improvements in your case."

"Well, like you said, that's where we're different," Vice said, taking off another piece of metal. "I'm going to make a brace for her shoulder, should ease pressure on the joint until her body can mend it naturally."

"But it's a machine," Dan shook his head. "It doesn't 'mend' anything naturally. It doesn't 'do' anything naturally. It's NOT natural."

"It was designed like a basic alicorn filly. A lot of its systems are the same as-"

"Yeah, blah blah blah, it's living breathing organism. It's a robot, doctor. Don't forget that. Speaking," Dan leaned in to whisper, "I was thinking we should try to make sure its weapons systems really are disabled. In case the rebels or the imps try to actually hijack it."

"I don't think that's necessary," Vice said, gathering up the makeshift sling for Alt's leg. "She'll defend herself if necessary but she's not dangerous. Once we tell the Empire and the Resistance how it's going to be, we can send her home and this pile of ice will be all anypony ever needs to remember what will happen if we don't all get along."

Dan shook his head again. "This happened because of an accident, Vice. It wasn't defending itself when it blew up everything. I don't think we should let that happen again."

Vice turned to him. "I'm not going to hurt her or sabotage anything just so you can feel safe."

"Then what are you going to do? Huh? What if you accidentally set something off while you're trying to fix it?"

Vice sighed. "Okay… maybe, we ask her to turn off her weapons and guns and stuff."

The human's face went blank. "Weapons and guns and stuff… do you honestly hear yourself?"

"Well, what if we actually trigger something trying to sabotage her?" Vice countered. "Look, I'm sure if we're honest, things will just work out better."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, I'm sure they will, doctor."

The two carried the makeshift sling over to Alt. The giant filly was tracing her hoof in the crystals, making shapes. She stood up as they approached.

"Okay, it wasn't easy but I think we made something that'll help support your shoulder while it heals. You'll still have to stay off it for a few days, based on the rate of your auto-repair functions but with this brace and the sealant on your joint, it should heal up just fine," Vice said. Both of them lugged over the sling and set it in front of her.

"*Ahem*" Dan cleared his throat.

Vice sighed again. "Also, Dan would like you to deactivate your weapons while we put it on you."

Alt raised an eyebrow at the two.

"It's to make him feel safer while we put it on. He's just nervous," Vice added.

The machine rolled its own eyes. "Weapons deactivated. Disengaging self-defense mode. Resuming regular operations."

"Thank you," Vice said. "All right, now let's get you bandaged up."

Climbing up, the pair attached the brace over Alt's left shoulder. Part metal and part parachute, it would allow for flexibility without impairment of her walking ability. They attached a few more metal bandages and smaller braces along her fetlocks and ankles for more support. When they were done, Alt was feeling better, even smiled at the two of them.

"That just about does it!" Vice announced, happy with his work.

Alt squee'd. "Your assistance is appreciated. Thank you both very much."

"Good job, medical aid Dan," Vice said, taking out his pencil and notepad to write something down.

"Thank you, doctor," Dan said, reaching into his own pocket.

"I'm prescribing you some light exercises you can do to stretch out your muscles but you're not to overdo it," Vice said, jotting down notes. "I want you to get plenty of rest and fluids, take things easy until the joint is healed, okay?"

The Magic Gear nodded. "Understood."

"Also, Dan and I have a favor to ask of you," Vice said.

"Yes," Dan added, smiling. "And there's something I need from you too, doctor."

Vice looked up. "And that is?"

Dan stabbed Vice in the stomach.

"Ah… uhlll…" Vice gasped. The notepad and pencil dropped to the ground, causing the beads to clink as they landed. For a moment, Dan just held the knife in him, watching the pony's eyes as they filled with confusion, horror, tears, and the sudden realization of what had happened.

"Your assistance has been helpful indeed, doctor," Dan plunged the knife a bit deeper, letting it stick there. As Vice doubled over, Dan grabbed him by the shoulder.

Vice began to reach down at the knife in his stomach. Dan, his hands now free, reached down to remove Vice's gauntlets, simply slipping them off his hooves one at a time. The stallion continued to hunch, his breathing becoming labored.

"Thank you for lending a hand, Vice. But now I think you need lie down." He placed one hand on Vice's shoulder and pushed him over.

"Uhh-AAah!" Vice hit the ground, splashing into the crystal shards.

Dan slipped on Vice's gauntlets, as easy as putting on a pair of mittens. "Idealists like you. You think holding onto something makes you stronger? It makes you weak, predictable. That's always been the folly of revolutionaries. You're not flexible enough. Me? I know when and where to break the rules, cut the tiny corners so the system doesn't break and doesn't notice me. Not that your resolute little ideas aren't good for nothing. On the contrary," he walked over to Vice Grip. "They make quite a good foundation." He stepped on the pony's right leg.

"AAAHH!! AAHHHHH!!"

"For me to step on." Dan pulled off Vice's boots next, one after the other. Underneath, Vice's legs were a lot like Alts- burned, broken and cracked in a few places. Unlike the prime universe Vice Grip, Dr. Vice Grip was actually disfigured in a couple ways, including his hooves and now the knife impaling him. The gauntlets covered up his injury and allowed him to manipulate things with more ease. Without them, he was unable to walk on his own legs.

"Aww, and you're a cripple. How sad. Well, then you knew this was going to happen eventually," Dan said, slipping on the boots next. He knelt over him. "You knew this was going to happen; you can't be a good guy in a bad universe. The only way to get ahead is to stab the guy above you… and sometimes the guy below you, too," he patted the hilt of the knife. "You helped out a lot of people all your life. You knew one of them would eventually do this. Still, for what it's worth, you were a good doctor." He got up, turned around and walked back to the wreckage of the Flutterbird.

Vice tasted blood. His midsection was getting cold very fast, a result of the loss of body heat and blood circulation from being stabbed. His mind wanted to analyze the wound, treat it. He could feel the blade's cold steel with every labored breath, a weight over him that felt like a thousand pounds. He reached with his right foreleg for the knife but couldn't grip it. He only managed to hit it, causing an explosion of pain that nearly made him black out.

Dan walked out of the Flutterbird. He held the controls in one arm. "Couldn't adapt an interface without your gloves, doctor. They're perfect for medicine and machines, it turns out."

"You… you lied to me," Vice said.

"Lied? Ha," Dan laughed. "Are you really that surprised?"

"You never… were a slave," Vice said weakly. "You were… working for them… all along…"

The human smirked. "Not exactly. You see, I am a slave but I'm perfectly fine with the way things are. And now, with this weapon, I'll deliver to Empress Celestia herself a new tool to conquer a whole new world with. It'll further cement my position as an invaluable part of the Solar Empire, maybe even lead to a nice promotion. Cake, too. When I'm ready, I'll go after the Empresses myself, get rid of them, too. I'll let someone new take their places… and the cycle will continue."

Dan looked around. "We all have our vices, Vice. Whether it's being a good natured guy like you or being a cowardly backstabber like me, they all get the better of us eventually. For the record, though, yours is one of the nicer traits. But look where it got you. So really, was it worth it?"

Vice grimaced. He couldn't lift his limbs. He managed to look at Dan and said, "Ask the… people I saved. Ask them."

"Ah, you mean like the Resistance that got you here in the first place," Dan remarked, smirking. He turned away and started heading back to the awaiting Magic Gear. Alt had been watching them but without her weapons, had made no attempt to intervene. She was in a system shock of sorts, too busy calculating what had happened to do anything about it. "I almost forgot about them. I might deal with them first just to make sure no one knows about our big friend here."

Still on the ground, Vice's breathing became faster. He had to do something, stop Dan from using the weapon again somehow. A voice in his head, the voice of his accumulated medical knowledge told him to get help, seek aid while his organs still functioned and weren't filled with blood. But a louder voice said GET UP, yelled at him to STOP DAN whatever it took. He tried to raise his forelegs again. It was like his limbs were crushed to the ground, anchored at his joints to the crystals.

The knife was still sticking into him. It rose and fell with his breathing, only a small amount of blood around the mouth of the wound. He had to get it out.

Starting with his hooves, he willed his forelegs to raise, pulling them closer to him. Slowly, he got them to bend and rested them on his stomach for a moment. He took several deep breaths and grabbed the hilt of the knife.

"ARRHH- AHHHH!!" he screamed in agony but he wasn't able to grip the knife. Without his gloves, his hooves were too damaged to grip even the crystal bits under him. He knew what he had to do.

He reached up with both hooves at the same time and clapped his hooves on the hilt, pressing them together on the handle. Teeth gritted, he pushed his hooves upward, slowly lifting the blade.

"NGRRAAAAHHHAHAAA!" he wailed, feeling every inch of the knife as it moved against his insides. The cold of the blade slipped against his flesh, burning pain shooting in his limbs. The pain was almost unbearable; black corners edged around his vision until he could only see his hooves and the knife.

"AAAAARRRRRAAHHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" His hooves shot upward, yanking the knife out of his stomach. Blood gushed from the wound, spurting up like a geyser and hitting him in the face. The wound burned, feeling like it was on fire. Still clutching the knife with both hooves, he quickly threw them behind his head and dropped the knife. He then clutched the wound with both hooves and doubled over, the cold now shifting from his stomach to his limbs.

There was no time to wait. Vice crawled towards Dan, who had his back turned as he sorted through a box of parts next to one of Alt's legs.

He had to stand, had to stop him. "Get… get away from her."

Dan didn't hear him. He continued tossing and clanking tools around, searching for something.

Vice pulled himself up on his back legs, standing up right once again. He walked forward, one trembling step at a time. The human stood up, looking at his cell phone. Vice didn't need a knife, didn't need a gun, didn't need anything. He would stop Dan, with his bare hooves if he had to. "Get away from my patient!" He lunged at him.

"My, you're persistent!" The human turned around, grabbed him by the outstretched hoof and flipped him to the ground. 

In a split second, he was on his back again, staring up at the sky. He felt what little strength he had completely drain out of him. He tried to stand again but only propped himself up. "I won't let you… hurt her…"

"You're stronger than I thought," Dan said. He walked back over to where his knife lay and picked it up. "The Conductor was right- you are tougher than you look. Maybe you might've actually taken on the Empire if you got the chance. But they didn't anticipate me. So it looks like she can't see everything. Good bye, doctor."

Dan pinched the blade in his hand and threw it at Vice. The stallion watched as the knife flew at him. For a brief second, time almost seemed to stop. Sunlight reflected off the edge, gleaning as it sailed towards a point right in the certain of his forehead. He closed his eyes.

The human was an expert knife fighter and knife thrower. They were quieter than a gun and more versatile. He always used them and knew he could rely on his skill with them. So even Dan was surprised when the blade stopped in midair just in front of Vice's face.

"What?"

Vice opened his eyes. The blade had stopped just before hitting him in the face. It began to rotate, spinning rapidly until it almost became a disk.

"What? What is this?" Dan asked. "This… is this…?"

"Some kind of magic?"

The blade shot back at Dan. It flew faster than he had thrown it, shooting at him like an arrow. His eyes went wide.

"AULLGH!" The knife stabbed him in the chest. He was blown off his feet by the force of it, thrown to the ground on his back. He lay there, motionless.

It took a moment for the disbelief to shake off Vice. Clutching his side, he got up and limped forward.

He shook his head. "How?" Vice turned around to look up at Alt. "You said… your defenses were turned off. Why did… you help me?"

Alt looked back at him, her eyes large and round. She spoke in his voice: "It's a doctor's job to make sure no further harm is done. Now, are you going to keep talking about how I'm not the right guy or are you going to let me do my job?"

"Heh… I don't think that's exactly what I meant but I appreciate it. Thank you," Vice said, looking up at the giant machine. She smiled back at him.

Vice walked over to where Dan lay. The knife stuck out of his chest in the middle of his shirt, right in the middle of the R in ZERO. Beneath it, blood stained the white around the letters. Dan looked up at Vice as he approached.

"I… I was…" his lips trembled. "I w-was wrong, doctor. There… there is a r-reason to trust others. But I… never did. Th… that's…"

"Where we're different," Vice said, smiling at him. "But we are a lot alike, too. There are some… good things about you, Dan."

Dan smiled back at him. "That's… a nice lie. I don't… deserve… that kindness."

"Everybody deserves kindness, Dan," Vice said, kneeling down with him. "Even people in the Empire. That's why I do what I do. To give them a little bit of it, let them have some good in their lives. Sometimes, it even inspires them to do a little good themselves. That's why I'm a doctor."

Dan smiled. "You're a good pony… you didn't deserve this either." Suddenly, Dan's smile faded. His eyes became wide. "They… they… wanted this."

Vice shook his head. "Wanted what? Who?"

"They… knew this was… going to happen," Dan said. "Now, all you have left is…" his voice trailed off. His head slumped to one side, eyes still open but not seeing. He was gone.

Vice reached down to close the human's eyes. He removed his gloves, his boots and the knife from Dan's chest. He placed the human's body in the remains of the Flutterbird.

No words were said by Vice or Alt. Upon his request, Alt pushed the wreckage of the aircraft into the river. They watched as the water carried it a ways before it slowly sank to the bottom.

Vice patched up his stomach, used a piece of unused scrap as a crutch for support. He would need a couple weeks to recover and then the wound would scar up. Maybe he would start wearing scrubs to cover it.

"You're free to go now," Vice said to Alt. "Just try not to put too much pressure on that shoulder and it should be fine in a couple weeks. Don't do anything strenuous."

Alt looked around. There were nothing but crystals as far as the eye could see. "I have nowhere else to go."

Vice thought. "You don't know where your home is? How to get back?"

The machine shook its head.

Vice looked around. "You could come back to Canterlot with me. It's kind of hard not to get wrapped up in politics… but maybe, you could help things there if you wanted to. Improve things for a lot of people."

Alt smiled and squee'd. "I believe I will enjoy that."

"Hehe, all right then. Let's get going."

The giant pony's legs might have been damaged but her wings were fine. She flew with Vice Grip in her cockpit all the way back to Canterlot, faster than even the Flutterbird had flown. It was dark by the time they arrived, the twinkling of the lights guiding them back to the city.

As they got closer, Vice noticed smoke trailing up from the city and something burning. Another attack, undoubtedly. That would mean more work for him.

"Aw, damn it," Vice said, in the cockpit of the giant pony. "I can't be gone for ONE DAY without something blowing up."

"Is it safe here, doctor?" Alt asked.

"Yeah, for the most part," Vice replied. "There's just a war going on between the Resistance and the Empire. New day, same shit. With an attack like this, it just means the hospital will be busier."

There was silence for a moment. "I don't think the hospital will be very busy, doctor."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Because it's been destroyed."

"WHAT?!"

The display in the cockpit switched to a closeup view of the quarter where Vice's hospital had been. The entire building was a burning pile of blackened rubble. There were no firemen or emergency workers trying to prevent the blaze from spreading, no first responders helping injured ponies around them. There was only a line of Solar Imperial Guards blockading off the streets, diverting traffic while troops armed with flamethrowers marched through the remains. The same ones that had accompanied Dan into the hospital.

"Those… those bastards," Vice said. "Those bastards!!! THEY BLEW IT UP!!!"

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

Vice was stunned. He felt worse than when he'd been stabbed. But something else built up in him, another feeling of some kind, one that burned white hot, hotter than the blaze around his hospital, hotter than the flames that consumed the bodies of his loved ones, hotter than anything else and it made his blood boil.

And that's when he realized. "They… they took everything from me. They took it all. All that's left is…"

"Doctor? Vice Grip?"

All that's left is...

Vice gritted his teeth. He balled his fists and in a single motion, through them up skyward and yelled at the top of his lungs: 

"SOLAR EMPIRE!!!!!!!!!"






Next time on Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship...

"Thank Celestia, we're finally home."

"AND I CAN'T STOOOOOOPPPP!!"

*Krrboom!* Dan and the gang finally get back home to-

"Bluebloodville?"

"I don't like where this is going…"

"Why, hello all, and welcome to Bluebloodestria!"

Next Saturday, a royal pain gets crowned!

"Is he allowed to do this?"

"I don't know if he's allowed to do this but it's done. Prince Blueblood is the official ruler of Equestria."

"I'm gonna go throw up now. You guys find out who's responsible for this so that when I get back, I know who's ass to kick."

Can Dan cope with a new kind of ruling class?

"We're going to talk about your new training regimen."

"But-"

"We're going to go over the new plans for the library."

"I-"

"Oh! And we must pick out a new wardrobe for you, Sir Daniel. You simply must wear something blue."

"…Can we impeach you?"

Or will this moron-archy cause Dan to consider regicide?

"WHY IS EVERYTHING BLUE?!!"

Next Saturday, get ready for Dan to render unto Blueblood- 

"You… you barbarian!"

"KISS IT, BLUE-LIPS! PUCKER UP AND BLOW!"

A king-sized beatdown!

"I demand satisfaction!"

"There's a line for satisfaction and it's right next to the line I'd need to stand in if I wanted to get a buck to give."

Episode 13: Dan Vs. Prince Blueblood! Equestria gets royally screwed next Saturday on Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship!

"No, seriously, king me."

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