//------------------------------//
// We Have the Dog from Duck Hunt 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

"Oh hey, look!" Dan said, looking through the periscope, "they have one of those soviet blimps from Command and Conquer: Red Alert!"

"Oh, yeah," Phoenix said, looking over his shoulder. "That's a Kirov, an armored bomber airship. It's a very iconic unit from the Red Alert series."

"And it's in range!" Dan smiled. "Let's greet the comrades," he said, and hit the button.

A giant blue bolt erupted from the ion cannon and struck the Kirov. The grinning Soviet dirigible was consumed in a shower of sparks and electricity, covering it from bow to stern. It exploded a moment later, popping like a balloon and showering tiny confetti-sized embers over Ponyvill which fizzled out before they hit the ground.

Satisfied, Dan clasped the periscope's handles up. "Okay, everyone's gotten at least two turns with the Fate-Worse-Than-Death Ray, so who goes next?" 

"I think it's Fluffle's turn again," Twilight said. The fluffy mare bounced up and down excitedly, eager to vaporize more of the enemy.

"Is that right?" Dan asked, petting her on the head. "Who's ready to engage hostiles with maximum prejudice?"

"Thbbbt! Thbbbbtt!" Me! Me!

"Who's a good fluffy sentinel? Is it you? Who's a vigiwant fwuffy widdle defender?"

Fluffle hopped enthusiastically. "Thpp-thpp! Thpp-thpp!" I am! I am!

"That's right, you are!" Dan grinned, rubbing her head playfully as he got up and she grabbed the controls. Her fluff covered the entire console station. "All right, Ima go make a sandwich while you guys are taking care of the rest of the fleet."

"When we're done, we should contact Mayor Mare to see about removing the debris from the town," Twilight said. "Not to mention all the stuff the griffons stole. It looks like Blueblood's buildings are the perfect lightning rods for crashing airships, though. His structures have mitigated almost all the damage the town would've taken."

Spike rolled his eyes. "I guess Blueblood actually did something right for a change."

"Yeah," Chrys agreed, trading places with Fluffle Puff to shoot down another aircraft. "Have to say, his buildings look a lot better now that they're all flaming piles of wreckage and debris. Ole Bloomers couldn't have built them better."

Phoenix rubbed his chin, remembering. "Actually, he didn't. His Magic Gear built most of the buildings- he just decided what to use them for."

"So, we can't even give him credit for them being on fire?"

The lawyer shook his head. "We can't. But, because all the town's buildings are insured by the Mayor's office, he could make the town pay for their damages."

Chrys' face went blank. "He… he could make us pay for his insurance?"

Phoenix nodded solemnly. (Thankfully, the library is considered public property, so there's no way he could sue us for the damages even if it is Dan's gun that's shooting down all the airships.) A thought entered his head. "Dan did remember to update our property insurance policy when we modified library… didn't he?"

They all stared blankly at him. "I'm sorry I asked."

Meanwhile, Dan was busy making a sandwich in the kitchen. The BLTPB&J- (hay)bacon, lettuce, tomato, peanut butter and jelly on toasted rye. Truly, it was the epitome of all acronym-based sandwiches. The last time he'd had such a sandwich was when he had been hunting for Derpy in Cloudsdale. He had sliced the sandwich vertically into two halves- the definitive bistro-style slice. Slicing a sandwich diagonally is called the homestyle-slice(otherwise known as the "homeslice") while halving it horizontally is the travel slice and is more efficient for packing into lunch boxes, plastic bags and/or tupperware containers.

As Dan was enjoying his sandwich, the doorbell rang. He took the sandwich with him as he walked to the front of the house and opened the door.

A scientist in a lab coat and glasses stood in front of the door, smiling at him. He had blonde hair slicked back over his head and strangely, a strand of bluish hair that came up from just above his left eye and swirled around his entire head like the ring of a planet. He gave Dan a polite nod.

Dan stared quizzically at the other human, mid-bite into his sandwich for a moment. He actually thought it could be Vice Grip in human form for a moment but the stranger's smile seemed genuine and decidedly not-sinister. So, Dan simply asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"Ah yes, Dan, is it?"

"That's my name. What the hell is your name?"

"My name is Colress," the man introduced himself.

Before he could continue, Dan asked, "And you need to check out a library book?"

"Not at the moment," Colress said. He pulled out a clipboard and pen. "I'm curious about your defense of Ponyville and I'm wondering if it's your belief in your ideals or your pursuit of the truth that is driving you towards success. Would you say your primary motivation is derived more from your belief in what is true or your desire to prove your beliefs?"

Dan blinked. "The sign says 'no solicitors'!" He slammed the door in Colress' face.

Behind the door, Colress' smile was unbroken. He continued making notes on his clipboard. "Fascinating…" he muttered. He raised his hand to ring the door again when suddenly the doormat under his feet launched him into the sky until he was but a twinkle in the distance. The twinkle then went "ding!"

"Looks like that moron's blasting off again," Dan said, closing the terminal at the side of the door. He finished his sandwich and made his way back to the control center.

Back in the control center, Blast Fuse and Blast Powder were sharing the control center, ever in-sync as sisters. They fired a blast at a cluster of ships surrounding a larger cruiser. The smaller airships surged with ion wash and became polarized. They were magnetically drawn to the larger vessel which unwittingly collected them like sandbags on a blimp. The larger vessel tried to escape while progressively being pulled down by the other vessels until they all finally crashed into a billboard above Blueblood Dome, which then instantaneously became Blueblood Stadium and then just another pile of flaming rubble.

"Six in a row!" Fuse announced happily.

"That's the high score!"

"Who wants to try and beat it?"

"Phoenix?" they both looked at the lawyer. "You wanna play with us~"

The lawyer smiled bashfully. "I uh, I think I'll skip my next turn. You guys have fun."

"Awww… okay!"

"Shiny? Cady? You guys wanna go double-or-nothing?"

The married couple shook their heads. "We're more of shield specialists, not artillery."

Twilight shrugged. "We're actually running out of ships. I would've thought the griffons would retreat by now."

"Let 'em stay," Dan said, entering. "We can always use more fried chicken."

"And how exactly are you going to retrieve them all?" Chrys asked, skeptical. More so, she was a bit miffed about losing the last shooting match to Blast Fuse and Blast Powder before Dan arrived.

Dan pointed at the view screen on the wall. "We have the dog from Duck Hunt."

They all turned to see an eight-bit hound holding up an 8-bit griffin by the legs.

"That's actually the dog from Duck Hunt," Chrys said. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Either way, it's my turn again!!" Dan announced, taking the controls. The ion cannon unleashed another blast. The skies were getting clearer with every shot.