//------------------------------//
// Schemejerks' How to Fix Your Ion Cannon 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

The view of Ponyville began to tilt as the U Mad Bro's weight shifted to port. Without the port nacelle, the ship's maneuvering capacity was severely limited but they could compensate. Which is what the helmsman should've already been doing. "Grrrr… Helm!" Gust barked. "Why aren't you-" He stopped mid question. The bridge was empty except for him.

"Oh, you freaking ingrates!" Gust cursed, slamming his clawed fist onto his chair's arm. "No one's gonna let ME know when they decide to abandon ship?! You worthless bastards!!" he slammed again, then smiled, looking up. "I'm so proud of you guys." Leaving the sky marshal on the bridge wasn't the proper course in a military organization; it was the spirit of pirates. "I'm gonna kill every last one of ya!"

The Sky Marshal flew out of his chair and grabbed the helm controls. His fleet was destroyed, his flagship heavily damaged and his crew deserted. His grand raid of Ponyville had turned into a complete rout for his forces, a disastrous defeat the result of his foolhardy overconfidence. He would lose his command for this, undoubtedly would face charges if not worse. He wouldn't be able to show his face in Verticia, Griffonstone or Loft Landing, the three main cities of the griffons' kingdom. They would choose a new Sky Marshal, most likely a loyal and inexperienced griffon that would not know of the sacrifices he made, the things he did to make his country strong. Gust Grasp would be a pirate no longer.

"So, that's how it's gonna be, is it?" he asked, now completely alone. "You're not getting away with this- no, none of you are," he keyed in commands on the console. "Well, if that's how you want it, then that's how you're gonna get it."

"Autopilot destroyed. Manual operation only."

"DAMMIT!" he slammed his claws on the controls. "Why? WHY does that NEVER work when you really need it to?" The ship shook again, nearly knocking him to the floor. A power conduit underneath the science console exploded in a shower of sparks, blasting the circuitry into smoke.

"Had enough, you wretched fiend?!" the voice of Blueblood blared. Gust looked over at the damage display to see the prince had taken the liberty of removing the ship's remaining warp nacelle. In atmosphere, the nacelles weren't that necessary; the ship still had maneuvering thrusters and basic propulsion.

"I dunno, let's ask your friends!" Gust toggled the controls for phasers to manual and fired the lower banks at the library. Red lances of energy carved into the dirt around it but not a blast hit the treehouse itself. Without a weapons lock, the phasers fired wildly, not hitting their mark. But Gust was a marksman and he slowly aimed the phasers closer to the house.

*KRANG!* The ship shook as something hard hit it from underneath. He was thrown form the console yet again.

"Oh no, you don't!" Blueblood declared. Using his Magic Gear's thrusters, he pushed up against the ship's hull from underneath. "Your cheap tricks won't work while I'm here, scum!"

Gust grabbed the helm controls, steadying himself. "Oh yeah? How about this?!" He hit a red button.

*KRBMMMFFF* "AHHHHH!!!" And was immediately flung backwards by the deploying airbag.

Blueblood strained against his own vehicle's controls. KING's hoof jets flared, pushing harder against the enemy vessel. "NNNNngg! Captain Dan? Getting a bit rough up here, might want to hurry with that cannon."

"We're working on it, Blue, just hold tight!"

"Not funny, captain-hhhrrrrrk!"

Dan and the others exited the hatch to the roof of the library. The roof of the Golden Oakes was the canopy of the tree itself; it was so large and thick that it became a crown of green bushy leaves and branches surrounding them just below eye level. In the center and rising up from a column of steel was the ion cannon. The cannon itself was an enormous sphere as wide as the tree and sat atop the column like a golf ball on a stand. They had an unabridged view of the sky and surrounding area of Ponyville from the top of the treehouse, allowing them to see Blueblood's predicament.

"Ah, I get it," Chrys said. "You told him to hold tight and he's literally holding up the ship so it won't shoot us."

"It wasn't even really a joke; I just told him to hold tight," Dan remarked. "He won't be holding up anything if we don't get moving!"

"How do we fix the cannon, Dan?" Twilight asked.

He looked up at the giant gun. The metal surface shimmered a faint blue translucent energy that enveloped it. "We have to clear the ion wash! You, Chrys, Fluffle, Cady and Shiny get up there and shield the cannon while me, Nicky, Spike, and the twins cut the power!"

"Right, we're on it!" the five shielders took to the sky to complete their task.

"Nicky, get the toolbox ready!"

"WHY IS MY BRIEFCASE THE TOOLBOX?!!" Phoenix yelled, carrying a huge metal box.

"Umm…" Dan turned around slowly. "It was available."

"AVAILABLE?!" the lawyer shouted. "You couldn't find anything else to put a bunch of tools in?!"

Dan shrugged. "I was going to use that steamer trunk Twilight keeps the elephants-"

"ELEMENTS!" Spike corrected.

"Right, those things in, but I didn't think she'd like that."

"So you used my court file briefcase?!" Phoenix asked, flabbergasted. "This thing holds all my sensitive court documents!"

"And now, it's holding a pair of needle-nose pliers, a star-head screwdriver and some tape so get it open."

"Augh," Phoenix groaned, opening the case. It flung open, tumbling a bunch of loose tools to the floor. "Oh mai gawd! You didn't put them in anything!"

"What are you doing?! Don't let the screws roll away!"

"WHY WERE THEY LOOSE IN MY BRIEFCASE?!"

"I had them in a sock I wasn't using," Dan said, gathering the screws.

"So why aren't they in the sock now?!"

"I needed that sock."

"ARRRRGH!!"

"Oi boyz," Blast Powder said, "Fixy cannon now, organize luggage later."