Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1)

by Barrobroadcaster

Twilight Makes a Decision, Tea is Served, and Everybody Gets a Sword

Golden Oaks Library

Twilight Sparkle spent roughly twenty minutes in her room. She cried for a little over half that time, holding Owlowiscious, asleep in her forelegs, the other pets crowded around her. Pieces of the entity called the Gold Baron, who had turned out to be all of her friends' pets, were surrounding them. They paid no attention to the gaping hole in Twilight's room that the Director had been blasted out of, nor did they notice the clock that had been knocked off had resumed ticking. For twenty minutes, she held them. For twenty minutes, she watched over them as they rested in silence, in warmth and in love.

She tucked them into her own bed, gathered the ashes of Philomena and placed them in an open box on her desk.

And with that last act, the love in her heart exploded. She approached the hole in her window and faced out at Equestria.

The warm feelings in her grew and grew and grew. Hotter they became until they burned. It crawled under her very skin, as if her very coat was on fire, her legs shook with this incredible knew feeling that was not in any way, shape or form love, but very much came from love. Anger. Rage. Fury.

Her forelegs shook with anger, her horn burned brightly and her entire body felt like it was boiling. She did the only thing she knew would help, what she knew she had to do. On her hindlegs, she rose up. With teeth gritted, her eyes closed. Twilight Sparkle threw her forelegs up into the air and yelled at the top of her lungs:

"CLEO!!! CLEOOOO!!!!!! CLEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She screamed out of the gash in the library, yelling up to the heavens above and down to Equestria below. Such a shout that had it been a spell, it would have shook the planet to the core and split the sky. Her voice reached those heights and depths, that was sure. Twilight didn't care- she wanted it to reach the Director's ears. She wanted her to know.

"You want ME?! You want ME to be your PRINCESS?!!" Twilight shouted. She turned back, rushing over to her bookshelf. With her magic, she tossed every book off the shelf, all of them, save one. ARCANE APOLOGY was written on the front in bold. "You think I can't protect myself?! YOU THINK I'M NOT READY?!?!" The book levitated in front of her. She took it, knowing what she had to do.

Twilight Sparkle turned to the spell in question- the spell that could change her destiny. Starswirl the Bearded had developed many magical spells, some of which he never intended to use himself. The one Twilight was interested in had the ability to expel the magic that had made her a princess. She would have gone back to being a unicorn, back to being a student, and may have matured because of it. She could have learned more about magic, about the process of ascension, something that, like Lightning Claw, had been forced upon her without her being ready. It hadn't been his choice or hers then.

It was now.

She could go back. Let her brother or Cadence lead, let Mayor Mare lead, there were other options. Twilight could focus on what she did best: learning and studying, finding out more about their devious foes and problems and gathering the information to fix them. That was her strength. As a princess, she knew not what course of action to take or what was necessary. She was adrift, out of control, powerless and forced to continue on. If she gave up her power, it would give her stability, which was something they all needed now more than ever.

She held the page in her hooves, the spell printed on it. The reins were in her hooves. She could give them up... or she could hold on.

With a deep breath, she turned the page... and she took the reins.

There were other spells in the book and Twilight performed almost all of them. She stopped time, she sped it up, she teleported all over Ponyville in a flash and when she warped back to her room she almost threw up. She moved the clouds, the sun, the moon, Equestria itself, she pushed through space just to test her new-found abilities. And she did it with the greatest of care, knowing that every single action had a consequence. Her friends were still asleep in her room and if they were disturbed even a bit, she knew she would have failed. She had to be able to use this incredible power so well that it wouldn't even be noticed and Owlowiscious and the others were her unknowing test.

She examined every molecule of Philomena's ash after she moved Equestria. She practiced again and again and again until she was satisfied that not a pinch had moved during her adjustments. Finally, after hour-less hours had passed, she was ready. Twilight Sparkle exited her room with her crown atop her head.

Her Own Pony First
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Ruler of Equestria

Twilight trotted down stairs, head held high. "I'm sorry about that, everypony."

"Twilight?" Chrys asked, looking back and fourth between her and the stairs. "But... weren't you just here?"

"Oh good heavens! Terribly sorry, Miss Twilight! I must've missed your leave," Tuxley said.

Spike noticed the crown atop her head. "Are you going out somewhere?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am, Spike. We all are."

"Oh, excuse me, miss," Reginald said, edging by her. He carried a pair of silver trays- one with a teapot and six cups and another one with a dish and assorted crackers, veggies and tiny sandwiches. He sat them on the table in front of the others.

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait, your majesty," Tuxley apologized. He prepared himself a cup of hot tea and sipped. "Haaaa... lovely."

"Are you guys having tea?"

Tuxley looked up, perplexed. "It is four o'clock, is it not?" He checked his pocket watch. "What time is your tea?"

"Uhhh..." Twilight looked around, shrugged. "Whenever we want? I guess."

"I had tea yesterday," Chrys said between sandwich bites. "Oh wait... no, that might have been the day before. Yeah, I remember because I was Dan that day."

"You're Dan now," Spike pointed out.

"I know," she said, sipping, pinkie outstretched. "He's my boyfriend, I can transform into him and live his life if I want to."

"When you turn into him, do you summon clothes from somewhere or are the clothes just part of the... disguise?" Twilight asked.

Chrys looked at the thread of her Dan JERK shirt. "You know, I've been wondering that myself. It just shows up, so I have no idea."

"Rrriiighht... anyway, we don't usually have a-" Reginald bumped Twilight while she was speaking and whispered in her ear. "What?"

"Your majesty, tea is served at four o'clock. Sometimes a tad earlier- three-thirty if one is busy, but never later than five. Unless you're having it for dinner, at which seven o'clock is the assigned time," he explained, smiling.

Twilight nodded, beginning to understand. "Okay then... so, we're having tea now."

"It is four o'clock, Miss Twilight. And of course I know, our world must keep turning. Of this fact, there is only certaintyyyy-"

"Is he singing now?"

"Yep, he's singing now."

"Oh boy."

"And although things change and we keep learning, you can always count on at least one guarrrr-aannnnn-teeeeeee!

No matter what you're doing, when the kettle's on and brewing, you must make time for tea!
It's a mathematical constant! And for we English, it's of the utmost priority!
So no matter where you are-"

Zeal: In your homes.

Gust: Or at the bar!

"You must make time for tea, my friends! You simply must make time for tea!"

"Now, it's not only an English tradition!
Why, there's not a nation on creation tea's not served!
But because we are English, it is our mission... to ensure that it's always properly observed!
So no matter if you're early-"

Samule: Or if you're running late!

"When you hear that charming whistle, you mustn't hesitate!
Good heavens, it's almost half-past three!
But no matter the time of day, you know there's only one thing to say:
You must make time for tea, my friends! You simply MUST make time for tea!"

"It can be hard to make time when the world's demanding.
To be active and at its ever-beck and call.
But time and again, we always come to one understanding:
There's a simple rule that comes before them all!"

"So no matter what's a head, and I'm sure it's quite a lot,
A proper cuppa at the right time is assured to hit the spot!
When you're stressed, depressed, distressed, there's just one thing to set you free!
You must make time for tea, my friends! You simply MUST-"

Spike: We really must?

"You really MUST!"

Chrys: I guess we must?

"Oh yes, you MUST!"

Fluffle: Thppth-thppp-thpp-thppth?

"Indeed, you MUST! You MUST make time for tea, my friends! We all mussssttt
Maaaaake
Tiiiime
Forrrr
Teaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
"Cheers!" Tuxley took a sip. "Ahh, lovely. Thank you Reginald."

"Will sir require any more background music for his interlude?"

"I don't believe so at the moment, Reginald. Good show."

"Thank you, sir. Would you care for tea, Miss Twilight?"

"After all that, sure. Tea sounds bloody wonderful right now," Twilight said, taking a seat.

"Language, Miss Twilight," Tux reminded her.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

After tea, Twilight informed the others of what happened to her, the brief clash with the Director, and what she had learned from the Arcane Apology. She left out the identity of the Gold Baron, seeing as how he/they needed rest more than anything else. Gust Grasp had stopped by for the musical interlude, but unlike the other random guests, had remained.

"Wow," Gust said. "She can stop time... and now, you can stop time. That's like... awesome. You know how much you could steal with that kind of power?"

Twilight shrugged. "These spells are the most complicated I've ever read. When you have so much power, everything else becomes so fragile. For somepony like the Director who's a fan of us all so much, it must be very hard. Even with all her power, she can't get what she want. The slightest mistake with her powers might accidentally break something, maybe the whole kingdom or the whole planet."

"Ha! Breakfff the whole planetff," Gust said between bites. He swallowed. "As if anyone was crazy enough to do that!" He didn't notice that directly over his shoulder, a purple geyser shot into the sky and turned the sky a bright pinkish-mauve. And because of their position, nopony else noticed it either. "Hey are these scones?"

"At any rate, we are going to prepare an expedition to finally deal with Vice Grip and the Director and all their followers once and for all," Twilight declared. "It's time for us to take back control of Equestria from the forces of fear and darkness. We will go get Dan and the others and rally the troops! Spike, get me my sword!"

"Uhhh... I didn't know you had a sword."

"Oh. I guess I still don't," Twilight said. "Okay, Spike, make a list."

"Hold on! I need to get a quill and some ink!" he said, hurrying upstairs. Twilight didn't realize he was sure to see Owlowiscious and the others.

"Put 'Buy new swords' at the top," Twilight continued.

"Uh, hey, if it's swords you want, I got swords," Gust said.

"What kind? Scimitars, broadswords, rapiers?"

"Uhh, sharp ones? But a lot of 'em got jewels and stuff and have golden handles."

Twilight frowned. "Did you steal these swords?"

The pirate griffon rubbed the back of his neck. "Not all of them! We made some of them ourselves."

"Oh. Well that's-"

"From things we stole."

"We're not using stolen swords," Twilight stated. She walked over to the door, the others assembling behind her. "Let's go take back Equestria!" She opened the door. And found her brother on the other side. "Shining?"

"Oh! Twily, uh, was just stopping by to see you."

"We were just heading out. Is something wrong?"

A shadow crept over them as they were speaking. High above them, the Danfiant was moving to block out the sun. Shining scratched the back of his neck. "You could say that."

Comments

[Booster Spice]

The Director broke magic so badly that Philomena cant regenerate? Or is she waiting for The Dead Parrot sketch?

[Psyco Josho]

Oh boy. What's Khan going to do?

[Dustchu]

Oooooh boy, this is gonna be interesting, good show!

[Razzy]

Silly Twilight, there's always time for tea.

Never change, Gust.

*plays the obligatory Kirk yell scene *

[CroisSunnyPlay]

Things are escalating quickly...

[LadyLeomon]

A new chapter means it's ~Sunday~ Now lemme see here *dons reading specs*:

Uh ... uh-oh, I had actually forgotten Twilight's situation, I blame Cap and Mr Boulder Punch's entrance! Just glad to know the Pets are okay (they are, right?) and now ... oh snap, Twilight is in "Don't buck with my kingdom!" mode and she's being powered up by Rage Mode ... aww, our girl's first rage ... They grow up so fast!

Okay, time travel and now ... omaigawd ... praise be to Merciful Faust, Sweet Luna's Moon-Branded Booty and Celestia's Non-Canon Mother! You ... you actually wrote a whole song all about the joys of drinking tea? I ... I am completely speechless *sips tea* not anymore! This is just beyond any words I can think of, but please accept these 2: THANK YOU!!!

Sure we weren't the first but we were drinking tea before it made a comeback and became cool (pretty sure the Japanese were first) and thanks to Mr Tuxley's musical number now the whole MLP community will know it too! Who needs frappe-latte-frothy whatevers cos we have tea just thanks so much Mr Author (and Mr Tuxley for the wonderful musical number) you'll both have my loving, adoration forever moving on: you know things must be serious when Twilight is the one asking for swords ... now though I'm more concerned with the sky turning mauve and the unknown behind Shining Armor ... Oh, I can't wait for next week! Now for my favourite quotes:

The warm feelings in her grew and grew and grew. Hotter they became until they burned. It crawled under her very skin, as if her very coat was on fire, her legs shook with this incredible knew feeling that was not in any way, shape or form love, but very much came from love. Anger. Rage. Fury.

Wow, I think the Director may actually have the power to cause a Rage Quit ... too bad for her this is Twilight we're talking about (sorry Cleo)!

"CLEO!!! CLEOOOO!!!!!! CLEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*sniff* Our girl's first Vengeance Yell (what I call Dan's yell of vengeance), she's grown up so fast

"It is four o'clock, Miss Twilight. And of course I know, our world must keep turning. Of this fact, there is only certaintyyyy-"
"Is he singing now?"
"Yep, he's singing now."
"Oh boy."
"And although things change and we keep learning, you can always count on at least one guarrrr-aannnnn-teeeeeee!

Seriously, whoever dared question Mr Tuxley's choice to sing at a moment when it is most needed? I will give them such a pinch Brava Mr Tuxley! Brava and a Jolly Good Show (Regular Show reference!) I say!

Twilight frowned. "Did you steal these swords?"
The pirate griffon rubbed the back of his neck. "Not all of them! We made some of them ourselves."
"Oh. Well that's-"
"From things we stole."

Come oooon Twilight, Gust and his crew probably 'acquired' these things before they got 'employed' by Dan, so this is just recycling (my responsibility in my home and as such I can appreciate this)!

Phew ... pretty sure that's everything, now I can only wait for a fellow Brony (or Pegasister) to sing a cover of Mr Tuxley's song ... No, it shall be forever known as The Tea Song! I shall learn it and sing it in praise for the cuppa of every new day 🇬🇬🇬🇬🇬🇬 I'm an English Tea Drinker and proud of it!!!

Like always thank you for this latest, brilliant update. The last few days have been less than stellar so this really cheered me up, my sincerest thanks to both you and Mr Tuxley (and Friends of course!) for this latest light-hearted chapter and I'll look forward to the continuation next week.

Awesome as always and I'll see you ~next time~

Your Eternal (English) Fan ^_^

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

This was put up later than usual. Not that that's a bad thing. Maybe a bit more time was needed.

[klaytion]

this story needs a Gundam

[Barrobroadcaster]

8489701
The song was for you and Tuxley, was hoping you'd love it. Thank you as always. I have to admit I do look forward to your comments each week. Love ya Lady, thanks for being here with us and being our friend and fan. Eternally!

[Barrobroadcaster]

8490206
Most of it was written Friday, like a lot of the chapters, it was originally shorter. But if something's fun, I add it nine times out of ten. Originally, it was just going to end with Twilight telling Spike to make a note about buying swords; like to conclude with jokes. Despite all Twilight's power and her new confidence, along with her following Dan's example, it's to show she's still our favorite scholarly goofy student underneath.

It was a profound moment as we near the final two arcs. A tipping point where Twilight was pushed over the edge and her feelings for her friends overwhelm her natural instinct to process and analyze. The multitude of concerns and questions are pushed aside by a single action, a single feeling, a single burning desire that melts all others away. Anger is what brushes aside distractions, creates focus by prioritizing jumbled emotions, desires and responses. But intelligence, wisdom is what guides Twilight, just as it guides Dan- he's clever even when he's raging.

Passion burns, providing the fuel to get us moving and burns all other concern away when hot enough but wisdom lights the path. The final element is belief, a thing that ties the others together. And so we see that passion is the present, belief is the past and knowledge is the future. This is a theme of religion, philosophy, it's one of the core themes of the story and it's also based on the TriForce from the Legend of Zelda- Power, Wisdom, Courage. Passion, Power, Present- Intellect, Wisdom, Future and Courage, Belief, Past.

Finally, this is also mirrored by the Magic Gears and the way they discover their own identity. Their logical, mechanical minds experience curiosity and from that, learn emotion, feeling and gain a soul.

[JakeAndDollars]

Steps out of my vacation cabin nestled high up in the Foal mountains, sipping my own steaming cup of tea, cocks head to the side. "What the devil is that noise...?" Sees giant geyser, sips again. "Dagnabbit, how do I keep wandering into barrows story...?" Goes back inside, cabin starts making the Tardis noise....

[howard035]

A nice little tea break song. Quite cute.