//------------------------------// // “A Long Way to Go” // Story: TRANSFORMERS: Darkness Rises // by TheClownPrinceofCrime //------------------------------// It was now early in the morning. As the sun rose on the horizon with its rays beaming bright, Sunset’s alarm clock rang. She awoke from her sleep and turned the alarm off. She stretched her arms out as she yawned. She also looked on her phone and saw that it was 8:00am. Realizing that the school starts in thirty minutes, she got up from her bed and began her morning preliminaries. After she finished her preliminaries, got her book bag and headed for the door. But as soon as she locked the door, she saw Grimlock in his semi-truck mode. He opened his front door and honked his horn. Surprised that he was active at this time of the morning, she got in the driver seat and closed the door. “Good morning, Grimlock! I didn’t expect you to be up at this hour. You stayed here all night?” Sunset asked. “Since we had a decent start of our relationship, I figured that I could just stay here and be closer to your place. So yeah. Also, I hate being in that stupid warehouse. I can’t stand all those little creatures that make all those squeals or whatever.” Grimlock replied. “I can imagine that.” Sunset muttered knowing what he was referring to. “Anyway, my school starts at 8:30am. Can you take me there?” Sunset asked. “Hmmmm...sure, I guess.” Grimlock said with hesitation. “But I can’t stay there for long.” Wasting no time, he drove off to their destination. While driving, he remembered that he wanted to hear Sunset’s story. “Hey, Sunset?” “Yes, Grimlock?” Sunset replied. “You said you wanted to tell me your story, right?” he reminded. “Oh yes! I did say that!” she said before clearing her throat. “Well, my story is kinda messed up but hear it is.” She then inhaled as she began. “A long time ago, I first was a student of Princess Celestia’s school. I wanted the power of alicorn magic so bad that I decided to betray her and abandon her as I hungered for power.” she said with sadness and remorse. “Wait...so you ARE from Equestria! No wonder you were surprised that I was in that world!” Grimlock realized. “Yeah, that’s strange, isn’t it? So, eventually, I discovered a mirror back in Canterlot that can travel in many dimensions; that was where I found myself here on earth.” she continued. “Was that how you turned into a human?” Grimlock asked. “Yes.” she replied. “That’s interesting.” he said. “Yep, so one day, I stole Twilight’s crown and took it with me to the Canterlot High School; once I discovered that she was in the school to track me down and retrieve her crown, I did everything in my power to discourage her from getting her crown. Additionally, I was well-known as a bully in my school. I was very mean, rude, and disrespectful to everyone there. I was...(sniff)...such a jerk!!” she then broke down crying. Grimlock was surprised at what he heard. This girl was a bully at her school and was a betrayer of Celestia and tried to usurp Twilight? He couldn’t even imagine how Celestia must have felt. He somehow started to feel bad for her. “Wow. So what made you change? How did you become the human you are today?” he curiously asked. “After Twilight and her friends defeated me when I turned into my super-demon version and turned the students into mind-controlled minions, she offered me friendship, seeing how remorseful I was of my actions at that moment.” she replied. “So I learned about the Magic of Friendship from that day forward from them. I learned so much from them. Even to this day, I’m very grateful for what they taught me; otherwise, I would not be the person I am now.” she finished. “So what do you think?” Grimlock was honestly flabbergasted at her story, specifically at the reformation part. Never in the history of Cybertron or Equestria has he ever heard of a sentient creature that has done bad (or even horrible) things before and received no punishment whatsoever. He then started to imagine what it would be like if Megatron had repented of all his wicked tyrannical crimes that he committed during all those millions of years on Cybertron and got no punishment from the Autobots. To him, that process was questionable and mind-blowing at best. “I honestly don’t even know what to say.” Grimlock replied after moments of silence. “So, Twilight didn’t punish you for what you had done?” “No, because she wanted to give me a second chance.” Sunset said. “I mean, we all deserve a second chance, right?” “A second chance?! So you mean to tell me that the Decepticons deserve a second chance?!” Grimlock shouted. “No! I don’t buy this stupid forgiveness stuff!” “Decepticons? Look, I admit that I don’t know much about them, except, remembering what happened yesterday, they seek for our destruction, but haven’t you ever thought about giving them a second chance?” Sunset asked. “A second chance at what?! Killing the rest of the Autobots?! For your information, I find mercy to be weak and useless. I am a tough Dinobot that means business! I don’t give second chances to Decepticons!” Grimlock spoke with anger. “Grimlock, you have to understand that no matter how evil anyone can be, they have the capacity for change. You must see that!” Sunset admonished. But the more she lectured him, the more annoyed and angry he got. “I didn’t see YOU complaining when I killed Sideways! Where was your protest then, huh?!” Grimlock called out. This silenced Sunset. “How would YOU feel if someone threatened to kill you or your friends? Would you say, ‘oh please be a good person blah blah blah’ or would you do something to protect yourself and your friends?” Grimlock questioned. Sunset then remembered the nightmare she had last night. Shockwave, the Terrorcons, the destruction...the death of her friends. While knowing that Grimlock still had a lot to learn and understand, she knew Grimlock was somewhat right. While there are some villains that can change depending on their backstory, there are others that just cannot change no matter how many times a hero may try. Not once has she met a villain that was hardcore and evil by nature. This was just an unimaginable stretch for her to grasp. “You know, Grimlock, you might be right. In fact, I had a terrible nightmare last night now that you’ve brought it up.” Sunset said. “Really? What was the nightmare?” Grimlock asked. “I dreamt of the city’s destruction. There was...so much death and fire everywhere I went. I was looking for you and my friends until I arrived at the school. That’s where I saw my friends...dead.” she choked while sobbing. “Then I saw you tear away the roof and said that you were going to kill me.” “WHAT?!?” Grimlock shouted in shock. “That was when you morphed into this strange robot who called himself Shockwave.” she said. Grimlock then immediately stopped driving as soon as she mentioned the name of his worse nemesis. “SHOCKWAVE?! How?! HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!” screamed the bewildered Dinobot. “I don’t know! It just happened!” Sunset yelled in fear. She was intimidated by Grimlock’s sudden anger. After moments of dead silence, Grimlock calmed himself down and resumed back in motion. “I apologize for my outburst. It’s just that I have a history with Shockwave. A horrible history and experience precisely.” Grimlock calmly confessed. “Do you want to tell me about it?” Sunset asked. “I’ll tell you that later today. We just arrived at the school.” Grimlock replied just as he arrived at the school. Sunset looked through her window and saw the school. She got her book bag and opened the door to head out. “Thanks for the ride, Grimlock.” Sunset thanked. “Don’t mention it.” Grimlock replied. “I guess we have a lot to think about, huh?” said Sunset. “Yeah, plenty. See you later.” said Grimlock. Just as Sunset left the truck and entered the school, Grimlock began to ponder in thought. “Looks like Sunset and I have a long way to go. How did she ever had a dream of Shockwave? Ehhh, who cares? I got to protect her no matter what happens. Speaking of friends, I really miss my Dinobots. I wish they were here.”