MEANWHILE IN EQUESTRIA
Jetfire and Hound lead the survivors, including the Mane 5 and Spike, right into the very cave which the ponies hid in during Grogar’s reign of terror two years ago. They hid there to protect themselves from the wrath of Nemesis Prime and his crew. For the Equestrians, hiding in the same cave immediately brought horrifying memories of the terrifying invasion that nearly destroyed their beloved home.
Jetfire and Hound internally grieved the losses of Wheeljack, Warpath, Perceptor, and so many others. It was painful for them to yet lose more warriors who fought side by side with them against the Decepticons for many years. Likewise with the ponies and creatures who openly mourned the losses of Thorax, Pharynx, Ember, and even Grandpa Gruff.
“This is so bad... really bad!” Fluttershy whined sorrowfully.
“Ah can’t believe that one-eyed freak turned Optimus and the others evil!” Applejack said. “Especially Ironhide!!”
“What are we going to do now?” Pinkie worriedly asked.
“We need to stay here away from Canterlot and Optimus...or ‘Nemesis Prime’ as he called himself.” said Jetfire. “I won’t risk the safety of any of us.”
“Are you sure about that, Jetfire? What if Optimus and the other four of our friends left through a space bridge portal to the Nemesis or something?” asked Hound.
“That’s a possibility, but my decision still stands.” Jetfire firmly ordered. “No one leaves this cave.”
“Aw come on!! Seriously, Jetfire? We’re just going to sit here and do nothing while Optimus rampages else where?!” Rainbow shouted.
“Nemesis is far too powerful to take on!! He’ll kill us all if we go out there!!” Jetfire snapped.
“We can just create a plan to defeat him! We can’t give up now!” argued Rainbow.
“WE. STAY. HERE. This is not up for a discussion!” Jetfire sternly ordered.
“This is unlike you, Jetfire! I thought you were courageous enough to take on Decepticons. Guess you’re not a true Autobot after all.” said Rainbow with a glare.
Incensed at her words, he swiftly turned to face her, “OKAY, LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE—“ his words of retaliation were interrupted by another voice.
“ENOUGH!!!” Fluttershy screamed.
Jetfire and Rainbow were started by her angered voice and turned to her like a child would to its parent when he or she did something wrong.
“Both of you need to stop fighting this instant!! It will get us nowhere if you keep arguing and hurting each other’s feelings!” she sternly spoke. Jetfire and Rainbow lowered their heads in shame and were silent for a moment.
“Sorry, Rainbow.” Jetfire apologized.
“I’m sorry too, pal. I get fed up too easily.” Dash confessed.
“All right then. Let’s focus on the important matter here.” Hound reminded. “We as Autobots need to remember that being idle while evil threatens the safety of sentient beings is unacceptable. If we are to survive, we must bravely make our stand and put an end to the Decepticon reign of terror for good.”
“How can we fight?” Sandbar spoke. “Without the Royal Guard or the strongest Autobots with us, we’re no match for them!”
“Plus, we don’t even have the strongest weapons in Equestria to battle with.” Gallus added.
“Speaking of strongest, what happened to Celestia, Luna, and Cadence?” Rarity asked. Everypony looked around just as they were mentioned. Fear sized their hearts after discovering their absence.
“No, no, no, no, no! Not again!” shouted Spike. “It’s just like when Grogar ponynapped the princesses and used them for evil! They might have been captured!”
“What about Twilight? She hasn’t returned yet! What happened to her?” Fluttershy asked.
“I don’t know. I really hope she’s okay.” Rarity replied.
“Right now, we are Equestria’s only hope if we are to end this war. Shockwave will allow nothing to stand in his way. Neither should we.” Jetfire encouraged.
“But how? Do you have a good plan to stop him?” Rainbow asked with doubt. Jetfire was about to answer but could not since he hadn’t really thought about it. Suddenly, a new voice outside the cave arrested their attention.
“I can be of great assistance.” the voice spoke.
“Who said that?!” Rainbow called out. Jetfire and the other few Autobots raised their blasters, ready to fight. But Hound, however, recognized the voice and drew closer to its source.
“Hold your fire!” he ordered the troops. They lowered their weapons in compliance but still had them loaded just in case.
“Is that you, buddy? You can come in now.” Hound said. After he said this, the new figure made his physical appearance. The warrior entered the cave right before all the ponies, creatures, and the Autobots. They all gasped in surprise as they beheld him. The figure was black and blue all around his chassis, had the appearance of a samurai, had two long samurai swords and two short ones mounted on his back, and had a golden yellow face with blue optics.
“Greetings, old friend. It’s been a long time since the fall of Cybertron.” said the new Autobot.
“Drift! It’s great to see you again!!” Hound happily welcomed before hugging him tightly.
“Ughh!! Thanks...you can let go...now...too tight...!” Drift managed to say while being squeezed.
“Oh sorry!” Hound said, releasing him.
“You know him?” Jetfire asked.
“Of course! We were best buddies on Iacon City! That was, of course, before the war on Cybertron.” Hound explained.
“Indeed. My name is Drift. Ex-Decepticon now Autobot.” he introduced with a bow.
“My, what a gentleman.” Rarity complemented, pleased by his politeness.
“Wait...you used to be a Decepticon?!” Rainbow shouted.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Drift replied with a sad tone. “That was one of the worst experiences of my life as a Cybertronian. At that time, my old name was Deadlock.”
“Really? What made you change and see the light?” Pinkie asked.
“I realized that the Decepticons only lived for oppression, suffering, and destruction. They never truly cared what was right and what was wrong. I never wanted that. I was misled into thinking that being a Decepticon would grant me freedom and power over everything that stands in my way. But when I saw how the evil tyrant Megatron treated his own people and his own army, that was when it clicked: Megatron and the Decepticons live for tyranny, not for freedom. Peace through tyranny as he said.” Drift explained.
“Wow! That sounds awful having to live that horrible life, Drift.” Starlight said. “I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Thank you. That was when I defected from my former faction. The way how Optimus and the Autobots treated their people on Cybertron was amazing. It moved me to turn my back on the Decepticons. Never again would I experience the union of evil. Hence, my new name Drift. Drifting away from the wrong path to the right one.” said the ex-Decepticon.
“Amazing. Wait...so does that mean the Decepticons can change too?! Just like how we changlings reformed?” Ocellus asked while pointing to herself and the other changlings behind her.
“Every sentient being has the capacity for redemption. However, not all will accept this offer. While other Decepticons are not spark-hardened to the core, there are still others, like Shockwave, who refuse the good till the end no matter what.” Drift replied.
“Ain’t that the truth.” Applejack concurred.
“But there’s no time to waste! I can help you stop the Decepticons with all the resources stored and prepared, thanks to the assistance from another friend of mine, to help you defeat the enemy for good.” said Drift.
“Did you hear that?! He’s going to help us!!” Pinkie shouted while blowing her party cannon. “We’re gonna save Equestria!!” Everyone else shouted in joy.
“Actually, Equestria is not the target.” Drift clarified. This confused the ponies and the Autobots. “A planet called earth is in imminent danger. Shockwave is raising a new army of Terrorcons to take that planet’s energy along with the alicorns’ magic to restore Cybertron. They are going to also annihilate the inhabitants of earth forever.”
“He has the princesses?! He’s gonna take their magic?!” Rainbow shouted in shock.
“How do you know about this?” Hound asked.
“I overheard Shockwave’s plan when I infiltrated their warship earlier. This is what he said:
FLASHBACK
“Our Terrorcon army will send an atmosphere of darkness in all of planet earth. The creatures shall know and worship the name of Decepticon; for the age of darkness and death in the earth shall be our source of strength and light. If our world must live, theirs must die.” monologued Shockwave.
Drift saw, while hiding in the shadows of the empty halls, Twilight and other alicorns inprisoned; he also saw Nemesis Prime and his lackeys departing from the ship to engage Grimlock and the Dinobots.
“I got to find help.” he muttered. He silently exited the ship through a window with no one around and transformed into helicopter mode to fly back to an underwater base underneath the city. Traveling through the tunnels, he located the hidden base and transformed back to robot mode. Another Autobot greeted him.
“Well, that went quicker than expected.” Crosshairs said. “What did you find?”
“Shockwave is planning a Terrorcon invasion of earth to suck its energy dry and kill all the humans. We cannot let that happen!” said Drift.
“If only we had ‘Mr. Leader of the Free Galaxy’ with us along with ALL the Autobots, yeah! Do you know where they are?” Crosshairs asked.
“My cross-dimensional map reveals their location in a world called...Equestria?” Drift said confused as he looked at the map. “Intriguing place...I’ll take a look.”
“Sure, you do that while I finish my work on the ammunition and armory, then get Grimlock and the Dinobots. He will need our help.” Crosshairs said.
“If he is willing to. His stubbornness can get the better of him often.” Drift said before he activated the map to open a portal. He transformed to Bugatti car mode and entered the portal before it closed.
FLASHBACK ENDED
“Wow! So that scientist ruffian got Twilight too! I knew we shouldn’t have left her! She’s needs our help!!” Rarity said.
“Do ya think Grimlock can take on Optimus—or, um, Nemesis?” Applejack asked.
“I hope so.” Drift replied. “All of you come with me! Crosshairs and I shall train you for war that is soon to come on earth! Follow me!”
He opened the portal once again with his map. They all entered in before it closed behind them.