Chapter 2
"This just in, the Canis military base was attacked by unknown giant robots," the news anchor said over the television, "Now Canis is under the impression that Princess Celestia was behind the attack. Here's Cynthia Howles with more on the story."
The newscast cuts to Cynthia, who is already in the military base. "Yes, Dazzle, a battle has indeed taken place, but what's surprising is that two witnesses have come forward saying that that's not the whole story."
The camera showed two soldiers, one was a commanding officer, the other an ensign. "Commander Alexander and Ensign Boswell reported seeing something...unusual." Cynthia looked at the commander and asked. "Would you mind telling us what you saw, commander?"
"I saw big, ugly, pieces of Equestrian *beep!*"
"I...see..." The reporter switched to the ensign, "Do you concur?"
"Not...exactly."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think they were Equestrian."
"What do you think they are?"
"I'd...rather not say. But one thing's for certain, they seem to oppose each other, as if they were at war with themselves."
"Anything you want to add, Commander?"
"That if Mrs. High and Mighty Sun Raiser is watching this, know that Canis will kick your sorry tattooed a-"
"Okay... Back to you, Dazzle."
Dazzle sat there stunned for a few second before shaking it off. "Well that leaves you with something to think about: Is Celestia really to blame, or is there more to this than meets the eye? In other news..."
The television was switched off. Lancer set the remote on the table and stood up. Almost instantly, the phone rang. He calmly walked over to it and picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hey, Lancer,” a familiar, feminine voice greeted.
“Bright Eyes, how are you?”
“Good. Are you excited?”
“For today, yes. My parents said that they will be here for the party and that they have a life-changing surprise. I hope it’s a brochure for a really awesome college because I haven’t been able to look for one.”
“Have you tried Foal Sail?”
“Foal Sail?”
“Yeah, I read reviews, looks nice...kinda far away, though.”
“Okay… I’m about to look that up now.” Lancer gets over to his computer and searches for Foal Sail. When he finds the website… “It sounds good, but I’m afraid that it doesn’t have the degree I’m looking for.”
“And what would that be?”
“I.. I really don’t know. I have searched almost the entire internet, and there is nothing about what degree you would need to be an explorer.” His head hits the desk. “Where’s Daring Do when you need her?”
Bright Eyes giggled at the comment. “I don’t think there is one.”
“Dangit!”
“Maybe be an archeologist? That IS what Daring Do does.”
“Maybe, but I just want to be able to catalogue animals and plants.”
“Ah! Then you must mean a zoologist.”
“Of course.” He then starts typing. More results are found. He looks over some of the sites and concludes, “Bachelor’s of Science. THAT’S what I’m looking for. Thanks.”
“Happy to help. I think Mares Hill offers that.”
“Okay then. I will take a look.” There was a knock at the door. “I gotta go. It’s either my dad or Ace and Teddy.”
“Okay. See you at the party.”
“You too.”
They both hung up and Lancer called out, “Come in.”
The door opened, but it was none of the ponies he mentioned were the ones who knocked, but rather a blue and white wolf. Lancer was surprised with the new visitor, but he calmly asked, “Can I help you?”
“No, but maybe I can help you,” he answered in a nonchalant tone.
Lancer just stood there. “Me?”
“Yes, it’s important.”
“Let me guess, college applications?”
“What? No.”
“Scholarships?”
“No.”
“Equestrian lo-”
“NO! I’m here because you could be in danger!”
“Uh...What danger?”
“By Primus, have you not seen the news?”
“News? Well, I have seen a report of a base in Canis being attacked.”
“Exactly, so we need to move. Is anyone else in the house?”
“Servants, butlers, my mom-”
“As I thought, one of those rich guys.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing, we need to get everyone out of here before-” The wolf noticed a silver Scion xB outside from the window. “Scrap. Okay, new plan, stay here.”
“I thought you wanted me outside.”
“Now I want you inside. Apparently the ones I’m supposed to keep you away from are here.”
“Who?”
“The robots that were at the military base.”
“How would you know that?”
The wolf then blurted in one quick breath, “Because I was one of the robots that was resisting the robots that were attacking the base.”
If Lancer weren’t confused earlier, he was now. “Can you repeat that slowly?”
“Slowly?”
“I know I heard ‘I am’ and ‘base,’ but that’s it. You really need to slow down if you want people to understand you.”
“Ugh… Just stay here.” With that, the wolf darted out.
Lancer stood there, not having a clue on what to do. He was still confused with the fact that a wolf he had never met barged into his home saying that he was in danger, and that he said something about the base attack he WAS JUST WATCHING. And what kind of word is “Primus?” He looked outside the window to see the wolf dash up to the silver Scion xB. Shock came to him when the wolf vanished, and a giant robot lands in his place.
******
“That’s far enough Soundwave!” Lancewing shouted.
Soundwave immediately transformed into his robot mode. “Very well.” Soundwave’s chest opens up. “Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, eject. Target: Autobot Lancewing.”
Three more disks ejected. The red and yellow disks transformed into mechanical vultures while the purple disk transformed into a bat. The flying creatures flew at the blue robot.
Lancewing quickly took to the skies. His thoughts focused on this: ‘If I can get them away from the structures, I should be able to get through this with little damage.’
Soundwave looked on as he the Autobot flew away with the three deployers. “Soundwave superior; Autobot Lancewing inferior,” Soundwave mocked.
“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Lancewing muttered.
“Frenzy, eject. Operation: Monarch.”
“Oh no.”
Soundwave’s chest opened up to reveal yet another red disk, but this one transformed into a humanoid robot similar to Rumble. “Been itchin’ to take out an Autobot.” He sneered.
“Wrong target, Frenzy,” Soundwave said, “Seek out the lifeform known as Lancer.”
“Isn’t that him right there.”
“That is Lancewing. You are looking for Lancer.”
“No sweat.” Frenzy darts off.
Soundwave deploys Ravage. “Go with Frenzy.”
“By your command,” Ravage said upon ejecting. He sprinted to Frenzy.
******
Lancer stood there, frozen. The whole scene was playing out before him. He wasn’t sure what to-
“Lancer?”
The voice of his mother brought him back to reality. “Huh?” He looked and saw his mother walk down the stairs and over to him. She was a white earth pony with a red mane and tail and was wearing a red dress with a gold necklace and red heels. “Are you feeling alright, honey,” she asked in her motherly tone.
“I don’t know, I think I might be seeing things.”
With a curious expression on her face, she put her hand on Lancer’s forehead. “You feel fine...How long have you been like this?”
“Literally a second ago. For a moment, I thought I saw giant robots fighting outside.”
“Maybe you should lay off the books for a bit.”
“But I wasn’t reading any… I was watching a news report about some odd ‘thing’ in Canis, though.”
“How’d you watch news in Canis?” His mom asked.
“Equestira TV was covering it because they’re thinking that Princess Celestia was behind it. Only problem is that those things were not Equestrian.”
“What ‘things’?”
“They’re saying ‘giant robots,’ but according to science, that would be impossible.” As if on cue, a sonic frequency blew the doors off their hinges revealing Ravage and Frenzy. “Then again, I take that back.”
“Pardon my associate, he has a tendency to forget to knock first,” Ravage said in his thick Russian accent, before two large cannons appeared above his hind legs. “Now, if you’ll come quietly, there will be no harm.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Lancewing yelled.
“They’re the bad guys” Lancer asked.
“Baddies? Man I hate that term,” Frenzy whipped out his pile drivers, “There’s gotta be a better word!”
“Okay then, which do you like? Villain? Antagonist? Assailant?”
“It’s more a frame of mind.”
“Like the Joker?” Lancer suggested.
Freny glared at Lancer, “Who asked you?”
“Well, you did want a new name,” Lancewing concurred, “But in reality, he’s a Decepticon.”
“Oh, yeah. Ah well,” He began to pound the ground with his pile drivers, causing an earthquake. Everyone in the room, except for Ravage and Frenzy, collapsed.
“They all fall so easily,” Ravage sneered.
“Yeah, now let’s get outta here with the ‘package’.”
“Right.” Ravage said as he began to creep up to Lancer, but…
“Decepticons Ravage and Rumble, this is Optimus Prime. Step out of the structure now, or we will be forced to use unconventional methods to force you out.”
“Unconventional? What, rip our faces off?” Frenzy asked.
“Whatever it is, I’d rather get out of here so as not to find out.”
Both Decepticons darted out, leaving Lancewing to help the other two people in the room to get back on their feet. “Are you two alright?”
“Uh…” Lancer moaned, still trying to take in what had just happened.
“I think we’re fine,” his mother answered.
“Well, when I said that you were in danger, I wasn’t playing a- GAH!”
Both ponies looked in shock. The mother asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just a scratch on my chest.”
They both looked at Lancewing confused. “Your chest looks fine,” Lancer replied.
“That’s because you’re looking at my avatar while my actual self is fighting against Soundwave and his minions.”
“So...This isn’t you?” Lancer asked.
“No, my actual form is an autonomous robotic being with the ability to transform into a fighter jet.”
“A what?”
“I’m a Transformer whose alternate mode is fighter jet.”
“So wait, that robot that landed in front of the silver robot is...you?”
“Yes. By the way, that silver robot is named Soundwave. He’s basically the Decepticons’ communication officer.”
“Well, at least you’re not really a wolf,” Lancer’s mom sighed in relief.
“Why? What’s wrong with wolves,” Lancewing laughed, “I like wolves!”
“You weren’t at the Grand Galloping Gala three years ago…”
“Grand What What?”
They both looked at him stunned. “You’ve never heard of the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“Well, I’m not from here, so no.”
“Oh, well it’s the-”
“Mom, I don’t think we have time for this,” Lancer said.
“Right,” Lancewing said, “I am Autobot Lancewing, aerial warrior and a pretty good writer, even if I do say so myself.”
“A giant robot as a writer?”
“Hey, everyone needs a pastime.”
“I...guess.”
“Lancewing? Anytime now?” Jetfire asked.
“I think I’m gonna be a while,” Lancewing replied, “I got myself in a hole too deep to get out of.”
“Frenzy, huh?”
“Nope, made a little more contact than I intended.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“They saw me in robot mode and I’ve already explained a lot about myself. What else can I do?”
“Uh...conk them out and hope for the best?”
“You know we can hear you, right,” Lancer said.
“Oh...Uh...YOU SAW NOTHING.”
“Nice try.”
“Thank you, I try.”