Noctune threw his cider glass at the wall, shattering it.
The frustrated stallion let gravity take his body down into his black leather chair. As his head hit the back of the chair, he began his breathing exercises to keep himself calm. It had been years since he has done his breathing exercises. His psychiatrist always told him doing so would keep his emotions in check, and it would hopefully prevent another…episode.
That was the last thing Noctune needed at this point. So he started the breathing exercises. The stallion placed his front hooves against his forehead, his chest inflating outwardly. He breathed out, letting his chest fall and his heart rate slow down.
It felt…good.
He repeated the steps several more times. The sounds of his heavy breathing filled the dimly lit office that was once silent. On his last breath, Noctune let his hooves fall to the rests on the side of the chair, a deflated expression remaining on his face.
“Ugh…I need a drink,” Noctune groaned, reaching for the cider glass. His hoof grabbed nothing but air on his desk. “Oh…right,” he muttered, staring at the cider rolling down the wall. He groaned once more and rested his head on his hoof, his eyes slowly shutting.
At one moment he was sitting in his office, happily reading the newspaper with only the thought of that whore from last night giving him his money’s worth. His morning went out without a hitch. But by around noon…that’s when he received the news. The news…from bucking Brimstone.
Nopony else dared to tell him, for they were too afraid. That was clearly something Noctune needed to teach them. Yes, he can be scary at times, but it wasn’t him…it was somepony else.
Ever since he was a colt, Noctune’s parents were always fighting, always arguing, and he was in the middle of it all. He and his siblings. Noctune was beaten, of course, as were his brothers. It seems his father always took his anger out on his children.
As the years went on, it only got worse. By the time Noctune was eight years old his father had strangled his mother in a blind fury. She died that night…and Noctune was watching the whole time. His father was nowhere to be found the next morning. However, in the Manehatten reports it did state that the body of his father was found dead by the sea.
Something changed that day. It was a day Noctune never forgot for some reason. Something…snapped. He was never himself, never the playful colt like his two older brothers once knew. He was lonesome, an outsider, and a dark pony who rarely spoke. Whenever he did speak, he would lash out at his brothers who tried their best to take care of him.
And all he would say was “The voices told him to.”
He’s gotten help for the problem. Doctors prescribed medical treatments and anti-depressant pills every day. They did little to help. Finally, Noctune saw a psychiatrist at the age of eighteen. He told Noctune that he required a new hobby, perhaps a job that would keep him busy and hopefully prevent thoughts of suicide.
That’s when he joined the Royal Guard…
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The dark brown stallion raised his head towards the door in front of him, a heavy scowl beginning to appear.
It was only a few minutes ago that Brimstone informed his commander that the mission in the Everfree Forest was a failure. Many lives were lost, all the Spider Tanks were destroyed, and only eight soldiers made it back mortally wounded. More cowards for testing, Noctune presumed. The only good news he got out of that was their presence was never known, and even if somepony managed to find the wrecks of the tanks they would never know it was them. Their logos were scratched out.
That’s when he realized it was over. He couldn’t send any more soldiers even though more reports kept coming in. Whenever he tried, he would always get the same news: The aliens stole their weapon’s power source and escaped.
He failed his country. He failed to keep peace in his world. Now that Transformers were roaming around Equestria, the news will surely spread and panic will rise again…just like before.
Noctune clearly didn’t need any more news from Brimstone.
“I will NOT order another attack, Brimstone! We’ve lost too many!” he shouted, his heavy vocals traveling throughout his office.
A weak, meager voice came from behind the door.
“Um…sir? This is Swi-Swift Sh-Shade.”
The newest recruit. Noctune’s scowl disappeared, and he motioned his hoof towards the door. “Ah…Swift. Come in,” the stallion said. The door slowly creaked open, and the young pony nervously made his way inside. Noctune could see the scar on his forehoof. It healed up rather quickly.
Instead of fully entering the room, Swift stood silently in front of the open door, sweat pouring down his head and burning his eyes. He didn’t blink.
Noctune’s raised his brow curiously and asked, “What’s wrong with you, kid?”
Swift only appeared more nervous. His forelegs began to quiver and short, uncontrolled breaths escaped his muzzle. Well, maybe Noctune was a bit intimidating. Perhaps being calmer and nicer to his cadets would ease the tension he was clearly feeling.
As Noctune was thinking to himself, Swift looked utterly terrified. He sounded utterly terrified as he began to speak.
“Y-you have r-received a m-m-message.”
Right before Noctune could ask from whom, Swift’s chest exploded.
Blood splattered all across the office. Blood was on the floor, on the ceiling, even on the dark brown stallion sitting in the leather chair. Noctune shot back in his chair, his eyes burning from the blood. He swiped his hoof across his eyelids enough to get a short glimpse of what exactly happened.
It was almost too fast. A giant, metallic bird smacked Swift’s body aside as if he was a ragdoll. His corpse hit the far wall and rested on an ever-growing puddle of dark red liquid. Noctune rolled up his right sleeve with speeds that almost surprised his attacker. With pure intensity raging in his eyes and the blood painted across his face, Noctune took the form of an animalistic beast purely acting on instinct.
He presented his blaster that transformed across his right hoof. The end glowed violently blue, ensuring Noctune that his weapon was ready. He pointed the blaster at his attacker, only to have it be swiped away from the bird. Bits of metal broke off from his blaster. His weapon was destroyed in seconds and the bird even managed to knock the stallion back into his bloody chair.
Very impressive.
The bird latched its two claws onto the front Noctune’s desk. It stared at him with that glowing yellow visor, a quiet hiss escaping its metal beak.
For several seconds the two stared each other down. Noctune breathed in and out in short, uncontrolled breaths while the metal bird continued with its silent stare. That stare sent a message, something that sent a shiver down Noctune’s spine.
He finally noticed the symbol on its forehead.
“Oh no…” he muttered.
Decepticon.
The bird began to move, catching Noctune off guard as his eyes were transfixed by the dreaded logo still lingering in his mind. It backed up and pointed its head downwards. A short barrel began to protrude from its forehead. Noctune flinched and prepared for the shot to come.
Instead, a blue beam was shot in front of him, right on top of his desk. The beam spread out until it became a tall hologram. A static image of a purple-eyed cyclops appeared in front of the stallion, catching him by surprise when he spotted the Decepticon symbol right under its flat chest. Two wings pointed outwards from the Decepticon’s back, and instead of a left arm the Decepticon had a gun.
Noctune remained silent. He was honestly too stunned and intrigued to speak.
So the hologram did it for him.
“Greetings, Noctune. You do not know me, but I most definitely know you,” this caught the stallion by surprise, increasing his attention span. “I have watched you for quite some time now. You have potential, even for a pony. That lust for power is strong in you.”
Now, how did he know about that? Noctune thought.
“I’ve seen your many ‘attempts’ to destroy the Autobots, but you lack the knowledge to perform such tasks. Your power in military is clearly not strong enough. If you do as I say, I can give you that said power, protect your world, and then some.”
Noctune leaned forward in his chair, one hoof rubbing his chin while the other was firmly planted on his desk.
The Decepticon continued, “If you would like to know more, meet me in the outskirts of the Frozen North. I will have Laserbeak give you the exact coordinates of the location.”
The bird let out another ear-piercing screech, making Noctune flinch back into his chair.
After a brief moment of silence, the Decepticon in the light blue hologram lowered his gaze. It was as if he was speaking directly to the pony in front of him. “I understand it is difficult to trust…an alien…but you must understand that no harm will befall you.”
Noctune’s eyebrow shot upwards.
“I give you my word.”
With his speech ending, the hologram cut off, leaving nothing but a bloody office room and an alien bird in front of the commander of the Alliance. The bird, presumably named Laserbeak, stared at Noctune for some sort of reaction.
He didn’t know what to think. Noctune frowned and stared at his blood-soaked desk, contemplating the offer.
What was he thinking?! It was a Decepticon! He didn’t need to remind himself that the Decepticons tried to colonize his home, killing hundreds of thousands of ponies in the process. They were the whole reason he founded the organization! They were the reason of his power.
Where did he say he was at? The Frozen North? It was perfect. Nopony would know of their actions, and he could send a small army to deal with the Decepticon with sheer firepower. He could be rid of the Decepticon once and for all!
Then again…
He recalled the cyclops’ words “Your power in military is clearly not strong enough.” That cut deep into Noctune’s chest, almost tearing his heart in two. To demoralize his life’s work was painful, but not as painful as knowing it was true. Hell, they couldn’t even destroy a rusty tin can. How can he ever expect to go against a Decepticon who was obviously not alone on this world?
The thought of a Decepticon army…on Equestria. It frightened him.
Noctune’s blood-covered face turned to observe Swift’s slowly rotting corpse lying on his office floor. His eyes were wide open, a look of pure terror forever stitched on his face, never to be removed. His chest was literally blown to bits; portions of his ribcage could be seen. Laserbeak turned his head to the corpse as well, giving a little squawk, though it didn’t seem like he cared much.
What did that Decepticon say…?
I can give you that said power, protect your world, and then some.
Power…
The word made Noctune’s body shiver. It was something of pure happiness, something he could use for the benefit of ponykind and to the benefit of the future children of Equestria. It was a word that dictated the acts of legends. It was the word that brought Discord’s reign, the word that convinced King Sombra to rise up and take the Crystal Empire for his own purposes, the word that fueled Lord Tirek’s lust for conquest.
It was the word…that could change the world.
Noctune sighed and closed his eyes, the blood dripping down from his eyelids. He leaned his head back into his leather chair, letting the quiet of the room take him on a blissful journey. Laserbeak stared at him for quite some time. He tilted his head and opened his beak.
When Noctune opened his eyes, an all-new shade of grey and swirls of darkness floated across his eyes. It was a sight Laserbeak clearly didn’t expect.
Noctune smiled a killer’s smile and nodded.
“Alright…show me.”
Nikolai:Why is stallion horse drinking cider? Why no vodka?
L.P: For the love of God, shut up, Nikolai! Uh.. sorry. Anyways, very nice chapter, JD! Loved every bit o-
Richtofen: Vat? No SHPLEENZ?!
Dempsey: Or Juggernog?
Takeo: Or honor to the Emperor?
L.P: I'm just gonna.. go before this gets outta hand.. BYE! *Jumps out window*
Sweet Celestia and by Primus! I swear, this is starting to get to me!
Getting more intense by the second. Why do I have the feeling Twilight needs to take a second trip to Cybertron?
Nice work, JDPrime22. I'm starting to get that familiar sense of hopelessness from Equestria's Darkest Hour that I feel like only Primus, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna has to fix. But then Twilight and Optimus Prime wouldn't be the heroes.
The Arctic scene is going to like when Harold Attinger talks to Lockdown right?
Where did Shockwave find Laserbeak?
Noctune founded the AAA to protect Equestria from Aliens but in desperation after recent failures accepts an offer from a Decepticon, an alien that almost killed Equestria before and what the AAA was meant to destroy. What a hypocrite...
Never trust a Decepticon! Don't you know that 'deception' and 'con' is part of their name!
However now that I'm starting to learn his backstory, I almost starting to feel sorry for him. But for now it's too soon for me to view him otherwise.
Okay, so at first you showed Nocturne created the AAA because he wanted to protect Equestria from aliens. Overtime he let his ambitions and ego go to his head which corrupted him. Now you show that he was fucked up(looks like Schizophrenia) waaaay before the invasion. I don't know if you did this to make him sympathetic(didn't work.) or what. I don't see what's the point in this unless you're going to make him the redeemable villain in the end.
Another thing that bothers me is Shockwave. Why would he get involved with this? The Decepticons have already won the war(again) and all the remaining Autobots have severe amnesia. What would be the point in fighting when they pose no threat in their condition? Wouldn't the logical thing to do is leave them alone. If he interferes, his actions might result in the Autobots regaining their memories? There too many variables in this going wrong for him that he shouldn't take the risk.
You've definitely nailed Noctune's personality. He's a tragic pony who believes he's doing right by Equestria, when in reality he's going to make the world worse.
Oh, buck.
So shockwave takes the place of lockdown interesting
5094913 Because the Autobots could regain their memories anyways.
So its better to actually kill them this time instead of just draining their energon.
It's the logical thing to do really.
5096582
If they regain their memories, then so what? They can't do anything since they're stranded with no means of getting off the planet. And it would only be a matter of time before they shutdown again since theres no energon. So again, it's more logical to leave them be. Interfering will only backfire in Shockwaves case.
5093789 LOL
5093943 The hopelessness gets even more intense from this point on.
5094473 Nope. I'm going for something...darker.
5094619 Laserbeak's master never died.
5094747 He truly is a hypocrite, and he'll become something far worse as the story progresses in a few chapters.
5094913 I wasn't going for sympathy for the villain in this, just wanted a tragic backstory that led to his uprising. As for Shockwave...well, Cybertron is completely depleted of Energon at this point. The only way they survived all these years was consuming the Energon from their dead brothers, but even that will run out sooner or later. If Shockwave were to suck the energy out of Equis, then he can reboot the core of Cybertron and save the Transformer race (same plan as Megatron in the last story). But now, since the Autobots have awakened on Equestria, Shockwave needed to learn from the mistakes of the last invasion and cooperate with the new Alliance on Equestria, making their forces stronger and more effective. A partnership with Equestrians could help the Decepticons immensely. That's Shockwave's plan.
I hope this makes sense.
5096607 Mind if I make a statement? It all only depends on where the story is taking us. My opinion is that someone or something is going to have to bring the Matrix of Leadership back to Orion Pax.
Plus, even if they lack energon, that doesn't mean the ponies can't think of something to help reproduce the energon. After all, they had magic.
One more thing, thinking logically now before the story is completed is premature. It would be wise to hold off until it is completed, then you can begin your lecture... then again, that's Optimus Prime and Twilight's job.
5096706
We already saw that magic doesn't do shit with them, so that's out of the question.
5096671
Okay, that does make sense when you explain it. I still think that whatever Shockwave has planned will just blow up in his face in the long run that he could have done other things instead. And when I brought that thing from the last chapter I thought you were going to introduce a new character and show his backstory not Nocturnes. We all know that he's messed up so I don't think it was necessary to show more about his life.
5096781 I meant when they find out about Noctune holding energon. Remember when he said they fail the mission because their power sources kept being swiped from them? They were drained, so how did they spring back to life when their power sources were stolen? Answer: energon!
Also, I never said they could use magic to keep them alive. I said they could "reproduce" the energon. The AAA weapon's are using energon to power their weapons. And if I'm right about this, they could take the energon and reproduce them based on that sample.
They were using magic to bring them back to life, not make energon. If they get their hands on the energon, then they can recreate enough energon to help the Autobots last.
Soundwave survives. In MY story, he won't.
5096781
Ponies could use energon samples and reproduce it with magic.
Geez man its not that complicated.
5096974 You should trap him in the shadow zone instead.
doomed forever to watch the Autobots and not be able to do anything about it when Megatron dies.
5097009 sadly I don't know how to do that. I was going to have his head blown off like in the movie. Besides don't you think it'd be creepy for him to be there on a different plane of existence?
5096781 Oh, I'll definitely show the backstory of another AAA member in an upcoming chapter.
5097876
Well that's great, it's good to see someone in the AAA that isn't an evil asshole.
I think its obvious that Noctune is going to learn the hard way that sooner or later, any promises made by a Decepticon are meaningless.
5104914 he's like that guy from dark of the moon who was always with soundwave.
What an idiot. Nocturne just agreed to work with the exact same aliens he has wanted to destroy. He hunts and kills the good aliens while joining with the bad ones he specifically knows tried to kill him and his species. Can he be a bigger hypocrite?
10142442
How about Attenger? or The Storm King? They were hypocrites, not to mention that psycho foal filly from the academy of friendship.