//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Friendship is Prime // by Gammerick //------------------------------// Discord had been reborn. He was now a monster of unbelievable size. Even the giant Autobots were puny in comparison. As Discord looked down at the specs that stood before him, he unleashed a howling, screeching roar. The roar was so loud that it caused the floating rocks around him to crack up and break into pieces. The fierce wind resulting from the roar even pushed the Autobots and ponies several feet. All six ponies looked up at Discord with open mouths and blank stares. "Can we go home now?" Fluttershy asked timidly as she huddled to the ground in fear. "We can't beat something that huge!" Applejack said with panic. "We've got to try," Twilight said sternly in an attempt to reorganize her team. The other five ponies looked unsure as they turned to each other until Rainbow Dash finally broke the silence. "Yeah, think of it this way," she spoke up. "Now's just made himself a bigger target!" The other four ponies all nodded to each other in agreement. "All right," Applejack agreed. "Let's give it a shot." The six ponies gathered together, closed their eyes and concentrated on using their elements. They all started to lift off the ground. A small rainbow-colored ring formed around them. Their elements each glowed brightly in their own colors, and when their eyes opened up, they all glowed pure white. A rainbow shot up from their location and was heading right for Discord's face! However, Discord gave no reaction. He simply brought his tail up to his face and used it to swat the Rainbow energy out of his way as if it were nothing more than a housefly. The ponies returned down to the ground once more, with looks of shock and defeat across each of their faces. "That was it?" Arcee asked frustratingly. "THAT was what everything was building up to?!" Optimus put a hand on Arcee's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Is there anything else we can do now?" Optimus looked down to ask the ponies softly. Twilight put her front hoof under her chin to think. "When we used the elements on Nightmare Moon, she turned back into Luna. When we used them on Discord, he turned back into stone, AND we were able to fix the damage he did to Ponyville." "What does that have to do with anything?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "Don't you remember Rainbow Dash?" Twilight rebutted. "It took a longer time to charge up the elements when we used them on him, but as a result, the blast was more powerful. I bet if we charge up long enough, we can make a strong enough attack to beat him!" "How long do you need?" Arcee interjected. "I'm not sure," Twilight said to herself. "He's so much more powerful now, and this chaos is worldwide! It took about 20 seconds to fix Ponyville, so at that rate..." Twilight suddenly got quiet as she did some mental calculations. "...Maybe...5 minutes?" "Five minutes?" Bulkhead asked in doubt as he looked up at the behemoth hovering over them. "Against something like that? In a fight like this, one minute is an eternity, let alone five." "We don't have any other options," Optimus replied before turning to Twilight once more. "We will buy you as much time as we can." "Okay," Twilight responded as her horn glowed a magenta hue. Instantly a beam shot up wards until it spread out to form a translucent bubble around the six ponies. "I've cast an energy shield to protect us. It will probably only take one hit before breaking, though." "Understood," Optimus answered as he stepped forward to face Discord. "Autobots! We hold this line, no matter the cost." Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Ratchet all stood behind him, pulling out their weapons and getting ready to fight. The six ponies once again started to concentrate on using their elements. They all started to glow a faint white hue. Discord drew ever closer, but the Autobots finally made their move. They all split out in 5 directions, each shooting at different parts of Discord's body to draw his attention. Bulkhead was unleashing a volley of shots at Discord's left leg, though it appeared to do little damage. Discord's massive size also reduced his speed, as he lifted his hoof very slowly. He had it over Bulkhead and was getting ready to stomp. Bulkhead quickly transformed and drove out of the way as the giant hoof made contact with the earth. The coast wasn't clear yet, as Bulkhead had to outrace the shock wave that erupted from the collision. Bulkhead was driving at top speeds, but the wave was slowly catching up to him. It completely crumbled the rock surface as it passed over several meters of earth. Just as the shock wave was at Bulkhead's tailpipe though, it started to recede. Bulkhead quickly converted back to robot mode and faced Discord once more. He didn't hesitate to continue firing as before. He knew he wasn't doing a lot of damage, but he was content with keeping Discord occupied. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was busy attacking Discord's right side. He also tried to use a barrage of energy blasts to attack Discord. Discord brushed off these attacks as little more than bug bites as he raised his lion claw, ready to strike. When Discord struck, however, his attack merely seemed to swipe at the air above Bumblebee. Bumblebee was confused at first until he saw a "tear" in the sky where Discord's claws had scratched. The hole in the sky opened up, and out of it shot several miniature Discords. They all started flying towards Bumblebee while cackling madly, and while Bumblebee tried to shoot down as many as he could, there were still too many as they drew closer. Suddenly, Ratchet appeared with his arm blades extended, and he immediately began slashing at all of the Minicords he could. The duo worked together to fend off the swarm, and as soon as they got rid of the last one, Bumblebee immediately began to attack Discord again. Arcee was at Discord's backside. Discord raised his tail in order to bring it down on top of her, so Arcee transformed into a motorcycle and sped up to avoid the attack. While his tail was still on the ground, she took advantage of this moment by reverting back to robot form, jumping onto the tail, and then turning back into a motorcycle once more. As she literally drove up his spine, Discord flapped his massive wings and began to lift off of the ground. As he started ascending, however, he noticed a small red truck out of the corner of his eye. It was speeding on a nearby plateau, using a rock face on the plateau as a ramp for launch. The truck transformed in midair, and Optimus landed on Discord's head. He used all of his strength to launch a brutal assault on Discord's skull, and Discord soon let out a loud roar. It was impossible to tell if it was from pain or annoyance. "All right, we're doing it," Bulkhead cheered to himself. "Just a little longer..." At that moment, Discord's face began to contort. It was hard to tell at first, but then it became clear that a large, evil smirk was forming on his face. Discord extended out his eagle talon, and it suddenly began to stretch out far beyond its regular limit. The claw reached all the way around to his back as if it were some sort of live rope. It shot straight for Arcee at incredible speed. Arcee had no time to react as the claw suddenly plucked her off of Discord and held her tightly in its grasp. She tried to break free as the claw retracted back to its original length, but it was no use. Suddenly, a red and black lighting-style energy began to run through Discord's claw. Discord was unaffected, but Arcee let out a painful scream as a horrible electric force surged through her body. After Arcee passed out from the attack, Discord released his grip and let her drop down to the ground like a rock. A bright white flash emanated from Discord's center, and the next moment he vanished. Optimus fell back to earth, but Discord reappeared in another giant flash, and he turned to face Bumblebee and Ratchet. He flapped both of his wings, created a strong updraft on the ground. Ratchet used his arm blades as stakes to hold himself down, but Bumblebee was quickly swept up in the winds. Discord swept his lion paw at a defenceless Bumblebee and sent him crashing back down to the ground at incredible speed. Bumblebee lay motionless in a large crater, knocked unconscious by sheer brute force. Bulkhead tried to keep up his assault, but the next thing he knew, he suddenly felt himself being lifted up into the air, as if the gravitational force holding him to the ground had disappeared. He fumbled around, but he quickly realized he had no control over his movement. He saw Discord using his hand to control Bulkhead's movement in the sky. He desperately shot another barrage of blasts at Discord, but Discord paid it no mind as he brought Bulkhead to eye level. Discord's eyes began to glow a bright yellow. "Oh scrap," Bulkhead muttered to himself. The next moment, he felt a large blast of energy hit him dead in the face as a beam of light shot out of Discord's eyes. Bulkhead screamed in agony as the huge attack sent him flying an incredible distance before he felt himself falling down to earth. After a huge collision with the ground, Bulkhead tried to get up again, but he lost his footing and passed out. As Optimus rose to his feet after that large fall, Ratchet ran up to his side. "This isn't looking good Optimus," Ratchet reported. "It's probably been two minutes at most, and we're already on the verge of defeat." "Then we will just have to do what we can," Optimus replied. "Every moment counts." Suddenly, Discord appeared behind the two in a huge white flash of light. They turned and got ready to fight, but they were surprised to see Discord suddenly turning around. They were too late to react as they turned to see Discord's huge tail hurtling right at them. The sheer force from the collision sent the two flying back at incredible speed. They crashed into a nearby mountain. They were both in incredible pain, but still conscious. However, they were too weak to move. Discord turned to face the six ponies, with complete triumph written over his face. As he approached their force field, he lifted his massive lion's paw over them, and sent it crashing down on top of them. The paw immediately stopped as soon as it hit the energy shield. It soon began to crack in various places, until the strain caused it to break completely. As the shield shattered, however, it let out a small burst of energy that knocked Discord back a short distance. They had managed to repel that fatal attack, but now they were completely vulnerable. Discord approached them once more, raising his hand again, knowing that this would be the last attack needed to assure his victory. Suddenly, Discord found himself under attack from a barrage of energy blasts coming from above. He looked up to see a small gray aircraft approaching him at high speeds. The aircraft transformed in mid-air, turning into a familiar gray and purple robot. As this robot continued falling forward, he drew his fist back and unleashed a massive punch, right in Discord's jaw. The force from the attack was so powerful that it knocked Discord over onto his back. The robot landed right in front of where Discord lay, and stood up to reveal himself. "Megatron?" Optimus uttered in disbelief. "Hmph, are you so easily defeated Optimus?" Megatron taunted. "If this puny creature is all it takes to best you, then perhaps you don't even deserve to be my rival."