//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Friendship is Prime // by Gammerick //------------------------------// "So, Optimus," Megatron said as he walked over to his nemesis. "I see I was right in my suspicions. You would indeed return to confront Discord despite the odds being heavily against your favor. It is fortunate for you that I have a different target in my sights for the moment." "None of that matters right now, Megatron," Optimus began as he and Ratchet pulled themselves up from the ground. "We need to buy them as much time as possible so they can use the Elements of Harmony to stop Discord!" Optimus pointed over to the six ponies, floating in air, surrounded by a white aura. "Elements of Harmony," Megatron muttered to himself. "So those are the items at the center of this conflict. But no matter. I didn't come to help your or those small creatures. I came here to settle my own battle with Discord. Whatever you're planning, it is of no concern to me. Now stand aside!" "Wait!" Before Optimus could try to persuade Megatron any further, Discord had appeared overhead in a huge flash of white light. He flapped his mighty wings once more to create an updraft. The powerful winds launched Megatron upwards, but he quickly reacted by transforming into his jet mode. He managed to break free of Discord's winds and avoided the swipe of his massive lion paw soon after. Discord quickly launched another attack. His arms stretched out to grab him like they did with Arcee, but Megatron was flying too fast for him to keep up. As the talon made a grab for him, Megatron barrel rolled to the right to dodge the attack. Seeing the paw heading straight for him, Megatron pulled a somersault and flew along the arm, heading towards Discord. Megatron unleashed a volley of energy blasts in right in Discord's face. They didn't appear to do much damage, but Discord was nonetheless infuriated with Megatron's antics. His eyes glowed yellow before firing off another beam of light. Megatron was quick to avoid these. He immediately veered of his path for Discord and took up straight into the sky. Discord tried to follow the aircraft with his eye beams, but Megatron simply outmaneuvered him each time. Finally Megatron flew right above Discord's head before transforming back into robot form. As he was falling toward Discord's head, Megatron pulled out his arm blade. He struck downward with all of his might, and he cleaved right through a large chunk of Discord's antler. Discord let out a howling scream of pain as he reeled back from the attack. Before Megatron could hit the ground, he once again transformed into an aircraft and took off again, preparing to come back for another strike. Discord quickly recovered from the attack, his horn automatically growing back to replace the section Megatron cut. Discord was teeming with anger as his horns began to glow. An electric field began to form between them, and suddenly, a bolt of lighting shot out between his horns. Megatron narrowly avoided the attack, but Discord suddenly shot out several different electric streams at once. Megatron tried to dodge, but one lightning bolt clipped his wing. The force from the attack sent Megatron out of control. He transformed back into his robot form as he crashed back down to earth, right next to the antler chunk Megatron had severed from Discord. Discord let a smile of victory pass over his face when suddenly a large bright light radiated out of the corner of his eye. His expression went from proud to frantic as he turned to find the the Elements of Harmony giving off a powerful aura as they rose up into the air. Discord quickly opened his mouth as a black ball of fire began to form inside. He fired a massive black flame that was heading straight toward the six ponies. Twilight and her friends all opened their eyes, which were all glowing intensely white. They were suddenly surrounded by a rainbow-colored sphere. As the black flames collided with the sphere, it completely scattered around the barrier. The attack itself continued on, but everything inside the rainbow sphere was untouched. The sphere began to glow, and then the front of the sphere shot out a double helix of rainbow-colored energy. The rainbow attack kept spinning as it pressed forward and pushed the black flames back. Eventually, the two beams of energy were pushing against each other perfectly, locked in a stalemate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Megatron slowly stirred from unconsciousness. He looked up to find Discord locked in fire with a large rainbow colored entity. He figured Optimus and the Elements must have moved their plan into action. He looked directly to his right to see that he was right next to the large chunk of antler that he had removed from Discord's head. He silently stared at it before a small smirk began to form on his face. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Meanwhile Optimus and Ratchet were observing the battle as well, waiting for an outcome. "I don't believe it," Ratchet muttered to himself. "It seems there are still many surprises left in this universe after all," Optimus shared Ratchet's take on the matter. Slowly but surely, the rainbow energy was pushing back the black flames further and further, and soon enough, Discord's attack was almost defeated. "Ha-Ha!" Ratchet cried out in victory. "They're actually doing it! Just a little more..." "I would not underestimate Discord's trickery just yet, Ratchet," Optimus warned. Sure enough, a small figure popped out at the very top of Discord's head. It was the original Discord! He flew behind where his larger counterpart was floating, still blasting out the black flame. The small Discord placed his hands on the larger Discord, and it instantly began to glow black. In an instant, the giant Discord had been converted into power for the attack, and the black fire now blazed more furiously than ever. It quickly pushed the rainbow energy back to the middle, and soon after it started to push the rainbow back even further. "It's not enough!" Ratchet cried out in horror. "They need more!" Optimus looked down at his chest in an unsure manner. "Then I will provide them with whatever I can give." "Optimus, what are you"- Ratchet began as he slowly realized what Optimus was hinting at. "No Optimus, you can't! There's no telling what could happen to you!" "If it is to ensure the safety of our world, and perhaps all others," Optimus replied, "then I have no other choice." Optimus ran towards where the Elements were floating. He stood directly under them and began to speak out loud. "Matrix of Leadership," Optimus recited. "I call upon you to help light our darkest hour!" Suddenly Optimus's chest opened up to reveal a small golden orb inside. This orb began to glow in a bright blue aura before firing off a stream of pure light, right at the black flame. Suddenly, the two forces for good began to combine, until the two beams were one giant multicolored blast of energy. They tore right through the black flames and sped right toward Discord. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Discord cried out in agony as he was struck by the massive surge of energy. At that point, there was a large explosion of light, and suddenly from the epicenter of that explosion, a ring of Rainbow energy stretched out to fill all corners of the sky. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee all began to wake up from unconsciousness. They looked up into the sky and were completely surprised by the explosion of Rainbow color that overtook the sky. It passed over them like a large aerial tidal wave of prismatic colors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although they couldn't see it, that wave of energy just kept stretching out farther and farther. Everywhere it passed, it undid the entirety of Discord's chaos. Soon the rainbow passed over the entire globe, fixing all of Discord's damage once and for all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the clouds overhead disappeared and the blue sky began to emerge, the six ponies slowly floated back down to earth, happy to see that Discord stood before them, in his statue form once more. He was even in the exact same position he was before! It was almost as if that everything that happened was a dream. They were snapped out of these thoughts of it being a dream, however, once they heard some familiar beeping sounds coming from an approaching yellow Autobot. "That was intense!" Bulkhead cheered as he also approached the team. "I didn't know you had that kind of moxie in you!" "I have to admit," Arcee rang in as she joined the group. "I never thought anything could make rainbows seem so intimidating." They all shared a small laugh at the joke. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratchet rushed over on an unconscious Optimus and held him up in his arms. "Optimus, are you alright? Say something!" Optimus slowly opened his eyes as the first thing he saw was his medic and oldest friend. "Ratchet? Where are we? Did we defeat Discord?" "You don't remember?" Ratchet asked in shock. "I remember Discord and the elements locked in a dead heat, then it whites out," Optimus muttered. "How are they?" "See for yourself," Ratchet answered as he pointed toward the group of ponies with the other three Autobots standing over them. They were currently laughing about something. Seeing them happy made a small smile form on Optimus's face. The smile quickly faded away as he began to look around. "Where's Megatron?" He inquired. Ratchet was also struck with realization, looking around only to see no one else there. "He must have left during the heat of battle." "We were lucky Megatron was here to help," Optimus noted. "If not for him, this day might have ended in disaster." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unknown to the Autobots, Megatron had already flown back to the Nemesis before the battle had ended. From the observation chamber of his battleship, he was able to see the result of the battle as well as the rainbow that swept over the Earth. "So, the Elements are capable of that much power?" Megatron muttered to himself with no one else around. "Interesting..." Behind him, on a table in the warship, lay a small fragment of the antler chunk Megatron had cut off from Discord. Megatron let another small smirk form on his face.