//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: War in Equestria // by FlamingSamurai //------------------------------// Ultra Magnus, leader of the Elite Guard, finally woke up in a crater in a barren place, memories of the battle he had just took in resurfacing. The Decepticons had attacked the Ark and he and a few other Autobots were inside the ship, waiting for any ‘Cons that might try and take out the ship from within. Sure enough, Soundwave had led a group inside to disable the defense systems and the team was able to subdue them with stun blasters. Magnus had left Jazz in charge to check on the bridge, but while he was there, Megatron and Optimus had come crashing through, causing a vacuum suction that pulled everyone into space, including himself. He was lucky to even still be online after a fall like that. Magnus winced as he slowly rolled onto his side and managed to rise to one knee. He reached behind him to check for his war hammer, but didn’t feel anything. He looked around to see any sign of it, but quickly found that he was surrounded by darkness and couldn’t make out too well where he was. With considerable effort, Magnus forced himself off his knee and onto his feet. He struggled to gain balance for a moment before he finally stood tall over the darkened landscape. Wherever he was, it must have been nighttime, as he gazed into the sky and saw stars, as well as a glowing sphere with what had to be a moon. Magnus reached up to his head and tapped the side once. “Ultra Magnus to Optimus Prime. Do you read me?” His only response was static. “Optimus Prime, do you copy? Optimus!” Just more static.   “Scrap. The fall must have damaged my communications”, Magnus thought. “And since I doubt my t-cog will be fully functional after that ordeal, I might have to find the others on foot.” It was at this point that Magnus heard a humming sound coming from behind. Wearily, Magnus turned around to find the source and to his shock, he saw several tiny beings flying towards him. “Well”, Magnus thought, “at least I know the planet’s inhabited. Hopefully, they are not hostile.” --------------------------------------------- “Just my luck”, Chrysalis thought as she led her Changelings across the Badland landscape. “Just when we’re getting some sleep, one of my spies reports a meteor near the kingdom. Curse my curiosity for wanting to see it for myself!” It wasn’t even dawn yet, but Chrysalis remained alert as ever, even when she hadn’t had enough sleep. Whatever it was that her spy found, all she could say was that it better had been good. As they approached the crash site, Chrysalis saw something huge standing in the crater where it had landed, looking around like it was searching for something important. “Halt!” Chrysalis signaled for her Changelings to stop in their tracks. She then inspected who the being was from afar. It was large, about two or three buildings tall, blue and red from what Chrysalis could barely make out in the darkness, and had light blue eyes. He had cracks in several parts of his body, with a few small holes in his torso. Whatever it was, it must have… fallen from somewhere above. Chrysalis motioned for her subjects to stay put and flew straight up to the behemoth’s face. And then, much to her surprise, she saw it hold up its right hand and it spoke in a masculine voice. “Bah-weep-granah-weep-ninny-bong.” The Changelings all exchanged a few confused glances among one another and Chrysalis cocked one of her eyebrows. “Um, what did you say?” she asked, a bit hesitantly. “Oh”. The behemoth lowered his arm. “I’m guessing you don’t know the universal greeting.” “Universal greeting?” Chrysalis inquired. Where was this creature even from where they had such a phrase? “A Cybertronian custom”, he explained. “Whenever my people and I find a new planet, we say 'bah-weep-granah-weep-ninny-bong' as a way of showing that we come in peace.” “I see”, Chrysalis replied, still confused over hearing such a silly-sounding phrase. “And who are you, exactly?” “My name is Ultra Magnus”, the giant said. “I am commander of the Autobot Elite Guard in the Cybertronian Civil War. And you are?” “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. I must say it is… interesting to meet you”, Chrysalis said, carefully watching what she said. “Why are you here?” “Honestly, it was a bit of an accident”, Magnus said. “You see, my people are at war, a war which has gone on for four million years. A group of Cybertronians known as Decepticons sought to conquer our home planet of Cybertron and eventually the entire galaxy. The Autobots, the faction I am a part of, seeks to stop them and bring peace, as well as restore our home planet.” “Your planet was destroyed?” Chrysalis asked. “You could say that”, Magnus replied. “Most of our major cities were left in ruin and our supply of life-giving Energon was depleted. I left with several other Autobots to find a new home and stop the Decepticons from conquering the galaxy. We must have come into orbit over this planet and we fought. And the rest, well…” “I think I can figure it out from there”, Chrysalis interjected. “Now, if you will excuse me one moment.” Her horn then lit up with green energy and caused a giant flash that surrounded the entire area. Chrysalis looked at this Ultra Magnus, now frozen in time and space by her powerful magic. She then looked behind her and saw that her Changelings were frozen, as well. Plenty of time to think. “Aliens”, Chrysalis thought as she observed Magnus. “On Equestrian soil. And the middle of a civil war, no less. Great. Just great. This is going to ruin everything!” Chrysalis flew back and forth in front of Magnus’ face. This civil war these “Cybertronians” had going on would disrupt her plans for Equestria; Celestia would see them as a greater threat than her own Changelings! Then, something else popped into Chrysalis’ mind, something that made her grin: “Unless they serve me.” The glow surrounding Chrysalis’ horn died down and time and space around the area unfroze. Magnus blinked and stared at Chrysalis. “What was that all about?” Magnus asked. “My apologies… Ultra Magnus, is it?” Chrysalis replied. “But you see, I was in the middle of something important. But now that you’re here, you’ve given me just the edge I need.” Magnus took a step backwards from the fleshling in front of him, sensing something was obviously wrong. “What do you mean? I… I don’t understand – “ Before he could finish his sentence, Chrysalis fired a beam of magic from her horn that struck Magnus right between the eyes and paralyzed him. His body shook and glowed with green energy for a few moments before Chrysalis disengaged the spell and allowed the alien to fall on his hands and knees. As a green ring spun around Magnus’ head, Chrysalis grinned. “Don’t worry, my friend. You will understand”, she said. “After all, it’s not every day that a giant metallic alien capable of mass destruction drops out from the stars for me to use in my conquest. You serve me now, Ultra Magnus. From this day forth, you serve the will of the Changeling queen and with you at my side, Equestria will be mine. Sooner. Than. Expected.” Moments later, he green ring dissipated and Ultra Magnus rose to one knee and spoke in a monotone voice, “As you command, my Queen.”             “Rise, minion”, Chrysalis commanded. “We have much to do.”             Ultra Magnus did as he was told and stared at Chrysalis, his once blue eyes now a pale green. A Changeling flew up to Chrysalis’ side at that very moment. “My Queen”, he said, “some of the other Changelings found something while you were speaking to this… thing. We thing it belongs to him.” “And what would that be?” Chrysalis asked. “It seems to be… a giant hammer, my liege.” Chrysalis’ smile grew wider. “Well, then. First we capture the former king of the umbrum and now this. My child, this day has been just perfect.” ---------------------------------- Sunset Shimmer walked down the halls of Canterlot High, Applejack, Flash Sentry, and Twilight on either side of her. It had been a long day with preparations for finals and Applejack were exhausted from the studying. Twilight and Sunset, however, weren’t tired at all. They were some of the most gifted students Canterlot High had to offer and didn’t so much as flinch at the thought of the upcoming exams. But on this day, something else was on Sunset’s mind. A long time ago, she was protégé to one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, destined for great things. However, she cared nothing for friendship and was extremely arrogant with her gifts. Then the day came when her mentor showed her a mysterious mirror and in that mirror, Sunset saw herself as an almighty princess of Equestria. She became obsessed with that mirror and her craving for power began there. Her mentor expelled her soon afterwards, fearing what would happen if her cravings went unchecked, but not before discovering that the mirror could transport ponies to another world. Sunset was able to bypass her former mentor and travelled through the mirror and discovered that world, where she remained for the next three human years. Her lust for power led her to become a reigning bully with no one being brave enough to stand up for her, save for one. Eventually, she found out that her mentor had taken on a new student, who bore one of the six legendary Elements of Harmony, artifacts with untold power, named Twilight Sparkle, who had successfully ascended to princesshood. Sunset stole the Element of Magic, the key to the other five elements, and tried to use it to conquer all of Equestria. However, she was defeated and shown the error of her ways. Since then, Sunset has remained in Canterlot High and learned more about friendship than in all the years she had spent as Princess Celestia’s student. Sunset eventually passed on her teachings to Twilight’s human counterpart, who had become curious about Equestrian magic and transferred to Canterlot High following the annual Friendship Games. Now that the year was starting to come to an end, Sunset began thinking back to Princess Celestia and how bitter their last meeting was. “She banished me for my own protection, but she couldn’t stop my selfish desires”, Sunset reminisced as the group entered the band room. “Maybe after all of this time, I should say something to her. The break before finals is soon, so maybe I can get a chance then. I wonder if she has any regrets, too.” “Hey guys!” Sunset was torn back to reality and saw the rest of her friends standing near the windows, instruments in hand. At the forefront was a girl with puffy pink hair, a pink skirt with three balloons in the corner near the bottom, blue boots with pink bows, a blue bow in her hair, a small, blue jacket, blue armbands, a purple sash around her waist, and a white shirt with purple edges. She immediately ran up to Sunset and caught her and Twilight in a great, big hug, somehow lifting them both off of their feet. “Uh, hey, Pinkie,” Sunset managed to say as she felt the pressure from Pinkie’s hug on her lungs. “Could you, uh, you know…” Twilight started. “Oh! Sorry, guys!” Pinkie immediately set the two girls down and Twilight immediately adjusted her glasses and brushed off her dress. “I’m just so excited because it’s almost break time! I haven’t been able to sleep at because everyone’s so stressed about the finals and I was up all night last night studying geometry and I was really hoping that this would be the break I needed because that’s what breaks are for! Am I right?” Sunset and her companions just stared. Then, Sunset chuckled. Pinkie was always so full of energy and to see her this optimistic before finals was relieving to see. “I guess so, Pinkie,” Sunset said, dusting off her dress. “It’s just that finals are after the break, so I’m not so sure that all that break time would be well-spent relaxing.” “You sure you’re not worried about anything at all, Pinkie?” Applejack asked in her usual southern drawl. “Totally! I’ve got everything under control, all thanks to Twilight”, Pinkie replied. Sunset, Applejack, and Flash turned towards Twilight, who just shrugged. “It’s true”, she said. “I got her hooked onto a fool-proof study plan that should enable her to pass all of the exams.” “Wow”, Flash said. “I wish I wasn’t so nervous about it all.” “Well, if you’d actually accept my invitation and joined our study group, maybe you wouldn’t be so worked up!” Twilight scolded. “I had a gig that night!” Flash protested. “I couldn’t disappoint my band mates.” The five were distracted by the sound of a throat clearing and turned to see the rest of the group. A girl with purple hair, a blue t-shirt, yellow arm bands, a purple skirt with three blue diamonds in the bottom corner, purple boots with diamonds at the top, and three diamonds in her hair holding a keytar stepped forward. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, darlings, but I believe this is a study hall”, she pointed out. “We’ve all been studying very hard this week and I do believe this would be a good opportunity to take a load off. We don’t have just break to do so, you know.” Sunset sighed. “I guess you’re right, Rarity. We haven’t spent that much time together apart from that study group I started with Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie. We should make the most of that time.” A girl holding a tambourine and wearing a white tank top, a green skirt with pink edges and three butterflies in the bottom left corner, pink socks, green and white boots, and a white butterfly in her hair piped up in a soft, whispery voice. “Sunset’s right. I wouldn’t mind playing some music for once instead of just studying. Not that I have any problems with studying, of course…” The last girl, who sported rainbow colored hair, a white t-shirt with a rainbow colored lightning bolt in the center, a blue jacket, a pink and white skirt, black leggings, rainbow colored socks, and blue and white boots rolled her eyes and prepped her electric guitar. “We get it, Fluttershy; it’s cool. So, who’s ready to rock out, Rainboom style?” Pinkie immediately dashed over to her drum set and sat down with sticks in hand. Applejack strode over next to Fluttershy, who was holding a tambourine, and picked her bass guitar off of its stand. Sunset picked up her rhythm guitar and handed Twilight a microphone. Ever since she transferred, Twilight had shown a keen talent for singing so impressively, that Rainbow Dash, the girl with rainbow hair, allowed her to join as lead vocalist, a position Rainbow herself had previously held. Flash sat down in a chair near the doors and smiled at Twilight, who saw him and blushed. “Count us off Pinkie!” Rainbow shouted. Pinkie raised her sticks in the air and tapped them together. “One, two, three, four!” And the band begin to play. As they reached the climax of their first song, “Right There In Front of Me”, a magical aura surrounded each and every one of them and moments later, they each sprouted pony-like ears at the top of their heads and tails came out from behind them. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Twilight even grew wings. Seeing this sight made Flash laugh and cheer with wonder. ------------------------------- The school day lunch break came to an end as the band finished their practice. As they set their instruments aside, Flash walked up to them. “Nice job, girls!” he complimented. “I haven’t seen anything like that since the musical showcase!” “Well, it’s been a while”, Rainbow admitted. “But that was nothing. You should have heard one of our rehearsals before the Friendship Games. Those were fun.” Flash looked over towards Sunset as she inspected her guitar and frowned. She seemed to have a bit of a sad look on her face, at least from what he could tell. Flash then looked back at Rainbow and cocked his head in Sunset’s direction. The two of them knelt down next to Sunset as she placed her guitar back on its stand. “Hey, Sunset”, Rainbow asked, gaining her attention. “You don’t look so good. You doing okay?” Sunset sighed and stood up. “I’ve been thinking… about Princess Celestia, I mean.” “You mean that other version of Principal Celestia from where you come from?” Flash asked. “Yeah. Her. When I last saw her all of those years ago, we didn’t exactly leave on good terms”, Sunset explained. “I was hoping during the break, I’d have the chance to visit home and make amends.” Rarity placed a hand on her shoulder. “I think that’s a marvelous idea, darling!” she exclaimed. “I’m with Rarity on this one”, Rainbow chimed in. “You’ve changed a lot since the Fall Formal.” “With everything we’ve been through together, I’m sure you can convince her that you’ve changed for the better”, Fluttershy said as she went in for a hug. Soon, Flash and the other girls joined in. Then, another voice piped up from the other side of the room. “I think you may get that chance sooner than expected.” Flash and the girls looked up and saw Principal Celestia standing in the doorway with a book bearing a sun with a yin and a yang in it. “Principal Celestia!” Sunset exclaimed, then stopped for a moment. “Wait a minute. You have my book?” “My apologies”, Celestia explained. “You seemed to have left it in my office the last time you dropped of those soup cans for our annual charity event. I noticed it on my desk after getting out of a meeting and saw it glowing and vibrating. I couldn’t help but look inside and, well… I’d think you’d better see it for yourself.” Sunset walked over to Principal Celestia, who handed her her book, a way of communication between Sunset and Princess Twilight Sparkle from Equestria. As the others gathered around, she opened it up and turned to the last page that had writing on it. Her eyes widened at what she saw. “Dear Sunset Shimmer, I hope you and the others are doing well. As much as we don’t want to disrupt your life in the human world, Princess Celestia has asked for you to return home. Something has happened in Equestria that I have yet to discover, but from what she told me in her last letter, it is a matter of dire importance and that we need all the help we can get for what’s coming. Her words, not mine. Please respond as soon as you can. Your friend,   Princess Twilight Sparkle P.S., say hi to that other me for me." Sunset took a step back. Princess Celestia had asked for her? After all of this time? “Well?” Sunset looked up to see the others staring at her nervously. “What does it say?” Rarity asked. “Princess Twilight…” she paused before finishing, “she says that Princess Celestia wants me to come home. That something has or is about to happen there.” “What do you mean?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t know. I don’t even think Twilight knows”, Sunset said. She then looked her friends dead in the eye. “But whatever it is, it just may be the opportunity to apologize that I’m looking for.” “It just might be”, Twilight said. “If you feel that this is something you need to do, I’d definitely take the chance.” Sunset smiled. “You really think so?” “Aw, shucks, Sugar Cube”, Applejack said. “We’ve got your back 100%” Sunset hugged her friends as Principal Celestia looked on with a smile. “Thank you, guys”, she muttered. “That’s what friends are for”, Rainbow replied. Sunset broke up the hug right then. “I’m going to head through right now. Keep the guitar warm for me, will you?” “No problem”, Twilight said. “Go get ‘em, Sunset!” Fluttershy said. Nodding happily to Principal Celestia, who nodded in return, Sunset dashed out of the room, book in hand. Finally, it was her time. Moments later, she heard a voice calling out from behind. “Don’t forget to write!” Sunset laughed, turned, and waved towards Pinkie Pie, who looked like she was about to cry. Turning back around, she burst out of the front doors to the school and down the steps towards the Canterlot High statue, which was now a portal to Equestria. Stopping for a moment, she inhaled deeply before heading through the portal to her long-forgotten home.