Night had fallen. Twilight, her friends, and the Autobots sat atop a small hill overlooking the vast expanse of grassland around it, with Ponyville being faintly visible in the distance. Over the course of that evening, while the Decepticons were busy fighting Insecticons, the six young mares had grown more acquainted with their strange metal visitors.
First, there was Hot Rod. Young, headstrong, impatient and stubborn, he would nevertheless be the first one to lay his life on the line when the situation called for it. Kup, by contrast, was the oldest and most experienced of the five, judging by his tales of battles and adventures he had been involved in long before Equestria was even founded. Arcee, meanwhile, was probably one of the kindest and most compassionate bots anyone could ever meet, though her dry attitude and violent tendencies in battle didn't exactly give that away. Ultra Magnus, however, was humble to a fault, believing himself to be only a soldier and nothing more, while showing himself to be as brave and selfless as Princess Celestia herself. And then, of course, there was Optimus Prime. Possessing all of the best qualities of his comrades, he was truly deserving of the position of leader of the Autobots.
"So... what's this planet Earth like?" asked Twilight curiously.
"It's much like your Equus," Prime replied, "but much less peaceful, even without our war..."
Twilight glanced at Optimus quizzically. "What war?"
Optimus sighed sorrowfully. Clearly the subject weighed heavily on his spark.
"The Autobots and Decepticons were not always allies," he began. "Many millions of years ago, we fought a war for control over our home planet of Cybertron. The Autobots wanted a peaceful existence, but the Decepticons desired nothing but conquest and destruction. The conflict ravaged our world until it was all but uninhabitable. Soon, it was not just about control of the planet, it was about getting enough resources to reinvigorate Cybertron and continue our struggle. Under my command, the Autobots fled our home and entered deep space, with the Decepticons not far behind..."
Twilight and her friends' eyes were wide, their mouths agape. They were struggling to comprehend what they were hearing. Only several hours ago had they learned that these strange mechanical beings even existed, but they had trouble imagining warfare on such a massive scale. Even Equus's worst conflicts were not as devastating as what Optimus had described.
"Everything changed when we landed on Earth," he continued, a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia surging over him, "The entire course of the war shifted. Earth's natural resources were plentiful, more than enough for what we needed. We encountered new allies there; a curious race of bipedal, ape-like beings called humans."
The word "humans" rang a bell for Twilight and Spike, who had encountered a similar species once in the past, though not in Equestria. The other ponies were only vaguely familiar with the concept, or at least, what they had been told by Twilight.
Optimus continued. "The humans had a history of strife that spans most of their existence, but they also held an exceptional capacity for peace and compassion. But they were also a rather young and vulnerable species. And as the Decepticons were willing to take the Earth's resources by force, they needed all the protection they could get.
"So we fought to protect them. Some of them helped us in our fight. Others sided with the Decepticons. In the end, after many years, the war finally ended, the Autobots won, the Decepticons saw the error of their ways, and we came to an agreement... but at a great cost. There were millions of casualties in the war; Autobot, Decepticon, and human alike."
"And that was just the cliff's notes," added Hot Rod, "If you wanted the full story, we'd probably be here forever."
"Indeed," agreed Optimus, "And I don't believe we have the time to tell the full story now. Some other time, perhaps."
Suddenly, there was a loud booming sound in the distance.
"Did you hear that?" asked Fluttershy worriedly.
"Hear what?" asked Kup, scratching the side of his head. His audio receptors weren't as good as they used to be.
Rarity pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked out towards the source of the sound, and she was terrified by what she saw. "EGADS!" she shouted in exaggerated fear.
"What's wrong, Rarity?" asked a concerned Twilight.
Rarity passed the binoculars to Twilight and pointed in the direction of the booming sound as it came again. "LOOK!"
Twilight gazed into the binoculars and gasped in horror. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ponyville was burning before her very eyes, as ponies scattered and ran around in a desperate panic while being chased by Insecticons. Hovering above all the chaos was Chrysalis, blasting the town below with magical bursts from her horn. Twilight froze for a moment, traumatic memories of her battle with Lord Tirek returning to haunt her.
"Twilight?" asked a concerned Optimus, "Is something wrong?"
"Chrysalis and the Insecticons are attacking Ponyville!" Twilight shouted to the others. The mares (and Spike) gasped in fear, while the Autobots readied themselves for a fight.
"Then it's time for action!" declared Optimus. "Autobots, transform, and roll ou-"
But he was interrupted by a sudden signal from his communicator. He opened his wrist panel to see...
"Megatron?"
Though the transmission was weak and unstable, the Decepticon leader appeared panicked. Optimus was slightly unnerved by this sight. He had never seen Megatron in such a panicked state before.
"INSECTICONS... HELD HOSTAGE... OVERWHELMED... QUICKLY..." was all that could be made out from the garbled audio before the transmission cut out abruptly.
"Oh dear," sighed Prime worriedly, "This... complicates things."
At that moment, a loud, shrill cackle could be heard from above. The group looked up to see a robot that looked very similar to Thundercracker or Skywarp, apart from the blue, red and grey color scheme.
"Starscream! What is the meaning of this?!" demanded Ultra Magnus.
"WELL, WELL, AUTOBOTS, WE MEET AGAIN!!!" screeched Starscream, "AND PRIME, TOO? YOU'RE LOOKING RATHER LIVELY FOR A DEAD BOT!!"
"I could say the same for you, Starscream!" Optimus replied.
"Leave, now, or things will get ugly," added Arcee as she cocked her dual energon pistols.
Starscream laughed again. Rarity plugged her ears and cringed at the obnoxious sound. "OH, BUT IT ISN'T YOU I'M AFTER THIS TIME, AUTOSCUM, BUT THEM!" declared Starscream, pointing at Twilight, Spike, and the other ponies.
"Uh oh... I think he means us!" noted a worried Pinkie Pie.
"Nooooo, really?" snarked Rainbow Dash in reply.
Applejack gulped. "Whoa nelly," she said worriedly, "Ponyville's under attack, them Decepty-whatsits're bein' held hostage by Chrysalis's goons, and now we got this troublemaker after us! Ah'd say we've got ourselves a lot o' trouble on our hooves!"
"And all at once! I don't know if we'll be able to handle it!" noted Twilight as Starscream readied his null ray, while a mortally afraid Spike said aloud what the whole group seemed to be thinking...
"Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?!" Twilight didn't even bother to reprimand the baby dragon for foul language.