//------------------------------// // A not so average camping trip // Story: Freedom's Last Stand // by TheOneWhoWanders //------------------------------// Spring break had begun for the students of Canterlot High and they all more than ready to begin. Most were planning wild parties or were heading abroad for a luxury vacation. Sunset Shimmer and her friends, though? They were going camping. Rainbow had been the one to suggest it. She made it known that she felt they deserved an actual camping trip with no magic or real danger or anything similar after the events of Camp Everfree. Applejack had agreed and suggested they use the woods near her family's farm. She told them that it was isolated and that no one ever went in there. It would just be them for the duration of the trip. Sunset thought it was a good idea, as did Twilight. The others had plans already, unfortunately, and couldn't come. They wished the four who were going the best. Applejack was the only one of the group who were heading into the woods with a driver's licence. This, obviously, meant that she would be driving the truck. They had met at the farm house, packed the vehicle and set off. Some hours after they had entered the woods and found a suitable spot to establish camp. "Well, ah reckon we've got ourselves a fine living space here." Said Applejack, wiping her brow and placing the hammer she used to pin her tent up on the ground. Sunset, Rainbow and Twilight all looked at her with an expression that clearly said 'are you joking?' and gestured at their own tents, still either crumpled on the floor or falling over. Applejack laughed, nervously, as she remembered that she had much more experience with this kind of thing than her friends. That and her new super strength had helped. "How about you help the rest of us get ready, Applejack?" Asked Rainbow, annoyance in her tone as her tent collapsed for the sixth time that in that hour. Applejack scratched the back of her head before moving forward to help the other three get their own tents ready. "We DO have a place to wash, right? I'm already starting to sweat and believe me when I say that I get really bad B.O." Said Twilight with an awkward laugh. The rest looked at Twilight for a solid five seconds before Rainbow told her that there is a river in the next clearing over. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two hours later, they had the living space set up and a good fire going. Applejack was cooking some burgers over the fire while the others were planning what activities the group would do the next day. "Well, how about we go swimming in that lake? That would be fun!" Chipped in sunset. The rest of the group agreed and began eating there meals. The group spent the rest of the evening discussing what they thought of the events from the previous school year. Before long, they had retired to bed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning the four friends had dressed and made their way through the woods toward the clearing. Rainbow had loudly declared that she would race the rest of them there. The remaining three watched as Rainbow sped off into the forest before suddenly stopping completely still and dropping into cover behind a fallen log. Before anyone could ask her what was wrong she lifted a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion then motioned for the rest of them to run over to her position. The remaining three sprinted over and dropped down behind the same log as the blue girl. Rainbow pointed over the log with a shacking arm. Her eyes were wide and her breaths, through quiet, were ragged. Suffice to say, she was terrified by what ever was over there. Slowly, they looked over and saw something that shocked them. Three large robots. One, black and silver. Another, Green and Purple. The last was red and silver. Two of the robots had glowing purple and very menacing symbols on their chests while the red one had a much kinder symbol that glowed a light shade of red. The green and purple one was holding the red one down while the black and silver one continually punched the red one in its face, chest and stomach area. An imposing, deep and sinister voice rang out over the area. "That's enough, Barricade. I'll take it from here." From the shadows on the other side of the clearing walked a large robot, taller than all the rest, with what looked like a cannon strapped to its arm. Its eyes were a piercing red and it was covered in scars. On its back rested a massive sword that looked impossibly sharp. It was silver with its joints painted with purple highlights. The same symbol as seen on the one called 'Barricade' was on its chest, glowing a much more sinister purple. It knelt in front of the red one, which was now restrained by both of the other two. "Now, Ironhide. I'm only going to ask this once more. Where are the rest of the Autobots hiding?" Ironhide raised its head and replied with a defiant tone. "Frag off." The large silver one smiled then stood up once more. "That was so very unwise." Ironhide then received a fist in his stomach that struck with such speed and power that it sounded as though the air was knocked out of him. The girls could tell that these were not simple robots and very likely could feel pain. They all winced at the crushing sound the colliding metal made. "Is there anything else you would like to add?" Ironhide spat out a glob of a blue liquid which glowed on the ground. Again, the silver one smiled, then laughed. It was a dark laugh. One more along the lines of an evil chuckle than a laugh. It turned around walked two steps before speaking once more. "You are an honorable warrior, Ironhide. You deserve much more than what life has given you. I can respect your loyalty to the Autobots and to Orian." Said the robot as it clicked its claws. The other two released their hold on Ironhide (who fell face first onto the floor) and walked over to their apparent leader. "Its for that reason that I have decided to let you go." Ironhide pushed off the floor and onto his knees. He looked up at the large robot's back with shock clear on his face. "Is what I would have said if you were not an Autobot." Then, quicker than any might have thought, the large silver robot drew the sword from its back and sliced Ironhide in half from shoulder to hip. The body slowly split in half as more of the blue liquid spilled onto the floor and the red lights on Ironhide's body dimmed out alongside his eyes. The large silver bot began speaking to its companions as it put the sword back on its back. "We learned nothing from him. It seems we must use alternative methods. Barricade, scout the organic town nearby but do not reveal yourself. The local primitives need not know of our presence on this planet until I deem it necessary." The black and silver robot responded with a 'Yes, sir' before falling apart. That alone nearly caused the four watchers to scream if the violent execution hadn't made them cover their mouths out of fear of being found. When the robot reassembled itself it looked like a police cruiser.The only way they could tell it wasn't a real police vehicle was the fact that the same symbol found on its chest as a robot was on its back bumper and the words 'to punish and enslave' replaced the usual 'to protect and serve'. It drove off into the woods and towards the road. "Onslaught, you will help me drag this corpse back to our base. Perhaps Shockwave can find something inside Ironhide's processor." The green and purple robot, now known as Onslaught, gave a reply of "Yes, Lord Megatron" before moving to pick up the top half of the recently dead Ironhide. The one who had been revealed as Megatron picked up the lower half before calling for a 'space bridge' from someone called Soundwave. A large green, swirling vortex opened up and the two walked through. It closed afterwards. The girls stayed completely still and very quiet until they were sure that they were alone. They then ran and ran and didn't look back. They had to tell someone what they had just seen.