Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight all sprinted back within their camp's perimeter. Out of breath and sweating, they each lent against a tree or a dropped to their knees in Twilight's case. After a few minutes they had regained some semblance of composure and got their breath back. Twilight was the first to speak.
"D-did we.....did we really see that? Or was it a hallucination?" she asked, gulping down air between words. She looked up at her friends, awaiting an answer.
"We definitely did. I just....haven't ever heard of anything like that. At least not in Equestria. Those things aren't normal here, right?" Responded Sunset. Her face was red with exhaustion and sweat dripped down her forehead. Her eyes were wide with uncertainty.
"Ah think you've been here long enough to know that, Sunset. Do you think they was more magic thingamajigs or-"
Applejack was cut off by Rainbow. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet up until that point.
"They were NOT magical, Applejack. Did you not here what they were saying? They were going on about galaxies and primitives and locals,"
Rainbow looked at the rest of the group with a shocked and unbelieving expression.
"I think......I think those were aliens, you guys."
The rest of the group looked at her like she had gone completely insane. Applejack opened her mouth to speak when, again, she was cut off.
"Come on, you all know that those weren't made of magic like all the other stuff we've seen. They weren't nearly as glowy and they.....ya know.....didn't get along like the other things we've seen. If they were magical wouldn't they be on the same side?"
It dawned on the other three that their multicolored companion was, as unbelievable as it might seem, right. Each had a difference in reaction. Twilight began hyperventilating again, Sunset fell deep into thought and Applejack simply slid down the tree she was leaning on and wrapped her arms around her legs.
"We have to do something. Right now." Sunset suddenly spoke up. She had a look of grim determination.
"What? No, no, no. We all agreed that we wouldn't let anything interrupt this trip a-and besides, what are we gunna do? If we tell anyone what we just saw then they'll think we're crazy!" Rainbow said. Her tone was stubborn. She wasn't willing to be argued with. An argument broke out soon after.
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In the end, the four of them chose to try and forget anything had happened at all. What was the chance they would ever see those 'aliens' again, anyway? Even then, maybe what they witnessed was misinterpreted. For all they know, the red robot, 'Ironhide', had been more than deserving of what happened. Maybe it hadn't even been killed.
It had been six days since the events of the woods. Sunset tried to forget what happened. She wanted to believe that it was a dream or something similar but she just couldn't get it out of her head. What made it worse is that she felt like someone was watching her whenever she was walking through Canterlot. That feeling got much worse whenever she was alone.
She and Twilight had gone into town one day. This was mainly to talk and theorize about what they saw. After the shock of what happened had past they had both began to freak out at the thought of alien life on Earth. The both of them agreed that it was likely that the interrogation and execution they had seen had been either a peacekeeping action or politically charged. It was far more probable to be a political action (a civil war, maybe?) with the two sets of symbols seen on the machines. If these beings were locked in a war among themselves, what were they doing on the planet? Why did the war start in the first place? They had many questions and not enough evidence to build a suitable hypothesis. They left the small cafe they had been chatting in. They had decided to avoid Sugarcube Corner when discussing the A word in order to keep it a secret from as many as possible.
It was dark outside the building and the street was deserted. It was late, about ten minutes to midnight, and most people were in bed or out near the creek in the Everfree for a party that Pinkie was throwing. The girls were about to begin making their way out there when a police car turned the corner at the end of the road.
Slowly, it drove up the street until it was right along side them. The window rolled down and an officer leaned out. He looked both of the girls in the eyes before speaking.
"What are you doing out so late?"
"We were just going to our friend's party in the woods. That isn't a problem is it, Officer?" responded Sunset.
"Cade. Barry Cade. I really hope you don't mean the party out by the creek cause that one's being broke up. Its violating a law, only recently introduced mind you, that's kind of a curfew. No teens are to be out past eleven o'clock. That means you are violating that law, too,"
The two students adopted a sheepish look which put a slight smile on the officer's face.
"I'ma need you to get in the car, girls."
Twilight moved to open the back door of the vehicle when Sunset noticed something odd about the car in front of her. Near its trunk, next to the door Twilight was about to open. Instead of the usual City of Canterlot Police Department sigil was a menacing symbol, bearing resemblance to a face with a permanent glare. Next to that was a phrase which was the exact opposite of what should have been there, 'To Punish and Enslave'.
"Twilight," Sunset said, dread beginning to cover her face "Run."
For a moment, Twilight looked confused then noticed the same things as Sunset and did just as instructed. Barricade vented, deactivated his holoform and drove after the two of them.
It was a very tricky chase. Barricade would find a place to cut them off then they would duck down an alley which he couldn't fit through. All things come to end, though. Barricade had them cornered. Behind them was a lake, on one side was wide and open road were he could easily catch up and on the other side was a ditch which lead toward a construction site. Anyone who fell down there would be knocked out and made easy pickings for their enemy.
Barricade revved his engine and began racing toward the two. The thoughts going through their heads were of fear, regret and sorrow. There was so much they had yet to do!
Before the speeding law enforcement vehicle could get within range of doing any damage, it was hit by a yellow and black Urbana 500 which continued driving and threw it into the ditch. Pulling up in front of the girls was a deep red Ford GT. Noticeably, it had no driver. The door opened and a male voice sounding suspiciously like Nolan North spoke to them.
"You too are in extreme danger. You need to come with us, for your protection."
Sunset placed herself between the car and Twilight, taking a defensive stance.
"Why should we trust you? For all we know, you want us for the same reason that one did!" Sunset said with distrust and accusation in her voice.
The same voice as before spoke back.
"You should trust us because unlike him and the bots he's with, we actually care about innocents. Trust me, we're the galactic good guys." It reassuringly told them.
Sunset's next accusatory question was interrupted by Twilight stepping out from behind her.
"I trust them Sunset."
Sunset turned to look at her with surprise and shock on her face. She demanded to know why the hell Twilight would trust them.
"I just....do, Sunset. I have this feeling."
The Urbana 500 drove up and out of the ditch at that moment. A fresh dent decorated its hood and the wheels were covered in mud. It came up towards the group and informed them in a young yet experienced male voice.
"He's not gunna be down for long. We need to move right now if we want to be gone by the time he gets up."
Sunset looked between the two cars and her friend. She sighed, knowing this was probably a bad idea, before climbing into the Ford alongside Twilight. The doors closed and the cars drove off into the city, and in the direction of the highway.
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Megatron sat upon his throne located in the center of the Decepticon base on Mars. He had been reading through reports from Decepticon teams all over the universe until he was interrupted by a communication from Barricade. It contained only a few words.
"Mission failed. Targets escaped with Autobot assistance."
Megatron let out an enraged yell and slammed a hand onto the arm rest of his throne. He then activated his own communication unit and spoke in his usual commanding tone.
"Deadlock, prepare for a mission."