The light began to flood Morpheus's eyes as he felt a great weight lifted off him. Turning around, he could see faint images of the battle slowly morph into wisps of smoke in the air. Illusions that never were really there.
Turning around, however, proved to be quite different. Walls became solid, and movement more and more animated. Suddenly, there was a resounding bang and Morpheus landed with a dull thump on what felt like a marble surface.
"Owwwww.."he moaned, "I need to lay off the sugar next time."
As he looked up, however, his eyes froze at a gold-plated sign spread over a fancy white-marble gate. It read only one word.
"'HASBRO'?" Morpheus mused, "what in Equestria is 'Hasbro'?"
Around him, the clean, clear surface spread endlessly as a dense fog blocked the horizon. Deciding that he didn't have much of a choice to begin with, Morpheus moved forward. The gates opened with a sing-song tune that made him shiver. This place was creepy.
As he continued down the street, he could see random ponies, weird two-legged beings, and giant, monstrous robots! All of which were minding their own business and talking as if neither side knew the other existed. Pristine, white-washed shops had colorful signs and displays ranging from candies to rather odd looking devices that projected fire, flames, energy, or all three.
"What is up with this place?" he thought.
Everything was white. It was as if no color had entered Hasbro except for the very life-forms themselves. As Morpheus reached the end of the street, he noticed a brown, rusty patch of steel mashed together. Atop the mess was a bright neon sign screaming "BAR!".
"Well I might as well give anything a try right?"
Stepping forward, he pushed on the iron door which creaked and groaned under the pressure of his hoof. Inside, the place was just as disheveled if not worse then the outside. Around him, he noticed more of these two legged beings, some wielding magical powers in their hands (he could tell because there was no way even these creatures could naturally hold fire and ice and lightning at the same time while having a legitimate conversation) Also, amongst all the two-legged fleshlings, was a large, imposing mechanical behemoth.
He was mostly silver,with a red center and blue arms. A gold, transparent glass-like stone embedded his chest plate. Also, his head had a sort of black, armor-like helmet while his "wings" had an odd, purple symbol emblazoned on each.
"Bunch of weirdos..." Morpheus exclaimed as he slowly walked up to the bar, where a cheerful voice answered him out of nowhere.
"Hi there and welcome to the Hasbro Bar! What can we get for you today Commander Morpheus?"
Morpheus almost jumped back, his eyes staring at the air where the voice came from. "How do you know my name?" He began to sweat, his blood frozen as he tried to understand what was going on.
"We are what made the universe you were born in Commander Morpheus!" The voice replied cheerfully, "We're Hasbro! The almighty and all-powerful force that rules over all our products. You may not know this, but your world and everything you know about it was created by us!"
The voice seemed to pause for a good second or two before continuing.
"And by a few fans but that's nothing to worry about! We still own you no matter what those silly fan fiction writers say!"
Morpheus' mind was frazzled. He was quite sure that his drool must have been sloshing out of his mouth when he finally replied to the machine. "You lost me at fans..."
"Oh don't worry," the voice said, unfazed by his comment, "we at Hasbro understand this is a lot for anyone to take in. That's why we enable one product in every toyline to instantly have complete understanding of Hasbro and the world it was born in. If you have further questions, you should consult this toy and ask him or her-"
"Oh shut it you scrap heap and get me more energon!" A high-pitched noise screamed.
Turning around, Morpheus noted that the robot was sitting by the stool, annoyance plasted over his shiny gray face as a metal arm dispensed a purple liquid into a cube-like glass. The robot took the glass and began to dump the mysterious liquid into his mouth until the last drip touched his silver tongue. The turning to look at Morpheus, the metal monster talked.
"So you're a Commander?"
"Not anymore..."Morpheus gulped.
The giant laughed and settled back as the robot arm poured another glass of the mysterious liquid that he guess was energon. "Silly fleshling, you can relax here. Hasbro is neutral ground for any side. Be they crossovers or Autobots."
"Autobots? Crossovers? What's going on here!?" Morpheus was sure he was hallucinating.
"Oh yes, you must be from one of those other toylines..."the monster grumbled, "well allow me to introduce myself."
The metal monster stood up, his chest plate puffed out to give him a more heroic look. "I am Commander Starscream of the Decepticon Seekers. I am a robot from Cybertron whose mission is to become leader of all Decepticons, overthrow Megatron, and destroy the Autobots once and for all!"
"Wow..." Morpheus shuddered before resuming his own prideful posture. "I am former Commander Morpheus Bloom the Third of her Highness Queen Chrysalis. I have nothing interesting going on at the moment so that's pretty much it."
Starscream gave a sigh and sat back down. "That was pathetic. My speech was much more dramatic then yours."
Morpheus glared at the 'robot' known as Starscream. "Well my speech is at least more realistic then yours. What are you thinking? Become leader, overthrow everyone? That's stupid!"
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"IS NOT!" The Decepticon pulled out a large, silver stick that glowed at the tip with purple energy.
"Alright you two stop," the cheerful voice called out, "remember that Hasbro laws state that no violence is to take place in the Hasbro Hub unless authorized to do so. Do you want me to throw you out of here again Starscream?"
Instantly, Starscream dropped his weapon and sat back down, his tongue sticking out at Morpheus, who was also doing the same exact thing. Eventually, Morpheus settled for a bottle of love while Starscream drank away at his energon cubes.
"So....you were a commander before?" Starscream finally asked.
"Yep," Morpheus answered, "and then I found out that my hive just used my promotion as a means of killing me off."
"Well at least we share in one thing."
"What's that?" Morpheus asked curiously.
Starscream settled the glass back down and looked at the changeling, "Well my leader almost always wants to kill me! But because my vocal processors are able to convince him otherwise, he simply puts up with beating me to scrap. One day, I'm sure I'll be killed not ten seconds after I've achieved my victory."
"Well Chrysalis always belittles me ever since my promotion," Morpheus explained, "every time I come up with a plan, she rejects it and-"
"-uses their own plan instead!" finished Starscream, amazed at how similar both their predicaments were. "I hate it when Megatron does that to me!Why, I'm sure the Decepticon would already be pummeling those Autobots if it wasn't for him."
"I know what you mean mate," Morpheus agreed, taking another gulp of his drink, "I mean, my ideas are pretty good once you hear them. But I can never get them past Chrysalis..."
And so the two continued to talk about their lives outside of Hasbro. Starscream told Morpheus of the times he tried to overthrow Megatron while Morpheus told him of the many times he threw pranks on other changelings.
Apparently, Starscream was having a similar predicament. He was second-in-commmand of the Decepticons, and has been for quite some time. With the Autobots and Decepticons currently at war with each other, Megatron has been trying again and again to formulate better plans on obtaining energon, the fuel with which all Cybertronians gained energy from. Anyway, Starscream explained the need for a new leader and just how he was going to do it.
Morpheus explained his background, somehow forgetting to mention that he was a shape shifter and going straight to the juicy parts. He detailed how he hated Chrysalis so much, but put up with her because the hive would kill him if he tried to stand up. However, none could ever deny his pranking, and he began to outline some of his better capers with Starscream.
"I should use some of these in my next plot," Starscream said thoughtfully, "if only more Decepticons were like you Morpheus. Most of them are either too dimwitted or too loyal to understand the necessity of a new leader."
"And if only more changelings had the nerve to stand up to leaders like Chyrsalis like you! I mean, most of the changelings I know are smart, but they're too loyal to do anything about it!"
"So true..." Starscream agreed, "we may be dimensions apart, you and I, but I guess no matter what, both our allegiances lie with fools and idiots."
"So how did you end up here in Hasbro?"
"I was knocked out by Megatron...again. You?"
"Took a party cannon to the face."
"Wow," Starscream tried to hold back his laughter, "that must have been embarrassing..."
Morpheus eyed the Decepticon before answering him, "Yeah it was pretty bad, but you try and see if you can take that kind of caliber of sweetness. It'll make you short circuit."
"I am the most powerful Decepticon there is,"Starscream said, puffing his chest, "nothing can hold me back for long!"
He then turned to the bar, "Another round for me and Commander Morpheus!"
"But this is your 10th round!"
The Decepticon pulled out the stick, which Morpheus now knew as a null ray. "Silence your vocal processors before I extinguish them myself! Another round and keep them coming!"
Morpheus could feel the love overdose getting to him. It was common for a changeling to feel overdosed on love when they go over their limit. Usually, this causes them to slur their speech, use poor judgement, and generally become intoxicated.
By the time they reached their 35th round, Morpheus was already beyond that. Him and Starscream danced, sung by a mysterious device called a karaoke machine, and played a game called Battleship.
"You cannot beat me!" Starscream howled, "I am supreme in the art of war!"
"Missile to C7," Morpheus slurred.
"Impossible!" The Seeker cried, "You sank my battleship!"
And when they finished their game, they went right back to dancing. To imagine a changeling and giant robot from Cybertron testing out their moves is a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully, all Hasbro Hub Bars are equipped to handle such behavior and are built to be indestructible.
"Watch this," Morpheus said, his eyes narrowing. Instantly, green flame after green flame, he cycled among a thousand different forms that ranged from Diamond Dogs to unicorns, to even a cockatrice. Starscream merely observed with utter awe.
"Primus, you can transform as well!" and with that, the Decepticon morphed his body into a sleek-looking metal bird with wings. Morpheus nearly fainted at the sight of such an amazing transformation.
"It's like we are brothers or something!" Starscream proclaimed as he transformed back to his robot mode, "Another round for finding yet another thing we share in common!"
Eventually, however, both Decepticon and changeling were experiencing the effects of their party, and promptly fell to the floor, fast asleep.
-----
When Morpheus awoke, his eyes shifted to the right, where the Decepticon got up with a groan. "By the All-Spark, that was some social gathering we had last night..."
"This is the most fun I've ever had in my life," Morpheus grinned.
"The same can be said here."
Eventually, the two went back to their respective stools and drank another round (since in Hasbro, physics and any science for that matter are thrown out the window). However, a thought that had been plaguing Starscream's mind finally reached the boiling point.
"Why didn't you retort back to your leader?"
"Because I couldn't," Morpheus said solemnly, "and because I didn't want to deal with them."
"And why not deal with them?" The Seeker continued, "You said it yourself that they are your brothers and sisters."
Morpheus turned to face Starscream, his face looking gloomy and gray as he recalled the moment where he found out his life had been a lie. "What family kills off their own?"
"And what second-in-command stays second-in-command forever?"
"Well, I don't want to be part of something that's going to kill me."
"Then fight back," Starscream offered, "fight back and take what's rightfully yours."
Morpheus pushed his drink back, "I can't do that Starscream."
"Because your'e scared at what the consequences will be once you've done it!"
"Exactly," the changeling said accusingly, "isn't that why we all avoid taking such bold plans-"
"Well I take bold risks every time I try to overthrow Megatron!" Starscream yelled, "Every time I fail, I get a beating out of it, but I try again and again and again until I achieve what is rightfully mine."
The Decepticon turned to lock eyes with Morpheus, who did likewise. "Morpheus, you cannot let other forces prevent you from getting what you want. Your'e a commander and the rightful commander of your brothers and sisters. Show them that you are the true leader, and they will overthrow those that have gotten in the way. Prove yourself to be Commander in Chief of the Changeling Armada!"
"But I can't-"
"Then you are weak!"
Morpheus felt his blood rise. He wasn't weak, was he? All the times he had to take a verbal beating from Chrysalis. All the times he was sent on maintenance duty. All the times he was forced to put up with ponies that chased him out of their towns. All the times he even had to put up with that intelligence general Reflect! Not once did he back down, and now he was letting a overgrown pile of rocks tell him that he was weak?
"I am not weak," the changeling growled.
"You are if you don't have the nerve to talk back to your Queen," the Decepticon mocked.
"I will talk back to the Queen. In fact, I'll talk back to every last one of those changelings. I'm the second-in-command of the changeling armada and no force will ever change that!"
"Then what are you?" Starscream chided.
"I am the Commander!" and with that statement a bolt of lightning struck the table with a crack. Morpheus began to take deep breaths, his chest puffing in and out at the sudden rush of energy that had consumed him.
"My name isn't just Morpheus Bloom, Drone of squad Negative Waves. I am the Commander and always will be! All changelings you dare oppose me will be dealt with immediately!"
"That's the spark I want to hear!" Starscream clapped his metallic arms.
Morpheus, or the Commander, merely smirked. "But now I must go back. I have a few traitors to deal with at the moment." And with that, the changeling started to trot back towards the gates of Hasbro. However, not three steps in did he pause to face the Decepticon who had brought him back from the dead.
"Many thanks Starscream."
"If any of us remember this, let's hope to meet back at this bar again," the Decepticon said with a tone of finality.
"And also come back with more stories of grandeur." the changeling added, "oh and good luck with defeating Megatron."
"Good luck with defeating Chrysalis and taking care of all those traitors!"
The two waved and went their separate ways at the intersection. Commander Morpheus could already feel gravity pushing down upon him, causing him to nearly lose his footing.
"Just a few more steps," the changeling said as he reached the gates. Suddenly, the fog enveloped him and he was casted into the darkness below.
-------
Light began to flood the Commander as he woke with a start, his eyes focusing in on the scene before him. He was still covered in frosting and grime. Around him, he could see smoldering houses and torn up pathways. However, the most disturbing sight was in front of him.
A rising inferno of green flames that erupted to show no other then...
"Queen Chyrsalis..." Morpheus whispered, his ears flopping down in utter terror. He hadn't expected this of all things to happen. Chrysalis hadn't been active since the invasion. How in Equestria did she just...show up?
The Queen didn't seem to be in the best of moods. Her eyes scanned each changeling disapprovingly. Even the High-General looked a little stunned to see her Queen come out of nowhere.
“Very disappointed, indeed.” She hissed, hole-filled wings flittering with restrained anger.
The changeling known as Mirror gulped, feeling herself shake at the sight of her queen. “Queen Chrysalis…”
What happened next will forever be recorded as one of the weirdest changeling moments in the history of changeling moments. It all stared with Morpheus feeling his blood boil. The Queen hasn't bee sighted in a week, and now she comes here to insult all his brothers and sisters. His battalion. He had had enough of sticking to the shadows. Now was the time for action.
Perhaps that cannon to the face was all it took to make me realize this. Morpheus thought.
The changeling then turned to the Queen, his eyes glowing red as he marched right up to her. "Chrysalis!"
The Queen flinched at the severity with which her name was used. Turning to face the changeling, she was shocked to see none other then the frost-covered Commander, though he didn't have any armor on him.
"Why Commander Morpheus," she said cynically, "so good of you to join us. Maybe you can explain to me who's brain-dead idea it was to-"
"No you explain some stuff to me you pompous-loving-emotionless-heartless-piece-of-evil-treacherous-lying-cheating-son-of-a-diamond-dog's-mother-in-law-oatmeal-crazy-princess-stealing-never-good-for-nothing-foul-smelling-cheating-self-inserting-daughter-whose-mother-was-gravy-filled-marshmallow-JERK!"
The crowd was silent at the use of such a curse word so profane, that only Discord would have the nerve to use it. Morpheus took in a gulp of air before continuing. "You listen to me and you listen good! I am tired of having you boss me around like a pile of rocks all the time. Every plan I ever gave you was REJECTED outright and with no mercy. Well you know what? I wanted to quit being in my position, especially when I found out you wanted to get rid of me! I mean it's one thing to imagine it and another to realize that's exactly why you were promoted!"
The anger was now become intoxicating. The Commander then thrashed his anger to the nearest changeling around him. "And you Double! It doesn't take a genius to know you had something to do with this. Also, that fireball-devastate-thingy was totally not COOL! NOT COOL! I almost died myself in that stunt of yours. Plus, you actually have a doll? I thought it was rumor but you have a doll? How old are you and now you're playing with a bucking doll!? You maniacal, crazy, psychotic second-in-command!"
He then turned to the other changelings presence, his anger now causing him to lose whatever sanity he held on to. "Mirror! You treacherous empathy-sick scum! I was imprisoned for days and none of you or your friends bothered to save me! Also, why can you never take a good prank? All I wanted to do was get a good laugh out of you, but even then you went up to the Queen and landed me with another week in MAINTENANCE DUTY!"
"And when Carbon comes out of it, I want all of you to know that I ABSOLUTELY DESPISED THE GUY! He's a backstabbing traitor and easily angered-"
"Look whose talking," a changeling muttered.
The Commander turned to face the changeling, his eyes bright orange with rage. "I heard that," he hissed.
Suddenly Reflect Fury rushed to the scene, out of breath as he stood across from the Commander, who turned and glared at him. "And you Reflect Fury! You double crossing subordinate! I thought you were my mate, but you were in on this as well! Well you know what, your'e the queer here! I don't care anymore!"
"Morpheus," Reflect panted, "what the bucking-sam-hill is wrong with you!?"
"I'M VENTING OUT MY ANGER!" Morpheus yelled in a thunderous voice, "and I will vent out my anger however I want because it's been inside of me for too long!"
And the insults continued. All the changelings watched in mild amusement as the Commander thrashed out at anyone who came within a hundred meters of the temperamental changeling. When the Commander was done with them, he turned on the Elements of Harmony.
"And you two harbored a changeling," he hissed, his hoof pointed at Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, "you guys convicted me not a few days before you found Mirror! I mean, was I really that bad?"
Fluttershy merely whimpered as Pinkie's mane grew flat, her eyes filled with an unseen rage. However, the Commander didn't notice any of this as he proclaimed obscenities.
Finally, there was a green flash and a tumultuous shout caused the whole group, including Commander Morpheus, to be silent.
"SILENCE!"
The Queen turned to glare at her second-in-command. "Now that you've so graciously shared your opinion with everyone around here, I'm hoping you can handle the consequences."
Morpheus narrowed his eyes. This was it. All the anger bubbling inside of him ready to burst out at this exact moment. All the changeling could do was smirk.
"Bring it on."