//------------------------------// // [Pilot] Chapter 6: Secrets // Story: Equestria Girls: Robots in Disguise // by I Am Eons Away //------------------------------// Autobot Base Hangar E "Autobots..." Optimus Prime spoke grimly as his fellow Autobots were gathered around the shattered remains of what was once their comrade Cliffjumper, an inconsolable Arcee sat in the corner, shaking and mumbling unintelligibly. Shining Armor, Sunset, Twilight, and the other girls, were also gathered with the Autobots. "...we are gathered here today, to mourn the loss of a great comrade." The Autobots all gazed down at Cliffjumper's remains, Bumblebee looking particularly distraught. "On the battlefield, Cliffjumper was a brave warrior, a force to be reckoned with. Off the battlefield, he was a loyal friend...and a beloved partner." Optimus looked away from Cliffjumper and turned to Arcee. "Let us keep Cliffjumper, and Arcee, in our minds and our sparks...and let us make sure that his sacrifices weren't in vain." Bumblebee looked up at Optimus. "Optimus...would it be okay if I said a few words?" "Of course, Bumblebee" Optimus took a step back to allow Bumblebee to speak. Bumblebee took a quick look at Arcee before speaking. "I didn't know Cliff all that well...I was new to the war, just like 'Cee was. But in all that time, Cliff became one of my best friends. He was the kind of 'Bot we'd all want as a friend. Loyal, caring, knows how to crack a joke even in a dire situation." He took a pause and let out a sigh. "We're gonna miss him...and I'm going to make sure the Decepticons that took him out pay for what they did. I swear on my spark..." He stepped back into the circle of Autobots, as Optimus returned to his previous position. "Does anyone else want to add a few words?" Optimus asked. Silence fell across the room, save for Arcee's mumbling. "Ratchet...tend to Arcee. She requires medical attention." Ratchet nodded before walking over to Arcee and activating a scanner inside of his forearm. As Ratchet performed his scans on Arcee, Twilight walked over to the railing beside them. "Is she going to be okay?" She asked, giving Arcee a concerned glance as the Autobot simply stared straight ahead of her, wide-eyed and unresponsive. "What's wrong with her?" Ratchet sighed and used his free hand to analyse the scan data he had taken. "Arcee is experiencing extreme emotional trauma, overclocking her cognitive processors and placing her in a temporary catatonic state. Based on my limited research on human ailments, the Earth equivalent to her condition would be post-traumatic stress disorder." Ratchet gave Twilight a soft smile. "Arcee will recover, she just needs time. Though, with the Decepticons at large on this world, we can't afford time." He turned back to Arcee. "I'm going to recommend an induced power-down. It should give your processors time to cool down." Arcee simply nodded as Ratchet guided her to a different part of the hangar to power her down. Shining Armour walked down the railings too, moving toward Optimus. "Optimus, I know you're in mourning right now...but these Decepticons, what are we going to do about them?" "I do not know, Shining Armour. We cannot take any further action against them, without knowing what they had obtained from the Everfree Forest, and where they are currently stationed." Optimus spoke. "But rest assured, we are doing everything in our power." He said. Optimus turned his attention to their new human friends as Shining Armour went to take a phone call. "I apologize that you have had to become part of our war so soon. I understand if any of you wish to leave." He told them, as they all exchanged glances. Rainbow Dash sat up on the railing. "Are you kidding? Like you said, this is a war! Safest place for us to be is right with you guys. Mostly Bumblebee, because he's awesome, but the rest of you guys too." She smiled brightly as Bulkhead walked over and patted Bumblebee's back. "You bet Primus he's awesome! And he's my little buddy too! No better 'Bot than Bee!" He laughed a little as Bumblebee looked up at him. "How about me and Bee take you girls out for a drive? Get you away from the doom and gloom for a bit?" He looked up toward Optimus and back at the girls. "Uh, if that's okay with you, big guy." Optimus Prime nodded. "Of course, Bulkhead. I think perhaps some fresh air would benefit our human friends. Maintain cover in your vehicular form at all times, and report to me if you see any Decepticon activity. Do not engage." He instructed, as Pinkie Pie jumped from the railing and onto Bulkhead's shoulder, much to the surprise of everyone else. Bulkhead and Bumblebee transformed to their vehicle modes as the girls all climbed in, save for Sunset Shimmer. "Uh, I think I'm gonna stay behind, you girls go have some fun." She smiled as the doors closed on Bulkhead and Bumblebee and they drove out of the base. Sunset looked around the base. Arcee was in the medical bay, in a state of induced power-down, Ratchet and Wheeljack were continuing work on the GroundBridge, Jetfire was pacing around the room, and Jazz was sat in a corner with a human MP3 player, nodding his head to some music. In the centre of the base was Cliffjumper, or what was left of him, and right in front of her was Optimus Prime. "Hey, Optimus? Would it be strange if I asked for some advice on something?" "Of course not, Miss Shimmer. Ask away." Though Optimus hid his mouth using a mask, Sunset imagined he was wearing an understanding smile. She opened her magical book and turned to the most recent pages, finding no reply from Princess Twilight just yet. She sighed, closing her book and looking up at the Autobot leader."It's my friend, Twilight. I'm worried about her." She began. "Just before your ship crashlanded, we were competing in an event against a rival school, and Twilight's principal forced her to unleash these energies she had collected from my friends, and she became consumed by evil." As she spoke, Optimus realised the familiarity of Twilight's story...it reminded him of a bot he once called brother. "I was able to save her and stop her from doing further damage, but..." She took a small pause and gazed below her and Optimus for a brief moment, before she went on. "Well, it's probably nothing, but she woke up in a massive sweat last night, and seemed like something was troubling her, but she told me it was just a bad dream. I just worry that, maybe, some of that evil might still be inside her." She finished, as Optimus looked down and moved a hand closer to her. "Sunset...my only advice would be to stay by Twilight's side, for as long as possible. If there does lie evil within her, then you must ensure that she never embraces it, that it never grows within." Optimus looked down at the ground, a look of sadness and grief in his eyes that she felt within her too. "Don't make the same mistake I did, so long ago..." Ratchet took a break from his work and looked toward Optimus, who walked over to the GroundBridge, hiding his sadness from the other Autobots. Ratchet gave Optimus a look of concern. "Are you okay, Optimus?" "I will be, old friend. Just...hearing Sunset's story, it reminded me of...of Megatron." He spoke the name quietly, as though ashamed to speak it aloud. "Her friend's predicament is similar to how he became what he did...and I will not allow anyone else, human or Cybertronian, to take that path.." The moment between Optimus and Ratchet was broken by the sound of something hitting the wall. Looking down, a frustrated Shining Armour angrily hung up his phone, muttering something under his breath. He had caught Sunset's attention, as she ran down the staircase toward him. "Hey, what's wrong?" Shining let out a frustrated sigh as he looked at Sunset. "The chief just made a very big mistake...just got word that three of our most dangerous criminals just got released." Sunset looked concerned as Shining wore a disturbed look on his face. "And get this, Principal Cinch was the one who released them." "...What?" Sunset looked horrified at that news. What would Principal Cinch want with a trio of criminals? Was she plotting revenge against Celestia already? "B-But...but why?" "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Fancy coming along?" He asked as Sunset nodded, and the two raced out to Shining's vehicle, leaving the Autobots behind. Ratchet and Optimus Prime exchanged glances. "It would seem as though the humans have their own complications...Decepticons, in human skin. Perhaps we aren't so different after all." Ratchet spoke as Optimus simply nodded in reply. Secret Underground Facility "So, what have you brought us here for?" Tirek asked, as Cinch guided him, Chrysalis and Discord further underground. She did not reply to him, fueling his boredom-induced frustration. "Hello? I'm asking you a question!" He yelled, but still no reply. Eventually Cinch stopped at a door, and typed a numerical code into a keypad on the wall. The door opened, as Cinch took her new companions into a large room, a scientific laboratory, three tubes glowing with incorporeal energies trapped within them. On the wall furthest from them rested the giant, dismantled remains of a large robot, a purple head-like insignia on his silver chest glowing faintly. Cinch turned to Tirek, Chrysalis and Discord. "Welcome to your new home." She smirked. "This is a hidden facility built underneath Canterlot High School, laying dormant for decades. Celestia and Luna have no idea it exists, let alone how to get here, making it perfect for our needs." Chrysalis looked around the room, unable to pull her gaze away from the giant robot. "What's with the robot?" Cinch chuckled a little as she stepped closer to Chrysalis. "That, my friend, is the key to the city's technological advances. Crash landed here 50 years ago, found by the grandparents of Celestia and Luna, who built this place to study what they found. They called it NBE-01, and told nobody of its existence, not even their grandchildren." She kept her smile as Discord clapped his hands. "Oh, hohohohohoho!!! This is just marvellous! Just think of all the chaos we can cause!" He wore a cheek-to-cheek grin as he walked toward NBE-01 and gazed up at its foreign build, its internal machinery far beyond what he had seen normally throughout his travels. Discord ran over to a ladder and pulled it over to NBE-01, climbing up the steps to look at the insignia closer, reaching out to touch it. "DON'T. Touch him." Cinch yelled up at Discord. "That thing is the source of all the technology in Canterlot City, it's the most valuable thing you're ever going to see. So leave it alone, that's not what I want to show you." She finished as Discord began to mumble and climb back down the ladder, pushing it down as he walked back over to the group. Chrysalis, Discord, and Tirek all stood before the glowing tubes, watching the energies within writhe and move around, as though trying in vain to break free. Cinch walked over as well. "This is what I wanted to show you." She smirked as she placed the trio's hands on the tubes, and walked to the other side of the table, peering down at a red button. "Now, hold onto the tubes, and prepare..." She pressed the button, and the tubes released. The energies took a couple seconds to acknowledge that their barriers had been removed, though when they did, they immediately entered the bodies of Discord, Chrysalis and Tirek, causing their bodies to glow for a few seconds as the power of the energies began to flow through them. Cinch simply watched in amazement as their bodies stopped glowing, and they all looked at one another. Tirek held his head in his hand for a brief moment. "Wow...WOW! I feel...I feel more powerful than I ever have!" He laughed triumphantly as he raised his fists. "I feel like I can take on the universe!" Chrysalis rolled her eyes, and as she opened her mouth to speak, she changed her shape to match Tirek. "Ugh, I feel like I can take on the universe!" She spoke in a mocking tone, before reverting to her normal form, looking at her hands in astonishment. "Woah...that was wierd.." Discord laughed. "Wonder what I can do! Have I got something in my pockets?" He reached into his pocket, and began to empty several objects out of it, many of which don't look as though they could ever fit into a pocket. He pulled out flowers, trophies, packages of pony dolls and robot action figures, framed photographs of himself through the years, a tricycle and a large statue of himself. Once he finished, he looked at everything he pulled out. "Huh, I have neverending pockets. Neat." He smiled with glee. As the trio admired their new abilities, a small robotic bird was watching them from the ventilation shaft. It flew out of the vents, out of the school, and into the sky in the distance... Decepticon Warship, Nemesis "Excellent work, you two!" Starscream spoke proudly to Shatter and Dropkick as he held the two crystals in his hand. "With these, we can power up our troops, and the Decepticons will become unstoppable!!" He began to laugh as a door opened and the bird flew through, landing atop Soundwave's shoulder cannon. Soundwave opened his chest cavity and allowed the bird to turn into a casette tape and goes back inside. "Laserbeak has returned. Uploading vehicular data to Nemesis database." Soundwave turned to face a computer monitor as two tentacle-like devices emerged from his back and plugged them into the mainframe, as the images of several vehicles popped onto the screens. "Decepticons may choose alternate forms at their leisure via digital upload." Starscream nodded and smiled. "Excellent, Soundwave. You are dismissed." He waved Soundwave off as the blue Decepticon walked out of the room. Shockwave walked over and took the crystals from Starscream, placing them in a small device and activating it. The crystals were scanned and energy readings showed up in a projection coming from Shockwave's arm cannon. "Starscream, those these two crystals are showing promising energy levels, it is still insufficient for achieving the level of power you desire." He spoke calmly as Starscream scowled. "Gah! Were there any more energy crystals in that cave?!" Starscream turned to face Shatter and Dropkick as they exchanged glances before either of them answered. "There were only two in the cave, but there were seven slots in total on the structure we got them from." Shatter answered him. "Someone must have gone into the cave before we arrived here." Starscream slammed a fist onto the wall beside him and growled. "Why is it that I have to do EVERYTHING myself when I want it done right?!?!" He collected the data from a fighter jet Soundwave had scanned and ran into the corridors, transforming and taking flight down toward the exit. "Someone's got anger issues..." Dropkick mumbled as they watched their commander leave the Nemesis and fly down toward the location of the crystals. Soundwave's Quarters "Soundwave, you have returned!" Lugnut stood up and walked over to his superior. "DId you find any signs of Lord Megatron?" He asked expectantly. Soundwave silenced him with a raised hand and ejected Laserbeak from his chest. Laserbeak perched himself atop a stack of shelves and projected a holographic image of NBE-01, found in Cinch's secret headquarters. "It...It cannot be..." Lugnut spoke with surprise, his eye wide and mouth open with shock. "And yet, it is." Soundwave spoke as he also stared at the image of his master. "Lord Megatron is here, and..." Laserbeak switched to a different display, a faint energy pulse bleeping on a holographic map of Canterlot City. "...Megatron lives." Crystal Cave Camp Everfree Bumblebee and Bulkhead drove toward the cave, going past the site of the former's encounter with Shatter and Dropkick. They let the girls exit their vehicle forms. "Coast is clear." Twilight said as the two transformed into their robot modes as they looked down at the girls. "How come you wanted to come here?" Bulkhead asked as Twilight pulled out a handheld device and pointed it toward the cave, a slow, steady beep coming from it. "And what's that?" Twilight looked up. "Well, Bumblebee said the Decepticons stole something from here. Two crystals, which we think might be related to the magic that we all have within us." She then held up her device and smiled. "And this, is a prototype device I built back in my Crystal Prep days to analyse and track abnormal energy signatures." She walked into the cave ahead of everyone else. "Sounds like we got a human Wheeljack, eh, Bulk?" Bumblebee nudged his large friend's shoulder as the two exchanged laughs, accompanied by the loud laughter of Pinkie Pie. "I think that one agrees with us." "Yes-y deedly!" Pinkie grinned. "Our Twilight is super-sciency! Like, that one time when she built a magical sciency spectrometer thing and stole all the magic from us and the portal to Equestria and turned into another raging she-demon who threatened to rip apart the fabric of reality!" When she finished, everyone stood and stared at her wide-eyed, save for Twilight, who tried to ignore the reminder of her ordeal and continue onward into the cave. "What?" Pinkie asked, as everyone resumed walking. The group continued until they reached the last cavern, surrounded by illuminating pink rocks, and vines guarding a rock jutting out of the ground, seven slots adorning the very top of it. Sunset looked around the cave in awe. "Yep...definitely getting some 'place of Equestrian magic' vibes from this place. Feels like home." She said as she examined the holes in the rock. "Bumblebee said the Decepticons stole two crystals from here, but there are seven slots." Bulkhead looked at the rock and shrugged. "Maybe somebody else beat the 'Cons to the cave?" He suggested. "It's a possibility, but who?" Twilight asked. The group then went silent as somebody slowly clapped behind them. They all turned around and, to everyone's surprise, were confronted by the director of Camp Everfree. "That would be me." She glared at the group. "Gloriosa?"