//------------------------------// // Episode 1: "Coming of the Beast Wars, Part 1" // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 11 // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// … "The Beast Wars are over…for now," Optimus Primal declared to all who would listen, and with the transwarp sequence in place the time had come. "Let's go home." The Autobot Shuttle lifted off from Prehistoric Earth where for the past few months, a war had taken place between the Maximals and the Predacons. Now the war was over, and the Maximals were heading back to their home planet, Cybertron. "In the spark of an enemy," The Maximal leader spoke up, turning around towards his fellow Maximals: Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap, Blackarachnia and Silverbolt. "There will be salvation, and in the darkest hour there will be a light." "Yeah, from an unexpected source," Rattrap, the Maximals' wisecracking demolitions expert declared. "Old Chopper face's clone. Who would've thunk it?" "And let us never forget those other brave bots," Optimus continued, as the Autobot Shuttle headed farther and farther away from Earth. "Whose sacrifice safeguarded past, present and future." "And you know what the best part is?" Rattrap finished, kicking up his legs in relaxation. "We don't have to see Mega Butt's ugly mug again 'til we get back to Cybertron." The Maximals had a prisoner tied to the top of the shuttle: the leader of the Predacons, Megatron. He was being taken to Cybertron to face justice for his crimes. At least that was what the Maximals all thought. Fate would have different plans. … Running as fast as they could, Sombra, Tirek and the Storm King dashed with a group of donkey soldiers towards the site where the object had crashed in front of Grogar's castle. "Hey," The Storm King panted, trying to keep up with the king and the lord. "Slow…down! I... don't have four legs…like you!" "Too bad! Move faster, you sluggish oaf!" Sombra roared back! "Whatever that object is…it will be Grogar's!" Soon, all came towards a ledge where they saw smoke coming from the crash site. "What is that?" Tirek wondered as the Storm King came up to them. "It looks like…something that lives in Equestria." "You are correct, centaur. Your powers of observation do not deceive you," Sombra remarked, looking over at Tirek. "But we need to examine it more to confirm." Directing four of the donkeys to follow them, Sombra and Tirek carefully approached the crashed object. Upon further inspection, however, they saw something that shocked even Tirek: It was an unconscious red dragon with gold wings that had holes in them, and with patches of brown and silver all over its body. "It's a dragon!" Tirek gasped! "I am aware it's a dragon, centaur!" Sombra coldly retorted. "Though it's no dragon I've ever seen before. Why would a dragon end up here on the moon? It doesn't make sense. Where did it really come from? Could this be…?" "Hey, guys!" The Storm King called, jumping down from the ledge and catching up to them. "Did you find…whoa?!" Taking the Staff of Sarconas, the Storm King lightly tapped the dragon with it in an attempt to wake it up. But the creature didn't move. "What's a dragon doing up here?" He pondered, looking towards his comrades. "For that matter, why does it seem like he's made of metal? Is he a machine of some sort? I didn't think dragons had access to such advanced technology." Gesturing several donkey soldiers to come forward, Sombra decided that there was only thing left to be done. "Donkeys, throw a net over this creature!" He ordered them. "Our emperor will make a decision on what to do with it." Doing as they were told, the donkeys through a net over the metallic dragon while Sombra supervised. However, the donkeys couldn't pull the dragon back to the castle. "Storm King, use your magic to assist the donkeys in carrying the creature." Sombra ordered. "Look, guys," The satyr protested. "Why should we even bother? He…he's probably dead anyway. Besides, I only use this baby to conjure up storms and…" The impatient tapping of Sombra's foot interrupted his response. "O-okay okay, if you say so," He muttered and used the staff to lift the dragon up with ease. "There? Happy?" And Sombra nodded. "Let's go." Tirek called, motioning for all of them to go back to the castle, while Grogar waited for them to return with the dragon. … … Standing at the front doors of his castle, Grogar waited for his minions to bring the object in question to him. A few moments later, he saw Sombra, Tirek and Storm King with the metallic dragon in the net. "It's some sort of dragon, my emperor," Sombra addressed as Grogar went over to inspect the creature. Using the powers of his bell, Grogar detected to see if there was any life in the dragon. After a few moments, he heard a faint buzzing sound deep in the dragon's chest, much to his delight. "We found him not too far from here. Though how or why he came here we don't know." "Shall we dispose of him…my emperor?" Tirek asked. "He already doesn't look like he's in the best of shape. Why not put him out of his misery?" "No!" Grogar replied, stepping back from the dragon. "If anything, I detect a spirit inside this great beast…even though they may not even be a beast to begin with. Take it to the dungeons for the time being! I'll decide what to do with him when he awakens. And he will awaken." Doing as they were told, the three members of the Legion of Doom brought the dragon down to the dungeons of Grogar's castle. "Why does he want us to bring this dragon to the dungeons?" The Storm King muttered to Tirek. "If anything…he's probably already dead. Doesn't seem likely that he could recover from such wounds." "You saw what Grogar did," Tirek whispered back to the Satyr. "He detected life in this creature and might have a use for him. As my pathetic excuse for a father once said, there's always more than meets the eye. No doubt that's the case with this dragon." Approaching the dungeons, the three villains and their donkey soldiers placed the metallic dragon in a large cell big enough to hold an army. "Well?" Tirek asked Sombra. "I suppose we see what Grogar wants to do with him." Sombra replied and then they all left the dungeons, leaving two donkey soldiers to guard the dragon. … … Meanwhile in Equestria, Twilight and Spike raced out of the Castle of Friendship to find the source of the loud crash they'd heard out in the distance! "Your highness, where are you going?" A voice called, and Twilight stopped and turned to see Tempest Shadow and several of Twilight's guardsponies racing out of the castle. "Let us handle this. There's no need for you to risk yourself again so soon." "No, Tempest," Twilight protested. "I'm going with you. No arguments! Something like this demands a response from the top, and that includes me!" "What she said," Spike added. "So follow us and be on your guard!" Reluctantly letting them go, Tempest and the guardsponies allowed Twilight and Spike to accompany them to the crash site. Taking to the air, Twilight and Spike could see smoke billowing from out in the distance, near the site where they fought the Legion of Doom, followed by the tips of a very large flame. The intense heat from the fire caused Twilight and Spike to stop flying and land immediately. No sooner did Twilight land than did Rainbow Dash arrive on the scene along with several pegasus ponies, pushing clouds filled with rain towards the crash site. "Thank Celestia you got here, Rainbow!" Twilight remarked as Rainbow Dash landed in front of her. "Yeah, we heard the crash from all the way in Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash commented while eyeing the smolder wreckage. "Looks pretty bad. Should we check for survivors?" Gesturing their forces to follow them, Twilight and Spike followed Rainbow Dash to the crash site. Already several citizens of Ponyville were gathering on the scene to try and help out in any way possible. "Step back, all of you!" Twilight commanded. "Your concern is appreciated, but we'll handle things from here." Standing back, the group watched as Twilight carefully lit her horn to clear away any remaining smoke. What all saw before their eyes was a large, gold spacecraft of some sort with wings. Going around to the front of the vessel, Twilight saw what appeared to be a group of animals inside the shuttle. "Captain Tempest, have somepony bring an ax over here!" She ordered. "There are occupants trapped inside, we must get them out!" "Yes, your highness!" Tempest replied, and a guardspony promptly brought an ax up to the shuttle. Using the ax's blade, the guardspony began to break through the windshield and Twilight peaked inside to see the group of animal occupants, all unconscious. "Do you think they might be…?" Spike asked, looking over at Twilight who immediately shushed him when she heard what appeared to be light moaning from one of the occupants…a gorilla. "Where's Fluttershy?!" Twilight cried out! "There are animals in here, and I think they're dying! They need medical attention, stat!" But Fluttershy was nowhere to be found amongst the small crowd. "I'll go and get her!" Rainbow declared! Acting fast, she zoomed her way over to Fluttershy's cottage at the edge of Ponyville. "Big Mac," Twilight called out, gesturing the stallion to come forward. "Can you help me try and get some of these animals out? It'll be easier to treat them out here." "Eeeyup. Hang on, princess!" Big Macintosh cried. Using his strength, he attempted to pull open the roof of the strange vessel. But it refused to budge. "I need some more ponies helpin' out! COME ON!" Heeding the stallion's call, several other ponies attempted to try and force the roof open. But even with a large group present, the heavily damaged craft's roof proved too difficult to budge. At that moment, Rainbow Dash returned with Fluttershy to help with the rescue. "Any luck?" Rainbow asked Twilight. "It's too crumpled up," Twilight sighed, desperation deep in her voice. Then she got an idea! "Hang on, I'm going to try and use a spell to break through this metal! Stand clear, everypony! I don't know what will happen!" Using her magic, she cast a spell to try to get the roof open. After a few moments, she succeeded. "Why are there animals inside?!" Fluttershy wondered with a look of horror on her face. "We're going to need to have everypony pull them out one creature at a time!" Twilight commanded. "Let's get the gorilla out first, it'll require the most effort!" Acting together, the ponies worked on getting the gorilla out first, followed by a large gray rat with a long pink tail which was easy to move. Then they proceeded to pull out a cheetah and a large black widow spider with eight orange legs. Finally, they managed to pull out another creature…a rather strange looking creature to Twilight. "What is that?" She thought. "Fluttershy, do you know what that creature is?" "I don't, Twilight," Fluttershy replied as she bent down to check the creature's pulse. "But it does have a pulse…so it must be alive, barely." Suddenly, all began to smell a strange odor. Upon investigating, a horrible substance was found leaking from the shuttle. "Twilight, there's gas leaking!" Spike cried! "We've got to get out of here before this thing blows sky high!" "Wait!" Tempest cried out, looking down into the vehicle and discovering what appeared to be an unconscious rhinoceros stuck down at the bottom of the cockpit. "There's a rhino in here too! We've got to get him out!" "Big Mac, come here! You help us as well, Bulk Biceps!" Twilight shouted, calling the two strong ponies over. Then she watched as they carefully removed the rhinoceros out of the destroyed vehicle. "We got them!" Bulk Biceps grunted, carefully lowering the rhino onto the ground as several more guardsponies used a foaming spell to extinguish more fires emerging. "Now what, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, walking over to her and Spike as she looked down at the injured animals. "Take them back to the castle," Twilight ordered. "And have Dr. Fauna come right away!" "Yes, your highness. I'll get right on it!" A guardspony replied and flew towards Ponyville to retrieve the town's only licensed veterinarian. Looking down at the six animals they had rescued, Twilight only had one question for herself. "Who are these strange animals? And where did they come from? It couldn't be Equestria." … … … Back on the moon, it had been a full two hours since the metallic red dragon was found and there were more questions than answers amongst the Legion of Doom. "Look at the size of that thing!" Cozy Glow gasped as she put her eyes on the dragon for the first time. "Golly!" "This was the object that crashed here?" Lavan remarked. "Why does it look like a metallic dragon? Give me an answer to that!" "Could it be related to that pesky dragon of Twilight's? The one whose wings I threatened to pluck?" Chrysalis asked. "It might," Sombra commented. "If it's even from Equestria to begin with." "Silence, all of you!" Grogar snapped, looking sharply at his legion. "I detect that this creature is much more than a dragon, and I intend to find out what he really is. All we need to do is wake him." This suggestion caused several of the legion to back away in shock. "You sure about that, my lord?" Tirek reluctantly asked, but Grogar said nothing. Instead, he activated his powers inside his bewitching bell that swayed back and forth as he attempted to wake the beast before them. The rest of the legion watched nervously as Grogar's bell began to ring louder and louder. Finally, after a few moments the dragon's eyes began to open with yellow irises locked onto the legion. Growling lightly, he studied them carefully while several donkey soldiers pointed their spears at the dragon. "Welcome," Grogar announced to the dragon. "I am Emperor Grogar of Equestria, and this is my palace." "Gro…gar?" The dragon asked, much to the shock of the legion! "It...it talks?!" Cozy Glow shrieked! She tried to run away but to no avail, Tirek grabbed her legs to prevent her from fleeing. Once again, the dragon looked around and tried once more to rise back onto his feet, but was unable to do so. "Is this…Cyber…tron?" "What?" The Storm King asked, pointing his staff at the dragon's head. "What is this Cyber…tron you speak of, and how come I've never heard of it?! Explain yourself!" Slightly irritated, Grogar pulled the Storm King back and gave his full attention to the dragon. "I'll ask the questions, Storm King. So guard your tongue," Grogar declared to his legion and then turned to the dragon. "I detect that you are not a creature of Equestria…but of a different world. Who are you?" Groaning, the dragon slowly got to his feet and roared loudly while also breathing out fire at the ceiling. The dragon's roars caused several in the legion to cower in fear! "I…am…Megatron," The dragon declared while looking intently at Grogar. "Leader of the Predacons, descendant of the Decepticons!" "Descendant?" Cozy Glow nervously blinked. Snickering, Megatron let out another loud roar! "Megatron, Terrorize!" With the legion watching in shock and amazement, Megatron transformed from a dragon into a robot on two legs, with his dragon head on his left arm! "Incredible!" Sombra gasped while Grogar looked up at Megatron in eager excitement! … Back at the Castle of Friendship, the six animals recovered from the shuttle were brought in for examination by Dr. Fauna, who had set up a make-shift hospital in the castle's lower level. "So they were just found in a what?" Starlight Glimmer asked. "Some kind of strange flying object," Twilight commented as she watched Dr. Fauna and Fluttershy examine each animal. "But I don't understand. Who are these animals and why are they here?" "Maybe they escaped from a zoo or something!" Pinkie Pie spoke up. "Or maybe even from Fluttershy's animal sanctuary! You never know." "And where…pray tell…" Rarity remarked while looking at the pink party pony. "Did we ever see a strange flying object at Fluttershy's animal sanctuary? Let alone see creatures that looked so… metallic?" "Somethin' tells me that they might be more of those rogue changelings that forced us to free Chrysalis," Applejack suggested, looking intently at Twilight. "Perhaps you might need to use some kind of a spell to get 'em to turn back into changelings, Twilight." Rather than answer her co-princess' question, Twilight slowly walked up to the six tables that the animals were lying on. To Twilight, there was something about these animals that left her with more questions than answers. "Well, I'm flummoxed," Dr. Fauna, looking over at Twilight. "Are you sure these animals are from some kind of flying craft and not from a zoo? I can't seem to find anything wrong with them aside from being knocked unconscious. Though their bodies feel strangely metallic to the touch." "No," Twilight answered as she walked up to the gorilla. "I have a hunch that these animals may not be what we think they are." She looked down at the gorilla's face and lightly activated her horn, trying to cast a detection spell to see if the gorilla was only a disguise. "What are you doing, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, but Twilight wasn't distracted from her task at hoof. For the next few moments, Twilight kept her eyes locked on the gorilla, trying to find out who he really was. Suddenly, she began to get a strong vibration out of the gorilla soul! Sharply gasping, Twilight also began getting detections from the other animals! First from the rat, then the cheetah, then the rhino, then the spider and finally the wolf/eagle hybrid. "Twilight, what is it?!" Starlight cried as she came rushing over! "What's the matter?!" Feeling a sharp pain in her ears, Twilight suddenly stepped back, causing some of her nearby friends to rush to her side! "It's…it's the animals," The young alicorn gasped, walking back up to the gorilla. "They…they aren't who we think they are. They are…much more." Suddenly, as quickly as the ringing began in her ears, the ringing stopped. Twilight could sense life from underneath the animal forms and she was more than determined to find out who they were. "Since when did you start developing 'Pinkie Sense'?" Pinkie Pie wondered. "I…I don't know, Pinkie, I don't even know if it's 'Pinkie Sense'" Twilight nervously replied. "But it's like the true soul inside the gorilla's body was talking to me. Trying to reach out to me." "And what did the gorilla tell you?" Starlight asked. "I also have a detecting spell that I can use to see if any of the other animals are trying to communicate." Activating her horn, Starlight attempted to discover similar findings from the other animals. She detected another vibe from the rhinoceros. Walking over to the rhino, she hovered over the creature until she finally heard a voice that only she could hear! "What did you hear, Starlight?" Rainbow Dash asked as Starlight turned to the group. "What does it say?" "He says…" Starlight replied. "That they all come in peace and that they call themselves…Maximals." All Twilight and her friends could do was stare in disbelief over what was happening. As far as they were concerned, they were dealing with a possible new race that they had never heard of before. … … Racing to the castle's library, Twilight attempted to find a book that would explain more of the supposed creatures residing in the basement of her castle. "There's nothing in here!" She cried, throwing another book on magical creatures onto a pile of books that she had already used. "Nothing about these so-called…maximals." "Well, nopony or creature has ever heard of Maximals," Spike replied as he flew against a section of books. "They might be a new race or something." "Yeah, we've sure had an influx of new creatures lately," Pinkie remarked. "Changelings, Yaks, Dragons, Griffons, Hippogriffs, you name it." "Look, Twilight," Starlight sighed as she walked over to her former mentor. "You've already had a long day as it is, and you're about to have a long night. Why don't you get some sleep while it's still dark out?" Sighing, Twilight accepted Starlight's suggestion and stopped her research. "It's just as well," She yawned. "Maybe after a nap, I can start to build a bigger picture. Wake me and let me know if there are any more noises from the animals." Yawning loudly, she left the library, leaving her friends alone with the mountain of books she had left behind. … Back on the moon, Grogar and the Legion of Doom stood before the caged Megatron. While some of the legion cowered before the leader of the "Predacons", Grogar was deeply interested in getting to know him more. "Leader of the Preadcons, you say?" The old goat remarked. "So are you a powerful race?" "We were…yes," Megatron answered. "Sadly, I am the last Predacon standing in the Beast Wars." "The Beast Wars?" Tirek asked. "What are... the Beast Wars?" "Our war with the Maximals," Megatron explained. "A war they haven't won yet…and they never will, nooo…" Just then, Grogar began to get himself an idea on how to help this potential new ally of his. "You say that your kind has been destroyed, Megatron," He remarked, placing his front right hoof on the bars of his cell. "But, I have a way to bring them back to life…all of them." Megatron smiled in eagerness with Grogar's suggestion. "How?" He asked the goat. "How can you bring back my lost Predacon forces?" Stepping back from the cage, Grogar motioned for the two donkey soldiers guarding Megatron to free him. Stepping out of the cage, Megatron looked out amongst the Legion as Grogar led him away. "Follow me to my throne room," Grogar laughed, looking back at Megatron. "And I will show you." Once Megatron and Grogar were gone, the rest of the Legion reflected on the experience. "He seems to be a source of evil on our levels," Lavan remarked. "Still, we should keep an eye on him." "Why would you even suggest that, hothead?" Chrysali wondereds, looking back at the fire demon. "Because he breathes fire like a normal dragon? Personally, I would entice him to join our ranks. Nothing will satisfy our goals more than to have someone as powerful as Megatron on our side. I could care less about his army. If they weren't powerful enough to survive with him, they're not worth our time." Flying away, Chrysalis continued to picture Megatron within their ranks. To her, Megatron was possibly the ally that she was looking for to help her get back what was rightfully hers. "She must…really like him, Tirek," Cozy Glow commented. "Maybe a little too much." "Perhaps," Tirek replied, trying to sound quiet and out of Sombra's hearing. "But, she is mine and mine alone! If that shapeshifter ever makes advances on my love…whatever power he claims to have won't be able to save him from my wrath!" … Approaching Grogar's throne room, Chrysalis transformed into a donkey soldier and stood at attention while she listened to the two warlords of evil converse. "You do have a nice throne room, Grogar. Almost as good as mine." Megatron impressively remarked, looking around the throne room and taking in his new surroundings. "It isn't as nice as my previous home," Grogar said, turning around to look back at Megatron. "When I ruled my rightful kingdom in Equestria, the castle I had was much nicer than this abandoned one. But with enough time, I will launch my attack on that accursed Twilight Sparkle and her friends and take back what is rightfully mine!" "Indeed," Megatron chuckled, admiring Grogar's determination. "If you don't mind my asking, how long have you been here on the moon?" "Over a thousand years," Grogar answered in a bitter tone. "King Cosmo and Queen Galaxia stripped me of my powers and banished me here! So I figured that if I couldn't have my kingdom, then neither would they! I kidnapped them and for over a thousand years I held them prisoner. All was going well until some pesky do gooders dared to get in my way!" "Let me guess," Megatron guessed, catching on what was in Grogar's mind. "The prisoners escaped?" Rather than answering, Grogar proceeded over towards his crystal ball and focused on helping Megatron recover his lost Predacons. However, while he was trying to help Megatron search for what he was looking for, Grogar suddenly was looking at the six animals being treated at Twilight's castle. "What is it?" Megatron asked, walking over to Grogar. "WHAT?! The Maximals?! So, they managed to survive the fall after all? BLAST! Those Maximals are a stubborn bunch!" "What are you talking about?" Grogar inquired to Megatron. "The Maximals were taking me back to Cybertron as a prisoner of war," Megatron answered, slamming his fist on Grogar's desk. "But then, a random explosion hit the Autobot shuttle and caused it to fall back to Earth, yesss…" … Meanwhile, on a planet not far from "Earth", a small group of robots were awaiting the long awaited return of Optimus Primal and the remaining Maximals. Among those waiting were a yellow and red colored robot. "Rodimus," A young blue and brown colored robot called, catching the yellow and red robot's attention. "We…we just lost contact with Optimus and the other Maximals!" "Are you sure about that, Nightscream?!" Rodimus asked, a look of distress on his face. "Have you tried contacting them again?" "There's nothing we can do to get them to respond," The young robot replied. " Megatron must have done something to the shuttle before they could get here!" But Rodimus refused to believe the truth. "Was their transponder still on, Nightscream?" "Yeah, but it showed the shuttle spinning wildly down back to Earth," Nightscream reported. "There's no doubt that they'll just go back to where they've been, and that's if they survive the crash." Looking over towards a brown colored female robot with a distressed look on her face, Rodimus felt that something needed to be done. "Send a message to Ratchet and a few other willing volunteers," He ordered to Nightscream in a commanding voice. "I want to find out what happened to my brother and the rest of our comrades, understand?!" "Okay, okay! Don't go bananas on me, Rodimus!" Backing away in shock, Nightscream did as he was told. Meanwhile, Rodimus walked back over towards the brown colored female robot. "Is it true, Rodimus?" She asked him. "Is Optimus really…?" "We can't be sure if he and the others are still online, Elita," Rodimus glumly told her. "But I've asked for Nightscream to get Ratchet and a few others, and we'll go out and look for them. We must have hope!" Rodimus was just about to leave the platform, but Elita stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Wait!" She pleaded. "I'm going with you." "It will be a dangerous journey, Elita," Rodimus cautioned, pulling his arm out of Elita's grasp. "Besides, we won't be long." "Optimus is my husband, Rodimus! He needs me just like you need him as a brother!" Elita protested. Not wanting to argue with his sister-in-law, Rodimus had very little choice in the matter. "All right," He sighed. "You can come. But I won't be responsible if anything were to happen to you, Elita." With the decision standing, Elita followed Rodimus off the platform to prepare herself for the journey ahead. … Back in Equestria, Twilight was trying to catch on her sleep when she suddenly felt another summons in her horn. "What's... happening?!" She cried, suddenly waking up with a start! "Why is my horn…" Feeling the force of the magic pull at her, Twilight got out of bed and proceeded to make her way down to the basement of her castle! "Twilight, what's happening?!" Spike shouted in distress! "What's with your…?" "-I don't know, it just started acting up!" Twilight interrupted! She began walking down the stairs to the basement just as Starlight was approaching as well. "You feeling the same thing, Starlight?" "Yeah," Starlight added, looking back at Twilight. "It must be the animals being treated." Soon they both found themselves back in the makeshift hospital. The energies pulled both Starlight and Twilight towards one of the animals. "It's coming from the gorilla." Starlight whispered. And at that very moment, both mares watched in shock as the gorilla opened his eyes, looking right at them causing Twilight and Starlight to gasp loudly. The two mares, for the first time, were about to come face to face with Optimus Primal and the rest of the Maximals. … …