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PREVIOUSLY ON "MY LITTLE PONY"
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Megatron: Optimus and the other Maximals are alive, and I intend to destroy them once and for all! But first…we have an errand to perform for our new…ally.
Shining Armor: All of a sudden, they just mutated and began blasting us. It took all we had just to escape with our lives.
Cheetor: When you're in a war, you tend to create your own vocabulary. Kind of helps alleviate the boredom between battles.
Celestia: But what could a dragon be doing out in space? It doesn't make any sense.
Starswirl: Twilight and her friends are about to face the greatest challenge of their lives. There's nothing I can do to prevent that.
Grogar: Only this time, I shall control you and your Predacons to do my bidding in bringing Equestria TO ITS KNEES!
Twilight Sparkle: We've got to get over there and fast!
Optimus Primal: Megatron…is alive.
Spike: We just got some big help!
…
…
Out in the Everfree Forest where they had crash landed, Rodimus Primal was now searching the forest for his missing comrades.
"Elita! Ratchet! Where are you?!" He called at the top of his lungs as he walked through the forest. "Elita! Ratchet!"
"They might be dead, boss," Ironhide glumly declared. "We'll just have to face it. No one could have survived the crash we were in."
"They are alive, Ironhide!" Rodimus retorted, turning around to the elephant. "In the name of Cybertron, I will tear this forest apart if I have to until I find them!"
As they walked, they couldn't help but notice that many of the forest's strange creatures were looking at them in a strange manner.
"You? Youse a lion!" Skids remarked. "How can you turn this place apart, Rodimus?"
"Yeah, what he said!" Mudflap added.
"Just focus on the task at hand!" Rodimus instructed. "My sister-in-law is alive and I won't hear any of it if any of us thinks otherwise!"
Suddenly, the sounds of growling were heard through the bushes, catching the attention of the group. "Uh, top cat?" Skids asked, nervously looking at his superior. "I think there's…"
"Quiet!" Rodimus snapped, turning sharply towards them. "Not another word! Our comrades are still alive and…"
Suddenly, the growling grew louder. "Wait," He whispered. "Do you hear that?"
"That's what we was trying to tell ya!" Mudflap indignantly retorted. "Something is out there, and growling like an upset stomach!"
"Are you calling me fat, Mudflap?!" Skids snarled.
Rodimus looked around for any sign of the source of the growling but found nothing. But then he saw what appeared to be glowing eyes peeking out in the distance ahead. And then the sounds of howling were heard.
"What is that?!"Ironhide cried, trumpeting loudly and rearing up on his two rear legs.
Without warning, the creature leapt forward and out stepped a wolf-like creature made up entirely of wood. "It's a wolf made of timber!" Rodimus gasped as more growling was heard and more of the same creatures came out and surrounded them. "Oh, slag…"
The four timberwolves then leapt towards the group and there was no turning back for them. They needed to fight these creatures.
"Maximals, attack!" Rodimus commanded and growling like a lion, he pounced on the Timberwolf in front of him, while the rest of his group proceeded to attack the other Timberwolves!
…
Meanwhile, Megatron and the remaining Predacons continued to chip away at Shining Armor's forcefield over the Crystal Empire. "Hit it harder!" Megatron ordered. "There must be a weakness!"
"You're telling me, boss!" Quickstrike added. "These here ponies…are just like those Maximals."
"Well I haven't met a challenge that I couldn't overcome in the end, Quickstrike!" Megatron remarked. "Now shut up and keep firing! We've got to break through!"
Inside the forcefield, the Crystal Empire had been locked down, troops were stationed at their various posts. Both Shining Armor and Cadence along with Flurry Heart, looked nervously at the enemies in question from afar.
"The shield won't hold for very long," Cadence nervously whispered as she began to see cracks in the shield spell. "It's only a matter of time before they break through. What will we do then?"
Agreeing with his wife, Shining Armor looked down on his troops in front of the castle.
"Prepare to advance!" He called down to them before turning back to Cadence. "I'm getting the feeling this is going to be worse than when Sombra came back. We must be ready to defend this empire to our last breath!"
"For once, I think Flurry Heart and I both agree with you, Shining." Cadence commented as her daughter babbled.
"Come on, Twily, where are you?" Shining whispered under his breath, hoping for his little sister to arrive soon. No sooner did he whisper those words than did a bright flash appear behind, and in swooped Twilight and her friends, followed by the Maximals.
"Twily! Thank Celestia you got here!" Shining Armor happily exclaimed!
"We came as soon as we got your message," Twilight nodded. "How's the shield holding?"
"Not very well, I'm afraid," Shining commented with a frown. "These invaders are hitting the shield pretty well."
Suddenly, a loud cracking noise was heard and the time for urgency was made immediately clear to all! "Maybe a little too well." Rarity couldn't help but remark.
"Megatron and the Preds will burst through the cracks in a few cycles," Optimus Primal declared, much to the confusion of the Crystal Empire's leaders as he took to the sky. "Maximals, prepare to strike on my command!"
"Who is that?" Shining Armor asked in a confused voice.
"Optimus Primal and the Maximals," Twilight answered. "And those creatures out there attacking the forcefield…are the Predacons!"
Almost as if it was on cue, the shield shattered fully and collapsed! Delighted that he and his comrades had broken through, Megatron laughed loudly and gestured for his troops to advance.
"Get them!" He called out. "Destroy them in the name of Emperor Grogar and the Predacon race!"
Loudly yelling, the Predacons ran towards the Empire with guns firing in all directions!
"Maximals, move out!" Optimus shouted as he and Silverbolt flew towards the approaching Preds. Twilight and the rest of her friends followed suit, leading the Crystal Empire's reinforcements into battle with the invading Predacons.
"Hold them back!" Twilight shouted above the unfolding carnage. "Open fire!" Acting on cue, the combined forces opened fire on the Predacons, trying to strike them all down.
But seeing his enemy advancing minus his transmetal body, Megatron began to picture himself triumphing over Optimus.
"Hello, Optimus!" He cackled with delight. "You don't look like yourself, do you? What happened to your transmetal body? Was it destroyed in the blast?"
Ignoring Megatron's taunts, Optimus flew even faster toward him and the two enemies collided with each other while airborne!
Meanwhile, down below, the rest of the ground troops confronted the remaining Predacons (who couldn't fly).
"Take this!" Rarity screamed as she and Spike took on Quickstrike and Scorponok with their combined magic and fire blasts. "You beastly beasts!"
Letting out a loud scream, Scorponok leapt through the air and somersaulting, pushed Rarity down onto the ground. "
You don't scare me, pony!" He taunted, opening his left claw and firing a missile at Rarity.
The princess of generosity used a shield spell to deflect the missile, sending it flying into a building, much to Rarity's embarrassment. "I'll put that on my tab, Princess Cadence!" She called up to the balcony, only to be struck down by a blast from Tarantulas!
"Rarity!" Spike screamed, rushing over to her side as he looked up at Tarantulas, holding a gun at them.
"You must always pay attention, foolish equine," The Predacon scientist laughed. "Otherwise, look what happens! How careless."
Suddenly, a blast knocked the gun out of his claw and after letting out a loud scream, Tarantulas looked towards Blackarachnia, her own weapon pointed right at him. "Leave them alone, you psycho!" She commanded in an ice cold voice.
"So, this is what you have decided to become, isn't it?" Tarantulas taunted. "A Maximal witch! A traitor to your heritage!"
"I made the right choice," Blackarachina sneered and began firing from her eight legs at Tarantulas, hitting him over and over again. "My only regret was that I didn't do this sooner!"
At the same time, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were aiding Shining Armor and several guardsponies in taking on Shockwave and Soundwave.
"Take no prisoners," Soundwave said to his comrade. "Only trophies."
"The only trophies you're gettin' are the memories of gettin' your sorry behinds blasted out of here!" Applejack shouted, leaping towards Shockwave and pushing him into the side of a building!
Chuckling in amusement, Shockwave threw Applejack onto the ground and proceeded to pick her up with his claw. It took a blast from Shining Armor's magic to release his grip on the Princess of Honesty. Growling, Shockwave took his weapon and attempted to strike Shining Armor with it.
"For a pony, you seem remarkably powerful." Shockwave remarked as he turned his attention to the prince.
"And don't you forget it! You want the Crystal Empire? Well, you can't have it!" Shining cried, headbutting Shockwave in the chest and sending him flying into (and through) several buildings.
"You know that's goin' to have to be repaired, right?" Applejack commented, but Shining ignored her.
At that moment, Pinkie Pie pulled out her party cannon and fired it at Soundwave, who deflected the shot with his blaster! Chuckling quite evilly (and coldly), he proceeded to fire several more blasts at Pinkie, before he was intercepted by a blast from Cheetor.
"Nice shot!" Pinkie said as Cheetor helped her up.
"Don't mention it, anything for a friend." The young Maximal replied.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Cadence watched as the battle continued with barrages of fire striking several buildings. But, Twilight kept all of her attention focused on the aerial battle between Megatron and Optimus Primal. "Optimus is gonna need my help," Twilight said to her sister-in-law. "From the looks of it, he may not have a chance by himself."
"Let me help you," Cadence offered. "He might be too powerful for you to handle alone, Twilight."
"No, stay here with Flurry Heart!" Twilight ordered. "If anything happens to me…" Before Cadence could say anything in protest, Twilight took to the air and raced over to Optimus' aid as he continued his clash with Megatron.
"Not as powerful without your transmetal body, are you, Primal? How unfortunate for you to lose the only thing that gave you an advantage," Megatron taunted as he punched Optimus in the jaw. But, Optimus didn't let his enemies words get him down. He was a fighter and would continue to fight to the bitter end. "Right here, right now, I shall finish you off! I shall finish what I started on Earth."
"Not a chance, Megatron!" Optimus snapped, firing two missiles from his shoulders at Megatron, which the latter blocked with one of his large, gold dragon wings. "I'll defeat you the same way I defeated you on Prehistoric Earth, transmetal body or no transmetal body."
Roaring, Optimus pushed Megatron down towards the ground.
Back in the air, Inferno and Terrorsaur continued shooting from the sky, only to be sidetracked by Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Silverbolt.
"Hey, bug breath!" Rainbow Dash called to Inferno in a sarcastic tone. "Can't catch me!"
"You shall burn, retched equine!" Inferno yelled, firing his gun at Rainbow Dash, who dodged the blasts with her supersonic speed. Giving chase, Inferno kept firing at the rainbow maned pegasus, while Fluttershy and Silverbolt dealt with Terrorsaur.
"Hold still, will you?!" Terrorsaur screeched as he tried to shoot at Fluttershy. But Terrorsaur was so fixated on Fluttershy, he didn't even notice Silverbolt sneak up behind him and throw one of his feather spears at the Predacon's back.
Screeching in pain, Terrorsaur saw the Maximal fuzor and charged at him, causing the two of them to engage in a tense struggle.
Acting fast, Fluttershy got in between them and proceeded to throw a few punches at Terrorsaur, knocking him down to a level where he was struck by a random magic blast. The blast caused the Predacon to crash onto the ground right where Quickstrike was taking on Rattrap.
"You know you can't stop me, varmint!" Quickstrike cried at the crafty rat.
"Oh yeah?" Rattrap retorted, emerging from behind a trash can. "Well chew on this!" Throwing the trash can, he hit Quickstrike directly in the chest.
But the Predacon fuzor shook it off and shot at a guardspony who tried to shoot at him, striking him down. Suddenly, however, Quickstrike was surprised from behind by Rhinox, using his two rotating machine guns on Quickstrike, taking him down.
"Thanks, big green!" Rattrap said while cocking his gun.
"Don't mention it, Rattrap. You're always saving my hide, it's high time I returned the favor." Rhinox replied, and together the two of them proceeded to aid in the tense fight surrounding them. The sides seemed surprisingly even matched.
…
Back in the Everfree Forest, Rodimus and his group of Maximals had their hands full with the timberwolves. The wooden canine creatures held them at a major disadvantage since they couldn't figure out when to transform. And even when it seemed like the Maximals had defeated the timberwolves, they just would pull themselves back together through the help of a strange magic.
"I don't know who you are," Rodimus panted as he struggled to get back to his feet. "But I will defeat you all, somehow."
The timberwolves didn't listen and continued their assault on the group. But then suddenly, a pair of missiles came down on the timberwolves, striking one of them down.
Looking around, Rodimus saw what appeared to be a flying robot.
"Rodimus!" The robot in a female voice, it was Elita One!
"Elita!" Rodimus called as she fired several more missile blasts at the timberwolves.
Just then, one of the Ttmberwolves standing behind a small lake was pulled into the water, and emerging from the water was a gray, male robot. "Ratchet!"
"Ain't you a site for sore eyes!" Skids remarked as two more missiles struck two other timberwolves, with the lone remaining timberwolf retreating.
With the timberwolves defeated, Elita landed and transformed back into her beast mode…a brown mountain gorilla, similar to Optimus's gorilla beast mode. Putting himself back in his beast mode, Ratchet jumped into the water, revealing himself to be a manatee.
"Are you all right?" Elita asked as she helped Rodimus up.
"I am now, thanks to you," Rodimus answered. "But how did you…?"
"-There's no time to explain!" Elita One interrupted. "Optimus and the others need our help fast!"
"How do you know that?" Ironhide asked. "How did you find out Optimus is on this planet?"
"I sensed it, something deep in my spark," Elita One explained. "They're in danger and fighting Megatron in a place called the Crystal Empire. Now, all of you come with me! We've no time to waste!"
"Where are we going?" Mudflap asked, but Elita didn't answer him. Instead, all watched as Elita transformed back into her robot mode. "Elita One, Maximize!"
Opening her chest, Elita unleashed a bright blue light on the Maximals that engulfed them. Soon, they found themselves in the Crystal Empire where the battle for the Empire continued to become more and more intense.
"Where…where are we?" Rodimus wondered, getting back onto his feet as he heard a loud yell and saw Megatron gaining the upper hand on Optimus! "Optimus!"
Roaring, Rodimus ran towards Megatron and before the transmetal dragon could react, Rodimus jumped on Megatron and pushed him off of his brother.
Having no fear of the lion, Megatron simply pushed Rodimus off of him.
"Leave my brother alone, Megatron!" Rodimus demanded, growling angrily.
"Well, what have we here?" Megatron sarcastically laughed, holding out his dragon head at Rodimus. "Rodimus Primal, long time no see! How have things been on Cybertron? Are the kangaroo courts still functional?"
Before Megatron could fire on Optimus, Elita One fired two shoulder missiles at Megatron, striking his dragon head. "And Elita One, your beloved mate, Optimus Primal! How fitting that they would come here. Now they shall perish alongside you."
Having no fear inside of her, Elita advanced towards Megatron.
"Elita!" Optimus gasped as he struggled to get back to his feet despite the injuries inflicted upon himself. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Flying overhead, Twilight charged up her horn and fired a blast at Megatron, hitting him in the back.
"Who dares fire upon me?!" Megatron demanded as he saw Twilight flying overhead. "Foolish pony! You don't scare me! But I'll teach you to fear me, the mighty Megatron!"
Taking his dragon head, Megatron fired a blast of fire at Twilight, which she managed to dodge with quick speed.
"Twilight, be careful! Megatron is a threat like no other!" Shining Armor shouted as he tried to deal with Shockwave and Soundwave
Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna flew as fast as their wings could carry them towards the Crystal Empire, and the sight of smoke in the distance gave them both a sign that trouble was already there. It filled them both with a sense of dread.
"Twilight," Celestia whispered as she flew even faster towards the Empire with Luna trying to catch up (along with Starlight Glimmer). "Twilight, I'm coming! Hold on!"
No one was aware of the approaching alicorns as Megatron faced off with Twilight, determined to defeat her at all costs.
"Hear me, pony!" He called out. "I am Megatron, leader of the Predacons! And I have come bringing you a message from Emperor Grogar!"
"Save it!" Twilight hissed, firing a blast at Megatron, which the Predacon leader deflected with his dragon wing. "You are trespassing upon this kingdom and on this land. That means get lost! You and your Predacon friends! Leave this world and never return!"
"Never! The likes of you don't order me about, it's the other way around! And you will soon learn why!" Megatron said loudly and he began to charge at Twilight, who flew away from him!
Optimus and Elita leapt into the air to try and help, but were suddenly pushed back onto the ground by Rainbow Dash, who was thrown to the ground by a madly laughing Inferno.
Flying as fast as she could, Twilight desperately tried to keep herself ahead of Megatron, firing blast after blast of alicorn magic at the Predacon leader to no avail.
"Twilight!" Cadence called out, deciding that she and Flurry Heart needed to take action and fast. "Hang on! We're coming!"
But in a moment of weakness, Twilight was distracted by this statement. As such, she didn't even notice Megatron preparing to fire a blast of his power at her until it was too late!
Firing the blast from his dragon mouth, Megatron watched as the blast struck Twilight square in the back!
"NO, TWILIGHT!" Cadence screamed as looks of horror came from Shining Armor and the rest of Twilight's friends!
Screaming loudly, Twilight crashed down hard in front of the Crystal Heart and fell unconscious while Megatron laughed out loud at his moment of great triumph!
…
…
"TWILIGHT, NO!" Shining Armor screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to reach his little sister only to be overpowered by Shockwave and Soundwave.
Horrified by what they all saw, Rodimus and his group of Maximals turned all of their attention towards the gloating Megatron while Twilight's friends all tried to get to her aid, only for all to be held back by the Predacons.
"Delightful, but ultimately predictable. This was the only way it could've ended," Megatron laughed, holding his dragon mouth at Twilight. "Now, just one more thing, pony…"
But another blast from Elita's shoulder missiles stopped Megatron from delivering the killing blow.
"That's as far as you go, Megatron!" Rodimus cried as Megatron turned around to face these new Maximals. "Hitting on a defenseless creature, how low have you sunk?!"
"You call that defenseless?!" Megatron snapped. "I'll show you defenseless!"
"All units, Maximize!" Rodimus quickly called for the rest of his group to transform from beast to robot modes in anticipation of what was to come next:
"Skids, Maximize!"
"Mudflap, Maximize!"
"Ironhide, Maximize!"
"Ratchet, Maximize!"
"Rodimus Primal, Maximize!"
Unfazed, Megatron charged at the group of Maximals, who countered by firing their weapons at the Predacon leader, the blasts striking him repeatedly.
Before Megatron could reach the new Maximals, he suddenly felt himself trapped in a magical bond and lifted up into the air. Soon, he found himself face to face with Celestia, Luna and Starlight.
Snarling and without saying a word, Celestia tightened her grip on Megatron and letting out a loud yell, she threw him back into the snow covered mountains! Seeing their leader defeated, the rest of the Predacons retreated for the time being.
"TWILIGHT!" Celestia cried in horror as she hastily landed and ran over to the injured Twilight, while the Maximals and the rest of her friends converged around the Crystal Heart. Picking up the unconscious Twilight, Celestia held her in her forelegs with tears forming in her eyes. "SPEAK TO ME, PLEASE!"
Almost as if on cue, Twilight opened her eyes and looked up weakly at Celestia. "Ow, Celestia!" She moaned, much to the relief of everyone. "Careful! He scorched my back. But at least we were able to drive him away."
"Twily!" Shining Armor cried, racing over to his little sister. "Thank heavens you're okay!"
"It's…it's going to take more than fire to get...rid of me," Twilight winced, still feeling the pain of Megatron's blast. "Any casualties?"
"I'm not sure, Twilight," Shining Armor replied as he looked out amongst the heavy damage the Crystal Empire had sustained in the attack. "Sergeant!"
Calling over a guardspony with the same style of armor as he was currently wearing, Shining Armor instructed. "I want a casualty list as quickly as possible, do you understand? Anypony who is injured is to be checked out immediately!"
"Yes, sir! I'll get right on it, Captain!" The sergeant replied and left.
…
A little while later, Twilight and her friends were being examined for any injuries that they had sustained in the attack.
While mostly minor, Twilight had taken the worst of the hits, suffering first degree burns on her back and wings. But in her mind there were other things of importance.
"Damage report?" She asked Tempest Shadow as she walked into the room.
"Ten dead, one hundred injured," The broken horned unicorn declared with a salute. "Fifty civilians and fifty guards."
"Very well then, carry on," Twilight ordered and Tempest left. A few moments later, Shining Armor entered with several guardsponies behind him. "Any sign of the Predacons?"
"They are all gone," Shining Armor sighed, taking off his helmet and sitting down in exhaustion. "Supposedly and hopefully… they retreated."
"Let's hope they stay gone," Rarity remarked trying to fix her hair while looking into a mirror. "I don't think I can take another event like that."
"You think you have it bad?" Pinkie Pie added, showing off her damaged party cannon. "Look at what those robots did to my party cannon! They've got some nerve, it's like they don't care about anything that belongs to us."
"You can repair a cannon, Pinkie," Twilight replied, looking over at the Princess of Laughter as the nurses finished applying the bandages covering Twilight's wounds. "Lost lives cannot be repaired or replaced."
"So, what do we do now, Twilight?" Spike asked, his head bandaged from the fight. "If those guys come back again…who knows what they'll do?"
"Well, we're going to be ready for them!" Twilight declared, catching the attention of all her friends. "We'll go to Canterlot and announce to Equestria how we plan to respond. No ifs ands or buts, is that clear?!"
"We'll go with whatever works," Rainbow Dash declared. "Those robots won't get away with this!"
"It won't just be the robots," Applejack ominously added. "If it's Grogar…"
"It is Grogar," Celestia declared, rising to her feet and catching the attention of the six princesses. "Starswirl told Luna and I that our father predicted that Equestria would be engulfed in a major war against Grogar. I fear that what happened today was a declaration of war delivered to us from Grogar himself."
An eerie silence fell over the recovery room.
…
Once enough time had passed, Twilight and her friends assembled in Canterlot to announce their plans to counter the attack on the Crystal Empire. Wearing their crowns and royal accessories and still bearing their injuries from the fight, the six princesses of Equestria addressed a large group of ponies assembled in the throne room (including Celestia, Luna and their respective families).
"Fillies and gentlecolts," Twilight began. "This is a declaration of war against the Emperor Grogar and his allies in response to the attack on the Crystal Empire that killed ten and injured a hundred of our own. Effective immediately, we are all declaring a state of national emergency for Equestria and its surrounding allies. The time has come for every pony and creature to stand together against this growing threat, and together…we will prevail!"
Taking a quill in her aura, Twilight signed her name at the bottom of the declaration along with the signatures of her friends.
Meanwhile, Optimus and the rest of the Maximals were at the destroyed remnants of the Autobot Shuttle that was supposed to have taken them home. It was clear to them that they were going to be in Equestria for the foreseeable future.
"Maximals," Optimus declared as they were removing anything from their headquarters on Prehistoric Earth that could be salvaged. "Megatron cannot be brought back to Cybertron alive anymore. He proved that today."
"What do you mean, big bot?" Cheetor asked.
"I mean, that the only way we can try him is here on this planet, with the ponies who inhabit it," Optimus answered. "Like the first Beast Wars, there will be sacrifices and lives will be lost. But I swear in the name of Cybertron that we will prevail…just like we did the first time! If Megatron wants a second war, then he will get one right here…right now…in this place called…Equestria."
And thus the stage was set for a war that would bring together creature and robot…for the sake of friendship and harmony.
…
…