//------------------------------// // One Last Secret Remaining // Story: Top Of The List // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// The school bell rang, students mingled into the hallways heading towards the cafeteria for lunch. This was Canterlot High. An odd place to be in when there's an anomaly afoot. Many examples would be used, such as the time an alien had entered the school right under their noses. Ever since then, the students of Canterlot High started experiencing odd events. But yet they still go on with their lives like normal.  As Sunset Shimmer walked along with her fellow students, she was greeted by a few while on her way to the cafeteria. She greeted them back of course, it would be rude not to. When she finally reached her destination, something strange had caught her eye. It was her friend Rainbow Dash, the athlete was standing close to the windows with a pair of binoculars in her hands, seemingly transfixed towards the sky.  Sunset wanted to ask, but first she needed to get some lunch. After waiting in line with her own tray, and getting some food for the day, she went over to the table where her friends were. When she sat down, she noticed the same confusion on the faces of her friends, and all of it was directed towards the rainbow headed girl. None of them spoke as they ate their lunch, their eyes still on Dash. Except for Pinkie Pie, she was just enjoying her lunch as usual.  "Oh Fluttershy, dearie," Rarity began. "Did you perhaps convince Rainbow Dash to take on bird watching as a hobby?" "Oh no, Rainbow isn't really the type to... um, take such a simple hobby." The shy girl answered.  Applejack then pointed a spoon at Dash. "Then what's up that girl? She's been starin' out the window since this morning!"  "That is, strange..." Twilight pointed out the obvious. "Anyone know what could have made her this way?" "Nope!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.  As the rest of her friends were questioning Dash's mentality and current behavior, Sunset couldn't help but eavesdrop on the nearby table where a few students were talking about a strange moment from yesterday. What caught her curiosity was the mention of a fighter jet playing in traffic.  "Telling you dude, it just zoomed through the highway dodging cars like nothing!" One student claimed.  "Yeah, we didn't get a video of it though. But still, you should've seen how fast this jet was going." Another supported the first.  "Really? What kind of idiot would fly too close to the ground?" A girl at their table was of course skeptical.  "They didn't just fly into traffic, he flew into a forest!" "What? No way that happened!" A boy in glasses couldn't believe it.  "Yeah it did, and we didn't really see what happened but the jet burst out of the forest and was going straight to the skies! We both watched it climbing higher and higher, but then..." "Then what?" A student sitting at a neighboring table asked, curious on how the story ends. It would seem their strange tale had caught the attention of a number of students.  "He dropped." Silent gasps were made all around them. "That's right, he was plummeting down towards the earth, both of us were in awe with such a dangerous stunt. Soon enough, he was closer to the ground than ever. We expected it would crash with the speed it was going, it was like a bullet. We were totally wrong. Instead, just before the tip of the jet's nose could touch the ground, it snapped towards the forest again!" "No way, the pilot would've hurt themselves with that kind of whiplash!" "Yeah way! It just made an awesome turn, so cool that we were cheering before we even knew what happened. It was so dang awesome!" Sunset didn't notice it, but her friends were also listening to the story, when it was over, the students went back to their own businesses to talk and ponder about what they had just heard. Especially Sunset and the rest of the mane six, sans Dash. She was curious of why this jet would ever think of flying too close to traffic. Honestly, only a mad man would ever do such a thing.  "Who in the world would ever do such a stunt?" Sunset flinched when Rarity spoke, she was brought back to her own circle of friends with jolt. "It is very dangerous, and someone should really teach whoever was piloting that jet a lesson on safety!" "Ah hear ya, wouldn't want that kind of trouble near my home." Applejack agreed with the fashionista. Twilight nodded. "I also believe the same, there are too many risks when a jet, a military one of all things, flies too low. What was that pilot even thinking?" "There was no pilot." The whole table nearly screamed at Dash's sudden claim. She appeared out of nowhere, which shocked her friends. Especially when she wasn't being herself lately.  "RD, are you tryna give us a heart attack!?" Applejack snapped at the girl in blue.  "And whatever do you mean when you say that there was no pilot?" Rarity inquired. "You heard it right, and I should know, I had an up close encounter." She whispered, earning her a variety of reactions. Applejack gave her a doubtful look, Twilight leaned even closer out of curiosity, Rarity was honestly surprised by Dash's claim. Fluttershy didn't want to say how absurd it was, but she chose not to speak to not hurt anyone's feelings. Pinky just gasped like a cartoon character, not really out of character for her.  As for Sunset, she was frozen with the straw of her drink just an inch away from her lips. She already knew what Dash meant, because there was a certain alien with wings that comes to mind. Just yesterday she had met these new creatures from the stars, and yet, there was already trouble brewing.  "I see," Twilight spoke, eager to learn more. "could you perhaps explain to us?" Dash looked around, she made sure that no one was eavesdropping on them. Then she ushered her friends closer to whisper in amongst themselves. "Because it wasn't even human to begin with, it was a robot." Pinkie quickly shot up from her place. "A robot! Now Dashie, that is just-" Dash pulled her back, this earned the group a few odd stares and glances. She smiled awkwardly before returning to their private conversation. "Yes, the jet transformed into a robot. And he had this jerky attitude." Sunset would've choked on her food if she was eating right now, luckily she wasn't. Her eyes darted at Dash and the others, her knowledge weighed down on her heavily. It seems that Starscream made the mistake of showing himself to Dash.  "Like a Gundam?" Fluttershy inquired, there was a slight excitement in her voice for some reason.  "It isn't like the shows you watch Fluttershy, this one was mean and dangerous." "You said 'he', the robot has a gender?" Twilight, the only one who was seriously interested more in the mechanics and working of the robot.  "Oh please, how are you sure that this 'robot' is real? For all we know, Dash is simply making things up." Rarity voiced her thoughts.  "I don't know Twilight, his voice was shrill and high pitched, but he seems like a 'he'. And Rarity, I'm telling the truth. I mean, this wouldn't be weird, we faced some strange stuff for a while now." Applejack couldn't help but nod in agreement. "She's got ya there Rares, we have been kicked, dunked, and buttered by the weirdest things. Remember that time y'all had to face a talkin' tree? It wasn't the strangest, so I'm inclined to actually believe Dash for once." "What do you think, Sunset?" When Pinkie asked the question and brought all attention towards the girl from another world, Sunset felt like she was suffocating. With all their eyes on her, waiting for an answer, she couldn't help but sweat as numerous thoughts ran through her mind.  She weighed in her options, she could either tell them about her findings or simply claim ignorance. One could possibly create a distrust among her friends, the other might break the ones with the Cybertronians. She glanced over to her friends, they waited patiently for her answer. She chuckled awkwardly as the idea of Starscream crushing her for telling anyone came to her mind. But then Arcee entered the picture, acting as her protector from the evil Decepticon.  It was then she made a decision. She had finally chosen a path and she hoped that there would be no repercussions. "Girls... I need to tell you something..." Shockwave stared blankly at the monitor of his computer, as usual. He stood there silently, uncaring of all things around him. His hand would occasionally tap away on the keys before being still once more. This was his only action ever since Swindle's visit. Smokescreen wanted to ask what he was doing, but a single shake of Arcee's head was enough to dissuade the four wheeler.  Starscream was not with the group, he would always stand so close to the forest, keeping his distance away from the rest. Seemingly lost in his very own world. Sometimes Smokescreen would try to call for his attention, but the seeker kept his back towards the Autobot and refrained from answering. Arcee could tell that the Decepticon could hear Smokescreen, he would flinch very time his name was called. Yet he pretended like nothing was happening.  The seeker became a bit distant, and the cyclops was busy with his work with no signs of stopping. So it was basically just the Autobots. They didn't really have anything to distract themselves with, there was some idle chat between the young mech and the femme. But they couldn't really find anything to break the ice with. So it just ended up with Arcee leaving to scout the area, leaving Smokescreen in charge of the two 'Cons. And he was still bored, so he decided to go and bother Starscream because there were less chances of losing his hand, unlike Shockwave.  He approached the seeker, no sound was made as his pedes walked over the grassy field towards Starscream. But once he was close enough, the Autobot could hear Starscream speaking to himself. Quickly, Smokescreen stopped dead in his tracks, he listened in closely out of curiosity. "How is that possible..." Starscream muttered. "Out of all things to find on this planet, never would I have thought it was... I'm going off track with this. Listen, I will require something to help us, maybe... No," The seeker scowled. "I am not becoming an Autobot, they are simply here to aid me against the DJD." He scoffed.  "When all of this is over then I will leave as quick as possible, hopefully it will all go smoothly. I don't want to encounter any trouble." "Who are you talking to?" Starscream yelped when Smokescreen spoke, the tree he leaned on tilted over thanks to Starscream's frightened reaction.  "How long have you been there!?" The 'Con snapped at him.  "I just got here." He lied. Starscream growled for a second, then he returned to his own business. "Sorry Swindle, the annoying Autobot snuck up on me, we'll have to continue our conversation in the near future." There was a pause. "Yes, I will be there." With that, he ended the call, then he turned to glare at Smokescreen. "So what's up?" The Autobot asked.  "There is nothing 'up', I was just talking to Swindle, nothing more. Why are you sneaking about?" "Just bored," He explained himself. "got nothing better to do, and I don't really want to disturb Shockwave." "Ah, yes, Shockwave..." Starscream hummed. "I am a bit curious of what he is currently doing, so perhaps you could go and check on our resident scientist." "Slag no, I know who to mess with and who I shouldn't." Smokescreen stated.  "And you believe I should be trifled with? I wonder sometimes why I am allowing you to live." Smokescreen smirked. "Because I'm helping you right now?" The seeker scoffed. "You are indeed correct. You and Arcee are important and  valued allies, for you see, I have a plan!" "Well let's hear it, 'Scream." "Oh I'm sorry, but the plan is top secret, just play along and soon we shall be on our separate ways." Starscream walked past the Autobot. "Now if you excuse me, I need to speak with Shockwave about a little project." Smokescreen could only wonder what this project is, as he stared at the back of Starscream's head, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy by the seeker's words.  Knockout doesn't really understand what exactly he was staring at. Sitting motionless on the table was an odd looking gun. The barrel was really thick, yet the exit was small, the gun itself was tiny as well. It honestly looked too weak to harm anyone. With him was the DJD's medic, Nickel, and as well as Shatter. The three seekers were also there, but Slipstream was the only one paying attention to their work.  Brawl was present as well, but the big brute was more interested with Slipstream's goons. He chatted with them, waiting patiently for Knockout to finish.  The minicon, and the two red Decepticons were entrusted to find out how this invention of Shockwave's ticks. They had been at it for hours, constantly breaking it apart and putting it back together, yet there was no progress. Shatter tried her best to see the inner workings, but it alludes to them. The real issue here was that Tarn's group of Decepticons had no scientists or professional researchers. It was only two medics and an intelligent triple-changer. This was hardly a proper team to work with, yet Tarn demanded that they figure things out.  So here they are, a lab in another ship called Storm Slicer, orbiting a barren planet and far from Cybertron. A ship that Shatter had kept after the war which now serves a purpose. "This is getting us nowhere!" Nickel snapped, startling the larger 'Cons. "All we got is a bunch of numbers, that's it!" "I have to agree with shorty there," Knockout spoke. "we aren't exactly the right bots to do this." Shatter dipped her head. "Indeed, we are not experienced with this kind of work. Shockwave's mind is beyond our understanding. We need someone who is almost as intelligent as him." "There are many Decepticons that fit the bill, but sadly Nickel's friend harvested them of their T-cogs. So we only have a few options." Knockout said as he leaned back.  "There is someone who would be able to understand this complex creation, but they had been very uncooperative with Tarn. Blitzwing." The two red grounders stared at Nickel, surprised to hear that apparently there was still hope.  "What exactly is the problem?" Knockout inquired.  Nickel was hesitant, then she sighed. But before she could explain, a vehicon had stormed into the room holding a datapad in his hands. "Commander Nickel! We have an incoming call from an unknown source."  Nickel groaned deeply, she hopped off the stool she had been standing on and approached the vehicon. "Shatter, begin tracing the caller now!" The femme did as she was ordered. Shatter brought out her own datapad and connected it to the vehicon's. When she was ready, Nickel motioned for the drone to answer it with the screen facing the group while Knockout and Brawl as well as Slipstream gathered behind Nickel and waited for the datapad to relay the message. Then the screen came alive, and now someone was on it, a Decepticon that they come to recognized as Blitzwing. Speak of the devil, and he will come.  The thing is, this was the first time Knockout had ever seen Blitzwing, and he had not expected him to look this way. A red visor covered his eyes of course, an iconic part of him really. But it was the lower face that really made Knockout feel sick in his tanks. Blitzwing's face was mangled, like it was peeled of his outer exterior and was stabbed a dozen times, but then was partially fixed up. It was just rows of mismatched and jagged teeth, and painted black as if it would cover it up. His face was locked into an eternal smile, one that sent fear towards the enemy. His appearance was what Knockout has heard, two cannons on his back and wings, because he was a triple-changer. Not just any though, but one of the originals. Blitzwing cackled, three voices echoed out of his mouth. "Little frau~!" He sang.  "You!" Nickel screeched. The other bots were startled once again by Nickel. The minicon made a quiet glance over to Shatter who nodded in the minicon's direction telling her that Shatter was currently tracking the triple-changer down. "What do you want Blitzwing!" "Ve vant you to surrender!" His tone changed, it was much stricter than before, and he was even louder. "Your pretty little head on a spike, that's vhat ve desire!" "Or perhaps we can settle with a limb, maybe your T-cog?" A calmer Blitzwing offered. "Ve vant to kiss ze spider!" "What's with Two-Face over here and why isn't he in Arkham Asylum?" Knockout asked, but all he received were odd looks from his peers. "It was an Earth film, honestly, you guys just don't understand." "Dead End, is zat you?" "Nein you imbecile, Dead End has been terminated eons ago! Zat is obviously Knockout, ze traitor!" "Knockout, zat is truly surprising. Ve vould've thought zat Tarn killed you." "Enough Blitzwing, why are you calling us!?" Nickel demanded answers.  The triple-changer chuckled, then he stepped out of the side to reveal a ship he had hid away from the camera, every 'Con in the room gasped once they could fully see it. "Zat is right, ve have ze ship~!" "How did you get the Nemesis!?" Knockout was the one who asked, his confusion lingered in his voice, even the rest of the bots were shocked.  When the war ended, Ultra Magnus had ordered to retrieve what was left of the Nemesis and fixed it. And when numerous Autobot refugees had returned to Cybertron and helped rebuild their cities, the Nemesis was then taken to a secured museum. It was part of everyone's history, but many Autobots saw it more as a trophy. Which is why it would have been impossible to steal the ship.  "Ve had help," Blitzwing chuckled as he panned the camera towards his left. A yellow Decepticon femme, a seeker with a large cannon strapped on her back, was busy painting herself to even notice that there were some audience watching her work.  "Thunderblast!?" Slipstream exclaimed.  "Slipstream?" The femme perked up, her wings flickered for a second, it was then she realized that she was being watched by a number of bots.  "Yes, though she is a dummkopf, her appearance is quite useful against young mechs." If Blitzwing was able to smile, he would have.  Slipstream gritted her teeth. "You idiot, what are you doing with this screw loose!?" Thunderblast simply huffed and turned away. "You wouldn't understand, you never do! And I'm still mad, so I'm not talking to you of all people." "Thunderblast, if you don't surrender yourself right now, I will make sure that you are punished for your idiocy!" "Zat von't do!" Blitzwing pulled the camera back to him. "Ve vill not be punished for our choice! Tarn is not ze right mech to lead ze Decepticons, he is an unhinged psychopath! Hundreds of our kind have been offlined by his hands, some vere made an example. Ve know zat zis is not just about kommandant Starscream or Herr Shockvave. Ze Decepticons deserves a proper leader, someone who vould stand vith ze people. Tarn is not ze one." "War is over Blitzwing," Nickel scoffed. "Starscream and Shockwave are no longer your superiors. So why would you address them that way and what do you need with the Nemesis?" "Starscream is a coward, ve know zis, but even after all ze punishment lord Megatron had given him, Starscream still stands. After all these years he still stands, he is by far one of the oldest Decepticons there is, so he earned my respects. Shockvave is simply a mech of logic and science, so it is vise to keep him as an ally. As for ze Nemesis? To search for a leader zat shall bring ze Decepticons back to ze light! Vith ze Nemesis, our search can begin." He turned towards something off camera. "Flamevar, ready ze engines!" He stared through the camera one last time. "Blitzwing, out." He cackled violently as the screen faded away. His voice echoed through the room for a split second.  The 'Cons who were present felt a shiver go down their backs, but Nickel remained stoic. She was unfazed, Nickel did not fear the triple-changer, she was simply annoyed. Nickel glanced over to Shatter hoping for the best results, but the femme only answered Nickel with a shake of her helm.  Nickel sighed deeply. "Tarn won't like this..."