//------------------------------// // To life // Story: BACK TO LIFE // by CROSSOVER KING //------------------------------// "What do you call the places where rocks sleep? Bedrocks," said Maud Pie in front of a microphone with his usual monotone voice, causing nearly the entire garage to burst into laughter. Her audience consisted of her sisters Pinkie, Limestone, and Marble, as well as their distant relative Applejack and new Autobot friend Cliffjumper. They had all gathered inside the garage of the Pie family house after school and at the moment, they were sitting in front of Maud while listening to some of the jokes she was thinking about telling during her stand-up routine. Even though her sisters and Cliffjumper were highly entertained by these jokes, Applejack was visibly confused by them and was rather unsure of why the rest of the group would consider them to be funny in the first place. "Alright, I've got one more for you", Maud continued. "Why are sedimentary rock collections always so cheap? Because, they're always on shale." Once again, everyone except Applejack began laughing extremely hard and she looked at her fellow audience members with an utterly dumbfounded expression on her face. A handful of seconds later, the laughter finally died down and Cliffjumper exclaimed, "Sweet Primus! I haven't heard jokes this funny in a million stellar-cycles!" "See? I told you my big sis was a certified genius in comedy!", Pinkie said with a gigantic smile on her face. "Don't you think so, Applejack?" Immediately upon hearing that question, Applejack's facial expression turned to utter shock and as she began sweating, she nervously managed to reply, "Uhhh... Y-yeah... Darn tootin' she is. Real talent for cracking jokes she's got there. Hehehe..." Even though Limestone raised an eyebrow at this answer in suspicion, Maud nevertheless announced, "Well, I really appreciate the overall positive feedback, but I have to go now. I need to be at the club in about one hour for my stand-up." "Oh, don't worry about it, Maud," Cliffjumper interjected. "I can drive you there myself if you want." "Thanks, Cliff, but there is no need," replied Maud. "My boyfriend will come to pick me up in a few minutes. It was really nice to meet you, by the way." "Yeah, you're easily the coolest new friend that Pinkie has brought here in a long while," Limestone admitted. "Isn't that right, Marble?" "Mm-hmm," Marble simply uttered as Maud opened the garage door, walked towards the front of the house, and started waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. Cliffjumper then stood back up and declared, "Well, you're also a really cool family to hang out with and it's been a real pleasure to meet all of you. I gotta take AJ home before it gets dark, but we can most certainly meet here again tomorrow after school if you're up for it." Both Limestone and Marble excitedly stood back up upon hearing this offer, and Limestone even held out a fist as she exclaimed, "Deal!" In response, Cliffjumper gently fistbumped her and when Marble also held out her fist, he did the same, albeit in an even more gently fashion. Then, he transformed into his vehicle mode and opened the driver's door so that Applejack could get in. However, as soon as she took her seat, the radio started emitting a static sound on its own and shortly afterwards, Wheeljack's voice was heard coming from it. "Cliffjumper, are you there?" he frantically asked. "If you can hear this, respond immediately! It's an emergency situation!" Cliffjumper then replied, "Whoa, slow down a notch, Wheeljack! I can here you just fine. Tell me what happened." "Oh, thank Primus you're alright!" began Wheeljack. "The base has been attacked. It's sustained heavy damage and the Energon stocks are completely empty. The humans are a bit shaken, but they're otherwise alright. As for Ratchet... well..." While an expression full of terror took shape on Applejack's face, Cliffjumper asked with an equal amount of concern in his voice, "What? What happened to him? Wheeljack, what's going on?! Answer me!" In response, Wheeljack let out a deep sigh and revealed, "It's best if you come here and see for yourself. Transmit your coordinates and I'll open the bridge ASAP. Wheeljack out." Immediately after the transmission ended, an extremely worried Applejack asked, "What in tarnation is goin' on, Cliff?" "I haven't the slightest clue, but we gotta get back to the others and find out," her Autobot guardian declared. "Transmitting our coordinates now. Let's hope the ground bridge isn't too damaged." The moment he said that, a green portal opened up right in front of the car and Cliffjumper opened his other front door so that Pinkie could get in. Fortunately, she quickly figured out what that meant and hopped in the car before Cliffjumper closed the door and sped off towards the ground bridge. As soon as they entered, the portal closed behind them, leaving Limestone and Marble to stare with widened eyes at the spot where the said phenomenon that had just occurred. "You saw that too, right?" Limestone asked. Her sister promptly replied, "Mm-hmm." "Oh, good," Limestone then said. "For a second there, I thought I'd have to pay my shrink extra for the session this week." When Cliffjumper and his human friends finally emerged from the ground bridge, they found the base exactly as Wheeljack had described earlier. There was indeed heavy damage all around them and the ceiling was almost completely demolished. The rest of the humans were gathered at the center of the room, and all of them were rubbing their heads and slightly groaning in pain. However, by far, the most horrifying part of the scene before them was what everyone (including all the other Autobots) was gathered around: Ratchet laying motionless on a giant operating table, his entire chassis full of holes and dents, and his chest being connected via a tube to what looked like a ventilator used in ER rooms. Instead of pumping breathable air, the machine was pumping liquid Energon into his body. After several seconds of staring at the results of the events that had transpired during their absence, the trio started running towards the others. As Cliffjumper reunited with his comrades, Applejack and Pinkie were embraced by their friends, who nearly bursted into tears upon seeing them. They all hugged for what seemed like eternity before finally letting each other go and Applejack then asked, "Is everyone doin' alright?" "We're all fine, darling," Rarity replied. "There's still a bit of a ringing in our ears, but besides that, we're okay. Can't exactly say the same for Ratchet, though." "Why? What's happened to him?" Pinkie asked with an unusually solemn tone of voice. An equally solemn Flash Sentry then explained, "Two Decepticons named Starscream and Soundwave attacked. While the former opened fire on the ceiling, the latter suddenly came out of a ground bridge that Ratchet had opened to help us escape. They must've known about this location for some time and been waiting for the right moment to strike. Anyway, as we tried to get away from Soundwave, he unleashed some kind of sonic attack and knocked us all out." As Applejack and Pinkie winced upon hearing this news, Sour Sweet continued, "When we came to, both Ratchet and the room were like this, and Optimus, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack were checking up on us. They said that Megatron raised an army of undead robots with something called 'Dark Energon'. They beat the army, but it was meant to distract Optimus so that the Decepticons could get inside the base. What's worse, Megatron apparently claimed this was all just a preview for the main event. Whatever that is, it doesn't sound pretty at all and what we just went through will most likely be less than nothing compared to it." Utterly horrified expressions dawned on everyone's faces when she finished the last sentence and as they tried to process all that information, Wheeljack came beside them and announced, "Well, the good news is that doc's not offline just yet. The Cons may have taken the entire Energon supply, but I had a secret stash hidden somewhere in storage just in case something like this ever happened. It should keep him stable for a day or two." "The bad news is that we gotta refill our stocks soon and I can't be sure of exactly how much Energon we'll need to help him recover. On top of all that, we've got Megatron's new master plan to foil and like you said, it's shaping up to be the fight of our lives. We may all end up like doc in the end, but hey, we've been at this war for a very long time. To be honest, I'm actually kinda surprised that it took this long for something like this to happen to one of us. I always thought it would happen to Prime or Cliffjumper, but I guess life truly is full of surprises." Right after saying all that, he hung his head in sorrow and soon enough, all the humans except Fluttershy did the same. She, meanwhile, walked towards Optimus, who was still staring at Ratchet's body with a blank expression, and once she was right beside him, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, Optimus. What happened to Ratchet was our fault. We should've stood by his side and tried to fight Soundwave instead of running away." Even though Optimus remained silent and did not say anything, Wheeljack had heard Fluttershy's words and thus, he countered, "Don't beat yourself up over it. From what've heard, there really wasn't much you could've done. None of you are used to fighting Cons, and Soundwave is among the toughest out there." As soon as Fluttershy heard this, her facial expression changed from sad to annoyed and upon turning back to Wheeljack, she exclaimed, "What we are used to is fighting monsters and other evil beings! Sure, not all of us were present during the attack, but we still could've used some of our magic to make a stand! You Autobots keep risking your lives to protect us, so the least we could do is to prove that we're not a bunch of helpless kids!" Wheeljack then replied with a slightly raised tone, "Look, none of us think you're helpless, alright? You just need a little bit of experience in fighting regular troopers before you move on to heavy hitters. Besides, if anyone's to blame around here, it's Ratchet himself. If he had contacted Cliffjumper's group and brought 'em here as Prime told him to, you could've stood a better chance of holding the Cons at bay before my squad and I showed up." "Then, why in tarnation didn't he call Cliff?!" a tearful Applejack asked as she came beside Fluttershy. "I mean, I know he's not the strongest or the most caring among y'all, but I've seen him grow a whole lot in the last couple days. If any bot's qualified to help Ratchet out, it's Cliff!" In response, Wheeljack let out a deep sigh and admitted, "I dunno. Maybe doc thought he could keep an eye on you by himself my squad and I left the base. Or maybe he didn't wanna endanger more lives when the Cons attacked. Or maybe-" "ENOUGH!!!" Hearing that loud yell from Optimus caused everyone in the room to stop talking and turn their attention towards the Autobot leader, who had also raised his right hand in the air. After a few seconds of silence, he proceeded to lower the said hand and firmly declare, "Blaming ourselves for this tragedy will not benefit us in any way. Right now, we must focus on fulfilling two main objectives at the same time: healing our friend and stopping the Decepticons from annihilating all life on this planet." As both humans and his fellow Autobots stared at him in confusion, Rainbow Dash inquired, "Uhhh... I'm sorry, but how do these missions tie into one another, exactly?" "Allow me to explain," Optimus began. "Megatron is in possession of geodes that can be used to create a more powerful version of Energon. It contains the ability to improve the efficiency of machines and heal the wounds of any Cybertronian. Though we may not know how Dark Energon factors into this plan, it is clear that Megatron needs the geodes for the plan to work properly. That is why we must retrieve them, as well as some Energon, from his warship before combining them together and using the product to revive Ratchet." As soon as he was finished with this explanation, everyone started discussing what they had just heard in the form of whispers. Several seconds later, Twilight asked, "So, how are we gonna get inside the warship in the first place? In fact, how can we even find a warship that's constantly flying above the clouds without being detected by anyone on the surface?" "Actually, I have found them," Wheeljack revealed, drawing everyone's attention to himself in the process. "When we got back here, I did a whole sweep of the place and picked up traces of a ground bridge with an energy signature different from ours. I traced it back to its source and the said source is indeed moving and above the clouds. That being said, we can only remain locked on it as long as it stays in a limited range, and judging from its current speed and course, it's gonna be out of range in a couple megacycles. So, if we really wanna transport ourselves there or open communications, I suggest we do it soon." Once he uttered that last sentence, everyone except him and Optimus once again started whispering with each other and discussed the situation amongst themselves. As for Optimus, he pondered on what he should do in complete silence and a handful of seconds later, he let out a deep sigh, turned back towards Wheeljack, and said, "Then, contact the warship. I have a message to deliver." Wheeljack responded by giving him a nod and then pressing a few buttons on the console right next to himself. Soon enough, he gave Optimus a thumbs up and the Autobot leader walked towards the console before stopping right in front of it and stating, "Autobot Outpost Omega One to the Decepticon Vessel Nemesis. We seek an audience with Lord Megatron as soon as possible." However, when all they heard in response was static, he said with a slightly raised tone of voice, "Megatron, can you hear me? This is Optimus! I have a proposition for you!" Then, after a few more seconds of static, he finally heard Megatron's voice replying, "A proposition you say, old friend? A most surprising development, but a welcome one nonetheless. Let me hear your terms, then." "Return the geodes you have taken from us and I shall surrender myself to your custody," Optimus declared, causing the entire room to loudly gasp in complete shock. "Hmmm... A tempting offer," Megatron said in response. "Tell me, what exactly is the catalyst behind this bold sacrifice of yours? Is it the critical condition of your long-time ally or the realization of your inevitable defeat?" "Both, actually," Optimus firmly answered. "I have indeed realized that this is a war the Autobots cannot hope to win. Therefore, I have decided that we should spend the little time we have left in doing as many good deeds as we can. The geodes are an essential part of our new human friends and we can also use them to revive a comrade who is very dear to all of us. So, what do you say, Megatron? Are my terms acceptable or not?" While the humans were all in tears after hearing this, Megatron eventually let out a sinister chuckle and replied, "Ever the hero of the weak and helpless. Very well, Optimus. I accept your terms. Hovever, I have a condition of my own: the humans you speak of must come to the ship alongside you. I wish to give them their precious geodes in person and show them a little... demonstration." As everyone looked at Optimus in concern, he took a moment to think about about what he was going to say and then announced, "I accept," which caused another uproar of gasps from those around him. "Excellent," Megatron then stated. "I shall send a squad to escort you here momentarily. Megatron out." The transmission then finally ended and immediately afterwards, a visibly enraged Sunset ran towards Optimus before kicking him in the right foot and (despite the incredible amount of pain she received as a result) shouting, "What in the name of Celestia were you thinking?! You know as well as everyone else here that he's going to double-cross and kill us all in the end! So, why in Tartarus would you make such a stupid deal instead of figuring out a way to defeat him?!" As she started breathing heavily in order to calm herself, Optimus took a knee in front of her and gently wiped the tears off her face as he explained, "Because I remembered something you told me yesterday, Sunset: that I should trust my friends and allies to have my back during a tough situation. You and I both know that I am partially responsible for this war, and I cannot atone for my sins without help from those closest to me. That is why the plan I have in mind will require all of us to play a part. Besides, you do not have to worry too much about what Megatron might do to you and your friends. Knowing him, I can already suspect what his 'demonstration' will be like and I promise that none of you will be harmed as long as you follow my lead. Do you understand?" As he said all this to Sunset, her facial expression changed from angry to genuinely surprised and after taking a moment to consider what she had just heard, she both smiled and nodded at Optimus, who nodded back in response. He then stood back up, turned towards his comrades, and declared, "Autobots, I know the road that brought us here has been a long and painful one. We have all lost so much during the war and I realize that I have not been the best leader you could have asked for. That being said, our darkest hour will soon be upon us, and I ask each and every one of you to trust in me one more time. We are now in Situation Alpha and you all know what to do, but if any of you wish to depart, do so immediately." The three Autobots all looked at each other for a short while and then turned back towards their leader to salute him. Even though his optics widened a bit upon seeing this, Optimus nevertheless saluted them back and even heard Bumblebee say, "And hope shines eternal And friends are all I need (All I need) And hope shines eternal (Shines eternal) And the future is always bri-i-i-ight When you're here with me!" Although all the humans immediately cheered upon hearing these lyrics, they were soon silenced by the sight of a ground bridge opening up near them and four Decepticon troopers, along with Breakdown, coming out of it. While his soldiers all pointed their blasters at Optimus, Breakdown took a quick look around the room and upon spotting the humans hiding behind their respective Autobot guardians, he gave them a vicious smile and asked, "How's it goin'? Did y'all miss me?" In response, they all glared at him, and Spike even started growling and barking. However, he ignored all that and walked towards Optimus before stopping just a couple feet in front of him and declaring, "Alright, you know the drill. Hands above your head and no sudden moves. Else, you get shot. Understood?" Optimus responded by doing what he had said without uttering a single word and right after Breakdown smirked at this, he went behind the Autobot leader, placed giant cuffs on his hands, and pushed him towards the ground bridge. Though this caused Optimus to grunt and stumble a bit, he calmly began to walk towards the portal and shortly afterwards, Breakdown gestured the Mane 7 to do the same, which they nervously complied. Soon enough, they were all gathered at the edge of the ground bridge and after giving one final glance at the remaining Autobots and humans (as well as Spike), they proceeded to enter the bridge, with the Decepticons following suit. Once they were all inside, the portal finally closed.