//------------------------------// // It's a feeling you give me inside // Story: BACK TO LIFE // by CROSSOVER KING //------------------------------// Shortly after two titanic leaders of rival Cybertronian factions charged right at each other for their final confrontation, the clash of their respective blades created a shock wave so poweful that it caused both combatants to be pushed at least a dozen feet backwards. Immediately afterwards, Megatron aimed his Fusion Cannon at Optimus Prime and tried to blast him several times before the Autobot leader turned his left hand into a sword and deflected every single one of these shots as he started running towards Megatron once again. Then, he used his sword to redirect the sixth shot towards Megatron's left shoulder, and the resulting hit caused the Decepticon leader to both yelp in pain and stumble a few steps backwards just as he was firing the seventh shot. While he placed his right claw on his injured shoulder, Optimus avoided his oncoming shot by jumping over Megatron, turning his right hand into blaster, and shooting at both his opponent's chest and his back several times, finally knocking him down as he safely landed right behind him. As the wounded Decepticon leader struggled to get back up and managed to stand on one knee, his archnemesis attempted to finish him off with his sword, but he successfully blocked the attack with his hidden blade coming out of the underside of his Fusion Cannon and slashed at Optimus in the left side of his abdomen with his left claw, tearing it deep enough to expose some circuits with sparks flying out and forcing the Autobot commander grunting in pain to take a few steps backwards, which gave Megatron enough time to get back on his servos with the help of his blade. As he began charging at Optimus once again, he blocked his opponent's blaster shots with his left arm and countered another sword strike with his blade before exploiting the resulting opening by stabbing Optimus in the right side of his abdomen, causing him to scream even louder in agony. He then retracted his blade, used it to slice Prime's back, and delivered a point blank shot to the chest, sending his mortal enemy flying several dozen feet away in the process. While the severely injured Autobot leader attempted get back on his servos with much struggle, his opponent jumped high in the air and then started falling down towards him with the intention of bisecting him in half. However, just before he could do so, Optimus delivered an uppercut to his jaw and knocked him away in the process. Then, he turned his blaster into a second sword and both blades subsequently clashed several times with Megatron's own blade. When all three blades were eventually locked together, Megatron tried to grab Prime's head with his left claw, but the Autobot leader quickly turned his right sword into a hand again and stopped the claw from reaching his face at the last possible second. As both combatants struggled with each other for a bit, Megatron furiously exclaimed, "I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR OPTICS!!!" Right after hearing this, Optimus used every bit of strength he had left in himself to toss his archenemy over his shoulder and as soon as Megatron hit the ground with a heavy thud, he turned both of his hands into blasters and began to repeatedly shoot at the Decepticon leader. Upon being hit by these blasts a handful of times, Megatron proceeded to retreat and transform into his vehicle mode with Optimus continuing his shooting even as his opponent became airborn and started avoiding the blasts. The said opponent then came around and started sending his own blaster fire at the Autobot leader, who responded by transforming into his own vehicle mode and driving at top speed in an effort to avoid getting shredded by this incoming attack. After being pursued and shot at by Megatron for a short while, Optimus stopped moving forward and instead, began doing donuts in the middle of the desert and creating a huge dust cloud in the process. This caused Megatron to not only lose sight of his prey, but also momentarily lose control of its navigation system due to the significant amount of dust that had damaged his sensors, forcing him to descend towards the ground for a landing as a result. However, this was just what Optimus had been counting on and once his friend turned rival was close enough, he came up behind the jet, transformed back into robot, and grabbed on to the said jet's wings by jumping right towards it. In response, Megatron immediately ascended back up and attempted to shake Optimus off of himself by spinning violently. Fortunately, the Autobot leader managed to continue holding on to the wings despite all this and even stabbed the engines by turning his left hand back into a sword, causing Megatron to completely lose control of his flight systems, crash into the top of a nearby mountain, and transform back into his robot mode in the process. As the two titans began tumbling down, Optimus stabbed the mountainside in a desperate effort to slow down his descent and eventually, he came to a complete stop at the halfway point of the mountain. Unfortunately, as Megatron was falling nearby, he grabbed Prime's right leg with his left claw and dragged the Autobot leader down a bit in the process, Optimus nevertheless struggled to hold on to the mountainside with his swords and even though he only descended a couple feet before managing to stop himself from going down any further, he then looked down to see Megatron taking aim at him with the Fusion Cannon. "Start climbing," the Decepticon leader ordered. "We shall finish our battle once we are both safe at the top. Otherwise, we fall to our doom together. After all, if I am to become one with the AllSpark today, I would be more than willing to take you with me to the Matrix. Your choice, Optimus." Upon hearing that threat, Optimus momentarily looked away from his mortal enemy and began thinking about his options on how to get out of this predicament, as well as the good and bad outcomes of choosing either option. After spending a handful of seconds contemplating on this, he looked back at Megatron and announced with utter determination, "Then, I choose this." Immediately afterwards, he turned his right hand back into its blaster mode, aimed it right at the face of a completely shocked Megatron, and added, "Farewell... brother." He then shot the Decepticon leader in his right optic and watched him fall towards the ground, screaming all the way with pure rage and agony. Optimus once again looked away and, after taking a deep breath, remorsefully pondered if there ever was another way to end the war and protect the inhabitants of the planet. However, his optics eventually widened with shock as his thoughts turned to Sunset Shimmer and her friends, So, he turned his blaster back into his right hand, activated his commlink by pressing the right side of his head, and frantically spoke, "Ratchet, this is Optimus. Do you copy?" "Affirmative, Optimus," Ratchet's voice replied. "We can hear you loud and clear. The Decepticons have all been neutralized and everyone is safely back at the base. Our fellow Autobots all looked pretty beat up after coming back from their battles, but luckily, Sunset used her magic to heal every single one of them in no time. What is your status?" In response, Optimus let out a sigh in relief and declared, "Wounded, but not fatally so. More importantly, Megatron has just been defeated, as well. I repeat, Megatron is down." As soon as he made that announcement, he heard both his Autobots and their human friends loudly cheer for this long-awaited news, and then heard Ratchet say, "That's very good to hear, old friend. I've never doubted you for a moment. The Ground Bridge is locked on to your coordinates and ready to bring you back to base whenever you wish." Optimus then looked at the spot where he had stabbed the mountain and upon feeling his blade slipping a bit, he replied, "Actually, it would be best if you open the bridge one klick south of my position." "South?" inquired Ratchet with utter confusion. "What do you mean by that?" "Trust me, old friend," Optimus assured him. "You shall see what I mean soon enough." Then, a few seconds after their transmission ended, a green portal opened short distance behind Optimus and he proceeded to pull his sword back, turn it back into his left hand, and push himself away from the mountain as hard as he could in order to reach the said portal. Once he emerged from the other side, he promptly fell on his back due to essentially flying backwards, and found himself surrounded by both his fellow Autobots and their human friends (as well as Flash Sentry, Sour Sweet, and Spike), who had all run towards him in concern upon his exit from the Ground Bridge in such a bizzarre fashion. "Optimus!" he heard Sunset Shimmer exclaim nearby. "What happened? Are you okay?" He turned his head to the right to see her still in the Daydream Shimmer form standing over him with an extremely worried look on her face. Then, he started gently stroking her hair with his right hand and said, "Do not worry, Sunset. I am quite alright. Injured, but still very much functional. Believe it or not, seeing you here in one piece has actually made me feel even better than I was earlier." His words caused a warm smile to appear on Sunset's face and even made her shed a few tears of joy before she hugged his faceplate once again and he continued to stroke her hair, with the magical energy emanating from her hands gradually healing his injuries and eveyone gathered around them watching the scene with equally warm smiles on their faces. Nearly half a minute later, they finally let go of each other and he stood back up with some assistance from Wheeljack and Bumblebee, before turning towards the audience in front of him and announcing, "You have all fought valiantly and with honor today. The road that we have traveled to get this far was indeed a long one and required each of us to make many sacrifices along the way, but we can all rest easy now, knowing that the Decepticon threat is over for now and the people of this world remain safe from their tyranny. My fellow Autobots and I would have never accomplished any of this without the help of our respective human allies and friends, and whether it was fated to be so, the way I paired us up with these humans was the wisest decision I have made in a long while." The said humans and their respective Autobot guardians then smiled at each other as Optimus continued, "They helped us overcome the physical and mental problems that we have been facing for a long time, allowing us to not only bring an end to our senseless conflict, but also allow us to become stronger than ever before. While our defeated enemies may one day come back with a vengeance, we will no doubt grow strong enough to end their threat once again. That being said, even if they return to terrorize this planet many more times, we must hold on to the hope that its inhabitants will help them in the same way that our new friends helped us and make them see the error of their ways." Even though everyone else in the room became confused by the notion of the Decepticons ever learning to become good again, the Autobots and their organic friends looked back at one another, and thought back to how the Autobots went through a significant change ever since they encountered and bonded with the humans under their care, eventually realizing that it is also possible for the bots on the opposite side improving a lot after meeting other humans, especially considering their weakened and vulnerable state at the time. Thus, after spending a several seconds contemplating this possibility, they all nodded at Optimus with appproval and he elaborated, "Now, despite the end of the war, this location is still compromised and the Decepticons may stage another attack on it at any given time. Therefore, I suggest we all leave as soon as possible and continue our stay on this planet by hiding in plain sight, secretly watching over and protecting its inhabitants. However, before we go, there is one more announcement that I wish to make." Upon saying that, he pulled out what looked like a silver key with engravings that glowed bright blue. While it was as big as his hand at first, it quickly transformed into the size of a regular human hand and as soon as it did so, Optimus kneeled down to give the object to Sunset, who took it with great curiosity. As she began to examine the object, she heard Optimus say, "Sunset Shimmer, you have demonstrated all the qualities a good leader should possess during these past few days: wisdom, courage, decisiveness, determination, and compassion. You have also helped me face and overcome my demons, rallied your friends to make a stand against the Decepticons despite your physical disadvantages, and defended this world as if it was your own, just like we Autobots did. Therefore, you have earned the right to carry the key to Vector Sigma; the repository of the collective wisdom of the Primes." While the other Autobots gasped in awe in response to this announcement, Sunset became both shocked and puzzled by it. After taking another look at the key in her hands, she asked, "Um, thanks, but what does this mean, exactly? I'm like the gatekeeper of a library or something?" "Vector Sigma and the key that opens it are among the most sacred relics in the history of Cybertron," Optimus explained. "The key itself can only be wielded by either a Prime or a being chosen by a Prime. Since I entrust it to you now, it has been imprinted with your own unique bio-signature." Hearing this explanation caused an utterly stunned expression to appear on Sunset's face and she almost collapsed on to the floor before Flash and Sour Sweet caught her by the arms. She then took a handful of seconds to collect her thoughts and finally managed to say, "H-hold up. Y-you're saying I'm... I'm now a P-prime like you?!" "Well, more like an honorary Prime," replied Optimus. "Besides, I seem to recall that the function of the so-called princesses in your world is to lead and protect its inhabitants, which is very similar to how Primes like myself have done ever since the inception of Cybertron." All the organics in the room gasped in shock upon hearing that statement and as Sunset's friends gathered around her to cheer for this momentous occasion and congratulate her for being granted such a great honor, she stared at the key in both confusion and disbelief for a handful of seconds, trying to comprehend what she had just heard and convince herself that it was all true. Then, just as a few drops of tear formed on her eyes and traveled down her cheeks, she looked back at Optimus with a small smile on her face and stammered, "I... I don't know what to say. T-thank you... Thank you so much!" Optimus gave her a nod of approval in response and happily watched as she joined her friends in a group hug and even let out a chuckle when Twilight asked her, "Looks like our lives won't be lacking any color or excitement any time soon, huh?" His thoughts were then interrupted when Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I admit, I would have most certainly objected to the idea of entrusting an artifact as sacred as this to a mere human. Alas, these humans have demonstrated an extraordinary strength of character and spirit ever since we first met them. Plus, you have never once let us down during your leadership of the Autobots and you were exactly the kind of commander we needed to win the war. So, if you truly believe that one of these humans deserves to wield the key to Vector Sigma, then you shall have my full support once again and I strongly suspect that the rest of our troops are of the same opinion." He then turned around to see the remaining Autobots nodding in approval of the decision and after he nodded back, he looked back at Optimus and the two nodded at each other in unison. Right afterwards, the old medical officer turned his gaze towards the organics, loudly cleared his throat in order to get their attention, and declared, "I know this is a great moment at all, but you can get on with the celebrations much later. First, we must focus on evacuating this base and transporting all of our important materials to a secure location. So, how about we all quit standing around and help with our relocation already?" Everyone in the room just looked at him in complete silence with blank expressions on their faces. The resulting awkwardness was only interrupted when Wheeljack suddenly facepalmed and said, "Oh, I just remembered something! Rarity and Rainbow's science fair project is due tomorrow, and we really should go and add some finishing touches on it. Sorry for not being able to help with the clean-up, but this is equally important and I hope you can all understand." He quickly proceeded to enter the coordinates for Rarity's house on the Ground Bridge computer, activate the said bridge, and transform into his vehicle mode while also opening his doors so that the girls could get in. As soon as he finished doing all that, both girls ran towards the car and just before they got in, Rainbow exclaimed, "See you later, guys!" "Don't forget to stop by our booth tomorrow! It's going to be simply fantabulous!" Rarity added as she took her seat alongside Rainbow and their Autobot guardian drove towards the Ground Bridge at full speed before disappearing from sight with the closing of the portal. Immediately afterwards, Cliffjumper announced, "Um, you know what, I remembered something important too. Pinkie mentioned earlier that her sister's birthday is drawing near and we really should go back to her house in order to start preparing the party as soon as possible. Isn't that right, Pinkie?" "Yep," she replied. "Marble's birthday is in two days and if you, me, and Applejack all start working on preparing party tonight, we'll most likely be done in twelve hours." Even though a slightly worried expression appeared on Cliffjumper's face upon hearing this and he even let out a nervous chuckle, he nevertheless managed to say to everyone else in the room, "Uh, yeah, exactly. As you can see, we're a bit behind schedule and it's best if we leave right now." He quickly typed in the coordinates of Pinkie's house to the computer and transformed into his vehicle mode as the Ground Bridge opened right in front of him. Just before both of the girls entered the car, Applejack waved good-bye to her friends and said, "See y'all tomorrow at school!" "And don't worry! We'll bring you some cupcakes for taste testing!" Pinkie added with another shout, and upon her and Applejack getting in the car, their own Autobot guardian drove into the Ground Bridge as fast it could before the portal closed behind them. Right after that, Fluttershy chimed in, "Um, I know this is probably not the best time to mention this, but I do need to go to the animal shelter for a bit and see if any of our residents need anything." "Oh, can I come too?" Sour Sweet asked with great excitement in her voice. "I really like animals and not to brag or anything, but since you did say that I've done a pretty good job taking care of Spike, I do feel like I have a natural gift for this kind of duty. Well, I have a natural gift for archery too, but I can still be great at two things, right?" Fluttershy and Twilight both nodded in approval of this statement and Bumblebee even gave her a thumbs up before entering the coordinates of the animal shelter to the computer, activating the Ground Bridge, and transforming into his vehicle mode. Also, while he did all this, he played a song on his radio that had the following lyrics: Time to get this show on the road Turn on the lights (the lights) Make 'em shine bright (bright) Light up our dreams (dreams) Bright as the sun (sun) Shining like gold (gold) Let's get this show (show) on the road By the time he was done with his transformation, the girls had already arrived beside the car and all three of them waved good-bye at their remaining friends as they got in. Then, the young Autobot scout began driving towards the portal at full speed and the portal closed behind him shortly after he entered it. Shortly after their departure, Ratchet let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Great. Just great. Looks like I'll have to dismantle and transport every single item by myself. That's simply wonderful." "Um, would you like some company in the meantime?" a voice coming from behind asked and Ratchet turned around to see that it belonged to Spike, who was just sitting there all by himself. "Shouldn't you have left with your master, little one?," the Autobot medic inquired. "Well, yeah, but I hid from her, because I wanted to stay with you for a little longer," Spike explained. "I'm really interested in learning more about your world and listening to all the war stories you haven't told us yet." Ratchet thought hard about this proposal for a few seconds before declaring, "Hmmm... Very well, then. I am going to contact Twilight and let her know you'll be staying here for a while longer. Then, you can listen to the rest of my experiences during the war while I work. Also, since I have heard that you were the one who successfully operated the Ground Bridge while I was out, I would be more than happy to teach you about its full capabilities and the history surrounding the technology itself." "Oh... Ummm... N-no, thanks. War stories would do just fine," Spike nervously replied. "Besides, I didn't really do anything except following Wheeljack's instructions on how to operate the Ground Bridge and all that technical stuff are Twilight's thing, anyway. Also, I never really pay attention when she talks about them." In response, Ratchet let out another sigh full of exasperation and even muttered to himself, "As always, only a few bright spots in every new generation." He then solemnly walked towards the inner sections of the base with Spike closely following behind, leaving only Optimus, Sunset, and Flash remaining in the room. Once they were no longer able to hear Ratchet's footsteps, Sunset noticed that Flash was in deep thought and placed a hand on his shoulder as she asked, "Hey, is everything alright?" Thus, she snapped him out of his contemplation and caused him to say, "Hm? What? Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. It's just, well, I've been thinking about what we've been through today and also wondering if there's something even bigger in store for us later down the line. I mean, you what the Equestrian magic did to the Autobots. It somehow reacted with the Energon in their bodies and healed them in no time. I know this sounds crazy, but what if the two substances are related in some way? What if there's some kind of ancient connection between Equestria and Cybertron?" Hearing those questions made both Sunset and Optimus deeply ponder them for a short while before the latter replied, "I do not yet possess the answers you seek, Flash Sentry, but I do know for a fact that we can uncover them over time if we all work together. It is indeed clear that my world and the one that Sunset originates from are connected somehow, and we shall no doubt strive to discover what exactly is this connection. For now, though, I believe we have all earned a bit of rest and it is best if we leave that search for another day." Even though Flash initially looked unsure about this offer, a smile soon formed on his face and he said, "Yeah, I think you're right. After all, we literally saved the world today and anyone who does something like that definitely deserves a break. Besides, Sunset and I don't really have any homework due tomorrow and we still have a few hours to kill before bedtime." He then turned to the girl next to him and asked, "If you want, we can go to that drive-in theatre we went last night. I've heard there's a pretty good romantic comedy playing there tonight and if we hurry, we can still make it in time before the movie starts. What do you say?" Sunset both smiled and blushed at this proposal. while Optimus let out a small chuckle. As the two humans planned their evening together, the Autobot leader stood back up, walked towards the computer, and typed something on the keyboard before speaking at the monitor in front of himself, "Without a means of leaving this world, we Autobots take strength in the bonds we have forged with our young human friends. True warriors, if not in body, then in spirit. "My name is Optimus Prime and I send this message. Though we did not choose to be of Earth, it would seem that we are here to stay." "If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this: We will defend ourselves." "We will defend humanity." "We will defend our home."