…
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"PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY"
Twilight Sparkle: "The sooner we get to Cybertron, the better. I just hope Optimus is up for returning to Equestria. We need him and the Maximals more than ever."
Discord: "Now, what's all this about the Maximals?"
Spike: "Having you around gives us an edge against any Predacons."
Twilight Sparkle: "If there are any surviving Predacons."
Opaline: "Do you want to live? Well, do you?! Tell me where Megatron's body is being kept! Megatron, leader of the Predacons, we meet at last."
Rattrap: "Chopperface and I along with Bug Boy… we had some… unwanted visitors in the mausoleum."
Rainbow Dash: "They beat us?!"
Opaline: "One down and one more to go."
…
…
Dashing to the mausoleum, Optimus, Twilight and the others rushed to where Megatron's deceased body was stored! To their horror, they found it empty.
"Jumping gyros, he's gone!" Cheetor cried in dismay. "Megatron's gone!"
"His body is," Rhinox glumly admitted. "And there might be more Predacons that were also stolen from here!"
"Got a few more that flew the coop already," Rattrap remarked as he ran towards his fellow Maximals. "Barricade, Tarantulas and even crab legs!"
"Rampage?" Cheetor asked, looking over at Silverbolt. "Depth Charge isn't going to like hearing that."
"And neither do I," Blackarachnia remarked while rolling her eyes in disgust. "Out of all the stupid insects that had to be stolen…why Tarantulas? Come on, say something! Gloat about your escape!"
Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie gave a confused look at Blackarachnia's remark.
"Tarantulas used to mind control her a while back." Silverbolt explained.
"If the bodies were stolen, then we might have a chance to stop the thieves before they leave the atmosphere," Optimus firmly declared, and then spoke into a radio unit. "Rodimus, tell Air Hammer to track Megatron's body, stat!"
"Affirmative," Rodimus said over the radio. "I'll send him now."
"All right, the rest of you spread out and find any Predacon bodies you can," Optimus instructed. "Not all of the bodies here might have been stolen! We can't let any more of them fall into the hands of evil!"
Heeding Optimus' orders, the Maximals, princesses and Spike all spread out around the mausoleum.
…
Back in space, Opaline and Misty's shadow forms carried Megatron's body closer and closer towards Cybertron's atmosphere, along with the bodies of other deceased Predacons.
"Mom, how long do we have to go? I'm getting tired!" Misty whined.
"Put some muscle into it, you weakling!" Opaline barked, determined to get as far away from Cybertron as possible. "I cannot stop now! Those Maximals are surely onto us, if we stop now they'll catch us and everything we've done will be for nothing!"
The two shadows continued on closer and closer to the atmosphere. Just as they neared it, they saw several flying orbs going past them. "That was easy," Opaline evilly chuckled. "The sparks of the deceased!"
Almost as if they heard Opaline, the sparks began to flash wildly, seemingly being attracted by the presence of the dead Predacon bodies.
"Yes, yes, I know you are hungry for new life," Opaline laughed. "Just follow your bodies, and I will bring you back soon enough. And you will owe your existence to me!"
But the sparks were not patient enough to wait any longer. One of them proceeded to try and re-enter Megatron's body. "Yes, yes, Megatron! I know it's you. Your patience will soon be rewarded. I promise." The spark continued to glow more and more brightly upon being heard those words from Opaline.
Suddenly, Opaline noticed a strange looking creature flying towards them with a fuzor form of a hammerhead shark and a hawk, followed by a golden eagle. "Misty, we have company!" She remarked, seemingly unfazed. "Go deal with them at once!"
"But Mother…" Izzy began to whine.
"Silence!" Air Hammer bellowed! "By the law of Cybertron, you are both under arrest! Surrender yourselves now, or be destroyed!"
But Opaline wasn't going to surrender that easily. She was going to escape one way or another with Megatron's body. "Oh, I'd surrender all right," She snickered. "But my friend here says otherwise."
"Air Hammer, should we take them out?" Cosmos asked his partner.
"Not yet," Air Hammer sternly replied. "Optimus will want these two alive," Extending his wings, Air Hammer knew there was only way to confront the situation. "Air Hammer, maximize!" He called, transforming from his hammerhead shark/hawk form into a robot mode.
"Cosmos, maximize!" Cosmos shouted, turning from a golden eagle into his robot form.
"Is that supposed to scare us?" Opaline asked as Air Hammer swung his shark tail hammer at her shadow, only for the blows to go right through her. "Missed me," She playfully laughed. Then, all of a sudden she began to absorb herself into Megatron's body, much to the annoyance of the spark, shaking with anger. "Now I've got a little something for you!"
Once absorbed, Megatron's body came to life but with a new host…Queen Opaline! A sinister smile fell upon the body's face as it came to life through Opaline's possession. "Yes! How do you like me now, fools?!" She cackled, spreading Megatron's dragon wings wildly.
Both Air Hammer and Cosmos stood their guard hoping to stand tough against the possessed Megatron.
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…
Meanwhile, moving towards the bier that Megatron's remains had once laid upon, Twilight looked down and carefully inspected it. "Optimus," She called, beckoning the Maximal leader over. "I can't help but wonder something…why would you have Megatron's body on display where somecreature could easily get to it? Why not dispose of it if he caused you so much trouble?"
"Megatron was our enemy, Twilight," Optimus explained. "Even so, even Predacons deserve a proper burial. Plus, it's a custom on Cybertron to display the remains of our enemy as a warning to others. Megatron and his Predacons could not have opposed us without help. We know that at least one other group lent them support. But if they can see what Megatron's fate is, they will think twice before attempting to continue what Megatron started."
"Optimus, forgive me if I disrespect Cybertronian custom," Twilight said in a careful tone. "But, if you are going to destroy your enemy, you must ensure that any physical remains are permanently destroyed. Surely, that would send as much of a warning. In Equestria, we bury our dead, we don't display them publicly. Especially not when doing so leads to their bodies being stolen and turned against us."
"I see," Optimus sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, that's just prime. I had hoped Megatron and his deceased army would trouble us nomore. Yet it seems their sparks have come to haunt us from beyond the grave."
"We know what the consequences are like, given our recent war with Grogar where anypony or anycreature can be brought back from the dead," Twilight pointed out. "Even burial sometimes is not enough for us, though usually it is."
"So, what do you think we should do now, Princess Twilight?" Optimus inquired. "If we get Megatron and the Predacons' bodies back, how do you propose we properly dispose of them while ensuring that others don't attempt to carry on their actions?"
Before Twilight could answer Optimus' question, he heard his radio crackle.
"What is it?" Twilight asked, while Optimus answered his radio.
"Come in, Rodimus." Optimus called, awaiting his younger brother's reply.
"Optimus, this is Tigatron," The voice on the other end replied, much to Optimus' surprise. "The thieves have been confronted, but Megatron's body has been possessed…I repeat, possessed."
Optimus was alarmed! "What?! Is Rodimus aware of this development?!"
"He is aware," Tigatron reported. "But he's more concerned with the safety of Air Hammer and Cosmos. Megatron's possessed body is now a danger and a threat!"
"We'll be there shortly, tell them to hold the line at all costs!" Optimus encouraged. "Optimus out."
Turning off his radio, Optimus ordered for his fellow Maximals to regroup and Twilight did the same with her friends. "Looks like we now have a mutual enemy. Megatron and Opaline have become one! Everyone, regroup and follow your leader. We musn't allow the Beast Wars to begin anew!"
…
Back at the atmosphere's edge, Air Hammer and Cosmos continued to deal with the possessed body of Megatron as Opaline fired balls of fire from Megatron's dragon head, to which they were deflected by Air Hammer's shark hammer.
Knowing that Cosmos needed to be distracted as well, Opaline turned to Misty. "Keep him distracted, Misty!" She ordered. "Use the body of the crab."
"The crab?" Misty blinked in confusion.
"Protoform X, you idiot!" Opaline snapped! "Do it now! Join me, and together we'll destroy our enemies!"
Acting on her mother's instincts, Misty absorbed herself into the Predacon Rampage and once she was fully absorbed, Misty aimed Rampage's three pronged gun at Cosmo, firing several blasts from it!
The crafty Maximals did whatever they could to protect themselves from the possessed Predacons, but they soon found themselves outmatched. Seizing an opportunity, Opaline grabbed Air Hammer with Megatron's dragon head, and held him up high in an effort to crush him. "Comfortable?" Opaline laughed as she began to shake Air Hammer around like a bottle, before tossing him farther into space. "Take this!"
Opaline fired another series of fireballs from the dragon head and this time, one of them hit Air Hammer in the chest! Seeing Air Hammer injured, Opaline then proceeded to tap into Megatron's ice powers, preparing to fire a blast of ice to freeze him.
But Cosmos took one of his swords and hit Opaline, preventing her from freezing his comrade. "And as for you…" She cried, quickly firing ice at Cosmos, freezing him in his tracks as he attempted to strike his sword at her again!
"Cosmos!" Air Hammer groaned, trying to shake off his pain and keep fighting.
"Now to finish you off!" Opaline declared as both she and Misty aimed their possessed bodies' weapons at the injured fuzor.
But then suddenly, Opaline heard a disturbance coming towards them. Before either she or Misty could react, they were both hit with a barrage of weapons and they turned to see two pairs of Autobot shuttles coming towards them: One piloted by the Maximals and the other by Twilight and her friends.
Misty raised Rampage's gun to fire back, but her mother stopped her. "Mother…"
"We got what we came for, Misty," Opaline hissed. "Let's go! Not every battle can be won, we must withdraw."
As the shuttles got closer, Opaline and Misty ejected themselves from Megatron and Rampage's bodies and having returned to shadow, took them out of the Cybertron atmosphere.
"They're getting away!" Rainbow Dash cried!
"That doesn't matter! We'll chase after them later!" Spike shouted, before turning his attention to the injured Maximals "Let's get those other guys inside! We can't leave them to die!" The two injured Maximals were then brought aboard the Equestrian shuttle, much to the annoyance of Twilight, who knew exactly who did that.
"Don't look at me, I don't want them to be space junk." Discord said as the shuttle then headed back to Cybertron.
…
Back on Cybertron, Optimus and Twilight along with their allies were gathered outside the CR Chambers to reflect on what had happened.
"So where are they going to go now?" Cheetor asked.
"If anything, they are probably heading back to Equestria," Twilight glumly answered. "Preparing to bring the Predacons into their service."
"Oh, joy, you're telling me," Rattrap answered, sitting in one of the computer chairs. "Megadork and his band of cronies are back for more, aren't they?"
"But they will be pressed into service," Spike admitted. "As far as we are all concerned, this is going to be a much more different encounter than the last one."
"I couldn't agree more with you on that one, Spike," Twilight sighed. "But the key here is to ensure that this war doesn't last as long as the previous one. There has been enough bloodshed to last us a lifetime."
All of the ponies nodded in agreement at Twilight's words.
"But I think that having you once again on our side Optimus could allow our subjects…to live as normally as possible," Twilight added. "I especially want this for the students at the School of Friendship."
"And we'll do just that, Twilight," Optimus reassured. "As of this moment, Maximals are preparing to relocate from Cybertron to Equestria. You are going to need all the help you can get this time." Looking down at the map, they could all see armies of autobot shuttles making their way towards Earth from Cybertron.
"Well, what do we do now, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We return home and try to keep as much normalcy as possible," Twilight ordered.
Once the repairs to their comrades were made, the core group of Maximals and Equestria's six princesses along with their advisor and their reluctant ally of chaos joined the mass exodus already in progress. Sitting in the captain's chair, Twilight could only hope for the best as Equestria would have intergalactic allies on their side once again.
Meanwhile, back in their castle on Maretime Bay, Opaline watched as the sparks that had been collected in the Cybertronian atmosphere were placed into the collected Predacon bodies.
"It's only a matter of time, Misty," Opaline laughed. "The ponies of Equestria won't know what hit them!"
Finally, the spark of Megatron was placed into his body and a sense of euphoria came to Opaline. Very soon, she would force every single Predacon to swear their allegiance to her…at least in her mind, the true ruler of Equestria!
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