Everfree Forest - Later That Day
Zecora traversed the Everfree Forest with a saddlebag of plants and strange fruits she gathered from within the forest but she was not alone. Three little fillies with her. They were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They too had small saddlebags on them as they followed the zebra. Zecora looked down to her three little friends. “I really should thank you three, for your help I should reward you with tea,” she said in rhyme.
“It’s no problem Zecora,” Applebloom said.
“We’re just happy to help,” added Sweetie Belle.
“How much further is it to your hut?” Scootaloo asked.
“Shouldn’t be too far away,” Zecora started. “But we must hurry, this forest we must not stay.”
They continued on but for some reason Applebloom had a feeling they were being watched. It wasn’t long before the others felt it too. A few moments later Scootaloo sniffed then gagged. “Gross! Is there a skunk nearby?”
Applebloom sniffed before her eyes widened. “That’s no skunk. I know that smell.”
Zecora stopped as her eyes scanned her surroundings with worry. The group then saw a pair of glowing eyes coming from the trees, followed by a growling sound. “Is that a T-Timberwolf?” Sweetie Belle stuttered.
Zecora's scared look soon turned into a look of determination as she reached into her bag and pulled out a potion. The wolf of wood just stared at the bottle then let out a howl. Soon more of them started appearing. Zecora got scared again which made Applebloom confused. “Shouldn’t that potion get rid of them?”
“This potion is meant to take apart one,” she began before looking at the pack surrounding them. “This won’t destroy a ton.”
Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle with a look of desperation. ”Please tell me you’ve learned more magic.”
“No, please tell me you can finally fly,” Sweetie Belle said desperately.
The group huddled together as the pack slowly crowded around them. Zecora looked down at them in sorrow. “I’m sorry for dragging you three here, I didn’t think close to my home, they would appear.”
Applebloom looked up. “Its okay Zecora maybe we can still-”
BOOM!
The group were taken aback in shock by the sudden explosion as one of the Timberwolves was reduced to a pile of burnt wood. The other wolves looked on in shock as something slowly started emerging from the trees not too far away. To the girls it looked like some kind of purple tank.
The tank fired again, destroying two more wolves. The pack then ignored the ponies and Zebras and started descending upon the tank. All the girls could do was watch as the wolves began trying to naw and scratch the machine. “What kind of tank is that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Maybe a new design by the royal guards or something,” Scootaloo said.
“Whatever it is, it saved us,” Applebloom said.
Suddenly much to their surprise the tank then started changing. One moment it was a tank the next moment it was suddenly a standing giant with one yellow eye and a cannon for one of its arms. It then began attacking the wolves either by stomping on them or blasting them with its cannon. It looked down to the remaining few. “Your choice to attack me was most illogical,” it said.
The last few wolves growled before retreating. Shockwave then looked at the four equine creatures still standing. He approached them slowly. They felt intimidated, especially by the gun still smoking. Shockwave then knelt down getting close to them. “Greetings lifeforms,” he began. “I am Shockwave and I am a Cybertronian. I want you four to come with me.”
“W-why?” asked Sweetie Belle, still feeling scared.
“Because I want to speak with you. I’ll explain as soon as we get to my lab.”
The four wanted to argue but they felt like if they didn’t do what they said or even try to run away, they would be shot. They soon followed the tall robot to what Zecora thought was an unfamiliar part of the forest. They soon came across a strange structure that looked like a destroyed building made of metal. A pair of sliding doors opened and Shockwave gestured them inside.
The four entered with caution. They all took a moment to look around seeing the many science instruments. To the three fillies it reminded them of Twilight’s lab. Scootaloo found herself walking to a large glowing cylinder that was filled with a green glowing liquid. She lifted her hoof to try and touch it but Shockwave spoke up without looking away from a computer he was working with. “Don’t touch that. That’s a very sensitive project.”
“Sorry,” Scootaloo said as she quickly rejoined her friends.
“Are you some kind of robot scientist?” asked Applebloom.
“Yes,” Shockwave replied. “I’ve been observing your world for a long time.”
“How long?” Sweetie asked with worry.
Shockwave just typed with his one hand and soon dozens of images appeared on the monitor. to the shock of the four, there were images of various scenarios that looked familiar. The banishment and return of Nightmare Moon, the wedding in Canterlot, Tirek’s attack, Twilight’s ascension to an alicorn, the Equestrian games, and of course the recent Storm King invasion. “A long time,” he replied.
“What are you really?” Scootaloo asked with a fierce scowl. “Some kind of invader or are you a spy?”
“I prefer the term, observer,” said Shockwave. “But I will admit I’ve also seen some of your escapades when you were described as a blank flank.”
Applebloom cringed as that brought back a few bad memories of how Diamond Tiara used to act. Shockwave continued, “and I’m aware of your inability to fly as well as your fellow pegasi.”
“Oh now you’re really starting to annoy me,” Scootaloo said, getting more angry.
“I didn’t intend to but what would your reaction be if I told you I can make it possible for you to fly?” Shockwave asked, earning a look of surprise and confusion from the orange filly.
“You can do that?” Scootaloo asked.
“Scootaloo this looks too good to be true, maybe we should leave,” said Applebloom.
“If you don’t trust me, then at the very least let me escort you all out of the forest after we drop off Zecora,” Shockwave suggested.
“That seems fair but be warned whatever you’re really doing here I trust you beware,” Zecora said looking up to Shockwave with a look of judgment.
Shockwave nodded and transformed back into a tank. After dropping off Zecora and her bags the three fillies and Shockwave soon found themselves on the trail leading back to Ponyville. Shockwave however stopped just on the edge of the forest. “I fear your town may not be ready for my kind. I hope you understand.”
The three fillies said nothing but just walked off still feeling conflicted about the new visitor. All except one. Three were soon near the town entrance when Applebloom noticed Scootaloo was lagging behind. “Scootaloo, you coming?”
“I’ll see you two tomorrow. I just remembered I had an errand run to do for my aunts,” Scootaloo replied.
The two shrugged and went on their way. Scootaloo just instead raced back to the forest where the tank was just starting to turn around. “Wait!” Scootaloo called.
Shockwave stopped and his turret turned to the approaching pony. “You said you can give me a stronger flying ability? How?”
“Just a small simple procedure. I spent years studying your kind by observing the hospitals,” explained Shockwave.
Scootaloo was silent before responding. “Can you really do it for me?”
Shockwave paused for a moment then turned his turret back in the direction he’s facing. “Hop on.”
Autobot Ark - Later That Evening
“Come on Twilight, you’ve been working on that all day,” complained Spike as he watched Twilight work on some kind of electric panel.
“Don’t worry as soon as I finish this last adjustment we can go,” Twilight said as she closed the panel door.
“Now let’s see if this works,” Perceptor said as he pressed a few buttons.
There was a low humming and a faint buzzing and just like magic many panels lit up and even more monitors than before started turning on. “Perfect, the energon detection signal is working as well as some of the ship’s ground bridge circuits.”
“Ground bridge?” Twilight asked.
“It’s a form of transport that utilizes space bridge technology,” began Wheeljack. “Remember our brief lecture about Space Bridges?”
Twilight nodded before Wheeljack continued. “Well this is a smaller scale of a space bridge except it only goes to certain spots on your planet. In other words it has a limited range.”
“Just like our detection,” began hoist. “Our instruments can only pick up signals at certain parts of your nation. It looks like it can’t go beyond the border.”
Twilight looked up at a monitor that had a map of most of Equestria. She saw a small dot not too far from the Ark and assumed it was Bumblebee. She then noticed another dot. “Wait if Bumblebee is over there, then who's that right there?” she asked, pointing to what could be the Everfree forest. Optimus Prime approached the monitor. After taking a look he turned to Hoist. “Can you identify if it’s one of our own?”
“No Optimus, I’m afraid our instruments are still too damaged to detect faction as well,” Hoist explained.
“Hmm… then maybe someone should investigate.”
“Hey, that's close to our home. How about we all go there? It’ll save us time and spare us from a long balloon or train ride,” suggested Pinkie.
“Very well since there is no rail access I can send anyone,” Optimus said as he turned to two of his soldiers. “Red Alert, Inferno, I want you two to accompany the ponies and the dragon and investigate the signal. Wheeljack, activate the ground bridge.”
Everfree Forest - A few Minutes Later
The glowing green portal appeared and eight figures emerged. The ponies took in thirty surroundings. Rainbow Dash looked back at the portal. “That is an awesome way to travel,” she marveled as the portal vanished.
Inferno looked down at a device he was carrying. “Looks like the signal is coming from a few clicks down that trail,” he said as the group began walking.
Red Alert looked nervously around as he held a rifle. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Just stay close,” said Inferno. He suddenly felt Red Alert clung to him like a scared cat. He shoved him away. “Not that close!”
Fluttershy flew up to Red Alert’s head. “Oh are you scared?” She asked softly. Red Alert nodded.
“Don’t worry, it may look scary but you have friends to help you,” she said warmly. “Want me to stay close to you?”
Red Alert nodded as Fluttershy perched herself on his shoulder. Red alert immediately felt better. The group then continued on. The device Inferno held started beeping. Inferno looked down and raised a brow. “Strange, there are now two energon signatures. One weak and the other strong.” His eyes widened as he looked down the trail. “And the weak one is coming our way fast!”
A few seconds later a small streak of orange flew by. “WOOHOO!” came a yell.
Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock as she recognized the color and the voice. “Scootaloo!?”
Indeed it was Scootaloo as she zipped through the air with what looked like metal extensions on her wings that came with tiny turbines. She was zipping through the air like there was no tomorrow. “THIS IS AWESOME!”
Suddenly she crashed into something soft and furry. She then looked up to see a surprised and concerned Rainbow Dash. “Squirt? What happened to you? And where did you get all this?” She asked in alarm gesturing to the metal on her. She was also bringing her back down to the ground.
“I’m okay Rainbow, this cool new friend I made gave me all this and now I can fly as awesome as you,” Scootaloo explained, smiling wide.
“What new friend?” she asked calming down a little.
“This giant robot in the forest, he saved me, my friends and Zecora from timberwolves,” she explained as she now noticed the two more robots. “Oh hey are you his friends?”
“Wait a minute did this robot say who his name was?” Red Alert asked in a slight panic.
Scootaloo was confused by his panic expression but answered anyway. “He said his name is Shockwave.”
Red Alert and Inferno gasped. ”Shockwave!? Here!?”
“Yeah?” Scootaloo asked, still confused.
“Guys what's wrong?” Twilight asked.
“He’s a Decepticon, more specifically, Megatron’s chief scientist!” Red Alert exclaimed, earning a gasp from the others minus Scootaloo.
“We have to find him now!” said Inferno as he and the others ran deeper into the forest leaving Scootaloo alone and confused.
Meanwhile Shockwave was working on what looked like a robotic skeleton. He was soon talking to himself. “Hmm… The Cyberfusion experiment was a success and the subject is in high spirits. Perhaps the next phase will yield greater results.”
Suddenly he heard a banging noise followed by an explosion as the doors to his lab burst open. “Alright Shockwave don’t move!” a figure yelled.
Shockwave turned and to his horror were two Autobots. “I thought you were all in permanent stasis or at least destroyed,” he said as he began firing at his two intruders.
Red Alert and Inferno jumped to avoid getting blasted. Shockwave then blasted a glowing cube that exploded creating a hole in his wall. He then ran out through it.
“He’s getting away!” Red Alert said as he transformed into a red and white car and started chasing after him.
“Inferno to Optimus Prime, we have a situation!”
Meanwhile outside a strange looking robotic bird was watching the scene. Laserbeak then opened his wings and took off before anyone could notice him.