//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Friendship is More Than Meets the Eye // by Tumbleweed //------------------------------// "Um. Twilight?" Fluttershy peered over her friend's shoulder. "Not to be a pessimist or anything, but do you really think this is going to work!" "Absolutely!" Twilight pushed her goggles up out of her eyes and shut off her welder with a twist of telekinesis. She paused for a moment, and bit at her lower lip in thought. "Or, uh. Probably. I 'd prefer more time to plan things out, given we are dealing with unprecedented levels of advanced alien technology, but at least the damage seems to be entirely structural- which means I won't have to worry about the more advanced systems. And don't forget we have Wheelie here to help." "Twilight Sparkle, you rock!" Wheelie beamed, "Wheelie's never seen a better doc!" "Oh, you're just saying that." Twilight set her torch aside and climbed down from her platform. "Really, you deserve all the credit, Wheelie. If you hadn't helped us access Grimlock's technical specifications from your computer, I'd hardly know where to start! It's just a shame we don't have access to a proper repair bay..." Twilight looked around the makeshift camp they'd set up around Grimlock's prone form- half emergency hospital, half garage. "I guess there's something to be said for improvisation. Now, let's get this show on the road." She pulled in a deep breath, and looked up. "Okay, everything's in place...Rainbow Dash, do your thing!" "Rockin'!" The blue pegasus said, and she immediately began to jump up and down on the stormcloud she'd wrangled into place. It was the same one she'd used on Predaking- though this time, she put the lightning to a far more constructive purpose. Lightning flashed out with each strike of Dash's hooves- by the fourth of fifth bolt, the electrical energy struck the lightning rod Twilight had set up, and the current traveled down the cabling wrapped around it- directly into an access panel in the middle of Grimlock's chest. Sparks fountained out from the points where the cabling touched Grimlock's metal chassis, and the smell of seared ozone permeated the air. Faintly, the blue visor on the Dinobot's faceplate began to glow. Grimlock shifted about. His left hand was the first to move- first clenching reflexively into a fist, and then bracing on the ground as Grimlock began a very hard climb to his feet. "He's alive!" Twilight said, clapping her hooves in mad glee. "He's alive! ALIIIIIIIVE!" "Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy peered out from behind Wheelie. "Do you have to be so...loud?" "Sorry!" Twilight blurted, "It's just, um. I've kind of always wanted to say that. Besides, can't you see how exciting this is? Who knew that such advanced computational systems could be rebooted with a simple burst of static electricity?" "Nnnngh. What am tiny purple pony talking 'bout?" Grimlock rolled to his side, crushing some ill-placed equipment in the process. "She's talking about you!" Wheelie piped up, "And how she fixed you, good as new!" "Hnnh. What?" Grimlock finally got back to his feet. He swayed back and forth like some sort of ill-built tower, but soon got his bearings before he could topple to the ground. He flexed his limbs, making sure everything had been repaired properly. One thing, however, finally registered to even Grimlock's inexpert appraisal. "Me Grimlock....blue?" "Oh no!" Pinkie Pie said, clapping her hooves up to her mouth in horror. "Don't be sad, Mr. Grimlock! I mean, sure, that big stompy robot guy made out of like five stompy robot guys really did beat the snot out of you, but that's okay! Twilight fixed you up and everything!" "Not that." Grimlock said, and ran his fingers over his freshly painted armor. "Me. Grimlock. Blue." "Oh! Yes!" Rarity trotted over. "That would be my work, darling. I am a firm believer in making one's outer beauty match one's inner--" Rarity trailed off, looking over the freshly painted and repaired war machine. "You needed a new look. I mean, gunmetal grey? The royal blue is a much better look, if you ask me. Didn't you go on earlier about how you were a king?" "Uh. Me guess so." "There you are, then." Rarity tossed her mane in punctuation. "Not to mention a few of Fluttershy's stray rust monsters nibbled on you on their way out. The new paint was essential." "Sorry!" a voice behind a Fluttershy-sized box of parts squeaked. "Wait." Grimlock stood up as fast as he could manage, and looked around, alarmed. "Where Predacons?" "Don't worry, and don't shout!" Wheelie smiled, "Our new friends beat them- a total rout!" Grimlock stared downwards. "What." "Don't look so shocked! The ponies fought, and they rocked!" "Yeah!" Rainbow Dash fluttered down to stand beside Wheelie. "I totally whupped that giant dude's butt." "Ahem." Rarity said the whole word. "Fine," Rainbow Dash folded her wings back. "We totally whupped that giant dude's butt." "The important part is," Twilight Sparkle said in her best, soapbox-ready tone, "even though we're all very different ponies- or, well, ponies and robots, we were all able to put our differences aside and work together. And thanks to everypony- or, well, everypony and every robot here, we were able to save Ponyville!" Twilight beamed for a moment, and then glanced over her shoulder at the large column of smoke still rising up from around the bend. "Or, uh, most of it. The important part is that nopony got hurt! Except for Thunderlane's brother, who pulled a wing when he was trying to get away." "Oh no!" Fluttershy poked her head out from her hiding spot. "Friendly got hurt?" "He did?" Rainbow Dash canted her head to the side. "You just said so! Thunderlane's brother! The little blue pegasus!" "Oh no, you're thinking of Rumble." "I am?" Fluttershy said. "Definitely." Rainbow Dash nodded. "I know every pegasus in town, Fluttershy. And I wouldn't get them mixed up. Just remember, Friendly is red, Rumble is blue. Everypony gets those two mixed up for some reason." "Me Grimlock no care who am what color." The dinobot waved one hand, dismissively. "Me just want know where stupid septi-cons go." "Oh, that part was easy." Twilight Sparkle said, "I've already heard reports from Canterlot's Royal Observatory that they spotted a large unidentified object leaving orbit in on a somewhat erratic trajectory. I'm pretty sure it was those Predacons taking their spaceship and running away." "Huh." Grimlock mused. "Me Grimlock was planning on stealing them spaceship." He looked up at the sky, waiting. "That...mean me Grimlock and him Wheelie stuck here?" "Don't make it sound so bad! These ponies are really rad." Wheelie grinned. Grimlock didn't look convinced. "Actually, you're not trapped, Grimlock." Twilight Sparkle said, "even though you crash-landed your spaceship, it's still spaceworthy! Or, well, part of it is. The modular construction reduced the amount of damage you took when you entered the atmosphere, so you should be fine! But we'll have to hurry- Princess Celestia's waiting to give your spaceship a telekinetic push, but according to my calculations, we've only a few degrees of orbit available if we're going to send you back on an inverse vector to the one that brought you here. If we miss it, we'll have to wait another whole year until our orbit properly aligns again, and that's only looking at things from our end- I honestly don't have enough information on your own planet's orbit to ensure you'll be able to make it back to the same place or not." Grimlock stared blankly at Twilight Sparkle. "If you don't leave soon, you'll be stuck here for a long time." Twilight Sparkle explained. "OH. Why you no say so?" Grimlock said, and looked around. "Where spaceship? Me Grimlock leaving RIGHT NOW." "Wait, that's it?" Twilight Sparkle said, "I mean, I don't think the window's that narrow. Don't you want a little more time to say goodbye?" "Nope." Grimlock said. "Me Grimlock been here too long already. Maybe you ponies am tougher than me Grimlock think, but me Grimlock no want stay here. Me Grimlock need go fight septi-cons, or me get bored." Twilight thought of what sort of trouble a bored robot dinosaur might get up to, and shuddered. "Okay, that makes sense too. Now, I wasn't planning on bringing it out this early, but I've prepared a pre-flight checklist so- hey! Where are you going? I haven't shown you my clipboard yet!" "I can't believe that's it." Twilight Sparkle said as she stared up into the night sky. "It just seemed so...easy." "Don't put yourself down, Twilight." Princess Celestia looked down at her favorite student with a maternal smile. If shoving Grimlock's spaceship back into orbit had tired her, she managed not to let it show. "Not only did you defeat that rampaging titan, but you also managed to repair Grimlock and make the necessary calculations to get him back home." The pony princess shifted her wings a little. "Honestly, were I in your horseshoes, I wouldn't have bothered fixing Grimlock. I'd just stick him in the spaceship, send him home, and let his friends deal with it once he got back to Cybertron." "That...sounds a little callous, princess." Twilight said. "At least, um, it would if it were coming from anypony who wasn't as wise and as compassionate and generally great as you are. Because you're great. Eheh." "I prefer to use the term 'efficient,' but it's the same principle." "Either way, it's kind of hard to believe that...well, that's it. I mean, Grimlock barely said goodbye. He just grabbed Wheelie, jumped into his spaceship, and left. I was kind of hoping that there'd be more to it than that." "Perhaps." Princess Celestia said. "But even still, did you have the chance to learn anything?" "I'm....not sure. Grimlock didn't seem to learn anything, at least. He just wanted to fight things...but at least he seemed to be on the right side. I think. Is it bad I'm kind of glad he's left?" "No." Princess Celestia said. "Oh, whew." Twilight's shoulders slumped in relief. "Because honestly Grimlock was a big, loudmouthed jerk, even if his heart was in the right place. Or, uh, his robot-heart equivalent, whatever that is. A fuel pump? Shoot, I know I should have taken better notes on his technical specifications..." "That's okay, Twilight." Princess Celestia gestured arily with one hoof, and Twilight stopped her fidgeting. "I'm glad you've learned that sometimes, you're going to meet someone who's a little bit....lost. It's always good to make them feel welcome, but at the same time, sometimes the best thing you can do is help them get home, back to their friends and family." "Oh wow, that makes a lot of sense." Twilight Sparkle smiled up at her mentor. "Can I cite you on that in my next friendship report?" "We'll just make this one a verbal report, Twilight." Princess Celestia looked back up to the evening sky, gaze straying to an out-of-place twinkle in the sky: Grimlock's departing spaceship. "Besides, Twilight, even as...hectic as this was, remember things could always be worse." "Worse? How?" "Instead of Grimlock, it could have been The Aquabats." "Who?" "Nevermind."