//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: My Little Pony: Flesh and Steel // by Gyvon //------------------------------// PROLOGUE LOCATION: Equestria. Ponyville Day Spa TIME: Early afternoon “Ah, this is wonderful”, sighed Twilight Sparkle, slipping her purple main under the water of the pool. “Thank you again for treating us to this, Rarity.” “Oh, think nothing of it, dear,” replied the whit unicorn, who was having a mud mask applied to her face. “Hoity Toity paid a small fortune for his latest order, and I simply must repay my friends for introducing me to him.” She turned to the pink mare, who had just finished applying the mask, “Make sure the cucumbers slices are fresh, Aloe.” Nodding vigorously, Aloe replied “Of course, Ms. Rarity,” and ran off to retrieve them. “Man, I am gonna be so loose for the big race tomorrow,” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, the blue Pegasus getting a massage from a blue mare. “Too bad Applejack and Fluttershy couldn’t make it.” “Speaking of which, why aren’t Applejack and Fluttershy here as well,” asked Twilight Sparkle. Just then, a pink earth pony mare with perpetually frizzy hair jumped out of the spa next to Twilight, scaring her half to death. “It’s obvious, silly”, replied Pinkie Pie. “Angel Bunny has a fever, so Fluttershy had to stay home to nurse him back to health. Sweet Apple Acres is providing refreshments for the spectators for the Fruitcake 500 tomorrow, and Applejack is helping set up the food stands. And Sugarcube Corner is baking the two dozen fruitcakes for the winner of tomorrows race”, said Pinkie Pie. “Then, why are you here and not baking cakes?” inquired Rarity. With a gasp, Pinkie exclaimed “Oh no! I forgot! I’ve still gotta bake the cakes! I can’t stay here and relax! Those cakes won’t bake themse-WOAH! Pinke senses tingling.” “What is it?” asked Twilight, a look of concern on her face. “Hold on”, said Pinkie Pie, “Ear-flop… eye-flutter… knee-twitch… twitchy-tail… Ffuullll boddyyy sshhiivveerr… Huh, never got that combo before. Oh well! Lalalalalalala” and she merrily skipped out as if nothing happened. Rarity had a look of absolute bewilderment on her face “What could that possibly have meant?” she said. “I don’t know”, replied Twilight, a horrified look on her face. “Individually, each part meant ‘watch out for opening doors’, ‘something’s going to fall out of the sky’, and ‘a doozy’s going to happen’, but I have no idea what they mean together!” Rainbow Dash looked up from her massage “Maybe it means that a doozy’s going to fall out of the sky from an open door.” Twilight turned to her blue friend. “That’s… as good a guess as any. What should we do?” Rarity walked over to the pool, and patted twilight reassuringly on the back. “Best not to worry about it too much right now. Just keep an eye up on your way home.” “And don’t walk under any doors.” said Rainbow Dash, not even bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice. Twilight sighed, looked at rarity, and smiled. “You’re right. I should just enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I’ll worry about Pinkie Sense later.” And with that, Twilight closed her eyes, determined to relax for the rest of the afternoon. But try as she might, Twilight couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that something big was going to happen, and that, whatever it was, it would mean changes for not just all of Equestria, but for the entire world as a whole. LOCATION: Unknown Ship. Sol System. Just inside the Kuiper Belt. There were six standing before him. Six lowly beings not fit to kiss the ground he walked on, let alone to stand before his noble presence. And yet they stood. Tall, proud, unafraid, weapons at the ready, before his very presence, sitting on his mighty throne. These traitors deemed themselves better than he. Those who had betrayed their own world. Traitors of Cybertron. “So, Prime, you have finally found me. Cornered in my own lair as it were. What a grand sport this is” said the being on the throne, a slight chuckle to his voice. “It’s over, Megatron. It is time that you answer for your crimes.” Said Optimus Prime, the leader of the traitorous Autobots. “Bah,” replied the being, “It’s Galvatron, Prime. Megatron. That name has no meaning to me anymore. Not since you killed me in that miserable city. What was it called again?” asked Galvatron. “Chicago,” came the reply. Not from Optimus or Bumblebee or any of the other Autobots, but from another. One who had escaped Galvatron’s notice. Small was this creature, not even reaching Optimus Prime’s knee, with pale skin, and wearing the uniform of a NEST soldier. “A human? How is this possible? The atmosphere of this ship is poisonous to their kind. Unless…” Galvatron leaned forward, getting a closer look at the human. “Ah, the Experiment! I recognize you now. It seems my gift to you has some advantages, don’t you think?” The only reply he received was a low, bestial growl. “A shame that my notes were all destroyed in the ensuing raid.” “You may have changed your name, but you shall never escape justice for the crimes you have committed”, declared Optimus. Galvatron chuckled at this. “My crimes?” he asked, “And what, may I ask, are these ‘crimes’ I am being charged with?” “The wholesale slaughter of thousands of innocents, the hideous experiments you performed on Gyvon and the other humans in his platoon, and the betrayal of your own people, Galvatron,” replied Optimus. Galvatron laughed. “Betrayal? Was it not you, Prime, that ordered the AllSpark ejected into space? Was it not you who doomed our world to a slow, lingering death? No, Prime. I am not the traitor here. You are.” “Be that as it may, we are going to stop you, once and for all.” Said Optimus, activating the energon swords in his arms and taking a step towards the throne, the rest of the Autobots raising their own weapons. “Stop me?” laughed Galvatron. “How do you plan to stop me when I’m not even here anymore?” With that, Galvatron pressed a button on the arm of his throne. A bright light shined where the Decepticon leader was sitting. In a flash, Galvatron was gone. “Report!” commanded Optimus to his troops. “I am detecting increased sub-space activity. He must have activated a space bridge.” Said Ratchet. “IT’S A TRAP!” replied Bumblebee, using the unmistakable recording of Admiral Ackbar. As the Autobots turned to make their escape, all the doors to the bridge slammed shut, the blast screens on the windows closed, and a computerized voice came over the loudspeakers. “WARNING, FIVE MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES. WARNING, FIVE MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES.” “Well, should’ve seen this one coming a mile away.” Said Gyvon, the human-turned-transformer, with a look of annoyance on his face. “What do we do now?” Arcee, the only female among them, looked down at the throne, carefully examining it, and exclaimed, “The space-bridge appears to be operational! We can use it to follow Galvatron.” Sideswipe looked over, concerned “Doesn’t anyone else think this is too easy? I doubt Meg- er, Galvatron would be that stupid.” “FOUR MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES” came the warning over the speakers. “Spread out and search for the controls. Be quick about it.” Ordered Optimus. Sideswipe and Dino searched the main bridge controls. Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Ratchet searched the perimeter walls. Gyvon searched around the throne, and spotted a small drone-operated terminal near the base. “FOUND IT!” he yelled. As the rest of the Autobots gathered around, Gyvon exclaimed “Clever bastard. These coordinates are for the center of the sun. He must’ve had a drone set it to go to these coordinates after each jump.” “Can you tell where Galvatron jumped when he activated the bridge?” asked Optimus. “THREE MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES!” And the ship began shaking. Gyvon perused the screen. “Afraid not”, he said. “The coordinates were dumped as well. I could probably find them if I looked hard enough, but it’d take too long. Our best bet is to head back home until Galvatron decides to show his ugly mug again.” “Then let’s do it. Everyone, gather around the throne. Galvatron has won this round.” Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Arcee, Dino, and Sideswipe all gathered around the throne. Optimus relayed the coordinates for the NEST base at Diego Garcia. Gyvon input them into the terminal, then double checked power levels, and made a startling discovery. “Boss,” he said, “I’ve gotta make a second trip. There’s only enough power to transport the six of you.” Optimus shook his head “No. If anyone stays behind, it shall be me.” Gyvon looked Optimus Prime, his Mentor, in the eye and replied “Sir, with all due respect, I’m the only one small enough to operate this terminal. Don’t worry. I’ll be along shortly.” Optimus looked down at his pupil, the product of a horrific Decepticon experiment, with deep concern. Ratchet placed his hand on his leader’s shoulder. “He’s right, Optimus. Everything will be all right.” The Autobot leader looked at his friend, and sighed. “Very well,” he finally said, turning back towards Gyvon “I’ll see you back on Earth.” “TWO MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES” Said the cold, computerized voice. “Alright, coordinates are set. Just press the button to make the jump.” Optimus nodded, reached for the button, gave Gyvon a last worried look, and pressed it. A bright light filled the room and within seconds, the Autobots were gone. The computerized voice came on again “ONE MINUTE UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES” and the ship started shaking violently. A piece of debris came lose and fell on the spacebridge terminal controls. Sparks flew, forcing Gyvon to dive away from the terminal. Shit! Thought Gyvon. Reaching for the terminal, he noticed that the controls were smashed beyond repair. The display was still on-line, and showed coordinates. Not for Earth or the Sun, but for some random spot on the other side of the galaxy. “THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATES!” came the computerized warning again. “Well,” said Gyvon,” wherever this is, it’s about to be a lot better than this place.” Transforming into his alternate mode, a miniature SU-47, the form he chose after Optimus rescued him from the Decepticon base on Mars, he flew up to the arm of the throne. Transforming back, Gyvon reached for the button with his foot. Before he could press the button, another piece of debris shook loose and fell on top of his head. Knocked unconscious, he fell onto the button, and in a flash, he was gone.