Far from where Chrysalis and the Predacons were, the glass tomb of the Marrowwock began to break apart, until the whole cage shattered as the Marrowwock burst out with an unimaginably terrifying roar. Its acidic marrow oozed from its jaw, creating pits in the sand.
The Marrowwock was seething with anger, having been defeated so easily by worthless changeling. Another screech erupted from its maw. It leapt into the air, and zoomed through the sky, determined to find that changeling and sending it to the Void of Darkness, where its master resides....
Quickstrike is by far the most annoying creature I have ever forced to be with, even more than those wretched ponies. He won't stop talking about how great he was in the 'Beast Wars', and he will not stop calling me Sugar-Bot!
If it wasn't for Inferno, Quickstrike would be falling from 3,000 feet in the air, his freak snake-tail tied to a large boulder.
If there's one good thing in all of this, it's that Inferno is talking much more often. He seems much more cheery than he was last night..., I'm.... happy... that he found one of his companions.... It's a strange feeling.... How glad I am for him... Maybe it's because he's the only one who cared enough for me to carry me across the searing wastes.... I don't know....
We continued to rest at the ruined caravan, Quickstrike trying to show off to me while Inferno held his head in his hooves.
"So there I was, fightin' wit that scale-faced Dinobot, when that good fer nothin' lizard bites my tail, an' tosses me into a rock!"
I was about to do the same...
"Then I jump back at 'im an' thrashed 'im good!"
"Lying snake!" Inferno jumped and approached Quickstrike, "You were roasted by Dinobot's eye lasers!"
"No I weren't!"
"You were!"
"Weren't!!"
"You were!!"
"Enough!!" I yelled, "I'm sick of your bickering! Ugh..." I can't take much more of this....
"The Royalty is right!" Inferno rose, "We should stop if we are to rebuild our Queen's colony!"
Quickstike sighed, "Really? Yer still on that? I'd reckon you'd be offa all that, since-"
"Silence, Quickstrike!" Inferno shoved him away, "The Queen will plan our next move."
I sat there, my eyes shifting from side to side as they stared at me, waiting for an answer. I tried to think of something; something to say that would tie them over, but what? I actually haven't thought much of what to do next..., Changelings don't reproduce the way many imagine they do.... We don't hatch from eggs, or are even born. Changelings are shells of ponies that a Queen like myself have fed on for a extended period of time. I've heard of legendary Changeling Queens that could use magic to clone their soldiers, greatly increasing their swarm.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure that'll ever be an option, so I decided we'd get out of the wastes before I make any plans.
"Very well, my Queen! We will traverse our way through the desert and seek a colony! Let us prepare!"
"Ugh..." Quickstrike groaned, "Fine..."
We began on our way through the hot sands, all three of us, though it was much more irritating since Quickstrike can't stay quiet for five minutes.
"That just ain't fair!" Quickstrike whined, "How's it that ya'll can transform, but I can't!!" His snake-tail hissed.
"It's very physically exhausting," Inferno sighed; it was the fifth time he'd said it, "My body gave out the first time I tried, and I went into stasis-lock after I spent a little time transformed..."
"Yer just don't know how ta take th' pain," Quickstrike boasted, and then began to flex his front legs, "I'd be able ta stay transformed fer a long while...." He then stares oddly at me, but then turns back to Inferno, "Speakin' of which..., what th' slag are we anyway?"
"Aren't you both Changelings?" The two of them turned to me and I silenced myself.
"I dun know what you're talkin' 'bout, Sugar-Bot," Quickstrike laughed, "We all 're Predacons, though I dun really know what you are..."
"FOOL!" Inferno interrupted, "She is our Queen, and we as her soldiers, we mustn't question her!"
"I don't mean that!" Quickstrike pushed Inferno, "I mean, what is she, an' why does she got holes in 'er legs?!?"
"I'm unsure what you are referring to Quickstrike," I decided to humor him, "But I am a Changeling, a Queen at that, and I noticed that you are also a Changeling, albeit a strange one..."
"So that why I gotta walk 'round on all fours...." Quickstrike's snake-tail scratching his head, "But why're we these things?! Why can't I transform?! An' how the slag are we still alive Inferno?!?"
"What in the Pit are you going on about?"
"Consarnit! Ya'll don't see that we're four-legged bug... horse... things...." He then looked at his hoof as he seems to have realized that he has hooves. "Why the slag do we have these hooves?!? And how the slag did I pick stuff up with it?! AND WHY CAN'T I TRANSFORM!!! GIII-YAAAAAHH!!"
Quickstrike then runs around screaming around Inferno and I, and he was just as irritated as I was. He stepped in front of Quickstrike, and the idiot ran into him.
"What the..., Inferno?! Why in tarnation-?!"
"Listen you two-headed buffoon!" Inferno then pick up his comrade and stood on his back hooves, "Things are different now, yes, but would you rather be scrap? I think not. We have been blessed with a second chance with our life cycles, and I'm not sure about you Quickstrike, but I plan to serve a Queen who will not abandon me! I will serve her til the death of me, and I shall be grateful as I fall serving her in what might be a short life, I don't care! I must serve her... I don't know why..., but I feel...that I must, and I shall!"
I couldn't believe what he said...., He really does love me....
Inferno then threw Quickstrike to the ground, "Make your choice old friend..., like it or not, we are in a different world, and we must adapt to it." Inferno began to walk away, "I've made my choice..., make yours..." He then walked to my side and looked at Quickstrike, who was deep in thought.
"I... reckon... I....."
A familiar ear-piercing screech interrupted him and made my blood chill. I looked at Inferno and I saw that he felt the same; he looked at me and we both knew that we were in for a fight.
"WHAT IN TARNATION!?!?"
Then a bony shape crashed into the sand and it sent sand everywhere. The first thing I saw was it's bony maw rising from the sand, marrow dripping from it's teeth, then it's hollow eyes which somehow seemed filled with rage and fury. It's skeletal wings then shot up and the nightmare let out another terrifying wail which froze my spine again.
"WHAT THE SLAG IS THAT!?!?!?!"
I took a small breath, knowing that it could possibly be my last, and I answered him....
"The Marrowwock......"