Published April 9th, 2013
Chapter Sixteen: Bug Brain
The instant he heard one of his subordinates was in danger, Dark Lance's entire demeanor changed.
"Bunker, Burnout. Go back to the ship and prepare the med-lab. And be ready for an attack from Bloodwing. Rainbow, can you take me to where Skybreaker is?" The pegasus panted a few more times before speaking again.
"Yeah, it's not too far. Just give me a second." She started taking deeper, more deliberate breaths to get herself under control as Bunker and Burnout disappeared into the forest. She took one more breath and let it out before jumping back to her hooves and flaring her wings. "Alright, let's go!" Dark Lance nodded, and they both took off towards the captive Autobot.
Rainbow took the Autobot commander back the way she had come, turning farther south when they reached the river. It eventually ended in a waterfall that poured down into a large canyon. Looking down as he flew, Dark Lance could see two dots at the very bottom. One was black, the other green. He called Rainbow to stop, and hovered over to her.
"Wait here. The rest of your friends will probably have followed us, and they'll most likely want to give you a once-over before you get yourself into anything else. I should be able to handle this on my own, but I'll let you know if I need backup." He then started moving again, gliding in a slow circle as the pegasus above called a warning to him.
"Be careful! He's a lot stronger than any Changeling I've fought before!" Dark Lance hummed to himself in thought at that.
^Why would this Changeling be stronger? She didn't say it was any larger, so it's probably safe to assume it isn't, but then what could cause the difference? It may have something to do with the Energon it's consumed. Or it could simply be a recessive gene. Maybe a drug of some kind? I guess I'll find out when I talk to it.^ As he finished his internal list of questions, he landed a few yards from the Changeling. He found it to be a strange creature, at the very least. It had the body structure and was slightly larger than a pony, but instead of fur it had glossy black chitin, and light blue eyes with white pupils. It's horn was sharp and curved, unlike the blunt spirals of a unicorn, and it sported a pair of translucent insectile wings. Easily the strangest feature, though, were the holes in its hooves. Skybreaker was several feet farther back, unconscious and encased in a translucent green cocoon filled with goop that prevented him from moving. Dark Lance did a short scan of his subordinate, but focused his attention back on the Changeling when he found no major injuries.
"You obviously know who I am and why I'm here, since you were waiting, so let's get right to it. What do you want?" He gave the strange bug-like creature his best glare, but it only huffed before speaking with a strange, buzzing voice.
"Simple, really. I want to leave." This simply confused the Autobot leader.
"What do you mean, leave? Leave the canyon? The country?" The Changeling huffed again.
"No. I want to leave the planet." For a microsecond, Dark Lance thought he was being mocked, but the face the Changeling had was one of complete seriousness.
"So why come to me?" he asked, trying to keep up appearances. The Changeling suddenly growled at him.
"Do not take me for a fool!" he barked, anger covering his features. "I know precisely what you are, Dark Lance, Commander of Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team Six! I am fully aware of your capabilities and origins. And I know you have a ship! Do not believe me to be one of the ignorant fools who thinks no other intelligent life exists outside of this planet. I have seen your kind before, and I am fully aware of your conflict." The Changeling growled again as Dark Lance took in the meaning of his words.
^Interesting. He already knew what we are, how we got here, and which team we are. I didn't even bother telling the ponies we've met that there are other teams, so either he has known about all this for a very long time, or he managed to get into the ship without setting off any of our alarms.^
"How do you know all this? I find it hard to believe you got into our ship without alerting us, so how does a creature we've never come across before know what we are? And why would you want to leave, anyway?" The Changeling chuckled a little before speaking again.
"Because you *have* come across the same creatures as my progenitors. You see, I'm actually one of the oldest beings on the planet. Older than even Celestia. The rest of my kind died long ago from arrogance and stupidity, but I have been willing to be patient in getting what I want. In the meantime, however, my species has devolved into near-mindless creatures that require a queen to tell them everything. This idiotic, failed invasion that she attempted recently was the last straw. I am tired of their mindlessness and ineptitude. I want to leave, and I'm willing to do quite a bit to make that happen." Dark Lance stared curiously at the Changeling for a minute, gauging the truth of his words.
"What's your name?"
"I am called Wingshift." This made Dark Lance raise an eyebrow, but he decided to leave it alone for now.
"Are you aware that our ship is currently unable to leave?" he asked calmly.
"Yes, and I'm perfectly willing to both help you fix it, and defeat the Decepticons to allow us to leave without worry. I have finally found a way to remove myself from the asinine lifestyle of a bug in the ground, and I'm not going to simply let it pass because of some misplaced loyalty that I never cared about to begin with." Now Dark Lance was curious.
"What do you mean 'misplaced loyalty'?" he asked suspiciously. Wingshift grinned a little.
"Oh, please. I already said I'm not a Changeling. And I know you recognize the style of my name." Dark Lance's suspicions of what kind of creature he was actually talking to were suddenly confirmed with this statement.
"You *are* an Insecticon..." he muttered, just loud enough to be heard.
"Not quite," Wingshift replied. Then he transformed. His hind legs folded, then extended so his hooves were now knee guards. His back plate fell away, allowing his whole upper body to turn around, then split so that his head became his shoulders, while his neck and forelegs compressed into a pair of powerful arms and his hooves split into a pair of claws with three large pincers making up each one. His wings then returned to their position behind his neck after his head was revealed, giving Dark Lance a good look at him. It was obvious from his face alone he was not a normal transformer. There was plenty of circuitry and metal, but it was interspersed with flesh and other organic structures. His mouth had a pair of mandibles, and his eyes were compound. Whatever Wingshift was, Dark Lance didn't have a name for it. Then something even more unexpected happened: Wingshift was suddenly cloaked in green flame. By the time it had registered in Dark Lance's processor, it was gone, but instead of Wingshift's robot mode, he was now looking at a perfect copy of his own robot mode. Even his thrusters and lance had been copied. He stepped back in shock, before finally understanding what had happened.
"You're a Shifter, too?" The clone shook his head before another flash of green fire enveloped him, leaving the correct robot mode behind.
"No. I have no relation to the Shifters. My spark was contaminated during the reproduction sequence, causing me to grow with a much smaller, partially organic body, and the ability to disguise myself as any creature of approximately the same size using the Energon radiation around me. I am actually the creation of the Insecticons who originally crashed here. When they exposed their sparks to do so, however, they were subjected to massive amounts of radiation. The same happened to the others of my generation. All members of both groups died by the time the fifth generation reached maturity. Since then, all apparent connections to our Insecticon progenitors has disappeared from the Changeling race. They are weak, mindless, and completely incompetent in combat. They rely utterly on their queen and are only capable of defeating even the weakest of foes in large numbers. Even then, though, victory is not assured!" The anger in his voice became more and more apparent as he spoke, until he was practically yelling at the end. He paused for a moment to collect himself, then continued. "I wish to sever all ties to these pathetic beings, but to do that I must remove myself entirely from all contact with them. I have to go off-world. So, if you are willing to do this for me, I am willing to help you fight the Decepticons."
Dark Lance stared hard at the mutant Insecticon, trying to determine the likelihood of him being a threat. So far, the only hostile act had been capturing Skybreaker, but he could quite easily decide to become loyal to the Decepticons again. Dark Lance studied the Insecticon's body for signs of ill intention, but instead he found indicators that Wingshift was likening the current situation to a trial in which he was innocent. Weighing his options and the risks and rewards thereof, Dark Lance made his decision. Before he could give his answer, though, he heard hoofbeats coming from behind. Wingshift apparently heard them as well, because he changed back to his Changeling mode. Dark Lance turned around just in time to see all six Element Bearers round a corner and head straight for them. When they got close, they slowed down to stop next to him, glaring at Wingshift. Twilight was first to speak.
"Dark Lance, are you alright? We tried to keep up, but you're pretty fast, yourself." He nodded calmly, and gestured to the Changeling before them.
"I'm fine. I would like to introduce you all to Wingshift. Apparently, he doesn't like living with the hive, and wishes to leave the planet entirely to get away from it." This was met with surprised stares from all but Pinkie Pie, who bounced right up to the disguised Insecticon.
"Ooooh! So does that mean you'll be our friend? I should throw a party! I didn't get to throw a party for Lancey and his friends, so I need a really good party to make up for it. Do you like cupcakes? What kind of games do Changelings play? I'll bet they're really interesting, since you can change forms and all. Can it be a surprise party? Those are the best!" Wingshift simply stared in shock at the pink mare as she bounced around him, constantly bombarding him with questions and suggestions. Eventually, he looked to Dark Lance with a terrified expression.
"Is she always like this? Please say 'no'. I don't think I can take this for an extended period of time." The Autobot commander chuckled at the expected reaction to Pinkie's typical antics.
"She is, but you won't be staying with them." At this, all six mares looked at him with confused expressions, Pinkie Pie having stopped in midair to do so. "You'll be staying on the ship. I don't think you're lying to me about all this, but I didn't get promoted to a position of leadership for taking stupid risks. I think you'll be more comfortable with us, anyway. Before that, though, show them why you want to leave. I don't want them being scared unnecessarily later if I can help it." The others gave Dark Lance curious looks before returning their attention back to Wingshift expectantly. He sighed before changing into his robot mode again, earning gasps of surprise from all six mares.
"Changelings are Cybertronians?" Twilight said as she sat down in shock.
"Not quite." The purple unicorn's attention returned to Wingshift as he repeated his tale of the evolution of the Changelings. When he finished, all six of the ponies were reeling from the new revelation. Suddenly, something occurred to Applejack.
"Wait a sec. If Dark Lance used to be huge, how big were the Insecticons?" The Autobot commander answered before Wingshift could open his mouth.
"Typically, a standard Insecticon would have been close to twice my original size. Some of them were even bigger than that, though. Don't worry, they rarely left Cybertron, and all of the ones that came here are dead, apparently. Now, would you mind releasing my subordinate, please, Wingshift?" Wingshift nodded, then went about taking apart the cocoon Skybreaker was still encased in. When he was fully freed, Dark Lance picked him up and deposited him on his back. "Now then, let's get back to the ship and figure out our next move. I want to be back by nightfall. Come on."
An hour later, Burnout was checking Skybreaker's systems as he sat in the med-lab, fuming at his defeat from Wingshift.
"Y'know, if I had known he wasn't a regular Changeling, I would've won! He tricked me into thinking he was a local, and I held back because of it. Stupid freaking mutant Insecticon creep...." He continued grumbling and griping as Burnout did her job, silently amused at his frustration at being defeated.
Meanwhile, in the bridge of the Star Runner, Dark Lance was discussing the current situation with Bunker.
"I still think this was a bad idea, Lance. For all we know, he's already allied himself with Bloodwing, and the first chance he gets, he'll stab us in the back and take off with them instead. I'm willing to give him a chance, but I'm not willing to totally trust him yet, either."
"I am fully aware of the risks I'm taking, Bunker. That's why I told him to stay in the room I gave him as much as possible, and he doesn't have clearance to any important areas. I even put a command in to rescind clearance for any of us if multiple or conflicting energy signatures are detected. I don't want him running around all over the place just yet, and if he is planning something, he'll have a much harder time of it. Just try not to go ballistic on him unless you're absolutely sure he's doing something on purpose, alright?" Bunker gave him a begrudging look, but made an affirmative sound after a moment. "Thank you. By the way, how are the repairs on the main engines coming?" Bunker leaned back slightly in his seat, recalling the necessary information.
"Well, we've finished clearing out the rest of the dirt that will prevent ignition, but most of the internal components are severely damaged. It will probably be another week, at least, before we can fly. What about that meteor shower you were talking about before?"
"Luna said she wasn't able to completely redirect the shower, but with my help, she was able to change the paths of the meteors so that only one protoform would be hit, and it would land not too far from here. Also, she managed to give us another day to prepare for it, so we have two days to get everything in order for the protoform's arrival. For now, I want you to look after Wingshift. I'll have him help you as needed, but I need someone to keep an optic on him, and you're the best choice for that." Bunker shot him another glare, but acquiesced anyway before heading off to his room to recharge.