//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Transformers: Harmony 
// by megatron_91 
//------------------------------//

Transformers: Harmony
Chapter 1
By: Megatron_91

As a new day began in the Great Equestrian Desert, the fiery red sun slowly crept over the horizon, lighting up the harsh unforgiving desert with its life giving rays. The beams of light beat down on the dusty red landscape, animals of all shapes and sizes scattered for shelter. Some burrowed underground, while others sought cooler accommodations within the walls of the many canyons that dotted the landscape. So cruel and unforgiving was life in this massive desert that many ponies found it surprising that life could survive here for even the briefest period of time. However, as noted pegasi chaos theorist Ian Falcon had been known to say, “Even in the harshest, most unpredictable locations, life finds a way.” 

And find a way life had. Situated in the far south-eastern corner of the desert, atop an area of farmable fertile soil, sat a small western town by the name of Appaloosa. And as any local of the humble little town would tell you, it was no easy task getting the town the way it is today. 

When the settlers first arrived in the desert, they had faced many hardships, from discovering the land they had purchased was absolutely devoid of any useful resources, to finding out that the ground was so dry and lacking in nutrients that even the tiniest blade of grass refused to grow in the worthless soil. It wasn’t until the discovery of a nearby river that Lady Luck began to shine brightly on the struggling colony.

With the discovery and irrigation of the river, the town’s farming business began to boom. The river provided the settlers’ crops with precious life giving water that the skies refused to give up allowing them to grow all kinds of food to provide to the nearby markets. Soon, the settlers chose and paid for a large plot of fertile land near the town, and began setting down an apple orchard. Over time, the orchard grew in size, and the townsponies began to use it to its full advantage, selling the apples to nearby markets, as well as using the lumber from fallen trees to build more homes and increase the size of the town.

As time continued to march onward, the orchard became the central business of the town. Ponies would come from far and wide to work on the large, blooming apple trees. In fact, most days in Appleoosa wouldn’t even start without workers heading into the orchard to buck the trees that were ripe for picking and bringing the apples back into town for washing, preparation, and dispersal to the nearby local markets. However, on this particular day things would start a little differently in the town of Appaloosa as a stranger rode in.


………..


The stranger in question was an earth pony of medium build; his bright yellow coat and loose black mane were matted down as his body continued to sweat in the mid-morning sun. Being pulled along behind the pony was a mid-size iron carriage, the kind usually used to give rides to people in a park on a nice cool evening. The carriage itself was of a lightweight build, primarily painted yellow with black paint adorning the frame and a stripe along the side. The spoke wheels were made of high grade wood with steel wrapping around each one. The pony’s bright blue eyes squinted against the glare of the hot burning sun as he continued on his way into the little western town, the only clue to his identity being the cutie mark imprinted on his flank: a single buzzing bumblebee. 

Entering the little western settlement, the strange yellow pony began looking around every which way he could. All over town ponies continued with their daily chores and work. Some could be seen hauling in bushels of apples from the nearby orchard, while others took them off to be baked into all kinds of goods, from apple pies to apple fritters. Those not involved with the apple picking process could be seen doing any number of jobs, from cleaning the streets, to building new homes for the ever expanding population, even to drawing horse drawn carriages. Everywhere the strange blue-eyed pony looked there were signs of thriving life even amidst this harsh environment. The pony was very impressed. 

“It ain’t often we get strangers ‘round these parts,” a voice from behind the yellow pony suddenly boomed.

Spinning around, the stranger came face-to-face with a dark black moustache. Stepping back a bit, he could see the moustache was attached to the snout of a tough looking earth pony, his brown coat and black mane hiding under the blue vest he was wearing. On the leather vest, the stranger could see a large silver sheriff’s badge, matching the one on the pony’s flank, alerting the stranger to the fact that this was the local law enforcement. 

“What’s yer name son?” the blue eyed sheriff asked, holding a hoof out to the stranger.

The stranger smiled, taking the sheriff’s hoof and shaking it vigorously. “I-I’m Bumblebee,” he replied.

“Bumblebee, huh? That’s a bit of a strange name.” the brown stallion laughed. “I’m Sheriff Silver Star, son.”

“And you say my name was weird,” Bumblebee said, cocking an eyebrow.

The Sheriff chuckled in a friendly way. “Well, I suppose that’s true. So, what are you in town for boy?”

“Oh, I’m just passing through.” Bumblebee sheepishly grinned.

“Well then son, why don’t ya put that carriage yer haulin’ up, and I’ll give ya a tour of our humble little town?” Silver Star smiled, gesturing towards a nearby building where ponies could leave their wagons and carriages without the need to worry about their belongings being stolen.

“While I do appreciate the offer for a tour, I think I’ll keep my carriage with me, if it’s all the same to you,” the yellow pony said. “We’re kind of attached,” he chuckled. 

“Well, alright, I s’pose,” Silver Star said, walking in front of the yellow stallion. “And he called me the weird one,” he muttered under his breath.


………


As the two walked together through the town the excited sheriff gave Bumblebee a brief history of the town and the nearby orchard. Only paying half attention to Silver Star’s story, Bumblebee dropped back slightly, glancing down every darkened alley, under any shady tree, and behind any structure someone could be hiding behind. Satisfied that no one was following them, the bright-eyed yellow stallion turned his attention back to Silver Star’s story, just in time to run right into the older pony’s flank.

“Somethin’ wrong, boy?” the Sheriff asked turning around and giving Bumblebee a cocked eyebrow.

“Um…sorry,” Bumblebee stuttered. “I wasn’t paying attention. I, uh…got lost in the town’s…beauty?” he said quickly, hoping his choice of words would please the glaring authority figure. 

“Well, then, that’s something I can understand!” Silver Star shouted, catching the yellow pony off guard, causing him to bump into his carriage out of surprise. “Anyways, we’re at the first stop of our tour!” he continued.

Bumblebee looked up at the tall two-story building Silver Star was gesturing towards. The building was of wooden construction, painted green and brown to cover up any imperfections in the long wooden boards. Finally, on the front of the building, situated in between the two floors, was a sign with the word “SALOON” printed on it in large friendly letters.

“Come on in boy, I’ll buy you a salt,” the sheriff laughed.

“Um, that’s alright; I don’t lick,” Bumblebee replied, grinning sheepishly.

“Ya sure boy?” asked Silver Star. “That carriage has got to be gettin’ heavy. Ya sure ya at least don’t want a glass of water?”

“No, I’m fine,” Bumblebee assured the mustachioed pony.

The sheriff gave Bumblebee a strange look. “Well, alright then. Anyways, so this here’s the saloon. It’s owned by Morton Shaker, and was one of the first places of business the town got set up,” he explained.

Suddenly, the doors to the saloon slammed violently open, causing Bumblebee to jump to high alert, ready to face any threat that emerged.  After a few brief seconds, an old pony with a brown coat and dirty blonde mane came flying out and crashed on to the dusty road nearby. 

“And stay out, you old coot!!” a grey stallion with a handlebar moustache yelled as he watched the old pony get up and drunkenly stagger away. 

Bumblebee calmly watched the drunken pony wander off when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Bumblebee caught sight of something slowly emerging from a nearby alley that sent him instantly back into high alert.

Creeping its way out of the dark, shady alley was a strange, complex vehicle. It had two mid-size spoke wheels at the back, with one large steel wheel at the front. Mounted on the iron framework above each of the two back wheels was a powerful steam engine chugging away as it released excess steam from the six large steel pipes that wrapped around the framework. The large steel wheel was mounted to the front of the vehicle by two long pipes that terminated in a pair of long twisting handlebars; and finally, situated on the front of the vehicle where the two iron poles intersected with the handlebars, was a small dragon skull. The entire vehicle looked like some demonic, mechanical carriage from the underworld. Sitting atop a seat mounted above the powerful steam engine was a dark black stallion giving bumblebee a sadistic smile as he glared at him with blood red eyes. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Sheriff Silver Star,” Bumblebee said, turning his attention back to the rambling mustachioed pony, “but I have to get going.”

“What? Are ya sure son?” The sheriff said, breaking his rant to turn and face the yellow pony. “You just got here; we haven’t even finished the tour!” 

“I’m sorry, you have a very lovely town, and I enjoyed the part of the tour I got,” the yellow stallion said, glancing behind him to see the steam bike had moved out of the alley and was slowly drawing towards him, “but I have to leave right now!” he emphasized. 

“Well, alright then,” Silver Star sighed, but before he could finish his sentence, Bumblebee rushed past him galloping at top speed, leaving a trail of dust in his wake as his carriage passed behind him.

Turning to look after the strange yellow pony, Silver Star had to grasp hold of his grey Stetson as a massive gust of wind came up behind him.  Looking to see the source of the strong wind, the sheriff pony caught sight of the malevolent black and green steam bike as it chased after Bumblebee.

“I hope that boy’ll be alright,” Sheriff Silver Star stated as he turned around and made his way back into town.


……….


Bumblebee moved as fast as he could, desperate to draw his pursuer as far away from the little western town as possible. Looking back, Bumblebee could not only see that the steam bike was beginning to catch up, but that it had been joined in its pursuit. 

The newcomer was a large, pitch-black stallion with white streaks running through his coat and a dark purple mane. He stared down Bumblebee with red eyes that looked out over his gold colored snout. Trailing behind the stallion was a large iron prisoner transport carriage. Large and cubic in design, plates of reinforced iron covered the frame of the menacing carriage. The only way in or out of the carriage was a large, armored door on the back that had heavy iron bars mounted in the window. The entire carriage had been painted black with white accents to match its supposed driver. Painted in white script above the carriage’s back wheel well were the words, “To punish and enslave.”

“Barricade,” Bumblebee growled as he saw the two vehicles and their drivers rapidly approaching. “It’s time to pour on some speed!” Bumblebee shouted. Suddenly, in a burst of light, the yellow stallion disappeared, and the mid-sized yellow carriage began to move under its own power. “Let’s see how they like this!” the carriage roared as two metal cylindrical tubes flipped out of a hidden panel on the carriage’s underside. The tubes unexpectedly unleashed a stream of fire and exhaust, propelling the carriage forward at unbelievable speed.

Growling, the black and green pony atop the steam bike disappeared in a flash of light, similar to Bumblebee, as the engines on the bike kicked into overdrive and rocketed after the yellow carriage.

“What’s the matter, Autobot? Not gonna fight like a real bot?” the bike sadistically laughed, pulling up beside Bumblebee. 

Suddenly, the bike seemed to explode into a million metal shards as the front wheel split in half, large metal fingers emerging from each half. The seat folded up as the two engines flipped outward, forming a pair of legs and feet. Finally, a panel on the furnace of the bike opened, revealing a large head contained within a glass dome. 

Now fully transformed the large metal robot leapt at the yellow carriage with surprising agility. Barely missing as the yellow vehicle sped forward, the robot instead chose to swing its massive wheeled arm like a bat, slamming it into the side of the fleeing vehicle, sending it flying off the dirt road. 

Still sailing through the air, the carriage quickly began to change its own shape. Two arms emerged from the carriage’s underbelly as the back end flipped outward and twisted around forming a pair of legs. The vehicle finished its transformation as the front end of the carriage split and flipped down, forming a chest, leaving a pair of panels hanging off the back, allowing a head to rise up out of the fully formed chest piece. Its transformation finished, the yellow robot hit the ground hard and continued to roll, coming to a stop fifty feet away from his attacker.

“What did I tell you Barricade?” the steam-bike robot laughed as the large prisoner transport pulled up, its own holographic pony disappearing as it too assumed its true form. “No Autobot’s gonna beat this Decepticon!” he yelled, pointing to himself.

Barricade roared as he slammed his large clawed fist into the steam bike Decepticon’s chest, knocking him to the ground. “You almost blew our cover, rookie!”  

“Oh please!” the smaller Decepticon barked as he lifting himself up. “Don’t give me that scrap! You knew it was him the whole time; I didn’t blow anything!”  

“Watch it, boy,” Barricade growled through clenched teeth. Barricade was larger than the steam bike robot, and slightly bulkier. His black paint glistened as the hot sun reflected off the iron bars sticking out above his shoulders. The wheels on his the sides of  his shoulders and top of his hands spun in agitation as he looked out at Bumblebee’s crumpled form lying in the dirt. A sick smile crossed his face. “He’s still alive, rookie.”

“WHAT!?” The steam bike Decepticon shouted giving the yellow robot in the dirt a quick life scan only to find that his superior was right. “Alright then,” he growled. “I’ll just have to fix that.”


…….


From his place face down on the dusty desert floor Bumblebee continued to try and play dead.  Behind him, his two Decepticon attackers continued to bicker over what to do next.

“Oh please,” Barricade growled at the smaller Decepticon. “Don’t make me laugh. You couldn’t finish that Autobyte even if you tried.” 

“Oh yeah?” Oil Slick snapped. “Watch me,” he said as a small nozzle like weapon emerged from a hidden panel on his left forearm. A translucent hose arose from the back of the small arm-mounted weapon and snaked its way to the back of the small steam bike Decepticon, hooking into a large canister mounted between his shoulders. “One taste of my acid gun and that Autobot will be deader than Cybertron.” Oil Slick grinned as he began to make his way towards the little yellow Autobot. 

Bumblebee continued lying face down in the dirt. He could hear Oil Slick’s footfalls coming closer and closer and he the sickening sound of Oil Slick’s acid cannon charging as he continued forward. Bumblebee slowly closed his eyes and began to concentrate; if his plan was going to work he’d need to time things just right.

“Say good night, Autobot.” Oil Slick sadistically smiled as he finally reached his target pointing the nozzle of his gun at the back of the Autobot’s head. 

“GOOD NIGHT!” Bumblebee suddenly roared, pushing off the ground with his arms, using the momentum to propel himself into the air before bringing his feet slamming into the Decepticon’s chest, sending him staggering backwards. Flipping around in midair to face Oil Slick, Bumblebee’s arm began to transform as his hand slid into its socket as multiple casings flipped out over each other, culminating in a barrel at the end of the outstretched limb. Hitting the ground, the yellow Autobot instantly began firing into the steam bike Decepticon with his battle pistol.

Oil Slick yelled as the Autobot blew the dragon skull off his shoulder, forcing the Decepticon to jump behind a nearby boulder for cover. “Barricade, I could use a hand!” he roared over the sound of the Autobot’s weapon.

“Told you; you couldn’t handle this rookie,” Barricade barked. “Looks like I’m gonna have to pull your aft out of the fire!” he roared, charging at Bumblebee, the wheels at the end of his arms changing into a pair of serrated saws. He brought them down across the yellow Autobot’s back, causing him to shriek in pain.

Bumblebee quickly spun around and began firing at Barricade, who easily dodged the laser blasts going in for another swipe at the Autobot’s abdomen with his saws. Bumblebee yelled out as the saw grazed his stomach, slightly spluttering energon out onto the desert floor.

“Don’t forget about me, Autobot!” Oil Slick laughed coming out from behind the rock and opening fire. 

“You’ll have to do better than that, Decepticreeps!”  Bumblebee yelled, clutching his stomach as he ducked under Barricade’s arm as it came around for another swipe. Quickly, the little yellow Autobot grabbed hold of Barricade’s still moving appendage, using the momentum to pull the Decepticon in the way of the steam bike ‘Con’s blast. 

Barricade roared as the putrid green acid splashed across his back, slightly eating away at his heavy iron armor. “Watch where you fire that thing!” he hissed.

“What’s the matter, Barricade? Can’t handle a little bit of your partner’s acid?” Bumblebee laughed as he upper-cut Barricade in the jaw, sending the Decepticon sailing backwards. Before either Decepticon could react, the little yellow Autobot leapt off the Barricade’s falling body propelling him into the air. The two Decepticons quickly moved for cover as Bumblebee began to rain plasma bursts down on them from his place in the sky like hail in a bad winter storm. 

Oil Slick suddenly roared in pain as one of Bumblebee’s shots hit home, the Decepticon’s acid container exploding on his back, covering his upper body in the sickly green, corrosive material.

Bumblebee hit the ground and instantly began firing on the remaining Decepticon, pinning him behind the rock he had taken cover under.

“Frag this,” Barricade growled. “I’ve got better things to do than die,” he said, transforming back into his vehicle form and peeling out, leaving Bumblebee and the dying Oil Slick in his wake.

Bumblebee continued to fire on the retreating Barricade until he was well out of range, before turning his attention back to the wounded Oil Slick. Under normal circumstances, Bumblebee would have at least tried to help the wounded Decepticon, but he could tell it was too late to do anything, as the corrosive acid was already eating away at Oil Slick’s spark chamber. 

Oil Slick laughed, wheezing as the acid slowly seeped into his vocal processor. “Ya’ got me pretty good, Autobot, come closer and I’ll tell’ya a secret,” he wheezed, weakly reaching up to grab Bumblebee by the collar and pull him closer.

“You be sure to tell Optimus…” Oil Slick began before having to stop, struggling to speak as the acid continued eating away at him. “You be sure to tell Optimus, that Megatron is on his way home.” Oil Slick chuckled at the shocked look on Bumblebee as his eyes went dim and he slipped offline. 

“Don’t worry…I will,” Bumblebee stated, standing up to observe his surroundings. With no natives in sight, Bumblebee lifted Oil Slick’s corpse from the ground and began to drag it to a nearby cave hollowed out of the large red, stone cliff.