//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Friendship is More Than Meets the Eye // by Tumbleweed //------------------------------// "Unicorn? We've got lots of those!" Pinkie Pie said. "Not unicorn. Unicron." Grimlock explained. He shifted his weight, causing the walls and beams of Applejack's barn to creak ominously. The massive humanoid had taken up a sitting position within the building, and, to his credit, hadn't demolished it. Yet. "Oooooooh," Pinkie Pie said, hanging on Grimlock's every word, "so then what happened?" "Me Grimlock kick him Unicron butt!" A pause. "But that not work so good. But then him Unicron explode, either 'cuz him Rodimus do shiny thing, or me Grimlock kicked harder than me think." "So someone finally took care of Unicron?" Princess Celestia asked as she walked in through the open barn door. The morning's sunlight streamed in behind her, almost as if Princess Celestia had brought the dawn along with her. For all Twilight new, she had. "Good riddance, I say." Princess Celestia grinned. Hurriedly, the ponies (except Twilight) bowed down, trying to find the right elevation between 'reverence' and 'friendliness.' Grimlock, of course, remained still, though it seemed unlikely the massive metal warrior would have bowed even if he had the space to move. Wheelie remained perched on Grimlock's shoulder, watching everything with eager curiosity. "Princess!" Twilight blurted, "I wasn't expecting you so soon. Grimlock was just telling us some stories about where he's from...But you know what he's talking about?" "A little," Princess Celestia said, entirely too casual, "the Unicron entity actually menaced Equestria, several centuries ago." "Oh yeah?" Grimlock leaned forward. "How come him no eat you planet?" "Simple." Celestia's lips turned up ever so slightly at the memory. "I threw the sun at him." "You what?" Twilight Sparkle sputtered. "You...he...what? That's impossible! I mean, well, I suppose it is possible, but such a massively important astro-historical event., even from hundreds of years ago...how come I've never read about it?" "Because you don't have Chrome level clearance, that's why." Princess Celestia waved one hoof airily. "I've never even heard of-" Twilight Sparkle began. "Oooh, that's the point, isn't it?" Pinkie Pie perked up. "It wouldn't be very secret if everypony knew about it! This way it's secret. Secret, but fun!" "You're about half right, Pinkie Pie." Princess Celestia said. "But we'll talk about clearances later. Right now, I think you should introduce me to our guests?" "Oh, right." Twilight said. "The orange one is Wheelie." "It really is nice to meet you!" Like some sort of poetic primate, Wheelie scuttled down the length of Grimlock's arm. "I know we'll be good friends once this is through!" "And the big one is Grimlock." Twilight sparkle said. "Hi." Grimlock grunted, and leaned forward to peer closer at Princess Celestia. To her credit, the regal alicorn didn't so much as flinch as the blank black faceplate loomed over her. "What you name?" "Grimlock, this is Princess Celestia. Ruler and protector of all of Equestria for the last thousand years-" "Hnf. Princess? That not so great." Grimlock rumbled. "'cuz me Grimlock am king." Twilight gasped silently in horror. "Is that so?" Princess Celestia said, not missing a beat, "I was unaware Cybertonians had proper monarchs. Just what are you the king of?" "Uh." Grimlock scratched at his helm. "Uh. Me Grimlock king dinobot?" he ventured. "And, uh, other stuff, too. Still am better than princess! If you tiny pony so great, why you no king?" "Well, there's the matter of organic gender-" Princess Celestia began, smiling. "Then why not queen?" Grimlock added on, "that better than princess, right?" "Oh! Now there is a good question." Princess Celestia tossed her continuously flowing mane back, and peered up at Grimlock. "It's true, in that I could call myself Queen, or Empress, or any number of other titles that might come to mind. It's just that I choose not to, given my unique relationship with my sister. I like to think we share our responsibilities equally, and thus, elevating one over the other would prove...problematic. That, and having two queens on the throne would be confusing, wouldn't it?" "Me Grimlock guess so?" The massive warrior shrugged, causing the beams of Applejack's barn to creak ominously. "So why you here? Me Grimlock getting bored from too much talking. Stop being boring, princess pony!" The other ponies in the barn just stared, jaws dropping in shock to see such a glaring show of disrespect. Twilight Sparkle briefly glanced overhead, wondering just how much magical energy it would take to send Grimlock to the moon (or at least to magic kindergarten). That's when Princess Celestia began to laugh. This made Twilight and company stare even more. "Oh, sorry." Princess Celestia dabbed at the corner of her eye, "It's...it's just been a long time since anypony talked to me like that." "Nopony should talk to you like that!" Twilight Sparkle said, desperate, "I mean, you're...you're you! Princess Celestia! Super wise and ancient and all powerful and...stuff!" "Perhaps," Princess Celestia said, "but where Grimlock comes from, creatures don't measure their lives in centuries, but in millennia. It's quite refreshing, really, to know there are creatures out there in the universe that are older than you are." Celestia nodded up at Grimlock. "Go on, Grimlock, tell them how old you are." "Uh." Grimlock paused, and counted off a few numbers on his fingers. "...me Grimlock twenty eight." "See?" Celestia nodded to her favorite student. "Grimlock's been around for twenty eight thousand years-" "No, that wrong." Grimlock said. "Oh, sorry." Celestia said, "He's only been around for twenty eight centuries, which is still-" "Nope." Grimlock said. "Me Grimlock just twenty-eight years old." a pause. "Twenty eight Earth years." he clarified. "Really? Only twenty eight?" Wheelie chimed in, "You're younger than me! Isn't that great?" "Oh wow! If these giant alien robot guys get that old, and Grimlock's that young..." Pinkie Pie bounced on her hooves in excitement. "That means Grimlock's just a baby!" "Ain't many babies I seen that can rassle dragons," Applejack said, "that there feller's dangerous." "You've never babysat for the Cake twins, have you?" Pinkie Pie said. "ME GRIMLOCK NO BABY. ME GRIMLOCK SUPER FIGHTER KING! OF FIGHTING!" The metal warrior's voice shook the boards of the barn, and he shifted his weight, preparing to stand up. "Ah." Princess Celestia's composure faltered, but just for a moment. She soon flapped her wings and hovered up at the level of Grimlock's visor, regarding him with a cool, regal look. "Please calm down." Her voice was polite, soothing, and somehow all the more threatening for it. "Don't mind Pinkie Pie- she doesn't know any better." she said. "I'm sure that, with the sort of life you lead, you had to...grow up fast, so to speak?" "Me Grimlock always be best fighter." Grimlock remained surly, but at least he'd stopped yelling. "Me Grimlock built this way!" "Built this way?" Pinkie Pie's hair bobbled as she tilted her head to the side. "That reminds me of a song..." "Not now, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said, and stuffed a hoof in her mouth. "I think we may be getting sidetracked." Princess Celestia said. "You're both welcome to stay in Equestria as my personal guests, but I'm sure you'd rather get back home, wouldn't you?" "Yeah! Pony planet am kinda boring. And me Grimlock bet them Autobots am in trouble 'gain. Them always call me Grimlock when they need saving." "I have to say, Grimlock's right. Any way we can leave tonight?" "I'm afraid not, little one." Princess Celestia said. "You see, it's not exactly easy to travel between galaxies, even when you come from a Hub world such as this one." "So it is Hub Theory! I knew it!" Twilight Sparkle blurted out, only to quickly add, "sorry for interrupting, Princess." "No need to apologize, Twilight." The princess smiled down at her favorite student. "It just shows you paid attention when in class. Though I'm afraid, in this context, Hub Theory isn't exactly a theory anymore, which, again, is Chrome level clearance, but I digress." "What n' tarnation are they talkin' 'bout?" Applejack murmured to Rarity. The white unicorn frowned. "What, you think I should know, just because I'm a unicorn?" Applejack winced. "Uh. Maybe?" "Twilight," Princess Celestia said as fluttered back down to the ground, "maybe you should explain just what's going on to your friends. In laypony's terms, if you can manage." "Of course!" Twilight Sparkle shifted her weight from hoof to hoof in nervous anticipation. "I wish I'd had time to prepare some slides to make things clearer, but too late for that!" She breathed in deeply, closed her eyes for a moment, and began to speak. "If you look up in the night sky, every star you see is a sun of its own, just millions of light-years away. And each of those suns probably has its own worlds, and some of those worlds have the potential to be the home of extra-Equestrian life forms." Twilight gestured towards Wheelie and Grimlock. "However different they might be from us. Now, normally, due to the enormous distances and time frames involved, travel between worlds is an epic undertaking. However, travel between certain worlds can be made, ah...slightly easier, or so it's theorized. I won't go into the mathematics, but the best generalization I can think of is to consider each star, along with its systems, as a cog or gear inside of a well-made watch." Twilight picked up a stick with her telekinesis, and used it to draw a series of concentric circles on the dirt floor. "When positioned correctly, the gravitational forces of one system can cause the next one to wobble slightly, which has an effect on other nearby stars...make sense so far?" Twilight's friends nodded, more out of politeness than understanding. "Anyway," Twilight continued, "Some worlds, closer to the center of the 'watch,' are more important, more connected than others. Theorists called these 'Hub' worlds, and hence, Hub Theory. If one could somehow map out the near-infinite astronomical permutations, travel between Hub worlds could be facilitated by the revolutions of stars and planets. Or, even without a complete understanding of the mathematics involved, the probability of objects crossing from one system to another is greatly increased. My guess is that Grimlock and Wheelie came from another Hub world." "Lucky us." Rarity deadpanned. "Now then," Twilight looked up at Grimlock, "If you could tell us the circumstances of how you got here, I might be able to cross-reference it with my star charts so we can get a good approximation of your point of origin." "Uh." Grimlock said. "Me Grimlock was flying spaceship, 'cuz me Grimlock and him Wheelie steal bunch of Energon from stupid Decepticons!" "A decepti-whatnow?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side. Twilight waved the question off, and looked back up at Grimlock. "And then what happened?" "Then navigation computer exploded 'cuz Decepticons shoot at us. But Me Grimlock hit big red button and make spaceship go SUPER FAST, and then spaceship crash land here." he shrugged. "Me Grimlock am great pilot." "You call that great flying?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Me Grimlock not dead. Him Wheelie not dead." Grimlock crossed his arms across his golden chest, smug. "That mean me great pilot." "Y'know, he's got a point." "Not. Helping. Pinkie." Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Thank you for the explanation, Twilight." Celestia said. "I think that's enough lecturing for now. We should get on to more...practical matters. I will go back to Canterlot, where my sister and I will do what we can to make the gravitational conditions a little more...convenient for our friend's eventual departure. Twilight, I want you to go back to Grimlock's crashed ship, and see what you can salvage. If anyone can learn anything from it, it'll be you." Twilight Sparkle blushed at the praise. "As for the rest of you, I know you will extend every courtesy to our new friends." The other five ponies nodded in silent agreement, and set about exchanging nervous looks with one another. All except for Pinkie, who no doubt was already planning a 'welcome to the planet' party. "Hmn. Me Grimlock say that sound good." He shifted his weight again, and one of his 'wings' scraped a deep furrow in the barn wall. "It boring in here anyway." "Goodbye, Grimlock." Princess Celestia smiled up at the dinobot, "I promise, we'll do everything we can to get you home." "Bye pony princess lady!" Grimlock raised a hand in a wave, accidentally toppling a stack of hay bales in the process. "Uh, Princess? Could I have a word with you?" Twilight Sparkle said as she fell into step beside Celestia, "outside?" "Of course." Celestia walked along at a leisurely pace. "What do you need?" She said once they were a good distance away from the barn. "Well, um. Not to doubt you, or anything, but..." Twilight Sparkle glanced over her shoulder and winced as she saw a chunk of gray metal smash a small hole in the side of Applejack's barn. "You were talking like you've met aliens like Grimlock before." "I have," Princess Celestia said, "though they were usually better company." "Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight tried not to sound hurt. "Did I do something wrong?" "Twilight," Celestia said, "how do I address my letters to you?" "To My Favorite Student," Twilight said from memory. She could have recited every letter she'd received, if she needed to. "And I meant it." Princess Celestia leaned in to nuzzle affectionately at the unicorn. "But, as proud as I am of you, and as wonderful as you are...you're still learning. Tell me, if you were teaching, say, the Cutie Mark Crusaders alchemy, would you begin by telling them how to distill wyvern venom?" "Of course not!" Twilight's eyes went wide in terror at the thought. "I mean, the acid's dangerous enough, but if the process is done incorrectly..." She trailed off. "Oh. Oooooh. I think I understand now. You were going to teach me more when I was ready, weren't you?" "Exactly. Too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing, especially if you haven't any wisdom to temper it with. I know there was a lot I didn't tell you, and there's still a lot I haven't told you, but this has taken me by surprise as well. I will do everything in my power to keep you and the rest of Equestria safe. Which means I will keep you informed. All I ask is that you trust me." "Of course I trust you." Twilight Sparkle looked up at the princess, adoringly. "That means a lot to me, Twilight. Now...even working with Luna, it's going to be very hard for me to make the preparations to send Grimlock and Wheelie home. I'm going to need you to be my eyes and ears in Ponyville while I'm...indisposed. Can you do that?" "I will!" Twilight set her jaw in what she hoped was a determined expression. It looked mostly cute instead. "I knew you'd say that." Princess Celestia draped Twilight in one wing for a brief, though no less affectionate hug. "Now, listen carefully. There's something else I need to tell you. I didn't want to mention it in front of your friends, because I didn't want to...alarm them." "Any more alarming than having a giant metal dragon stomping around your backyard?" Princess Celestia's lips turned up in a soft smile. "Point. Regardless, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Grimlock. Not right away, at least. He seems...unpredictable, to put it politely. Volatile, even." Twilight Sparkle nodded in agreement. "Now, when I received your report on the situation, I immediately ordered the Canterlot observatory to make a thorough sky-survey. And...they found something. It's still far away, so only the big telescopes in Canterlot could see it, and even then, only faintly." Twilight Sparkle fought back a gasp. "Are you saying..." Princess Celestia nodded. "Someone's followed Grimlock to Equestria. And I've got a feeling they're not going to be as friendly as he is."