//------------------------------// // For All Mankind: The Final Tabluex // Story: Friendship Is Magic: Prime // by Darkryt Orbinautz //------------------------------// Darkryt Orbinautz presents... Twilight was standing alone in a void of purple flames, removed from, but still inside, her own body..."This is incredible!" Twilight noted, Unicron coursing through her veins. "So much raw power! It's amazing my body hasn't...exploded twice or something under the pressure!" Twilight could hear Celestia's scolding appraisal of her actions, and tried to reach her hoof out to show she heard her mentor, but the Chaos-Bringer Unicron had her body under his total dominion. "I will restore you, Lord Unicron." She heard Celestia say. "Princess, NO! DON'T!" Twilight begged in her head. "I appreciate you care for me that much, but Unicron is too dangerous! I'M NOT WORTH THE RISK!" Even with the flames of Anti-Spark covering her vision, Twilight could still see through her own eyes as Celestia's horn began glowing. She could also see as a Space Bridge opened up, followed by her friends in their Elements as they exited Optimus' trailer. "Are you prepared, my little ponies?" "YEAH!" Twilight could just barely make it out as six lights, one light blue, the others the colors of the rainbow absent purple, began charging. She raised her leg to shield herself from the glare. "NOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight's eyes were filled with blackness. A few blinks revealed it was just the back of her eyelids. It took her a moment for her to realize she was on a bed. It had been so long...the sensation was almost alien now. Rubbing her head sorely, she tried to think of what happened before she blacked out. Celestia...Celestia was there, wasn't she? And her friends...and...two other, um, dudes. Their names escaped her at the moment, but there was something nagging about the thought of either of them. "Hey!" A guard greeted her- a Canterlot royal guard. Looking around, Twilight could see she was in the bedroom of her old observatory. "You're awake! We were starting to think you might never make it out of that funk." "How long was I out?" Twilight questioned the guard. Celestia must've sent him here to make she was okay when she woke up and could know anything she needed to be told. "Oh, not too long...about...six years, or so?" HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969, A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND: THE FINAL TABLEAUX "SIX YEARS!?" "Yeah." The guard said. "Some...guy used something to help your friends use the Elements and get some nasty demon in you out?" Something about the Guard's sentence ticked at Twilight, and before she even knew why, she lashed out at him. "Optimus is not just 'some guy'! He is the Last of the Primes, and you will respect him the way you would a Princess!" Optimus Prime! That was the name she was forgetting. And the other...that was Unicron. Twilight shuddered just thinking about him. While Unicron was inside her head, Twilight could kinda... 'take a little peeksy' at what was inside Unicron's. It was...not pleasant. But she had to ignore that now. First things first. Get the world around her in a working order. "Where are my friends?" "Ah! The Princess thought you might ask that. Applejack's at the farm, Rarity's moved to Canterlot, Fluttershy's still at her cottage- although, I think she's actually visiting Canterlot right now- and Rainbow Dash is close to the Wonderbolts. Find the 'Bolts, find Rainbow Dash." "Close to the Wonderbolts?" Twilight giggled. "I knew Dash wanted to join them, but eesh." "Oh, I don't think she wanted to." The Guard told her. "I'm fairly certain she did." Oh! That, Twilight was not expecting. Wait a minute... "Where's Discord? Where are the Elements of Harmony?" "Celestia said to tell Discord's been taken care of. As for the Elements, I don't have any idea where they are. You'll have to ask the Princess." "Hmmm..." Well, that's almost everything...but why is it an 'almost'? "Where's Spike?" "At the Ponyville Library, just like you left him." "Okay...I think that'll be all, Guard." "Uh," The Guard stuttered at Twilight's dismissing him. "Are you sure, ma'am? Celestia said not to let you out of my sight until she got a chance to look at you..." "Well, let's go give her that chance!" Twilight began trotting towards the door, but stopped. The Dark Energon! Her new, bony wings that were the same as Unicron's and larger on her body then Celestia's own were on hers! How would everypony in Canterlot react to seeing what...a monstrosity she had become? "Uh, Miss Twilight?" The Guard said. "Is there something wrong?" "YES!" Twilight answered. "The Dark Energon! What will ponies think if they see it all over me!?" The Guard looked at her, confused. "Uh, I don't see any...Dark Energon." "You don't!? But then..." Twilight rubbed her chest with her hoof. Sure enough, no trace of the Anti-Spark was to be found, not in her chest, not in her shoulders, not in her Cutie Mark, and definitely no bigger-then-Celestia's wings. "Oh." Twilight was too grateful she wasn't a horrific abomination now to question how this happened. "Anyways, let's go see the Princess! And maybe I can get back home..." "I thought Canterlot was your home?" The guard said. Twilight kept her eyes away from him. "It used to be." The Guard 'led' Twilight to a carriage just outside the observatory. 'Led' because for whatever reason, Twilight refused to let the Guard in front of him. They climbed into the carriage and motion for the Pegasi there to take them to Celestia. They whinnied and nodded, taking flight straight for the castle. They landed on a large balcony. Celestia wasn't there at first, but she quickly appeared when news reached her student had shown up. "Twilight Sparkle! It's so good to see you well, and after all these years? How long has it been?" "According to Mister Clingy-Pants over here, six years." Twilight answered, glaring ice at the guard. "Princess, what happened to Discord?" "He's been taken care of." "I know, but what happened?" Celestia stomped her hoof, her gaze hardening. "Twilight, the measures took to entrap Discord without were drastic, and I nor anypony else wish to speak of them! Now do not ask about it again!" "Okay!" Twilight raised her hooves in surrender. "I'm sorry, Princess...I just wanted to know." Celestia's face softened. "It's fine, my little pony. I look forward to having lunch with you later today, now that you are awake, Twilight Sparkle. Is there anything else you need before I leave?" "Yeah." Twilight gestured to the Guard. "Can you, um..." "You are dismissed, Clingy-Pants." Celestia told the guard, who flushed at Celestia calling him such a sudden nick-name. He nodded and jumped out of the carriage, running into the door Celestia had exited out of. "Anything else?" Twilight pouted, her hooves drawn in nervously. "I can't help with your problems if you don't tell me them, Twilight." "Princess...I don't want you to upset, but I'd rather my first lunch in six years with my friends." This seemed to make Celestia distraught. "Have I done something to make you uncomfortable, my little pony?" "No, no no not at all!" Twilight assured her. "It's just...you know I'm okay. I want my friends to know I'm okay." "I question whether or not you are okay, Twilight, if you're turning down lunch with me!" "No! It's just...There's always next time, isn't there?" Twilight's eyes became moist and pleading. Celestia signed, moved. "Very well. I do believe I saw Fluttershy over by the malt shop in the west part of the city." Celestia entered the door back into the tower, but Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that she had disappointed Celestia somehow...or perhaps that was the lack of Dark Energon in her taking it's toll. It sounded strange to say, but after having so much of Unicron's blood in her veins- after having Unicron himself in her...the Dark Energon had become a part of her. And just removing a part of her, instead of trying to overcome and accept it was cowardly thing to do. It's something Rarity would do, but not her. She would trust her friends to help her live through it, not without it. Twilight climbed back into the carriage and ordered the carrier pegasi to take her to where Fluttershy was. Celestia's instructions weren't wrong. That was a weird thought. Why would I doubt Celestia at all? Never mind... Fluttershy was just ahead sipping a drink through a straw on a bench! And she wasn't an technoorganic half-Insecticon! "Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed, running to the other side of the bench. "OH!" Fluttershy exclaimed, hugging her drink close to her chest in surprise. "Oh, Twilight! It's just you. You scared me..." Twilight didn't like to think of herself as arrogant, but Fluttershy didn't seem to have the reaction she would think Fluttershy would have after seeing a friend they hadn't seen in six years... "You don't seem surprised to see me." "Oh, I am." Fluttershy assured her. "My head's just...messed up right now." "How are the other girls?" "Mostly okay. Sometimes they miss you, but they try not to let it interfere with all their hard work." "Huh..." Twilight rested her knee against the table. "Hey, Fluttershy? I don't have any more Dark Energon in me...and you're not an Insecticon anymore. How did that happen?" "Oh. Um, when we used the Elements of Harmony with the Matrix to get rid of Unicron, it fixed all our, um...'anomalies', I guess you could say?" Twilight's eyes sparkled with hope. "Does this mean Rarity has her horn back? And Pinkie Pie's no longer all burnt?" Fluttershy nodded. "And you're...you're no longer a member of the Insecticon hive!" Twilight exclaimed. "That's great, Fluttershy." Fluttershy's eye twitched, which was not what Twilight expected to see. "Fluttershy...? Is...something wrong?" "YES!" Fluttershy shouted, shattering her glass in her hoof and jumping onto the table to stare Twilight in the face. "All our friends keep saying I'm crazy...'scarred for life'...but I'm still a member of the hive! I'm still a Princess! You...never...stop...being part of the hive!" Fluttershy panted and heaved from her outburst. Twilight reached a hoof over Fluttershy's leg and tried to comfort her. "Got it all out?" "Yes...I'm sorry for yelling at you." Fluttershy slinked back into her seat. "I just... I can hear them, Twilight! My Insecticons! My babies! They're singing for me...for their Princess." Fluttershy banged her hoof against the table, fruitlessly trying to make it transform. "Everything...feels...wrong." Fluttershy choked out, her head dropping against the table and her ears falling down, making her look like a kicked puppy. "Okay, okay..." Twilight patted Fluttershy's hoof. "I'm going to get everypony else. When we're done, we'll come back and try to get you through this, okay?" Twilight left the table and began trotting away. "I'll be right back!" "Twilight?" Twilight stopped and turned around to see what one last thing Fluttershy wanted. "Where are my babies?" "I...I don't know, Fluttershy. I'm sorry." Rarity sat at a table in Canterlot's high and mighty bridges, waiting for her date to return. She whipped around to see it who was, and it was- "Twilight, darling! It's so good to see you again!" Rarity said. "Good to see you too, Rarity." Twilight greeted back. 'Um, did you know Fluttershy is having some adaptive issues?" "I am all too familiar with Fluttershy's adaptive issues, Twilight." Rarity answered. "This is what you interrupted my date for?" "Well...yes!" Twilight said. "Fluttershy's head is all-" Twilight waved her hoof through the air in a circle, unable to think of a word. "I know, darling. Everypony knows. We've decided to just...ignore it." "Ignore it!?" "I know it's rude, Twilight, but Applejack and I put our heads and did everything we could think of! Nothing we could think of could help make her forget about her Insecticons." "Forget?" Twilight furrowed her brows. "You mean find, don't you?" Rarity frowned. "No, darling. There's no point in trying to find them." Rarity held her hoof up to the sky and the stars their destination. "They're probably a million light years away on Earth by now." "Can't we just use the Space Bridge?" "It doesn't have a terminal here on Equestria." "Well, how far is the range on our earpieces?" "Not long enough!" Rarity pounded her hoof on the table, infuriated that Twilight was so insistent. "I am on a date, and I will not have you dragging me into pointless expeditions just to sate your silly nonsense!" Twilight frowned. Rarity wasn't going to budge. "I can't believe you're forsaking one of our friends for romance!" "Correction: I am ignoring crazy ponies in favor of romance!" Twilight turned to leave, her hooves moving slowly. She still wasn't sure what it was she was feeling, first towards Celestia, now to Rarity, but whatever it was, it was making her uneasy. She wanted to say something to Rarity. Something mean. Something that would stick and sting. "I'm sure Bulkhead would approve of that attitude." Twilight spat bitterly before departing, leaving Rarity alone with that thought and all the shakes to her mind frame it did. "Hey!" A dark blue blonde unicorn greeted, walking up to Rarity's table. "I was half-expecting you to bail on me when my back was turned. You're not like other mares, are you?" Her date approached her and nuzzled her on the cheek. "No..." Rarity said, looking up at her horn. "I suppose I'm not." She began rubbing it tenderly. Her horn, unbroken. She should feel elated! But...it was wrong somehow. It- it disgraced the memory of her crime of hurting Raf- which didn't happen due to time travel hijinks... and that just made the memory desecration even worse. But Rarity quickly forgot all of her woes with the presence of her new beau to make her feel the only star in the universe. Rainbow Dash flew through the air without a care, the Wonderbolts' costume on hugging tightly to her body, smoke and electricity trailing from it and smothering her normal rainbow trail. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" "Not now, Pinkie Pie!" "I'M TWILIGHT YOU- It's Twilight Sparkle!" Rainbow Dash broke into a careening halt, practically banging herself against a wall of non-solid air, and turned around. "Twilight!?" Sure enough, below on the ground, Twilight was sitting down, waiting for her old friend to descend and approach her. Dash obliged, landing down in front of her. "What's up, egghead?" "Flutteshy's needs to find her Insecticons!" Twilight quickly explained. "I tried to get Rarity's help, but she just said-" Twilight noticed a very bored and disinterested look on Dash's face. "You're just going to say what Rarity said, aren't you?" "Maybe. Did Rarity say we tried to help Fluttershy, but we couldn't do anything?" Twilight looked away. "Something to that effect." "Twilight, listen." Dash said as comfortingly as a brash pony like her could. "I want to help Fluttershy. I really do. But I can't. I tried, and I blew it, okay?" Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. Dash was being humble in defeat? What was next? Maybe Megatron would come over and offer her a plate of cookies on a silver platter! Oh wait...considering that Megatron was dead, that was essentially a rigged proposition. "Are you sure you've done everything you can for Fluttershy?" Twilight asked hopefully. "You got a new idea?" "Well, um...'Round up all our friends and get together to support her'?" "Yeah. Rarity tried that one already. See ya!" Dash started flapping her wings. "I got some moves to practice with the Wonderbolts!" Twilight reached a hoof out to stop her, but Rainbow Dash back-flipped and took off. Twilight's looked down in concern. A whole six years had passed by without her around? Rainbow Dash was in the Wonderbolts, Rarity had a boyfriend...what was next? As she made her way out of the grass plains and back into Canterlot proper, she couldn't help but notice how all the ponies in the high-class city were all smiling. All of them. Even the ones she knew were a bunch of surly, cranky types. There was only one possible explanation. "Pinkie Pie has something to do with this." Twilight concluded. The most party-est pony in Equestria sprung out of an passing awning like taffy, as though the mention of her name was a like a witch's chant summoning its pet ghoul. "Hi, Twilight! I'm so super excited that you're awake! Are you? I am!" "Not really..." Twilight muttered. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to hear her. "I've making every pony in Canterlot smile since I finished making everypony in Ponyville smile! And after I get you to smile, I'll go to Trottingham, then Fillydelphia, then-" "You're not getting me to smile, Pinkie." Pinkie was aghast at this. "Not smiling? That's like, the worstest worst thing! What do you mean, Twilight?" "Fluttershy's having issues, and neither Rarity or Rainbow Dash are willing to come and try to help!" "That's because we all tried already, Twilight." Pinkie reminded her, irking the unicorn. "I know you did!" Twilight didn't mean to yell, but she did. "I know you TRIED! You need to TRY AGAIN!" "Well..." Pinkie scraped a hoof. "Twilight, what's changed since the last time we tried?" "I. Wasn't. There." Twilight snarled, making Pinkie uncomfortable. Pinkie started backing away. Twilight stepped forward in response. Pinkie was going to back into a wall sooner or later, so they cut out the middle mare and quit moving. "I have the knowledge...of Unicron's horror inside my head. If I can know that- if my head is physically capable of containing that data and not exploding out of sheer horror- then I can certainly figure out how to help one of my friends!" Pinkie grimaced. To her, Twilight was trying to round back up something all the others had long abandoned, and not for a good reason. "Where's Applejack, Pinkie? Maybe I can talk some sense into her..." "Oh." Pinkie said. She fell onto her back laughing. "HAHAHAHHA! AS IF! Twilight, maybe you can talk some sense into her, but ever since we came home from Earth, she's been stuck to Applebloom!" "Stuck? What do you mean 'stuck'?" "I mean, when Cheerilee asked Applejack to leave the school so Apple Bloom wouldn't have her cheat on her homework, A.J bucked her in the Cutie Mark! They made a co-coo-con" "Compromise?" "Yeah!" Twilight shook her head, the usual fire of her impatience with Pinkie's antics proving not all put out by the chill of a half-dozen years. "I'm going to find Applejack." "Twilight, wait! You can't leave! I haven't made you smile yet!" Twilight got a clever, vicious, awful idea. "You know what'll make me smile, Pinkie? If all our friends are gathered around and ready to help Fluttershy once I get back!" "But-" Twilight took off galloping before Pinkie could even get her objection out. Pinkie found herself locked in a stalemate. Getting all her friends around would've made Twilight happy, but it also would've made them all frustrated. She tapped her chin in thought. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one, I guess!" So Pinkie went hopping off, not heading for of her old friends at all, because they were the many, while Twilight got the short end and got to be the 'one'. Twilight found a whole bunch of Guards in black and gray armors loafing about all around the train to Ponyville. "W-what are you Guards doing here?" "We're..." one Guard said, obviously close to drifting off into sleep. Opening one eye slightly, he snapped to attention at the sight of Twilight Sparkle. "We have explicit orders to prevent you from leaving the train until you've talked to all your friends." Twilight was befuddled by this. Who or what would give the Guards' orders like that? Maybe Celestia wanted to be sure that she had all friends up-to-speed before she left the city? "Well, you should be aware, one of my friends is in Ponyville, and I can't go and talk to them unless you let me on the train!" The Guards looked at each other, confused, like this was a possibility they hadn't thought of. I'm getting quite tempted to blast them all aside with my untold power. ...Another strange thought. I'm having a lot of those today. "Well? Are you going to let me on or not?" The Guards looked to each other. "Uhh..." "I'm sure Celestia will happy when I tell her about how you're keeping from seeing my friends." Twilight let slip. At the mention of Celestia's name, the Guards scrambled. "R-r-r-ight this way, Miss Sparkle!" One Guard said, pointing to a open door. Twilight held her head up high as she trotted inside the train, casting the Guards the evil eye as she entered. The click and whir of the carriage door closing behind her made wince, reminding her of the Autobots and her last Morbot. Would Optimus be willing to, and have the supplies to let her rebuild her army? Then again, what point would she have in owning an army now? Still, having rode around in a truck that could turn into a protective death robot at any moment danger presented itself, riding around in a train that didn't transform felt kinda...lacking. The train's wheels churned to a stop. "Ponyville Train Station!" The conductor called out. "All's off if yer goin' off!" Twilight was indeed, 'goin' off' and made no effort to hide her haste from anypony else that might've been on the train...but when she got off, she noticed a lack of other ponies on the train. "That's funny...you'd think there'd be ponies on the train besides me." Twilight noted. She also noticed how the sky above was kind of a dark blue. But it wasn't night, it was day. And there were odd, blue-gray sketches in the sky like somepony had scribbled on it with a crayon. Seeing the unnatural shapes made Twilight feel urgent. She galloped forward down the stairs of the train platform. "I hope Applejack knows what's up with the sky!" Applejack, Stetson titled firmly to the side, was pressed against the window of the Ponyville school, keeping an eye like a hawk on her precious little sister. Inside, Apple Bloom was scribbling with a pencil, doing her best to do today's homework. "Y'all can do it, Apple Bloom...wutever 'it' is." Applejack muttered some words of encouragement, even though Apple Bloom couldn't hear her. "Applejack!" "Wuut?" Applejack turned around. That voice...could it be? Seeing nopony, she quickly reaffirmed a gaze into the window like solid iron. "Applejack!" Applejack growled. If there wasn't somepony there this time, then somepony was going to get a good bucking! Applejack wasn't the type to care that scenario couldn't really work. This time, however, she saw a lavender unicorn with a star Cutie Mark. "Ehh...Pardon, strang'er, but who are you?" The unicorn seemed deeply distraught at Applejack not recognizing her. "Applejack, it's me! Twilight Sparkle!" "Twilight Sparkle?...OH! Twilight! It's been so long since I lasted saw what y'all looked without Dark Energon in ya, I forgot it!" "'Lasted' isn't a word!" "Don't use yer fancy phonics to muddy the issue!" Twilight had Applejack's attention, but Applejack's muzzle was still pressed against the window. "Applejack, what's wrong with the sky? There all these sketch-thingies over it!" "Ah haven't looked up at the sky much as of late." Applejack answered solemnly. "O...kay." Twilight said slowly, hearing the- distance in Applejack's voice. "But anyway, I need your help. Fluttershy's wants to see her Insecticons, and Rarity, Dash, and Pinkie all keep telling me they've done all they can!" "Maybe they have, maybe they haven't, but Ah ain't movin' unless Apple Bloom is movin' wit me." Applejack informed her, and Twilight knew there was no convincing her otherwise from the tone in her voice. "Hmm..." Twilight left. Applejack kept watching. Applejack was not amused when she saw Twilight suddenly enter the classroom and rush over to talk to Cheerilee. After a few moments of back-and-forth Twilight left the room. "Y'all aren't doing what Ah think yer doin', are ya Twi'?" The school bell rang, and all the foals in the classroom left. Applejack heard a very distinct combination of noises that could've only come from an adult pony walking with a little one. "Hi, Applejack!" Apple Bloom greeted, running to embrace her sister in a hug. "Hi, Applebloom." Applejack responded, returning the affections. Then she looked up at Twilight, immediately suspicious. "Apple Bloom, sweetie, could you come with me to Canterlot so Applejack can come help Fluttershy?" Twilight asked kindly. "Oh, sure! Ah'll do anything for mah big sister!" Apple Bloom answered. Applejack looked at the satisfied-looking unicorn. "Y'all know Ah'm gonna git you fer this, right?" "I can live with that." Twilight informed her. "Now come on!" She took off, Apple Bloom following behind her, and Applejack behind Apple Bloom. Fluttershy fiddled with her hooves, uneasy, waiting with anticipation brimming for Twilight to return with reinforcements. "Hi-ya, Fluttershy!" Pinkie greeted, bouncing out of nowhere. "Oh, Pinkie! I'm so glad to see you! Twilight's woke up now and is trying to get all our friends together to help with my problems!" Pinkie nodded. "Uh-huh, uh-yeah, I know! Twilight said if I could get everypony here, that'd make her smile!" "So why haven't you!?" Twilight demanded, approaching with the Apple Sisters. "Because then they wouldn't smile!" Pinkie replied chipperly. Twilight groaned in frustration. "PINKIE! I was trusting you to bring everypony here so we could work together!" "And everypony's trusting me to bring smiles and happiness and joy to all the good little girls and good little boys!" Pinkie countered. "I'm not going to remove a smile to make a smile, Twilight!" Twilight was fuming now, puffs of air blowing out of her nostrils. "Ah hate to say it, Twilight, but Ah think Pinkie has a point...albeit comin' from the wrong direction." "W-what are you talking about?" Twilight stammered. "Well, Twilight...Ah think y'all are trying to rope us all into doing somethun we already all did since you missed out on the last six years - an' that's fine, if Ah'd been out fer that long, the first thing Ah'd want to do is catch up. But we went through this with Fluttershy before, and we don't rightly feel like doing it again. Come on, Apple Bloom." Applejack turned and guided her little sister away while Pinkie went to go do Pinkie things. Twilight was left standing there with her mouth agape at the utter dismissal. "This isn't about me! This is about helping Fluttershy!" She shook her hoof at the parting Applejack, for all the good it would do. "Twilight..." Fluttershy whispered. "Something feels wrong. It's not the Insecticons. It's- it's the air. Something is wrong with the air." Twilight looked at Fluttershy, then looked around to see if she could find what was 'wrong' with the air. Her search turned up nothing, but she could see now that Canterlot also had that strange sky. Twilight sadly took up a seat on the bench and covered her cheeks with her hooves. "What if Applejack's right? What if I really do just want to put everypony through the last six years with me there instead?" Fluttershy squealed. "Ooooh no, Twilight! You shouldn't say that kind of thing about yourself! I'm sure our friends will come around." "They're certainly don't seem to have come around here." Twilight quipped. Bumpy, swerving, alternating hills painted over in checkerboard decorations dotted the landscape. "Please, my friends..." A wise, powerful old voice said. "Be strong until we can arrive." Optimus plodded across the twisted earth, Celestia flying right behind him. Through the checkerboard hills rose earthy giants in the shape of Unicron, almost as big as Trpticon. Optimus grabbed Celestia by the tail, twirled her around like a shotgun, 'cocked' her wings and subsequently blasted down the Unicron avatars with Celestia's magic, launching off like shotgun shells, crumbling the stone demons in on themselves. After the Avatars had been dealt with, Unicron's Anti-Bodies came flying down from the sky in a swarm, shrieking, with their tentacles flailing and hungry for Energon. Optimus let Celestia hop out of his hand, giving her an opportunity to rearrange herself. She tucked her legs in, folded her wings over her body and closed her eyes as magic surged out from her, forming a huge golden blade. She floated herself into Optimus' hand, wrapping her tail around his wrist to give the integrated appearance of most Cybertronian weaponry. "This is an interesting enchantment, Your Majesty." "I invented it on the spot just now. Now swing me!" Celestia's voice echoed slightly as a side effect of the incantation. Optimus obliged, using the gold glowing blade to cleave the Anti-Bodies in half. He thrusted Celestia into one group of Anti-Bodies, shish-kabobing them, and shook their corpses off the blade. Even the incorruptible Optimus Prime was willing to admit, wielding a Princess of the Sun in his hands was rather empowering. Just when it seem the Anti-Bodies had been taken care of, bushes started rising from the ground, forming a labyrinth around them. One patch of one wall began moving, eventually forming into topiary with Discord's likeness. "So!" The bush said, stretching. "I bet you two must be wondering how I got back to normal, handsome old self?" "It is easy to assume that in your monochrome state, you attempted to clean the Space Bridge, causing you to exit on the other side where the dormant energies of Unicron's Spark restored your memories of who you really were." Optimus said. The topiary growled, furious Optimus had just stole his thunder. "Well, you may have figured that out, Optimus Prime, but you'll never guess where I managed to put Twilight and her little friends before you and Celestia woke up!" "I have no intention of guessing." Optimus raised the Celestia/sword thing in his hand and sliced it through the bush wall, not wanting to put up with Discord's blabber any more then he had to. Also not wanting to put up with Discord's tricks, Optimus sliced Celestia through all the bushes, setting them ablaze with her magic and burning the labyrinth down. A little tiny Unicron Avatar the size of a pony formed out of the ground, but with Discord's head and wings. "You can't do that! That's cheating! You're breaking the rules!" "I have broken no rules: turnabout is fair play." Optimus countered. He pointed the Celestia/sword at the Avatar. "Where are the Elements of Harmony, Discord?" "Oh, relax, Big Rig. The Elements are safe and sound with me in Unicron's Spark Chamber." The Avatar said. "Maybe I'll give them to you if you can make it in here!" "You will suffer for this, Discord." The Avatar raised an eyebrow. "You remember when I said you were as boring as Celestia, Optimus? I was wrong: You're even more boring." Optimus pointed Celestia/the sword and blasted the Avatar with her magic, scattering it into pieces across the landscape. Optimus contacted the base. "Ratchet, can you open a GroundBridge into Earth's core?" "No, Optimus. Discord's shut down all the Bridge systems!" "Can't you use Twilight's Space Bridge!?" Miko exclaimed. "ALL The Bridge systems!" "Ooh!" Miko groaned and rested her elbows against the railings. She looked upwards. "I hope Rarity can beat that jerk-face!" She pounded her fist into her palm. At Unicron's Spark Chamber, Discord, colors, wings, and snaggletooth restored, floated above the dormant Spark of the Chaos-Bringer. Marionate handles and their strings were attached to the purple orb, giving Discord control over Unicron's Anti-Bodies and Avatars. The Elements of Harmony were strung up in a chandelier on the ceiling. Discord left the marionetted-Spark and started ambling about the room. "Even if Optimus and Celestia were to get Elements back, it's not like you'd want to leave my dream world and everything you've ever wanted just for some boring old Elements, isn't that right, my little pony?" Discord put his finger on Rarity's greyed-out chin, her eyes swirling blue, yellow and black, and her horn still very much broken. Around the room, the other ponies were in similar conditions, wounds and transformations still done and greyed out, trapped in Discord's false world. A whimper came from behind Discord, making him scowl. Rising up and twisted around, he saw Twilight Sparkle, still with Unicron's wings other mutations, but with colors intact. Her body was stuck to the wall, bounded by a bunch of taffy. Candy canes were hooked around her body from the taffy, glowing yellow as they forced her asleep. She whimpered and flailed, her wings flapping trying to shake the candy prison off. "You brought on this on yourself, you know, Twilight." Discord said, rising up beside the taffy. "You couldn't just stay like the rest, could you now? You just HAD to go and get all this- what did you call it again? The - the uh- the Dark stuff! So I had to get creative. Now don't get me wrong, Twilight Sparkle, I love getting creative!" Rarity let her beau bend her over as they did a pony tango, a rose given to her by him in her mouth. "As much as I enjoy the sights of Canterlot," her boyfriend said, twirling her. "It's nothing compared to the sight of you, my dear." Rarity giggled. "You charmer! But go on." She fluttered her eyelashes at him, trying to entice him to doing just that. Rarity heard a frustrated noise behind her. She whirled around to see Twilight brooding on the guardrail of the bridge they were on, the light hitting the walls around just as to shadow Twilight partially out and make her look like a gargoyle. "...Pardon me, won't you dear?" Rarity said to her dear. "One of my friends' seems in a huff about something." "But of course! But, ah, don't linger too long now." Her boyfriend said. "Nothing sullies a romance more then overprotective friends!" Rarity departed and approached Twilight. "Twilight, what are you doing here!? I am still on my date!" "I don't know..." Twilight muttered bitterly. "Fluttershy says something's not right. I agree, but I don't know what!" "Well, when you figure out, come get me then." Rarity haughtily said. "Until then, I'd ask you not to ruin my date!" Rarity left Twilight and joined back up with her date. Twilight snorted, then angrily turned and started walking on the bridge. She wasn't even sure where she was supposed to be going. Hearing the thoom of flight, she looked up see Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts flying ahead. She quickly picked up the pace and began running towards the fliers. "Rainbow Dash! Something's wrong somewhere, and me and Fluttershy needed your help to find out what!" Dash halted and glared at her. "I'll tell you what's wrong right now! What's wrong is that you keep interrupting my time with the Wonderbolts!" "But-" "No buts! I've waited my whole life to be a part of this team, and I'm not gonna let you ruin just because you missed out on the action while you were in a coma!" Dash kept flying, leaving Twilight alone. Twilight sighed and kept walking on the bridge. "Here!" Pinkie said, appearing and smushing a cake with a smiley face into Twilight's face. "Have some happy cake!" Twilight spat out some of the cake that had entered her throat before she was ready for it to, then licked the rest of her face. "Weelllll?" Pinkie drawled, getting into Twilight's face with a gleam in her eyes. "Are you smiling now?" "No." Twilight briskly answered, walking off. Pinkie was of no actual help, as usual... Walking further down the bridge, Twilight found Fluttershy and Applejack with Applebloom on her back. "Sorry, sugercube." Applejack apologized. "Can't help ya wit Fluttershy's Insecticons." "Oh, I'm still worried about the Insecticons." Fluttershy said. "But now I can't stop worrying about what's in the sky!" "Ah'm sure Celestia would say somethun' if those were somethun'." Applejack said. "Oh! Well, speak tha' name o' demons, and they shall come! Howdy, Princess!" Applejack bowed. "Howdy, Applejack." Celestia greeted as she approached. "Twilight, now that all your friends know that you're okay, why don't you take some alone to organize your thoughts?" "You know what, Princess? That sounds like a good idea." "Follow me." Celestia instructed. Twilight followed Celestia back the bridge, passing Rarity and her date, walking until Celestia brought Twilight a stray guest bedroom inside a tower. "Rest, my little pony. You've got a big day of studying ahead!" Celestia announced from the door as she closed it on Twilight. "Hmm..." Twilight smiled, happy to have some studies take her mind off things. The bedroom was checkerboard in the floors, with a nice comfy bed and magazines on the tables. Twilight levitated the top one on the stack to her face in curiosity. "Moving On: What to do when your friends have gone on without you." Twilight wasn't much for magazines, but this one seemed to have the exact knowledge she needed at the moment. Optimus yelled as he swung Celestia through another Avatar, smashing it apart. "Heey!" Discord said, appearing once more in the Discord-headed mini-Unicron. "I'll make a deal with you two!" The bush labyrinth began reforming around them. "Get through the labyrinth without using magic or wings, and I'll give you these!" The Avatar held up the Elements of Harmony in his hand. "We will accept your terms." Optimus said. "Wait!" Celestia said. "Why haven't you removed my wings and horn?" "I could do that, but I want to see if you'll give in to temptation, Princess. Oh, and one more thing: No setting the bushes on fire this time!" Discord added, disappearing. "We must make our way through the labyrinth!" Optimus exclaimed, breaking into a sprint. Navigating his way through the bushes and hedges was easy enough at first, but Optimus ran into trouble when he ran face-first into a dense cloud ballons, clearly meant as an obstacle to his path. He tried to swing Celestia through them, but the cloud was so dense the blow was useless. "We appear to be stuck." Celestia said. Celestia, in her sword-form, couldn't see as Optimus' back-mounted guns folded out and began to pop the balloons by putting bullets in them. Once again, Optimus had no trouble making his through until he ran into an obstacle. That appeared to be the theme of the labyrinth. Although, this next one was just another extra-large Unicron. "Another one of these?" Celestia asked. "Hasn't Discord realized they do little to stop us?" Optimus didn't answer, and quickly lunge forward and slashed the Unicron in the leg, separating it. Optimus aimed his blasted up the leg and shot through, destroying the stone. After that they found a giant rock- the rock Discord had made Rarity fall in love with and dub 'Tom'- and assuming Discord's magic was inside it, Optimus slashed it in half without a second thought. The next obstacle was a bit different; A group of cotton candy clouds shooting down lighting bolts. Optimus hesitated to go through. "Optimus, what's wrong?" "I can sense extreme power in these particular lighting strikes. Being hit one by one would likely render me unconscious." "You can use me to deflect them, Optimus. You have my assurance." Optimus examined the sword-Celestia in his hand. The gold glow seemed to relax him, and he ran quickly through, twirling Celestia around over his hand. When the lighting bolt struck the blade, they bounced off in another direction. Sometimes they were lucky and the lighting bolts, rather then striking them, were just rebound from one cloud to the next. Optimus slashed some more Anti-Bodies and was stopped by something different this time. Ahead of them, the only thing between Optimus, Celestia, and the Elements of Harmony, was June, all grayed out and spacey-eyed in between a very distinctly cut part of the hedge labyrinth. It was cut just so that they couldn't get through it without stomping June under their feet unless they flew. "What are we to do, Optimus? We cannot fly, or Discord will take the Elements away!" "I have an idea." Optimus charged forward, much to Celestia's confusion. "Optimus, what are you doing?" Optimus twirled around and poked her against the ground just before his feet would've reached June, using her sword-form as the pole of a pole-vault jump, allowing Optimus to traverse with the hedges with Celestia in tow. "That was brilliant, Optimus!" "Your compliments are noted." Optimus rushed ahead to the pedestal where the Elements of Harmony were lying, but when his hand reached out to take them, it stopped short. Even with his relative unfamiliarity with them, Optimus could tell... "These are fakes." There were few things in the universe more jarring then hearing Optimus Prime scream in rage and frustration. Hearing Optimus Prime and Princess Celestia scream in rage and frustration together, at the same time, was one of those things. Shrieking to the heavens, Optimus brought Celestia crashing down on the false Elements, shattering them and crushing the pedestal they were on. Optimus transformed, resting Celestia on the roof his truck mode, and drove out of the remainder of the labyrinth. "Insecticons!" Celestia shouted at the sight of them ahead. Optimus converted back to his automaton mode and charged for them with Celestia raised in his hand. The Insecticons heard his footsteps approaching, and saw him coming with the sword. They instinctively raised their arms, to show the Autobot brands and butterfly Cutie Mark stickers on their arms. "They are Fluttershy's Insecticons." Optimus said, lowering Celestia. "Ah. Yes." Celestia said. "Somepony really must explain that to me in more detail some time." Optimus walked forward and leaned over a hole the Insecticons were gathered around. "It would appear the Insecticons are attempting to excavate a route into the Earth's core." Optimus concluded. He turned to the beetle-bots. "May we be of aid?" The Insecticons threw their claws up in the air, essentially saying "If you can." Optimus swung Celestia around, working up her magic to the point the blade was crackling with power, then plunged her into the hole. Twilight re-read the last passages of her magazine, then tossed it to the side. It hadn't really helped. "Twilight?" Celestia's comforting voice said. "Are you ready to come back out now?" "Yes, Princess!" Twilight said, despite it not being true. She hopped off the chair and exited the guest room back onto the bridge, where Celestia was waiting. Celestia gestured to Twilight for her to follow her back on to the rest of the bridge, where Twilight's friends were gathered together, included the new friends of the Wonderbolts and Rarity's coltfriend. "Twilight," Celestia said. "I want you to look at your friends. Take a good long look." Twilight did so, but... "I don't see what I'm supposed to be looking for, Princess." "Look at how happy they are, Twilight. Happy with their lives, with each other...without you." Celestia's tone deflated at the last words. "Princess..." Twilight whimpered. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying, Twilight, that your friends have moved on without you, and don't seem to suffered from your absence in their lives. I think...it might be time for you to move on as well." "But...But-!" Twilight protested. "Except for Fluttershy and Applejack, all their dreams have come true. Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt, Rarity has a love and a business here in Canterlot, and everypony's smiling for Pinkie Pie." Celestia explained. "Would you really ask them to take the time out of their busy schedules just to catch up with you?" Twilight rested her hooves against the bridge's terrace, seeing the truth in Celestia's words. "I see, Princess...would I ask them to choose between their dreams...and me?" Oh, my friends... Has really been so long That our time together is at an end? You're happy, that much I can see... Would I really ask you to choose between your dreams and me? I see you all out there, having a grand ball, and I wonder... Do you even still care for me at all? Oh, sweet friends of mine... Was our friendship really unable To stand the test of time? All your hopes and wishes, All those new ponies you've got to meet Could I really ask you To choose between your dreams and me? Oh, my very best friends, Is this the way our adventure ends? My Little Pony, My...Little...Pooony... My little pony, my little pony, my little- I used to wonder what friendship could be... My little...pony... Until you all shared its magic with me... Our friendship was magic, And it was growing all the time... A new adventure for us Each day was yours and mine- I guess it can't stand the test of time... Twilight let out a sign. "Well, my little pony?" Celestia said. "Are you prepared to pack your things and come back to Canterlot?" Twilight nodded."Yes, Princess...I'm going to write my last friendship report...The Final Tableaux of my letters, if you will." "I've prepared a carriage already." Celestia pointed at where the carriage was waiting for Twilight. Twilight started making her way over to where Celestia's hoof had guided her, beginning to think about where she could go once she had finished her studies. "I could become a teacher, I suppose...or maybe a librarian for good." She mused. "Ooh! Maybe I could get the Princess to help me a build a Space Bridge and I could go be Optimus's assistant!...Although I don't know any pony he'd want me to send letters to...wait!" Something started ringing at Twilight, piercing into her thoughts. It was the feeling she got when she knew she was forgetting something. Something...Optimus had said. Something she had promised. My only request...is that you never lose faith in your own ideals. Twilight halted, thinking about her promise to the Last Prime. Her Prime. And trying to reconcile it with what Celestia had said. "That's it!" Twilight turned around and galloped back over to her friends, passing a very surprised Celestia on the way. "Here comes Twilight..." Applejack warned the others as Twilight approached. "Everypony, listen up! I think there's something going on!" "We know. We heard it before." Dash reminded her. "I have evidence to support my theory now!" Twilight proudly told her. "You all have everything you've ever wanted!" Everypony but Fluttershy exchanged looks. "Eh, wut- wut do you mean, Twilight?" "Applejack, what have you been wanting most in the last two days?" Twilight asked. "Err...to see Apple Bloom again?" "And you got to see her again!" Twilight pointed at Apple Bloom, then at Pinkie Pie. "And Pinkie Pie, you want to make everypony smile, right?" "Right!" Pinkie smiled in confirmation. "You notice how everypony down there is smiling?" Twilight waved to the Canterlot ponies below before going on. "And Dash, you always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, and Rarity, you've been wanting a coltfriend since forever!" Everypony looked to each other, as no amount of mollycuddling would dispute Twilight's explanations. "I think somepony's giving you everything you want so you won't bother to stay my friend anymore!" Fluttershy gasped. "But who would do such an awful, awful thing?" "I don't know..." Twilight answered, looking away. Then everypony locked eyes as the blindingly obvious revealed itself. "Discord!" "Well..." Applejack said. "Now that we know he's behind all this, wut do we do 'bout it?" Everypony 'hmm'ed and put a hoof to their chin as they tried to think of a solution. Discord continued having fun messing around with the human populace with his combination of his magic and Unicron's Spark. "Hahahahahah HAHAH! Oh, look at those humans run and flee!" A humongous burst of smoke and golden fire tore through the entrance to the chamber, interrupting Discord's laughter. Optimus stepped through the smoke, Celestia blazing in his hands. "Oh! You got here." Discord noted. Optimus raised Celestia. "Surrender the Elements of Harmony, Discord." Discord whinnied. "Fine, but as I think you'll notice, they won't do you any goooood!" He pointed to the washed-out ponies. "AAAAAAAAAH!" Optimus yelled and rushed forward, ready to cut Discord in half with the ponyblade he held. Discord fired a zap of yellow magic at Optimus, freezing him in place as chocolate began trailing up his body, starting with his feet. Optimus struggled, trying to see if he could break free of the chocolate by moving out of the spell's location. When it became clear he wasn't going anywhere, Optimus prepared his blaster and fired a shot at Discord, who ducked, making it miss. "HA!" Discord laughed as the chocolate finished covering Optimus and Celestia. He drew himself close to his new statue and put his claw on Optimus' chin. "Not only did you miss, but now you're both chocolate! The Elements of Harmony are out of reach of anypony who could use them, and my delightful chaos is running through Earth as we speak!" Discord paused to let that all sink in to his captives. "Do you know what that means? IT MEANS I WIN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!" Discord didn't noticed as Optimus' missed shot kept traveling, and hit Twilight's taffy prison, blasting it apart. Twilight and shattered pieces of the candy cane fell to the ground. Twilight moaned, trying to shake off the spell and get up. Discord celebrated his victory. It doesn't matter what you think! It doesn't matter why you feel! My vic-tor-ry is all too real! The Earth is mine to control! And here comes Optimus and Celestia, the two little bores, Surely they'll come to save the day? HA! Not anymore! I'll have the humans scream in pain! From being flooded with chocolate rain! I don't see what the problem is with everyone! It's just a little harmless fun! Fudge making the streets, Clouds raining sno-cones of sleet, And the flying pigs squeak! All this and more! I have so much in store! From sapping candy canes Self-operating trains, Cars mixed in with frogs Humans being walked by dogs To baseball bats -with real bats! Who wouldn't want to live in a world like that? Yes, sirree! It feels good To feel the misery And all the suffering And all the pain And all the broken friendships caused by... Myyyyyy chooooocccooolaate raaaaaaiiiin! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Discord continued laughing while Twilight was finally able to pull herself up. Twilight's glowing, Dark Energon-filled eyes opened. Twilight was quite surprised and elated to see her Unicronian wings on her, which she wrapped around herself and nuzzled against. "I'd never thought I'd so happy to be a monstrosity!" Discord's laughing finally reached Twilight's ears, snapping her to attention. Time to focus on the task at hand. Seeing her greyed friends, Twilight spread her wings out. She closed her eyes, and the wings began glowing with the charge of magic- her magic. Discord kept laughing, then turned around to continue his charades, but he saw Twilight first before he could get back to his madness. Not willing to let her ruin his fun, Discord fired another blast of yellow magic at her. Twilight's eyes shot open, blank with power. Rings of magic spread out from her wings, causing Discord's blast to dissipate and restore her friend's colors. "Uhhh..." "Huh?" "Wut-wut's goin' on?" Her friends groaned and rubbed their heads as their minds were restored. Seeing Discord and the chocolate leaders, they quickly caught up to speed and hurried on over to Twilight's side. "All right, girls!" Twilight shouted. "It's time to do what we came to Earth to do, and lock away Discord...for good!" "Oh, what are you going to do, Twilight?" Discord questioned. He brandished a paw at the hanging Elements. "I still have your Elements of Harmony!" "Everypony stay close to me!" Twilight commanded, stretching out her wings and folding them over her friends like protective webbing. "Wut do ya got in mind, Twilight?" "I'm going to use the energy in Unicron's Spark to harness the power of our friendship!" Discord's eyes widened, then he slapped his head and burst out laughing. "Twilight, listen to yourself! You're talking about combining Chaos and Harmony!" Applejack, Rarity, Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all were concerned at this. "Uh, we sure we're not still in Discord's spell? Cos'...that sounds a mite plumb crazy, suger cube." "Just trust me and hold hooves." Twilight instructed. Everypony obliged, taking the hoof of the pony adjacent to them. "Hmm." Discord made an amused snort and reached for the puppet handles attached to Unicron's Spark, but his claws recoiled when the handles suddenly burst into pink flames. The same pink flames began appearing on all six ponies chest in the shape of a heart. A huge, thick tendril energy began rising out of the Spark in the center of the room. The tendril turned pink, and shifted into a burning heart like the ones on the ponies' chest. The ancient magic known as the Fire of Friendship. The heart turned upside, the tip of it turning into a beak and it's curves unfolding into wings as the fire turned into a phoenix. "Eeehhh..." Discord whimpered in fear at the apparition. "Uh, here! Take the Elements! Turn me to stone! You know, like the good old times?" Discord swiped his claw through the strings holding the Elements up, dropping them to floor in the hopes he could get a lesser punishment. No such luck, as the phoenix cawed, stretched it's wings, then stabbed him in the stomach with it's claws. "Ah! No! Wait! I won't cause chaos anymore if you let me live!" Discord begged as his end in the form of the phoenix began pulling him closer. "I promise! Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Discord screamed as the phoenix wrapped its wings around him. It's pink coloration spared the ponies from seeing Discord's immolation up close as his flesh was burned off his bones, and his bones were burned into ashes. The phoenix blasted until not even those were left. It's task done, the phoenix faded away. The ponies shook their heads, having just come off a...'power high' from having the Fire course through them. Optimus swung Celestia, now disoriented to see that Discord had gone. "...Where is Discord?" "We took care of him!" Twilight answered. The ponyblade began glowing. Optimus let go it so Celestia could turn herself back. "Excellent, my little ponies!" Celestia congratulated them. "Gather up the Elements, and we can return to Equestria at once!" Team Prime and the Ponies stood in front of the Space Bridge, ready to say good-bye for real this time. "Optimus..." Celestia said, on the ground and looking upwards. "I enjoyed our time together today. I wish we could spent it under better circumstances, but..." "There is no need for apologies, Your Majesty." Optimus told her with a smile. "All I hope is that Twilight is not possessed by a Cybertronian god just as you are departing again!" Everypony laughed. Meanwhile, the Autobots were all giving Optimus funny looks and freaking out. "Did Optimus just- "Make a joke!?" "I thought Primes couldn't make jokes!" "No, no, Primes don't laugh: There's nothing in there saying they can't make a joke." Inside the Space Bridge, Celestia stopped and turned around. "What's wrong, Princess?" Twilight asked. "Oh, nothing...I was just thinking ponies might have difficulties with your...ahem, new fashion sense." Twilight and the others smiled nervously at what Celestia was getting at. "I have a spell that I can cast that will make you appear normal to all outside appearances. I can cast it on you and your friends now, and teach it to you later." Celestia offered. Everypony nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah! That would be great, Princess!" At the Ponyville Library, waiting beneath covers and lying about in the dark of night, Spike was sleeping on the couch when he heard the door suddenly creak open. "Who's there!?" Spike shouted, bolting awake and out of his covers on the couch. Twilight giggled, standing in the doorway, Celestia's spell hiding the Dark Energon from view. "It's just me, Spike." "Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, quite happy to see her. He threw the rest of the sheet up and ran over to hug his mistress/employer/stepmom. "Hello, Spike." Twilight said, returning the hug and nuzzling him. "How'd it go? Did you find Discord? Did you beat him?" "Yes, Spike, we beat him-" Twilight stopped, utterly blown away by the state of the library. "SPIKE! What did you do!?" The library was complete spotless, sparkling with cleanliness. The shelves were organized beyond belief, and everything was tucked and filed away with a neatness Twilight would be unable to maintain. "Well..." Spike said, scraping a foot. "You were gone for so long, so I didn't have much to do..." Twilight nuzzled him. "You didn't have to do this." Spike chuckled. "You know what, Twilight?... I kinda did." "Come on. I have a very special report for the Princess, and then we can go to bed." In Canterlot- the real Canterlot that wasn't a product of Discord's magic, in the castle, Celestia was taking a shower after her long day while letting Luna chat to her through the shower curtain. "Thou must tell us more of the emergency of which Twilight Sparkle was speaking, my sister!" Luna yelled. "Yes, yes I must." Celestia agreed. "But it's been a long day, Luna, and I am tired and sweaty from my activies." A wisp of emerald flame snuck in under the bathroom window and formed into a floating letter just above the shower rod where Celestia could read it. "Ooh! A letter from Twilight Sparkle already?" Celestia questioned. "Very well, then, let's see what it says..." To My Dearest Princess Celestia... I have gone through much with my friends, and I know they would do anything for me, because I would do the same for them. But sometimes, I worry that I can't count on them for all my problems. But the reality is, yes, I can count on them for everything. What I've also learned today is that at the end of the day, when all is said done, no matter how many killer satellites, giant Tyrannosaurous Rexes, half-human, half-machine hybrids and genocidal warlords you have to go through to do it, your friends will always forgive your mistakes. Celestia's happy tone faded at the usual signature of the leader. "With fondest regards...your dear friend, Orion Pax?" "Who's Orion Pax?" Luna questioned. "That, Luna, is something I would enjoy knowing myself..." Starscream's claw reached upwards on the ledge so he could pull himself further into the remnants of the Harbinger. The Autobots hadn't scavenged it yet. Because really, they could go on a mountain mission, and a salvage mission, but not a mountain-hike salvage mission. "Ah..." Starscream said, finding what it was he was looking for. Twilight's Dark Energon store. Starscream reached a claw out to pluck a shard. He held it up and examined cautiously, wondering if what he was about was really a good idea. But then again, he was injured and in need of repairs... "Eh...it worked for Megatron...and Twilight Sparkle." With that thought in mind, Starscream shoved the shard into his chest and straight into his Spark. He gasped and clucthed at his chest, his body unprepared for the surge of power. Groaning, Starscream stumbled around and went for the nearest thing he could collapse into...which just so happened to be the Dark Energon cluster. Starscream went into a comatose state from the radiation, his arms hooked around the protrusions of Dark Energon, and with his alliance with either Decepticon, MECH, or Twilight ruined, he was unlikely to be rescued... Optimus stood on a snowy mountain cliff, a signal beacon rested in front of them. A navy blue jet descended from the sky and transformed just in front of the device. Dreadwing looked at it, then to Optimus. "Why have you summoned me here, Prime?" "I wish to make an appeal to the Decepticon Lord." Optimus explained. Dreadwing grimaced. "Megatron is Lord of the Decepticons." "Megatron is dead." "I am well aware of that, Optimus Prime!" Dreadwing shouted. He pulled out his blades. "Say something that will make this trip worthwhile, Optimus, or I will find something to make it so." "I was hoping I could convince you to lead the Decepticons to stand down. The symbols of the Decepticons, Megatron and Starscream, are dead or missing. The humans' have been exposed to our presence on their world, and you have lost your ship to the ocean." "I will not ally with a Prime!" "I am not asking you to! I am asking that you put an end to this pointless war." "And disgrace Megatron's memory!?" "You would be honoring a dead mech, Dreadwing! Think about Skyquake! Do you think you are the only Cybertronian to have lost family for this war? I have a brother of my own, Dreadwing, but I still can only imagine the pain his death must bring you. Stand the Decepticons down, Dreadwing, and put an end the suffering!" Dreadwing was silent. Optimus revealing that he had a brother was not something he had been expecting the Autobot leader to share. He turned away to gather his thoughts. "I will lead the Decepticons to Cybertron, and then I will go about the stars for a new purpose." Dreadwing said at last. "I look forward to meeting you again." Dreadwing scoffed. "Your mistake, Prime, is to presume we will." Dreadwing transformed and left. Optimus watched him rise up into the atmosphere. On Cybertron, footsteps echoed out through the footsteps of the ruined halls. "Finally..." Shockwave noted, clenching his fist in victory. "My patience has paid off." Ahead of Shockwave were a pair of double doors. He pushed them open dramatically, and with good reason. On the other side of a door was a huge arena filled with the Decepticons who just recently returned from Earth. Shockwave stepped out of the hall and walked up to the stand to begin his speech. "Salutations, my fellow Decepticons! For those of you too young to know- or perhaps too old to remember me, I am Shockwave. Now, as you are well aware, our lord and master, not to mention our founder, Lord Megatron...is no longer with us." Shockwave gestured to his side, where Dreadwing and Soundwave stood. "Megatron's chosen successor, Dreadwing, has expressed his disinterest in continuing the Decepticon cause. I think Soundwave, as a former close friend of mine, will agree, choosing me to be your new master is logical, for I knew Megatron even before the Decepticon uprising started." "This is all true." Dreadwing said. "I, Lord Dreadwing, named Shockwave my immediate successor. And with that...I retire." "Thank you so much, Dre-" Shockwave turned to see both Dreadwing and Soundwave had gone. The Spark of Dreadwing's master and Soundwave's friend had gone, and with it, their devotion to the cause. "Hmm...very well. Decepticons! Welcome to the regime of Lord Shockwave! As your new master, my first priority...is the restoration of Cybertron!" The morning after, when Twilight had prepared herself for the day and was about to depart from the library, she found Ditzy Doo standing in front of the library entrance in a mailmare garb with a box next to her. "Hey, Ditzy!" Twilight greeted. "What brings you here?" "Package for you and your friends!" Ditzy explained, offering Twilight the box. Ditzy left to deliver the next parcel while Twilight opened the box, curious to see what it was. She found a letter inside which she quickly began reading. "To...Twilight Sparkle..." "Rarity..." "Rainbow Dash..." "Pinkie Pie..." "Fluttershy..." "Applejack..." "Of Equestria..." "As a reward for your excellent service-" "-And for fighting for a world that wasn't yours-" "-You have been awarded-" "An Autobot-" "Elite Guard Medallion?" "This is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed-" "And is only rewarded to the most bravest and noblest of Autobots!" "These medallions have been refitted to your size. Please find them enclosed on behalf of Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all pulled out the medallions from their boxes. It was a brilliant little thing. A grey Autobot symbol with orange eyes and a blue band to serve as a necklace attached to it. It was covered in a...something that made its colors change from grey to any combination of red, blue, or gold with the light hit it just right. All across Ponyville, the six friends put their medallions on with justified, beaming pride, feeling extremely proud and lucky to have an honor of this magnitude granted to them.