Chapter 9
Code of Honor
LOCATION: Sweet Apple Acres.
TIME: Late Morning.
Gyvon's jaw almost hit the ground at the spectacle. He had taken the day off from training the Guards, and Rainbow Dash had been bragging about how she could perform a Sonic Rainboom during one of their sparring sessions. Gyvon had scoffed at the idea, claiming it to be impossible. However, there it was, right before his eyes and ears, a rainbow colored shockwave accompanied by a sonic boom. He almost wished Skywarp were there to explain how it could work, though the former 'Con did tend towards long-winded explanations.
"Time to pay up, sugarcube." said Applejack. Gyvon pulled the thirty bits he had foolishly bet out of his pocket, and handed them to the orange mare. "I saw it, and I still don't believe it." he said, still awestruck.
Rainbow Dash landed next to him and beamed with pride. "See, easy as pie." she said, not even bothering to hide the smugness in her voice. Gyvon sighed. "Yeah yeah, I never should've doubted you." he said.
Twilight came trotting up just then. "Hey Gyvon! Fluttershy's looking for you. She thinks something in the Everfree Forest raided her chicken coop last night." she said. "It's probably just a fox or wild wolf, but with the Everfree, you never know what it is." Gyvon nodded. "Yeah, I can swing by." He turned to Rainbow Dash. "Let's continue this later, Dash."
LOCATION: Fluttershy's Cottage
TIME: Late Morning.
"Oh no, not another one." said Fluttershy. She had only been gone a few minutes and her chicken coop had been raided again, this time leaving a gaping hole in the side. "Oh, what kind of horrible monster could be hurting these poor chickens?" Fluttershy turned and went to her cottage, picking up a bag of nails on her way inside.
When she disappeared inside the cottage, something in the forest began to stir, and a raptor suddenly appeared out of the shadows. He was famished, having been unsuccessful in his efforts to hunt prey. Even the domesticated chickens he had stolen from the coop had managed to flee.
Now, with the yellow pony gone, the raptor would attempt an easy meal once more. The raptor sighted his quarry, this time a little white rabbit, and charged. The rabbit turned as it heard the raptor approach and stood frozen as it jumped the fence. He was saved when Fluttershy dashed out of her cottage.
"Just what do you think you're doing, mister?" she shouted. The raptor froze and turned towards the source of the outburst, only to look straight into Fluttershy's eyes. "You're the one who's been hurting the chickens, aren't you?" she asked. The raptor was unable to look away, it was frozen in place by the pony's stare. "AREN'T YOU?"
"Y... yes." the raptor replied meekly. He could've snapped up the little pony in two bites, and yet he was completely helpless as she flew towards him, coming within inches of his mouth. "What do you have to say for yourself?" The raptor couldn't take it any more. "I'm sorry!" he cried "I'm just so hungry. I haven't eaten in days." Fluttershy continued to stare daggers at him "Don't you lie to me! You stole two chickens earlier. Didn't you eat them?" she asked. The raptor shook his head. "No, they escaped before I could."
Fluttershy's expression immediately softened. "Oh, you poor thing. Wait here. I'll get you something." she said and flew into her cottage. She went to her fridge and pulled out a plate of fresh fish. "I'll have to catch some more for the otters later." Just then, there was a knock on her front door. Fluttershy looked out the window to see Gyvon and Twilight standing outside. She went to open the door to let her friends in.
"Hey Fluttershy." said Gyvon as he stepped into her cottage. "I'm ready whenever you are." Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, I've already caught the thief. He's out back." Gyvon walked over to the back door, opened it, then immediately shut it. "IS THAT A VELOCIRAPTOR?" he asked. Fluttershy shrugged. "I don't know what he is, just that he's very hungry. I was about to give him some fish." she said. "Would you like to meet him?"
Gyvon hesitated. He knew that raptors were supposed to be dangerous predators, but if Fluttershy wasn't afraid of it, it couldn't be too bad. But the raptor could still hurt Fluttershy. "Sure." he said. Twilight nodded as well and levitated the plate of fish. Fluttershy opened the back door and walked out, with Gyvon and Twilight following close behind. Gyvon tensed as he approached the dinosaur, ready to unsheathe his blades at a moments notice. His SEAL instincts kicked into overdrive. There was something strange about the raptor.
"Here you go, mister. I brought you some fish" she said as Twilight set the plate down in front of the raptor. "Thank you." said the raptor, managing to only mildly surprise Gyvon as it picked up a trout and threw it into it's mouth. "Allow me to formally introduce myself. You may call me Dinobot." he said. Right before Gyvon's eyes, the raptor did the one thing that could surprise him. He transformed.
Human-like arms folded out of his chest cavity, and his head folded into the now empty space. The skin on his legs and parts of his torso was absorbed, revealing orange and blue metal trimmed with bone. A humanoid head, made of blue metal wearing an orange helmet, extended from the top of his torso. On his waist hanged a large pistol and segmented sword.
Out in the forest, a twig snapped, alerting both Dinobot and Gyvon. "DEATH TO THE TRAITOR!" a voice yelled, and gunfire erupted. Gyvon grabbed both Fluttershy and Twilight, ran for the cottage, and dived inside, while the gunfire followed Dinobot, who took cover behind the chicken coop.
"What's going on?" asked Twilight, a tinge of panic in her voice. "Firefight." replied Gyvon, his voice amazingly calm. "Stay here and keep your heads down. Get behind something heavy if you can." he said as he transformed into his combat form. He dashed out of the cottage and towards the chicken coop, firing a few bursts from his gatling gun along the way.
"Friends of yours?" he asked Dinobot as he took cover next to him. "The Predacons are not friends, Autobot. Merely former acquaintances." growled Dinobot. The coop was being shredded by the incoming fire. Some of the chickens managed to flee to the open door of the cottage. Gyvon leaned out and fired his gatling gun. His ammo counter plummeted rapidly. "We're gonna get pulverized if we stay here. Any ideas?" he asked. Dinobot fired his pistol around the corner blindly. "A full frontal assault. It'll be the last thing they expect." he said as he switched his pistol to his offhand and drew his sword.
Gyvon nodded and unsheathed the blade in his right arm. When the incoming fire died down, Dinobot and Gyvon lept out from behind the coop and charged the enemy, firing as they went. Gyvon saw one of the Predacons, this one purple with spider-like legs sticking out of it's arms, step out from behind a tree. Gyvon sighted him in and fired, crippling the assailant. His ammo counter warned him that he was running dangerously low, so he retracted the gatling and unsheathed another blade.
Before long, Dinobot and Gyvon had closed to within melee range. Dinobot impaled one Predacon on his sword, while Gyvon sliced another into three pieces. They scanned for more targets, but found none. Dinobot scoffed. "Only three Predacons sent to apprehend me? Galvatron must have no faith in my skills." he said. Suddenly, Gyvon tackled Dinobot to the ground, and crossed his blades at Dinobot's throat.
"What did you say?" asked Gyvon, his voice dripping with venom. Dinobot was frozen in fear. He did not expect the Autobot to turn on him after the battle was won. "What is the meaning of this? I am an ally, and you treat me like an enemy? Have you no honor?" he asked. Gyvon glared back. "What does a Decepticon know of honor?" he replied.
Gyvon pulled his right arm back, ready to skewer Dinobot right then and there. However, Twilight and Fluttershy chose that moment to come out of the cottage. "Gyvon, no!" cried Twilight. She channeled magic through her horn, and pulled Gyvon off of Dinobot. "Stay out of this, Twilight." he said. Twilight slammed Gyvon against a tree and held him there. Fluttershy floated over to Dinobot and helped him up.
"Weren't you paying attention?" asked Twilight, releasing her hold on Gyvon. "They called him a traitor. I don't think he's a Decepticon. Not anymore at least." Before they could debate the issue further, there came a loud, whining noise from the sky, the sound of a jet engine. Gyvon looked up, searching for the source of the noise. "Oh shit!" he said. It was an F-22, painted a bright electric blue. He knew it wasn't an Air Force bird, since all of their Raptors were stealth gray. "EVERYONE INTO THE FOREST! HIDE!" he yelled. Twilight and Fluttershy saw the jet and followed Gyvon's orders. Dinobot hesitated a moment, but followed suit as well.
"Thundercracker!" growled Dinobot. "Why did that sycophant have to show up?" The F-22 swooped low over the field, transformed, and landed. "Dinobot!" roared the seeker. "Show yourself!"
They weren't deep in the forest. Gyvon and Twilight shared cover behind a large tree, Fluttershy was hiding behind a bush, and Dinobot had another tree all to himself. Gyvon quickly assessed the situation, but couldn't think of a way to make it out alive.
"If you don't come out of that forest, I'll just burn it down!" screamed Thundercracker. Before anyone could act, a rainbow-colored blur streaked out of the sky and across Thundercracker's face, leaving deep gouges in his head. Thundercracker screamed as the blur slowed down, revealing Rainbow Dash. "Wow, I thought Decepticons were supposed to be tougher than that." said Rainbow Dash mockingly. The look Thundercracker gave off would've curdled milk. "You stupid insect! You'll pay dearly for that!" he screamed.
From a shoulder compartment, Thundercracker fired an AIM-7 Sparrow at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus effortlessly dodged the missile, which couldn't lock on to her. Rainbow Dash flew to a nearby cloud and started bucking it repeatedly. The lightning pelted the tallest object around, which happened to be Thundercracker. Although his vital components were shielded from electrical damage, the bolts were still painful and shorted out a few sub-systems.
From behind their tree, Twilight and Gyvon looked on. "Wow!" exclaimed Twilight. "Rainbow Dash is doing an amazing job." Gyvon nodded in agreement. "I taught her well." he said. From behind his tree, Dinobot growled. "While I agree she's doing well, the mare's lucky that Thundercracker isn't that bright"
Finishing her assault, Rainbow Dash launched herself at Thundercracker, and kicked him in the head at well over five hundred miles per hour. Thundercracker's face was heavily dented in, and Gyvon could hear the metal in the 'Con's neck stretch and crack under the strain. He recovered quickly enough, but Thundercracker's head rested at an odd angle. He screamed in rage, formed a gatling gun from his arm, and fired at Rainbow Dash, who dodged and weaved around the 20mm rounds as she flew off in the opposite direction of the Everfree. Thundercracker had completely forgotten about the traitor in the forest.
"He's got target fixation." said Gyvon. "Perfect." He jetted out of the forest and up to Thundercracker, latching on to the Seeker's back. Gyvon repeatedly jammed the blades on his arms into Thundercracker's back, hoping to pierce his spark. He was paid no heed, and on the fourth attempt, Gyvon jammed his right arm through the Decepticon's spark. Thundercracker gave off one last anguished scream and fell forwards, lifeless. With a great booming thud, the battle was over.
Rainbow Dash landed next to Gyvon as he stood up and retracted his blades. "That... was... AWESOME!" she yelled, smiling as wide as she could. The smile disappeared when she saw Gyvon glaring at her furiously. "Don't you realize you could've gotten yourself killed?" he asked in a raised voice. Rainbow Dash quailed at his outburst. "I taught you how to fight only so you could defend yourself, not to go gallivanting off and putting yourself in mortal danger!"
As Rainbow Dash looked up at him in fear, Gyvon couldn't keep a straight face any longer. He began to laugh with glee and brought Dash into a tight embrace. "I'm so damn proud of you!" They both began to laugh.
As they stepped off of Thundercracker's corpse, Gyvon noticed Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie galloping in from the east. Rarity and Applejack were the swiftest and arrived first. "We heard the commotion and came as fast as we... WHOA NELLY, WHAT THE HAY IS THAT?!" She had just noticed Thundercracker lying face down. Pinkie showed up next. "It's a Decepticon, silly!" she said in a cheerful voice. "What else would be this big and metaly?"
Twilight cantered out of the forest with Dinobot carrying a skittish Fluttershy close behind. Dinobot gently set Fluttershy down to the side. "One of the Predacons is missing." he said. Gyvon scanned the battlefield and saw one figure crawling through the grass away from the forest. As they approached, Gyvon saw that it was the same Predacon that he had crippled earlier.
"Alas, Tarantulas." said Dinobot, standing in front of the assailant. "How the mighty have fallen." The Predacon stopped crawling, and internal fluids began leaking heavily. "Dinobot... why? Why did you.... betray us?" asked Tarantulas, his voice rasping. Dinobot growled. "I could not live with myself if I stayed. The Predacons murdered innocents. Women, children. There was no honor."
Tarantulas coughed. "You were there too, Dinobot. You were there." he said. Dinobot nodded. "Yes, I was there. I, too, took the lives of many that day." he said. Gyvon, Twilight, and everypony looked up at Dinobot, wide-eyed at his confession. "But, unlike you, I took no joy from it. I was merely following orders." Tarantulas began to laugh, but could only cough. His life was hanging by a thread.
"You are still just as guilty as I." Tarantulas said. Dinobot nodded somberly. "So I am." he said, aiming his pistol at Tarantulas' chest. "And when my tale is told, it will be told truthfully, the ill deeds along with the good, and I will be judged accordingly. The rest..." he fired. "...is silence."