Transformers: Harmony
Chapter 8
By: Megatron_91
Within the Autobot’s secret mountain base, a somber mood hung in the air. Optimus Prime watched with great sadness as the four remaining ponies silently shuffled towards him. They had just lost two of their close friends in an argument resulting from his own carelessness. He should not have been so blunt in asking for their help; he should have led up to it and tried to assure them in their worries. He truly believed this was his fault.
He had never meant for the meeting to go this way. He had hoped all six of them would at least be willing to offer their help, but he could not refuse Twilight’s desire to leave; it was her right as a sentient being. But, as Optimus watched the lavender mare and cream pegasus slowly walk down the exit corridor his second-in-command had pointed them towards, he couldn’t help but feel something was out of place. Twilight Sparkle had lied to him when she said she had nothing to fight for--he could tell by the tone of her voice. So why? Optimus was beginning to believe there were deep emotional problems occurring beneath the young mare’s exterior, the problems of a leader. Problems that he, himself, had faced before.
As the massive Autobot leader leaned down on one knee to offer his condolences and comfort to the four approaching locals, Prowl suddenly spoke up.
“So, when do we get rid of these four?” he asked, crossing his arms over his locomotive chest. He looked at Optimus with inquisitive optics while, nearby, Ironhide rolled his own in annoyance.
Rainbow Dash instantly bolted, flying up into the larger Autobot’s face and glaring at him in the eye. “What do you mean get rid of us?” she growled. “We’re staying right here to help you guys fight off these Deceptidons, or whatever they’re called!”
“Optimus,” Prowl sighed, shoving the smaller organic creature out of his face as he walked up to the still kneeling Prime. “You said so yourself, we needed ALL the Elements of Harmony, if two of them left, logically, there’s no point in keeping the other four here.”
Ironhide and Ratchet silently shifted in the background, moving behind the remaining four ponies. They knew Prowl wasn’t the most appreciative of the locals and might try something drastic to try and get them to leave. Both of them could remember their first meeting with the royal sisters. Prowl had ended up trying to take a couple of pot shots to drive off any members of Celestia’s royal guard he deemed a security hazard. He would have succeeded had Ironhide not been there to interfere. So, if he was going to try something like that here, then the two much larger Autobots would be there to drop him before he could.
“Hey, just ‘cause Twilight and Fluttershy ain’t here anymore doesn’t mean we’re completely useless,” Applejack snapped, stomping her hoof against the cold concrete floor. Around her, the other members of her group nodded in agreement.
“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in as she looked up at the annoyed, winged Autobot. “Rarity’s got magic, Applejack can kick really, really hard, I can do all sorts of cool stuff, and Rainbow Dash can do a Sonic Rainboom!!” Pinkie rose on her hind legs and reached farther and farther into the air with her hooves as she listed off her friends special abilities before falling over as she finally got to Rainbow.
The cyan pegasus was now hovering next to Prowl’s helmeted head, playing with the large red crest on his helemet as she smirked at him. “See, Sonic Rainboom--what do you think about that?
“Can you seriously do a Sonic Rainboom!?” Bumblebee blurted out, running up to Prowl and the flying pony. “That’s so awesome!” he exclaimed, remembering how he read about the supposedly mythological flight trick during his time studying the planet and its culture.
“Shut up, Bumblebee,” Prowl growled while shaking the annoying blue pegasus off his head. “Optimus, we are in clear violation of the Code of Interplanetary Conflict! We can’t let them remain here!” he shouted, approaching his commanding officer, who appeared to be having a conversation with the white one called Rarity.
“Prowl, do not lecture me on the Code,” Optimus ordered as he rose from his position on the floor. “I am well aware that-”
Suddenly, the base exploded to life as klaxons and alarms began blaring throughout the base. A red warning light began to flash across the ceiling above. The Equestrians on the ground had to dive and dart out of the way as the massive Autobots began running in every which direction, manning consoles and bringing up displays screens on the numerous monitors. Trying to keep up with the larger robots, the three land-based ponies ran after Optimus as he approached one of the terminals, while Rainbow Dash flew up beside Wheeljack’s shoulder. She could see nothing but a green grid-layout on the screen and what appeared to be two red dots moving across it.
“Wheeljack, what’s happening?” Optimus asked from across the room.
The mid-sized blue-and-silver Autobot instantly went to work on the console in front of him as Rainbow Dash watched over his shoulder. His large metal fingers flew across the control pad, typing in numerous commands and bringing up multiple windows on the screen in front of him. The first thing he did was turn off the deafening alarm. Watching intently, the cyan pegasus saw two yellow lines emerge from the moving red dots on the screen, followed by a long list of strange symbols and letters that she could only guess was the alien’s native language. Finally, what appeared to be the robotic equivalent of a heart monitor, appeared beneath the pair of red points.
“Teletraan’s detected two Decepticon energy signatures flying over the Apaloosan Desert,” the Autobot mechanic shouted over his shoulder towards Optimus and the other Autobots.
“OH MY GOSH!” Pinkie panicked as she jumped into the air. “Is it him!? Is it Megatron?” She flopped around in the air like a dying fish as she asked the question.
Optimus looked at the flailing pink pony with concern before he turned his attention back to his head inventor. “Wheeljack?” he asked, carrying over Pinkie’s question to the blue-and-silver Autobot.
“Not sure,” he replied. “I’m only getting base energy levels and nothing more. Whoever they are they’re too far out.”
“Then Ironhide and I will investigate,” he ordered, stepping towards the large, black Autobot and placing his hand on the other bot’s shoulder. “What’s our ETA to the Apaloosan Desert?” he questioned, watching as Wheeljack typed in a few more commands, the cyan pegaus hovering over him like a shoulder angel.
“If you stick to the tracks, don’t run into any other trains, and kick in your nitro boosters, you should be able to make it there in under an hour and a half,” Ratchet explained, replying for Wheeljack as the mechanic continued his work on the terminal.
“We’ll depart immediately,” Optimus responded. “But Wheeljack, continue work on the Ground Bridge--we need a faster way to travel across this planet.”
The leader of the Autobots turned and began rushing towards the command center’s exit with Ironhide close in tow. He had rushed into battle a million times over the course of his time as the Prime, but he would still feel a little anxious before doing so every time. At least he had his old friend to accompany him; it had become quite the popular rumor in both armies that when he and Ironhide teamed up, no Decepticon had a chance of surviving. He would need all the help he could get, because, deep down, Optimus had a gut feeling he would be seeing am old acquaintance soon.
“WAIT!” Pinkie shouted after the two departing Autobot, trying to get their attention. “What about us!?” she asked.
Optimus stopped in the doorway leading to the base’s built-in train station. “Remain here with Ratchet and Bumblebee. We will continue our earlier discussion once we have returned.” He slipped out of the room leaving the four remaining members of the Elements of Harmony in the care of his fellow Autobots.
………..
The air in Canterlot was hot and humid. This was due, in part, to the brief, sudden summer shower the capital city had just enjoyed about an hour prior. Ponies all over the city sought shelter from the sweltering heat, slipping into nearby stores, stopping to chat under the shade of a tree on the street corner, or even remaining near the fountains that were dotted around the city’s many shopping centers in hopes of catching a small splash of the cool, refreshing water as they desperately tried to cool off. Everywhere across the sprawling, urban area, ponies tried to continue with their busy day despite the miserable weather conditions, but none of them were having quite a day like a certain lavender-coated mare.
Twilight was standing in line for the ticket booth at Canterlot’s open-air, central train station. As the line trudged forward in response to the salesman’s request for the next customer, the annoyed unicorn began tugging on one of the many twigs that was lodged in her purple-striped mane. Apparently, the Teletraan-whatever-it-was that the Autobots had, had decided not to let Twilight and Fluttershy exit from the tunnel entrance Bumblebee had brought everyone through by the roadside. Instead, the two tired mares had to trek half a mile through wood and jungle in order to finally reach the roads outside the capital city. It had not been a fun trip. She finally managed to yank the barbed branch out of her hair with a small, quiet yelp as the line began to push forward again. Looking around and observing all the ponies waiting on the numerous trains entering and leaving the station she began to flash back to the last time she had seen the Canterlot station so full.
She had been a small filly and her parents were taking her to see the summer solstice ritual performed by Princess Celestia. Twilight would always remember that momentous day for two reasons. One, she had actually gotten lost in that very train station for almost half an hour before her big brother, Shining Armor, finally found her; and two, that was the day she first saw Princess Celestia perform magic so powerful that it moved the Sun. From that day forward Twilight had devoted her life to magic and studying; devoted her life to becoming like her newfound hero, Princess Celestia. It had been the greatest day of her young life when she was accepted not only into Celestia’s Academy for Gifted Young Unicorns, but as Princess Celestia’s personal student.
Twilight sighed aloud as, for the hundredth time that afternoon, she could once again feel Fluttershy’s cerulean eyes burning a hole in the back of her skull.
“What is it, Fluttershy?” she asked glancing over her shoulder at the beige pegasus.
“N-Nothing,” the timid flyer responded, shuffling her hooves together out of nervousness.
“Well, obviously it’s something or you wouldn’t be staring at me again,” Twilight retorted, putting extra emphasis on the last word.
“Thank you, Mr. Legotron!” the salesman exclaimed, ruffling his bushy brown moustache as he waved a green-and-black pegasus stallion away from the window. The green-coated, black-haired stallion walked off into the train station and sat down next to a brown coated earth pony wearing a tie--a pony Twilight new from Ponnyville called, the Doctor. “NEXT!!” the salesman called.
Twilight walked up to the counter with Fluttershy in tow as she used magic to levitate a small pouch of money up to her hoof. “Two tickets to Ponyville, please,” she requested.
“Alright, that’ll be twenty bits,” the older stallion rambled as he watched the small purple unicorn magically lift two gold coins out of the purse and place them on the counter. He took the money and handed them their tickets before pointing off down the station. “Your train will be leaving from platform nine. It’s about three-quarters of the way down.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said as she took the tickets. “Come on Fluttershy, we can talk more once we’re on the train,” she explained, motioning for her friend to follow her away from the ticket booth.
As the two ponies walked down the cement platforms lining the tracks, a sudden, bellowing whistle filled the air. They watched as a massive, Grand Royal Steam Locomotive passed by. Its blue and red colors shined in the sun as its two, small, side mounted smokestacks billowed out thick black clouds in conjunction with the larger one on top of the boiler. The gold highlights on the rims around the boiler and the intimidating cowcatcher caught Twilights eye the most. Attached to the locomotive was a worn, beat up military boxcar with a massive turret attached to the top. Its windows were all bolted shut and one of the wheels seemed to be jammed slightly, almost as if this boxcar had been through the underworld and back. The small train seemed to rush by without stopping for anything or anyone before continuing down the track towards Apaloosa.
Was that… Twilight thought to herself, before shaking her head and resuming her search for platform nine.
…………..
The quiet, peaceful meadow outside the capital city of Canterlot lay silent, basking in the glow of the beautiful sunlight provided by Princess Celestia and the celestial object she had been charged with. “The Hanging Meadow,” as it had become known by the local inhabitants of Canterlot, was named so because of the fact that it lay within a hanging valley high in the towering mountains that overlooked the bustling capital city. Tourists and locals would come from all over, risking their lives on the treacherous slopes of the mountain, just to see the magnificent view the valley provided. But not today; today, there was only one being who had made the life threatening climb up the steep slopes in order to reach the hanging valley and he was quickly approaching the massive black starship that sat in the clearing outside the forest.
The Nemesis lay in the expansive valley like a beached whale. Under normal circumstances, the ship would not dare set down this close to the capital city of Equestria, but the Hanging Valley rose so high up in the air that it was impossible for the inhabitants to see the looming space cruiser. The built-in disguise generator was now producing a thick, murky fog around the top of the mountain in order to divert the eyes of any of the pesky flying natives that may soar to close. Had it not been for the orders of the Supreme Decepticon Leader, himself the Nemesis and its crew would never have taken such a risk.
The crisp grass crunched under the hoof falls of the unknown traveler as he stepped out onto the waving plains outside the forest edge. Taking a moment to survey the landscape before him, the blue-coated unicorn slowly began making his way towards the edge of the overhanging cliff. His silver mane slightly rippled in the breeze as he pulled the heavy, iron carriage he was hooked into across the green fields. Reaching the edge of the hanging bluff, the red-eyed unicorn took a second to look down on the city below.
As he continued to watch over the busy city, he heard a gruff, loud voice calling him from the entrance of the mighty Decepticon flagship. A sudden, metallic shriek filled the evening air as the silver-haired unicorn disappeared in a flash of light, and the mid-size carriage began to break apart, reforming itself. The metal continued twisting and bending as a pair of legs emerged from underneath the dark blue carriage. Following suit, multiple panels began swinging, compressing, and folding in on themselves as they formed a large torso, with two elongated arms terminating in a pair of razor sharp hands. Finally, the last few panels of the torso slid away, allowing a head to emerge from within.
“Soundwave, reporting,” the dark blue Decepticon responded, his monotone voice resonating in the air as he approached the massive cobalt Decepticon flyer standing in the doorway. He spoke through the large metal plate covering his face.
“Good to see you, Soundwave,” Blackout’s gruff voice hissed. “Here’s the Tome Megatron wanted you to translate; I suggest you get onboard and hop to it,” he suggested, handing over the fabled book and pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards the inside of the ship.
Soundwave took a moment to examine the book sitting in his palm. He opened it, flipped through the pages, and looked at the cryptic writing before closing it again. His head slowly rose to stare at Blackout through his blood-red visor.
The large Airship Decepticon rubbed the back of his neck in response to the awkward silence that had filled the valley. “So, umm, can you translate it?”
“The translations will come easily with the aide of the Nemesis’s computers,” Soundwave explained, watching in disgust as puffs of hot air escaped Blackout’s lips as he sighed in relief. “The challenge will be finding where the coordinates match on an ancient map of the planet.”
“So, what do you need me to get you?” Blackout asked. “An almanac, a cartographer, what?”
“Negative,” the Decepticon head of communications replied, rolling his eyes beneath his visor. “I am aware that Princess Celestia’s personal student is well-versed in the knowledge of ancient Equestria. I am also aware that she is preparing to board a train as we speak,” he explained.
“Okay?” the other Decepticon asked, a little more than confused as to what Soundwave was getting at.
The sound of metal folding in on itself suddenly began to echo throughout the Hanging Valley as Soundwave’s back began to open and unfold, allowing a massive pair of metallic wings to emerge. The metal feathers glistened in the sunlight as they detached themselves from the cavity in the Decepticon’s back using a pair of powerful legs that ended in razor sharp talons. Finally, the mass of metal in between the legs and wings transformed as it took the air, revealing a powerful, spiked tail and a long, winding neck that ended in a serrated beak attached to a small round head.
“Laserbeak: Deploy,” Soundwave growled into the evening air, watching as the Decepticon bird took flight, heading towards Ponyville. “Operation: Retrieval.”