Transformers: Equestria's Darkest Hour

by JDPrime22

When We Stand Together

INTEL: Air Raid is a headstrong member of the Aerialbots who would rather fly into a group of Decepticons instead of gunning them from afar because it's more fun. This attitude often puts him and his comrades in danger, though he almost as often tends to get them out of it.

‘Wake up, Twilight. You have to wake up.’

‘Your true destiny doesn’t end here.’

‘Help them…they need you.’

The blurry vision. The dusty air. The tattered streets. I slowly began to wake up. Rubbing my head to get the pain away, I looked down at my hooves to see them scratched up with a hint of blood on the cuts.

It wouldn’t be the first time I drew blood in these times of war.

Even though my legs felt like gelatin, I still forced my body to stand up. I could hear the pieces of broken crystal falling off my stomach as I began to look around.

Nothing remained. I held back the tears I felt brewing in my burning eyes to get a full glimpse of this carnage. The air was filled with dust…so I couldn’t really see all that well. All across the ground, I could see nothing but tattered pieces of crystal, possibly from the skyscraper that just fell.

THE SKYSCRAPER!

I looked up, fully expecting to see something, anything that remained from that fall! I couldn’t help myself and gasped when I saw the upper portion of the skyscraper completely gone. I put a hoof to my head, trying hard to accept the fact that I just FELL out of a falling building!

Yep…it happened.

Slowly trotting, I made my way through the graveyard known as the Crystal Empire. I could barely see five feet in front of me. It was so dusty! After I passed some more large rocks, a soft groaning made my ear twitch followed by a cracking voice.

“Ugh...my head!”

My eyes grew wide. I stamped my hoof on the gravel and shouted, “Rainbow, is that you?! Where are you?!”

Suddenly, another voice came. This one sounded more southern.

“Twilight! Where are ya?!”

I looked around, my body doing several circles in the same place as tried desperately to find them. My friends. I screamed again, in hopes that somepony heard me.

A soft voice came not too far away.

“Twilight, is that you? Hurry! Rarity needs help!”

Lighting my horn, I bathed the area in a nice purple glow. The dust quickly cleared as I now began to find my way around. Looking from left to right, I began to gallop my way around the remains of the skyscraper.

It wasn’t long before I ran into a friend of mine.

“TWILIGHT!” Pinkie screamed, wrapping me into a tight hug. I yelped, my back begging to have Pinkie release me.

“Pinkie…you’re kinda…hurting me.” I wheezed as the party pony finally let go of me. Pinkie smiled sheepishly and brought up her hoof.

“Come on, Twilight,” Pinkie said, “Rarity needs help.”

“Lead the way.” I pointed out, slightly cracking my neck from Pinkie’s death grip.

Together we walked right through this battleground, Pinkie bouncing while I tried to focus more on what truly happened. The Nemesis began to launch…tow cables or something right at the building and somehow destroyed the supports. That must’ve been how the rest of the building fell. I couldn’t really remember what happened after that. Swoop saved me and Rainbow Dash that was for certain, but where is he now?

My questions would have to be saved for later once we arrived.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and a slightly wobbling Rainbow Dash all stood around a large crater, staring downwards into it. Once Pinkie and I got there, I shared a quick hug with each of my closest friends.

After Applejack and I hugged, she looked at me seriously and explained, “Hurry, we can hear Rarity cryin’ under there.”

Nodding, I shined my horn to a brighter level, thus causing the area to be lit up. I opened my right eye slightly to see Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack crawl down into the crater. I kept my horn bright, obviously helping the others find Rarity quicker.

I could hear them.

“Oh shoot, is this really…?”

“Oh no…poor Cliffjumper…is he alright?”

“Can somepony please help me?”

“Sure thing, Rarity, but first…where are ya?”

“I’m under here! Cliffjumper saved my life.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, Rarity. Grab mah hoof!”

“I…almost…got it!”

I could see them leave the crater, Applejack holding Rarity up as they both limped out. I finally got a good glimpse as to how injured Rarity was. Her mane was messy and pieces of hair were strewn across her face. Cuts were spread across her body, several of them in her hooves. Rarity had a nasty bruise on her forehead as she rubbed it softly.

Once the dust cleared, I looked at Fluttershy as she exited the crater.

“Is Cliffjumper alright?” I asked.

Fluttershy turned her head towards me, her eyes brimming with tears. She shook her head and pointed towards the large crater. Turning that way, I quickly backed off as a large black hand clawed at the dirt as to where I was just sitting.

Along with the rest of my friends, we all watched as the red Autobot insignia glowed in the dusty air along with the blue eyes. Although he stumbled out, Cliffjumper forced himself to stay up. It was no use and he fell to one knee anyways.

“Cliffjumper! You need help!” I sternly told them, allowing my magic to grip around his legs to help him stand up. But to my surprise, Cliffjumper waved me away.

“No…” He groaned, “I can do it myself….I’m fine.”

I shook my head, frowned and said, “Cliffjumper, I know you don’t want to admit it but…you’re hurt. We need to find Jazz and the others so we can get you patched up.”

Cringing in pain, I watched as Cliffjumper slowly nodded, finally agreeing with me. My friends and I watched passively as Cliffjumper pressed a button on the side of his head and spoke, “Jazz, answer the scraping comms link….ugh….I’m hurt bad.”

We all heard several coughs come from the other end of his comms link.

“*COUGH* *COUGH* Cliffjumper! *COUGH* Where are ya, man? I already found Bee, Slug and the others. Tell us where you are.”

Frowning, Cliffjumper explained, “I don’t know where I am. That’s the problem.”

“Hold on…we’ll find ya.”

I watched as Cliffjumper nodded and put his hand down, his head making a sort of static sound once he lowered his hand. He looked towards us, his eyes as calm as can be.

“Well,” Cliffjumper casually said while activating his gun, “let’s move out.”

My friends and I only looked at each other. Shrugging to one another, we followed the red Autobot as he pushed away large pieces of crystals in his path. We stood close together, not really hoping to get lost in this maze of broken crystals.

Before we knew it, we could see the glowing lights in the dust, followed by the shouts of relief from the Autobots.

“Cliffjumper, you alright, man?” Jazz asked, his body escaping the shadows.

We all turned to look up at Cliffjumper, he smiled and said, “Yeah, but my legs are pretty messed up. How are the others?”

Jazz turned back and pointed at the group. Bumblebee stood alone, slightly limping while Slug and Swoop and held up the injured Snarl by his arms. “Snarl took a pretty rough fall, other than that we’re good.”

Swoop chuckled, “Snarl always does seem to get hurt, doesn’t he?”

“Shut…up.” Snarl wheezed.

My friends began to murmur behind me, I decided to break the silence and coughed into my hoof. Instantly, the Autobots faced me, Snarl barely lifting up his head to hear what I had to say.

“Sooo…what do we do now?” I asked while tipping over a little rock.

None of the Autobots answered…because a new voice came out of nowhere.

“Is anyone out there? I heard voices. This is Autobot Ironhide if you wanted to know.”

We all looked around, my friends and the Autobots alike. Applejack stood back up, her head darting from side to side.

“Ironhide,” Applejack screamed, “Where are you?!” I swear I could almost hear her whimper a little.

Ironhide quickly answered back, “Just follow my voice. I’m over here!”

Jazz shrugged and motioned us forward. “You heard the bot!” He said.

While Slug and Swoop helped up Snarl, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Jazz took the front while we stayed right behind them. Anything could be lurking in these shadows…waiting to strike. We all passed several more craters all filled with large crystal debris. Just as we were about to lose the trail again, Ironhide’s voice came back.

“This way! Follow my voice!”

When we started to move faster, I could almost see the rest of the buildings around us. We were getting closer to the clearing and out of this wreckage. Just when the dust began to clear, my friends and I let loose several deep breaths now that we could breathe fresh air once again. I looked around and noticed the rest of the empire from my lower view.

The Decepticons were still attacking…with no sign of Ironhide anywhere. My sense of calmness and relaxation was over, replaced by dread and fear as to witness my very home crumble when I couldn’t even do a thing. I mean come on, these are the Decepticons! My friends and I were lucky the first few times we crossed their paths but now that it’s an entire Decepticon army…there wasn’t a chance for us to fight back.

My thoughts were interrupted, immediately bringing my attention back to Jazz who seemed to take a keen liking to the dusty street ahead of him.

“Ironhide,” I heard Jazz shout, “Come out, man!”

I flinched when a loud bang was heard.

My friends and I gasped in unison. Jazz fell on his back. His chest was smoking, and he looked as if he was in pain. Someone had just shot him! We all turned in his direction and screamed.

It wasn’t Ironhide…it wasn’t even an Autobot!

“Surprise, Autobot scum!” Swindle cheered and moved in on the defenseless Jazz.

It only took a few seconds for us to decipher what happened…and even that wasn’t enough time. Instantly as Swindle started pounding on Jazz, the dust cleared and many more Decepticons burst through, firing their guns at us.

My friends and I screamed, taking quick cover behind the nearest piece of debris that seemed to do the trick. I didn’t want to see what had happened…from the several screams from Jazz and the others, my overpowering guilt forcing me to look over and see for myself.

Snarl was thrown down once Slug got his legs kicked out from behind him. Swoop spun around, only to receive a punch directly in the visor from a familiar Decepticon. My friends and I seemed to be a good audience…as if this was part of a very sad movie. Out of the shadows, Onslaught, Brawl, and Blast Off exited and attacked the injured Dinobots.

We couldn’t do a thing but watch in horror as our Autobot friends got decimated in seconds.

Slug tried to stand back up, immediately getting kicked across the face by Onslaught. With Slug lying on his chest along with Snarl, Swoop got a swift second punch directly across the face, causing the Dinobot flyer to land on his rear. The three Combaticons walked right passed the injured Dinobots, which confused me.

Seems like things wasn’t getting any better.

Three Decepticon Heavy Soldiers, each equipped with large guns of some sort, grabbed the Dinobots and placed them on their knees.

“Hands behind your head, Autobot!” One of them growled and forced his blaster into Slug’s back. Sending them a hateful glare, Slug finally gave up, probably from the pain soaring through his circuits and the fact that there was just too many of them, so he slowly brought up his hands and placed them behind his head. Swoop and Snarl slowly did the same.

I wanted to cry out, to stop this madness and save my friends…but my instinct that I’ve gained from fighting side by side with these Autobots told me to stay quiet so the enemy didn’t know where I was. My friends seemed to do the same. Jazz would be proud.

I swear I could hear Fluttershy whimpering out, immediately covering her own snout to avoid being detected once she saw Bumblebee getting beaten.

About four different Decepticon soldiers pounded down on our yellow friend. Bumblebee tried to fight back, he really did, but the pain he must’ve been feeling was probably too intense, causing him to falter. Bumblebee fell to his knees as the soldiers kicked him in the stomach and punched him across the face. Just when I thought Fluttershy couldn’t take it anymore, Bumblebee was placed on his knees and smacked across the face, giving a painful grunt before spitting out more of that blue liquid.

I remembered what that Autobot named First Aid had said. He said my blood was like Energon…so that blue liquid must’ve been Bumblebee’s blood; Energon.

Shaking my head, I brought my attention back on the fight once I heard Rarity whimpering.

Cliffjumper pointed his weapon forward, fully intending to fight them all off. But once I saw that look in his eyes, the same look I’ve seen several times before, it almost hurt me to see him lower his gun. Cliffjumper held up his hands and got to his knees. The large group of Decepticons quickly surrounded him and shoved his hands above his head.

Never in all my life had I seen an Autobot give up.

Several deep chuckles brought my head along with my friends’ over a few feet to see two Decepticon soldiers holding Jazz against his will, the Combaticon Swindle chuckling over him.

We listened in as Jazz began to speak.

Struggling against the grips of the Decepticon soldiers, Jazz looked up and shouted, “H-how did you do that?!”

Swindle flashed a devilish grin and tapped on his neck. “Voice modulators, picked them up during my times on Quintessa. Nice people those Quintessons. If ya ever manage to survive this and take a vacation to the Quintessa region, be sure to thank ‘em for me!”

Once that was done, we watched as Jazz struggled even more once the Decepticons brought him to his feet and dragged him across the ground to where Onslaught was waiting. I could see his yellow visor glowing dimly in the dusty air. He faced Swindle.

“Got a live one, boss,” Swindle stated, “How ‘bout some pay for a job well done?” Swindle held out his two fingers and rubbed them together, indicating he wanted to be paid.

We brought our attention to the Combaticon leader who didn’t take kindly to Swindle’s greed. For he jabbed his finger right in Swindle’s chest and shouted, “When you work for the Combaticons, Swindle, you work for free! GOT IT?!”

Swindle crossed his arms and groaned, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

I almost lost it once I saw the Decepticons slowly bring our friends over into a large circle and hold them against their will. I could hear Rainbow Dash growling and Applejack grinding her teeth together. We were all pretty mad to see them treat the Autobots like this. The Autobots have done so much for us and this is how we repay them? By watching them get beaten while we do nothing?

Whatever the answer was, it would have to wait…for the interrogation had begun.

Scrunching in closer, we watched with shut mouths and fast-beating hearts as the last member of the Combaticons approached Onslaught and saluted.

“What do ya need me to do ‘em, boss?” Vortex asked. His faceplate moved up and down while his yellow visor gleamed in the dust.

Onslaught held out his hand in a polite manner in front of his fellow Combaticon. He started to speak with his own faceplate moving up and down. “I think the interrogator of the Combaticons would like to extract some information from our prisoners? Would he like that?”

Vortex chuckled while cracking his knuckles, “Oh…he likes that VERY much!”

I almost couldn’t stand to watch this anymore. The brutality these Decepticons had was awful to see and to hear as Vortex slowly approached Slug, kneeling to his eye level. I watched as Vortex leaned his face in, nearly bumping foreheads with Slug.

“Now…how about you tell me where those ponies are and I’ll be sure to make this as painless as possible?” Vortex asked calmly, his voice low and threatening. Slug lifted up his head, struggling hard against the Heavy Soldiers holding his arms behind his back.

Slug growled, spitting liquid Energon right in Vortex’s visor. “GO TO THE PIT!” Slug screamed.

I expected Vortex to immediately hit Slug back, but instead he chuckled and wiped away the precious life-blood from his vision. I didn’t have to wait long for the hit to come because Vortex brought his fist back and cracked it against Slug’s cheek, his entire body nearly falling to the crystal-like street.

“Learn your place, Autobot!” Vortex yelled, threatening to hit the Dinobot again. Slug only coughed up more Energon and spit at the ground. Once he finally broke him, Vortex lifted up Slug’s head and calmly spoke, “Now….I’ll ask you again…where are the ponies?”

Slug shook his head, shaking Vortex’s hand off. “I’ll never tell you anything! Do whatever you want with me, but I’ll never tell!”

I silently whimpered once Vortex pulled a short blade from his back, gently rubbing it with his pointing finger. He said, “Always got to do it the hard way, don’t you?”

Vortex’s ways of torture were terrible. I swear I heard Rarity gag along with Fluttershy as Vortex grabbed Slug’s head and violently jammed the blade right into his visor. Slug’s roars of pain filled our ears with terrible thoughts while Vortex continued his torture of the Dinobot. I shut my eyes, covered my ears, and tried anything to get the horrid sounds out of my head.

Once the screaming had ended, I opened my eyes and watched as Vortex put the blade by his waist and shouted, “Awww…this one’s not gonna break!” Slug held his head low, his once glowing red visor now dimly orange with a large, black gash in the middle. I really wanted to cry now. These Autobots are sacrificing so much for our freedom…and we weren’t doing a thing about it.

Vortex spun around, completely ignoring Slug’s continued grunts of pain, and began to walk closer to Jazz, his visor glowing brighter for a split second.

I held in a terrified gasp and held my hoof close to my mouth, for I now knew what Vortex was planning on doing. He wasn’t going to physically injure Jazz; he had already done that to Slug and scarred him blind for life. Vortex was going to kill him.

Covering my own mouth to stop anymore whimpers, my friends and I forced ourselves to see what Vortex was planning on our very close friend. The Combaticon leaned into Jazz, holding the knife directly under Jazz’s chin.

“Unless you wanna lose your sight like your friend over there, I suggest you tell me where the ponies are right now.” Vortex threatened, stiffening the knife closer to Jazz’s throat.

We turned our attention to the small Autobot, who somehow managed to smile and say, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Vortex didn’t take kindly to that and slashed Jazz’s cheek, Energon immediately leaking out.

He leaned in closer, Vortex’s visor staring right into Jazz’s own. The Autobot and Decepticon stared each other down…it was Vortex to break the staring contest.

“They’re around here, aren’t they?” Vortex muttered, turning his head away from the Autobot and walking into the middle of the street. I moved even farther behind the crystal debris, my friends did the same, not really wanting to be found by this madman.

I motioned my head barley out of cover, just to see what Vortex was doing. I could tell he didn’t know where I was when he started speaking out into the open.

“If you ponies are hearing me right now then listen up! I’m gonna give you to the count of five to get your flanks out here and surrender to us at once. If you deny our request then I’ll have to kill your friend. His Energon will be on your hooves if you don’t come out here now!”

I could hear Pinkie Pie behind me beginning to cry.

“One…”

My friends were beginning to get uneasy. I heard them stirring.

“Two…”

“I’m gonna kill him.” I heard Rainbow Dash growl, forcing me to look back to see her wings flare upwards. Applejack quickly held her down which only received a glare from the cyan Pegasus.

“Three…”

By this time, I looked out from the cover. I saw Vortex walking backwards towards Jazz. His blade was held tightly in his right fist just about the time Jazz started yelling.

“Come on! DO IT! Kill me you Decepticon punk! KILL ME!!!” Jazz screamed, struggling even more against the Decepticons holding his arms down.

“Four…”

Vortex placed his blade under Jazz’s chin…

That was it. I couldn’t just sit here and watch as one of my friends got murdered. Ignoring everything Jazz had told me about survival during these times of war, I jumped out from the debris…instantly receiving several stares.

“STOOOOOP!!!!!” I screamed.

Everything was so quiet.

Vortex turned back and lowered his blade from Jazz’s throat. Jazz on the other hoof wore an expression of pure shocked terror. I looked around, fully seeing the other Decepticons and Autobots bringing their attention towards the only pony standing awkwardly in the street.

I instantly shrunk down, my fears beginning to take over. My confidence slowly rose when I heard several hoofsteps behind me…indicating that my friends wouldn’t let me go it alone.

“Stop right there, Decepti-creeps!” Rainbow Dash screamed, flying down and landing right by me. I could see the glare in her eyes flare up, that look I have seen so many times before.

To my surprise actually, I watched as my timid friend stepped forward, her glare almost as strong as Rainbow’s. “You think you can hurt our friends and get away with it?!” Fluttershy screamed with her soft voice on the edge of steel, utterly preparing to defend the Autobots.

“You GO, Fluttershy!” Rainbow cheered.

I faced the Decepticons, a confident smile spreading on my face. Of course that quickly faded when I only saw Vortex and the other Combaticons chuckle in enjoyment.

“That’s more like it,” Vortex managed between chuckles, “Now how about you come quietly and no harm will fall upon your precious Autobot friends?”

My head quickly spun to face Jazz. He struggled even more and screamed, “Twilight! They’re gonna kill us all anyway! Just get outta here!!!” He was immediately silenced once the Decepticons holding him down smacked him across the head.

“Now as I was saying,” Vortex faced me again, his visor glowing softly, “Are you all going to come with us so we can take you to Shockwave. He really wants to meet all of you personally…especially you, Twilight.”

I took a step back; I couldn’t even form a correct sentence for the Decepticon had shocked me into silence. That horrible nightmare I had so long ago came rushing back into my head; I could still hear Fluttershy’s screams of agony once Shockwave drove the saw directly into her-

“So…what do you say?” Vortex asked, bringing me back to the real world.

I stood there dumbfounded. My hooves felt wobbly again as that terrifying visor stared me down. Years of constant warfare flashed in front of the polarized visor…only increasing the fear I felt in my heart. After a few seconds of continued silence, Vortex simply shrugged and casually said, “Of course, if you don’t answer me…we’ll just execute the rest of the Autobots and force you to come with us.”

I gasped.

“No…” I muttered, my eyes beginning to burn as Vortex turned away from me. My friends and I did absolutely nothing, both Fluttershy’s and Rainbow Dash’s courage seemed to vanish once the Combaticon began to approach Bumblebee.

“Twilight, RUN!” Bumblebee screamed, struggling to break loose from the Decepticons holding him down. The other Autobots joined in, urging us to abandon them and continue on the mission to save our planet.

“Get outta here!”

“We’ll keep them busy, just GO!!!”

“Come on, ponies! Please just…get going already!”

Bumblebee shut his mouth once Vortex gripped his forehead, whipping out a long, jagged purple blade from his right arm. He brought his arm back…

“Do your worst…” Bumblebee glared at the Combaticon only moments away from his spark being taken away from his life.

“I plan to.”

He reared forward and drove the blade directly into-

“NOOOOO!!!” I screamed while running forward.

Vortex stopped only inches away from Bumblebee’s chest. Turning to face me, Vortex chuckled and put away his sword. The hatred I had for these Decepticons only grew to know that they were laughing at me…when I began to cry.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sit here and watch as Bumblebee was killed. I didn’t care if we were put in danger…all I cared for was my friends…and I would do anything for them. Once I stopped a few feet from the Combaticon, I held my head low with the tears free-falling from my eyelids.

Looking up, I almost growled in disgust to see Vortex along with the rest of the Combaticons looking down at me, as if I was just a pest in their way.

Sighing with misery clearly located, I looked at Vortex, my vision nearly blurry from how many tears I had.

“We’ll do whatever you say...just please…don’t hurt the Autobots anymore.” I practically begged at the Decepticon’s feet, but if it was so that the Autobots were safe then I really didn’t care what I looked like.

Even though I didn’t like it, Vortex knelt down and softly rubbed my cheek with his grimy, black finger. I hated it when he tried to do that, the Autobots were so gentle but when a Decepticon tried to touch me…it felt bad…it felt like somepony trying to have their way with me…that’s why I hated it.

“That’s a good girl...” Vortex quietly said while he rubbed my cheek even more. I pulled my head away and looked at the ground in shame. Shame that I felt for all the sad glances I received from the Autobots.

Vortex stood back and backed away as Onslaught approached me now. He looked up and said, “Get the rest of them, we’re heading out now.”

I looked back shamefully to see the rest of my friends dragging their hooves across the ground, their heads low and faces somber as to what they just witnessed. It was a very silent walk; none of us spoke and kept our heads low to the ground, fully knowing that the five Combaticons were right behind us.

Even though I heard the Decepticons speaking behind us, I refused to look at them.

“Hey, what about these Autobots?”

Through the corner of my eye, I saw Onslaught turn around and shout, “Take them to Soundwave. He’s running the prisonary transport near the west side of the empire.”

This time I did turn around. I quickly saw the Decepticon soldiers pick up the injured Autobots, jabbing their weapons into their backs. Another tear fell from my eye once I saw Bumblebee look at me, his blue eyes softening as he lowered his hands in defeat.

A light kick to my rump brought my head back up to see the brown Decepticon looking down at me, his purple eyes glaring right through my very essence.

“No stopping,” Blast Off growled, “We wasted enough time already.”

I turned back around and lowered my head.

Onslaught had said that Jazz and others would be taken to the prisonary transport or whatever it was called. Even though I surrendered to them…they’re still going to kill my friends. My spirit fell. I know Optimus had told me it once before, but I knew now…that nothing was going to save us.

I gave up.

It wasn’t such a hard mission after all.

Onslaught had once begun to think that it was going to be difficult to find these wretched ponies in an entire empire. But it looks like they came to them, they didn’t even have to search that long. Together with his team, Onslaught kept his X-18 Scrapmaker pointed on the one called ‘Twilight Sparkle’. She seemed to be their leader.

After several more long minutes of walking, the six mares began to lose all hope yet again. Knowing that their Autobot friends were going to be taken to some type of prison, there was nobody that was going to save them this time.

Nobody.

They had all left the wreckage of the crystal skyscraper and made it to another part of the empire, this one being very recognizable to the six mares.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and stared straight ahead, her eyes growing wide with shock.

Right in front of her were several Decepticon soldiers, clearing a path and clapping at the prize Onslaught and his team had acquired. Twilight saw as the large group of soldiers backed off, and what remained forward…terrified her.

Twilight refused to keep moving…for the Decepticon scientist, Shockwave, stood only about a hundred feet from where she and her friends resided. Next to him was none other than Sharpshot and his two other Insecticon teammates.

A sharp pain from behind launched the unicorn forward.

Onslaught saw as the unicorn refused to keep moving, her tiny body trembling at his feet. With his frustration growing, Onslaught brought his foot back and kicked her with a little more force than intended. This sent the unicorn into the air and skidding several feet away.

“TWILIGHT!” The other ponies screamed in fear, immediately running towards their injured friend.

Rarity put her hooves on Twilight’s back as she lay on her stomach. Twilight gently brought her hoof back and rubbed the sore spot on her rump, the spot where Onslaught had kicked her.

Once the Combaticons walked past the six ponies, Rarity glared at them, eyes filled with tears and screamed, “You brute! She wasn’t doing anything and you just…kicked her!”

Bringing his head down, Onslaught glared right back at the white unicorn and growled, “We already wasted too much time trying to find you ponies, we can’t waste anymore just because of your petty fears.”

Applejack stomped her hoof on the ground, her pride telling her not to fall prey to fear. “We ain’t movin’ one bit! Y’all can jus’ go ta Tartarus fer all Ah care!” Applejack screamed, the tears forming at the ridge of her emerald eyes once she saw Twilight beginning to cry from the pain she felt.

The five Combaticons stopped and stared at the ponies, Swindle chuckling and saying, “So you ain’t moving anymore, huh? You do realize we’re Decepticons, robotic beings who don’t give a scrap what you think and will force you to do something you don’t want to, right?”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward while clenching her jaw. Her glare was strong enough to pierce Swindle’s purple visor. “Why don’t you make us, bub?!” Rainbow screamed, flaring up her wings and pawing at the ground.

“Actually, how ‘bout you just give up now? It’s a losing fight for you ponies.” Vortex casually said, crossing his arms.

“Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face?!” Rainbow retorted, nearly on the verge to ram the Decepticon who hurt Slug.

Vortex shook his head and said, “No I’m good…I just wanted to keep your attention on me long enough for Blast Off to get behind you.”

“Wha-?”

Rainbow Dash yelped in surprise once a large, brown fist grabbed her and held her in a tight clench. The other mares screamed, backing away from the large Combaticon that somehow got behind them. Rainbow continued to struggle which only received a few chuckles from the Deception holding her.

“This one’s got a lot of fight in her! I like that!” Blast Off shouted, clenching his fist even tighter to receive a scream from the Pegasus.

“LET GO OF ME!!!” Rainbow shouted, struggling even more in Blast Off’s fist.

Onslaught saw her struggle, he pointed at his fellow Combaticon and shouted, “Blast Off, she’s a wild one! Show her who’s boss!”

Nodding, Blast Off opened up his fist only slightly and gripped one of her tiny wings. Twisting it sharply, Rainbow Dash let out such a painful scream that is almost caused Blast Off to go deaf.

“OW, OW, OW, OW!!!!” Rainbow cried as Blast Off began to pull on it.

“STOP! You’re hurting her!” Fluttershy screamed, flying over and placing her hooves at Blast Off’s feet. Blast Off felt the little pony at his feet, quickly releasing his grip from the pony’s wing. Rainbow Dash remained quiet, rubbing her wing in pain.

Blast Off looked at the other five ponies, their expressions horrified. He continued to hold the little Pegasus in his fist while he explained, “You don’t want your friend to get hurt anymore? Then get moving!”

Applejack’s anger cooled down once she saw the painful tears fall down Rainbow’s face. She also saw as Rainbow Dash nodded slowly, telling them to just do what he says.

Twilight got back up, the rest of her friends minus Rainbow Dash all walking forward with their heads held low in defeat. The Combaticons followed closely behind him while Blast Off carried the blue Pegasus in his fist. If the ponies tried to get out of line again, he would break her wing next time.

Trudging forward, Twilight slowly lifted her gaze straight ahead where she heard Shockwave’s cold voice having a conversation with the Insecticons.

‘Here we go…’ Twilight thought to herself once Shockwave’s voice reached her

“It has been far too long. The Combaticons do not live up to their name if they simply cannot capture six little ponies.” Shockwave coldly said, staring straight at the battlefield ahead. Meteorites fell from the sky with long, bright tails. Shockwave watched as they hit the empire with no mercy.

Sharpshot faced his way and explained, “I assure you, the Combaticons have done as you instructed. As we speak, they should be here with those wretched creatures.”

“We shall see, Sharpshot.”

An impolite cough caught the Decepticon’s attention. Turning around, Shockwave sighed with relief once he saw Onslaught and his team. Right by their feet was none other than the Element Bearers; Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Blast Off held the sixth member in his fist.

The mission was a success.

Giving a rare chuckle, Shockwave turned fully around, keeping his cold, purple eye on the purple pony specifically. He held out his only good hand, giving a polite nod and saying, “Well….we meet again, Miss Sparkle.”

“Shockwave…” Twilight Sparkle muttered, trying her hardest to avoid that terrifying stare.

The Decepticon scientist watched all of them intensively, watching their moves, watching their expressions, making sure that they have truly given up. It looked that way…but that rainbow-haired one seemed to stay defiant as she continued to struggle in Blast Off’s grip.

He brought his attention on the alabaster unicorn, her glare was strong and her voice was demanding.

“What do you want with us?!” Rarity shouted, stomping her hoof on the ground.

Shockwave held up his good finger and said, “Awww…how rude of me. Very well, I have brought you all here so that you could see the end of your world before your very eyes. Come. Stand next to me and witness the mighty conquest of Equestria unfold.” Shockwave held out his hand and motioned the five mares to come closer.

Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped forward, her body twitching uncontrollably. “LIAR,” She screamed, “My Pinkie Sense is telling me that you’re lying! That’s not why you brought us here.”

While the other mares stared at their pink friend, the Insecticons were rubbing their heads in confusion. Along with the Insecticons, the Decepticon shot gunners looked at each other and shrugged. Shockwave on the other hand was busy chuckling.

“Very good, Miss Pie,” Shockwave told her, “But you were a bit off. I not only captured you just so you can watch your planet die, I brought you all here so that you cannot interfere with our plans anymore.”

Fluttershy began to quiver in fear, her entire body shaking at an unbelievable rate. Gaining the courage, Fluttershy quietly asked, “W-w-what are you going to do to us?”

“Excellent question, Miss Fluttershy, but before I answer…” Shockwave turned his purple eye towards the Combaticon flyer, “Blast Off, release the Pegasus. Make her come to me.”

Eyeing Shockwave suspiciously, Blast Off groaned and lowered his hand to the ground. Once he opened his palm; Rainbow Dash stumbled out where she immediately received a powerful hug from the party pony.

“Pinkie…Pie…I kinda need…to get going.” Rainbow managed to say as Pinkie held her closer. Pinkie Pie nervously smiled, dropping the Pegasus and retreating to stand next to Applejack. Once that was done, Rainbow rubbed her wing while slightly cringing in pain. Shooting Blast Off a deadly glare, Rainbow trudged forward passed her friends and closer to Shockwave.

“Miss Dash…is it?” Shockwave inquired, tilting his flat face towards the mare.

“Yeah…what does it mean to you?” Rainbow hissed through clenched teeth, refusing to look Shockwave in the eye.

Shockwave nodded and began, “Well…I just wanted to be certain. For I have done some research on you, Miss Dash. And I know how you were no doubt the ‘fastest flyer in Equestria’. I also know about your home town, Cloudsdale.”

Having hearing the place she was born at, Rainbow Dash lifted up her head towards the Decepticon, her eyes growing wide. “Yeah…?” Rainbow asked, wanting Shockwave to continue.

Glad to have her full attention, Shockwave lifted up his blaster, and after watching all the mares flinch (possibly because they thought he was going to shoot them) he pressed a few buttons on the blaster which brought up a small hologram.

“Well…since you are all certain to die here…I just wanted to have you see your most beloved place in all of Equestria crumble…one last time.”

Rainbow Dash gasped, holding her hoof to cover her mouth. The strange light show created by Shockwave’s gun showed all of Cloudsdale being engulfed by flames, pillars fell and terrified pegasi took to the skies…only to be shot down from several Decepticon jets soaring through the skies.

Her home…was being destroyed.

“No….NO…NOOOOO!!!” Rainbow Dash cried, her eyes brimming with tears. Fluttershy was also horrified to see her home town burn, but not as much as Rainbow Dash was. She lifted up her eyes towards Shockwave, who began to laugh at her misery.

Her boiling rage began to grow, the mounting anger she had for these Decepticons was released.

“YOU PIECE OF CRAP! I’LL KILL YOU!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed, taking off right for the cyclopean Decepticon. She rarely cursed, but the time absolutely called for it. As almost as fast as she flew for him, Shockwave brought his hand back and smacked the Pegasus away like a common insect.

Rainbow Dash hit the street with a hard thud, skidding a few feet before landing right by her friends. The other mares gasped, bringing their attention to the Decepticon scientist continuing to laugh at them. Soon enough, the Insecticons and the Combaticons joined in the laughter followed by the rest of the Decepticon soldiers surrounding them.

Pinkie Pie shrunk to the ground, her hooves covered over her ears. “Stop laughing at me!” Pinkie whimpered with her eyes closed.

Once the laughter died down, Shockwave sighed deeply and looked at the six mares. Twilight and Applejack brought Rainbow Dash back to her hooves, wiping off the gravel that stuck to her coat. What a pathetic little friendship they all held dear. If they truly were the best of friends…it would make this so much more horrifying.

“Well…now that you have all truly given up,” Shockwave said, eyeing the tears that fell from their eyes, followed by the quivering in their own self-pity, “I’m afraid I will have to cut our little conversation early.”

Twilight and the others gasped once Shockwave pointed his blaster at them, the end glowing bright purple. Her fears only intensified once Shockwave said these very words:

“Nightmares feel so real, Miss Sparkle. But I’m afraid this is a nightmare you will not wake up from. Goodbye, Elements of Harmony…Miss Sparkle, Miss Rarity, Miss Applejack, Miss Fluttershy, Miss Dash, and Miss Pie, it has been a real pleasure…”

The blaster began to glow, the raw intensity at the end of it was utterly preparing to fire and kill the Element Bearers. Shockwave’s cold, purple eye flickered once he had a perfect lock-on. It was time to finish it…once and for all.

Twilight Sparkle breathed in and out several times. She couldn’t escape, even if she tried to teleport, where would she go? There were Decepticons surrounding them, not giving her a clear shot as to teleport. Even if she did teleport, which would mean her friends would take the shot for her. She wouldn’t do that. She could never abandon her friends.

A soft hoof touching her own brought Twilight to turn her head.

Rarity stared at her fellow unicorn, her face drenched in tears while her hoof clutched Twilight’s. The little unicorn finally got the idea. Looking over, Twilight reached out her hoof and held Pinkie Pie’s trembling one. The two shared a quick bonding before Pinkie reached out her other hoof and gripped Rainbow Dash’s. Rainbow did the same and held Applejack’s. Facing her last friend, Applejack brought her hoof over and held Fluttershy’s in a tight clench. She stopped shaking once she felt a friend holding her, protecting her.

Together, the six close friends held each other’s hooves and utterly prepared for Shockwave’s wrath to come. They ignored all the thoughts buzzing through their minds. Mostly life flashings or how Twilight had thought what the Princess would have thought to know that they failed in their quest to save Equestria. How they failed their home…and their friends…and their families.

But most of all….how they failed themselves.

Twilight closed her eyes, immediately watching a memory flash passed her eyes. It was on Cybertron, right before that monstrous scorpion had the chance to kill them, and she remembered how she thought in her own mind…that even though they were going to die…they were going to die together.

Friends forever…together to the end.

A tear fell from Twilight’s right eye…

Holding their breaths, the Elements of Harmony closed their eyes and waited for death to take them to their eternal resting place. This time…they all accepted it.

But strangely…nothing happened.

All except that faint sound coming from above.

The six friends opened their eyes, and while still holding each other’s hooves, they all looked up passed Shockwave to see something rise above the buildings and head right for them.

The ground began to tremble, finally causing Shockwave to lower his blaster and turn around to see a Decepticon dropship approaching their current position in the streets of the Crystal Empire. The Decepticons began to back away once the dropship began hovering an abnormally close range to them….all except the mares that stood their ground.

Slowly, the Decepticon dropship lowered just about a hundred feet above them and stared down the large Decepticon army that stood in the streets. Shockwave stared the ship down as well, his curiosity getting the best of him.

As to why would a dropship interrupt Shockwave’s execution of the Element Bearers? He was sure he informed all Decepticons to stay away from his current location while he dealt with them. Something wasn’t right here…

Something definitely wasn’t right...once the dropship began to fire upon the Decepticons.

The mares screamed, scrunching together in a protective embrace. But oddly enough, the bullets and missiles did not hit them. Heck, the dropship wasn’t even aiming for them! Together the six friends watched In both fear and awe as the Decepticon dropship continued to decimate the Decepticon forces around them.

Shockwave shielded himself, his shock growing to a new level. Looking back, the Decepticon froze in surprise to see the soldiers being torn apart by those razor-sharp bullets tearing through their armor. The Combaticons backed away, protecting themselves once more and more missiles shot down from the dropship. Sharpshot, Kickback, and Hardshell backed away from Shockwave, their fears growing as well.

Spinning back, Shockwave pointed his blaster forward and screamed, “You traitorous swine!” He fired several shots from his blaster which did little damage to the armor this dropship had.

The dropship continued its assault, not letting down for a second. The Decepticon soldiers either ran away or died right on the spot once the dropship fired upon them. Energon painted the streets. Severed limbs and motionless bodies were all that remained of the Decepticon foot soldiers. It was a horrific sight.

Once the sound of bullets ended, the Element Bearers looked back up together to see the dropship open up…and six beings jump out. The front of the dropship split apart, allowing six different anomalies to leap outwards and charge forward.

“What is this?!” Shockwave bellowed, pointing his blaster towards the nearest one and firing. But the dark figure was too quick and smacked Shockwave’s blaster aside, quickly whipping out a weapon of its own and shooting the Decepticon square in the chest.

With Shockwave lying on his back, the ponies continued to stare at their saviors. They had lost all hope of anyone actually knowing where they were or saving them for that matter! Maybe Celestia was watching over them after all.

They continued to watch this battle unfold…their excitement growing once they saw the Autobot insignias on one of them.

Sharpshot, Kickback, and Hardshell all leaped forward to attack the smallest one of the six. But to their surprise, this one was quick on its feet. The blur sped around them and knocked out the Insecticons’ legs, smashing their heads in once they were on the ground.

“Let’s see you try this on for size!” Brawl shouted, bending down and firing several missiles from his back cannons. The missiles went out in several directions, hitting the ground and sides of houses. This created a phenomenon of blurry fighting in a dusty arena. The mares could barely see the fighting take place.

All they saw were the outlines and glowing lights the Autobots and Decepticons had.

A slimmer Autobot dashed forward, jumping right over Vortex’s fist and kicking him neatly in the back of the head. Vortex spun back around, whipping out two purple blades and charging right for the slim Autobot. But the Autobot was too quick, immediately ripping one of the blades away and stabbing the Combaticon right in the abdomen. Vortex fell to the ground…immobilized.

Swindle had enough of this. Even though he had acquired some x-ray optics during his days in foreign regions of the galaxy, these Autobots were moving too fast for him to get a perfect shot. Instead, he whipped out two Energon Harvesters, both of them replacing his arms, and fired away at the Autobot forces around him. The power of these Energon Harvesters ripped the crystal ground apart, small pieces of debris flying everywhere. But the Autobot he was aiming for dodged the blasts with ease and jumped in mid-air. Aiming up, Swindle was too late to fire once the Autobot brought his foot down right on his face.

The relatively large Autobot attacking Blast Off showed quite the spirit, Blast Off had never seen an energetic type of Autobot before! He presumed the Autobot to be red in color but the misty air (compliments to Brawl) made it hard for him to fight back. This Autobot was everywhere, slashing his legs out, smacking him across the face, and kicking him in his…unmentionables. Blast Off broke away, finally getting some room between him and his assailant, but it was already too late. The Autobot whipped out an orbital pistol and shot Blast Off right in the chest, sending him to the ground.

Brawl battled valiantly, although he was really just swinging in random places. With his stupidity taking the best of him, he didn’t even notice the Autobot creeping up from behind. In one action, the Autobot jumped on Brawl’s back, immediately planting a detpack right where he couldn’t reach. The Autobot scurried off of the Combaticon’s back, his blue eyes watching as Brawl struggled to reach for the bomb. He was too late. The detpack exploded which sent Brawl skidding across the ground and head-first into a crystal house.

Onslaught couldn’t believe what he just saw. His entire team was taking out in about twenty astro-seconds flat! And now, who he presumed to be their leader, a larger Autobot stepped forward and tackled the Combaticon, sending both of them to the gravel. Onslaught looked up, only to get punched right in the faceplate. He couldn’t make out the face of this Autobot, for his fists continued to collide with his vision. He did know one thing though: this Autobot was tough. Almost as quickly as he tackled him, the Autobot picked up the Combaticon leader and tossed him away, sending Onslaught skidding across the ground.

The Combaticons quickly picked themselves up; taking a quick second to look at the team of Autobots before finally realizing that it wasn’t worth it. They would have to take out the ponies another time…because now wasn’t it.

“Combaticons, full retreat! Regroup back to headquarters!” Onslaught screamed, transforming into his vehicle mode and driving away. Vortex changed into his Cybertronian helicopter mode, activating his thrusters and taking to the sky with Blast Off on his trail. Brawl and Swindle transformed into their vehicle modes, revving up their engines and retreating like the cowards they were.

Never had it been so quiet.

Aside from the constant explosions raining down from afar the streets they were in were mostly silent. The dust was finally beginning to clear, giving the trembling ponies a full shot of their Autobot rescuers.

Twilight Sparkle along with the rest of her closest friends gasped.

The Autobots turned towards them, their blue eyes glowing in the soon-to-be darkness falling upon on the empire. The largest one of them stepped forward, giving a gentle smile at the six mares they had met before.

Twilight knew who this guy was. She had suddenly remembered everything she knew about him. His sleek, white and blue armor, his red Autobot symbol located on his right shoulder, and his great resemblance to….

The six ponies let go of each other’s hooves, fully knowing that these were their friends, friends they had met so long ago, friends they thought they would never see again, friends that had come to save them…in their darkest hour.

While the rest of them slowly approached the trembling mares, their arms crossed and optics narrow, the largest of them stepped forward. Twilight watched as he knelt down towards her…holding out his white hand to help her and her friends. A lifeline during these troubled times.

After what felt like many years, the mares felt a warm presence seep through them once the Autobot began to speak.

“It is glorious to see you all again.”

Twilight’s heart sped up. Her eyes were wide. She was amazed to even know how they got in Equestria in the first place. So many questions and thoughts sped through her mind that she almost forgot how to form a correct sentence. Once she knew for certain it was him, the only thing she could even manage to say…was this…..