My Little Pony: Flesh and Steel

by Gyvon

Chapter 10: Revelations

LOCATION: Fluttershy's Cottage
TIME: Noon.

The gunshot echoed across the meadow. It seemed to be the only sound made at that moment. Even the singing of birds and buzzing of insects had died down in sympathy. Dinobot had aimed true. The bullet pierced Tarantulas' spark, and it was all over for the Predacon.

Gyvon was the first to break the silence. "Rainbow Dash!" he barked, using a voice he had used many times before, when he commanded his fellow SEALS and when training the Royal Guards. Rainbow Dash instantly came to attention. "Yes?" she asked. "Go get Spike, a quill, and a sheet of paper, and bring them here." said Gyvon. "MOVE IT!" Rainbow Dash saluted and flew off at top speed.

He turned again to face Dinobot. The former Predacon lowered his head, a somber look on his face. "You know of my sins." he said. "I leave it to you to pass judgement on me." Dinobot kneeled, and presented his sword to Gyvon, who took up the segmented blade. "My fate is in your hands."

Gyvon raised the sword, ready to strike Dinobot down then and there, but he couldn't do it. He had been ready to skewer Dinobot the moment he mentioned Galvatron, before he had learned of the former Predacon's deeds. After he had heard Dinobot's confession, he should've found it even easier to execute him. And yet...

"No." Gyvon said, lowering the blade and reverting back to his human form. "You will have a chance to earn your redemption." He returned the sword to Dinobot and bade him to rise.

Rainbow Dash returned just then, dragging a reluctant Spike behind her. "HEY! What's the big idea? I was in the middle of my chores and you come crashing through the window, again, and drag me out here, and... and..." the baby dragon was dumbstruck when he saw the scene before him. "SPIKE!" shouted Gyvon, shocking the dragon back to his senses. "Take a letter." Spike grabbed the quill and paper from Rainbow Dash and began to dictate.

"How long do ya reckon she'll take to respond?" asked Applejack as Spike sent the letter. Gyvon thought for a moment. "Ten minutes." He was wrong. She appeared, along with General Icewing and Princess Luna, in less than five. He suspected they'd have been quicker, but Luna's frazzled mane indicated that she had just been woken up, probably by her sister.

"Please tell me this is a cruel joke." asked Princess Celestia in a panic, knowing that it wasn't before the sentence was completed. General Icewing carefully approached the fallen Thundercracker. "Is he... dead?" he asked. Gyvon nodded. "Yes, he's dead." He pointed off to the forest. "There's two dead Predacons out there."

Princess Luna had a confused look on her face. "I thought thou said there were three." she said. Gyvon pointed to Tarantulas' body next to his feet. "Oh." She turned towards Dinobot. "And who is this?"

He bowed. "Dinobot, at your service, your highness." Princess Luna gave Gyvon a baffled look. "Former Predacon." he said. "The others were sent to kill him." Princess Luna nodded in understanding.

Princess Celestia sighed. "So, what we feared has come to pass." she said. "Is there any good news at least?" Gyvon nodded. "Yes. Rainbow Dash has proven that the Guard's training hasn't been a waste of time. She took on Thundercracker single-hoofed. Probably would've won even if I hadn't finished him off." Rainbow Dash practically glowed at the praise.

Dinobot growled. "As I've said, Thundercracker's an idiot! If Rainbow Dash had fought Cyclonus or, Primus forbid, Galvatron, she would have been slaughtered!"

Gyvon sighed. "Be that as it may, we still have a problem." he said. "What is Galvatron planning? Do you know, Dinobot?" Dinobot shook his head. "No, we were mainly focused on eliminating the canines raiding our energon stores. He hadn't shared his plans among the Predacons."

Gyvon thought for a moment. "We need to scout the Decepticon base, find out what they're planning." General Icewing nodded. "Agreed." he said as he turned to Dinobot. "Tell me where this base is, and I'll send my best scouts to-" Gyvon cut him off. "No. I'll go." he said. Every pony and Dinobot looked at him with wide eyes. "I will not risk anypony unnecessarily." he said, before realizing just what he had said. Three weeks, and I'm already going native. Must be a new record.

Dinobot respectfully nodded. "I'll go with you. The base is a maze of tunnels. You'll need me as a guide." he said, extending his hand. Gyvon grasped it and shook. "Agreed."

"HEY! What about us?" asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack nodded. "Yeah, what can we do to help?"

"You?" said Dinobot, not even bothering to hide the disdain in his voice. "Why would we take any of you? You'd be useless to us." he said. Rainbow Dash flew up right in his face and glared angrily. "Whadya mean we'd be useless? Didn't you see what I did to that blue bozo?" she asked.

Dinobot growled, clearly agitated. "I've been over this before, Thundercracker's nothing compared to the other Decepticons! Besides, the base is underground. Your flying would be neutralized."

"Well, what about the rest of us?" asked Applejack. Before anyone else could say anything, the others, except the Princesses and Icewing, joined in, each arguing their case to go along. Gyvon let the argument run it's course for a few minutes before speaking up.

"No." he said. He hadn't raised his voice, but that one word silenced the others. "It's too dangerous." General Icewing nodded. "He's right. Too large a force would be detected easily, while a smaller one could slip in undetected."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat. "But, surely taking one of the girls wouldn't jeopardize the mission. I must insist that you take Twilight Sparkle at the very least." Gyvon looked at the princess with wide eyes, a look mirrored by Princess Luna as well. She can't possibly be suggesting... "You'd send your own student to face certain peril and possibly her own death? Why? How can you do that to your own student?" he asked.

Princess Celestia's face fell at his accusation. "It's... never been the easiest thing to do." she said. "Nightmare Moon, Discord, I have put Twilight in great danger, all because I couldn't act myself." She turned away from the group. "I had never fully grasped just how much power I wielded, until... Luna became corrupted by darkness." She teared up, remembering that horrible event. "After I banished my own sister to the Moon, I realized just how much a threat to the world I would pose if I, too, fell from grace, so I took an oath. An oath to limit my power." She turned back to face the others.

"I could have easily slain the dragon that attacked Ponyville with the merest thought, but my oath stayed my hoof. I could have easily stopped Nightmare Moon when she returned, but my oath and love for my sister prevented me from acting."

Princess Celestia had never told this to anyone before, not even to her own sister. Her confession brought a new level of respect for her from the others. Even Dinobot bowed his head in reverence.

"Twilight has faced great peril in her life, and it saddens me that she is destined to face an even greater one. But, I know she is strong enough to do so. Still, it pains me to place the burden on her and her friends."

Suddenly, Princess Celestia took on a stern look. "However, if you can give me one good reason not to send Twilight, I will listen." she said, catching Gyvon off guard. He had been resigned to take Twilight, but the Princess had given him a way out. All he had to do was come up with a good excuse.

But, as hard as he tried, Gyvon couldn't think of one. The Unicorn could easily keep up with him and Dinobot, and he had to admit that her skill at magic would be useful. However...

Gyvon sighed, defeated. "No. I can't think of an acceptable reason." he said. The Princess smiled, but Gyvon could tell that she had been hoping for an excuse. "Then it's settled. Twilight, please be careful." she said. Twilight nodded, and Princess Celestia turned to her sister and General Icewing. "Return to the palace and alert the Guard. Have some come and take these corpses as well. The Guard needs to know exactly what they are up against, and I doubt cardboard cutouts are comparable." Princess Luna and General Icewing nodded and were gone in a flash.

Princess Celestia turned to Twilight's friends. "The rest of you should head to the Palace as well. I fear that the Elements will be needed before this whole affair is done." They bowed and trotted off, heading for their homes to pack.

Gyvon turned to Dinobot. "I need to grab some supplies. It shouldn't take me long." he said. Dinobot growled. "Be quick about it."

Gyvon nodded, turned, and walked off, headed for the Library with Twilight following close behind. He could have flown there much quicker, but he needed the time to think.

LOCATION: Twilight's Library
TIME: Early Afternoon.

Gyvon hadn't said a word to anyone on the way back to the Library. The ponies lining the streets had heard the commotion and had seen Thundercracker, and had tried to get information out of him, but he wouldn't talk. Twilight simply told the crowd that the situation was being handled, and that Princess Celestia had been notified. This seemed to calm most of the ponies down, but a few were still visibly concerned.

When they arrived at the Library, Gyvon immediately went downstairs and changed into his combat fatigues. When he was done, he grabbed a small pouch, filled it with energon gems, and tied it to his belt. He popped one into his mouth and swallowed, cringing at the taste. He felt his left arm warm up slightly as his protoform absorbed the energon in the gem, and reformatted it into ammo for his gatling.

He returned to the lobby and saw Twilight placing a book into her saddlebags. "I don't think we'll have time to read." he said. Twilight turned and gave him a look. "It's a book on advanced stealth spells. I figured it would be useful." she said. Gyvon just sighed and headed for the door. "You ready?" he asked. "Almost." said Twilight. "Just one more thing."

Before Gyvon could react, Twilight had telepathically picked him up, and slammed him into the far wall. "TWILIGHT! What the hell?" exclaimed Gyvon. Twilight glared at him angrily. "I'm the one asking questions here, and I demand answers." she said, her eyes boring into Gyvon. "I noticed how you carefully worded your response to the Princess. Why did you not want me to go along? What was the reason you came up with? Do you think I'm weak? Incapable?" Her questions stung Gyvon. "Twilight..." he said softly. He was conflicted. He could tell Twilight that, yes, he did believe her incapable. However, after a few moments, he decided that the truth would be best. "Alright." he sighed, lowering his head in resignation. "You deserve to hear the truth. The whole truth." She lowered him down gently, and released him. Gyvon slumped along the wall and sat on the floor.

"Twilight, you are more than strong enough to accompany me. More than capable enough. Anypony who would charge down Nightmare Moon all by themselves would be" he said. Twilight stepped closer to him, her expression softening. "Then why did you not want me to go with you?" Gyvon stared out the window and off into the distance. "Because, Twilight, I've come to care for you. Too much." he said. "You've been the closest thing I've had to family in a long time, Twilight." he said as his eyes began to tear up. "A long time..."

"What about back on Earth?" she asked. "Don't you have family waiting for you back there?" To her surprise Gyvon began to laugh. A low, desperate laugh. "Twilight, on Earth... I'm officially dead." Twilight's eyes widened in surprise. "Wh...what?"

"After I was rescued, after they learned what happened to me, the Pentagon immediately declared me killed in action." said Gyvon. "They then labeled my file Top Secret and buried it. Hell, Gyvon's not even my real name. Some computer randomly generated it."

"Why would they do that?" asked Twilight. Gyvon sighed. "They were worried that more humans would begin working for the Decepticons. More people like Dylan Gould." he said.

"And... your family?" asked Twilight. Gyvon began to chuckle. "I'm told it was a beautiful funeral." After a moment, he sighed. "Ever since then, I've felt nothing but loneliness. The Autobots tried to help, but, no matter what, I always felt like an outsider. Even amongst the human members of NEST, I never truly felt welcomed after that. For the past year, I've been alone. Until..."

"Until you landed here, in Equestria.". finished Twilight, her eyes beginning to tear up as well. Gyvon nodded. "For the first time since Mars, I felt like I actually belonged somewhere." He looked over at Twilight, and smiled. "And you have been there from the beginning. You took me in before finding out what I was, before learning of my history. For the first time, I've had a home to return to."

When he had finished, Twilight nuzzled him affectionately. "I'm sorry." she said, tears still welling up in her eyes.. Gyvon shook his head and smiled. "Don't be. I deserved it." he said as he got up. "C'mon, we don't want to keep Dinobot waiting too long."

Twilight picked up her saddlebags and headed for the door before stopping. "By the way, what is your real name?" she asked. Gyvon couldn't help but laugh cheerfully. "Tell you what, when we get back, I'll tell you." he said. "Promise."

"I'll hold you to that." said Twilight. Not willing to waste any more time than they already had, they stepped out the door. Gyvon transformed into his combat form, picked Twilight up, and flew off towards Fluttershy's.