//------------------------------// // One Shall Fall // Story: Transformers: Equestria's Darkest Hour // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// -CHAPTER XXVIII: ONE SHALL FALL- TELETRAAN ONLINE NO TRANSFORMER BIO AVAILABLE ____________________ “You’ve lost, Trypticon!” Optimus Prime shouted, wielding his Energon Ax. He lunged forward, draining all his energy on this final blast to send Trypticon to immediate oblivion. The Energon Ax collided perfectly to Trypticon’s chest, sending massive volts of raw power throughout his circuits. Losing his balance, Trypticon released one final screech before he plummeted into the bowls of Iacon. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Ironhide all walked to the edge of the sudden drop off, their optics gazing into the deep drop to oblivion. “Autobots, roll out!” ___________________ If only it would’ve been that easy. But no…it wasn’t. The battle raged on with the Autobots and Decepticons joining forces to diminish the mighty Trypticon within the large crater implanting in the center of the Crystal Empire. Trypticon was obviously injured. His screeches of pain reached to all of those within of 30 mile radius. Optimus could see all the open wounds they, no longer enemies but brothers in arms, the Autobot and Decepticons did to cause Trypticon to remain in this state of pain. The fight continued with what seemed would be no end. Trypticon continued to scream death threats while Optimus Prime and his heroic Autobots and Megatron with his evil Decepticons continued to bring suffering down upon the mighty beast. “I wonder what an airstrike would do to one of those several open wounds.” Perceptor inquired, taking cover behind a large piece of rubble. Optimus turned towards Warpath and nodded. “My sentiments exactly!” Optimus shouted. Warpath nodded back, transforming into his main guns. Much like Brawl’s transformation, Warpath extended his upper legs into cannons, allowing the main cannon to appear on top of the mortar. “Main guns are online,” Warpath shouted with glee, “Firing for effect!” Instantly, several heavy missiles shot out of Warpath’s cannons and drove straight for the towering monstrosity. Each one connected to an open wound, sending Trypticon into another wave of pain and misery. “AHHHHH!!!! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THAT! I WILL OBLITERATE YOU!!!” Trypticon bellowed, raising his tail over his head and bringing it down on the ground before him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t obliterate anything except the ground. “STOP MOVING!!!” Trypticon was about to attack again, but was interrupted by a heavy fireball hitting him in the face. ____________________ Swoop was practically laughing at this point. The fireball he sent towards Trypticon had landed right on his head, sending the beast into more painful fits. His laughter died down once the beast lifted his head slightly upwards to see the two Dinobots hovering above him. “INSECTS!” Trypticon shouted and opened his mouth as it began to glow. Swoop’s optics grew wide. The massive Decepticon released a powerful beam of energy soaring out of his mouth. The terrified pterodactyl flew around rapidly to dodge the deadly blast. Grimlock roared in frustration while in his grasp. “AH! I’m not your decoy, Swoop!” Grimlock shouted in frustration. “Scrap!” Swoop said. As Trypticon continued to send several more heated blasts from his jaws, Swoop did the same. He sent fireball after fireball from his twin beaks as they impacted Trypticon’s forehead with such raw intensity. Grimlock continued to stare. After about four more hits, Trypticon had about enough. “FEEL THE BURN OF MY LASER!” Swoop failed to dodge this time, the deadly beam burning his right wing right off. Swoop flailed helplessly in the air until gravity took its toll. “Too heavy! We’re goin’ down!” Swoop screamed right as his body gave out. Grimlock fell like the heavy rock he was as he and Swoop plummeted towards the hard, ashy grounds below. Trypticon chuckled in enjoyment once the vermin before him began to fall. “PATHETIC!” The Dinobot Commander looked down to where he saw Trypticon’s upper jaw only a few hundred feet from him…slowly closing in. Pulling out his sword, Grimlock jetted towards the head of the beast yet again, this time with gravity and impact on his side. Once he landed, Trypticon growled in anger once the insect didn’t fall to the ground. He spotted the black dot right on his nose with his one working optic. Trypticon screamed and reached for the Dinobot right as it transformed. Grimlock quickly morphed into his dino mode, lifting up his jaws just as Trypticon’s claws came down on him. He bit down on the nearest claw, ripping the metal apart with his powerful jaws. Trypticon continued to bellow in pain. Smacking Trypticon’s hand away with his head, Grimlock rushed forward just as the Decepticon beast’s minions arrived on his forehead. Grimlock could see several hundred if not thousand Cybertronian spiders crawling up from Trypticon’s lower portions and onto his head. Grimlock roared. They scurried for him at a quick pace, instantly scurrying away once the Dinobot unleashed a torrent of flames from his jaws, the deadly fires burning the spiders as he stomped over them. Nothing stood in his way. Grimlock stomped forward until he reached Trypticon’s only working optic left. They glared at each other…beast to beast. “YOUR CAUSE IS HOPELESS! YOU CANNOT HOPE TO DEFEAT TRYPTICON!!!” Grimlock was about to finish off his other eye in hopes of making the creature blind, but Trypticon reacted fast and grabbed the Dinobot with his other hand. Grimlock roared ferociously, finally realizing he can’t break out in this form. So he transformed back. Now he was stuck in robot form while a menacing Decepticon titan began to squeeze the life out of him. Grimlock fought back. He placed both hands on the inside of Trypticon’s claws, pushing as hard as he could in order to break free. It was now a battle of who was stronger: Grimlock or Trypticon? Trypticon increased the amount of pressure he now applied to his fist, reserving all his stored energy to crush this wretched insect. This unfortunately had a quick turn of events for him. Right when Grimlock began to lose power, his hands being pushed back towards his body once Trypticon began to increase the pressure, a missile soared right past Grimlock’s visor and struck Trypticon’s other optic, shattering it to pieces. With the pain increasing to an all new level, Trypticon lost all of his power, thus allowing Grimlock to finish him off. He whipped out his orange blade, wielding it over his head until he brought it down on Trypticon’s fist. The Decepticon bellowed in a mixture of anger and pain. Grimlock was released once Trypticon tossed him away in front of him, finally having enough of fighting the Dinobot Commander. ____________________ Optimus Prime and his team watched in awe as Trypticon continued to slash about. Something on him had caused a great amount of pain to the creature. This continued on for several minutes until a missile, seemingly out of nowhere soared right over their heads and impacted Trypticon’s other optic sensor. Trypticon chucked whatever was in his hand right for them. “Autobots, look out!” Optimus shouted, dodging to the left. The others responded with great agility. The Autobots and Decepticons alike all got out of the way as a giant black creature was hurled towards them. Strangely, though, the creature caught itself on the ground. It slowed down to a decent spot right where they all stood only moments ago. The dust cleared, allowing the Cybertronians to take a look at what it was that Trypticon had thrown. Optimus Prime couldn’t believe it…neither could any of the other Autobots. It was Grimlock. The once-deactivated Dinobot leader appeared as almost as ghostly white as their memory of him. It was obviously the dust Grimlock had collected during his landing, but still he appeared as a ghost to the Autobots…especially after they had heard of his demise. Slowly, Optimus approached the heavily-breathing Grimlock, reaching his hand out. He touched Grimlock’s shoulder, feeling the tainted and scarred metal it contained. Optimus sighed silently; just grateful to know it was actually Grimlock and not some imposter. The Dinobot looked towards Prime, continuing his silent stare. “Grimlock…” Optimus began, “I…I-I don’t…I don’t understand…how did you…?” “Don’t ask,” Grimlock growled, standing up on his own. He looked down at the Autobot leader, nodding once. “Just fight, Optimus Prime.” Optimus, a slight bit worried, nodded back, turning to face the mighty Trypticon again. The Autobots and confused Decepticons did the same, many of them reloading or preparing their weapons for another attack Trypticon mighty rain down on them. Put something stopped them… …and Optimus found out when the blue and white vehicle drove right by him. As quickly as the vehicle blasted right passed them, the Autobots and Decepticons turned around to see five more Autobots fall into the crater. One of them was a green jet, soaring right over their heads to join the vehicle. The rest were Cybertronian vehicles, each of them painted in the colors gray, red, light blue, and….pink? It was only until then did they transform, all five of them standing next to the largest one. “Alright, Autobots,” Ultra Magnus shouted, “let’s burn some rubber!” ___________________ The six ponies and Shockwave watched as the crystal ponies slowly approached them in a very large crowd, a sea of hopeless ponies. Shockwave kept his cold stare on several of the ponies, almost chuckling to see them quiver in fear when he turned their way. But he stood back. Shockwave wanted to see what would happen. Besides…Twilight and her friends had already given up hope so there wasn’t anything to worry about…right? Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash stared hopelessly as the crowd finally stopped about ten or more feet away from them. They could see all the sad expressions and droopy manes these ponies expressed, and it broke their hearts because they couldn’t do anything about it. Or could they? Twilight Sparkle looked down at the shattered Crystal Heart, her eyes brimming wide with wonder….but mostly…hope. She looked back at the sea of the crystal ponies in front of her, then back at the shards. She did this over and over again until her brain finally began to fit the pieces together, slowly coming with a solution to this maddening war infecting her home world. Could it work? Could this plan she had deciphered in her powerful mind truly be the solution to end this conquest of colonization? How, though? The Crystal Castle was gone…that castle was the only vessel that could’ve powered the Crystal Heart so that hope and love could be reflected across Equestria. Hope and love… That’s when she figured it out. Twilight stood back up. She levitated the twelve shards and hid them behind her flank as she slowly approached her friends…and the crystal ponies. She pushed her way passed her friends until she arrived to the very front of the crowd. Nothing. Twilight could see nothing. No happiness. No smiles. No hope. That was all going to change. Clearing her throat loudly, Twilight listened until the crowd had calmed down, their crystal-like eyes landing on the violet unicorn. She opened her eyes again and suddenly didn’t see the ashes and lightning clouds. It was bright and sunny, much like when they first arrived. The crowd of ponies was still there but none of them had any cuts or bruises that she had seen only moments ago. Confused, Twilight turned her head left where she saw Optimus Prime. He had his arms crossed as he looked back at the unicorn, nodding once. The memory faded away as Twilight shook her head. When she opened her eyes again she was greeted by the raining ashes and lightning-filled clouds. Just to be certain, Twilight made a 180 and sighed when the mushroom cloud still lingered over her head. Worst of all…Optimus wasn’t standing next to her…it was Shockwave. Twilight gulped loudly turning back towards her friends and nodding. “Follow my lead.” She whispered. The five mares exchanged confused glances before finally playing along. They nodded together and followed Twilight as she approached the crowd of crystal ponies. She breathed in….she breathed out. “Everypony, listen up!” Twilight shouted loud and clear. The crystal ponies all focused their eyes on the speaking unicorn, curious as to what she might say. They also recognized her and her friends to be the ones that stopped King Sombra the first time. With the crowd of ponies now studying her, Twilight looked back towards her friends. They nodded her forward. Twilight nodded back and began. “…I…I’m sorry for everything that’s transpired today! Your home, my home, our home has been destroyed to the point of near-death and all we’ve done is run from it,” Twilight shouted, “For the first time in Equestrian history, aliens have invaded our planet and began to colonize ALL of our resources! We’ve never faced a threat greater than this! But the ones to blame are not the Autobots….it’s the Decepticons!” The crystal ponies exchanged glances, while many of them began tapping their chins. Most of them were nodding their heads in agreement. Happy to get their attention, Twilight continued. “The Decepticons invaded our planet in numbers far greater than our armies to fight back! That’s why the Autobots are down in that crater fighting the one monster that could destroy both Autobots and Decepticons alike,” She shouted, biting her lower lip once many crystal ponies began to grow confused expressions, “But we can’t just run from this anymore! Our home is dying and we can’t expect Optimus Prime to stop the invasion all by himself! That’s why WE have to stand up for ourselves and stop this menace!” She stopped for a breather. A dull-colored hoof was raised amongst the crowd. Twilight pointed to it and asked, “Yes?” The crystal stallion spoke his mind, “How can we stand up for ourselves when everything we’ve done and created is falling against these monsters? We can’t fight back without the Crystal Heart.” Many ponies agreed with the stallion, shouting hopeless words with their precious relic destroyed. Twilight nervously bit her lip again, not really sure what to say at this point. Luckily, Rarity stepped towards Twilight, sticking her white hoof into the air. “Yes you can,” Rarity shouted, which surprised many around her, including Shockwave, who at this point had almost about enough of this. It was enjoyable watching the ponies give up hope, but when their spirits began to rise again that’s when Shockwave had to take charge of the situation. If the crystal ponies were able to repair the heart then….the Decepticons would be destroyed. “What are you doing?! Stop!” Shockwave shouted, taking several steps for the elegant unicorn. He was stopped by a blue blur ramming into the side of his head, jerking his head to the opposite of the attack. Shockwave fell on his rear as he looked up to see the cyan Pegasus practically standing on his flat chest. She gave him the worst glare he had ever seen. “Don’t even think about it.” Rainbow Dash snarled, the edge of her voice dripping venom. With Shockwave subdued, Rarity and Twilight nodded towards each other. Rarity continued with what she was going to say earlier. “Yes you can,” She began, “All of you had the heart inside of you! The love that lights all of Equestria in a warm glow resides in your souls! Even with the castle gone that doesn’t mean you have the right to just give in to these ruffians! The crystal ponies and their fabulous ways will stand tall and proud!” Knowing she was getting over herself again, Applejack stepped in and shoved away Rarity. “What she’s tryin’ to say is that you crystal ponies can’t give up now! You’re all here now,” Applejack shouted, “Y’all can light this here Crystal Heart with the hope trapped in yer…uhhh….souls or whatever. Yeah, that’s it! If you ponies just believe in yerselves you can bring the heart of this empire back and save not only the Crystal Empire but all of Equestria!” Fluttershy stepped in. Well, Rarity and Pinkie Pie pushed her forward. The Pegasus quivered at the thought of speaking to these ponies, but stopped when she saw all the helpless faces these crystal ponies wore. Her expression saddened when she saw several fillies and colts crying quietly. Breathing in deeply, Fluttershy summoned all her bravery to act now. The fate of Equestria was on the balance after all. “…Um…well…I uh…I just wanted to say that you can’t give up hope,” Fluttershy quietly explained, whimpering once the crystal ponies moved in closer to hear her better, “None of us gave up just yet even with the odds so high against us. What I want to tell you all is just….well…um…I-I just wanted to tell you that even with the Crystal Castle gone it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. The power to spread hope and love throughout Equestria does not reside in the castle…it resides in all of you.” Pinkie Pie hopped right in front of her, her earlier sad expression now a joyous one. Her mane was even puffy again. “So come on, everypony,” Pinkie Pie shouted with a bright smile on her face, “Light your torches, sharpen your pitchforks, and start the greatest mob this world has ever-!” “PINKIE PIE!!!” Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack shouted. The pink mare blushed nonchalantly. She composed herself again and slowly began, “Sorry….wrong speech,” Her eyes softened quickly, only a small, helpful smile returned on her features now, “What I really meant to say was that the hope and love to save Equestria lives inside of you,” She sped over to Twilight and lifted all twelve shards over her head, many of them falling off of her hooves, “These are the shards of the Crystal Heart! And if you just believe that there is a teeny tiny bit of hope left then you can bring the Crystal Heart back, stop Sombra, and save all of ponykind!” Twilight giggled a bit before levitating the shards out of Pinkie’s grasp. She showed the shards with her purple aura grasping each piece to all of the crystal ponies, watching as their faces lit up. “Is…is that the-?” One mare was saying right as Twilight interrupted her. “It is,” She smiled, “These are the remains of the Crystal Heart. And like Pinkie said, if you just believe that there is still hope to save all of Equestria then your love will bring the Crystal Heart back! Just believe…all of you have the special power inside of you….just believe….believe.” Twilight’s smile grew once the crystal ponies began to approach the floating shards, their smiles slowly replacing their tragic expressions. The Elements of Harmony all stood together, except Rainbow Dash who was still holding down Shockwave, and they stared. All they could do was stare, let their words seep into the hearts and souls of the crystal ponies and maybe….just maybe….it would work. It did. Their words of inspiration got to each crystal pony, filling their dark souls with light and love. The first to glow bright with crystal energy was a mare, then a filly, then another mare, then a stallion, and so on and so on. The light quickly spread through the sea of ponies until it enveloped the entire area in a nice warm glow. “No…” Shockwave muttered with his purple eye gazing at the army of crystal ponies as they all slammed their hooves to the ground. Once they did that, the ground lit up a bright blue color. It spread across the ground until, sooner or later, the entire remains of the Crystal Empire lit up in the darkness. Twilight backed away, her horn fizzling out. She and her friends watched, this time Rainbow Dash joined them, the twelve pieces of the Crystal Heart slowly rose above their heads, each of them slowly forming a rotating circle. Quickly, the pieces joined together, forming just like a puzzle would with every piece and shard joining into one relic. It was jaw dropping. The Crystal Heart had been reformed in a bright blue glow. At that exact moment….King Sombra awakened. Pushing the debris off of him, King Sombra chuckled heavily, wiping the dirt off his robe. “Foolish creatures,” he began, “did you really think a million tons of raw pressure could defeat me?!” His eyes drifted upwards to where he saw… “No…NO! STOP! NOT AGAIN!!!” King Sombra screamed and backed away right as the Crystal Heart flew over his head. He swiveled his head around, his mouth gaping in horror as the Crystal Heart began to hover right in the center of the mushroom cloud. On its own, with the love and hope from every single crystal pony, the Crystal Heart was rebuilt. Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony watched in honor as the heart moved all by itself towards the center of the crater, King Sombra screaming at it from below. They need not to fight Sombra…the Crystal Heart would do that for them. The Crystal Heart was glowing soft blue at this point. It flew right over everypony’s head and headed right towards the center of the crater, including the middle of the mushroom cloud. Once inside the ash and dust, the Crystal Heart began to react. The shining relic felt the presence of evil and darkness, it had to erase it. With the love and hope from the empire’s populace, the Crystal Heart slowly began to spin, its core glowing as bright as can be. Throughout the entire Crystal Empire and beyond the Arctic North, the Crystal Heart began to shine. Shining brightly wasn’t the only thing it did. In one swift explosion, the Crystal Heart sent a wave of peace and hope throughout the entire planet…to erase anything that was there to conquer. A long bolt of blue lightning exploded from the heart, jetting downwards to the mighty Decepticon titan directly below it. Trypticon had no time to react when the lightning bolt struck his back. The Cybertronians stared in awe as the blue lightning bolt impaled the gargantuan Trypticon, quickly enveloping itself around his entire body. Trypticon’s had no control over his body anymore; it was as if every drop of Dark Energon had vanished. His dark optics shined bright blue, a blinding light shooting out of his twin jaws. The wave of blue energy covered every square inch of the Crystal Empire. The Element Bearers shielded their eyes once the wave overcame their bodies. King Sombra covered his face once the wave passed him and unlike the crystal ponies that absorbed the blow, Sombra felt it. He felt the pain. King Sombra looked at his hooves, realizing they were cracking. He soon found out the rest of his body was breaking down. With his final breath, King Sombra let out a piercing roar right as the wave disintegrated his entire body, leaving only his horn lying on the ground. But it didn’t stop there. ____________________ -SADDLE ARABIA- The invasion continued with what seemed to be no end. Buildings crumbled in seconds. Several ponies scurried across the borderlands in a massive exodus of Saddle Arabia. Many ponies turned back to see their once flourishing city being succumb to ashes as more of these terrifying spaceships sent wave after wave of aliens. Inside the massive city, ponies didn’t stand a chance to the carnivorous actions of the Decepticons. Many were killed; most were decimated at the spot. A large skyscraper overlooking the entire civilization was being tampered with as Decepticon starships hovered menacingly above it. In one swift shot, the starship shot an orbital strike out of its underbelly, eradicating the lower confines of the building as it crumbled to the ground. In the streets, Decepticon soldiers piled out of dropships and entered the battleground. It was an easy fight. The ponies didn’t defend themselves. As the slaughter continued, nobody hadn’t even noticed the large wave approaching. The populace of Saddle Arabia got out of their hiding places scattered across the battlefield, their fears suddenly vanishing once the wave overcame them. Mares shielded their young from the brightness of the wave, stallions covered their eyes, but the Decepticons suffered from it. Everywhere, ponies no longer fled in fear. The wave passed over the city and destroyed every single Decepticon there. Dropships and starships fell from the sky in a bright explosion as they hit the ground. Decepticon troopers and tanks either fell to the ground and exploded on sight once the blue wave overcame them. The wave continued onwards towards the rest of Equestria…leaving a very terrified and confused city to rebuild. ____________________ -BALTIMARE- As of every other city in Equestria, Baltimare was under attack. Decepticon Leapers led the ground assault while their jets surrounded the skylines, just in case any Pegasi decided to flee from the air. The Decepticons had successfully blocked off the city to create a new fortress for their master, Shockwave. The city’s ponyfolk would prove to be great slaves. Up in the skies, starships sent waves of Decepticon troopers to the city directly below them while shooting down several orbital strikes to destroy more and more skyscrapers. This caused massive riots and terrified ponies did their best to flee their dying city. But just like the other city and so on….a wave was approaching from the north. Once it passed, every Decepticon felt a surging pain roar through their circuits until they crumbled to the ground. Decepticon jets stopped in mid-flight and crashed to the sides of several buildings close to them. The starships began to lose power, causing each massive ship to free-fall to the grounds below. The destruction was beyond imaginary. The Decepticon ground troopers were destroyed but now it was raining dead jets, each one impacting with a great amount of force to the grounds. To top it all off, once the starships hit the ground it sent a massive shockwave throughout the city, demolishing every building, every house, and everything. After the rumbling died down, the ponyfolk rose from the tattered debris and their hiding places. Many of them stepped out into the streets; others continued on their way and fled the city. Darkness no longer filled the city…the sun came out. ____________________ -MANEHATTEN- One of the largest and most sophisticated cities in all of Equestria….was destroyed. Manehatten, a once proud and noble city to all travelers across the globe was reduced to nothing but rubble. The Mare of Liberty had lost its torch….and its head from a missile strike brought down from the Decepticons. A very tragic and heartbreaking scene…smoke was still rising from The Mare of Liberty’s headless point. Inside the confines of Manehatten, later known as “Ground-Zero” because of its destruction, ponies did the same as did many other cities: they ran for their lives. A certain rust-colored, blankflank filly hurried across muddy streets with her mane wising right in front of her eye. Blowing the hair out of her vision, Babs Seed had this creep on her for quite some time and she just couldn’t figure out a way to get him off her flank. She turned her head back for a split second to get a look at this creeper. He was purple in color, but had a very buff stature. His fists were nothing but pointed spikes; his face was nothing but a purple glowing ball. Unfortunately, Babs took too much time to study him, for she tripped on a crack sticking out of the ground. Tumbling a few feet, Babs rested at the very edge of a crumbled building, her hooves scrambling backwards once the Decepticon began to approach her. “Oh jeepas!” Babs Seed screamed right as the monster lifted both his fists in the air. She closed her eyes right as he brought both fists down. A quick breeze and a loud grunt caught her attention. Opening her eyes, Babs Seed gasped when a blue unicorn wearing a purple robe with dazzling stars appeared in front of her. She stopped the beast from killing her…but why? “I will not just stand idly by while a filly gets killed! The Great and Heroic Trixie will not allow it!” The unicorn screamed, her horn flaring up on the beast. Trixie had spent most of her time in Manehatten after the incident with the Alicorn Amulet. But she had never expected aliens to attack the city, following the events that had just happened. Using her magic, Trixie lifted the Decepticon off the ground and hurled him towards the far building. Babs Seed stood back up, watching as the unicorn named Trixie turned towards her, smiling gently. Right before she could muster out a thank you…the strangest thing happened. The world shook. Together, the unicorn and the filly watched as a massive blue wave of epic proportions overcame the entire city. Once it had passed them, the two shared strange glances, both of which changed into looks of terror. It began to rain heavy chunks of metal. Dead Decepticons either on the ground or in the air fell to the ground and died once the wave had pushed passed them. In a bright fury of lights and several tremors, the Decepticons destroying Manehatten were gone…along with the blue wave. Babs Seed opened her eyes. “What just happened?” ___________________ -EQUESTRIA’S OUTER RIM- Out in space, only a few thousand miles away from the planet of the equines was a space portal. Not just any space portal, this vortex held the last remnants of Energon on the entire planet of Cybertron. It was designed so that the Decepticons could steal Equestria’s raw energy and return to their dying home to replenish it. But now…fate had taken a twisted turn. The Crystal Heart had sensed a potential power surge hovering above the planet it was meant to protect. So it sent a powerful and limitless bolt of lightning out in space to deal with the threat. The bolt of lightning rose passed the clouds and into space where it collided with the dark vortex of the portal. This, however…reacted very badly. The power of the Space Bridge portal and the Crystal Heart combined created a wicked storm from the vortex. It no longer held its place out in the void. Once the lightning had stricken the portal it reacted horribly with its combined energy. Once the lightning faded away, the space portal was no longer calm. It was growing; lightning began to shock on the outer rims of the black hole. As if things couldn’t take a worse toll than it already has….something terrible happened. The Space Bridge portal began to drift closer to Equestria. ____________________ -THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE- The blue lightning bolt disappeared from Trypticon’s body. Every Cybertronian watched as the mighty Decepticon titan swayed back and forth, his arms almost as limp as his legs. It only took a few seconds for Megatron to react to this. “He is vulnerable at last,” Megatron bellowed, turning towards a certain group of Decepticons, “Combaticons, Stunticons, merge for the kill!!!” Megatron had to back away as the ten Decepticons rushed forward, each of them transforming in mid-jump. In unison, Brawl and Swindle transformed into giant legs and landed flatly on the ashy ground. Breakdown and Wildrider formed their counterpart legs as well and crashed only a few hundred feet where Brawl and Swindle had landed. Onslaught and Motormaster rushed together, both of them jumping at the same time as they both formed the torso and upper body of their combined behemoths. To finish it off, Blast Off swooped in and formed the right arm of Bruticus while Vortex did the same with the left arm. Due to their lack of flight, Dead End and Dragstrip had to jump to finish the combining technique to form Menasor. Together, the two combined Decepticon titans slowly moved towards the injured Trypticon. “MENASOR,” Bruticus shouted, “TAKE THE RIGHT ARM, I GOT THE LEFT!” “YOU GOT IT!” Menasor responded, whipping out his purple blade. Menasor rushed forward and jammed his sword right into Trypticon’s right claw, the blade going straight through to penetrate the side of the crater. Trypticon howled in pain. He couldn’t get his hand free from the impalement of the sword. Things just seemed to be getting worse for the Decepticon beast. Bruticus slowly approached the left claw, taking his sweet time when he knew Trypticon couldn’t do jack-scrap. He reared forward and dug his powerful hands into Trypticon’s claws. Hearing several pains from the titan, Bruticus pulled even harder to hold down Trypticon’s claw. Trypticon began to cry out. “YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH! LET ME BE!” His chest was now open for attack. Optimus caught this and pressed his comms link…as did Megatron. “Jetfire! Head for the crater! Trypticon is open for attack!” “Thundercracker! I order you and your squadron to dive-bomb on Trypticon NOW!” Both leaders got a response. Nodding their heads in unison, both leaders deactivated their comms link, their optics slowly entwined together. Megatron growled and shook his head. Prime was copying his every move. Together, they broke contact and looked up when the sound of jets pierced their hearing processors. It was odd seeing Autobot and Decepticon symbols together in mid-flight. Jetfire and the Aerialbots along with Thundercracker, Skywarp, Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge flew side by side and entered the darkness of the crater. Flying towards the metallic beast, each jet unloaded their equipment and shot every single missile they had in store. Smoke blasted out of the rears of the missiles. Every single Autobot and Decepticon watched as they quickly flew over their heads…instantly penetrating Trypticon’s open chest. Alongside the explosions, several painful screams could be heard. Once the flyers escaped the crater with empty clips, the newly made dust in the center forced every bot to squint at the target. They were surprised at what they saw….even Prime. Trypticon no longer thrashed about. Menasor and Bruticus released their grips around Trypticon’s arms when they knew he had enough. The monstrous mechanism swayed slowly back and forth, its massive head hanging low. With his last bit of energy left Trypticon screeched so loud that everybody momentarily covered their heads to stop the awful noise. He stopped. Trypticon lowered his gigantic head back down. His legs gave out, his knees smacking against the ashy floor below him. Large clouds could be seen from where his lower body was falling on. The Cybertronians, both Autobots and Decepticons, backed away quickly when Trypticon slowly fell. A large, dark hole was all that remained of Trypticon’s chest as it penetrated the ground, his head following soon afterwards. A massive dust storm was created from that, forcing the aliens to block out the dust about to hit their optics. Optimus lowered his hands. All he saw was Trypticon closing his mouth….the light in his shattered optics dimming. The dimming also faded away. Nothing but darkness fell upon the titan. One shall fall. ____________________ She breathed in. She breathed out. The Queen of the Changelings slowly made her way through the tattered husks of what remained. Many of her children died this day…only a few hundred survived out of the entire colony. Accompanied by Ripjaw and Slasher, Chrysalis walked throughout the empire until she had reached the point of no return. The cataclysmic event from that wretched spaceship had forced the Queen to flee the confines of the Crystal Castle. Now she could see why it was smart to abandon her subjects. She breathed in. She breathed out. Chrysalis came to the point where reality was gone. Only fear and hopelessness filled her black heart once she had reached the edge of the crater resounding across the earth. Queen Chrysalis looked up and saw the mushroom cloud fading away into the air. She breathed in. Chrysalis caught her breath when her green eyes had drifted to the ground. A small, black and red horn was all that remained of the once-glorious King of the Crystal Empire. Now he was gone. A sudden stomping noise followed by a dark outline caused the Queen to take several steps back. Ripjaw and Slasher repeated her steps. The dust cleared and a massive foot stomped and crushed of what remained of King Sombra: his horn. With the tiny fragments under this monster’s foot, Queen Chrysalis looked up to see none other than Optimus Prime glare down at her. She gulped. But instead of pain and sorrow coming her way all she saw was Prime motioning his hand around the pain-forsaken battlegrounds. His blue eyes eventually fell on Chrysalis. “Leave….NOW.” Prime threatened, clenching his fist as he glared at the Changeling Queen. She didn’t need to be told twice. Quickly looking around, noticing at least a hundred of her subjects were right behind her, Queen Chrysalis took several steps backwards, her mouth quivering uncontrollably. “Changelings….retreat…retreat back to the Badlands!” That was all Chrysalis had said before she flared up her wings and retreated herself. The army quickly looked around before retreating as well. Ripjaw and Slasher gave Prime one last glare before they too upped and left. Optimus Prime continued to watch them make their escape. He wanted to make sure no Changeling stayed….and they didn’t. Optimus exited the crater. ____________________ Twilight’s eyes eventually fell off the Crystal Heart floating highly above the crater. They had located a new target and that was Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Slow, beaten, and tired, the Autobots and Decepticons exited the dark confines of the crater that would forever remain in the Crystal Empire. Optimus Prime looked up into the air. He sighed when there were no more Decepticons invading from the skies. Taking notice to the new scenery, the Autobots and Decepticons turned their heads back to see a glowing relic floating above the crater, a tower of fluorescent lights emanating from it. They followed the massive tower of colorful lights until they were met with a surprising sight. The tower was spread into six different layers, each one spreading across the vast wasteland until their optics could no longer follow it. Optimus brought his head back as he approached six familiar equines…and an army of crystal ones. He now saw that they were each glowing with several different shades of light. It was as if they were made of crystals. Hence the name. Optimus bent down to Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, his angry expression from his encounter with Chrysalis replaced with an exhausted one. “It is finished…we won.” That was all the last of the Primes said. He looked down at the six mares. He sighed when he no longer saw their eyes filled with terror…but with happiness. A slow, rhythmic clapping began to start. Soon enough, the entire wave of crystal ponies were cheering, shouting, clapping, and screaming for the heroes of their empire: the Autobots and Decepticons. The Autobots softly smiled and waved at the scene. The Decepticons were confused…never had they felt this kind of feeling. They felt good. “I could get used to this.” Wildrider commented. “Quiet.” Megatron grunted. As he held his injured leg, Megatron turned towards the Autobots and their leader. He saw as Jetfire and his Aerialbots soon arrived to the scene, each of them transforming to walk on their own two legs. Soon enough, Thundercracker and his team arrived. They all stood just as confused as the other Decepticons when the ponies began to cheer for them. It was a horrific battle. Megatron held his anger in when he knew that it was all over. Whatever that blue lightning was must’ve destroyed his Decepticon army as well. He clenched his fists. Everything they worked for, everything was WASTED now! There was no hope to bring Cybertron back to life, let alone save their race! The Decepticon leader looked over to Optimus Prime and his Autobots embrace the six ponies he despised the most. Before he could take his anger out on Prime a surging pain erupted from his forehead, causing the leader to hunch forward on his knees. “Whoa! Megatron! You okay?” Swindle asked as he approached his lord. Megatron stood back up and smacked Swindle across the face. But it wasn’t his doing. Megatron howled in pain, causing the cheering and clapping to stop instantly. The Autobots, Decepticons, Element Bearers, and crystal ponies all watched as the leader of the hated Decepticons stumbled back and forth, nearly falling a few times. The entire time Megatron was clutching his head. He didn’t know what was happening. It was as if something was being ripped out of his mind. Before he could release more painful screams, Megatron grunted loudly, the pain strangely disappearing. He lay on the ground, his hands and knees pressed on the earth. Megatron opened his optics and breathed in. His optics flashed green for about three seconds until they evaporated for good. Only red remained as the permanent color. He was free from his servitude. But he didn’t know it. As he stood back up, Soundwave approached his master, pressing his hand against Megatron’s pointed shoulder. “Megatron, what has happened? Are you completely functional?” The Communications Officer asked with his assumptions as high as everybody else’s. Megatron held his hand against his forehead. Shaking his head a bit, Megatron looked down at the Communications Officer, his breathing slowing down. “I…I am,” Megatron gasped, “But…tell me…what has happened...exactly?" Now it was time for the Autobots to look confused, the ponies’ expressions mirroring theirs. “You…don’t remember any of that?” Thundercracker questioned. Megatron took this time to look around, his optics growing wide at the battlegrounds surrounding him. Husky Decepticon dropships were scattered across this lonesome ground, along with several hundred deactivated Decepticon troopers of all sizes. In the distance, Megatron could see the shadow of what appeared to be a starship stuck to the ground, but its outer exterior was damaged beyond repair, trails of smoke rising from the openings. “No…I…I can’t seem to remember anything…except for when I defeated Omega Supreme in that wretched forest…that is all.” Hiding from above a collapsed crystal tower, the Seeker narrowed his optics with delight when he had heard Megatron utter those words. Activating his rocket feet, the Seeker flew outwards into the air until he landed behind all the Autobots. Everybody spun around in surprise, Rainbow Dash being the only one to groan in his presence. “Ugh…how is he still alive?" The Pegasus questioned when she completely remembered that Grimlock promised to destroy him. Starscream smiled. “Greetings, my fellow Decepticons…and ‘Autobots’,” Starscream hissed as he walked right passed the army of Autobots, “I bring you all no harm, only good greetings.” “Don’t listen to that scrap-eater, Megatron,” Onslaught growled and nudged his master’s shoulder, “You remember what he did to you, right?” Megatron dropped his gaze from the Combaticon and on his Air Commander. Nothing. He didn’t remember anything focused around Starscream, except that he and his group and provided air support on Omega Supreme. “No,” Megatron admitted, watching passively as Starscream slowly approached him. He was already having a hard time trying to figure out how he had gotten from the forest to this forsaken city, he didn’t want to figure out what Starscream had done just yet. When he just stared at him, Starscream smiled deviously and stopped right in front of Megatron, his smirk almost as powerful as the angry group of Decepticons behind their master’s back. Megatron waved them away and growled, “Why do you threaten Starscream? He has done nothing wrong!” As the Decepticons backed off, Starscream chuckled lightly and began, “Yes. I have done nothing wrong. I come as a loyal servant to you, oh mighty Megatron. I come with good harm as your second in command of the Decepticons. I come…to serve you, lord Megatron.” He finished by bowing at his master’s feet. With his mind in a bundle, Megatron held his hand out towards Starscream. “Rise, my loyal disciple. You are always welcome into our ranks….as our Air Commander.” Megatron told him, watching as Starscream slowly rose back to full height. He saw him smile…but sensed something behind it. Bad-will? Betrayal? Cleverness? He couldn’t think for long when Thundercracker tried to interrupt. “Hey! You said I was the new Air Commander!” Megatron whirled around and socked the Seeker in the face, sending him flat on his back. He began to scold him. Starscream smiled. “YOU DARE QUESTION ME?!” Megatron bellowed, pointing his riot cannon right in Thundercracker’s vision. The Seeker immediately fell prey to fear, shaking his head as quickly as seemingly passible as he tried to muster out a quick apology. “N-no! Never, lord M-M-Megatron! I would never!” “Good.” Megatron snarled, pointing his riot cannon to the far ground instead. Thundercracker crawled away towards Skywarp right into the Decepticon army, all of them glaring at Starscream. Many of them were like Thundercracker, wanting to tell Megatron (who had obviously lost his memory) that Starscream had betrayed him, shot him off a cliff, and took command of the Decepticons. But after seeing what happened to the Seeker they kept their mouths shut. The Decepticon leader brought his head back towards Optimus Prime, his optics growing wide. Not at his hated brother…it was something behind him. Twilight Sparkle sighed heavily. She couldn’t help a smile creep across her face. It was the perfect time to smile. Like Optimus had just told her, they had won. The Crystal Heart was back spreading peace and love throughout Equestria, King Sombra was vanquished for good, Queen Chrysalis retreated back to the Badlands, the Decepticons invading her home were destroyed, and best of all….she never had a single doubt. Okay, fine, she admitted it. Twilight DID doubt they were going to win. The odds were stacked so high against them. But thanks to some very brave aliens and a large helping of hope their home was safe and sound once more. Or so it seemed… A large boom came from behind, momentarily shaking the earth around them until it stopped. The crowd of ponies began to shriek, others murmured to themselves while several colorful eyes were darting back and forth. The Element Bearers exchanged glances once more, all of them falling on Optimus Prime. Optimus didn’t return their stares…his eyes were focused clearly on what was behind them. “No…it can’t be.” He muttered, the other Autobots gasping in unison. Gulping in fear, Twilight slowly began to turn around. When she did, Twilight looked up into the skies to see something truly terrifying. Covering at least a small portion of the cloudy skies was a black hole. But this was violent. The outsides of the vortex were spinning out of control. The skies that were surrounding the black hole were being torn apart, showing brief signs of dark outer space among the black hole’s ridges. The vortex was covered by spinning storms, which quickly had lightning crackling around them, thunder crashing as loud as the sound of a tidal wave crashing against the land, or an earthquake destroying a building. While her friends began to murmur words of worry to one another, Twilight kept her eyes locked on the black hole for as long as possible. She grew even more terrified when she saw it growing bigger. She somehow found the courage to speak. “…W-what…what is that?” Shockwave approached from behind the Decepticon ranks, pushing his way upwards until he was standing at Twilight’s side. She looked up to him, eyes brimming with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He began to speak. The Decepticon cyclopean scientist scanned the black hole over and over. He shook his head. It couldn’t be true. How it even formed surprised him. But knowing they were all waiting for an answer, especially Megatron who didn’t know what the scrap was going on, Shockwave crossed his arm over his blaster. “My scanners show the black hole you all see before you is not really what you think. It is the Space Bridge portal,” Shockwave explained, receiving several gasps from the ponies below him, “Further investigation shows that due to the highly applied dose of Energon reserves held within the portal that the Crystal Heart’s explosion sent a wave of energy colliding to the void of the portal, making the entire resulting substance completely unstable.” When no one spoke out, he continued, “It will not be long now. The Space Bridge is slowly drifting closer and closer to this planet. Once it has reached its approximate location, breaking the skylines and ripping the atmosphere apart, it will proceed to devour all Cybertronian substances that infest this world until they are no more.” “That’s a good thing…r-right? Ya know like a clean-up crew to clear away all this debris?” Rainbow Dash inquired with her hoof pointing towards a fallen dropship. She turned her head back towards Optimus to see him nodding his head in agreement. He wasn’t nodding. He wasn’t moving. All he did was answer her question in the most terrified tone they had ever heard. “No…the portal is going to destroy the planet…including us.”