//------------------------------// // Master of Deception // Story: Friendship is Magic, When All Are One // by RobotFox //------------------------------// Chapter 21 Master of Deception An invasion force of such magnitude one would consider an act of war. And while that may be somewhat appropriate term for what was about to happen, it wasn’t entirely accurate. Unless one was to equate it as a war for the ‘Fate of the Universe’ then it would fit fine. Optimus Prime and Megatron were standing on the bridge as they were on the flag ship heading for the Chaos Bringer. The warp gate pretty much got rid of most of the trip for the massive fleet. The Space bridge the Decepticons built had a beacon so this made the week long trip into a few short hours. Without this, the gate doesn’t work, as part of a safety feature in order to prevent getting lost and many possible malfunctions that would result in deaths. It was then that a call came through “Optimus!” Wheeljack called out as he ran up to the two leaders “We’re getting a transmission from the Autobot main base on Cybertron.” “Patch it through.” Optimus ordered. Wheeljack nodded and ran back to his console and patched through the transmission. “Optimus, this is Prowl, we’ve been updated on Equestria’s current status.” The Autobot trooper said with Soundwave also seen through the video screen. “Starscream?” Megatron asked. Prowl nodded. Optimus made the note that he didn’t show any kind of smirk or animosity toward Megatron. Optimus has noticed Prowl’s recent grudge against all Decepticons and Optimus didn’t particularly blame him. He didn’t expect this unification between the two factions to be without come conflicts. But Prowl was extremely against the unity of the two factions till this point so he was a bit curious. “And?” The Decepticon leader continued. He too seemed to be curious as to what the Autobot Trooper had to report. “He said that the residence of the planet have something that will be able to purge Unicron from their ruler.” “How?” Optimus prodded. “He didn’t go into details, he merely said that whatever he was using has worked on powerful foes before, and considering Unicron is both conventionally stronger and can use Magic, I guess since it’s magic based, he may be a subject to it as a weakness as well.” Prowl explained. Megatron smirked “Well, looks like Starscream and those fleshlings on that planet have some aid to us after all.” Optimus didn’t quiet agree with that statement but he did have did agree that this was good news “If this can bring their ruler back, then we can make the assault without causing any unnecessary harm.” Megatron gave a dry chuckle but no evidence of humor seemed to be expressed “You’re still on about protecting their precious leader? Our races are at the face of Unicron and that traitor is who you’re worried about?” Optimus didn’t take Megatron statement well “We will not cause unnecessary casualties.” He began as his light blue optics glared. This particular act seemed to legitimately amuse the Decepticon leader “Casualties? Surely we’ve been at war long enough to experience casualties.” He stopped expecting either Optimus or any Autobot to say something but nothing came “This is war Optimus, it’s best to act when the opportunity presents itself. We know that she was willing to put herself above us using Unicron and you know that will only cause further conflicts.” “Celestia was fooled by Unicron. I talked with her sister; she’s not like this. We can’t have any of these creatures of this planet parish because we chose not to act.” “Choosing not to act?” Megatron questioned “You know the only reason I chose to agree to this union was simply for the safety of Cybertron. The fate of these creatures at the hand of their ruler or Unicron in not our concern neither is their planet. You know that only you hold the key ending Unicron once and for all.” “Are you kidding?” Prowl called out over the video com “They may have just subdued a major threat that could’ve made this entire attack fleet all for naught.” “Celestia’s power has never been properly calculated.” Soundwave called out, surprisingly in the Autobots’ defense “Effectively neutralize a threat without the cost of immediate resources or unnecessary damages should be considered.” Now it was Prowl’s turn to smirk “Hmph, even your own side knows who’s being smart about this.” This didn’t falter the Decepticon leader “We don’t know for certain.” He said in a surprisingly controlled leveled tone “If something I’ve learned about my former Second-in-Command is that he is as reliable as is he trustworthy.” “But what benefit would he get out of lying to us?” Prowl questioned. “He’s right. You saw us fighting along side him, he had every opportunity to betray us and he stayed on our side, even when the odds were against us.” The Autobot leader pointed out. Megatron, to Prowl’s surprise, actually seemed to consider this factor “It is interesting how he didn’t gravel to be Unicron’s side.” Megatron then turned back to Prowl “Did Starscream say when they plan on their attack?” Prowl shook his head but Soundwave stepped in again “We informed him of our scheduled attack, we believe he will try to accomplish this within the time parameters we gave him.” Optimus nodded “If they succeed in freeing their leader from Unicron, then we can proceed with attack without delay.” He paused for a moment “Do we know if they have accomplished this yet?” Prowl shook his head “No, haven’t heard from him since.” As he said that he remembered something “Optimus, you wouldn’t have seen Skyfire by any chance have you?” “No, haven’t seen him we left the planet.” Optimus responded rubbing his chin “Are you looking for him?” “No, but Starscream asked for him and no one seems to have seen him since then.” “Did he stay on Equestria?” Optimus asked aloud, mostly to himself. “That’s the last place anyone has seen him.” Prowl stated also a bit in wonder. Megatron chuckled lightly but only Optimus seemed to be the only able to hear it “Interesting, we’re here concerned weather or not Starscream betrayed us when it could really be one of your own.” Prowl’s once calm exterior turned to a more characteristic glare from him “Now just hold on an astro second, last I checked, Skyfire didn’t have a history of changing sides and backstabbing his comrades!” Megatron seemed to be enjoying this “Really? If I remember correctly, Skyfire was originally on our side when we awoke him from the ice.” “He only joined your side because he and Starscream were friends eons ago. And on top of that he was deceived on who you Decepticreeps were.” “But do you not remember? Celestia gave us the option to be her protection or return to Cybertron. He may have been coward and chose to side with-” “Enough!” Optimus called out silencing the two “We have no evidence supporting betrayal. Prowl did you check on Cybertron and Earth?” Prowl nodded once “We can’t get a hold of him in on Cybertron, and no one of Earth has seen him either.” “We can’t waste time on that.” Megatron interrupted “We’ve already put our time and resources into this fleet. The search for a one mere Autobot is of no consequence.” And with that Megatron left the bridge, seemingly in a huff. Optimus looked at the door Megatron exited for a moment before turning back to Soundwave and Prowl. It was then that he noticed Prowl’s pondering expression. “Something bothering you?” he asked politely. “I don’t believe it but…what if Skyfire did ally himself with Unicron? What are we going to do?” he didn’t seem to be saddened by the thought as he was curious to what their plan of action would be. “No different then what we would do for Celestia. We’ll try every way to avoid hurting our friend. But I’m sure Skyfire is alright.” --5 Million years ago-- “Megatron? Decepticons!” an Autobot cried as several Decepticons blew open a hole into the side of the ship. Megatron lead the large group of Decepticons flew in to take over the ship. “Die Autobot!” Megatron called as he transformed to his gun form to be quickly in his Second-in-Command’s hands. Starscream smirked as he fired the powerful weapon at the terrified Autobot. The shot pierced through his upper shoulder and part of his neck blew out and killing him instantly. The other Autobot Troopers piloting the ship turned around and return fire. The Decepticons however were able to react quickly, and went for cover as the three other Autobots continued to fight back. The Decepticons, being more experienced warriors, were able to return effective fire and disarming them. Starscream chuckled as he jumped from cover, still holding onto his leader with a sadistic grin, ready to make the kill shot. In rapid succession, the Air Commander fired Megatron three times, killing the other Autobots. The seeker kept a large grin as he let go of the weapon as he then transformed back to his robot mode. “This was almost too easy Starscream.” Megatron said with a smirk as the other Decepticon troopers flew over to take control of the ship. “Yes, mighty Megatron, much easier than attacking the real threat; The Autobot Moon Base.” Starscream said with a grin, thinking he was impressing his leader. It only made sense after all, the Autobots were developing many weapons and trying to formulate a full scale assault. The Decepticons recently took over most of Cybertron but Autobots quickly regroup on two of Cybertron’s Moons as well as another dead planet known as Charr. “You’re an idiot Starscream.” Starscream’s smirk fell “Once we get past their early Warning System using their own shuttle on Resistance Base on Charr, the Autobots will be vanquished forever!” At this moment, one of the Autobots attempted to grab a hold of Megatron’s leg “Noo…” he tried. “Such heroic nonsense…” --Sometime later-- The Decepticon group that infiltrated the Autobot base all ran back to Astrotrain to make their retreat. Everyone was damaged in one way or another but some were worse than others. Ironically, Astrotrain was in the best condition compared to, everyone else in the group. Perhaps the one to come out the worst was their notorious leader, who attempted to have a fight to the death with his rival but not only did Optimus come out on top, but a small yellow Autobot intervened further, making it impossible for him to win. Optimus was above execution so he didn’t kill him and rather let him be, letting the Decepticons chose weather he should live or die. Starscream perhaps left the most obvious distaste as he mocked and kicked his fallen leader. The only reason he was with them was because Soundwave and Rumble carried him back. Now the attack force on the facility was in shambles it was currently had Starscream being their leader. After a brief announcement from Astrotrain that informed all of them that he wouldn’t make it back to Cybertron unless they jettison some weight. “My fellow Decepticons, it seems that Astrotrain has requested that we lighten our burden.” Starscream said with an inappropriate smirk. “If that’s the case then I say it is Survival of the fittest!” One of the Constructicons called out. Starscream’s grin widened as he turned to the floor where Megatron was sitting, holding onto his damaged side, once again noting how he looked worse than everyone else. He looked up to Thundercracker and Skywarp, his two wing mates. If Starscream had friends, it was them, he fought along side them and even saved his life a times but…when would an opportunity like this present itself again? They were expendable. They may be his ‘friends’ but he was more than willing to sacrifice them if it got Megatron gone with them. He had a very light and brief chuckle “Do I hear a second on that?” “AYE!” Majority of the Decepticons called out with a hoar. The red seeker chuckled again “And against?” he asked mockingly. This was answered with a small, heavily damaged group weakly saying “Nye” “The Ayes have it!” He announced. At this moment the Decepticons were toward the heavily damaged Decepticons pushed them out the airlock, as they begged to stay aboard. Starscream internally laughed as Thundercracker called out to him as ‘Brother don’t!’ They weren’t brothers, but some saw the three of them (himself, Thndercracker, Skywarp) as such and he knew that he was referring to him. There was one last thing, Megatron himself. Walked over and picked up his leader went to the airlock door. “Oh how it pains me to do this!” his grin getting wider. “Wait” Megatron called out weakly as he looked up at his Second-in-Command “Wait. I still function…” Starscream internally laughed enjoying this whole thing, to the point where he decided to quit the act as he let him go to let him drift into space “Wanna bet?” “STARSCREAMMM!!!” Megatron called out as he saw the seeker’s grin staying wide as the door closed. --More time passes-- Horns were being played loudly as the entire Decepticon army look up on a stage which was protected by Dirge and Ramjet. In the middle was Starscream, now wearing large cape as well as new shoulder pads. After the prolonged playing of trumpets ended with laser blast from Starscream’s signature null ray. Astrotrain placed the custom made crown of gold and rubies upon his head. The entire time, Starscream kept a strong grin. Finally, it was his, he was finally leader of the Decepticons like he quested for so many steller cycles. Astrotrain took a step back as Starscream raised his arm out “My fellow Decepticons, as your new leader I-” he was quickly stopped as he saw a foreign ship fly into his view and heading for the group of Decepticons in the center aisle as they all jumped out of the way. Upon landing, a purple Decepticon jumped out of the cockpit as the ship he came also transformed to robot mode stood behind him. “Who disrupts my Coronation?!” Starscream cried out loudly at the intruding bots. “Coronation Starscream? This is bad comedy!” He said with contempt as he approached the seeker. Starscream squinted and noticed that he was somewhat similar to Megatron. Only he was purple, a bit bigger, and had different fusion cannon. “Megatron, is that you?” he uttered more in confusion than anything else. “Here’s a hint!” at this moment the intruder transformed into what looked like a mobile battle cannon and powerful beam of energy. Starscream was in shock snapped out of it, he quickly jumped to the side but the blast still got his wing, tearing it off completely. The pain was immense; the seeker could feel his fluids leaking from the inflicted wound. As Starscream tried his best to get past it, he could hear the intruder transforming and coming up the flight of stairs. Starscream wanted to defend himself but he was so weak from the painful attack. Soon the intruder was in sight, the seeker feared for his life. Before he could utter anything, the Megatron familiar intruder grabbed the seeker by the neck pulled him up. Again he tried to speak but was stopped by a punch across the faceplate, cracking it and knocking his crown off his head. The purple intruder then slammed the seeker in the base of the stage before kicking him off the flight of stairs. The seeker cried as he was easily thrashed about not one of his followers were defending him. Starscream tried once more to speak but was silence with another cry the intruder fired his primary weapon and blew off a section of his leg. The intruder then smashed the crown he was previously wearing and slowly walked down the flight of stairs to get back to him. Starscream was finally able to utter something “Mega…tron…” The intruder chuckled darkly “Galvatron…” --Sometime later-- Starscream was put into a dark holding cell with large energy bars keeping him in place. He was put basically on death roe, Galvatron wanted to kill him with an audience for attempting to kill Megatron, but wanted to be rid of the Autobots once and for all first for whatever reason he wasn’t sure of. The seeker was still greatly damaged, only small patches and welding on his faceplate was done clearly for the reason of keeping him alive long enough for Galvatron to perform his execution. Galvatron didn’t talk to him much after stopping his Coronation aside from telling him his name. It’s been roughly a whole orbital cycle since then and the seeker could do little to prevent what was coming to him. But he wasn’t afraid of death, not entirely anyway, he was more angry than anything else. How dare he take away his position he fought for so many years for! It was finally his, after millions of years of planning and scheming he finally got what he fought so hard for and he lost it as soon as he got it. It wasn’t fair to him, why did he have to lose it so fast. Mere seconds after he was crowned he lost it. “Who are you Galvatron?” he said in a weak angry tone. Really, Galvatron never answered his question. Was he Megatron? One may say he was over analyzing this but he couldn’t help but think that perhaps this wasn’t merely a reformatted Megatron. The way he spoke, the way he attacked him…it didn’t seem like Megatron. His reaction seemed genuine enough but it still…didn’t seem like him. Another thing that plagued him was that he always referred to Megatron as a separate being, like he was an entirely different Cybertronian. He never referred to Megatron as himself or any manner that implied they were the same person. The other Cybertronians that came with him he learned were also the other Decepticons they threw out into space were all of them reformatted as well, and like Galvatron, they seemed to be entirely different beings. It was then an explosion was heard. The wounded seeker tried to move but his wounds made it difficult. Several shots from energy weapons could be heard echoing through the prison he was stuck at. It was at this particular moment, he blood curling scream echoed through the hall…A familiar scream…more like a battle cry… Starscream attempted to get to the edge of the energy bars to see what was happening. After some difficulty trying to crawl to the edge he saw blast of energy go through the halls, a very familiar sounding one. It was too dark to see anything down the hall but he could hear someone heaving and clearly limping on leg. Starscream just assumed it was an injured Decepticon trying to remove himself from the fight from the other side, Autobots more than likely. The energy bars keeping him secure emitted some light so he could only see some much ahead. The seeker groaned as he attempted to push away but immediately was stopped when he saw the approaching Cybertronian at the front of his cell. Starscream slowly and cautiously looked up and was more terrified then he thought he would be when he saw who it was. “You think a mere cheap doppelganger can replace me!” it was Megatron…the one he threw out into space, still heavily damaged as before when he did. This was different though he had a large wicked grin as he noticed that he was holding onto Galavtron’s Spark. He could tell because part of his armor was still there and it was the deep purple with the head there as well. “Megatron…” The terrified seeker backed away, fearing that he was going to do the same to him. Megatron chuckled darkly at the terrified seeker as he let go of the remains of Galavtron to the ground, crushing its spark “Don’t worry Starscream...you still have some use to me…” “What?” “These cheap knock off of my warriors were created by Unicron.” Megatron explain really out of nowhere “He found a way to take control of us… I had to break myself free from this doppelganger but I succeeded…it will take more than mere possession to control me…” He then turned off turned off the energy bars and approached the fallen seeker “But this battle is too big for us, we need to get in contact with the Autobots…” Starscream was about to get up but was quickly slammed back into the ground with the foot of Megatron “Think about double crossing me again Starscream…you will not be so lucky…” --Inside Unicron-- Starscream’s optics came online as he made a weak groan. He attempted to look around but it was a bit painful and for some reason difficult. He was still in a standing position but he was still in a cell. It was organic, only some parts seem to be metal. It was at this moment he noticed his wings and arms were wrapped around with metal wiring through the wall. He didn’t need to be told that he was inside Unicron. He couldn’t see much outside the bars, the only light source was from the ceiling which had a small green light coming from it. “Starscream, you have awakened.” Skyfire said as he watched him look about the cell. “How perceptive…” the seeker said smugly turning away from him. “Oh, is that how you treat an old friend.” Skyfire snickered leaning on the bars. “Old friend, hmph, your one to talk.” He growled. Skyfire gave a dry chuckle for a moment before turning to a moment of seriousness “What is it?” Starscream looked at him confused. “What is it that makes them so different…really?” Skyfire elaborated “What makes them so different that you won’t leave their side like you did everyone else, even putting yourself in harms way to protect them. What is it?” “You’re really one for asking that? I may have betrayed everyone else but I never turned my race!” He glared as Skyfire’s expression didn’t seem to falter. “Which one?” The seeker paused for a moment “Both. I may have defected from the Decepticons and even purposely drew out Autobots but I will not put all of them at the hands of Unicron ensuring their destruction.” “So it’s best we just kill ourselves then?” Skyfire tested “Unicron and the Queen could’ve finally brought an end to this Primus forsaken war. And for some reason you choose to keep the war going.” “Why do you think I left?” he questioned back “Besides, you’ve never fought Unicron or seen what he’s capable of!” he shook his head “You’re not Skyfire, you’re just another one of Unicron’s spawns.” The shuttle shrugged and pushed himself off the bars “Not quite, I am your old friend, I remember all the expeditions we did, experiments…shooting at each other, I remember it all. I just…” thought for a moment “Saw the light, whether you like it or not Celestia was right, our race is irresponsible and we need a mediator of some sort and with Unicron even more powerful than before, I think we can finally bring our home and race to peace.” “By being under the constant surveillance of a planet sized destroyer?” Starscream said with sarcasm. “If we must.” Another voice called out from the behind him. He turned to it to see Nightmare Moon, Cybertronian sized, right beside him with a small grin. “Why don’t you just eat the planet like you did to two of our moons?” The seeker sneered. “Well, we did make a promise to our dear Celestia, so we feel…obligated.” Starscream couldn’t help but chuckle at this “Right…where is she anyway? Where are all of them?!” “Oh don’t worry; they’re right in the same room.” The dark Alicorn spawn said as other lights came on around them. Starscream could only see so much from his cell but on his left he could see the Elements of Harmony all together in one and his right he could see Celestia and Luna in another together. None of them were awake but noticed they still had the Elements with them, though he noted Rainbow Dash was moving about but was clearly not part of what was happening. “Their just taking a rest, not too surprised really, you were merely punched and considering how much Unicron has come to understand magic thanks to Celestia, I’m not too surprised how well it worked.” Nightmare Moon explained haughtily. The seeker wanted say something about magic and its properties but decided against it “What’s the plan? Why are you keeping us alive?” “Opportunity.” She said firmly “There is something special about you Starscream…something you yourself don’t even know about.” “What did you and Unicron do to Skyfire?” he asked annoyed really wanting a real answer. Nightmare Moon chuckled again “Starscream…I think you know more than anyone in your little group that no one is perfect; all of us have a deep desire, pain, or vice that will always be part of them which is why it’s so easy exploit and use to make them more…assessable. You will always have a desire for power for your race, Luna will always be pained with guilt and criticisms and jealous of being in the shadow of her more appreciated sister, Celestia longed to have complete power over the country again, and the supposed Elements of Harmony demonstrate that they are far from any of those things are lacking.” Starscream turned away “What’s this ‘opportunity’ you have with us?” “You Starscream, you have little to offer. But when I see how useful your friend is” Starscream winced “I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have you as one of us as well…all things considered. Not to mention there is something about your spark that catches Unicron’s optic.” “And the six of them?” he prodded further. “Can’t really use the Elements without them can we?” “What use is that of you? If its power has no effect?” “Not so much for it’s usage as much as power. Sometimes harnessing the power can become so much more useful.” She was about to continue but was stopped by Starscream interrupting. “And Celestia and Luna serve as a back up?” “Catching up pretty quick.” Skyfire said, quickly “It’s amazing that you’re able to piece everything together like you used to but why you still won’t come to…the winning side.” “I’m not turning on them. You know if you weren’t lost I would’ve never joined the Decepticons or even be part of this war!” The seeker argued trying to get his wings free. “Perhaps but these…characteristics don’t just pop out of existence. Something must’ve sparked this desire for power and-” “I’ve moved past it.” He interrupted firmly though there was still doubt in his tone “This planet show me a lot of things. One of which was the power regardless of what degree is meaningless in the long run.” Nightmare Moon grinned “I’m sure that is what you want to believe…tell me Starscream…if Megatron gave you the position as leader…would you turn it down?” “I-” Starscream stopped before he could answer. Could he? Despite everything, he couldn’t honestly say that. Usually lying would be no problem but… he tried so hard to get a hold of that power. Millions of years of failure, trying so hard to get to the top, doing what ever he could to take over the Decepticons have them serve him…it was in his spark… Nightmare Moon kept her grin as Skyfire gained a smirk “I thought so.” “The seed of doubt.” Skyfire said idly. “Indeed” Starscream looked up to see Nightmare Moon charging up a spell with her horn. The seeker panicked trying to get out of the way but was fruitless “Too late, you’re one of us now.” It was then an explosion occurred at the end of the room. Nightmare Moon stopped the spell and turned around with Skyfire turning as well to the origin of the explosion. The loud noise was able to wake up the Elements as well as the two Alicorn sisters. “Hey Lucy, I’m home!” he rough voice called out. When the smoke cleared, they saw tall sunglasses wearing stallion with a cigar in his mouth with a stinger missile launcher on his back as well as his signature handgun on his foreleg. “What the-” Skyfire said a bit surprised. Starscream could hardly see it but he could tell by the voice that it was “I can’t believe my arf is being saved by this guy.” “What was that?” Pinkie Pie cried out confused. The Elements were confused as the Alicorn sisters except for Applejack, who had a bit of a smirk on “Gotta say, can’t argue with the timing.” “Wait is that Duke?” Rarity asked to no unparticular. Nightmare Moon glared at the ground and then back at the intruder “I don’t know how you got here but you will not be getting out alive!” The dark Alicorn growled as her horn glowed and Skyfire aimed his weapon at him. “Looks like its…Time to Kill!” The dark stallion jumped into air with the Stinger being pulled forward and firing the rocket at Nightmare Moon, hitting her in the face, stopping the spell. Skyfire however was unaltered and still fired his weapon. He missed, but stalled the stallion. Starscream continued to struggle till finally realizing something that felt obvious. “Primus sake…” he stopped in a flash returned to his pony form. “Well that felt a little obvious…” he with his wings no longer restricted, he was free and able to fly out of the cell through the large space between the bars. Skyfire paid no attention to him; still trying to get this stallion which his massive weapon but surprisingly he was fairly agile, considering the weapon he was using. Nightmare Moon shook off the weapon’s attack and prepared another spell. However, he was interrupted again, but not from Duke. The shuttle noticed this and turned to the side to see two stallions. He’s seen them before, the large red stallion with an orange mane and green eyes armed with a launcher weapon as well. The other was white stallion with blue mane wearing the typical battle armor he saw the soldiers of Equestria using carrying an old assault rifle. “Shining Armor!” Twilight called out to her brother happy to see him. “Big Macintosh!” Applejack called out as well with a widely smiling Fluttershy behind her also calling out to him. “How did they get in Unicron?” Nightmare Moon growled, not enjoying the fact that she was constantly getting interrupted. Skyfire didn’t hold up, he quickly fired at the group of stallions. The two of them separated and went different directions Duke and Big Mac fired upon the large shuttle Cybertronian but had little effect. “For the first time…I kinda see why Decepticons find you guys not worth saving” Skyfire uncharacteristically said about fire again. Just then, a blast in the shoot to the back forced him forward, feeling a ‘numbing’ sensation. He turned around to see Starscream, in his Cybertronian form aiming his null ray at his former friend “And why I find you no different from them!” With that, he tackled the shuttle. “Let him take care of that one, we got the Alicorn!” Duke called out before being silenced with an energy blast from the dark Unicron spawn. “You are nothing to me!” She cried out as she focused on the three stallions with their modern conventional weapons. At this moment, Luna and Celestia were attempted to break out but the bars seemed to be immune to their magic…what a surprise. They noticed all out fight they was happening in front of them but they thought they could perhaps find a way out as well as the others as Starscream and the others took care of the two Unicron servants. “Unicron must’ve made our magic unusable against him” Celestia said aloud, getting a head ache around her horn from the excessive use of attempting magic. “Don’t worry!” Shining Armor ran to the two Alicorns out side. “I’ll get you all out.” He then went to the side of his armor to pull out a pouch with a few charges in it. He looked them over and made a quick breath “Unicron may have magic too, but he’s not invincible.” He placed the charge “Stand back!” The Alicorns did as instructed and backed into the cell as much as they could before the charge could explode. When it did explode, it only took out three of the bars, showing that the charge wasn’t as powerful as he’d hoped but at least it was big enough for them to escape. “Excellent work Captain!” Luna said to their savior as she squeezed out with her sister behind. “Thank you Shining Armor…” Celestia said with a bit of uncertainty. “It was a pleasure Lady Luna and your majesty Celestia.” Shining Armor bowed before starting to run to the next cell with the other girls “Now to rescue my sister and her friends!” Celestia and Luna followed trying to move quickly but also try to keep their attention away from the fight between the Unicron spawn, the two stallions and the two Cybertronians. As they ran, Celestia turned to her sister “Lady Luna?” Luna didn’t respond, however she did acknowledge her sister by facing her direction. “Shining Armor! How did you get here?!” Twilight asked excited and relieved to meet her brother. The white stallion chuckled as he put a charge the bars with his magic “A bit of a long story, let’s just say that Duke guy may be meat head, but when it comes to a rescue plan, he’s more cunning than he may let on.” “Huh.” Applejack said watching with Fluttershy her brother and Duke continuing to distract the Unicron spawn they knew as Nightmare Moon. “So how are we getting out of here?” Rarity asked. “We can’t leave Rarity.” Twilight explained “We may not have a chance after this to get this close to Unicron.” “Getting eaten is the closest way?” Pinkie asked but the group didn’t seem to understand the question, despite the loud fighting outside the cell. “I don’t think he ate us…” Rainbow confirmed, a bit confused with the question in the first place. “Then how did we get in here. Nightmare Moon did say we were inside Unicron, so that means he either ate us or-” “It doesn’t matter how we got here.” Applejack interrupted turning away from the fight “We just need to see if we can put stop to all this.” “Applejack’s right, it doesn’t matter how we got here. We need to what we can do to help.” Twilight confirmed. “Alright everyone” The captain said taking a few steps back “Back away.” He commanded as he too with the Alicorns took a few steps back. Like before it exploded and was able to free the girls. Unlike the first one, this explosion got the attention of Nightmare Moon. She glared as turned to see the free captives. She quickly teleported away from the two stallions that were causing her distraction to fly above them, confusing the two Earth ponies. After succeeding in evading them, she got a hold of them with telekinetic magic and threw them into a nearby wall, breaking their weapons. She took a quick notice at Skyfire and Starscream, which were still fighting one another, due to Skyfire being larger, and perhaps even better armed as far as she knew, she decided to let them keep at it as she focused on the escaped group. “I don’t know how you got inside Unicron but it matters not!” Nightmare yelled out in anger emphasizing her point. “Why are you doing this!?” Pinkie cried “Why do you keep going around possessing everyone and just-” “Give in to their desires?” She played stopping the usually happy mare. The dark Alicorn landed, she took quick notice to the two previously attack stallions to see they were still down and focused back on the group. She chuckled “You think you know your rulers…your friends? I merely let them finally be able to act on their desires. Luna was always shunned in favor of her sister due to her more popular day, so I gave her my power to let her act on them…and in time Unicron would’ve arrived.” Luna showed her guilt in bringing this up but didn’t show any kind of denial. “And your dear Queen Celestia, she was no perfect little ruler either.” Twilight especially listened in “She missed having all the power. When Luna was gone, everything she said went, with no deliberating or anything cancelling her authority, she had all the power…and she misses it.” The group turned to Celestia and unlike Luna, Celestia had a guilt filled expression but she seemed to not to admit that but her frown clearly represented her feelings toward accusation. “And all I did was give them the power to do so. Only on occasion did Unicron and I add a bit of resurfacing of sad memories or smooth out some conflicting ones…in the end, they did everything.” “Don’t feed us any of that garbage!” Rainbow Dash yelled out taking it into the air but only a few feet above the group “We know you guys did this all along.” “Did we?” Nightmare challenged as she looked over the two Alicorn sisters. Neither of them spoke or looked at the group as they expected an answer but it was clear they were not going to give one. The two sisters did look at one another both having conflicting emotions about what Nightmare Moon was revealing. Luna it wasn’t so bad, Twilight and the Elements were very much educated on what happened or at least knew most of what had happened so it’s not like much was being revealed here. Celestia on the other hand it was a bit different, Celestia, before and after Nightmare Moon, was considered the…pure one, an individual with little to no flaws, an individual that was incorruptible…superior to her sister. However, her actions and Nightmare Moon spelling it out showed a very different story. The dark Unicron spawn laughed “You’re no better…” On the other side the two Cybertronians continued to battle, mostly close quarters, almost strictly hand to hand, only a fire shot when there was an brief moment between the where they were any lengthy distance apart from one another. Skyfire was bigger and had more physical strength than the opposing seeker but Starscream was faster, more agile, and on top of that more experienced in battle than Skyfire was, despite his half year hiatus from the war. The two flyers locked with their palms holding each other back trying to push the other back, ignoring the other side of the room where Nightmare Moon and the others were. “What happened to you!? Give me a straight answer!” Starscream yelled at his friend. “Moment of doubt Starscream.” He explained though his voice seemed to disoriented for that moment “We all have our vices, most of us never overcome them or confusion this is when we are most vulnerable.” Starscream activated his jet thrusters to assist him in pushing the larger Cybertronian “What? What are you talking about?” Skyfire’s voice changed back to normal “Our race is irresponsible!” he yelled out as he resisted “What Celestia said when she crowned herself was absolutely right; we’ll never find peace, there will be eons and eons of war till we kill ourselves to extinction!” “You know better than that! Unicron will devour this planet and Cybertron is next!” The seeker tried to explain as he continued to try and push back the shuttle “Skyfire” “No.” The shuttle overpowered the seeker despite the seeker’s attempted to over power the larger Cybertronian, he pushed him back on his back. Starscream however, reacted quickly firing a rapid succession to him. The rapid fire not only pierced through him and breaks through his armor, and Starscream’s signature weapon held its affect, paralyzing him for at least a moment. The seeker turned his attention away saw Nightmare Moon talking down to the group, unsure of what she was doing but decided not to let it continued, obviously Nightmare Moon was influencing a lot of what was going on. He fired upon her. The Dark Alicorn saw this and quickly deflected the attack with a magic barrier; clearly she was getting sick of getting shot in the face with rockets and lasers. “How I would enjoy killing all of you…” She growled as she charged her horn and fired a blast of energy back but he dodged it. “Unicron will deal with you…but I have a few others to worry about it now.” “You get back here!” Luna cried out flying toward her charging a spell but before she could do anything Nightmare Moon disappeared. Behind them Skyfire disappeared with her. “Primus Damn it!” The seeker yelled out as he kicked the ground and letting out a few deep breaths. Fluttershy and Applejack ran toward the two savior stallions that aided their escape “Oh, are you okay Mac?” Fluttershy asked as she rubbed her neck against her coltfriend. “Ah’m alright sugarcube.” He answered returning the affection “Just glad I was able to help instead of standing back…felt useless.” Applejack chuckled, she remembered him expressing how useless he felt the last time with the Decepticons invading. Applejack never felt that way about her brother, quiet the opposite in fact, but she figured it was just a stallion thing. She then turned her attention to Duke who was getting himself up and picking up his launcher weapon putting it on his back. She chuckled and walked over to him “Well, looks like yur backin up that big ‘ol mouth yurs.” The stallion chuckled. He was a bit saddened at the fact that he failed in attracting her but unlike the rest of the group, at least she sort of accepted him “That’s right baby! When all else fails, I don’t!” “Now don’t get high and mighty.” Applejack chuckled “We’re not out of this yet.” The stallion only smirked adjusting his sunglasses and walking with her and the other two back to the rest of the group. “Good timing guys!” Pinkie Pie said with a smile “Looks like you guys saved us this time!” “Yeah, I guess you can call it returning the favor.” Shining Armor smirked as he looked over some other the rest of charges he had. “Where did you get these things? Obviously it’s not magic.” Twilight questioned as she looked over one of them, getting them from bag with telekinesis magic. “That’s a bit of a long story, but let’s just say thank goodness Doctor Whooves was able to reprogram the space bridge and take us in here.” “How did he figure that out? Cybertronian technology is well above your understanding.” Starscream explained merely looking over the group. “Let’s just say that thing on your flank sort of helped.” Duke explained as he walked up to them. “So what do we do now? I really, really hope we can leave soon” Rarity growled “This place is disgusting!” “What do you expect when you get eaten?” Pinkie explained. At this moment they all heard a loud booming and continuous fire, sound similar to the Cybertronian weapons but larger. There were also a bit explosions being heard and a bit of rumbling but nothing disorienting. “The assault.” Starscream said knowing the attack had finally begun. “We’re inside, its best we see if we can get to the two of them before they can aid in Unicron’s protection.” Celestia said. The group seemed to agree with this course of action and moved on to the exit that Duke and the others made to make their grand entrance. Most of them were on foot but the two pegasi flew above and even Rainbow Dash flew on top of the seeker’s shoulder. It was at that moment that he noticed the colorful mare was a bit…off. “Is there something the matter?” The seeker asked quietly, something a bit difficult considering his size. Rainbow shook her head “Uh, no it’s just…eh nothing it’s just…nothing.” The seeker didn’t buy it but didn’t push it “Very well.” Rainbow Dash turned away, not too happy lying to him. As she was knocked out, she saw visions of the addressed seeker. Was that who he was? Was that the person he was before he came to Equestria? “It’s…no biggy.”