//------------------------------// // Grimlock vs. Ursa Minor(s) // Story: My Little Pony: Grimlock is King // by Flanagan //------------------------------// “WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed running in front of Grimlock, “Are you crazy?! You just can’t-“ “Grimlock not listen to puny horse…” Grimlock replied picking her up by the nape of her neck and putting her back behind him, “You too weak to fight big thing, Grimlock strong and like to fight.” “But I’ve already-“ Twilight’s rebuttal was drowned by the gut wrenching sound of crumbling earth and scraping metal. The two beasts had descended on Grimlock faster than she anticipated, and frankly faster than he anticipated as well. Grimlock and the Ursa Minors slammed into the ground barely avoiding Twilight and a small group of onlookers. The two Ursas mounted Grimlock and proceeded to do their best to tear him apart. Grimlock had other plans however, kicking both of them off at once he rose to his feet and readied his sword, only to be yelled at by Twilight. “Grimlock!” she cried frantically waving her hooves, “What are you doing?!” “Saving weak horses from stupid blue bears!” he yelled backs swirling his sword in a figure eight, “Thank Grimlock later!” “But you can’t kill them!” she yelled back. “WHY NOT?!” he roared back, growing frustrated. “Why you horses scared of fighting?” “We’re not, but please don’t hurt them!” She begged, “Their just-“ Again her pleas were drown by the sounds of scraping metal, but this time Grimlock was prepared, blocking the assault with his free arm the two celestial beasts became latched to his arm. Then with a powerful swing he launched to two from his arm into the open field just in front of Ponyville. “Fine!” he said throwing his sword into the ground, missing Twilight and the others gathered next to her by mere inches, in fact Twilight may have had an inch or two removed from her bangs, “Grimlock just take them down old fashioned way!” Slamming his fist into an open palm Grimlock stood fast before against the two as they hopped up to their feet. The opposing parties stood on opposite sides of the field, the Ursas had the forest at their back, but they showed no intention of running. Grimlock stood there with the town at his back, wondering if he should even make an effort to try and protect them, but then there was the promise he had made to the pretty horse. The one to not bring harm to her subjects, and if he were to let them get through then her subjects would certainly be harmed. So Grimlock made the only logical decision he could, protect the horses and their pathetic town. The Ursas made the first move simultaneously roaring as they charged. Grimlock responded in kind unleashing a metallic bellow that would unnerve even the steeliest foes before charging the two headlong himself. The sound of thunder rumbles through the air and ground with each step until finally flesh and metal collided in the most unnatural of sounds. The two forces pushed against one another, biding for control early, but they were currently at a stalemate. While the three wrestled for control Twilight was joined by her friends and a mass of other spectators. “Such savagery…” Rarity replied in disbelief, “The Princesses expect us to make friends with the likes of that brute?” “I think she just wants him to rebuild Ponyville.” Twilight replied, “But if we keep getting unwanted visitors…” Twilights eyes shot out like daggers over to Trixie, causing her to back away with a sheepish grin on her face. With a deep breath she turned her attention back to the clash of titans. The Ursas seemed to be putting all of their strength into their attempt to topple Grimlock, which was expected. Twilight had read in several volumes that when Ursa Minors hunt with their mother the young will try to knock over the pray while the adult came in for the killing blow, but that wasn’t the interesting part of the whole thing. Grimlock seemed to be frozen, completely locked up as the Ursas tried to knock him over. She wondered why he hadn’t moved yet, surely he was straining against the might of two very young, but very strong animals. She started to think deeper into the matter but Grimlock didn’t let her ponder long. Taking a step forward that cracked and shook the ground, Grimlock thrust his weight into his opponents. The two were no match or his overwhelming strength and quickly flew into the air, landing some distance away. “Come on!” Grimlock roared throwing a fist into the air, “Puny blue bears can’t push Grimlock now fight!” The two looked to one another with uncertainty but finally they prepared for a second charge. A charge that Grimlock was expecting, grabbing the lead Ursa he easily lifted the best over his head and slammed it onto the ground. The second jumped onto Grimlock’s chest but it was easily thrown off the second he released the first. “Grimlock thought blue bears would be strong!” he shouted jumping back to his feet, “You just as weak as little horses!” Twilight, as well as everypony that were spectating became slightly insulted, but they knew that if not for him then his town would be in even worse shape. That thought made Twilight turn her attention from the one-sided battle in front of her over to the reason for it. Twilight left the gathering, prompting her friends to follow. They were confused at first, wondering why she wasn’t taking notes on both the Ursas and Grimlock’s behavior. They found it soon enough however, when they saw the she had cornered a certain sky blue unicorn with a silver mane. “Alright Trixie…” Twilight said in a commanding tone, “Why did you do it?” “Didn’t Trixie already explain this?” She asked with an awkward smile, “Trixie was trying to do one better than you.” “Trixie…” “Very well then…” Trixie said with a sigh. “As you know Trixie has fallen on hard times.” “You’ve already explained that when you came here the last time.” Rainbow grunted, “You even started working on a rock farm.” “Well it’s become even harder since then…” Trixie replied lowering her head, “Nopony has come to see Trixie… even if she has changed her ways… even the earth ponies of Appaloosa do not wish to see Trixie’s show!” “Well that’s a darn shame.” Applejack said shaking her head, “But that still don’t explain why ya made two Ursa Minors angrier than a rattlesnake in a mongoose den.” “Trixie was trying to make a name for herself again!” she replied, “And if Trixie did one better than the newest princess then ponies would flock to her shows once again!” “Trixie… do you have any IDEA how much danger you put not only yourself, but all of Ponyville in?!” Twilight yelled, “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” “What else was Trixie supposed to do?!” she cried, “She hasn’t been able to make ends meet in so long!” “You could always ask for help…” Twilight replied, “You’re lucky that Grimlock is here with us, I’m not sure I could calm them both down at the same time.” “Well if that big hunk of metal has his way they’ll be down for sure…” Rainbow said rolling her eyes, “Just not in the calm fashion.” “I already told him to be easy with them.” Twilight said waving her hoof passively, “I’m sure he’ll listen to what I-“ SLAM! The sound of metal hitting stone echoed across the town and shook the ground with earthquake force. The seven ponies looked to the epicenter of the fall and saw Grimlock staggering to his feet. “They get strong quick.” He said holding his head. “Oh no…” Twilight said looking to the darkening sky, “What time is it?” “'bout eight.” Applejack replied, “Why?” “Oh no…” Twilight repeated, frantically looking around “oh no, oh no ,oh no, OH NO!” “What’s the matter Twi?” Applejack asked, doing her best to calm her down. “You haven’t been this way since ya had that little spat bout being tarty.” “If I still had the book I’d show you…” Twilight said shooting a glare over to Grimlock. “I’m sure you could just tell us…” Rainbow grunted, “I’m sure we’ll believe you.” “Ursa Minors; and any other celestial beast for that matter are creatures of the night…” Twilight began. “Meaning?” Applejack and Rainbow said simultaneously. “Meaning at night they become much stronger, much faster… and far more deadly.” “What?!” the group yelled. “The night makes them stronger.” Twilight said bluntly. “How is that even possible?!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Are they WHEREPONIES?!” “No Pinkie…” Twilight replied dragging her hoof across her face, “It’s their magical connection to the stars, somehow it makes them stronger.” “Even stronger than Grimlock?” Fluttershy squeaked looking to the giant concerned. “No…” Grimlock growled driving his fists into the timber at either side. “Now what are you doing?” Rainbow asked. “Mahogany knuckles…” Grimlock replied walking to his powered up foes. “Those are actually oak trees.” Twilight corrected, “And why would you use those when your fists are so much-“ THUNK! The sound of wood bashing against the jaw of an Ursa drowned out Twilight’s words in Grimlock’s head. That made him feel better, one less distraction he had to deal with while he beat the two creatures back into the field. He hoped the wood was soft enough not to hurt them too bad, not that he cared, he was only doing it as a precaution. He already knew the little horses saw him as a monster and if he really bloodied these animals up they may just throw him in the pit again, permanently shutting the door on his quest to bring Shockwave to his breed of justice. Swing by swing He pushed his foes back, even if it was them just avoiding his strikes his plan was working. With every second they grew closer to the field, where Grimlock could really let loose. With only a few steps left Grimlock threw a punch that he’d hoped would drive the Ursas to his final goal. But instead of backing away, one of them jumped forward, wrapping its jaws around Grimlock’s wood laden hand. Biting down harder than it ever had before the Ursa snapped the tree trunk enough for it fall off of Grimlock’s hand. Pulling back quickly to avoid being caught in the vice grip that was the Ursa’s mouth he pulled back his other hand for a punch, but before he could strike he was met with surprising resistance. He turned around to see the second Ursa, who had used the first’s distraction to come behind Grimlock and hold him in place. “Stupid Grimlock…” he growled to himself, trying his best to pull his fist out of the Ursa’s mouth without losing the tree, “Me should know better, now-“ SNAP! The tree that surrounded Grimlock’s fist splintered onto the ground, leaving him without a means of softening his blows. Now what to do? He thought, He was barely giving them love taps before night fell and since the purple one with a stupid crown said they’ve gotten stronger he knew he couldn’t toy with them like that anymore. However if he let loose his full force he may very well end up in the pit again. He didn’t get much time to ponder his current situation however, the first Ursa had used Grimlock’s thinking to his advantage and threw his feet out from under him. He tried to get back up but the combined weight and strength of the two Ursa’s were suddenly on top of him, forcing him back into the dirt. Now it was the Ursas turn to attack and they did so with bestial vigor. The two began slashing and biting at his metal skin, doing everything they could think of to cut Grimlock down to size. They didn’t meet much success however, if they were succeeding at anything it was keeping him down… and making Grimlock angry. That notion seemed to be lost on the ponies that were watching in disbelief. From what they could see he was losing badly and that didn’t sit well with a certain yellow pegasus. “He’s in trouble!” she said quickly grabbing Twilight’s foreleg “Grimlock needs our help!” “He said he could handle himself.” Rainbow replied rolling her eyes, “We’d just get in his way… we are just ‘puny little horses’ after all…” “Rainbow how could you say that?” Twilight scolded “He may not be the most polite… thing… but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help him.” “I think it’s good to see him put in his place, that’s all.” Rainbow said shrugging her shoulders, “I knew that he wasn’t all that.” Suddenly Grimlock burst from the bottom of the pile, roaring with newfound ferocity. The Ursas flew into the air landing nearly fifty feet away from their foe. He was now back on his feet and more than ready for round three. The Ursas brought themselves back to their feet two before looking to one another then back to their foe. Grimlock stood fast beating his chest in a taunting matter, begging the two to charge him and they were more than willing to oblige. Roaring simultaneously they charged him once again, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to match their combined strength. That may have been the case the moment the sun went down, but that time had passed. Grimlock had felt their full strength, he knew that they had limits, limits that would soon be reached. Grimlock waited for them this time, knowing that the longer they ran the quicker they would grow tired, a problem that Grimlock and others like him didn’t have. Just a few seconds longer, he thought to himself then he could crush those puny bears and get to rebuilding the town so he could… “Oooooh! This is SO exciting!” A high pitched, nausea inducing voice shrieked, breaking his concentration. He looked to his shoulder to see that annoying little horse that doused him in confetti. “Little horse!” Grimlock yelled before being slammed into the ground by the Ursas again. Grabbing one by the throat and the other by its arm, Grimlock threw the two bears off of himself and rose to his feet once more. “That not happen again…” he growled reading himself for another charge. “What won’t happen again?” the voice said again this time from the opposite shoulder. “Oh, I know! Like when you-“ “Not now little horse!” Grimlock roared the moment one of the Ursa’s grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to the ground. “Grimlock busy!” Using the Ursa’s own momentum against itself he swung it in a complete circle before slamming it into the ground. The other Ursa tried to come from behind, but Grimlock spun around fast enough to catch it by the jaw. With a fist square in the chest the Ursa went flying back into the forest. “Wow Grimlock that was SO COOL!” Pinkie said bouncing atop his head, “I mean that Ursa was like GRRR and you were like RWAR! And then you did that one thing where you picked it up and-“ “SHUT UP!” Grimlock roared pinching her by the nape of the neck and bringing her within inches of his pulsing red visor “Pink horse almost as bad as Rainbow one!” “Aw don’t get your gears rusty silly!” Pinkie replied somehow freeing herself and perching herself on Grimlock’s shoulder yet again, “You’ve gotta-“ “Grimlock busy!” he roared, taking yet another unnecessary attack from one of the Ursas. “Well… If you’re gonna be a meanie pants about it!” Pinkie said turning up her nose and hopping off his shoulder a second before it became wrapped in the second Ursa’s jaw. Now that his attention was finally undivided Grimlock was allowed to give the Ursas what was coming to them. Grabbing the Ursa attached to his shoulder it barely took any effort to pry the beasts jaw from his chaise. However Grimlock wasn’t finished yet, now he had a fuzzy club. Wielding his newfound weapon he slammed his Ursa into the other, launching it fifty feet easily before throwing the other to the opposite side of the field. It didn’t take long for the Ursas to hop back up to their feet and get back into the fray. Grimlock looked to his relentless foes and let out a deep, low metallic growl. One very similar to what the ponies had heard before Grimlock showed them his terrifying primal form. Acting quickly Twilight left her friends in an attempt to reason with Grimlock, hoping to stem the tides of what very well may have been inevitable. “Grimlock?!” Twilight cried to him trying in vain to get his attention, “Grimlock if you lose control you’ll put everypony in danger and we’ll have to contain you permanently!” “Little… Horse…” Grimlock growled clinching his fists, looking to the two ever approaching bears. “Yes Grimlock! Little horse!” Twilight yelled, desperately trying to gain his attention again, “Grimlock! Please if you can hear me stop! Or you’ll hurt the little horses and break your promise to the pretty white one!” “Little… Horse…” he repeated clinching his fists even tighter as his body began to pulse an eerie red. “Run…” “NO!” Twilight yelled, “Grimlock you need to-“ “I’d listen ta him if I was you Twi!” Applejack yelled the moment her lasso wrapped around Twilight’s waist, “We’d better clear the area before-“ CLANK! The sound of bone clamping onto metal drowned out any other sound near the ponies and Grimlock. The Ursas had latched on to Grimlock’s hands, and they weren’t about to let go. Grimlock remained still seemingly ignoring the fact that the two Ursas were holding him down, but the ponies who had seen him in Ponyville yesterday knew that something else was about to happen. “We need to get back there!” Twilight yelled trying to fight Applejacks superior strength, “We need to calm him down!” “Why should we?” Rainbow asked, “He goes primeval, beats the Ursas up everypony wins!” “You forgot the part where he hurts them…” Fluttershy said softly. “And the part where he turns his attention to us!” Rarity said, “You do remember what happened the last time he became that monster, right?” “That’s what I’m counting on…” Rainbow said with a smirk as she looked back to Grimlock. “How could you say something like that?!” Twilight exclaimed, “If he reverts back to his old ways then we’ll have to seal him away forever!” “That’s the point!” Rainbow roared back, “He’s too dangerous to be free! AND we can’t stop him because the elements think he’s good for Celestia knows what!” “If he were evil then he would’ve let those Ursas tear us apart, Rainbow Dash…” Twilight said in a soft tone, “but there’s something else isn’t there? Another reason you want him locked away.” “T-that doesn’t matter!” Rainbow stuttered, “He’s still way too dangerous to-“ “Rainbow…” Twilight said commandingly, “Tell me why you want him to be locked a-“ “BECAUSE HE-“ Before she could explain why she had such distrust for Grimlock a rumble came from the woods followed by another far more violent one. The ponies looked to the Everfree to see birds fleeing their homes, they could hear trees snapping and bending in the wake of whatever was coming their way, soon a smell indescribable met their nostrils. Finally their last clue came to them in the form of a hulking shadow rising from the forest into the night sky, a shadow that stood over twice the size of Grimlock himself. “No…” Twilight said slowly shaking her head, “No, it can’t be…” “Can’t be a what?” Rainbow asked just before a terrible roar came from the shadow. “An Ursa Major…” “An Ursa what?!” Applejack exclaimed. “An Ursa Major…” Twilight repeated, “More than likely the young one’s parent…” “What’s it doing here?” Rarity asked, “Surely it has to have a reason to come all this way.” “It’s babies.” Twilight replied, “Trixie must’ve lured them away from their den and now the adult has come looking for them…” “Well… they found ‘em…” Applejack said backing away slowly. “Any suggestions Twilight? I’d love to hear one or two right ‘bout now…” “Try to be as nonthreatening as possible.” Twilight replied, “It may just be here for its cubs.” “Or it could be here for a late night snack…” Rainbow pointed out. “I LOVE snacking!” Pinkie interjected, “I’m sure that I could find some cookies or maybe even some-“ “Not now Pinkie.” Twilight said with worry in her voice, “Besides Ursas don’t like baked food.” “Then what DO they like?” Pinkie asked sliding Twilight’s hoof out of the way, “I’m sure that they’d love some lollypops! Or maybe even some jawbreakers or Cotton candy!” “They don’t eat sweets Pinkie!” Twilight half yelled before regaining her composure, “They eat… meat.” “Wait just a second…” Applejack said, “They eat meat… are you trying ta say that they’ll try ta eat Grimlock?” The Ursa Major stepped into the field where its young and Grimlock stood, licking its long fangs while it eyed Grimlock up and down. “I’ll take that as a yes…” Applejack said slowly backing away. “Indeed…” Rarity replied following Applejack’s lead, “Shouldn’t we… you know… find a place to hide so when it realizes that he’s not meat they don’t look at us like hordevers?” “We can’t leave Grimlock out there like that…” Fluttershy said, “Not after he protected us.” “Fluttershy’s right.” Twilight replied looking to the Ursa Major then to Grimlock, “But how are we going to do it?” “Why can’t we just let it be?” Rainbow asked, “I’m sure that it’ll sort itself out.” “We all know that’s not how we should deal with this.” Twilight replied with some agitation in her voice, “We need to-“ She was silenced by yet another thunderous step taken by the Ursa Major. Now it stood before Grimlock towering over him while it continued to examine its would be meal. Such a large creature was hard to come by in the Everfree, and it would certainly tide itself and the younglings over for a while. It also seemed to be immobilized by the younglings. They were such good hunters, even at their age. All that needed to be done now was to silence the meal forever, and it was more than willing to do so. Twilight and company looked onward in horror as the Ursa major reared up and opened its mouth wide. “It’s going to try to eat Grimlock!” Twilight cried, “We need to help him!” “You’ve gotta stay here!” Applejack replied, using all her strength to hold her down, “I’m sure he’ll get out of it.” In truth she had no idea; Grimlock had shown that he was more than strong enough to handle the two babies, even with their nocturnal upgrade. But now he just seemed to be standing their waiting to be bear chow. “Grimlock!” Twilight yelled one last time, “Grimlock they’re going to eat you!” Somehow, someway Twilight’s desperate plea reached Grimlock’s audio sensors. He looked to his sides he saw that the two Ursas still had him in their jaws and that there was one over twice his size standing in front of them with jaws wide open. Grimlock’s visor, and the rest of his body for that matter, began to glow a furious red. He was not about to be something’s chew toy. “No one…” he growled steeling himself before he acted, “NO ONE EATS GRIMLOCK!” Suddenly and with terrifying ease Grimlock brought his arms together, forcing the two Ursa’s skulls to slam into one another, effectively knocking them out. The Ursa Major looked down in horror and rage; this thing had just hurt its young, now it was going to pay. Grimlock had other plans however, he stood there waiting for the big bear to take action and when it finally lunged for him, he didn’t take long to react. CRACK! The bloodcurdling echo of snapping bone rocked the night air as Grimlock’s fist met the Ursa Major’s jaw squarely. The Ursa Major took several steps back, completely dazed by the raw power that had just been unleashed on it, but it didn’t end there. Grimlock continued his ruthless assault, swinging away at his foe until finally with one last powerful right. Grimlock shattered the Ursa’s muzzle, letting some of its teeth fly into the night air as well. The ponies hiding among the rubble poked their heads out to see three fallen Ursas, one of them an adult and Grimlock standing over the bodies, still pulsing red. The sudden crowd began to cheer and chat the name of the very being that just over twenty four hours ago destroyed their town. The celebration was cut short however when they saw Grimlock walk up the unconscious Ursa Major and garb it by the throat. “YOU THINK YOU CAN EAT GRIMLOCK?!” He roared, raising the head so that the unresponsive beast would look at him, “YOU THINK YOU STRONGER THAN GRIMLOCK?!” Suddenly Grimlock slammed the Ursa’s head into the ground, causing even more bone to break. “YOU WEAK! GRIMLOCK STRONG! GRIMLOCK STRONGEST EVER!” He rose his foot to end the pathetic bear’s life but before metal met bone one last time the sound of one of the six little horses came into his mind “Grimlock!” she cried from behind him, “Grimlock stop!” He turned around to see it was Fluttershy, her eyes were flowing that liquid that the humans called tears. Humans had tears when they when they were either sad happy of really angry and judging by the look on her face she was very sad. Weak, he thought to himself, crying about something never made much sense to Grimlock the only thing he’d ever really known was his anger anyway, but since he was supposed to care about the puny horses and that this one was brave enough to stand up to him once he decided to humor her. “Why sad Fluttershy?” he asked, his visor slowly returning to blue, “Grimlock save town, now me just have to make sure they never come again. Grimlock promise that after he done you be sad no more.” He turned around again to deliver the killing blow but he was once again stopped by the voice of another little horse. “That’s why she’s sad Grimlock!” Twilight yelled, “She’s sad that you want to kill them!” “Why?” Grimlock asked tuning around once more. “They try to hurt town, You not happy that Grimlock help?” “We are sugar cube…” Applejack said stepping in, “We’re a might bit grateful and all, but yer method… it could use a softer approach.” “Me not understand.” “What she’s trying to say dear is that you shouldn’t act as such a brute and actually try NOT to destroy something while you protect something.” Rarity’s explanation garnered surprised yet fearful looks from her friends and what she could only assume to be an agitated look from the faceless Grimlock. “Well… it’s just a suggestion.” “Grimlock not need to be told how to live.” He grunted walking away from the downed Ursa, “But if it make little horses feel better me not kill them this time, no promises NEXT time though.” “Thank you Grimlock.” Fluttershy said with a warm smile. “No thank Grimlock.” He said walking past her, “Now back to remaking puny houses…” He started to walk away from the bodies, but just as he took a step he noticed that there was something glowing on the ground next to the Ursa Major’s tooth. Grimlock knelt down and dipped his fingers into the glowing liquid, rubbing it between his index finger and his thumb he nearly keeled over the moment he realized what it was. “Something wrong Grimlock?” Pinkie Pie asked, “I’m scared of things I’ve never seen before too, like I remember this one time when I was small my grand-“ “Grimlock not scared.” He said rising back to his feet, “Grimlock just… confused…” With that Grimlock went back to the wood pile to the sound of cheering ponies once again. Leaving Twilight and her friends to assess the overall damage done. “Two injured Ursa Minors… one severely injured Ursa Major…” Twilight said shaking her head, “This could only get worse if…” “Twilight Sparkle!” a familiar voice said from behind her and her friends, “What in Equestria has happened here?” “Princess Luna?!” Twilight squeaked, “What are… what brings you to here on this lovely night?” “I was going to convene with Grimlock to see if he needed specialty quarters made for him while he stayed with you.” She replied with a cocked eyebrow as she surveyed the field of battle, “But it seems that there has been an altercation with several of the night’s most powerful beasts.” “Oh… THESE things?” Twilight said looking to the Ursa Major and faking surprise, “Well yes, but they just decided to take a nap in the open field... for everypony to see… no fight here… right girls?” “Oh no…” Rainbow replied over dramatically, along with the others minus Applejack. “They’re totally napping, it’s not like they showed up and Grimlock beat them into submission in less than ten seconds flat.” Rainbow quickly covered her mouth while the others glare at her. Twilight’s hoof met her face yet again and slowly dragged downward. “Twilight Sparkle…” Princess Luna said in a commanding tone, making the young alicorn look to her in fear. “Y-yes Princess?” “I am very disappointed that you tried to lie to me,” she said authority, “but I see no reason for you to do it.” “What?” “These Ursas attacked the town and Grimlock saved it from further destruction,” Luna explained, “If anything you should be celebrating your lives right now.” “That’s what we were about to do!” Twilight said quickly, “but we thought we’d need to take care of this mess.” “Fear not young Twilight,” Luna said confidently, “I can manage this fine on my own. The six of you should be with the other townsfolk celebrating.” “Well… thank you Princess.” Twilight said with a smile, “Come on girls, let’s go have some fun.” The six left the princess to her work, but the decision not to tell her about how Grimlock turned the head of the Ursa Major into a crater didn’t sit well with one of them. “Why didn’t you tell her?” Rainbow asked flying up to Twilight, “If you told her that he nearly killed all of them then we wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore… not to mention Equestria would be a lot safer.” “He was protecting us the way he was probably trained.” Twilight replied. “Kill to protect?” Rainbow scoffed, “What kind of lunatic would ever allow that policy to slide?” “I really don’t think Grimlock has an overseer.” Twilight said, shaking her head, “Could you imaging the command presence somepony like that would have? He would have to be awe inspiring…” “And he’d have ta have a cool voice too.” Applejack added, “But I doubt that there’s anypony out there that sound like a robot John Mane.” The other ponies laughed at Applejack’s joke for a few seconds but then they were back to business. “Let’s just hurry up and try to be happy tonight.” Twilight said, “I’m sure Pinkie will defy that thing called physics and have a massive party ready for us by the time we get there.” “Funny you should say that.” Pinkie said from behind Twilight, “Cause I just set this up!” Looking to the town that saw massive party favors shaped like Grimlock and his odd symbol strewn throughout the town. They were about to ask how, but figured that it was Pinkie and they just better leave it at that. The party had lasted several hours into the evening and all were enjoying themselves, except for Grimlock. He had only one thing on his mind. The blood of the Ursa, he didn’t want to believe it but after extensive examination of what was on his fingers there was no doubt. Those animals bled energon, how he had no idea. Somehow his beloved Cybertron and these colorful, talking little horses were connected. Could scraps of some Cybertronian artifact landed on this world and helped create life? Was this like one of the many ‘experiment worlds’ that were abandon at the start of the world and this was the result? Grimlock decided to save it for another day, all the thinking was giving him a headache anyway. Then again the party was too, but in the end he decided that the lesser of the two evils was the celebration. So Grimlock sat down and tolerated the presence of the ponies. “Wow…” a teal unicorn said looking in awe at Grimlock. “He has such huge hands…” “What’s that supposed to mean?” the beige earth pony next to her asked. “It means you can touch them longer…” she replied with stars in her eyes. “Oh please Lyra…” she said dragging her hoof down her face, “Like he even let you touch them anyway.” “Stop crushing my dreams, Bon Bon!” Lyra said turning around to face Bon Bon, but she wasn’t there. “Who you lookin’ for Lyra?” Bon Bon asked from her opposite side. “Have you asked to touch his hands yet?” “But… but…” “But what Lyra?” “Weren’t you standing over here a few seconds ago?” Lyra asked pointing to her opposite side. “I told you I was going to the bathroom ten minutes ago.” Bon Bon replied shaking her head, “You need to listen to me better… Come on let’s get a drink before Berry Punch gets there!” “Oh… ok…” Lyra said looking to the outskirts of the party. Among the darkness the other Bon Bon ran into the forest, where it began to talk to itself. “Amazing strength… massive sword, can knock an Ursa Major out with one punch…” it repeated several times “Earlier finding show that it can change into… something… and that it is immune to the Elements of Harmony and other forms of magic… as well as no respect for the ponies minus Princess Celestia, who made him promise not to bring harm to them…” “You’ve done well…” a chilling voice said inside the head of the other Bon Bon, “I want another report in two days… don’t forget to change regularly… we can’t afford you being caught.” “Yes my queen…” the other Bon Bon said bowing to the air before being encompassed in green flame and taking the form of another pony before heading back to the party. “Well… it seems that Celestia has a new thrall…” Queen Chrysalis said rising from her throne. “I wonder how much he cares about her…”