//------------------------------// // 5. The Turning // Story: Transquestria // by Spiderprime1 //------------------------------// Smokescreen lunged at Megatron, and was promptly swatted to the ground. Ratchet ran forward, arm blades extended, he swung with his left arm, Megatron met the doctor's blade with his own. He then grabbed Ratchet by the throat and threw him to the back wall. "Trixie has found a way back home thanks to Trixie's new ally!" Bulkhead came hobbling out from a side hallway, wondering what the noise was. Megatron raised his cannon arm and fired three times at Bulkhead, the first two missed, but the last one hit him in his bad leg and he dropped to the floor with a thud. Megatron then turned to Trixie, "Are you sure this will work?" "Trixie is one hundred percent sure." "Then let us begin, what do I need to do?" "Activate the bridge with no coordinates entered in." Megatron turned to the ground bridge controls and activated the bridge. Trixie then looked at the giant vortex and lit her horn and shot a beam into the vortex. Then Megatron turned to the other ponies, "One of you will test the bridge to see if it worked or not, I will supply you with a comlink so that you can report back to me." Rarity and Pinkie shuddered, holding each other, while Spike got up and started to walk forward. Rarity reached out and put her hoof on his shoulder, "What do you think you're doing!?" "Rarity, if this is the only way to get back home, then I'm willing to go for it!" then he leaned in close so only she and Pinkie could hear, "Besides, I can dash to the library and send a letter to Celestia before this bozo can do any harm." Spike walked forward and Megatron put a communicator in Spike's ear. "Now remember, whether it is your home land or not, you will report back through your communicator." commanded Megatron. "What if it isn't Equestria?" asked Spike. "Then you will have a new home, and I will try again with your white and pink friends and then the Autobots until we get it right." Pinkie and Rarity cringed and held each other closer at the sound of those words, while Ratchet and Smokescreen looked apprehensive. Spike gulped, gave one last look at his friends, "I'll see you on the other side." Then he walked through the vortex. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "GAHH!! What am I doing wrong?!" screamed Knockout as he slammed his hand down on the flat rock he had made a table out of from rock, cut out of the side of the cave.The two remaining Vehicons stood guard at the mouth of the cave. Knockout had assembled his 'super communicator' and had it set to the Decepticon frequency, the only problem was he and his two guards were the only Decepticons in this new world. Knockout stared at his 'super communicator' which, to his credit, was working, but was picking up nothing but static. He was about to turn it off and throw it against the nearest Vehicon, but just then, something came across the channel. "Okay - mad- -- to eques----, --peat, I -ade it -o equ---ria." Knockout couldn't believe what he was hearing: one, his communicator was picking up a broadcast; and two, who other than the Decepticons had access to this frequency, let alone in this world? Then, a second voice came in, one he had been hoping to hear. "Ver- --od Spike, I wil- send --ur com-a-ions thro--- fir-t, --en I -ill fol--w, Meg--ron out!" Knockout was overjoyed, he was rescued at last, he just had to let Megatron know he was here, now to put his communicator to the real test. - - Autobot Headquarters - - Megatron was watching as Pinkie Pie and Rarity began to walk towards the Ground Bridge Portal while being escorted by Trixie, when he heard something, "-ord ---atron! Lor- Mega--on! --is is ---ckout, -o -ou -ead me?!" Megatron's eyes widened in shock, he touched his finger to his ear communicator. "Knockout, is that you? Where are you?" "Lo-d Me-atron! -hank -he Allsp-rk, I am --randed in a lan- -ull of -onies -hat c-n tal-. I sor-ly --ed he-p evac---ing this -park for -ake- --ace." Megatron tried to gather as much of what Knockout was saying through his garbled transmission, but he got the gist of it. "Do not worry Knockout, your leader shall come to your aid, Megatron out!" - - Knockout's Cave - - Knockout was overjoyed at the news, he called the Vehicons over to him. "Listen up, Lord Megatron will be coming soon to take us home, but I still need to know the whereabouts of Starscream and the Autobots. I have removed your communicators from the 'super' one, here, now you can report to me when you spot something. Stick together and start in the town, if we can't find Starscream, at least we can start looking for the Autobots, and I doubt that they left that town without trying to fix it from when we arrived." The Vehicons nodded and turned to leave the cave when one of them saw the faint glow of a Space Bridge Portal appearing on the outskirts of a park. "Commander Knockout, come look!" Knockout came over and saw the Portal, he patted the Vehicon on the shoulder. "Very good, I'll go and meet Lord Megatron while you two go and spy on the town, now let's move out!" ~~~~~ Spike was already running for the Library. He was determined to send a letter to the Princess to let her know what was coming. Unfortunately, he was spotted by Trixie, who proceeded to grab him in a glow of her magic and lifted him up into the air. "Look here what Trixie has found, Megatron! A loose captive no doubt trying to alert his other friends!" shouted Trixie just as Megatron walked through the Portal. Megatron looked down at Spike, a scowl on his face, he raised his arm cannon and pointed it at Spike. "I believe our scaly friend has outlived his usefulness to us, wouldn't you agree?" Trixie's eyes widened at that statement, her malicious grin shifted to a shocked look of surprise, she turned to Megatron to ask if he had really just suggested killing Spike when she saw something come out of the Portal at a very high speed. Megatron took the look on her face as a notion to look at the Portal, and as he turned his head, he came face to face with Smokescreen's fist. Smokescreen punched Megatron hard in the face, so hard it actually knocked him off balance. Smokescreen took that split second to reach down, scoop up Rarity and Pinkie, pluck Spike out of the air, transform, and burn rubber away from Megatron and Trixie. "We need to get to the Library in Ponyville, now!" shouted Spike. "No, we need to regroup with Optimus and the other Autobots." replied Smokescreen. "The letter I send to Celestia will get to her faster than we will to the others, trust me." Spike retorted. "Fine, which way?" asked Smokescreen. Spike told him which way and Smoke tore off towards Ponyville. Megatron held his forehead, groaning, not out of pain, but out of irritation that yet another Autobot was here in this new land he was planning on conquering. Just then, he and Trixie heard another engine roar coming towards them, Trixie readied herself for round two with Smokescreen, but Megatron stepped in front of her, he knew who it really was. A sleek red and silver sports car came into view and transformed into Knockout. "My liege, how good it is to see you, keeping different company now are we?" Knockout added seeing Trixie standing beside Megatron's foot. "She is the reason that I am here, so you will treat her with the respect that you give me, understood?" "Understood, so, where are our re-enforcements?" asked Knockout looking at the Portal behind Megatron. "I'm afraid Knockout, that it is just the three of us this time." "Five, actually, two of the troops survived long enough to help us, and it just so happens that I sent them on a recon mission to a town not far from here to look for the Autobots." Megatron grinned, "Well, I know of at least one Autobot that they'll find there." ~~~~~ Smokescreen was parked outside of the Ponyville Library. Pinkie was in Smoke's passenger seat talking and laughing with Smokescreen, while Spike and Rarity went inside to send Spike's letter. While he enjoyed her company, he told her that he felt safer if she had stayed with the others, to which she rebuttaled that she felt safer knowing Spike wasn't going to be ambushed inside the Library. Spike was almost done writing when he and Rarity heard Smokescreen's horn and Pinkie Pie screaming, "Hurry up! We gotta go!" The urgency in Pinkie's voice prompted Rarity to look out the window, and then grab Spike and flip him onto her back saying, "Yes, we do need to go, we have unwanted company." Rarity ran down the staircase and out the door and jumped into Smokescreen's open passenger door all while Spike was holding on and trying to finish his letter at the same time. ~~~~~ Princess Celestia sat on her throne, she was awaiting the arrival of Twilight, undoubtedly her friends, and the group of giant robots called Autobots. She wasn't sure how well they would receive the news she had to give them. She knew that they wouldn't like it, but hoped that they would keep calm and understand her reasons. Then, with a loud creak, the doors to the throne room opened across the hall. "Princess Celestia. Twilight Sparkle has arrived, as you informed," A guard announced soon after. Princess Celestia raised her head to look onward, seeing her student, Twilight, along with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Following close behind them were four towering figures, making Celestia tense for a moment. The Autobots ducked under the door to squeeze in, but stood tall in the large hall. The first three were large, but nothing in comparison to the last. The red Autobot easily towered over the others, and stood with an air of authority. "Twilight," Celestia cheerfully greeted her faithful student, "I'm glad you could make it here so quickly." "Of course, we came here as fast as we could." replied Twilight. As the Autobots stepped closer, Optimus prime receded his face plate as a sign of respect to Celestia. She took notice of this and regarded him to be the one named Optimus Prime. She was immediately proven right. "Princess Celestia, I am Optimus Prime, this is Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and Arcee. I am told that you have information that pertains to us?" Celestia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, drew up her composure, re-opened her eyes, and answered, "Yes, I do...but it may not be the news you were hoping to hear." "You haven't found Starscream have you?" asked Arcee. "As a matter of fact, I have," as she said this, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack's eyes widened, "But that is not the information I have to share with you." "What? What could you possibly tell us that's more important than the location of Starscream?" interjected Wheeljack. "I believe I may possess an artifact that you may have some familiarity with.." stated the Princess. Optimus stepped forward, his eyes widened, "You have an artifact from our home planet, how could you be certain?" "It is because of the size of the object." She paused, watching them, "It is about his size, and made of material foreign to Equestria." as Celestia said this, she pointed her hoof at Wheeljack. "My size?" he asked. Celestia nodded. "I had discovered it many years ago. I was searching for a place to build a new castle, after our previous one was... ruined. I had been unable to determine it's origins, until now." She looked straight into Optimus Prime's eyes, "After hearing of your arrival, I was unsure if I should share this information with you. But, from what my student has spoken of you, I am sure that you would know more of this than I." Wheeljack scratched his head. "Well, that doesn't sound like anything the three of us would know about. Prime, what do you think?" Optimus thought for a moment. "This artifact you found, is it a rust color?" The other Autobots turned, surprised from Optimus' question. Celestia merely nodded. "Yes." "Is there a keypad on the object" "I'm sorry, a keypad?" Celestia asked, confused. Optimus thought of a simple description, " A square panel with buttons on it." "Yes, I believe so." "Is there a red glass pane? One where you can see a silhouette of one of our kind?" "Yes, it looks similar to, Wheeljack was it?" Celestia looked again to the white Autobot. "Yeah, that's me." Wheeljack said haughtily. He leaned back against one of the pillars that lined the throne room, and nodded to Arcee with a smile on his face. She rolled her eyes in return. "It's a prisoner capsule," Optimus started, "created to contain certain Cybertronians who's behavior was an endangerment to our planet." The ponies looked shocked. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew up to Optimus' face, pointing an accusing hoof towards him. "Wait, if that's true, why didn't you guys just lock Megatron up in one of those in those things?" Optimus merely looked back in her eyes. "It is of Decepticon design." Everyone was surprised for a moment, then Twilight spoke out. "What exactly does that mean then?" "Though it may come as a surprise to you, Megatron does care for the well being of Cybertron, for if something happened to it, he would have no planet to rule. However, for those who would threaten his planet or his quest for power, he'd simply destroy them, but some foes were not so easily destroyed, some fought back harder than was anticipated. Megatron had his top scientists, led by Shockwave, to develop a way to contain those he could not destroy. These prisoner capsules were made and modified to specifically contain and nullify, if not kill, the bot it was created for, then, once captured, Megatron would jettison the capsule into deep space, where they would drift forever trapped in stasis." "Then how'd this one here end up in Equestria?" asked Applejack. "Shockwave had tracking devices on each of the capsules and fitted with booster jets, so that if one would get near a planet, he could shift their course so they would still drift in space." "How do you know all this?" asked Arcee, turning to Optimus with a puzzled expression. "Because, I tried to liberate the Autobots trapped inside them. Ironhide and I found the capsule facility back in the war, we captured the facility and tracked down each of the capsules we knew to house Autobots within them, and bridge them back home. ~~~~~ "Optimus, we gotta hurry, the cons are beating down the door! How many are left?!" shouted Ironhide. Optimus concentrated on the codes on the screen and the codes Perceptor had deciphered for him back at base with the Decepticon Intel he had intercepted. His fingers flew over the keyboard. "Only a few left, I've already found Hot Rod, Kup, and Sideswipe, I only need to find Jazz, Trailbreaker, Hound, and Grimlock and we'll be good to go old friend!" Optimus replied. Just then a laser blast buffeted the door and shook the whole room, Shockwave had joined the party. Another blast hit and a crack started to form on the door. "We gotta go Prime, who's left?" shouted Ironhide as he readied his liquid nitrogen gun. "I've just bridged back Hound and Trailbreaker, hold on...I've found jazz...sending bridge to coordinates...got him, now all that's left is Grimlock, pod number 1986P928." "Well get to it! Shockwave's not to happy 'bout us touchin' his lab!" All of a sudden, another blast hit the door and it gave way, flying in and topppling over Ironhide, who skidded back, just behind Optimus. Three Vehicon troopers and Shockwave stormed into the lab. Ironhide grabbed his gun and blasted the closest Vehicon with liquid nitrogen, who froze on impact and fell to the floor shattering into a thousand pieces. Shockwave fired at Ironhide, hitting him in the shoulder. Ironhide knocked back from the force of the blast into Optimus who, moments before was intently looking at the screen, had found Grimlock's pod number midst the mass of code, when Ironhide fell into him and knocked him against the screen and keyboard, he unknowingly scrolled through the code. "No, I had him, where is he?" Optimus gasped, frantically scanning the code again. Shockwave fired again, this time he hit the screen just as Optimus found the code 1986P---, he hit the bridge generator just as a warning from that capsule sounded, it was near a black hole. Optimus put the capsule on screen and it showed it heading towards a black hole, then the space bridge opened in front of the black hole, the space bridge changed from the normal green and blue color to a more reddish color and sucked the capsule in and the bridge vanished. Optimus stared at the screen in horror, as he realized the capsule was lost forever, thanks to him. ~~~~~ "I can only assume that that is the same capsule, could you lead us there?" asked Optimus. "Of course, it would be my--" A blinding white flash shone through the palace, emanating from out side in the front courtyard. Celestia rose, and galloped for the front doors, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy ran after her. The Autobots turned to see what was the matter. Celestia flung open the doors, the other ponies by her side, the Autobots just behind them. They looked out into the courtyard and saw a dozen guards with their spears all aimed at Starscream and... "No, it can't be..." stammered Celestia. "Ha ha ha ha," laughed Nightmare Moon. "Hm hm, hello sister dear, we have many things to discuss."