//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Misunderstandings // Story: Transformers Armada: Starscream's Requiem // by Legofan //------------------------------// About an hour had passed since Rainbow Dash’s departure from the library, and during that time, not much had happened. Starscream continued to sulk at his spot around the main room’s table while Twilight had gone upstairs to get herself ready for the picnic later. In her absence, Spike had been assigned with keeping Starscream in line, so he watched from the base of the staircase, eating out of a tub of ice cream that he had grabbed once Twilight left. Running water could be heard from above, and Starscream presumed that she was taking a shower. Starscream had no plans to make Spike’s assignment difficult, which he figured would help with his standing amongst the ponies. As such, he simply stayed where he was, mind surprisingly blank and inactive. Not even thoughts of the Hive could keep his mind occupied for long; that topic had been overused, it would seem. It was probably in shambles, anyway. Boredom finally drove Starscream to move. He had never been one for staying in a single spot for long amounts of time, but if he was going to be forced to do it, he might as well do it with a book. He was in a library, after all, and doing some research on ponies ought to benefit him. Those Element things that Twilight mentioned seemed important; some type of weapon system. That’d be a good thing to start with. He rose from where he had been sitting and stretched, feeling some relief as strain left his compressed joints and servos. The room’s other occupant, however, felt no such relief. “What are you doing?” Spike asked in a poor attempt at an intimidating tone. Starscream looked over to Spike, who held the spoon he had been eating with like it was a sword and the tub of ice cream as a shield. This annoyed Starscream. Not being trusted to even stand without hurting anything was degrading and insulting. “Is it a crime for me to pick up a book?” he responded harshly. “And do what with it?” “Are you stupid? I want to read one. What else would a book be used for?” “Geez, calm down; I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to use it as a weapon,” Spike said, lowering his own ‘weapons’. “No need to insult me over it.” Coming to a section of shelves marked ‘E’, Starscream ignored the idiotic dragon and began his search for anything relating to Elements. A few minutes of searching yielded no useful results; a book or two about periodic elements, but somehow, he figured that that was not what he was looking for. Groaning in frustration, he turned back to Spike, who had finished half the tub of ice cream by now. “You’re a librarian, right? Where would I find something about the Elements, whatever, they are.” He made sure to keep his hostile tone in check; insulting Spike probably wasn’t a good way to get on his good side and was likely detrimental to his goal. Best not repeat the same mistake. “You’re looking for The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, then?” “Yeah, sure, that. But it’s not under ‘E’ like it should be.” “No, it’s not,” Spike agreed. “That’s ‘cause Twilight moved it upstairs to her personal collection.” He smirked. “That way, if an alien robot showed up and was a total jerk to everypony, then it wouldn’t be able to read that book and find out about the Elements or find any loopholes to escape them.” An extremely foul comment formed at the tip of Starscream’s tongue, but conveniently timed knocking at the door interrupted him and prevented him from making his already shaky relationship with Spike unsalvageable. They both looked to the door. Starscream was closer to it. “Don’t you go near that door,” Spike warned, setting aside his ice cream. Starscream took a defiant step towards it. With a smirk, he argued, “Twilight wants me to improve my behavior. Why not start by giving this visitor a warm Cybertronian welcome.” “Don’t you dare!” But he was too late. Spike had only covered half the distance between his previous spot and the door before Starscream had begun to open it. When he had pulled the door open completely, a pearly white unicorn with a curly purple mane and tail stood before him, and a wicker basket was held in its telekinetic grip. Predictably, the unicorn gaped and jumped at the sight of Starscream, but refrained from anything more. That was nice to see. Within a second, the unicorn had corrected itself and approached Starscream. “May I come in?” “Of course, milady Rarity,” Spike answered behind him. Rarity, huh? You’re the slagger behind the kill-switch. Oh, I have words for you, he thought maliciously. “The little Master’s spoken,” Starscream said theatrically, stepping aside and opening the door completely to let Rarity. “Welcome to my cell.” “‘Little Master?’” Spike asked with crossed arms and a cross look. “Your cell?” Rarity asked simultaneously as she entered. Answering Spike’s question first, he said, “You are, in fact, little, and you are, effectively, my Master, correct?” “No! I’m big, and I’m not your Master. What gave you that idea?” Starscream began to usher Rarity to the table he was at before, and a confused expression crossed her face. Ignoring her, though, he continued to argue with Spike. “Oh, but saying you’re not my Master implies that I have freedom, which this little slagger,” he gestured towards Rarity, “made certain I lack. That being the case, you cannot deny that you are my Master.” “Uh…” was all Spike could get out before Starscream continued. He had seated Rarity down at the table rather forcefully, the basket falling to the table, and was working his way to the opposite side so as to be directly across from her. She was too confused to pay the aggression any mind. “Furthermore, with you being the clever one behind my servitude,” he said, addressing Rarity now, “it would be unfair to deny you the title of Master as well. So tell me, Master Rarity, what can your little slave do for you?” Starscream reached his spot at the table, but didn’t sit. The only response from Rarity came in the form of a bewildered look. “By the way, I must say: Galvatron would be most proud of you; most proud indeed. A wonderful Decepticon you’d make.” Aside from the running water from Twilight above, silence filled the room. Rarity evidently struggled to process the past few seconds. “Um…” Spike said dumbly again, failing to find anything else to say. “It’s, um…” Rarity began. “Rainbow Dash did say you were a little loopy when she stopped by to deliver my Element…” Starscream’s attention immediately went to the golden necklace around Rarity’s neck, bearing three diamond-shaped gems in the center, which matched her cutie mark. He’d have to ask about what those are at some point. “I didn’t want to believe her, but...well, could you perhaps try a more normal introduction, Golem? I’m Rarity; what’s your name?” Finally seating himself, Starscream answered in a normal fashion. “Starscream.” “I see,” said Rarity. “Apologies for calling you Golem just then; that’s the name Twilight, Spike, and I used to refer to you while you were out, seeing as we didn’t know your actual name and that Twilight suspected you of being a golem.” “What brings you by here, Rarity?” Spike asked her, finding a place by her side. “Rainbow Dash came by my place a few minutes ago and dropped my Element off, saying that Starscream had re-awoken and was hostile,” she answered him. “But I just couldn’t contain myself; I just had to come over and see the results of my work for myself.” With a scoff, Starscream interrupted. “Your kill-switch works phenomenally well. Pardon my disinterest in letting you witness its effectiveness firsthand; it’s a rather painful process on my account.” “The hope was to not need to employ it.” The running water stopped. “And I sincerely hope that it won’t be needed again. I’m sorry for the pain it may have caused you, though. That was not the intent at all.” “Starscream nearly killed Rainbow Dash,” Spike pointed out. “Don’t apologize to him.” “Spike,” she said to him in a chiding manner, “just because somepony is rude to one and one’s friends doesn’t justify being rude back. I am optimistically hoping that our issues here with Starscream are just misunderstandings that will clear up as we get to know his situation.” “Humph,” huffed Starscream. “At least you’re reasonable," he mumbled. "The kill-switch sure doesn’t help anyone, though.” Rarity indicated agreement with the nod of her head. “I figured that it would lead to issues, but the safety of my friends and Ponyville are my primary concern, and as such I felt it was necessary to devise something to stop you in case it was necessary.” The kill-switch...it was for security, not for servitude… With a sigh, Starscream said, “I understand. If I were in your place, I would have done the same, maybe worse. But-” “But you still don’t like it, I know,” Rarity said with a smile. “I’ll tell you what, I’m feeling awfully generous today and am thankful that you’re awake so Twilight can finally stop obsessing about reawakening you. As such, I have a proposition for you.” “I’m not sure I can take many more agreements.” “This one you’ll like, I assure you. If, after the picnic, my friends don’t feel endangered by your presence, I’ll see about removing the kill-switch, regardless of what Twilight says about it.” “That’s fair,” he agreed, surprised by the generous terms. “Listen, before more is said, I should apologize for my behavior at the door. When Twilight told me you were responsible for the switch, I thought it was an act of hate against me or some sort of tool for servitude instead of a security measure. I didn’t put much thought into it, and I guess I overreacted. And sorry to you, too, Spike. Being a jerk is part of my programming, but that doesn’t excuse my lack of self-control.” Smiling warmly at him, Rarity accepted the apology. Spike grudgingly followed suit. It was more for Rarity than it was for himself, Starscream could tell. “So Starscream’s making friends?” Twilight’s voice asked from behind them, accompanied by the clopping of her hooves as she came down the stairs. “Mr. Starscream seems like he could be a real dear. He’s just misunderstood and aggravated because of it, it would seem,” Rarity answered. Twilight took a spot at the table a few moments later, sitting equidistant between Rarity and Starscream. A towel was wrapped around her mane and another around her tail, helping them to dry from her shower. “Starscream was interested in looking at your book about the Elements,” Spike said to Twilight, changing the topic. Looking to Starscream, Twilight said, “There’s a lot of hypothetical and theoretical stuff in that book that you wouldn’t be able to understand unless you were knowledgeable about magic. Being mechanical, I doubt that’s the case, but we can at least tell you the basics. We’ll make the picnic about answering each other’s questions, alright?” “Alright. When were we going to go?” “The others are probably there or almost there as it is,” Rarity chimed in. To confirm what Rarity had said, Twilight looked to the clock in the room. “You’re right; we should be going in a couple of minutes. I’ll pack some food stuff now. That’ll only take a couple of minutes, and by the time I’m done with that, my mane and tail should be dry enough.” “I may as well walk there with you, since I’m here,” Rarity announced as Twilight stood and went towards the kitchen. “Sounds good,” she replied. “I’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.” And in a couple of minutes, Twilight had a food-stuffed basket packed, and the four of them set out for the picnic.