“The Crystal Empire is under attack?” Twilight repeated, “By whom?”
“I don’t know Twilight…” Princess Celestia said gravely, “Princess Cadence failed to mention the attackers by name, but we have no time to debate who the offenders are… the way the letter was written, it seemed as if they were in the middle of the fighting itself.”
“Now who in their right mind would attack The Crystal Empire?” Rainbow asked darting into the conversation. “That place is surrounded by ice and mountain ranges for a good twenty miles.”
“Like I said to Twilight Rainbow Dash, the attacker is unknown…” Celestia answered letting out a sigh, “But it matters little who they are, how they got there and what they want… they are attacking without reason or remorse, now please we haven’t much time to act before the Crystal Guard begins to falter.”
Twilight’s face went pale; she knew that her brother was in command of the guard and more than likely on the front line. That didn’t bother her however, what bothered her was how Celestia spoke about the guard falling. She didn’t say it like it was a possibility or even a probability, she said it like it was inevitable.
“I’ll get the girls.” She said with a voice full of worry.
“My exact thoughts Twilight,” Celestia replied watching Twilight run back to the group, “the Elements are sure to aid us in the upcoming fight.”
“I’ll fly ahead! Met ya there!” Rainbow said darting north only to be encompassed by Princess Celestia’s golden magic. “HEY!” she shouted in shock, “What gives?”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Rainbow Dash…” The Princess replied, “We can’t risk losing one of our best means of defense… We all must go together.”
“We?” Rainbow asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Luna is already at the train station waiting.” Celestia replied, “The fastest train in all of Equestria has been commissioned so that we may arrive as fast as we can… but it will still take close to a day.”
“A WHOLE DAY?!” Rainbow exclaimed, “What are we supposed to do about the Guard that’s holding the line now?”
“Pray that their lines don’t break…” Celestia answered grimly.
While Princess Celesta was busy still trying to convince Rainbow not to fly off without evoking her royal authority. Twilight was beginning to explain the situation to her friends that were still standing next to Grimlock.
“We need to leave…” she said in a commanding tone, “NOW!”
“Ooooh! A field trip!” Pinkie said excitedly, “I’ll go get my camera!”
“It’s not a field trip Pinkie…” Twilight replied, doing her bet to hold back a growl.
“Twilight… what’s going on?” Rarity asked, reaching out to Twilight’s shoulder, “It’s been ages since I’ve-“
“THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS UNDER ATTACK!” Twilight blurted out to the shock of her friends, only one individual was left in the dark.
“Crystal Empire?” Grimlock asked, “What that?”
“It’s a kingdom to the far north.” Fluttershy explained, “But I couldn’t imagine anypony attacking them…”
“That’s not the point right now!” Twilight yelled, “All that matters is that their being attacked!”
Twilight’s horn began to glow brightly as her friends watched to see what she was about to do next. Suddenly a bright light filled their eyes, temporarily blinding them. Seconds later their sight returned to see that the current gathering had increased by one.
“W-whoa…” Spike stuttered holding his head. “I-I thought… I asked y-you to warn me the next t-time you do that…”
“I don’t have time to warn you right now!” Twilight replied, “Do you still have the Elements with you?”
“Yeah…” Spike answered opening the bag on his back. “Watchya need them for?”
“No time to explain Spike!”
Twilight had yelled harshly at him, but he wasn’t to blame, Twilight failed to explain what was going on after all. Spike jumped back at the response, giving Twilight his sad eyes. It didn’t take her long to realize what she had done was wrong and with a face full of remorse she scooped him up in her hooves and held him close.
“I’m so sorry Spike…” she whispered comfortingly, “I didn’t mean to…”
Grimlock shook his head at the sight. One minute the purple horse was commanding the others as a leader should, but the next she close to tears and apologizing for being too harsh. She was beginning to remind him of Optimus for a second, but she was nowhere near Optimus’s strength nor did she have his courage. Optimus’s courage was the one thing that Grimlock admired about Prime, though he hated to admit it. Even in the face of certain defeat he stood when so many had run away and that was probably the only reason that the Autobots were still functioning.
“And all that’s left is Loyalty…” Twilight said snapping Grimlock out of his thoughts. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”
“Right here, Twilight.” Princess Celestia said with Rainbow at her side, “And she’ll be coming with us…” Celestia’s attention went straight to Rainbow as her tone became commanding, “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes…” Rainbow grunted, “Where’s my Element?”
“Right here Rainbow.” Twilight said tossing the necklace over to her, “Wait… how did you know that we were bringing the Elements with us?”
“What part of The Crystal Empire is under attack didn’t you understand?” Rainbow asked, “If it’s bad enough to call us to help for the fight then you’d think that we’d need these.”
“If little horses go to fight then they bring Grimlock…” Grimlock said, placing his fist over his spark, “Me no want to build puny houses anymore.”
“Hold it right there, bolts for brains!” Rainbow yelled darting up to his visor, “What makes you think you can come along?”
“What makes little horse think she can stop Grimlock?” he replied threateningly.
Rainbow began to growl at him only to be drowned out by Grimlock’s own metallic growl. She never really stood a chance in that contest anyway, Grimlock could make windows shutter only using his vocal processor.
“Bringing Grimlock along is a wise choice.” Princess Celestia said much to the surprise of the others. “We are facing an unknown enemy and from what I heard from Luna a few nights ago, he can hold his own against any opponent.”
“Princess… are… are you sure about this?” Twilight asked wearily looking up to see that Grimlock and Rainbow were still locked in a staring contest. “He can be… unpredictable at best.”
“He made a promise to me several days ago Twilight.” Princess Celestia replied, looking up to Grimlock with a smile. “And it wasn’t just to me it was to Luna, you and all of Equestria… if he willing to help then he should be allowed to.”
The others looked up to the titan with unease. He and Rainbow were still locked in one another’s gaze, unaware that the Princess had already had spoken.
“RD!” Applejack yelled to get Rainbow’s attention. “We need ta be getten’ right now!”
“Alright!” Rainbow cried triumphantly, “See ya when we get back tin-“
“Grimlock’s comin’ too!” Applejack added just before Rainbow said something stupid.
“WHAT?!” she yelled back, “But he’s a-“
“We may need him if the threat becomes too great to handle.” Princess Celestia replied with wisdom.
“When have the Elements of Harmony ever not been enough to stop-“
Rainbow was interrupted by the collective eye shift to the giant behind her. Grimlock remained stoic however, knowing that he was the reason the rainbow one was silent. A few moments pasted until she finally released an exasperated grunt.
“FINE!” She blurted out, “If YOU want to risk everything…”
“Then let’s not waste any more time…” Princess Celestia said with a concerned look to Rainbow, “The train awaits.”
The Princess and the other ponies made their way to the station while Grimlock nodded to himself. Three days was far too long between a good fight and building homes for the little horses was far less than a gratifying activity. However he didn’t take one step before his visor was once again filled with a rainbow colored horse.
“You may have them fooled…” Rainbow growled threatening him by poking his visor, “But I know you… You’re filled with nothing but anger and a lust for revenge… I can TASTE it…”
Rainbow darted off to follow her friends, but not before Grimlock noticed something the others didn’t. It was for less than a second, but thanks to his optics he managed to spot it. The rainbow horses eyes flashed from their ordinary color to green and back. He didn’t think much of it though; there were other, far more pressing matters at hand.
It didn’t take Grimlock more than a minute to get to the train station, where he was greeted by Princess Celestia and company. But among the preparation for a swift departure, Princess Luna noticed one flaw in their plan.
“How is Grimlock supposed to come with us?” she asked, “This train was meant for speed… not strength.”
“Looks like somepony has to stay behind!” Rainbow exclaimed rather cheerfully, “Sorry big boy but I guess you’ll have to-“
“Grimlock will follow.” He interrupted to Rainbow and her friend’s surprise.
“A-are you sure you can do that?” Fluttershy asked, “The Crystal Empire is very far away…”
“Me not get tired.” Grimlock replied, “And me faster than me look.”
“There’s no time to argue!” Princess Celestia yelled, “Grimlock, the train can’t carry you… I hope you can keep up.”
“Grimlock love a warm-up before big fight.” He replied cracking the hydraulics in his hands. “Ready when pretty horse is.”
“I was ready ten minutes ago.” Celestia replied turning her attention to the conductor, “Full speed to The Crystal Empire!”
With a nod from the conductor the train began to bellow smoke and head north. Grimlock stood there for a few seconds, making them believe that he wasn’t coming, but before Rainbow could say ‘I told you so’ the train began to rumble along with the sound of thunder. The ponies looked out the window to see that Grimlock had begun to give chase, and then they realized why he had waited. Every time Grimlock’s foot met the ground the train shook on the tracks, he was just too heavy to run next to them, or he would run the risk of having them crash.
“Looks like you’re still wrong ‘bout our new friend RD.” Applejack said with a smile as she forced her hat down on her head. “Maybe now ya’ll cut ‘em some slack.”
“That doesn’t mean anything…” Rainbow growled back, “He’ll get tired and give up soon… just you wait.”
Hours passed and Luna had finally called upon the night to descend on Equestria, but Grimlock was still just as far behind the train as he was when he actually started running. It baffled them to see such stamina, even Rainbow had to admit that it was impressive, but there was still one undying concern shared by even Princess Celestia. They knew that he was physically stronger than anything they had ever encountered so far, they knew that he had fighting skills that were unrivaled throughout the known world. They even knew that his rage was like a powder keg lacking a fuse in the middle of Tartars, but now he showed unrelenting endurance and shocking speed for his size. What if he were to turn on them in a fit of rage? They already knew that the Elements wouldn’t harm him, so what could stop him from tearing their world apart?
The night finally gave way to the day, but between the dire situation at hand and the constant tremors caused by Grimlock following close behind, nopony had gotten much sleep. With exhausted yet intense eyes the ponies stuck their heads out of the train to see the castle that stood proudly in the center of the grand empire on the horizon. A smile came to their faces, thankful that it still stood. Twilight was even beginning to think that her brother and the guard had managed to push back the attackers and the only thing that would come out of this trip was a nice family visit. But as the train inched closer her hopes quickly faded into fear.
The castle wasn’t the only thing that appeared on the horizon, there were also the distinct gray and black plums that could only be smoke. The Crystal Empire was still under attack, and they still had no idea by whom.
“By the Elements…” Princess Celestia said in horror, “I hope we aren’t too late…”
“Don’t say that!” Twilight snapped, “They could still be fighting.”
“That may be true Twilight.” Princess Celestia said somberly, “But we cannot simply write off the possibility that your brother has-“
She was interrupted by the light touch of her sister’s hoof, reminding her that Twilight was still very young and not accustomed to the loss of a loved one. In response the princess did the best she could to wrap her student up in her wings to provide comfort. The embrace didn’t last long however, the train came to a screeching halt only seconds later, knocking everypony off their hooves.
“What was that about?” Rainbow asked jumping up to her hooves.
“I’m not sure…” Princess Luna said looking to the front of the train, “Conductor! What is the purpose of the sudden halt?”
“The tracks have been decimated Princess!” the conductor replied popping his head out of the pilot, “Almost like somepony didn’t want to have company for-“
The conductor’s voice was drowned out by the ear splitting sound of metal being torn apart. The ponies looked up to see a whole in their state of the art, and highly expensive, train. Grimlock was on the other side of the hole peering into the train in search for the ponies.
“Little horses alright?” he asked, “Grimlock see train stop fast.”
“We are unharmed Grimlock.” Princess Luna replied, “But we require your aid, the tracks have been sabotaged, you are now the quickest means of arrival without the group becoming separated.”
“Ok other pretty horse.” Grimlock said reluctantly, reaching his hand inside the train’s husk. “Grimlock will take you to-“
Before Grimlock could finish a missile slammed into his side, sending him to the ground in a ball of smoke and flame. His body managed to shield the ponies from the blast, but it didn’t stop the panic rising in their eyes. He was their most powerful asset and to see him fall so quickly brought fear even to Princess Celestia. Even to the point where Celestia herself rushed to his side, praying that he was unharmed.
“Grimlock!” she yelled with concern, “Grimlock, can you hear me?!”
Grimlock shot up to his feet the instant he heard his name, but the usual blue glow color of his visor was now replaced by the terrifying glow of blood red.
“Grimlock are you alright?” Celestia asked looking him up and down, “I’ve never seen such a spell before, we-“
A second missile flew towards Grimlock and the ponies, but this time Grimlock was ready. Throwing up his shield the missile slammed into its target, engulfing it in intense flame once again. However after the wind blew the smoke away it showed the both the ponies and Grimlock were unharmed by the second attack, but one of them wasn’t too thrilled about getting sucker-punched.
Grimlock’s metallic bellowing sent shutters through his counterparts as his optics trained on the missile’s cog trails. A few seconds had past and finally his sensors detected the origins of the missile, a large, green being was standing among the destruction of the city, one with a distinct signature.
“BRAWL!” Grimlock roared forming his sword.
“Brawl?” Twilight asked, “This is far more than just a brawl, this is a full scale invasion! How could you say this is just a-“
“BRAWL!” Grimlock roared again charging headfirst into destruction.
“For once I think the tin can’s got the right idea!” Rainbow said with an aggressive smile, “Let’s send the invaders packing!”
Rainbow bolted after Grimlock but was soon encompassed by a golden aura must like she had been yesterday. Struggling in its hold, she fought in vain as she was drug farther from the fray and closer to her friends. Nearly a minute passed and finally Rainbow stopped struggling, only to see her ruler look to her with a cocked eyebrow.
“We will get our chance.” Celestia said in a tone that was both calming and commanding, “but what I have stated previously still stands, we cannot risk losing one of the elements. That means we go… together.”
“Fine…” Rainbow grunted crossing her forelegs, “If you want to risk everything.”
“What’s going on with Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked Applejack, “She’s never been this… angry…”
“I don’t know what ta tell ya Twi…” Applejack said scratching her head, “But right now ain’t the time to discuss it, we need ta get there as fast as possible.”
“Applejack is right.” Princess Luna said unfelling her wings, “We must make haste.”
Luna’s horn began to glow and her magic began to surround Fluttershy, much to her dismay, mind you. Soon after Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity were encompassed in either a sapphire or golden glow. Once they were completely engulfed, the royal sisters, Rainbow and Twilight took to the skies. The only thing slowing Rainbow down being her helping Twilight as she desperately tried to stay aloft.
Meanwhile, in the city, Grimlock was getting closer and closer to his foe. Brawl had continued to fire his entire arsenal at him, but with a combination of Grimlock’s shield and his already amazing durability, every attack failed to slow the beast down. Knowing that Grimlock would be upon him in mere seconds, Brawl readied his Scatter Blaster for what could be his last stand.
“Come at me you overgrown scrap heap!” he yelled firing as fast as his trigger finger would allow, “Come-“
Grimlock’s hand wrapped around his head before he could finish, not even a moment later Brawl felt the ground from under his feet disappear. The feeling of weightlessness was fleeting however, replaced by the feeling of slamming into the ground at nearly one hundred times the force of gravity. Energon from his chaise spewed into the air, coating any nearby building that still stood with an entrancing glow.
Brawl’s systems were straining to keep him functioning, but Grimlock wasn’t done with him, not by a long shot. Brawl struggled in vain as he was helplessly drug through the streets before he was thrown into one of the taller buildings still standing. In a massive crash Brawl’s body collided with the building, sending the tower down on him in a wave of dust and rubble. Brawl struggled to his feet, holding his chest in a vain attempt to contain the massive energon leak that would more than likely be the death of him. He didn’t get much time to dwell on the matter however; the sound of rumbling earth caught his attention.
Brawl weakly turned to see his destruction slowly making his way towards him dragging a giant sword along the ground. The only thing visible among the smoke and flames was the faint, red glow of an unmistakable visor. Brawl raised his arm one last time and pointed his Scatter Blaster at Grimlock one last time.
“C-co… COME ON!” he roared coughing up energon, “I thought you knew how to fight!”
The rounds traveled through the air towards their target, but each sell simply bounced off Grimlock’s neigh indestructible chassis. It didn’t stop Brawl from trying to break through it though. Grimlock respected Brawl for that, even with energon leaking out of him like a waterfall he still was willing to fight. If this were the pits of Kaon or Iacon Grimlock would give him the highest of honors, a warrior’s death followed by a proper burial. But this wasn’t the pits; this was some pathetic world that was now unfortunate enough to be involved in the longest running civil war in the galaxy. There would be no real honor in killing him, but if the Decepticons were to lose Brawl the Bruticus would follow. That was reason enough for Grimlock.
With one last step Grimlock was standing before Brawl, his weapon was out of ammo, but he could still hear the click of the trigger. Throwing his weapon to the side Brawl began to punch Grimlock’s chassis to no avail. The only thing that stopped him was Grimlock’s foot slamming into his chest and forcing him to the ground. Brawl struggled helplessly while Grimlock looked down to his opponent with a nod.
“Become one…” he said raising his blade above his head.
Two missiles slammed themselves into Grimlock’s back before he could deliver the killing blow, knocking the titan off balance. A loud thud resonated through the devastated city as Grimlock fell to the ground, rising quickly he was blasted again by another pair of missiles, sending him even farther away from the downed Decepticon. Rage began to fill the Dinobot’s mind while he rose a third time. However, instead of missiles, there was the distinct sound of jets. Grimlock looked to the sky and saw his assailants soring towards him, firing another volley of missiles. Reading his shield once again, the missiles exploded and engulfed Grimlock in flames once again, but as the smoke cleared they saw that they didn’t hurt him, in fact they only succeeded to make him mad again.
“Why are you engaging?” Starscream exclaimed, “We were only here to gather samples for Shockwave!”
“I’m not letting Brawl go offline without a fight!” Blast Off roared back, sending another volley at Grimlock. “Either you can help me or you can go crying with your tail between your exhaust!”
“Fine…” Starscream replied banking hard left, “Killing Grimlock would bring be into good standings with Megatron anyway.”
Starscream and Blast Off fired their missiles towards Grimlock once more, just to have them blocked by his shield again. Roaring angrily Grimlock swung his blade at the oncoming Decepticons, missing them by mere inches. That was one of the many things Grimlock hated about jets; he never really could reach far enough to hit them. With every pass Grimlock stretched out as far as he could reach to slice at them and each time the result was the same, they would just barely be out of reach. His rage began to mount with every pass, but then Grimlock had a stroke of genius.
Grimlock reached for a large chunk of building and waited for the two to make another pass at him. Once they were in his sights he waited for the right moment to present itself. He didn’t have to wait long, Blast Off and Starscream fired another set of missiles seconds later, but this time Grimlock was more than ready for them. Steadying his aim he threw the rubble at the missiles as hard as he could, the following explosion made the two falter in their original course as well as being blinded by the smoke. Once it finally cleared they realized that it was too late. Grimlock was right in front of them; arms outstretched and ready to bring them down. Starscream barely had time to scream in terror before Grimlock grabbed them by their wings and slam them into one another.
Having disoriented his opponents Grimlock slammed the two jets into the ground without mercy; the very force of the impact caused the two to revert to their robot forms. The sudden shift surprised Grimlock to the point that he released his grip just enough for Starscream to slither through his grasp, Blast Off however, was far less fortunate. Grimlock’s hand clinched around Blast Off’s lower body tighter and tighter, crushing him like a tin can. The gut wrenching sound of metal scraping against metal was only multiplied by the ear shattering cries of pain that came from Blast Off himself. The agony had no effect on Grimlock; he had heard those noises on countless battlefields across Cybertron and Earth alike, even from his own vocal processors when Shockwave violated his very being, while he was still conscious.
The sudden thought of Shockwave caused Grimlock’s grip on Blast Off’s lower half to suddenly loosen, he finally had a chance to get a clue. Blast Off looked to his maker questioningly, a few more seconds and the spark would have been squeezed out of him. Now among the flames and haze the giant’s visor began to glow a dim blue.
“Where…?” Grimlock growled.
“What?” Blast Off asked, doing his best not to cough up energon.
“Where…?” he repeated, slightly tightening his grip.
“Where’s what?!” Blast Off exclaimed, panicking.
“WHERE SHOCKWAVE?!” Grimlock roared, his visor returning to its red color as he began to squeeze tightly again, “TELL GRIMLOCK!”
The blood curdling cry rang out through the destruction, reminding Grimlock the prisoners can’t really talk when they were dying. He really didn’t care much for that fact, it meant that he was never able to get answers as fast as he liked. Releasing his grip yet again, Blast Off couldn’t help to unleash a torrent of Energon from his mouth. Grimlock’s only response was a deep growl.
“Tell Grimlock where Shockwave…” he said bringing the Decepticon to his face, “Then me let you live…”
A small smile came to Blast Off’s face, making Grimlock think that he was about to get an answer, but when energon spittle splashed onto his visor he knew that Blast Off was willing to take that information to the All-Spark.
“Screw you…” Blast Off coughed.
“You first.” Grimlock growled.
Grimlock positioned himself perfectly and with a mighty roar threw Blast Off into kingdom come. Once he was no longer in his optics Grimlock turned his attention back to the Con that was behind him, only to realize that he wasn’t on the scanners. Instead his sensors were picking up even more missiles. Sighing Grimlock brought his shield one last time to stop the pointless attack.
Grimlock never saw the armored truck barrel through the building behind him. Before he even knew what was going on he was already midair and ready to land hard. As he floated helplessly Onslaught transformed into his robotic form and drove his fist into Grimlock’s stomach, sending the Autobot crashing into the streets below. Onslaught took advantage of the sudden turn of events and jumped onto Grimlock’s chest and began to unleash the contents of his weapon’s magazine into Grimlock’s faceplate. With his barrel still smoking he began to reload, but a giant hand wrapped around Onslaught from behind and threw him into a nearby pile of rubble.
The action was actually a godsend for the Decepticon, for only seconds later the missiles that Grimlock was readying to block slammed themselves into him, creating a plume of smoke and fire. Onslaught shielded his optics for a moment but when he saw a massive shadow looming over him, a shadow with pulsing red optics. Raising his fist to make yet another carter, machine gun fire riddled his back distracting him enough for Onslaught to make a hasty retreat.
The sound of a helicopter filled the air before the sound of thousands of rounds exiting the barrel cut through the air yet again. Vortex made one last strafing run against Grimlock before kicking his thrusters into high gear and swooping in to secure his team leader. Grimlock’s only reply was to unleash an unsettling roar that shook the earth around him.
“WHY YOU NOT FIGHT?!” He roared, “MAKE BRUTICUS! GRIMLOCK NEED CHALLENGE!”
“We need Swindle…” Vortex said, looking back at the destruction, “Now more than ever…”
“We’ll find him…” Onslaught said looking back to see Starscream aiming a missile at Grimlock. “STARSCREAM! WHAT IN PRIMUS’S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!”
“Saving all of us!” he replied as the missile released from his wing.
The missile flew straight for Grimlock, his shield was already up and ready, but to his surprise it flew right past him. He followed the projectile with his sensors until he realized that it was heading towards a titanic energy signature that he hadn’t noticed in his earlier rage.
“Solid energon?” he said in disbelief. He stood there in awe for a few seconds before putting two and two together and began to frantically give chase.
“What did you do?!” Onslaught roared, don’t you know what happens when you mix explosives and solid energon?!”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” Starscream replied, “Grimlock will be too busy trying to be the hero to track us.”
“That is if we don’t get caught up in the blast!”
“Then I suggest you tell Vortex to activate his thrusters.” Starscream replied coldly, “Brawl and Blast Off are already a safe distance away thanks to me, but I won’t hesitate to leave you two behind.”
The three Cons sped off into the mountains as Grimlock did everything he could to stop the oncoming missile. Ruminates of houses and statues alike toppled like a hose of cards before him, but he was just too slow after all the fighting that had just taken place. His wounds didn’t stop him, all of them were minor anyway; it was the overdose of energon that was starting to bring him down. Almost every system that allowed him to function was on the verge of going critical, but he kept up the chase, he had made a promise to keep the little horses safe and if there was one thing Grimlock ever did that was considered good; it was that he always kept his promises.
Grimlock may always keep his promises, but that defiantly meant that he wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet or missile in this case. Seconds after he made a desperate failing attempt to stop it, the missile slammed into one of the support pillars of the spire, bathing everything, including Grimlock in the purple and blue flame that was an energon blast. He roared in pain as he flew hundreds of feet backward, an energon explosion was one of the few things that hurt Grimlock, and one on this scale was definitely had enough punch to take him down for hours.
Fortunately for him, he was far enough away not to be seriously damaged, but the explosion caused a surge of energon to flow through him, making it hard for him to even stand. His internal systems were at critical mass and his body was reacting the only way it knew how, stasis lock. Grimlock couldn’t stop now though, the spire still stood, but the support was gone and it would be only minutes until it fell and who or whatever was inside would die. It was here at this critical moment that he decided to do something that had never been before.
“Override code…” he growled, dragging himself towards the spire. His internal systems screamed at him, warning that any further exposure would lead to permanent shutdown. “OVERRIDE!” he roared once more as he used all of his strength to run to the spire.
“By the sanctity of the night…” Princess Luna said in horror as the Crystal Castle began to collapse, “How many have taken refuge inside.”
“Everypony but the guard.” Princess Celestia replied, her voice said matching the same fear, “Luna, quickly, we must do everything we can to stabilize the-“
“Look!” Rarity shouted pointing to a large shadow approaching them through the flames “Is that…”
Grimlock burst through the fire like it was nothing, sprinting faster that what they had all previously thought possible.
“Grimlock…” Princess Celestia relieved, “he’s still unharmed… but what is he doing?”
“I don’t know princess.” Twilight said, but it looks like he’s-“
The very sight of Grimlock latching on and holding up the castle stole everypony’s breath away, even Rainbow’s, nothing in Equestria was that strong, but Grimlock was able to keep it standing, or so they thought.
“What’s happening to him?” Fluttershy said worryingly to Princess Celestia, hoping for an answer, “he looks like he’s hurting.”
Celestia looked to see that though he was holding the castle his strength was noticeably leaving him. That wasn’t the only thing she noticed, she also heard him, the roar that erupted from him was familiar to her, much like a dragon after being impaled through the chest with a magical lance. She looked to her little ponies then back to Grimlock with knowing eyes.
“We must help him.” She growled unfurling her wings, “he cannot do this alone.”
“We’re on it!” Twilight said commandingly, “Come on girls let’s-“
“Twili?!” a voice called from the rubble, “Twili, what are you doing here?!”
“Shining Armor?!” Twilight exclaimed, completely forgetting the task that had been given to her, “You’re alive?!”
“Barely…” he replied, wrapping his little sister up as tightly as he could. “My elite guard and I are the only ones left.”
At that moment some three dozen guardsponies dragged themselves into view, half of them pulling catapults.
“W-what happened?”
“They… they came out of nowhere…” Shining explained, “From the sky… on land… we didn’t know what to do… until they started kidnapping… and killing…”
“They did what?!” Twilight shrieked, her pupils turning into dots.
“They murdered our subjects.” Shining growled, “I tried to save as many as I could, but-“
Shining’s attention was turned to the castle for just a moment, but it was long enough to see Grimlock doing everything in his power to keep it standing, but what was going on in Shining’s mind was something far different.
“By all that is good…” he said horrified, “One of theme’s trying to tear the castle down!”
Almost throwing Twilight to the side Shining roared the order to fire at will. His fellow defenders didn’t fail to follow his orders and each with their own mighty pulls, unleashed chunks of their own city in his direction.
Grimlock’s body was at its breaking point, rage was flowing through him almost beyond what he had ever felt before and all of his systems were so oversaturated with energon that any moment could result in him going offline. The only thing that kept him going was the constant reminder of his promise and a vow that he made some seven million years ago to himself. Among all of this his scanners managed to pick up incoming projectiles, but they weren’t missiles. Chunk after chunk of broken off energon bombarded Grimlock’s sides as he struggled in vain to keep the castle standing.
“NO!” he roared, “Grimlock… HELPING!”
Less than a second later a chunk five times the size of the others slammed into him, finally forcing him off the castle, and the deep end.
Shining Armor and his guard cheered in victory while his sister and her counterparts stared onward with their jaws on the ground. In his happiness Shining grabbed his sister and swung her around in a circle, expecting her to be just as ecstatic as him, but when he saw that wasn’t the case he sat her down to ask way.
“What the matter Twili?” he asked with a proud smile, “We stopped the bad guys… we WON!”
“What have you done?” Twilight said fearfully, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
“What do you mean?” He asked, even more confused, “That thing was attacking the castle, we attacked it back, we won… end of-“
A deep metallic rumble cut off Shining’s words and his guards celebrating as a frighteningly familiar sound to Twilight and her friends filled the air amongst the smoke and destruction, followed by a loud terrifying, metallic roar.
“What… was that?” Shining asked looking around.
“Celestia save us…” Twilight whispered as a tear formed in her eye.
“Save us from what?”
The crystals around the castle exploded forth, nearly crushing everypony if not for Luna and Celestia’s quick combination of levitation and teleportation spells. In the aftermath of the sudden burst Shining was about to ask what was going on, but he never got to, the giant metal monster answered that question for him. A monstrous roar erupted from its mouth once again just before flames engulfed the nearest catapult to him, the guards were fortunate that Celestia and Luna were there you teleport them to safety.
“READY REMAINIG CATAPULTS!” Shining roared, “This one can change too!”
“NO!” Twilight begged, “It won’t stop him!”
“Him?” Shining asked, “How do you know it’s a-“
A mighty stomp from the beast slammed down onto another catapult, shattering the once thought to be indestructible reforged crystal. Guards rushed for their spears, but with every thrust their weapons shattered like prized china against steel. Grimlock continued his assault on those that had pushed him too far. He was no longer in control, rage had consumed his very being and now he was about to make them pay for their sins.
“Sir!” One of the guards called out desperately, “Nothing is working! We-“
Before he could finish he was engulfed in the metallic jaws of the beast and thrown nearly halfway across the city before turning his attention back to the remaining catapults. Each began letting loose on him. Hoping that it would be enough to at least slow the monster down, but it was a fool’s hope, just as soon as they started firing flames engulfed them, followed by explosions the maimed and impaled some of the guards.
“You need to get out of here!” Shining Armor roared at his sister and her friends, “I’ll hold him off as long as I can!”
“Shining pleas listen!” Twilight begged, “You don’t understand! He’s-“
“Twili…” Shining Armor said one last time, “Run…”
With tears in her eyes she obeyed her brother’s wishes and began to run to the false safety behind what was left of the guard. Twilight looked back one last time to see the titan descending upon her brother with a look that screamed for blood. Shining just stood there, his horn beginning to glow a mystic blue color, unlike his usual pink. Metal fangs began to surround him, but he remained calm, waiting for the precise moment to strike. Finally with the fangs nearly touching his coat, Shining Armor released his attack, sending Grimlock nearly fifty feet into the air before he crashed some one hundred feet away.
“I… I… did it…” he said with a weak smirk on his face as he desperately tried to stay standing, “He’s-“
Another metallic roar bellowed through the ruins of the empire, even more primal than the previous one. Shining looked in disbelief to the direction that he had launched his foe to see him barreling towards him, flames spewing and spitting through his mouth. Shining tried to stand fast and ready yet another attack, but the spell he had already used was capable of destroying an entire company of armored griffons, only sparks fizzed through his horn. The very attempt drained all he had left and he quickly feel to the ground, unable to escape the monster’s path of destruction.
“Shiny!” Twilight cried with tears in her eyes, trying to break through the line of guards, “NOT MY B.B.B.F.F.!”
Grimlock was just a few steps away from being upon his pray when something unexpected happened. In a flash of light Princess Celestia appeared between Shining Armor and himself, a look of defiance that could deter even the mightiest of dragons.
“Sister?!” Princess Luna gasped, “What are you doing?!”
“What must be done…” she replied, continuing her stare in hopes of deterring Grimlock.
Grimlock was no dragon however, in the state he was in it didn’t bother him to kill what stood in his way. Unleashing a wave of heat from his mouth, Grimlock engulfed the two in flames comparable to the sun itself. The guards and others were speechless, did he actually do that so many thought was impossible? Did he actually kill an alicorn?
“We are not your enemy…” Princess Celestia said through the flames before they dissipated to show that both she and Shining Armor were unharmed. “We are your friends.”
Grimlock ignored the calm plea and tried to squash her like an insect, but the magic that shielded herself and Shining stood up to his foot just as well as it did the fire. Even more frustrated Grimlock enveloped the magical shield in his mouth, trying to crush it that way. It didn’t work for a few seconds, but when several small fractures in the golden structure began to so, Celestia’s eyes grew fearful. This was one of the most powerful protection spell ever known, and Grimlock was cracking it. Celestia’s eyes began to glow brightly in a last ditch effort to keep Shining safe, the following flash of light blinded Grimlock just long enough for Luna to join in the fight, but instead of attacking she combined her power with her sister’s to incase Grimlock in a dome of sapphire and gold.
Grimlock paused to look around for a second before roaring yet again and slamming his entire body against his cage to no avail. The royal sisters had managed to contain Grimlock, for now. Twilight rushed to Shining Armor’s side and helped him up as best she could, tears of joy rolling down her face.
“I-I thought I’d lost you…” she managed to say through her tears.
“You should know I’m harder to kill than that Twili…” Shining said with a smile, “I was the Capitan of the Guard after all.”
“Yeah whatever,” she replied with a giggle, “that still doesn’t mean I can’t worry.”
“Twilight Sparkle…” an authoritative voice said from behind the two. Twilight looked to see Princess Celestia staring her down just as she had to Grimlock only seconds earlier.
“Y-yes… P-princess?” she stuttered.
“You completely and blatantly disobeyed me.” she said sternly, “If not for the distraction of your brother this whole event may have been avoided… and I wouldn’t have to see Grimlock in this situation yet again.”
“He’s my brother!” Twilight replied, “How could you-“
“Your duty as a princess is to your subjects first, then your family.” Princess Celestia interrupted. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
“But… he’s…”
“I know how you feel Twilight.” Princess Celestia with a nod, looking to the darker alicorn looking to the metallic titan with awe, “but sometimes you must put the fate of all above the ones you love… believe me… it’s painful, but you know in your heart that it’s for the best of everypony.”
“Yes Princess.” Twilight said with a humble bow, trotting to her mentor’s side, “but what now? He let it happen again… how are we-“
“It’s very simple Twilight.” Celestia interrupted with a deep sigh, looking to the one who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her at the moment. “We wait… then we ask him who in Tartars foalnapped the crystal ponies…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Wake up…” a voice said softly, almost caringly, into Swindle’s ear, “You’ve taken quite the beating…”
“W-wha…?” Swindle replied, his neural processor was aching and his hydraulics were completely shot, “What… what happened…?”
“You managed to find our humble abode.” The voice replied, “You made quite the entrance if I do say so myself… not many things can fall nearly five hundred feet into a black pit without wings and live.”
“Abode? Pit? Fall?” Swindle replied trying to reach for his head, only to feel some kind of restraint.
Swindle’s optics shot open to see that he was being held by some kind of plant of sorts, its vines wrapped time and time again around his arms legs and waist, ensuring no escape.
“What in Primus’s name is going on?!” he yelled struggling in his bonds, “Where am I?!”
“Those questions will all be answered in time.” The voice replied as green flame burst before Swindle’s eyes, revealing an entire legion of insect-like creatures, the tallest of them standing directly in front of him. “But first…" the tallest said stopping directly in front of Swindle's faceplate, "why not tell me about your angry little friend… Grimlock…”