//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Transformers Prime: Ponies in Disguise // by RavageXeno //------------------------------// “Oh my. Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, darting towards Xena Rose, who was sat on the ground, her head still in her hooves. The others were stood still watching the scene before them silently, except for Haunt. Who was trying to calm Pitch, as he seemed to have been startled by something. Getting to her hooves, she shook her head as if she was removing a bad memory. “Yes. I’m... Alright,” she said, though she still hadn’t opened her eyes. “Haunt, truth be told. I had no intention of joining this war,” Xena Rose continued, looking towards Haunt even though she still had her eyes shut. “But now she’s made it personal. And nobody messes with my family.” Taking a few steps forward, she turned and walked away from the group. Towards the large ridge to their left. “Erm, where’s she going?” Rainbow asked, watching the pony to walk away. “Probably to beat up mother and get her xenomorph back,” Haunt said whilst still trying to calm down Pitch. “I would never do anything so brash as that,” Xena Rose replied, but there was a hint of sarcasm to her tone. “Rainbow, where are you going?” Twilight asked as she watched the pegasus fly in the direction Xena Rose was taking. “Where does it look like I’m going? I want to see the fight,” Rainbow replied, which triggered a sigh from Twilight. “Rainbow, you can’t go. You might distract her from... erm... whatever.. She intends to do,” Twilight said grabbing Rainbows tail in her magic. “Oh, I won’t mind if you watch,” Xena Rose said, from behind Starscream (even though he was the furthest away from the ridge). Startled, he lept into the air, before quickly closing his wings to hide the bug hiding beneath them. “I thought you said he couldn’t fly? Anyway, just stay hidden behind those rocks.” “Wait how did you know about that?” Arcee asked, as Starscream landed ungracefully, but at least he was still standing. “We haven’t talked about that since... we were at the pyramid.” “Yep, I rather liked the bit about Daring Do - I might have to read those books,” Xena Rose said, once more walking towards the ridge. “It’s strange how nobody asked how I got over there. Oh well,” she continued quietly, almost to herself. “Right, who wants to go watch?” Haunt said, to which Twilight and Rainbow replied that they did. “Okay, Nightshade take the others and get the chariot sorted.” “AH- And me, I wanna go watch too,” Starscream said, taking the hint as to why the bug had bit him. Laserbeak gracefully landed on his wing, acting as if he hadn’t seen the bug that was below it. “Wait! I wanna watch too!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing towards them. “No Pinkie, I think you’re more likely to throw a party than be quiet,” Twilight said. “But everypony deserves a party, and how can I throw one for her if I’m not near her,” Pinkie asked, bouncing around Twilight. “But Pinkie,” Twilight said after Pinkie didn’t take the hint. “If you go, she will take Bob away from you.” “She can’t have him!” Pinkie nearly shouted, pulling the jar which contained Bob out of her hair and gripping it protectively as she raced the group that was making it’s way towards the chariot. When they reached the ridge, Xena Rose was waiting for them behind a large pile of rocks which had a multitude of gaps for the group to look through. Before they could ask her what she was going to do, she had dropped her bag and gauntlets and disappeared around another pile of rocks and out of sight. I had no idea what I was going to do, Haunt’s idea had sounded brilliant. But it was now less so, now that I was only 20 meters away from her. Peering through a crack in the rock I was hiding behind, I could just make out what they were doing. Taunting my brother. They weren’t talking now, but I had heard what they were saying. Harsh, terrible words that I tried to wipe from memory. Gloating words that stung like daggers, and made my blood boil. I could hear the group of ponies that were attempting to be quiet. They were managing quite well, except for the occasional shuffling of hooves and the impatient whispers for quiet. They were a good distance from the Queen so they shouldn’t be seen. Though I would have prefered to not have an audience. Returning my attention back to my ‘prey’ I watched them, hoping to come up with a brilliant idea. She sat there, all pompous and pretentious on a satin cushion. Whilst my brother was trapped in a metal cage at her feet. She had all the snobbery of a high-class unicorn, but the added royal-assery of being an alicorn - a trait not shared by any alicorn I knew - which was granted to her by her black dragon wings. Her coat matched her wings, being a dark grey that was almost black. Her mane and tail were only a few shades darker than the fashionista pony’s (who hadn’t liked the interior decor of my pyramid), and they were long and flowing. Her eyes were the same purple, but were slit pupiled like a dragon’s, and framed behind golden glasses. Around her neck was a purple amulet, which held a shard of purple crystal at it’s front. A velveteen golden cloak which glimmered in the fading sunlight, covered her cutie mark and fastened with a thick piece of material below the amulet. By now I did have a plan, a number of plans, many of which depended on me weaponizing sponges and launching them at her. Though I didn’t have any on me. But then my plan was chosen for me. “Mistress, I believe there is somepony behind that rock over there,” a second pony said as he walked from behind the cage. He was a cream unicorn, with a brown mane and tail that had a black and a white stripe in. His cutie mark was a service platter which had a quill on it. He had gold eyes, and wore a black suit, that stopped short of covering his cutie mark. I panicked. And ducked down further as I realized that part of my mane was sticking out over the rock. “Now look what you’ve done Alfred,” she said pausing to probably glare at him, as he let out a sigh and murmured something about being called ‘Quill Brooks’ not ‘Alfred’. “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you,” she said to me, in a sweet voice that smelt of menace (but was otherwise undetectable). Slowly, I peeked over my hiding spot. Cautious that I was going to be muderized by a laser beam to the face. Instead of instant death, I was greeted by a smile. A genuine ‘I’m-so-happy’ smile, rather than a ‘I-will-revel-in-your-death’ evil fake smile. “That’s a good girl,” she said, sincerity creeping into her voice. “Don’t be afraid,” she continued, beckoning me to sit next to her on the plush cushion. Jumping from behind the rock, I trotted swiftly to the cushion. I pretended not to notice as her horn lit up with a blue aura and the cage was swiftly covered. “Now, what is a girl like you doing out here at such a time?” she asked glancing at the sun that was now dangerously close to sunset. Whilst at the same time she wrapped me in the protective embrace of her wing. “I’m explowing!” I exclaimed, in a squeaky childish voice. “Mother said there was meanies out here, so I’m gonna fend them off,” I continued lifting my hooves to pretend to fight someone. The Queen laughed at my childish antics. “My you must be a brave little one,” she said, rustling my mane. “Your exploring must be hard work, and you deserve a reward. Would you like some turkish delight?” she continued, summoning a silver box into existence. “Turkwish Delight!” I exclaimed, almost jumping out of her embrace, and for once the statement was less of an act. Living in a pyramid in the middle of nowhere did have it’s downsides. And accessibility to sweets was one of them. I hadn’t had turkish delight in what seemed like a thousand years. “Yes pwease!” As she placed the box at my hooves I saw a small filly staring back at me. She had a light blue coat, and green eyes, above that she had a black mane with green streaks in, and the tail was the same though it was plaited. She was staring intently up at me, and as I blinked I copied her. Before the Queen took the lid off the box and passed me a piece of turkish delight. I hadn’t morphed into this form for ages, and it still felt weird not having a xenomorph tail. But I was glad I had taken this precaution before coming down here. Otherwise this would have had a very different conclusion. “What’s- ... -that?” I asked between glorious mouthfulls of the yummy sweet, only pausing slightly to point to the covered cage. Even though I was sat next to imminent danger, I couldn’t help be happy. This stuff is delicious! A hearty chuckle interrupted my pleasant thoughts, though the Queen didn’t seem to have heard it. As she was busy smiling at me as I devoured the sweets and had a thoughtful glint to her eyes, like she was deciding whether or not to show me. At least one of us is having fun, the deep voice continued, unbeknownst to the Queen sitting next to me. Well it’s your fault that we’re in this predicament, you ungrateful oaf! I replied silently. Though I am starting to see the positive side to this. Oh. Haa, ha. Just get me out of here and then I will get you some for your next birthday, the voice replied, with a hint of sarcasm and disdain. You’d better get enough to fill the ‘Nostromo’ Raven, or I’ll send you to Canterlot in a pink fluffy tutu and a bow to buy me more. That made him shut up for few moments, whilst he was obviously deciding his response. Anything, for our princess, he responded, nearly making me roar with outrage. And glad that this conversation was private from the rest of the hive. Because this couldn’t get any- I stopped that thought before I managed to jinx myself. Instead I ignored the smug emotions coming from Raven and concentrated back on my surroundings. Where we sat in a comfortable silence, until I had stopped eating. “So, you want to see what we’ve caught, little one?” She said, as she lifted the box away from me with her magic. Excitedly I started nodding, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Quill Brooks open his mouth to protest. Before he could begin, the box was shoved into his gaping mouth. Taking a few steps back, he left my field of view but I could still hear the exasperated gasp of breath as he pulled it out. Ignoring him, I watched the Queen as her magic gripped the corners of the material that covered the cage. It was almost double her size, which was unsurprising considering the xenomorph it contained, but it still brought up the question as to why he hadn’t escaped by himself. Unceremoniously, she pulled the material off the cage. And - being still in character - I gasped as Raven was revealed. Though still partially hidden behind thick, blue-glowing bars of dark steel. He looked similar to my ordinary warriors, possessing the same domed head, though his had a line of spikes on top. And he was much larger - as he was closer to the size of a Queen - with a distinctive red-tinted, spiked exoskeleton. His face was badly scarred, giving him a more human appearance, due to the eye socket and nasal cavity prominent on his face. Along with a much more human jaw, though it was still as deadly. “Don’t be scared, it’s perfectly safe,” She said, mistaking my gasp as one of fear. “Those bars are embedded with magic - my magic - so he can’t escape.” “He’s... He’s... Bewtiful!” I exclaimed, jumping off the rock to get a better look. Protectively, the Queen set up a blue barrier, obviously fearing that I would be injured. Or attempting to keep up similar pretences to what I was. Though at least some of mine were genuine. “Be careful, though he is restrained, I fear he could still do significant damage,” she said, as she moved to stand next to me. Noticing my childish look of awe she continued calmly, “He is a xenomorph, an alien creature that now resides within the forest. Pray have no notions of any beauty or compassion, he would kill in a heartbeat.” “A zena- zeno... mowf?” I stammered, my face contorted in a confused expression as I attempted the words. Though I quickly gave Raven silent instructions at the same time, and it was hard to concentrate on two sentences at the same time. “He doesn’t look that scawy.” As if on cue - because it was - Raven roared straight at our faces, making the bars in front of him shudder. Raven’s roar was loud enough to travel several miles, though luckily he had lowered the volume somewhat. So it merely rattled our eardrums a bit. I turned to the Queen with a large smile on my face, after a few words of concern from her. It would have given me an almost maniacal appearance if I was in my prior appearance, due to my hair sticking straight back. “That. Was. Awesowme!” I squeaked, jumping up and down on the spot. Being a filly was hard, and I planned to lie about and play video games for a month, just to make up for this large outburst of exercise. “I’m glad you thought so, but I think you should be going now. It’s late,” Quill Brooks said, interjecting himself into the conversation, obviously before the Queen got too carried away. “Quite right, Alfred,” she said, making the unicorn mutter under his breath. “You should get home little one.” “But what about the zenowmowf?” I asked, looking up at her expectantly. “He will be coming home with me,” she said looking down at me, before quickly flitting her eyes away from mine. “Where he’ll be *ahem* taken care of,” she continued, the malice in her voice perceptible even to a young filly such as the one I was impersonating. My face darkened. My ears flattened themselves against my head, as my eyes filled with dark understanding and sorrow. My jubilant smile vanished, if only for a moment, before it reappeared upside down. The emotions weighing heavily on me, I sat down on the cold grass. The Queen glimpsed my emotion out of the corner of her eye, before being busily engaged in straightening out her cloak. She couldn’t meet the gaze of the little filly in front of her. Suddenly, I leapt up, as if I had had an idea. My face returning to it’s normal expression as the hope of it lifted some of the sorrow off me. Startled, the Queen took a few steps back, almost tripping on her cloak. Though she swiftly tried to hide her surprise, and she opened her mouth to say something. “Can I take him home?” I asked interrupting her. “No my dear, that animal is uncontrollable,” she said, trying to emphasise her point but evidently not wishing to be too strict. “Can I atleast twy?” I asked, taking a step closer to her. “He doesn’t to listen to anypony,” she continued, looking down at me with an almost guilty expression. Well I’m glad I’m not a pony then, I thought silently to myself, whilst trying not to smile at the thought. “Pwease...” I practically begged, looking up at the queen with big puppy-dog eyes. In Equestria, cute and adorable got you things; that was one of the first things I had learned, though with a great deal of trial and error. “Well I suppose. I could let you have one attempt,” she said, smiling down at me. Mimicking her smile, I turned back towards Raven’s cage. “Make it sit, and it goes home with you,” She continued, giving Quill Brooks a warning glare as he opened his mouth to complain. Instead, he bowed his head and took a few steps back. “What’s his name?” I asked, before moving closer to the cage. I took her blank stare as her answer instead of waiting for a voiced response. “He needs tu have a name. Mother says it’s wude to not adwess ponies by there name.” We stood in silence for a moment. Me, biting my lower lip in thought. The Queen, opening and closing her mouth, as if this had been the strangest thing to happen all day. And Quill Brooks, stood not far behind her, a sly grin on his face. Don’t you dare do what I think you’re going to do, Raven said, interrupting the almost blissful silence. Though I simply ignored him, concentrating my attention onto picking a name. “I’m gonna call you Fluffy!” I exclaimed, once again startling the Queen. Raven sighed, and hopefully regretted his earlier remark. “Fluffy?” the Queen asked, regaining the use of her voice. “Yes. Fluffy. The aliwen that only loves!” I exclaimed, before turning to Raven, a small smile on my face. The cage was too small for him, so he had to stand slightly crouched on all fours instead of on two legs, like he preferred when standing still. Though luckily it looked like he had enough room to sit down. Because I wouldn’t put it past the Queen to fail the attempt because he couldn’t sit. “Fluffy, pwease can you sit pwetty pwease,” I said walking closer to the cage. Raven mentally shuddered, and for a moment it looked like he wouldn’t oblige. But he eventually sat. He looked uncomfortable, with his head hunched down and tail wrapped tightly around himself. But he was a big xenomorph, and he could take care of himself. Unless he was being held prisoner by a pompous, self-appointed-queen, who doesn’t even seem to know who she has captured. But other than that he was perfectly fine. I could tell he knew I was mocking him, if only slightly, so i turned back towards the Queen. Who quickly closed her mouth. “Alfred, release Fluffy and let us be on our way,” she said, saying the name with obvious distaste. But I pretended not to notice, instead, I started jumping up and down on the spot. Repeating “thankyou, thankyou, thankyou,” what felt like a hundred times, before leaping towards the Queen and embracing her in a hug. Which I felt was unfortunately necessary for the disguise. I released her, and watched as Quill Brooks walked up to the cage, his horn glowing with a gold aura and his face showing no emotion. His gold magic gripped the top of the cage, and it then began to unravel. Spiralling down the twisted bars, the gold glow left nothing in it’s wake. My jaw fell open as I watched, but the instant he was free I leapt at him. Catching me swiftly in one hand, he kept me there whilst he reared up on his hind legs and gave out a quiet roar, almost like a yawn. He returned to ground level with a soft thud, whilst at the same time, placing me on his back. For some reason he wasn’t talking to me, though he was probably still in a mood about his new name. “Now I believe it’s time for you to go home, your mother will be worried sick,” she said, almost as if she was speaking from experience, and with a small smile. I nodded at her as she and Quill brooks moved out of the way. “Fluffy, take us home,” I said, standing proudly on his back, and to my private joy I was now stood above her. Instead of moving forward I felt myself moving upwards, as I was lifted into the air by Raven’s tail. Which was now wrapped around me. Carefully, he moved me forward so that he was able to look at me. And he managed to give me a confused expression, by tilting his head slightly. I didn’t need to look at the Queen to know that her smile had vanished momentarily, though my smile stayed firmly on my face. “Home is that way,” I said, pointing with my hooves after I had realized what the confusion. This seemingly satisfying him, he returned me to my place of power upon his back and started off in the direction I had pointed. We were soon out of sight, I had turned round to wave at the two ponies right until we had left their sight. But they were still within earshot, for xenomorphs anyhow. “Well that went splendidly,” Quill Brooks said, his words laced thickly with sarcasm. “We desired a distraction, and even though it was not the one we had envisioned. It did it’s job all the same,” the Queen said. It didn’t take long to rejoin the others. Once we were in the forest, it was a quick matter of circling back and exiting the forest close to them. When we had reached them I was still on Raven’s back, but I had morphed back into my previous form. The group who had been watching from the top of the ridge were sat waiting for us. The others evidently still trying to get the chariot running. Though there seemed something odd about the group of ponies in front of me. “Erm, guys,” I said, grabbing their attention and Twilight, Rainbow and Haunt all locked their gazes on me as I leapt off Raven’s back. “Where’s Starscream?”