//------------------------------// // Conversation with a Titan // Story: My Little Pony: Grimlock is King // by Flanagan //------------------------------// A week had passed since the fall of Sombra and the Crystal Empire had nearly been completely rebuilt. But those in charge of the rebuilding effort had stated that there was only one reason for their phenomenal success, Grimlock. Even Shining armor had to commend the titan for the work he had done, even if he caused about a quarter of the damage. They even went so far as to throw a celebration in Grimlock’s honor, in spite of his objections. The event was held on a grand scale. Vast tassels and streamers hung from ropes spanning entire pathways intertwined with one another until it came to the front of the castle itself, where a tapestry standing nearly Grimlock’s height, bearing his likeness, hung from the castle entrance. Princess Cadence herself oversaw the preparations, mainly because Pinkie Pie had left for Ponyville with Fluttershy the moment the train tracks had been fixed. A select few knew why but it was decided that they would keep the secret among one another as to avoid any further destruction and the good name that Grimlock literally fought to obtain. One such pony now stood on the balcony of the castle, looking over her checklist one last time. “Looks like they pulled out all the stops huh?” A cyan pegasus said landing gracefully beside her. “If only they really knew.” “We’ve gone over this time and time again Rainbow…” Twilight sighed, turning her attention to her friend. “Grimlock saved them… he saved us… What more would it take for you to trust him?” “I can’t trust him…” Rainbow replied, growling through her teeth. “And if any of you were smart you wouldn’t either.” “Why not?” Twilight asked, becoming frustrated. “After all the good he’s done. What possible grudge could you hold against him?” Rainbow was silent for a few moments, prompting Twilight to ask her again. But before she could let the words escape her Rainbow looked to the vastness of the empire and sighed. “This past week I’ve come to understand a few things…” she said staring out into the rebuilding empire. “I’ve come to terms with what Celestia and Luna have told me...” “And that is?” “That sometimes… sometimes…” Rainbow said, struggling to find the right way to swallow her pride. “Sometimes there are ponies that can’t be stopped any other way.” Twilight had to take a step back after what she had just heard. In all the years that she had known her, Rainbow rarely admitted that she was wrong and there were even fewer times when she would admit it when someone else was right. Twilight smiled to herself, maybe this was a step in the right direction, if she could understand then maybe Grimlock wouldn’t be too difficult to bring around. “But I don’t think Grimlock is a good guy…” Rainbow continued, crushing both Twilight’s thoughts and hopes. “And why not?” Twilight asked, “Every time a threat has appeared not only did he come to help us, he’s made sure that none of us were hurt.” “It’s not that simple Twilight.” Rainbow said shaking her head. “How can it not be?” Twilight asked, trying to understand her friend. “Because Killing should be a last resort… in fact it should be beyond the last resort.” Rainbow replied looking back to Twilight. “Grimlock would kill you just as soon as you made him angry… and he’s always angry.” Rainbow quickly turned around, staring back into the castle, staring at some of the few guards remaining. “The guards would understand…” she said. “They would kill to protect the princess, their country...” “But they wouldn’t do it without remorse.” Twilight said. “I’m sure to them it’s a terrible thing, something that they just don’t want to do.” “That’s my point.” Rainbow answered, once again turning back to Twilight. “Grimlock feels nothing when he kills, no remorse, no internal conflict… he kills because he feels like it…” Rainbow suddenly held her head low, as if she had lost her most prized possession. “And a part of me… a part of me feels like he likes it.” Twilight jumped back at the accusation, but she had to understand where she was coming from. Grimlock certainly had no qualms when it came to ending life, but to go so far as to say he enjoyed such actions. It seemed to be quite a stretch for her. “Don’t worry Rainbow.” Twilight said outstretching her hoof. “No pony kills for sheer entertainment value.” “I know Twilight…” Rainbow sighed as she unfurled her wings, “But you need to remember one thing…” Before Twilight could ask what she darted into the sky and turned around. “He’s NOT a pony.” And with that Rainbow darted into the distance, leaving Twilight only with her thoughts. Hours later the festivities were in full swing. The crystal ponies were having the time of their lives, sporting all sorts of Grimlock related memorabilia. He had become a national hero to them. The one had stopped their ultimate enemy permanently, so they were more than happy to show their appreciation for him. Not to mention Rarity was quite pleased herself, after all she designed and created the line herself, so she managed to make a few bits off the celebration. Hours passed and the celebration showed no signs of stopping, that is, until the moon rose in the night’s sky. That was when everypony literally stopped what they were doing and made their way to the now restored castle. Looking to the balcony the crowd saw their beloved rulers, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. They collectively cheered, but the risen hoof of the Princess silenced them, if only for a few brief moments. “Good evening my little ponies!” Cadence said to the masses, who responded in a thunderous combination of cheers and hooves being driven to the ground. “Today has been quite the day of celebration has it not?” The crowd roared with enthusiasm, telling her that they really did have a wonderful day; especially given one week ago they thought they would never see another sunrise. It was then that Shining Armor stepped forward, but instead of sharing his wife’s smile, he wore a face far more stern. A face that he had ever since the empire fell under attack. “But let us remember those who could not be here with us today.” He said, silencing the crowd. “Let us remember our family, friends… others that were taken and those brave guards who gave their very lives in the initial attack.” At that moment Shining lowered his head, soon followed by his wife. Seconds later, like a wave on the shore, the crowd lowered their heads until finally every last pony in the entire empire was in silent memoriam. A good minute had passed before Shining finally raised his head and looked to those who looked to him for protection in their time of need, something he couldn’t offer them back then. But fortunately the one they were honoring rose to the occasion. “Now for our guests of honor!” Cadence said with cheer, “The co-rulers of all Equestria… the Princesses Celestia and Luna!” The crowed both cheered and gasped as the two alicorns seemed to appear out of thin air. It certainly was a surprise for them to show, especially with preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala in full swing. “Hello Crystal Empire.” Celestia said looking out to the still cheering crowd. “It is with great pleasure that I address you tonight.” “However our time here will be quite limited.” Luna added, as if to cut the crowd’s hope in two. “We are both very busy insuring that everything for the Gala is ready.” “That being said we are still very thankful that you have chosen us to be guests of honor.” Celestia continued, bringing up the crowds spirits. “But there is one here who deserves special recognition.” The crowd suddenly became louder than it had the entire time, chanting the name of their hero. “Grimlock! Grimlock! GRIMLOCK!” Celestia smiled to herself. It was good to see that such a large group of ponies had looked past the exterior of Grimlock and saw what she saw, the hero inside. It gave her hope that the rest of Equestria would soon see the same thing. But she hoped that he wouldn’t have to eliminate a sadistic tyrant each time he did. “It seems the crowd is growing impatient sister.” Luna whispered into Celestia’s ear, breaking her thoughts. “It is best that we introduce him now.” “Of course.” Celestia replied with a nod looking to the crowd. “It is now with the highest of honors that I present to you your champion…” The lights that were focused on the balcony suddenly shifted to a massive curtain bearing the symbol that Grimlock wore on his chest. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, I present to you, Grimlock!” The curtains pulled away, but instead of cheers of triumph there was a collective gasp of shock. Confused, the princesses looked to the where there should’ve been a sixty plus foot metallic titan, but they saw nothing in its place. Within an instant the two were on the ground, looking for answers, but all they found were Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity. “Where is Grimlock?” Luna asked. “Was he not supposed to be behind this curtain?” “Yes Princess.” Rarity said, looking for herself for good measure. “And couldn’t possibly imagine where he wandered of too… then again I would wonder why he would wander in the first place. I could never imagine turning down such affection and attention.” “I can’t believe this happened again!” Rainbow yelled, slamming her face in to her hoof, “He’s taller than a train is long and he still sneaks away at the last second?” “Well he was here ‘bout two minutes ago…” Applejack added scratching her head. “So he couldn’ta gone too far…” “Applejack’s right.” Twilight said looking around. “And there aren’t many places he could’ve gone where no pony would’ve spotted him.” “Well that for sure knocks out him walking into the crowd…” Rainbow snorted rolling her eyes, “Though I wouldn’t put it past him…” “Maybe he has some kind of cloaking ability, something he never told us he could do.” Twilight pondered rubbing her chin. “I highly doubt that Twilight.” Rarity said shaking her head, “I couldn’t think of any reason to hide such a work of art.” “Alright…” Applejack said, taking a step away from Rarity, who was day dreaming about Grimlock again. “All bizarre romantic fantasies aside… that still don’t tell us where ol’ Grimlock ran off to.” “We should go look for him.” Twilight said, “But where to start?” “I believe I have a plan…” Princess Celestia said gathering the attention of the four. “Why not split up and look for him?” The four looked to one another before collectively bringing their hooves to their faces. More or less feeling ridiculous because they didn’t think of that in the first place. “Rainbow Dash and Rarity should make their way to the marketplace.” Celestia said pointing with her wing. “Twilight and Applejack make your way to industrial district.” “Why do I have to go with Rarity?” Rainbow asked. “Applejack is more my speed.” “That may be true, but we need to have someone slightly more attentive in each group.” Celestia replied. “I mean no offence, but I can’t risk any of you missing a potential clue to his whereabouts.” “No offence taken Princess,” Applejack said tipping her hat. “I may’ve suggested the same thing myself.” “Indeed…” Celestia said with a nod. “Now let’s not waste any more time, I don’t want the crowd to become any more restless than they already are.” “Will do Princess!” Rainbow said darting off toward the marketplace before abruptly stopping, “But what are you going to do?” “My sister and I will remain here.” Celestia answered, “incase he returns before either of you find him.” “Oh… yeah…” Rainbow replied rubbing the back of her head, “I knew that… Come on Rarity!” Before Rarity could reply Rainbow was already halfway to the market. Letting out a disgruntled sigh and following her overanxious partner. Applejack and Twilight on the other hoof, took a much slower approach, with Applejack leading and Twilight not far behind, looking for anything her partner may have missed. The Princesses stood there, each watching another group until they were finally out of sight. The moment the two were alone they couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at what had transpired. “You already know where he is…” Luna said turning to her still laughing sister. “Don’t you?” “I didn’t know it was THAT obvious…” Celestia replied containing her laughter, “What gave it away?” “You normally let THEM come to a decision rather than making your own.” Luna replied. “Just like with those tickets to the Gala a few years back.” “You knew I was planning on sending those tickets anyway, right?” Celestia replied with a raised eyebrow. “I just wanted Twilight to learn the importance of sharing her blessing first.” “Of course...” Luna replied rolling her eyes. “Now back to the task at hand… where exactly IS Grimlock?” “After all that protesting he did when it came to this little celebration I decided to have a little talk with him.” Celestia explained, “And in that conversation we devised a plan.” “Do go on.” Luna said, smiling to herself. “I’m curious as to how and where you managed to hide a being of his stature in such a short time.” “Isn’t it obvious?” Celestia replied shrugging her shoulders. “It was a simple manner of teleportation really, though it was made slightly more difficult with something his size.” “Bravo sister…” Luna said clapping her hooves together. “Very well played, but that still doesn’t answer where he went.” “Well I couldn’t teleport him out of the empire. He’s FAR too big for that.” Celestia began, “But I did get him far enough away so he wouldn’t be spotted by the others, and given the time that has spanned he’s probably made plenty of ground.” “I see…” Luna nodded, “But what now?” “Well…” Celestia said looking to the night sky. “We did make a deal, Grimlock wouldn’t appear at the height of the celebration, but he does have to show up to insure the ponies don’t worry.” “I suppose that’s what you’re going to be doing now?” Luna asked, looking to the now dispersing crowd. “You know me too well sister.” Celestia said with a smile as she wrapped her wing around Luna. “But could I ask you one thing as well?” “Of course.” Luna said with a nod, “What do you require?” “I know you don’t like crowds that much either,” she began looking to the crowd as well. “But do you mind stalling for a few minutes? So I can go get him?” “Well…” Luna said rubbing her chin. “I can, but it WILL cost you.” “Of course Luna.” Celestia said, “What are your terms.” “Your desert for a week,” Luna replied with a devilish grin, “including evening cake.” Celestia nearly buckled under her own weight when she heard her sister’s terms, but she knew that it was the only way to keep Luna quiet. Celestia painfully nodded in silent agreement, prompting Luna to let out a maniacal laugh that nearly caught the attention of the remaining crowd. Biting her lip Celestia’s horn began to glow a faint golden color until in a flash of light she was gone, leaving Luna to uphold her part of the bargain. Moments later Celestia appeared near the edge of the city, outstretching her wings to take flight. It didn’t take her long to spot her quarry. He was easily twice the size of every building minus the castle of course. But there was something different about him this evening, instead of wondering around or doing some sort of self-imposed sword training he was staring into the night’s sky, not moving a muscle, or whatever he had. Curious about this Celestia landed next to his foot and looked up to Grimlock. He didn’t even acknowledge her presence, which was even more odd given that she and Luna were the only ones that somepony could consider Grimlock being excited about seeing. Letting her curiosity get the better of her she once again too to the sky, only this time lading on Grimlock’s shoulder, so she could have a better view of what he was looking at too. Upon further examination Celestia saw that he was staring at a certain star far off in the cosmos, one that most ponies wouldn’t take much notice of. But for some reason he focused all of his attention on that one star. Again letting her curiousness getting the better of her, Celestia decided to do something very un-princess like, she decided to interrupt him. “Grimlock?” she asked, tapping her hoof on the metal below her. “Grimlock what are you looking at?” The sudden break in silence caught Grimlock off guard, but not enough to make him jump. Instead he turned to the pony on his shoulder and let out a bellowing metallic growl. “Hello Celestia…” he said as if he wasn’t happy to see her. In fact he wasn’t, because her arrival meant that he would have to be close to those annoying little shinny ponies again. And they were even worse than the pink one as a whole. “Good evening, Grimlock.” Celestia replied with a smile. “It’s quite a lovely evening isn’t it?” “You say it is…” he answered, looking back to the night sky. “But to Grimlock it’s nothing but one white dot and lots of little ones.” “So the moon and stars mean nothing to you?” Celestia asked. “Not really…” Grimlock replied. “Don’t tell Luna you said that.” Celestia said letting out a chuckle. “But I don’t think you’re telling me the whole truth.” Grimlock looked back to her, slightly insulted that she would think he would lie to her about something. Sure there were times that he would skate around the truth and there were times that he wouldn’t tell the truth, but Grimlock never lied to anyone in their face or behind their back. “You think me lie?” Grimlock asked, clinching his fist. “Oh no far from it,” Celestia replied hopping off of his shoulder and onto his chassis. “I just said you weren’t telling the whole truth, in fact I don’t think you have been the entire time.” Grimlock looked away, knowing that she was right. He didn’t necessarily feel horrible about it, he was just more or less upset that she had caught him and saw past his charade. Now soon she was going to ask him about the Decepticons again, and maybe even his plan to kill Shockwave, but instead she did something completely unexpected. “I’ve known for quite some time that you’ve been withholding the entire truth from me and my little ponies.” She said in a stern yet calming tone, “and quite frankly, the reason for you doing so is yours to have. I won’t think any less of you for doing what you believe is right, but I ask at least one thing from you and I want you to answer me with the utmost honesty.” At that moment Celestia flew up to Grimlock’s visor, stopping only feet away. “What are you staring at in the night’s sky?” Grimlock didn’t really know how to react to the situation. For starters, Celestia knew that Grimlock wasn’t telling her about Shockwave and the others or how they were connected to him. Second, she didn’t care that he wasn’t, if it had been Prime or any other higher ranking Autobot, like Ironhide or Ratchet they would have tried to grind it out of him until he ultimately fell silent of left their presence entirely. To top it all off he could tell just by her tone that Celestia was displeased with him in that fact, but for her not to think any less of him blew several circuits in his motherboard. Grimlock processed all of that knowledge for a few seconds just before he let out a metallic sigh. She was right about everything she said. That combined with the great respect he held for her he could’ve at least fulfilled her one, very simple request. “Home…” Grimlock replied, looking back to the star in question. “Home?” Celestia questioned. “What do you mean?” “Home.” Grimlock repeated, pointing to the star in question. “Me looking at home.” “You home is a star?” Celestia asked, turning her attention to where Grimlock was pointing. “No, Home is near star.” Grimlock replied shaking his head. “Planet… called Cybertron.” “That’s… an interesting name.” Celestia said, smiling awkwardly. She couldn’t believe that anything would name an entire plant such a silly name. “Grimlock live there for over seven million years.” He continued. “Me was a great gladiator in the pits of Kaon.” “A gladiator?” Celestia questioned, it wasn’t like she had never heard the term before. She knew that the Griffon Kingdoms had warriors that bore the same name, but they were slaves, fighting for their freedom. She could hardly believe something as powerful as Grimlock being a slave, especially with is attitude. “One of the best.” Grimlock said with pride. “Over three million years undefeated.” “That’s… quite impressive…” Celestia said forcing a smile. At least now she knew where he got his fighting skills from. “What happened to stop you?” Grimlock paused for a second, wondering what exactly he should say. He knew for a fact that she was trying to chip away at the wall of secrecy that he had built, but this was one of three ponies he respected, her being the most of all. So he decided that he could tell her more. “Megatron…” he replied, trying to hide his anger. “Mega-who?” “Megatron...” Grimlock repeated, not quite able to hide his anger a second time. “He gladiator like me, but he was called Megatronus long before he was Megatron.” “I see…” Celestia said, wondering where in all of Equestria such silly names came from. “What did Megatronus-I mean Megatron do next?” “He do what all Gladiators do.” Grimlock replied. “He fight, kill and fight again, but unlike others he spoke too.” “He spoke?” Celestia asked, “You didn’t speak back then?” “No we speak,” Grimlock said shaking his head. “But he speak of different things, he speak of freedom.” “Freedom?” Celestia gasped. “So you were…” “All Gladiators were… we built to battle for entertainment, nothing more.” “That sounds like a horrible life.” Celestia said slightly disgusted. “Megatron was right in fighting for freedom.” “Me thought that too.” Grimlock replied nodding his head. “So Me was one of first to join him, along with Soundwave and puny librarian called Orion Pax.” “It is good to know you fought for what was right.” “We thought same thing…” Grimlock said looking back to the stars. “Then everything changed.” “What changed?” “Me not really sure what, but Megatron and Orion walked into great council, and Orion walked out a Prime.” Grimlock paused for a moment remembering that fateful day. “Orion became a sworn enemy and Megatron called us Decepticons.” “You were one of those things you nearly KILLED Rainbow Dash for calling you?” Celestia said shocked, “How could you be so-“ “Me not one for long.” Grimlock interrupted. “Only one million years or so.” “Well… what made you change your mind?” Celestia asked her interest peaked beyond any normal means of measurement. “Kalis happened…” he growled. “Kalis made Grimlock realize Megatron was wrong.” “What happened at Kalis?” Celestia asked, half fearing the answer. “Megatron told us, that city was full of enemies…” Grimlock explained. “He say kill everything…” “What did you do?” “Me follow orders, until me saw that whole city was full of weak refugees from war.” Grimlock clinched his fist yet again. “Me never kill the weak, no honor in killing the defenseless, but Megatron… Megatron…” With no warning Grimlock unleashed a deep metallic bellow that could be heard for miles around. “MEGATRON KILLED WEAK ONES WHO RUN AWAY!” Again without warning, Grimlock slammed his fist into the earth, forcing the ground to shake and crack under his unbridled power. Celestia was thrown off of him in the event, but thankfully she managed to get her wings flapping before she met the ground. She flew in place for a few moments literally watching the hate seethe off of Grimlock’s body in the form of a blood red aura. Cautiously she approached him, making sure that she was ready for another possible outburst. Foot by foot she nervously flapped her wings until she was once again feet away from his visor, which was now switching from blue to red. “Grimlock?” She asked reaching her hoof out to him. “Grimlock are you okay?” “Me leave Decepticons after that day to join Optimus Prime and Autobots.” Grimlock finished looking to Celestia as his visor faded into blue one last time. “The rest is history.” “Surely there’s more to it than that.” Celestia said trying to squeeze only a little more information out of him. “No…” Grimlock growled back. “Me spoken enough…” “If you say so Grimlock…” she replied letting out a sigh. “But I’m sure you know what time it is now.” “Yes…” Grimlock answered lowering his head. “Now me have to be with shiny ponies…” “That’s right.” Celestia said nodding, “Oh and try to smile, you’ll look less scary.” Grimlock stared at her blankly for a few seconds. Knowing full well that it was hard to smile without a mouth or something that looked like it. But Celestia just laughed her little joke off and the two were finally on their way to the celebration. It didn’t take very long for them to arrive, give or take a few minutes. Luna was the happiest with their arrival, she had run out of sun jokes and the crowd had fallen long silent. But upon Grimlock’s arrival they were met with overwhelming applause. Grimlock stood there silently as the shiny ponies swarmed him. Asking him ridiculous questions, touching him screaming his name louder and louder in desperate attempt to gain his attention. He had to fight his every urge to pull out his sword and start swinging, but in the end the shiny ponies were happy. And that’s what Celestia wanted. The following day he and the remaining elements were off to Ponyville, Grimlock still needed to rebuild the rest of the town after all. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “How’s he doing?” a voice asked in the darkness. Swindle had finally woken up, but he had no idea how long he was out. For all he knew he was still in the clutches of the damned bug queen he was far too weak to make any kind of attack. So he decided to stay silent and listen into whoever was talking. “Do I LOOK like a doctor?” another replied. “It’s been nearly a week since we found him… don’t you think he’d be up by now?” “Well he did have those things in his chassis…” What things? Swindle thought, did she inject him with some kind of virus? Did some sort of infection spread throughout his body? Whatever it was it scared him and he prayed that it wouldn’t reach his spark. “They shouldn’t have done anything to his circuits, they weren’t anywhere near his spark.” Relief swept across Swindle’s body, whatever was inside him was now out and harmless. But the longer he was awake the more he gathered his senses; there was something about the voices, something that sounded familiar. “But it still begs the question why they were in there.” a third voice chimed in. “Shockwave already said they were in some kind of hibernation stasis.” A fourth and final voice said. “But needless to say we managed to extract plenty of Energon out of them.” Shockwave? Swindle inwardly smiled, a happy thought crossed his mind. Maybe these were the Combaticons, but that thought quickly went away when he remembered the torture he endured. He nearly told everything to that thing while she ‘questioned’ him. And he remembered very clearly how she managed to mimic is voice down to the last tone. He continued to stay quiet. He wasn’t about to move until he heard them say something that wasn’t mentioned in his interrogation. “Yeah we did.” The first voice laughed. “They had even more than those things we grabbed near that energon spire.” “We need to find more of those things if we want to have a good supply.” The third voice said. “No doubt Megatron will be happy when we report an entire planet teaming with more energon that Earth AND Cybertron combined.” “E-Earth?” Swindle said weakly, that was pretty much the only thing Chrysalis didn’t manage to pull out of him, mainly because she didn’t ask. Cautiously he opened his eyes, just to find himself surrounded by friends. “Swindle!” The other Combaticons cheered swarming him. “We thought you were scrap.” Onslaught said patting him on the head. “Good thing Brawl found you on his scanner.” “I don’t like to brag… but yeah that was all me.” Brawl said puffing out his chest. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys…” Swindle said slowly rising from the makeshift table. “What’s the word? Last I remember that stupid lizard pushed us into the Space Bridge…” “We’re on a new planet Swindle.” Onslaught explained. “One with enough energon to rebuild ten Cybertrons!” “I figured that much…” Swindle said rubbing his head, “Especially given the only life forms my data banks register are your ugly mugs.” “Yeah but that’s not even the best part.” Blast Off continued. “This planet’s life is all half energon!” Vortex finished. “Really?” Swindle asked. “How is an energon/organic hybrid even possible?” “Even Shockwave doesn’t know that.” Onslaught replied, “But we’ve come to find out that some creatures have more energon than others.” Onslaught then placed his hand on Swindle’s shoulder and pulled him in close. “You know where we could find any more of those things that were inside you?” A dark grin grew on Swindle’s face at the very sound of the question. “Yeah…” he said rubbing his hands together. “I know a place…”