Chapter Six: A New Discovery and a History Re-told
"Freedom is everyone's right."
The heroic leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime is a brave and formidable warrior who will stop at nothing to protect the rights of all sentient life on his new home Earth. Although he lost his trust in humans after the battle of Chicago, his faith has been reaffirmed when he met Cade Yeager and was saved by him.
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“I hope so too.” Twilight told Rainbow Dash as the ponies made their way into the mysterious Everfree Forest.
As Celestia’s sun slowly made its descent to make way for Luna’s moon and stars to appear, Twilight Sparkle and her friends continued to make their way deeper and deeper into the forest. As the trekked through the woods, they tried their best to be aware of any Cragodiles or Timberwolves that would try to devour any of them when night would fall. They also tried to keep an eye out for any sign of the mysterious creatures that came through the portal or even that mysterious ship that they creatures were hanging on. During the journey, the six ponies and dragons ended up seeing a few familiar locations. The first location that the gang passed by and stopped to look at was where Twilight was attacked by Discord’s plunder seeds when she was trying to return to her friends while searching for the Tree of Harmony. As they passed it, Twilight looked at the spot with a fond expression. It was here that she and her friends realized that they needed one another regardless of her title of Princess.
The second location was the Tree of Harmony and the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. All of them got a closer look at the tree and they saw the elements right where they placed them. They also noticed the spot where the key chest once sat before it sprouted into Twilight’s new castle. As they passed the tree, they thought back to how some where a little uncomfortable returning the elements out of fear of what Discord would do now that the one thing to defeat him was gone. However, after Tirek betrayed him and he gave Twilight her last key, everypony’s worries were gone for good.
The third location that everypony passed by was a real nostalgic place, particularly for Rainbow Dash. At this location, there was a huge skeleton of a dragon. A closer inspection revealed that the dragon’s head was severed from the neck down. The head was next to the ribcage and they could see several huge footprints everywhere. The reason why this spot brought so many emotions back to the ponies was because this was the spot that they witnessed the power of the first Autobot they ever met: Grimlock. Even though they tried to block out the bloody images of the dragon being ripped to shreds by the Dinobot commander, they couldn’t help but think back to his ferociousness. If it weren’t for Grimlock, they would have been dead. Before they walked away, Spike spoke up. “Hey, isn’t this the spot where you guys saw Grimlock in action?” he asked.
“Yeah Spike. This is the spot.” Rainbow told the baby dragon. Rainbow Dash knew Grimlock was scary, but the way he fought for both the Autobots and for the ponies of Equestria, she couldn’t deny that she missed the big T-Rex.
As the ponies continued their travel, they all gasped from what was laying before them: A footprint in the ground large enough to fit all seven of them and even more!
“Wow! That’s a big foot!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“You said it sugarcube. The question is what in Equestria is big enough to leave a footprint of this size?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know of any animal that’s big enough to make a footprint this big.” Fluttershy wondered.
“And from the looks of it, I think we can all agree that no dragon or manticore made this. And it doesn’t look like Tirek made it when he escaped Tartarus.” Rainbow Dash added.
“Well if none of those made this footprint, then what did?” Rarity asked.
As the ponies looked on in thought, they all heard a noise nearby their location.
“What was that?” Fluttershy asked with a hint that she was a little nervous.
“I don’t know Fluttershy, but we should check it out.” The alicorn told her friend.
With that, Twilight and her friends walked slowly to where they heard the noise. Well, Pinkie Pike bounced over to where they all heard the noise. Just as they were getting closer, they all began to hear different voices. These creatures were capable of speech! As they all got closer, Twilight turned to face her friends and said “Okay, I don’t want any of you rushing in and attacking like when you all first met the Autobots.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other and chuckled nervously as they remembered that fateful day.
Their laughing stopped when Rarity chided them. “Rainbow, Applejack, stop being so disrespectful! Don’t worry Twilight. We will be on our best behavior right girls?” Rarity asked. The other four ponies and Spike nodded their heads.
“Good.” Twilight said. “And we aren’t going to confront them yet. Let’s stay back to and hide so we can see who or what these creatures are.” She added.
“Don’t worry Twilight! Your Aunty Pinkie Pie will be the best spy ever!” Pinkie said as she pulled out her binoculars.
The ponies looked at her questionably before walking over to a nearby bush. Twilight then pushed away the bush to so everypony could see what made the noise……….
but what they all saw ended up making their jaws drop all the way to ground. Pinkie Pie was so shocked that she dropped her binoculars on the ground and forgot about them.
Right in front of them, were Transformers.
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“Blast it! Where is Optimus! We’ve been waiting here for almost four hours!” Crosshairs complained.
Drift, who was sitting on a rock sharpening his swords, answered with “Crosshairs, Optimus told us that he was scouting the area for any signs of Lockdown and his mercenaries as well as any forms of life that might be harmed by him.”
“Yeah and not to mention our missing companions. Poor things. Hope they didn’t get scrapped when they crashed on this world.” Hound said; clearly he was worried about the knights and if they were still alive.
Cade then walked up to Crosshairs and said “Don’t worry Crosshairs. Optimus will be back right Bee?”
Bumblebee, who was sitting across from Drift, gave out some bleeps that showed he was agreeing with Cade.
Brains, who was trying to warm up at the fire, said “Well I wonder what kind of animals live on this planet. Let’s just hope they don’t eat metal like a fragging scraplet.”
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Meanwhile, behind the bush, the ponies and Spike continued to look on at what they were seeing. Transformers! After three years since that dreadful day they all were sucked into that vortex at the Crystal Empire, they saw actual Transformers. However, their shocked expressions turned into curiosity. These Transformers looked NOTHING like the ones they met before. None of them had any visible red Autobot or purple Decepticon symbols nor did they have any bright lights that also helped distinguish them. Another thing that surprised them was the small robot with fuzzy blue hair and the tan and fleshy creature with black hair and wearing more clothes that they normally wear. Another strange thing was that there armor didn’t look like it came from Cybertron. These were the strangest Transformers they ever saw.
“No way. Transformers! Here? In Equestria?” Rainbow Dash said.
“But they’re supposed to be dead right?” Pinkie added. Unfortunately, everypony was giving her a hard glare when she said that. “Oops. my bad.” She said.
“I can hardly believe it either sugarcube. The question is, why do they look so strange.” Applejack said.
“Maybe they’re different Transformers.” Twilight said.
“Uh Twilight, what makes them so different?” Spike asked.
“Maybe because they mentioned Optimus Prime and… Bumblebee.” Fluttershy told her friends.
“Well whatever kind they are, I don’t think we should mention the one’s we met. It might freak them out.” Twilight said.
Before any of her friends could answer, the blue Autobot named Drift said “Hold on, I think I heard something behind that bush”. The ponies’ blood went cold: They were found.
“What should we do?” Rarity asked Twilight with a nervous tone.
Before the alicorn Princess could respond, Crosshairs spoke up and said “I hear it too.” as he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the bush. “Cade, get behind me.” Cade did as Crosshairs told him and hid behind the green Autobots leg with his alien gun in his hands. “Come out and show yourselves!” Crosshairs shouted.
Realizing that they had no choice but to come out, Twilight and her friends slowly but surely came out from behind the bush to face the Autobots.
Just as they came out, the Autobots looked in complete shock at what they were looking at. In all the time they spent on Earth, they had seen horses that came in a variety of colors but not pastel colors. They weren’t surprised by the pink and orange ones because they looked like normal horses or ponies as that’s what they closely resembled. The ones that really surprised them were the rainbow-mane and yellow-pink Pegasus’ and the white and purple unicorn because those were supposed to be fictional creatures. The other two that really surprised them were the purple pony with both a horn and wings and the small purple lizard with green eyes. The one that was really shocked was Cade; he saw the toys for these kinds of things but he never expected to see them real life.
After a moment of awkward silence, Twilight spoke up and said “Um…hello?”
Both Cade and Crosshairs let out a simultaneous “You’ve got to be kidding.”when they saw them.
Hound then walked over to them and said “Where in the Creator's name did you all come from?”
Before the ponies could say anything to the olive-colored Autobot, they all heard footsteps coming from behind. The ponies and Autobots turned around to see a blue and red Autobot approach everyone. This Autobot was red and blue in color. The difference was that it was everywhere on his body and sometimes they looked like flames. His shoulders were blue in color and his feet were silver. His arms looked ridged and he had the same horns on the side of his head like the Optimus the ponies met. He also had six silver tubes curved at the end sticking out of his back and what appeared to be a shield attached to his back. What really surprised the Main Six was that this one had a notable mouth, especially when he said “Autobots, what is going on here?”
Drift spoke up and said “Optimus, it seems we have encountered some natives of the world we currently are on.” as he pointed to the ponies and Spike.
Optimus slowly approached the six equines and said “I do apologize of my Autobots scared you all. This is the first time we have seen any form of life since we arrived on this planet. Tell me, what is the name of this planet?”
The ponies looked nervously at each other to see who would answer to him until Twilight spoke up and said “Uh, Equestria.” She said with a hint of nervousness.
Optimus nodded his head in understanding. “Thank you. Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Optimus Prime: Leader of the remaining Autobots.” He then turned to face his crew and said “Autobots, introduce yourselves.”
“Well what do I got to lose. The name’s Crosshairs and I am the best paratrooper in the galaxy.” The green Autobot boasted. When the ponies got a good look at him, they saw that he had goggles on his head that were colored red and blue. What really intrigued them was that he appeared to have a cape at his waist. The ponies never saw a Transformer with a cape before. What didn’t surprise them was his tough-guy and brash attitude, it did match his stature.
“My name is Hound. Nice to meet you all.” The ponies were real surprised when the bot said his name was Hound. They were just hoping it wasn’t another Decepticon in disguise like Makeshift. He was the largest out of all of the bots and had lights on his shoulders. He had a beard made out of wires and he had what appeared to be a shotgun shell hanging on the corner of his mouth. They also noticed smoke coming off as if it were a cigarette.
“I am Drift. It is an honor to meet such fine ladies.” This one made Rarity blush a little bit when he said that. He was blue and black in color and had four blades sticking out of his back. His helmet resembled that of a samurai and his shoulder pads were ridged like Optimus’ arms. He spoke in a deep voice but his blue eyes were reassuring to the ponies.
Bumblebee walked over to the ponies and gave out some friendly bleeps to the Main Six. He was colored yellow and black like a bumblebee and his tires where on his back in the shape of wings. Unlike the one they knew the most; he didn’t have an actual mouth so they couldn’t tell if he was frowning when the ponies couldn’t understand what he was saying. Rainbow Dash asked “Hey what’s wrong with him?”
Optimus replied with “This is Bumblebee, our scout. He had his vocal processors damaged on Cybertron: our home world. He usually communicates through radio waves but since there aren’t any on this planet, he can only respond through an electronic tongue.
Bumblebee gave out a few bleeps of sorrow when Optimus said that.
“Oh my, that’s terrible!” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, but sometimes it’s pretty funny when he speaks.” Cade said as he approached the gang.
The ponies all backed up when they saw Cade. “What in tarnation are you supposed to be?” Applejack asked Cade.
“Oh, sorry. My name is Cade, Cade Yeager. I’m a human from the planet Earth where these guys are currently residing on.”
Twilight was surprised when he heard the word ‘human’. “Wow! Another creature just like the ones in the mirror at the Crystal Empire. Fascinating!” she exclaimed.
Cade looked at Twilight with a confused look on his face. “Uh, what? He asked.
Pinkie then pulled Twilight close to her and said in her ear. “Don’t say that! You’ll scare him!”
Just then, Brains walked up to them with his severed right leg and said “Hey don’t leave me out of the introduction! I’m not chopped shrapnel!” the tiny Autobot said.
“My bad. This is Brains, our intel bot.” Optimus added.
“Hey how are you all doing?” Brains asked.
“Ooooh! You’re so small and cute!” Pinkie said to Brains.
“Hey, who you calling cute! I happen to be a highly intelligent creature here!” Brains told Pinkie, clearly not pleased with the remark.
“Oh, sorry about that.” Pinkie said apologetically.
Optimus then spoke up and said “Ok. Now that we have introduced ourselves, would you all care to introduce yourselves?”
“Oh, right, sorry about that Optimus. My name is Applejack.”
“My name’s Fluttershy.”
“I’m Pinkie Pie and I love to make friends! Especially big aliens like you guys!”
“I am Rarity, the most beautiful pony of all!”
“I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest thing in all of Equestria!
“And my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. It’s great to meet you all. And over hear is Spike, my number one assistant.” Spike grinned at that remark.
The Autobots were taken aback when Twilight said ‘Princess’ with Crosshairs being the first to respond. “Do we have to bow because there is no way in the entire universe that I am bowing to a pony that is smaller than my thumb?”
“Hey, show some respect kid before I pop a shell in your tailpipe!” Hound told the green paratrooper.
“Wait! You guys don’t have to bow if you don’t want to! I’m perfectly okay with that!” Twilight told all of them.
As the Autobots settled down, Optimus looked down at Twilight and said “Forgive us, but we are not used to titles of royalty. However, judging from your title, are you the ruler of this planet?”
Pinkie then ran up to his face and said “Silly Optimus! She’s not the ruler, that’s Princess Celestia’s job!” she said with a huge and innocent smile on her face.
“Oh no, not another one!” Crosshairs whined.
“Hey! They’re trying to be nice Crosshairs! So show some respect and shut up!” Cade told the green Autobot.
Crosshairs grumbled to himself before sitting down on the same rock Drift was sitting on. “Don’t mind him; he’s just grouchy that he hasn’t shot anything today.” Drift told the ponies.
“Well you he doesn’t have to be so disrespectful either.” Rarity said with an obvious look of disdain in her eyes.”
After that awkward moment, Spike walked up to Optimus and asked “Hey I have a question, you all mind telling us why you guys are on our world in the first place or where you came from?”
Hearing that, Optimus told the six and dragon “We come from the planet Cybertron and are currently residing on Earth: Cade’s home world. As for our purpose, we are here looking for the Dark Spark. and we have to find it before Lockdown can.”
This ended up giving some of the ponies a confused look on their faces.
“Dark Spark?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Lockdown?” Applejack asked.
“Earth?” Pinkie asked.
“Hey, hey, hey! One question at a time okay?” Brains told the ponies.
“I’m sorry Optimus, but we may need some more detail. Can you explain what 'Earth, Dark Spark, and Lockdown' are?” Twilight asked the Autobot leader.
“Very well then. Autobots and Cade, gather round.” Optimus told his men.
“Yay! a story!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Just as they all sat down, Hound couldn’t help but chuckle at Pinkie’s absurd behavior.
“We are a race of autonomous robotic organisms from the world known as Cybertron or Autobots for short. For generations we were a peaceful world until Megatron rose to power.” Optimus began. “Megatron was the leader of the Decepticons: a race of evil and vile Transformers who seeked to conquer Cybertron and enslave all who defy them. Because of that, we were thrusted into a Civil War for Cybertron that lasted eons.”
“Oh my goodness. That sounds absolutely dreadful!" Fluttershy told the Autobots.
“Indeed dear Fluttershy.” Drift told the pegasus. “the war for Cybertron continued until it was consumed with death. We were all forced to leave our dying homeworld to take refuge on Cade’s home known as Earth, populated with several creatures called humans.”
“While we were there, we made an alliance with the humans and began to hunt down the Decepticons that roamed Earth and destroy them before they could cause any harm to any human. Eventually our alliance served its purpose as five years ago, Megatron and his followers were all exterminated once and for all.” Optimus finished.
The ponies were shocked when they heard that. They knew the Autobots were fierce but they never imagined they would destroy all Decepticons.
“Whoa, so then who’s this Lockdown guy?” Rainbow asked the Bots.
Optimus then pressed a button on the side of his helmet which showed a picture of the bounty hunter. The ponies didn’t necessarily shiver when they saw his image but he was still terrifying. He was grey in color and had what appeared to be ammo clips on his shoulders. His chest resembled that of the front of a car and his eyes were green in color; different from any other type of Transformers they had ever met.
“Lockdown is a dangerous and vile bounty hunter who makes profit from doing horrid jobs ranging from assassinations to kidnapping and holding for ransom. Lockdown is actually not aligned with the Decepticons; he just tends to work with them since they pay the most to bounty hunters like him.” Drift said with a hint of disgust.
Drift wasn’t the only one who thought Lockdown was vile. After hearing everything about him, the ponies thought he was worse than Megatron himself if that was even possible.
“Well if he’s just a ‘bounty hunter’ as ya'll call him, why is he here? Is for that Dark Spark ya'll said earlier?” Applejack asked the Autobots.
“Indeed Applejack. The Dark Spark is the antithesis to the Matrix of Leadership: the symbol of ancient wisdom and leadership of the Primes before me.” as he said that, he opened up his chest compartment and showed the matrix. It was different in appearance as it was grey in color and was curved at the ends. The only thing that was similar was the blue light shining in the center. “Where the Matrix grants the user the wisdom of the Dynasty of Primes, the Dark Spark allows the user to bend the fabric of space and time to their very command.” As he said that, he showed another image that was displaying the Dark Spark. To the pony’s surprise, it bared the same shape of Optimus Prime’s Matrix except it was duller in color and was colored purple in the center.
“Why does he want it exactly?” Fluttershy asked the Autobot commander.
Cade walked over to her and said, “He wants to use the Dark Spark’s power to go back in time to revive all the dead Decepticons on Earth and restart the war; if only, to reap in the spoils of war.”
“That’s awful.” Twilight said.
“Indeed. That is why we must find it as soon as we can so that he cannot use its properties for his own gain.” Optimus told the alicorn Princess.
“So then what are you guys going to do now?” Spike wondered.
“Heck if we know kid. But for now we’re going to make camp here until morning comes. Then we’re going to find that thing and bring it back to Earth along with Lockdown in a body bag.” Brains told the baby dragon.
Although some were a little miffed when Brains said ‘body bag’, Twilight stepped up and said “Actually, I told Princess Celestia that we were going to look for you guys since I saw you all fell from that portal last night. Since we now know why you all are here, I think the Princess should know too.”
Optimus thought about it for a while before turning to his Autobots. “What do you all say? Should we follow Princess Twilight to meet with the ruler of this world?” he asked them.
“If it beats staying out here, count me in.” Crosshairs said.
“Yeah I guess I could go for somewhere else too. What you say Bee?” Hound asked the scout.
Bumblebee gave some bleeps in agreement before turning to Drift and asked him. Drift, however, did not respond. Instead, he looked at the forest behind them with curious eyes.
“Is something wrong Drift?” Pinkie asked. Drift did not reply.
After a moment of silence, Drift turned around slowly and said “We’re being spied on.”
The Autobots and ponies gasped when he said this. Just then, the forest around them exploded with robots everywhere.
“Autobots! Protect the ponies!” Optimus shouted as he readied his gun.
Soon, the entire campsite was surrounded by these robots with green and orange eyes and pointing guns and missile launchers at everyone. Before anyone could open fire, they all heard someone walking up to them. A few of the robots moved to the side to let another grey and green-eyed robot walk through. The ponies recognized him from the image that Optimus showed them. It was the evil bounty hunter that they were told.
It was Lockdown.