//------------------------------// // Discovery, Part 1 // Story: Transformers: Equus // by LordLycaon //------------------------------// The castle of Canterlot was as welcoming as it was imposing to Twilight. Having lived half her life there as Celestia’s personal protégé, she had grown used to the strange aura that the great palace seemed to give off. It was an aura that was both comforting and nerve-racking at the same time. Definitely an odd combination that took a lot of getting used to. A few days had passed since they had given up the Elements of Harmony to save the Tree of Harmony from the relentless Plunder Vines. Things had calmed down somewhat since then. The Everfree Forest was gradually becoming more tame, though it was still a dangerous place, where wild beasts roamed, just waiting for an unwary passerby to stumble into the cursed woodland. Even Discord was (somewhat) under control, thanks to his close friendship with Fluttershy, and the fact that he was actually beginning to enjoy helping ponies and other races all across the wide world of Equus. Now, the six friends had once again been summoned by the Solar Princess. As Twilight and her friends walked through the halls of the castle, the young alicorn couldn’t help but wonder why, exactly, Celestia might’ve summoned them here. The letter that the sun princess had sent was pretty vague, only saying that something had been found, and that she and her friends might be interested in seeing it. There was nothing in the message that fully explained what needed investigating, or if there was any sort of actual danger. ‘I guess we’ll find out soon enough,’ she thought as they finally stepped through the doorway to the throne room, where both Celestia and Luna were conversing about something. “You need to be more careful, sister,” Luna said in a warning tone. “This… thing that we have uncovered… We do not know what it may contain. It could be dangerous.” “Trust me, Luna,” Celestia replied in a calm, sure voice. “I’ve taken precautions. Guards have been ordered to keep an eye on it and to make sure no civilians see it. If word got out about this, it could cause a panic. And I’ve sent for- ah!” Celestia beamed when she saw the Mane 6 enter the room. “Great timing, my little ponies.” Out of pure habit, Twilight bowed respectfully to the Princess of the Sun, her friends following suit, and said, “Why did you send for us, Princess? You didn’t elaborate much in your letter.” Celestia nodded. “I couldn’t risk anypony else learning about this,” she explained. “As you know, ever since the Changeling Incident, I have had guards, miners, and explorers-for-hire working to fully map out the Canterlot Caves so that they can’t be used against us again, should a future threat make itself known.” Some of the six friends looked to each other, either with curious or nervous expressions. “So,” Applejack spoke up. “You’re sayin’ that you found somethin’ down there?” “That is correct,” Luna answered. “Some kind of… machine. We know not where it comes from, or even what it is for, but it is clearly not of Equestrian origin.” “So it’s foreign?” Rarity asked. Celestia shook her head. “It would be much easier to simply show you rather than to explain with words. Come.” -o- It was unbelievable. Astounding. The metallic hulk lying covered in dirt was absolutely massive, far larger than anything that any of them had ever seen before. It was made of some kind of metal that was unlike anything ever discovered. Whenever somepony’s pickaxe hit it, the blade shattered on contact. The machine was coated in centuries worth of dust and grime, but its yellow and red colors were still fairly easy to make out. Upon one area of the machine was even a bright red symbol of some sort. A shield, perhaps, in the shape of strange, somber-looking face. Twilight could only stare in awe at it. She had no idea what it was, but her scientific curiosity would inevitably force her to try and find out. She approached the enormous machine. What was it? Where had it come from? How long had it been here? What was its purpose? So many questions ran rampant through her mind, with no answers in sight. This was discovery at its best. “As I said earlier,” Princess Celestia said, pulling Twilight’s attention away from the metal thing, “we don’t know what it is. All we do know is that it has been here for a very long time. It may even predate all of ponykind by a great margin.” “We have several guards and scholars looking around this… thing,” Luna continued. “From what we have learned so far, it has a vaguely similar design to Equestrian airships. It may serve the same function.” “An airship?” Rainbow inquired skeptically. “This thing’s huge! How could it possibly fly?” The royal sisters looked to each other, both clearly thinking on that query. “We’re not certain,” Celestia answered after several seconds. “It might serve a completely different purpose. A bunker, maybe. But for now, nothing is certain. All we have at the moment are theories.” “And shaky ones at that,” Luna stated. “We are currently waiting for our scouting parties to return. They may be able to—” “Excuse me,” a new voice spoke up. A guard had just arrived. “Forgive my interruption, Your Highness, but one of the teams has returned.” “What news?” Celestia inquired. “They seem to have found a way into the machine,” the guard stated, pointing over towards what appeared to be the front of the thing. “A way inside?” Rarity parroted. The guard only nodded in response. Celestia hummed in thought. “Prepare a detachment of guards. My sister and I will enter this… thing, along with Princess Twilight and her friends.” The guard saluted and hurried off to prepare a team. Fluttershy gulped loudly. “W-w-we’re going inside it?” The Princess of the Sun nodded. “I have a feeling that this new discovery may someday prove to be extremely beneficial. I would like to be able to share whatever we find in there with the rest of the world. But only if it’s safe. We have no idea what we’ll find in there.” Twilight beamed at that. This machine could hold so many secrets, and just as many answers! This could prove to be the find of the millennium! “This is incredible!” she said cheerfully. “Just think of all the things we could find in there! It may the remains of some sort of advanced precursor race, or—” “Or it could be aliens!” Pinkie Pie suddenly threw in, her eyes wide. “What if there are big, slimy, ugly monsters in there just waiting to eat our brains and turn us into their zombified servants!?” “I think you’d be pretty much safe from that, Pinkie,” Rainbow scoffed with a joking grin. “Aliens,” Twilight said snidely, making no effort to hide her rolling eyes. “Yeah, right. There’s no such thing as aliens, Pinkie.” “How do you know for sure?” Pinkie replied, eyeing the purple alicorn suspiciously. “That sounds an awful lot like something an alien would say! You might be an alien in disguise!” The young princess stared at the other mare, then sighed. “Pinkie, I’m not an alien. There is no such thing as aliens. And there never have been or will be.” With that said, the ponies all followed the guard, who led them to the towering entrance into the machine, where several other guards joined them, spears ready. The inside of the metal hulk was predictably dark, and felt as though not a single living creature had walked through its massive corridors in centuries or more. The group of ponies could practically feel just how ancient this bunker was. Whoever or whatever built this place, they certainly weren’t normal ponies, either, if they were ponies at all. The entrance was unnecessarily huge, and the hallways were even bigger. Along the hallway’s walls were massive doors that were apparently sealed shut somehow, and refused to open, even when Celestia, Luna, and Twilight attempted to force them open with a collective. They soon shared a theory that the doors were likely too old to be opened, or were somehow immune to magic. They also tossed around the idea that there might’ve been a sealing spell of some sort upon the doors, but nopony had sensed any form of magic in the bunker. Seeing as how they couldn’t open any other path, they just kept trotting down the hall. An eerie silence persisted amongst them as they walked through the corridor, eventually coming across a large chamber that housed massive chairs that were the size of small houses standing in front of black screens that had countless buttons, levers, and switches just beneath them. To the far end of the chamber was an assortment of enormous metal capsules of some sort, ten in total, though five of them were closed. The ponies spread out some to examine the chamber, the guards setting up a perimeter in case anything dangerous showed up. As the ponies looked around, Twilight felt herself curiously drawn to the mysterious pods at the far side. She eyed each of the closed ones closely, trying to figure out what could possibly be inside. It wasn’t long until Princess Celestia approached and joined the young alicorn. Twilight turned to Celestia, a questioning look on her face, but then faced the pods again. “What do you think is in these things?” she asked as she took a step closer to one of them, careful not to touch it. “I’m not certain,” the Solar Princess admitted, “but it would be best if we had more information before attempting to find out. It could be dangerous.” The younger princess nodded, but couldn’t help but feel as though there was something – for lack of a better word – big in those pods. Not just literally, but figuratively. Whatever secrets this bunker held could potentially change the world, for better or for worse. “Hey, everypony!” called Pinkie’s voice from atop one of the massive keyboards (what else could they have been?). “I think I found something! It’s a big, shiny, red button!” “Try not to touch it,” Rainbow Dash called from her place high up near the ceiling. “The last thing we need is this place collapsing on us because somepony activated a trap or something.” Just as she said that, however, the entire chamber suddenly lit up. Lights along the upper edges of the walls flared brightly as the large screens blazed to life, showing images of symbols and strange, primate-shaped creatures. “Pinkie!” The pink mare blushed with an awkward smile and stepped away from the button that she had pressed while Rainbow had been talking. “Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.” One of the guards hurried over to Celestia and Twilight, who were now accompanied by Luna. “Your Highnesses, this place is starting to give the other guards the creeps, and I’d be lying if I said this bunker or whatever it is isn’t freaking me out as well. These unnatural lights aren’t making it any easier on morale.” Celestia gave an understanding nod. “This place appears to be active now, somehow,” she said. “Pinkie Pie must have activated some sort power source.” “Should we attempt to seek it out, sister?” Luna asked, genuinely curious. The elder princess thought on that for a few moments. “Perhaps. I suggest that we—” A loud hissing noise suddenly pierced the air. All eyes fell upon the source; the closed pods. Those pods were gradually opening, with some sort of mist pouring out as they did. They looked as though they were splitting in half, the opening widening with each passing second. All the ponies quickly gathered together in a close circle, the guards holding their weapons at the ready. Celestia and Luna both had their horns charged and ready to launch an attack if necessary. “Wh-wh-wh-what’s happening?” Fluttershy squeaked from her hiding place behind Rainbow Dash. Celestia narrowed her eyes as the pods finally stopped their motions, now fully open, but she couldn’t make out what was inside each of them from the angle she was at. “Keep your guard up, everypony,” she advised. Then, seconds passed, dragging on like hours as they waited for something to happen. It was far too quiet. Something had to come out of those pods eventually, and when it did, the ponies would have to be ready for anything. Suddenly, a mechanical whirring could be heard, and a massive, metallic, primate-like hand reached out from one of the pods, gripping its door and pulling out the owner of the hand. A towering, bipedal giant made of metal now stood just a few yards ahead of them. Its armor had red and white coloring that probably would’ve made it stand out, even among its own kind. After the red and white one, more giants came out of the pods, each of them vastly different in appearance and size. One was just a head shorter than the first one, and had a yellow color scheme with black stripes here and there. The smallest of them was a navy blue shade, and was strangely thin compared to the others. Another was heavyset in shape and had dark green coloring, and a lower jaw that looked like a massive shovel in the shape of a cleft chin. The last giant to step out of a pod was even taller than the green one. Its torso and arms were a bright red, and its lower legs and head were dark blue. It, as well as all the other giants, had glowing, sky blue eyes, and was bipedal. None of them seemed to have noticed the ponies just yet. Twilight stared at the giants in mixed apprehension and fascination. Were these golems of some kind? She had read that inanimate objects could be given life via magic to create new creatures for various reasons. That, however, still left the question of why. Why were they so big? What was their purpose? Who built them in the first place? And if this bunker is truly older than Canterlot, then how long have they been down here, locked inside those pods? “I feel like scrap,” a female voice suddenly said, coming from the small blue giant as it leaned back a little, as if stretching. “How long were we in stasis?” Before any of the other giants could reply, Fluttershy let out a tiny squeal of fear, which caught the giants’ attention. All five of them immediately faced the ponies, to which the guards held their weapons aimed at the metallic monoliths. “S-stand back!” one of the guards ordered. “Don’t come any closer!” The giants stared at them for a few moments before the red and white spoke: “And now we have an infestation of organics. Wonderful.” “Infestation?” Rarity said indignantly. “Are you implying that we’re like common rodents? Now, see here—” “Uh, Rarity?” Applejack said, tapping the white unicorn’s shoulder. “I don’t think we should go provokin’ ‘em. Ah mean… their smallest is as tall as your boutique.” After that statement was made, Celestia walked forward, past the guards who tried and failed to stop her. She stopped when she was just a few feet away from the largest of the giants, the one with the red torso. She looked up at it with a gaze that was more curious than anything else. “Sister,” Luna said in a warning tone, silently praying that these behemoths were friendly in some way or another. “Who and what are you?” she asked simply. The other four giants eyed her with clear suspicion, but the red and blue one only knelt down in front of the Solar Princess, most likely only to get a closer look at her. It looked briefly over to the guards, then back down to Celestia. “Your soldiers’ alarm is understandable,” it said in a powerful yet calm voice, “but you can rest assured that we mean your people no harm.” Celestia gave the giant an analytical look, trying to find any sort of sign that it was being dishonest. Its tone was serene, despite its baritone deepness, and it had what she could only assume was a sincere expression. She made her decision pretty quickly. “Guards, lower your weapons,” she ordered. “What?” one of the guards responded, surprised by her instruction. “But, Your Highness, with all due respect, we have no idea what these things—” He stopped when Celestia gave him a glare. “Er… y-yes, Your Highness.” He and the other soldiers lowered their weapons, but still stood ready. With that handled, Celestia faced the giant in front of her again. “Now, would you please answer my initial question?” “Certainly,” it replied. It was then that the ponies of Equestria first learned of the Autobots and their leader Optimus Prime. -o- How long had it been since they had departed? How many years had he been in search of his nemesis? Time was impossible to recognize after so great a duration amongst the stars. The vastness of the infinite void was astounding. Was his search in vain? Were his goals finally beyond his grasp? “My liege,” one of his many followers said, pulling him from his musings. “What is it?” he inquired impatiently. His follower stepped back slightly, likely out of fear for his own life. “Well… my lord… we’ve found them.” His eyes widened very slightly. It was almost imperceptible. “Where?” “We picked up a weak, centuries-old distress beacon on a relatively small planet in a nearby solar system.” “What do we know of this planet?” His follower shook his head. “Next to nothing, sire. It’s not on any maps. We’re currently in an uncharted portion of this galaxy. However, scans indicate that it’s inhabited by apparently sentient organic life forms.” He silently considered that for a few moments. Sentient organics would likely prove troublesome in one way or another, regardless of the inherently primitive nature of such creatures. But still, any minor troubles were well worth finding their ancient enemies. “Take us there,” he ordered. “Land somewhere we will not be seen by natives.” His follower nodded and headed off to spread out the order. Left by himself once again, he looked out the viewport of his personal quarters... and grinned. Finally, after countless years of hunting, he had found his prey.