//------------------------------// // Mystery of the Missing Celestia // Story: Transformares (Not So) Animated // by neorenamon //------------------------------// by neorenamon Dash looked at the retreating violet unicorn and sniffed, "What a chicken... she can run away if she wants to." Then she flew back inside. "What is that MONSTER?!" shrieked Random Stallion #9 as they pointed at the creature up on the stage. "She knows where the Priness is!" yelled Random Mare #12. "Make it talk!!" screamed Random Stallion #13. "I told you I'm Sari!" she replied. "Well just what are you sorry for?!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she walked towards the stage. "No no no!" she replied, "Saa-ri, not Sar-ree!" "Put some manacles on that... that... creature!" yelled the Mayor, "We'll make it tell us where our Princess is!" "I told you I don't know anything about your pony princess," she replied, "I'm here to capture... *snicker* Princess Megatron!" "Well what did she do?!" asked Random Mare #12. "Megatron's a warmonger who leads the Decipticons!" she cried, "In addition, my father was abducted by them and forced to do... questionable stuff! My friends and I have been attacked by them on numerous occasions! They've been hurt really badly, and one had to give up their life to keep us safe from them!" "That shore sounds like some kinda evil Princess," said Applejack. But the Royal Guards, all three of them, pressed closer to Sari, making her back up towards the edge of the platform. "She's not evil!" yelled Pinkie, "That Nightmare Moon and Princess Megatron are the evil ones!" "Oh... my..." said Fluttershy as she sent the birds back home out the window, and then slipped over by Pinkie Pie. "Somethin' done stinks here," muttered Applejack as she looked sidelong at Pinkie Pie. "What?!" replied Pinkie, "I showered yesterday morning!" Applejack facehoofed herself as Dash came over. "Hay Dashie, what happened to the violet unicorn mare?" "She ran away somewhere," replied Dash smugly. "Well if I were her, I would have returned to the Library. She seems like the kinda mare who feels safe among books." "Books do not make good accessories," replied Rarity as she walked over. "If you don't bust me, I promise I'll help get your Princess back from Nightmare Moon and Princess Megatron!" called Sari as she raised her hands defensively. "I can't believe anything a monster would say," called the Mayor, "Slap it in irons and we'll make it talk... with enough incentive." The Guards pulled out sets of manacles... from somewhere. "I don't like the sound of that!" said Sari from the edge of the balcony. "Ah don't like the sound'a that neither," replied Applejack as she pulled out her lasso. "What are ya gonna do?" asked Fluttershy quietly. "The Apple Clan don't stand fer no injustices," she replied as she used her mouth to begin twirling the lasso over her head. "You should just leave her to the Guards," suggested Rarity. "Ah agree with Pinkie," she replied as she twirled the lasso faster, "an no innocent critter should be interrogated like that. So we all are gittin her outa here. She knows somethin more than she said jus like that there violet unicorn did." She let the lasso fly as it landed over Sari's shoulders, pulling her arms to her side just under her bosom. Then with a sharp tug, she came flying back towards them. Applejack turned in time for Sari to land sitting on her back facing backwards. "Come on ladies!" she cried, "We all are outta here!" "What are you doing?!" yelled the Mayor, "You're harboring an monster criminal!" But Applejack and the others made a dash for the door, and fortunately no pony in their way was willing to stick out their neck to stop them. "Think of the Princess!" she cried as they ran out into the street. "Where to now?" asked Dash. "If Twilight's retreated to the Library, then that's where we should go too!" said Pinkie. "No one looks for criminals at a Library!" agreed Dash as they all ran off for the Golden Oak Library. "Whoa," said Sari, "I'm being abducted by talking pastel ponies! This! is! so! COOL!" "Yeah, it's COOL!" cried Pinkie. "Do ya understand what she jus said?" asked Applejack as she ran. "I have no idea what she's talking about, but it sure sounds like something fun!" "Ah don't know you," she muttered under her breath. ... Once she got back to the Library, she rushed in and set down Spike only to realize he was exhausted from partying all night. So she quietly slipped him into his basket and covered him wif his widdle blankie before she set out to look for any book she could find that was relevant to the return of Nightmare Moon. Her horn glowed brightly as books glowed and swarmed about her like flies. She looked from one book cover to the next as she said, "101 Things A Pony can do on the Potty? Not this one." *toss to the floor* "Adventures I've had while I was Stoned? Not this one either." *toss* "Secret Journal #1? Nah, that can't be it..." *toss* "101 uses for a Meadow Muffin? Eww..." *toss* "The Enchiridion? Not even close." *toss* "The Necronomicon? NOPE!" *toss* "The Anarchist's Cookbook? Puh-lease." *toss* "Tales of the Bronies Grimm? I don't need creepy pasta stories!" *lob* "Cupcakes?! Aw, come on!" *hard throw* "Where are those books on Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony?!" Why do so many ponies expound their thoughts aloud around here? But she turned to find Rainbow Dash in her face saying, "And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy? Whoa!" Applejack had stopped her by biting the end of her tail again. "Jus give it a rest there, Jenny," she replied with her teeth clenched, "She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?" "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon," replied Twilight, "Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!" "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide," said Pinkie who mysteriously appeared on a ladder as she pulled the book down from the highest shelf. "Where did you find that?" asked Twilight. (Wait, shouldn't she asked, "What are you doing in the Library, you creepy stalker?!" Oh nevermind...) "It was under EEE-eee!" sang Pinkie. "Hey, could you get this rope off me?" asked Sari as she sat on Applejack's back. "Sorry sugar-cube," as she removed the rope and let Sari slide off her butt. "Wow, if I didn't care so much about the return of Nightmare Moon, I'd ask what kind of creature is that?" she asked as she opened the book on the Elements of Harmony. "I tell you that I'm a human from the place called Earth." "Thar ain't no place called Earth," retorted Applejack, "Jus us Earth ponies." "Well have you been everyplace in Equestria?" asked Pinkie, "Or beyond?" "Uh... I reckon not..." "Oh, I promise you that Earth is really far from here. My friends and I are in hot pursuit of the criminal warlord... *snicker* Princess Megatron." "This Princess Megatron sounds like some evil pony, alright!" she agreed. "If Princess Megatron is in cahoots with your Nightmare Moon, that's gonna spell big trouble for everyone." "The return of Nightmare Moon was foretold in the legends," replied Twilight, "but I never saw any reference to any Princess Megatron!" "That's because you didn't read THIS book!" cried Pinkie as she set down another book by the Reference Guide. She looked at the book and said, "They came from the Stars? I've never heard of this before." Sari and the other mares crowded closer as she opened the book. On the inside of the cover was a symbol that Sari knew all too well. "THAT'S THE DECEPTICON SYMBOL!" she said as soon as she saw the evil face. "Evil shall fall from the sky in the trail of a falling star," read Twilight, "and they shall mingle with the ponies even though they are not. They shall live by violence and conquest. Take not their word for their word shall mean naught. They shall make any disaster worse, and they seek to steal that which is not theirs. Beware, for they shall forge alliances with those who are evil." "That sounds like ole' Megatron to me," said Sari quietly. "Ooo," said Pinkie, "There's more." "But as the evil warriors from the sky shall wreck havoc, seek out the good warriors from beyond to aid in the battle against them. They shall be known by the symbol which is not the same as the one born by the evil warriors. Consult thine image on the back cover, you ninny." They flipped to the back cover, where another face symbol was. "That's the Autobot symbol!" called Sari as she pointed. "So these here Autobots will help us fight them thar Decepticons an git our Princess back from Nightmare Moon?" asked Applejack skeptically. "Always!" she replied, "The Autobots are like my bestest buds!" "Well maybe we don't need no Elements of Harmony." "No," replied Twilight, "We need those in case Nightmare Moon is stronger than these... Autobots." "As if," sniffed Sari. Twilight went back to reading the Reference Guide aloud as she said, "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now..." "The Everfree Forest?!" cried the others. "Is that bad?" asked Sari. "Sari!" called Prime over the radio, "Where are you? Where's Megatron?" "I'm fine Prime," she replied, "And Princess Megatron took a powder." Applejack looked at Sari apparently talking to no one as she asked, "Who all are ya talkin too, sugar-cube?" "Oh, I'm just talking to Prime over the radio. It's sounds you can't hear." "Oh..." she replied, "Like one of those dog whistles?" "Close enough." "Princess Megatron?!" asked Prime, "By the spark, what is that?!" "I'll explain when you get here," she replied, "Lock on my signal and I'll meet you outside this Library." "OOO!!" cried Pinkie, "I wanna meet your friends!" "We'll all go out," replied Applejack, "but stay close in case those Guards are out lookin for ya." "I will," replied Sari, "Not that I'm worried or anything. Like primitive iron manacles would hold me..." She kept muttering as they all went for the door. In front of the Library was a collection of steam powered vehicles. "When the hay did these here new fangled machines git here? Whar are their drivers?" "Whoa!" called Sari, "That's so low tech, they don't even keep that in Earth museums any more!" Then she turned to the ponies and said, "These are my friends, the Autobots!" "Come again, sugar-cube?" "Transform Prime so they don't think I'm nuts over here!" "We can't do that where we can be seen," replied Prime, "We might cause a panic." "Look," said Twilight, "I have to go to the Everfree Forest to stop Nightmare Moon. The rest of you can work this Princess Megatron problem out. It's best that I face any dangers there... alone." "No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." Pinkie said randomly, "Especially if there's candy apples in there. What? Those things are good." "We can follow them," said Prime, "and then we can transform without being seen by anyone... besides these six." "As long as we're coming with," said Sari, "Everyone get in one of these steam vehicles. We might as well ride out there in style." "I'm a Doctor," grumbled Ratchet, "Not a taxi!" "You've given rides to humans..." "and whined about it... Besides, I hope I didn't bust a steam gasket just to rush over here for nothing!" "So just let one of the ponies ride in you and zip the speakers already!" "It won't hurt," said Prime. Ratchet groaned as the ponies climbed into the vehicles. ... "This is the border of the Everfree Forest!" called Twilight as she looked through Prime's windshield. "Okay," replied Sari, "everyone get out and the Autobots will show you something really cool!" So Sari and all of the mares climbed out. "Autobots transform!" called Prime as the Autobots shifted back to robot mode. "What da what?!" asked Dash in dismay. "THAT IS SO COOL!" cried Pinkie Pie. "I am Optimus Prime," said Prime as he lowered himself to one knee, "These are my soldiers and friends. We've spent many solar cycles battling against Megatron and his Decepticon forces." "Yeah, that evil Princess Megatron." "What's this Princess Megatron stuff about?" asked Bulkead. "Oh, Megatron took the form of an alicorn Princess," snickered Sari, "so apparently that makes Megatron a Princess around here." "THAT'S FUNNY!" laughed Bumblebee. "I KNOW!" "What's an alicorn?" asked Prime. "It's kinda like a pony with wings and one horn on their forehead," she replied, "like that robot toy thing that Professor Princess liked to ride." "Those are REAL?!" asked Bumblebee. "They apparently are on this planet," said Prime. "What's a planet?" asked Twilight. "Oh great," muttered Ratchet. "I was trying to put off explaining that," replied Sari. "They have to find out eventually," said Bulkhead. "Just tell them we're from beyond the stars and leave it at that!" grumbled Ratchet. "Well until we stop Nightmare Moon and this Princess Megatron, I guess that will have to do," replied Twilight. She turned and said, "That's the Everfree Forest, and that's where we'll find the Elements of Harmony." "I betcha that Nightmare Moon and Princess Megatron went there too!" said Sari, "If they have the Princess and are looking for those Element things, then I'd take your kidnapped Princess there too!" "It's too dense for vehicle mode," said Prime, "We're going in on foot." "Agreed," said Jazz. But the ponies other than Twilight seemed reluctant to enter. "So, none of you have been in here before?" she asked. "Ugh, Heavens no! Just look at it - it's dreadful," whined Rarity. "And it ain't natural. Folk say it don't work the same as Equestria," said Applejack. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Twilight. "Nopony knows. You know why?" asked Dash. But Applejack seemed put off as she said, "Rainbow, quit it." Dash continued in her spooky voice, " 'cause every pony who's ever come in, has never come out!" "The Autobots should be able to protect you from any threat," answered Prime. "Oh big metal... things," said Rarity sarcastically, "I feel so much safer already." "Rarity!" called Applejack, "Don't sass these here Autobots! They all are just tryin ta help us!" "Actually, they look 20% cooler!" agreed Rainbow Dash. "All right," said Prime, "We're going in. Stay close. All of you. We should be safer in a group." The mares nodded.