Chapter 5 Catching up and Connection
The Decepticons were currently flying away from the scene, making their retreat back to their underwater base. None of them acquired any serious damage but staying and fighting them off wouldn’t benefit them at this moment, aside from losing this particular space bridge, they still had plenty of them and was merely a small loss.
“Megatron to Shockwave…Megatron calling Shockwave.” The Decepticon leader called on their long distance comlink radio.
“Shockwave awaiting orders.” He answered.
“Shockwave, the space bridge has been used by the Autobot Skyfire.” Megatron paused “Is he over there on Cybertron?”
“No.”
“What? What do you mean he’s not on Cybertron?”
There was a pause again from Shockwave “I’ve stayed in the command center all this time; I’ve had no readings of use of any of the space bridges you’ve uplinked.”
“That’s not possible!”
“He couldn’t have traveled to Cybertron. This end of the space bridge is not activated.” The assigned guardian of Cybertron explained.
“And without that end being open, the bridge couldn’t be used to transport to Cybertron.” The leader concluded.
“So…” Rumble butted in “Did he just transport half way across Earth and Cybertron?”
“If he did go through it all he would have been blasted into oblivion.” Megatron answered, “If that’s case then that is one less Autobot to worry about. But we must be certain” he turned back to his radio “Shockwave, you informed me that these were in fact, a new model of the previous Space Bridge.”
“That is correct.” Shockwave confirmed.
“What made these more sophisticated than the previous model?”
“These were more flexible. Instead of being limited to the two way trip being between the bridge starting on Earth and Cybertron, it will be able to transport from any of the bridges regardless of location.”
“So they will be able to transport from Space Bridge on Earth to another on Earth.”
“That is correct, however, that is not possible in this particular scenario.” Shockwave continued.
“How can that be?”
“All Space Bridges you set up have only been uplinked to the station here and on Cybertron and none of the others.”
Megatron thought for a moment “Other than flying off into oblivion, is there any possible fate for the Autobot?”
Shockwave paused for a moment as if thinking himself. He wasn’t sure if what he was about to offer was accurate. Usually he was at least 90% sure that what he was offer was entirely accurate. But at the same time he didn’t want Megatron to think that an Autobot was terminated, but still see him functioning in the near future.
“Shockwave?” Megatron uttered
“I…have a hypothesis…”
--Equestria, Empty Fields near Ponyville--
“So how did you get here anyway?”
Both Starscream and Skyfire were sitting next to each other, close to where Skyfire just spawned from. They were in sight of Ponyville and Rainbow Dash’s home was still in sight as well. It was just a simple vegetate area.
“It was the Space Bridge. I’m not sure what happened.” Skyfire explained to see Starscream not taking that as a satisfactory response. Skyfire continued, “We found out the Megatron was building more Space Bridges around American sector on Earth. When he found, out we confronted him.”
“And I’m going to assume that didn’t go well?” Starscream added out of nowhere.
Skyfire sighed and showed and rubbed his back where his thrusters were. Starscream caught the hint and looked at his back to see wound. It was a nasty hole, with dry leaking fluids and exposed circuitry. He didn’t need to be told that was from Megatron, but he could also tell that it was just clipped shot from the side and was out maximum effective range, so it wasn’t fetal, but it would make flying an impossibility till it was repaired.
“Megatron shot me down, and I crashed into the space bridge. After that I blacked out and… here I am.”
Starscream turned away smirking slightly “And for some reason, you were transported her to Equestria instead of Cybertron?”
The shuttle didn’t know how to address what Starscream was implying so he just nodded “Yes, actually.”
“Right.” The red seeker put his arm up on his knee and put his hand on his face plate “At first all I had to worry about was Megatron, then Unicron, and now the Autobots are added to that list just continue putting salt into the wound!” he paused “As the ponies say.”
Skyfire could tell he was stressed. He remembered all the times exploring and performing scientific experiments with and how stressed out he got on those, so he knew that this wasn’t an act by any means. “How exactly did you get here Starscream?”
The seeker turned his optics to the shuttle for a moment then looked back to the ground “Isn’t obvious, surely you Autobots must’ve learned that we left the planet to search for another one.”
“Well…yes” the shuttle answered “But how exactly did you end up on this planet and why did you choose to remain here?”
The seeker wanted to remain silent but much like Skyfire knew him, he knew much about Skyfire, so this would be a pointless strategy “It’s a long story.”
The Autobot had a light chuckle “I don’t see there being much of a time limit. I’m sure you have a megacycle or two to spare.”
‘And I shouldn’t!’ he yelled in his head. Tonight was supposed to be night with Rainbow Dash and hopefully continue where their postpone relationship left off, and now it turned into a meeting with a long lost ‘friend’. Another part of his life he was hoping he didn’t have to dwell on ever again, a part of his life he hoped he could just leave behind like his time with the Decepticons.
The seeker left out an angered sigh “Why do you care?”
“I’m curious” he answered casually to which Starscream looked toward him his hand not leaving his faceplate “After all, many of us thought you were terminated or perhaps something worse, it’s not common to see a Second-in-Command of any faction just disappear for half a stellar cycle.”
“I figured that would be more a good thing to you Autobots than a troubling one.”
Skyfire would say something to that but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to change Starscream’s views on war or the Autobots in general.
“Well I suppose I do have time now don’t I!” Making it clear he was not happy with anything going on now “Where should I start…”
Starscream went in good detail explaining what happened to him when first coming to the pony dominated country of the planet. He told him about his doubts, being turned into a pony, defecting to the Decepticons, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, and his final fight with Megatron. He left a few details out like his relationship with Rainbow Dash as well current events, including his ability to change to pony form at will, and simply leaving it at, ‘repaired’.
“What did you do after that?” Skyfire asked, curious about what happened after he chose to stay here.
“I made a simple living here.” He answered lamely, not wanting to talk about it any further.
Skyfire was skeptical “You made a simple living as a Cybertronian with a bunch of smaller organics?”
The red seeker remained silent for a moment. He had to admit it was hard to buy, seeing a 20-foot tall machine living with a bunch of ponies being simple. “I found a way.”
The shuttle didn’t believe it but went with it anyway “Who was that smaller Organic with you? I never figured you to be friendly with organics after being with the Decepticons so long.”
“I’ve never been against organics. You saw me occasionally interact with the humans and not harm them.” He pointed out though Skyfire didn’t seem to have any kind of reaction to what he said. Starscream sighed, “Her name is Rainbow Dash…a friend of mine.”
“What’s a marefriend?”
Starscream glared at him, he hoped he forgot Rainbow addressed herself as such “It’s the same thing as a bond with a femme.” He turned away expecting any reaction from his former partner.
“Really!” Skyfire said surprised “And she’s your-”
“Yes!” Starscream growled getting up and taking a few steps away from him “Yes! I started relationship here with Rainbow Dash! It was one of the reasons why I decided to stay here!”
“No need to be-”
“Shut up! It’s bad enough I have so much to worry about Megatron returning and everything else and now I have to rekindle a severed bond made from this accursed war!” Skyfire was about to say something but was interrupted “I left the war in hopes that I would never have seen any other Cybertronians in my existence. I knew Megatron would return eventually but I was prepared for that.” Now he was just rambling but caught himself and sighed as sat back down but now completely facing his former friend “Skyfire, I saw this planet as a means of escape.”
Skyfire blinked his optic covers “Escape? Escape from the war?”
“From Megatron… and the Decepticons in general.” He turned away “I saw this as an opportunity to finally leave this endless war and move on being…” he looked back up though he didn’t look right at him “with friends…after you were lost… I had no one, all I had was my position with the Decepticons…”
Skyfire stayed silent, he was truly being updated on all the things he missed on his old friend.
“…I changed. Since I had no one to care for and vise versa, all I wanted was power. I wanted to be leader, at any expense. And the war only fueled it. After leaving the planet and the war for the time with the Decepticons…I started to realize that I was never truly happy, and after staying with the organics on this planet, and realizing I was happier here, I finally decided it was time for me to finally do what I desired for millions of stellar cycles… escape…”
Skyfire remained quiet and just searched his old friend. He already knew he changed but this was something he expected to have died after he decided to go with the Autobots instead of the Decepticons like he awoke from beneath the ice as.
“And you found something else here as well.” Skyfire added with a small smile.
“Yes…” Starscream said looking at him now “But enough about that.” Changing the subject and standing up “We have to get you repaired so you can go back to Earth.”
“Huh?” Skyfire himself standing up “Send me back?”
“Yes. You said so yourself that we’re not friends anymore and this visit doesn’t change anything. I may not treat you as a hostel like I did when I was with the Decepticons but I’m sure you’re well aware that friendships are hard to repair.” Starscream kept a neutral expression.
Skyfire stood up as well though his expression was a little saddened “But… why did you tell me all this?”
The seeker paused for a moment and turned away “I guess… no matter what happens, there will always be a trust between us.”
--Canterlot Castle--
Luna took a deep breath as she flew to the top of the castle to start her night watch as she always had. It definitely felt good to stretch out her wings and let the cool night air flow through her feathers and mane, especially after a long boring meeting. It was one thing her sister and herself were different on. Luna loved flying on her own and only used an escort to show authority when needed. Otherwise, she enjoyed flying, using her own two wings. Not to say that Celestia didn’t, but it was mostly for emergencies and when it was warranted, otherwise, she usually stuck with some kind of personal escort. It wasn’t a bad thing; it was just a preference between the two.
In a way, it was a good feeling to finally be able to do this freely, considering all the current happenings, it was a slight stress reliever and preoccupying her mind with anything seemed to be more beneficial than not.
She flew to small top of the tower of the castle where a telescope was. It was strange to say the least. She always felt that this was a bit primitive and at the same time inefficient. Granted, there really wasn’t all that much they do other than just fly around themselves around the country but that took too much time and energy.
Looking at the device made her think of a conversation Starscream and herself had once. Essentially, it was Starscream once again berating them for their lack of technology. He always went on about radars, video motion cameras, and all sorts of other things she was not familiar with. One thing Starscream never quite understood or even accepted was magic. He always turned a blind eye toward it and always tried to find an alternative that didn’t involve it. She was told about his attempts to return to his Cybertronian form but refused any solution that involved magic, though he seemed to come to terms with his pony form, which was a result from magic.
She chuckled as she looked through telescope looking for anything of interest really. Equestria hadn’t been in much trouble lately, at least internationally. If there was one thing Equestria was pretty good at, it was keeping foreign issues at peace. The entire 1000 years she was absent, there were no wars.
She continued to look through her device when all of a sudden she noticed a light coming from a very far distance; it was a little beyond Ponyville but not as far as Cloudsdale. She didn’t know what it was but she was going to find out.
“Captain!” Luna called out as she jumped from the tower and landed in front of the Royal Guard. It was a white pegasus pony that served as the overnight Captain of the guard but was equal rank to Shining Armor. “I’m leaving to investigate a strange pheromone that has accorded close to Ponyville.”
“Do you not want us to come with you?” The guard questioned.
“No, I’ll investigate it myself. Make sure all important messages are given to me when I return.”
“Yes Princess.”
And with the Night Princess jumped into the air by herself and flew to her desired location, hoping it wasn’t anything too serious.
--Earth, Florida Everglades--
“If I’m reading this correctly, this bridge leads to no end.” Wheeljack said looking at a small computer hooked up to the destroyed console of the Space Bridge.
“What!” Bumblebee shouted “But, if that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean he’s…”
“Not necessarily. As along as it hit an atmosphere from another planet, he should be okay.” Wheeljack explained still reading from the small computer.
It was then that Optimus Prime walked up to him “And the possibility of that happening?” he asked hopefully.
“Actually, the probability of that happening is higher than if not.” The inventor said “One thing the Decepticons did do right when designing these things is that there was a fail safe put in. The Space Bridge can’t be activated unless there was an active way for the bridge. Even jump starting it would only make the bridge deactivate itself.”
“So the Decepticons did something smart for once.” Prowl said to no one unparticular.
“So it seems.” Optimus said. “We have to make sure Skyfire is okay. He’s badly damaged and if the worst case scenario he may not be able to fly.”
“Are you saying we should go after him?” Bumblebee asked confused.
“Is that even possible?” Prowl asked.
“Actually, we may be able to make it work again, but it’s a one way trip. If we go, we’re not coming back the same way.” Wheeljack explained looking to his leader.
Optimus sighed and turned to the Space Bridge “Are you sure you can get it to work?”
“Not a problem. But don’t you think that this is a little risky?”
“We’re not abandoning Skyfire.” He then turned to Wheeljack “Wheeljack, stay here and monitor the space bridge. Prowl, Bumblebee, Ironhide, you’re coming with me through the Space Bridge.”
“You got it, Optimus!”