Optimus Prime awoke to find a bird pecking at his forehead.
Groaning in pain, Optimus shook his head to get the bird off of him. The bird let out a surprisingly loud screech, flying off into the darkness ahead.
Slowly but surely, all the feeling in Prime’s body began to return to him. He let his head hang lazily as he finally began to feel his fingertips again, followed by his arms and continuously down lower. A surging wave of pain gripped Optimus’ chest once all feeling returned to that certain area. His vision was hazy, but he could still make out the large opening on his chest.
That’s when he realized he wasn’t touching the floor. Optimus blinked twice, looking from side to side and down and up. Directly above him, besides the blinding light, were both of his arms hanging together and tied by chains.
“What…what is this?” Optimus managed to croak, fumbling around with the chains tied tightly around his wrists.
He heard a loud bang directly in front of him. Optimus brought his hard gaze into the darkness ahead. He could see nothing, but his hearing painted a mental picture that was too disturbing to imagine.
“…where Shockwave hid the experiment! I can smell it from here…”
“Is it something to eat, eat, eat?"
“I need food, Energon, scraps! I smell food this way.”
“Yes…food, food, food!”
Optimus’ breathing increased. He looked back up and wrestled even harder with the chains hanging above his head. If he could just get one of his hands free then it was one step closer to escape from wherever he was.
“This way, brothers! I hear the food this way!”
The last Prime managed to get his fingers underneath one of the chains. He gripped it around his palm tight, pulling and twisting the metal with whatever strength he had left. It was so much easier to snap the chains back at Canterlot, so why was this any different?
Optimus brought his head down.
He met a smiling, Energon-painted face.
Gasping in terror, Optimus held his breath as the face with the glowing red visor stared into his eyes, into his spark. The face, without breaking the smile, looked down at Prime’s open chest cavity, its mouth opening wide.
“More Energon!"
Optimus Prime was in a straight panic. He looked past the one directly below him and witnessed two others exit out of the darkness. One was bulkier and well-built than the other, while the second had no mouth and large pinchers jutting out from its back. They both approached the third one Prime had met earlier, their giggles and hisses echoing throughout the small room.
“Food…food is good,” the smallest one cackled.
“Yes, give me Energon! Need food!” the larger one stated while sharpening its claws.
The one closets to Prime’s chest brought his claws back, giggling in fiendish delight. Optimus Prime’s eyes were wide with terror, but he showed no more fear when he shut his eyes. The creature rammed his fist directly in Prime’s-
“And just what do you three think you’re doing?”
Sharpshot stopped midway from Optimus’ glowing spark and inner workings. He and the two others looked back in total fear, whimpering like sparklings when they spotted the purple orb in the darkness.
Shockwave entered the light.
“Aw, Shockwave, I…I-I mean ‘we’ didn’t know you were here,” Sharpshot stuttered, fumbling over his words. “We thought you would be back at Vanhoover with that…with that pony you’re so fond of! And…and-and-and we were just thinking that-!”
“That you could just stroll inside my private study and touch my experiments without permission?” Shockwave said to him, his tone far more menacing than ever before. Sharpshot, Kickback, and Hardshell all fell to their knees in front of Shockwave.
“We meant nothing of it! We swear!” Kickback wailed.
“We were just hungry! Please don’t be angry with us!” Hardshell begged, placing his hands on Shockwave’s feet.
The Decepticon merely scoffed, kicking Hardshell’s hand off his foot. “I couldn’t even if I tried,” he mumbled, turning his head towards the three of them and pointing in the opposite direction.
“Be gone, all of you! I have work to attend to,” he ordered.
In an instant, the three Insecticons scrambled to get to their two feet, practically tripping over each other in the process. Shockwave, still pointing towards the exit, watched as the three ran towards the light of the sliding door, their bodies escaping into the light the door shut away.
Shockwave shook his head in annoyance. “Scavengers. Though I guess I can’t really blame them that much. They haven’t had a decent meal for quite some time.”
He turned his attention over to the trophy of his collection, the treasure in the sea of junk, the salvation for this world’s true peace. Optimus Prime finally opened his eyes, staring into the face of evil once again. His breathing intensified and he struggled against the chains even more rapidly.
“Do not even try. You won’t shatter those chains no matter how hard you struggle,” Shockwave pointed out, approaching Optimus with a floating stand by his side.
Giving one final tug at the chains, Optimus gave a huff of defeat and stared straight at the Decepticon that was responsible for bringing him here in the first place, at least that’s what he assumed. The Decepticon pushed the floating tray to levitate directly in front of him. Optimus looked down to witness the wicked-looking devices placed on the stand. He shuddered, causing the chains to clink together.
“You know,” Shockwave said in the long period of dreaded silence, “I would like to thank you personally for agreeing to the terms of this operation. You will not only be benefitting the revolution this country will soon face, but in the long run…this act you’ve agreed to will save Cybertron and the Decepticon race.”
Optimus groaned in pain, his circuits finally being stretched to the limit from the position he was in. “I’ve agreed to no terms,” he managed to spill out, clenching his fist over and over again to regain feeling inside of his hands.
“Oh, you haven’t?” Shockwave asked, picking up a device that fitted the Decepticon perfectly: menacing and to the point. Shockwave slid the dagger underneath Prime’s chin, glaring up at him with his lifeless, purple eye.
“Then why did you allow us to capture you?”
Optimus didn’t have an answer. All he did was move his head as far back from the blade as possible.
Shockwave scoffed and backed away, finding the blade in his right hand quite interesting. “The leader of the free Autobots has conquered even the most powerful of Decepticons throughout eons of warfare during the war for Cybertron, and yet here he is…tangled in chains…broken…at the mercy of a Decepticon.”
Shockwave leaned in closer to Prime, not as close as before but still close enough to where Prime could hear him whisper very quietly.
“How does it feel?” the Decepticon asked, his tone sending chills racing across Prime’s circuits. “How does it feel to lose, to be taken away from the one slice of peace and tranquility you’ve had?”
Optimus coughed. “Peace…? You mean…Twilight?”
Shockwave nodded, gently scraping his blade against Prime’s faceplate. “You’re not so foolish after all, especially after losing your memory.” Prime’s eyes went wide. The Decepticon backed away once again, bringing forward the tray of devices.
“These ponies are your peace. They seem to enact some sort of happiness from you, how I have no idea. The thought of happiness makes me want to gag on my own waste,” Shockwave explained with a hint of disgust in his voice. He placed the dagger back down and picked up a saw of some sort.
“Interesting…perhaps later,” he said, placing the saw down. He looked up at Prime, shaking his head. “You have truly disgraced the Transformer race, Optimus Prime. Befriending these equines, taking part in their celebrations, the Primes would be very, very disappointed in you. This is not what we stand for. No peace, no happiness, only law. This world needs law.”
Optimus narrowed his optics on the Decepticon. “Who are you to decide what this world needs?”
“Who am I?” Shockwave mused. He appeared to be lost for a few seconds, his purple eye only staring off into space before finally resting on the last Prime. “I’m the world’s salvation, Optimus. The peace I’ve had, the only peace I’ve had rested on Cybertron. Now that our home is dead, I can have no more peace unless I know it’s saved.”
“How…can you…save Cybertron?” Optimus asked, his voice slowly being lost.
Shockwave seemed actually interested in speaking again, his tone much lighter and louder. “I’m pleased you asked such an important question,” he picked up the same dagger again. “Cybertron can only be saved by an amount of energy equal to the size of a planet capable of supporting life. Equis, though not as large in size to Cybertron, has enough raw energy to reboot Cybertron’s core long enough for it to start recreating an abundant supply of Energon.
“Of course…in order to take this planet’s energy, first we need to conquer the country that holds the most abundant supply. That country happens to be Equestria. With its power of magic and enough ponies for a slave army, we can acquire the perfect location for a birthing ground of new supply camps for Energon.”
The Decepticon pushed away the floating tray. He approached Optimus slowly, so slowly that the last Prime memorized the scene not too long ago, the scene he last saw before being taken away into the dark ship.
Shockwave placed the blade gently on Optimus’ throat. Prime couldn’t back away any farther.
“The only way we can conquer this country…is with your T-cog,” he whispered, tightening his grip on the blade placed against Prime’s neck. Optimus was forced to stare into Shockwave’s horrible gaze, the purple eye ripping apart whatever sanity Prime had left. That’s the power this Decepticon had, the power he can inflict on others.
Shockwave gently lowered the blade, creating a path from Prime’s neck all the way down to his chest cavity. Optimus mumbled something, something that caused Shockwave’s path to falter at the last second.
“You won’t…get away with this…” Prime moaned, his blue optics flickering. “Twilight…will stop you.”
The Decepticon backed away only slightly. He stared Prime dead in the eyes, a soft chuckle escaping his voice. Optimus didn’t know what to think of that laugh. It sounded amused, but far too dark for Optimus to comprehend, especially in the state he was in currently. All he could do was remain in silence and suffer through it.
“You’re more delusional than I could ever have imagined,” Shockwave stated, looking down towards Prime’s open chest cavity. He found what he was looking for rather quickly, placing the blade’s tip neatly inside of him.
Shockwave chuckled, his purple eye flashing bright red. “I know all about Princess Twilight Sparkle. My drones have captured quite the show during my return to Cybertron. Her crowning as the newest princess of Equestria, her victory against Tirek, and the strength…of the Rainbow Power.”
Optimus could feel the blade tear into him.
Shockwave leaned in closer, his voice barely over a whisper.
“You don’t think we know…this world doesn’t think we know…she doesn’t think we know. Well, we do, Optimus Prime…and we’ve had a plan for it this whole time.”
And so Shockwave began the surgery with Optimus’ screams of pain echoing throughout the Nemesis.