//------------------------------// // Chapter 60-A Deal is a Contract // Story: Transformers: The Requiem // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Princess Twilight slowly laid the device on the table as if it was a bomb ready to blow. Of course, it wasn’t. The bomb squad consisting primarily of unicorns already passed it even before they came into the Canterlot War Room. Still, the young Alicorn stared at the orb with great worry. She wasn’t the only one. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both entered the War Room side by side, their curious eyes latched onto the black orb in the center of the table. Princess Cadance felt the same way as she stood by her sister-in-law’s side. Admittedly, Shining Armor felt a dark cloud around his heart whenever he stared at the orb. None of Twilight’s friends were there. The Alicorn only resided with the four leaders of Equestria. Shining kicked the door behind him shut, taking his place directly in front of Twilight and his beautiful wife. He leaned forward on the table, staring directly into the Decepticon insignia. “Alright, so what kind of message are the Decepticons trying to give us?” Shining Armor asked, the silence of the room slowly creeping in. Princess Twilight sighed; reaching forward and resting her hoof on the orb, letting it roll around on the solid oak table. “That’s where I’m confused at, Shining. Throughout the trip all the way from Cloudsdale, my friends and I have been trying to figure out how this thing was a message. Pinkie was even trying to forcefully open it with her jaw.” A small chuckle escaped both Twilight’s and Cadance’s lips at that point, followed by the saddened expressions falling upon them both. “Maybe…the orb itself is a message…with the three A’s and the Decepticon symbol together possibly meaning the partnership between the Alliance and the Decepticons. Maybe it’s just the enemy mocking us at this point, that they can get away with destroying our cities, killing our ponies, and doing whatever they please.” Twilight closed her eyes, feeling the stares from the leaders of Equestria on her. Her hoof began to tremble, her eyes beginning to water. “If this is the case…then what more can we do?” Twilight asked, her cracking voice making it all the more difficult to fully understand what she was saying. “They’ve attacked three cities, ended numerous lives of innocent ponies, and this is the message we get from them?! An orb showcasing the Alliance’s contribution to the Decepticon cause?!” Princess Twilight was breathing rapidly, her last breaths becoming harder to control as whimpers began to escape. After a few moments of silence, Twilight finally sighed and whispered, “What more can we do?” She could feel a soft hoof being pressed against her own. The young Alicorn brought up her head and stared into the eyes of her brother’s wife, her old foalsitter. Princess Cadance could only offer the warmest smile ever given, the pressure of her hoof increasing against Twilight’s. “You’re not in this alone, Twilight,” Cadance began, earning several nods from the others around her. “The burden of protecting Equestria lies not only on your shoulders, but ours as well. Now, we may not know the message is, but we do know that there were over seven hundred survivors under the rubble in Cloudsdale. Thanks to you and your friends we were able to find them in time before…well, I suppose you know.” Twilight began to smile. Princess Cadance continued. “You showed real leadership out there, Twilight, you and your friends. Equestria may lose hope in Celestia, Luna, and even me…but they can always turn to you in these dire times.” Princess Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but stopped at the last second. A little light caught her eye. She turned towards the direction of the light, surprised to see it hiding under hers and Cadance’s hoof. The orb. The message…it was glowing. Well, the Decepticon symbol was. Twilight’s surprise seemed to be infectious, because soon enough all eyes in the deserted room turned towards the black object resting in front of the young princess. Twilight brought her hoof away from the orb. It was still glowing, but when Cadance removed hers as well that’s when the light died. “What the…?” Shining Armor muttered. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with eyes both narrowed leaned in closer towards the orb-like object. Twilight and Cadance looked at each other, both searching for answers. Twilight, still holding the curiosity of a filly like she once was, reached forward to place her hoof on the object once more. “Twily, I don’t think that’s such a good-” Her hoof was slowly placed upon the smooth texture of the orb, a sigh escaping her breath as if thanking Celestia that it didn’t explode. “…idea,” Shining finished, sitting back into his chair. The symbol remained dark, just as it did when Twilight first held it back in Cloudsdale. Twilight turned towards the pink Alicorn sitting next to her. “Cadance…do you mind putting your hoof against it?” she asked. Cadance, though skeptical at first, slowly nodded and lowered her hoof next to Twilight’s on the orb. Just as Twilight expected, the symbol began to glow bright purple again. Princess Twilight’s eyes grew wide. “A message for the princesses,” Twilight whispered so low that not even Celestia could hear. Speaking of Celestia, she and Luna quickly began to catch on. They rose out of their seats in unison, slowly making their approach to Twilight and Cadance, both Alicorns. Without a word said, Celestia and Luna both raised their hooves on top of the table, slowly pressing it against the black orb next to Twilight and Cadance. The brightness of the symbol intensified with the touch of all four against its outer shell. Shining Armor ignited his horn, ready to encase the device in a magical covering just in case it decided to blow. It never did. It did something nopony was expecting. It transformed. Twilight was the only princess that yelped in sheer surprise at the sight. Cadance, Luna, and Celestia merely backed away from the table. The orb broke into five separate pieces, four being legs that allowed the device to stand up and the fifth being the top of the orb simply resting on top of what appeared to be a small barrel. A barrel similar to that of a… It began to glow. “Get down!” Shining shouted, creating a powerful spell to blow the device apart if he needed to. But instead of a shot going off to hit one of the princesses, presumably Celestia or Twilight, it shot a stream of blue energy straight at the table. All five watched as the blue streamed morphed into a full-blown image of a special Decepticon in Twilight’s heart, the fear-filled portion of her heart. “In just a week’s time, we were able to cause far greater damage than we ever could have during the invasion. Not physical damage, physical damage was just a portion of that. The damage created from these attacks goes straight into the beliefs of your little ponies, the trusts that they hold dearly with each of you. Yes, in just a week’s time, we were able to cause them to hate you.” Twilight Sparkle clenched her jaw, her eyes narrowing on the blue hologram. “Shockwave,” she hissed. The hologram of Shockwave continued, his purple eye only glowing bright blue with each word spoken. “Hate…something you’ve never felt before. None of you. You’re all just basking in the light of your subjects, accepting the praise they give you as a sign of their loyalty. And you dare try to call us tyrants.” “‘Tis a lie,” Luna said, only earning a look from her older sister. Celestia returned her stare onto the hologram rather quickly “The Decepticons were hated on this world for being the bringers of extinction towards your ponies. We need not for extinction on the equine race, nor on any other races that this planet holds dear. All we seek is redemption, redemption not for our reputation on this world…but redemption for the past mistakes we’ve made on our own. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve this would be to simply ‘borrow’ a large portion of this planet’s energy source. Surely you can agree to this?” Shining Armor snorted. “If not, then I’m afraid my preaching to you all will have to end, and the message to begin. So I’ll begin this message with a question: How far are we willing to take this? “How far can we truly continue our conquest? How far can we go until you finally say ‘Stop’? You have already witnessed our power. We’ve crushed two of your major cities in mere days, and we are not about to ‘stop’ now.” Luna’s glare intensified with every second, matching perfectly with Twilight’s and Shining Armor’s. Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance were the only ones who appeared tired, worn out, and somewhat spooked by Shockwave’s chilling tone. That didn’t mean that the two princesses didn’t hold some hatred in their hearts. “However…” Everypony listened in. The static from the hologram was the only noise heard. “…if you wish to end this aggression and even retrieve your fallen Prime, all you have to do…is one thing.” …Optimus? Twilight thought, the hope of seeing Prime again filling her heart with feelings of bliss. Whatever it was Shockwave wanted, he was willing to end the advance on Equestria’s cities and even give up Optimus for it. Whatever it was Shockwave wanted, to the powers of her princess abilities, Twilight was going to get it. Her blood froze. “Surrender to us Princess Twilight Sparkle, and in turn we will hand over Optimus Prime, safe and without a scratch. We will be waiting in Vanhoover. You have one day to decide…otherwise we will continue our advance.” Shockwave turned his head right, as if staring into the eyes of all four princesses at once. Whether or not he knew they would be standing there when he recorded the message or something just caught his eye, Cadance and Twilight both allowed a shiver to crawl up their spine and whisper into ears. The hologram of Shockwave brought its gaze forward again. The message ended with three words, words that forever reminded Celestia of all that she had done, all the sacrifices she made to protect her country. The three words that were told to her over and over again… “Choose wisely, princess.” The hologram cut off, and the black device broke apart with a surprising pop to send pieces of metal across the table. Smoke rose from the destroyed device, and through that smoke Shining Armor could see the fear in his little sister’s eyes. It was clear as day, clear as the opportunity Shockwave has given them. Twilight’s fear was all too noticeable to attract the attention of three princesses that surrounded her. Princess Twilight sat in her chair, her jaw partially open and her eyes as wide as can be. She stared at the table as if the hologram never disappeared, her mind and body frozen over Shockwave’s words, the opportunity he gave to them, and the threat he clearly laid out. She hardly breathed, her brain still trying to process what exactly she had just heard. Twilight began to shudder. Shining Armor saw this and slammed his hoof into the table, catching the attention of everypony sitting in front of him, everypony except for Twilight who remained an unmovable statue. “I’ve stayed back and listened as you all created a defensive strategy to protect Equestrian cities, I’ve watched from the sidelines as my Royal Guard were slaughtered without any hope of escaping these cities and informing us of the attack, but there is no way, no how in Tartarus that I’m letting them get their hands on Twilight!” Shining Armor screamed, the power in his voice causing the table to shake. “I agree,” Princess Celestia added, turning towards her sister to see her giving a nod of understanding. She faced Shining Armor again and said, “It will only give the enemy more of a reason to feel superior if we give them Twilight.” “But…what about Equestria?” Princess Cadance asked, earning the stares from both Royal Sisters and her husband. “The Decepticons are going to continue the attacks in cities we know won’t even be protected against their wrath. I don’t want them to have Twilight, but I also don’t want to see more ponies suffer because we weren’t there to save them.” Cadance forced the last sentence out of her once the visions of earlier that morning resurfaced past her eyes. She closed her eyes, sighing heavily. Shining stared at her for a while, sighing as well. “Well…maybe we can send in the Lunar Guard. They can travel far faster than any Royal Guard Pegasus,” he looked up at Luna. “As long as that’s okay with you, your highness.” Princess Luna nodded. “Optimus…” Shining Armor turned towards the sound, the unforgettable sound of his wife on the verge of tears. She looked up at Shining Armor, sending a small glance to the unmoving Twilight Sparkle. She asked, “What about Optimus? They still have him…alive. If we deny them Twilight…then they’re no doubt going to kill him and continue to attack Equestria.” Twilight gasped for air, still staring at the table and shuddering slightly. Shining frowned, shaking his head. “They’re not getting Twilight. End of discussion.” “…No.” The silence in the room was awful. Too awful. All eyes shifted to the shivering Alicorn sitting quietly in her seat. With eyes once filled with fear, now with anger and determination, Princess Twilight stared at her older brother, slowly narrowing her eyes. She spoke. “I’m a princess of Equestria…and I can make my own decisions.” As if the words just failed to form in his mouth, Shining Armor stared at Twilight with eyes begging for an answer, an explanation for her behavior. Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance, they all locked eyes for a brief moment, bringing them all together to focus on the newest princess. She was right. She can make her own decisions. Be those good…or bad…for the good of Equestria…or for her own self desires, only Celestia will determine it. Twilight breathed in…and breathed out. Closing her eyes, Twilight played out the scenario in her mind. Give in, surrender, let them take her, and then what? Her friends…Equestria…they’ll get Optimus back. A true leader will be on their side to fight the Decepticons. Even if they stop their assault, the Decepticons won’t be leaving Equestria, or the world for that matter. They’ll still remain, torturing innocent ponies in Vanhoover. Unless they had Optimus to lead them into battle…they couldn’t win. The choice to give in to the Decepticons will free Optimus…and give them a leader. However, the choice will also be giving in to the Decepticon tyranny. Shockwave wanted Twilight, which she knew already. For what reason? Why did Shockwave want Twilight? A princess of Equestria at the mercy of the Decepticons perhaps, it would be good propaganda to spread fear amongst the ponies. Or, he could threaten Twilight’s life if he didn’t get what he wanted. Both sounded terrible, but not too hard for Twilight to survive. The death threat was a chance she was willing to take. What would they gain out of it? Optimus Prime. Maybe it was the mentioning of her friend being released to them in exchange for her own self. Maybe it was the faith she had in Optimus, the faith that kept her going through these terrible times. It was that same faith she had now. Optimus was a leader, and with Drift’s teachings he could be so much more. Optimus may not have his memory, but he had her…and what she gave to him. Friendship. That much she knew… That much she could believe in. Give in, surrender, let them take her. Give in, surrender, let them take her. Give in, surrender, let them take you. When she opened her eyes, there was no fear. No determination. No anger. All Shining Armor saw, all Princess Celestia felt was the absolute lack of emotion in her eyes and in her voice. The words she spoke, the way she said it with dignity and bravery. A true leader had just spoken. A true leader had made a decision. A tear fell from Twilight’s eye, traveling down her cheek, and even then she kept a straight face. “Let me say goodbye to my friends.”