//------------------------------// // Chapter 82-You Need to Push On // Story: Transformers: The Requiem // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Swoop screeched through the blazing winds. Jetfire’s engines tore apart the skies. Drift’s propeller blades cut the air in half. Twilight Sparkle screamed in pain. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy quickly apologized, fear rushing through her veins after having applied the bandage to Twilight’s broken foreleg. She leaned in, eyeing the bloody bandage with worry fresh in her eyes. “Here, let me just…” Very gently, the Pegasus, having acted as the best nurse she could ever hope to, bit down on the bandage and removed it. Instantly, her eyes shrunk to the size of peas, noticing the dark crimson liquid pouring out of the long gash in Twilight’s hoof. She was even more horrified to see it bent in an awkward position. She could’ve passed out. She would’ve passed out and fallen right off Swoop’s back and plummet to the ground below if it weren’t for a friendly orange hoof holding her together. “Easy there, ‘Shy. It’s nothin’ you’ve never seen before,” Applejack offered to her friend, holding down her hat from being caught by the strong winds soaring past them. She gave Fluttershy another smile, turning her grim expression over to the whimpering princess. “Come on now. Twilight needs help. Ah don’t know how much longer she can make it after losin’ so much…blood,” Applejack cautioned, eyeing the fresh blood pouring from Twilight’s reopening wounds. Twilight actually managed a weak chuckle, followed by an even weaker cough. “Don’t worry, girls. We’re almost there… I trust in each and every one of you… We’re gonna make it…I just know it. Yeah…we’re almost…there,” Twilight whispered, her eyelids slowly falling. Rainbow Dash’s body went frigid, a horrified look on her face. Quickly, she faced the bot controlling the rampaging pterodactyl and asked rather loudly, “Hey, just how far are we from Ponyville?!” Bumblebee was far too busy controlling Swoop to pay attention to her question. Instead, a certain dark blue helicopter caught the Pegasus and the other mares by surprise by flying right next to them. Drift spoke and said, “You have no reason to worry any longer! My calculations suggest that Ponyville is nearly two miles ahead!” “Right!” Cliffjumper added in as well, catching the attention of all the mares sitting tightly-packed behind him. He flashed them a grin, reloading his Subsonic Repeater. “So for the time being, just sit back and enjoy the ride!” Swoop screeched in acknowledgment. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, frowned heavily. She pointed to the shivering Alicorn being comforted by Fluttershy. She shouted, “We can’t sit back and enjoy anything until I know for certain that my friend isn’t going to die!” “Sorry, can’t hear you over the gunfire!” Cliffjumper shouted back, aiming his repeater forward and blasting away. Normally, the mares would react to Cliffjumper’s behavior right away, but considering that he was holding off the Decepticons by himself, they decided to leave him alone. It was a shame because Rainbow wasn’t done arguing with him. Her large, magenta irises stared at Cliffjumper’s back, a constant frown etched into her expression. The frown only worsened once she spotted the targets Cliffjumper was aiming for. Decepticon Jets…and a lot of them. She could also spot one jet in the bunch of dark figures trailing behind them. It had color, it was faster than the others, and it led the chase with missiles and bullets that nearly missed Swoop every time. Rainbow Dash knew that aim. She remembered how terrible that aim was. It could only belong to one Decepticon… Rainbow Dash’s eyes grew wide. Her jaw fell open to speak, yet her words halted when Pinkie shouted, “I see it! Ponyville’s right ahead!” “Attention! All Decepticons stationed in Ponyville, there are three enemy targets approaching your destination. Be alert, Princess Twilight Sparkle is with them. Defend the town and the castle at all costs! Shockwave out.” He lowered his hand down from the side of his right temple, the message clearly heard and acknowledged. Once the static rolled in, the Decepticon soldier cut the comms transmission and approached the rest of his squad. They all repeated his previous actions, nodding to one another and lifting up their assault rifles. “You heard the boss! Ready the Alliance tanks and get the rocket troops and snipers up on the rooftops! Twilight Sparkle does not survive passed the gates!” he said, pointing to each one of his squad members. They all nodded to one another, one of them shouting, “Alright, let’s move out! Defensive positions now!” The Decepticon soldier watched as the remaining members of his squad that didn’t line up at the barbed-wire gates went to inform the snipers and rocket troopers of their duties. He watched from the outskirts of the small village as Alliance troopers forced innocent civilians back into their homes by force. Civilians stared up into the skies with fear, eyeing the Alliance airships that hovered above them all and the Decepticon soldiers that crawled up the building walls. When he brought his attention back to the front gates, he noticed a complete line of Alliance Spider Tanks by his side, all in order, all accurate. Just as he liked it. The Decepticon soldier turned his attention to the tank commander, an Alliance stallion wearing nothing but pure black armor and a glowing red visor across his vision. He nodded once to his pony ally. The stallion nodded back, turning his eyes to the sky. He did as well, and no sooner did he spot the targets his master was warning about. A jet, a helicopter, and a…something else. It didn’t matter. He could see all three Autobot symbols from where he stood. Well, only two symbols. That was still all the assurance he needed. He lifted up his right hand. “Alliance Tank brigade, on my mark!” he shouted Their spider-like legs lifted their underbellies off the ground. Their muzzles pointed towards the sky, all ten of them. The Decepticon eyed the three targets approaching by the nano-second. “Ready…!” His squad by the gates aimed their rifles upwards. “Aim…!” Even more targets appeared behind the three, yet the Decepticon was smart enough to notice his own symbol gracing each one. He hoped the others were smart enough too. “…Fire!” A barrage of heavy gunfire rang out through the small village, frightening the ponies still struggling against their oppressors forcing them inside. All eyes turned towards the direction of the sound. They all noticed numerous bright streaks of light headed for the clouds and three objects near them. Several blasts rang out, dotting the sky in black smoke. A direct hit. “Hey, look! A welcoming party! Those ponies in Ponyville sure do know how to welcome back longtime friends! They even brought fireworks!” Confused and somewhat interested by Pinkie’s words, Applejack led Rarity and Rainbow Dash over to Swoop’s far left side, barely over his flapping wing to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. Fluttershy stayed and tended to the wounded Twilight, who had now begun to fade in and out of consciousness. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all peeked over the side, joining Pinkie Pie. All of their smiles faded. There was something flying in the air, much like a firework like Pinkie had said. Except, these were no explosions of bright, colorful light to spread awe and wonder to any excited eyes. They were rocket shells. All three mares fell back from the force of the nearest blast, all except for Pinkie who continued to stare straight down. The rocket shells exploded all around her. Pinkie blew a raspberry, frowning as she did so. “Lame! You call those fireworks? I’m beginning to wonder if those ponies down there are even trying to welcome us back to Ponyville!” “Pinkie, get back here!” Rarity screeched, wrapping Pinkie in her aura of magic and dragging her back. Another shell went off right where Pinkie was recently laying, the blast blowing apart Swoop’s left wing and knocking the pink mare back into her pile of friends. She wasn’t the only one knocked back. Following Swoop’s painful screeches, Bumblebee had quickly lost his balance from the recent shell blast and fell off Swoop’s right wing. He screamed the entire way down, his voice lost within the impact in Ponyville’s borders. “Bumblebee!” the mares cried together, Twilight included. Their cries of sorrow quickly faded, being transformed into cries of fear. Swoop plummeted like a rock. From the six ponies’ perspective, they witnessed the Dinobot struggling with all his might to regain balance. His left wing, however, was torn to shreds, wires and shredded shrapnel breaking and falling off as they fell. Fluttershy shed a few tears after hearing Swoop’s painful shrieks, like an innocent animal wounded. “What the heck…?! Why are we falling?!” Cliffjumper shouted, slipping onto his chest and grabbing whatever bit of Swoop that stuck out. The Dinobot screeched in pain, his body falling quicker. With their manes clouding their vision from the rushing winds, the six mares could barely catch a glimpse of their supposed saviors falling right by their side. With the strength of the wind over their ears, they could hardly make out what they said. “…Hold on! We’re coming for ya!” Jetfire’s voice rang out through the air, only to be silenced by another tank shell. “Gah! I’m hit! I’m going dow-!” Jetfire flew awkwardly over them, his engines on fire as he impacted Drift with a deafening thud of metal against metal. The two flyers broke apart quickly, falling to join the Dinobot in their descent into the dirt of Ponyville. With nothing left to hope for their safety, the six friends held on tight to each other, grabbing a bit of the Dinobot and holding on for dear life. Their eyes shut tight, their teeth clenched, their forelegs wrapped around one another in a tight embrace. Twilight didn’t close her eyes. She looked down. They were in Ponyville. They made it. With the impact and the dirt showering over them, Twilight felt the darkness sweep in over her body. It felt nice…for once. Her ear twitched. Slowly, she breathed in. A miracle. The Alicorn flexed her muscles. All of them worked, despite the pain. Another miracle. Twilight Sparkle eyed the ground, her cheek pressed hard against the dirt road. She could only eye large dirt clogs and pieces of earth strewn across her field of vision. Everything else was blurry, out of focus and out of her range. The pain returned just as quickly as did the feeling in her limbs. Her cuts opened up again, leaking out more blood that Twilight could see rest in a small puddle right under her muzzle. She tried to spread her wings, but felt a searing pain rush through the shattered bones that once worked properly, another reminder of her past torture at the hands of the mad Decepticon scientist. Something appeared in the blurry portion of her vision. It was becoming clearer, as if it was approaching her. She breathed out, short gasps joining in. The blurry figure turned out to be Jetfire. He crawled towards the Alicorn, sparks dancing off his body with each movement he made, even more liquid Energon pouring from his newly formed wounds. Yet he still crawled, still advanced towards the injured Princess of Friendship. Twilight forced herself to lift her head up, ignoring the pain soaring through her neck muscles. She regretted doing just that. As if her hearing never returned, Starscream silently appeared from behind the wounded Autobot, his body escaping the smoke created from Swoop’s devastating crash. Even with her vision slightly blurry from afar, Twilight could still see his grin. She could still see Starscream’s evil smile stretch across his metal face. He pointed his right fist towards her. No… Not towards her. Towards- A blast rang out, bringing back Twilight’s hearing. Jetfire’s chest erupted in a bright, orange flash. Metal flew outwards from the force of the shot at such close range. Luckily, Twilight wasn’t hit with any of the sharp pieces. She was only coated in fresh Energon. Jetfire’s Energon. His blood. A look of pure horror was strewn across the Alicorn’s face as she witnessed Jetfire fall flat on his chest, groans of pain emanating from his person. She positioned herself in a laying pose with fresh tears boiling in her eyes, both from the pain and witnessing her friend slowly fall apart. Jetfire lifted up his scarred head, revealing no expression on his face. His jaw hung slightly open, a small, glowing blue river of his blood on the edge of his lip. His blue eye flickered light and dark, the other shattered optic simply holding a single line of liquid Energon trailing down his face. Like a tear. For what seemed like the end of time, the two stared at each other in silence. Their breaths joined together in harmony, old, ragged, broken harmony. Jetfire pushed his hand forward to Twilight, making a large indent in the dirt with his fist. Twilight stared at his hand barely inches from her chest. The Autobot touched her softly. Very softly. Twilight sighed in content. Jetfire smiled, knowing for certain that he felt a heartbeat. She lived. That’s all that mattered. “Jetfire…” he heard her speak in barely above a whisper. Strangely enough, he blocked out any other signs of noise around, his full and last bit of attention on Twilight and Twilight only. The princess stared into his flickering eye, her own beginning to shed a few sorrowful tears. She lifted up her bloody hoof and placed it over Jetfire’s hand, simply resting it there with no bit of strength left. “I’m so…I’m so sorry,” she told him, her voice weak and cracking. Jetfire managed another soft smile. He slowly lifted up his pointing finger and wiped away a single tear falling from her cheek. When he spoke, Twilight couldn’t tell if he was in pain or not. It felt…like he was content, like he was at peace. He said to her, “You need to keep going, Twilight. You need to push on…because the world needs you now.” Twilight couldn’t handle it any longer. She broke down, embracing Jetfire’s finger with the strongest embrace she could offer in her injured state. Her cries filled his hearing processors, and it was the only sound he heard for the longest time. “How touching…” A dark chuckle came from behind. Twilight gasped. Jetfire gave the Alicorn one last look before pushing himself off the ground, pools of Energon pouring from the large hold in his chest. Twilight gasped again, taking notice of the scene before her. Starscream stood behind the Autobot, his Nucleon Charge Rifle aimed at his back. Jetfire continued to rise up until he stopped in a kneeling position, his head low and his eye continuously resting into Twilight’s, never breaking contact. Starscream sneered, jabbing the muzzle of his rifle into Jetfire’s back. “You should’ve joined us all those years ago, fool,” he scoffed. The rifle cocked backwards, then forwards. Twilight’s eyes grew wide, more tears falling. Jetfire didn’t smile. He stared at her silently, his eye continued to flicker off and on. Off and on. Another shot rang out. Twilight didn’t scream. The second shot tore apart whatever remained of Jetfire’s chest and neck area. Metal shards scattered across the dirt road, the last bits of liquid Energon falling from the wound at a quick pace, like a rushing stream. Slowly, in Twilight’s perspective, the Autobot fell for the last time. The most horrifying sight, however, was what followed his fall. His neck torn to shreds, nothing held his head in place, and Jetfire’s severed extremity rolled off from the rest of his body and rested in the dirt to Twilight’s far right. His dark eyes continued to stare into hers, even in death, with a look of pure terror forever etched into his metal face. Her hearing returned fully after that, and all she could hear was Starscream’s wicked laughter.