Princess Celestia flew through the skies towards the Nemesis, the three changelings following close behind. She set them down on a ledge in the warships side with a soft thud.
“What now Princess?” Shrapnel asked.
“We need to find a weak point in the hull,” the pony told her as she began knocking her hoof against the armor of the ship. “It should sound hollow when you find the right spot.” The changelings followed her example, Bombshell and Kickback moving towards the bow, while Shrapnel followed Celestia towards the stern.
"Princess Celestia, I feel as though I must apologize," Livana told her.
"You may call me Celestia; in truth, I’m not to fond of being referred to by my title,” Celestia said. "Now, what do you need to apologize for?"
"I've been a fool. I let my prejudices blind me, and now the death of your friend may soon weigh on me," Shrapnel explained.
Celestia turned back towards the changeling, startling her. The look on the princess' face was stern, but also caring and reassuring, almost making the changeling feel as though Celestia were her mother. "I'm afraid that won't happen, because we're going to find Optimus, and free him," she told her, her tone matching her expression.
The two resumed their search, continuing for several more meters before their knocking yielded a loud, hollow clang. “I think I’ve found it,” shrapnel shouted excitedly.
“Good, now step back,” Celestia ordered. As the chancellor stepped back towards the bow, Celestia spread her legs apart, angling her horn down towards the ship as magic enveloped its length. A thin orange beam shot out of the hip of her horn, cutting into the hull. The power of the sun itself sliced through the Cybertronian armor like a blade through air. She used the beam to cut out a small hole large enough for her and the changelings to fit through. When her work was done, she stepped aside, then grabbed the core and threw it backwards.
Celestia was the first to enter the ship, followed by the changelings. Suddenly, the doors to the room opened, revealing a Vehicon behind them. “Hey doc, you in here? I popped a tire on patrol and I-what in the name of Primus?”
The organics tried to hide before they were spotted, but they were too slow. The trooper drew his weapon, taking aim at Celestia and firing. Unfortunately for the soldier, the princess had time to shield herself. The bolt flew back towards the one who had sent it flying in the first place, striking him in the center of his chest and sending him flying backwards into the wall behind him. The energon in his body painted the wall sky blue, before he fell to the ground with a new hole where his spark once was.
“Horseapples," the princess spat quietly.
“Are you alright Celestia?” Shrapnel whispered.
“Fine” the princess answered with a sigh. “Come on, we need to hide him.”
---------------
Rainbow dash struggled furiously against her metal restraints, thrashing with her wings and her legs as desperately tried to break free from the metal slab to which she was secured; she had been struggling so much since her capture that she began to develop sores around her ankles. Applejack lay on the table next to her, far more passive than her friend.
“Come on A.J.! We gotta get out of here,” Dash told her as she continued to fight.
“Ah know, Ah know, Ah’m just thinnin’ bout how ta do it,” Applejack answered.
Suddenly, the automatic doors slid open, and Knockout stepped into the room. “Sorry about that, I had some other business to attend to first.” The doctor neared Rainbow Dash, grinning malevolently. He picked up an alien marking instrument, then used it to make a dotted line down the pegasus’ abdomen. “Oh, where to start?” he mused. Then, and idea jumped into his head. He removed the instrument from her stomach, and moved it to her wings.
“No! Please, anything but my wings!” Rainbow Dash desperately pleaded as she thrashed violently enough to make her ankles bleed.
“Don’t worry sweetie,” he assured her as he began to pet her head. “You won’t be needing them after long.”
Without warning, the pegasus bit his finger, causing the Decepticon to yelp in shock. “You are a feisty one, aren't y-”
Suddenly, the doctor fell over, unconscious. Then, seemingly every button on the control panel light up, causing the restraints holding the two ponies to release them; a pair of tall, silver legs materialized before the two.
“Starscream!” Applejack shouted in shock.
“Yes, and I must say, you two have made a mess of things,” he said as he picked them up and perched them on his shoulders.
“Made a mess of things? What did we mess up?” Rainbow questioned.
“Well, if you must know, my original plan was to sabotage the warship’s engines and finally end the war with the Autobots; surely after that, they would accept me as one of them,” he explained. “However, I couldn’t risk killing the sisters of my friends, nor could I risk Optimus.”
“Optimus is here?” Rainbow asked.
“Yes; Megatron captured him,” he told her as he walked through the doors to the room. “Now, we’ve got to be very careful, lest we atrac-oof!”
“Going somewhere Starscream?” Dreadwing asked asked. The commander loomed outside the med bay, along with a squad of five Vehicons, each with their weapons drawn. Starscream quickly backed up, trying desperately to formulate any acceptable reason why he might be in this position. He failed. Without warning, he pointed his missile downward, then fired the weapon.
---------------
A pair of Vehicons stood guard outside of Orion’s prison, standing idly, bored out of their minds.
“Hey Octane?”
“Yeah?”
“You ever wonder why we’re here?”
“You mean guarding Prime?”
“No, I mean why we’re her-gah!”
Suddenly, a bright magic aura enveloped both of them. Before either could react, the golden glow pinned them to the wall, then melted their armor to the hull of the ship. The spell reached inside their bodies, halting the flow of energon to their central processors, though it only held long enough to make them pass out.
Once they were certain the guards were put cold, Celestia and the changelings emerged from the shadows. As they reached the giant metal doors that guarded their friend, the princess once again lowered her horn, cutting through the barrier just as easily as she'd cut through the hull.
At last, she opened a hole in the door, revealing the captured Optimus. Celestia frantically ran up to him, while the changelings lagged behind out of caution. “Optimus! Are you okay? How can we get you down?”
Prime barely lifted his eyes as he gazed upon the princess. “Celestia?” he said with a gasp as his eyes widened. “How did you get here?”
“Never mind that, how do we get you down?” the princess asked.
“I don’t know. Try using one of the consoles,” he told her. Celestia and the Changelings climbed onto the giant monitors, then began to randomly press buttons.
“Any luck?” Celestia asked. Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel all shook their heads.
“Alright, I didn’t want to do this but,” Celestia paused, spreading out her legs as she angled her horn at Prime’s shackles. “Now, hold still-”
Suddenly, the lights went out, and Optimus’ restraints released him.
“...Did One of you do that?” Celestia asked in confusion. Again, all of the changelings shook their heads in denial.
“I do not know,” Prime answered as he flexed his arms. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the hall.
“We should leave,” Shrapnel suggested.
“Agreed,” Prime added as he slid on his battle mask.
---------------
Applejack opened her eyes to discover, much to her surprise, she was not dead. Her tail was slightly singed, but aside from that, she was to be perfectly unharmed. The world around her was all but frozen in place, with the events around her still happening, but much much more slowly.
"Are you unhurt Applejack?" Starscream asked as he strolled down the Nemesis' hallway.
"Ah'm fine, what about Dash?" Applejack answered.
"I'm fine," the pegasus said from the bot's other shoulder. "What happened? Shouldn't we be dead?"
"Yes, however, I saved you using these," he explained as he pulled out three syringes filled with a red glowing liquid.
"What is that stuff?" Rainbow asked.
"Red energon, a rare verity of energon that grants its user the power of hyper-speed," he told the two.
"What?" Applejack questioned.
Starscream couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It lets me go so fast I can outrun explosions."
"Oh."
"So how long does this whole hyper-speed thing last?" Rainbow Dash asked.
A sudden eruption from behind them answered her question. Starscream dropped the two ponies into his arms, running as fast as he was able away from their prison cell.
"Seize him!" Dreadwing ordered. A pair of Vehicons obeyed his command, running after the turncoat. Dreadwing moved to join them, when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a spot of red and blue. He turned, drawing his sword, and charging the other prisoner. Prime motioned for changelings to flea, leaving Celestia and himself to fight the Decepticon. Optimus stepped out in front of the pony as he, too, drew his weapon, extending his free arm as he prepared to face the Decepticon. Just as Dreadwing reached Prime, he was separated from his troops by a thick golden barrier. The shield stopped the Decepticons dead in their tracks, causing them to pile up behind it. Now isolated, Dradwing turned his attention to the Princess.
He raised his sword high over his head, sending a shower of sparks down on himself as his blade scraped the ceiling. Before he could deal the killing blow, Prime kicked him in the back, propelling him forward and slamming him into the wall. The Decepticon quickly turned towards Prime, assuming a battle stance. As the two warriors clashed, their blades scraped the sides of the hallway, creating a spectacular array of orange sparks. Dreadwing struck first, swinging low and from the right, but Prime drew first blood. He parried the attack, then spun around and cut into Dreadwing's upper shoulder.
Prime then rotated again, bringing his sword down for another slash, but Dreadwing was too quick and blocked his blow. Then, the Decepticon charged forward, angling his sword down in an attempt to stab Optimus. The Autobot was fast enough to avoid the attack, causing Dreadwing to impale his sword in the side of the ship. With Dreadwing's weapon trapped within the hull of the Nemsis, Prime went for the killing blow, only to have the Decepticon deflect the blade with his gun.
After parrying the strike, he hastily took aim and fired his weapon, but he could only wield the weapon with one hand, and so missed Prime entirely. The rogue bolt struck Celestia's shield, before ricocheting into the ceiling. Despite the miss, Dreadwing was undeterred, loosing more bolts at Prime, each of which missed, though only barely. Finally, he freed his sword. As he pulled the blade free from the wall, he sung it at Prime with all his might. Optimus deflected the blow, but the sheer force of the impact knocked him to the ground.
Dreadwing smiled as he dropped his gun, raising his sword once more. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the back of his knee. He dropped his sword, falling to one knee as Shrapnel slammed her head into the back of his knee, using her magic to for a dome around her body. Seeing an opportunity, Optimus drew his ion cannon, loosing a bolt into Dreadwing's shoulder at point-blank range. The Decepticon howled in pain as he was thrown backwards. The bolt shredded his shoulder, littering the corridor with droplets of energon and metallic fragments.
With Dreadwing incapacitated, Shrapnel turned to Prime, smiling at him. He didn't return the gesture, choosing instead to scoop her up. Optimus also retrieved Bombshell and Kickback, holding all three of the changelings under one arm, and picking up Celestia with the other. Then he leapt through the hole created during his fight, leaving Dreadwing to his fate.
---------------
After a while of running, Optimus finally found what he was looking for. He set down his organic companions, then set to work prying open a pair of large doors. Behind them were another set of smaller doors on the other side of the room, and a control panel.
"What is this place?" Bombshell asked.
"Escape pods," Optimus answered as he manipulated the controls. One of the doors opened, and Prime motioned for the others to go inside. They did, sitting towards the front as they waited for Optimus.
Suddenly, the doors behind him slid open. "Going somewhere Orion?" Megatron questioned. Optimus turned to see his brother standing in the doorway, one hand on the control panel.
"Orion?" Celestia whispered in confusion.
"I'm sorry I can't stay," Optimus said as he drew his gun, his arm shaking slightly as took aim and fired a single bolt in Megatron's direction. The bolt seemingly missed its mark, but the blast was not aimed at him. It stuck the console next to the Decepticon, causing it to erupt in a shower of sparks.
The ship's alarms blared as all doors began to shut. Prime took aim again, this time at Megatron, and fired another bolt. Unlike the other one, this shot missed its mark, striking the door frame above the Decepticon. Optimus fired a third bolt, which struck Megatron, forcing the Decepticon out of the room. Then, Prime hastily cut each of the clamps holding the escape pod in place, desperate to outpace the doors closing behind it. Once it began to fall, he followed it, only to have his foot trapped in the closing doors. Without a moment's hesitation, he swung his sword, slicing through the door and freeing himself. He free-fell until he reached the escape pod, then climbed inside, closed the doors, and braced for impact.