//------------------------------// // Humiliation // Story: Equestria: Transformation // by Fairweather //------------------------------// Thundercracker spun around, seeing as he was the only one capable of firing his weapons, to eliminate the upstart organics, only to find himself frozen as he was encased in a purple aura. "Wha-!? I can't move!" "Now Spike!" Twilight called out as she pulled herself from the ground, her horn glowing brightly as she maintained her stasis spell on the Decepticon. Dashing from a large bush, the dragon ran at full speed, breathing a ball of green flame into his claws, and keeping it barely contained as he ran around the frozen robot. Thundercracker struggled with all his might, but couldn't move an inch as he saw a strange new species of organic come into his field of vision, and toss a swirling ball of flame right into his face, unable to do anything but watch as the flame overtook his entire vision. Smashing straight into his eyes in cloud of smoke, the Seeker screamed. "GIAAAHHH! MY OPTICS!" For a brief second, Skywarp was stunned at the sudden turn of events, without their energy weapons and having long since abandoned their missile weaponry (save for their commander), the Seekers now had no choice but to resort to attempting to crush the resisting organics with their bare hands and feet, a task that was far harder then it sounded. Especially when several immediately took to the air and zoomed around Ramjet and Nova Storm, providing distracting flyby's and annoying, if harmless, physical attacks. Then, just as the aura constricting Thundercracker vanished, causing him to stumble back and clutch his face in pain, Skywarp felt a searing pain as a beam of intense purple energy smashed into his back, propelling him into one of the empty houses. "That's what you get for messing with my town!" Spike shouted as he saw Twilight dispatch the two of them, before taking to the air, her horn glowing in preparation for another strike. "Aw yeah!" Scootaloo cheered, having forgotten about the robot she had just struck upon seeing Spike's entrance. "Go Spi-WOAH!" She stumbled back as a purple blade swung at her, barely missing her neck. "You just made a big mistake, fool!" Slipstream growled, pieces of brick falling from her and the wall she had been knocked into. "Yeah?" The orange Pegasus asked, smirking fearlessly, her wings outstretched in a threatening manner, and a hoof pawing the ground. "Well, bring it!" Slipstream accepted the challenge with a wordless lunge, her energy blade zooming in a purple blur. On the corner of her vision, however, she saw a yellow Earth Pony leaping into the air, perfectly timed to tackle her in the middle of her attack. Twisting around, Slipstream brought her Null Ray to bear on her new opponent, sneering as she saw the organic's eyes widened as it came into view. Her moment of triumph vanished as a clay pot thrown from Sweetie Belle smashed into her shoulder, knocking her weapon away and leaving her defenseless as the Pony smashed into her torso, causing the two to roll briefly on the ground as they struggled to pin each other down. Slipstream gained an edge when she managed to grasp the Pony's chest with her left hand, and when her feet connected to the ground, heaved with her strength and their momentum, flinging the organic into a nearby flower stall, smashing it into over a dozen wooden pieces and broken flowers and pots. Recovering from the tumble almost instantly, the Decepticon brought her cannon to bear to finish the organic off, only to notice and barely dodge a second charge from the Pegasus. A part of Slipstream grew increasingly frustrated with the constant interruptions when she was just getting the upper hand, but most of her reveled in the excitement, oh how she had missed the combat. And against multiple organics! She hadn't had this much fun since the War on Terra. The Pegasus recovered from the miss, landing neatly on the ground and skidding around to face her opponent, while the Earth Pony pulled herself from the wooden rubble, looking scuffled but more annoyed then damaged. They're sturdier then they look, Slipstream noted as her gaze rapidly shifted between her two opponents, knowing that a human would have had at least a few broken bones from the scuffle and been knocked out of the fight. Sweetie Belle's horn glowed as she saw the altercation between Apple Bloom and the alien that had threatened her and her students, sweat beaded down her forehead as she saw her friends standoff against the robotic being. Hoping that they could handle it from there, she turned her attention to Spike, who tossed another ball of flame towards another Decepticon who was being pushed back by several combined energy blasts from Unicorns and aerial strikes from Pegasi. "Spike!" She called out. "We need to get the children out of here!" "You read my mind!" The Dragon replied, looking and quickly spotting Mrs. Cheerilee and several protective parents surrounding the terrified colts and filles as they did their best to stay away from the fighting. "Mrs. Cheerilee!" He called out to them, gesturing towards the Castle. "This way!" Nodding in response, the dark purple mare quickly led her students and their parents out of the town square and the Decepticons, save for Thundercracker. Twilight caught Spike's gestures and turned her full attention on the alien, teleporting not far from the warrior's covered face. Upon slowly removing his hands, he briefly saw a flash of purple before a beam of energy smashed into eyes. "AGH, AGAIN!?" He cried out, one hand back to covering his abused eyes, while another wildly flailed out in a desperate attempt to swat the Alicorn down. Twilight effortlessly avoided the blind attack, before flying around and smashing her hooves into the side of his head, causing him to stumble away from the path, clearing it for the fleeing children. "Hurry!" Twilight called out to them. "Get to the Castle!" "Blasted, filthy creatures!!" Ramjet shouted as he stomped a foot hard into the ground, the Ponies scattering from the attack. Before he could continue to press the advantage, the sky around him darkened. "Huh?" He muttered as he looked up and saw a large dark cloud right above his head, with several of the winged organics holding it in place. "What in the Allspark?" "Now!" Thunderlane called out, and three pairs of hooves crashed into the cloud, causing it roar with thunder and lightning to strike out at the hapless Decepticon, who screamed as his circuitry seized with pain, followed by another bolt, and another as the Pegasi above repeatedly smashed the cloud. Ramjet was no stranger to the perils of lightning, and had braved many storms, but it was never this directed, controlled. Trembling, almost paralyzed, Ramjet attempted to move from under the cloud, only to find his legs all too sluggishly move, when he saw of the winged organics fly in a head-on collision with him, helpless as their front hooves crashed against him and they pushed with all their might, sending him falling onto his back. Scootaloo ducked as Slipstream swung her blade, only to be kicked square in the jaw by a metal foot, the Pegasus flipping in the air and landing on her side with a pained groan. "Scoot!" Apple Bloom cried out as she attempted to tackle the alien once again, only to be nimbly avoided the attack with a side step, the alien bringing her weapon to bear. With a victorious sneer, Slipstream fired her Null Ray, a beam of violet energy shot out and splashed against the Earth Pony's back. With a cry of pain, the Pony fell to the ground, her limbs seizing up as what felt like a painful paralyzing venom spread through her in addition to the searing burning pain from the blast, she tried to push herself up but found her strength sapped. Slipstream's victory was briefly interrupted when she saw a silver furred Pegasus with a dark gray mane dive down towards her with a cry. "No Rumble!" Scootaloo shouted. "Don't!" Too late! Slipstream thought as she brought up her cannon to bear against the foolish organic. With a single shot, the Pegasus was struck dead center in the chest, sending him flying back. With a shout of anger and a burst of adrenaline, Scootaloo leaped from the ground and made to knock the Decepticon down. Just as with Apple Bloom, Slipstream evaded the blow with a side step and ignited her blade and striking the upstart Pegasus' side, the blade's pure energy and Scootaloo's momentum allowing for a clean slice just under her wing. Reflexively moving away from the blade, the screaming Scootaloo crashed into the ground, rolling several feet before landing on her damaged side, shuddering from the pain. And you're done. Slipstream sneered at her downed opponent. Her victory was once again interrupted when a grey blur smashed into her, sending them both crashing against a wall. "Damn it all!" Slipstream cursed as yet another Pegasus grappled her, this one with a blond mane and tail and slightly off center eyes glaring down at her. "You winged equines are so damn annoying!" Lifting her feet up, the Decepticon kicked the Pegasus off her, before quickly bringing her Null Ray to bear and firing, the Pegasus spinning head over hooves before landing on the ground some distance from her, completely still. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CHALLENGE A DECEPTICON!" Slipstream cried out, causing several heads to turn her way. She charged up her Null Ray, growling in frustration. What are the others doing!? They're supposed to keep the organics attention focused of them! I can't fight everyone by myself! A loud crash caught her attention as she saw Ramjet collapse, a dark cloud hovering above him. Then she saw Nova Storm in a similar circumstance as several of the horned equines blasted him in a concentrated barrage, while Nacelle was bound just two of the organics. Skywarp was struggling to remove the rubble from a house he had been smashed into, and Thundercracker was clutching his face, ironically the furthest from the battle. Her jaw dropped at what she was seeing. How in the Allspark are we losing this battle!!? With a shout of frustration, the Decepticon transformed into her vehicle mode, the drone-jet speeding towards the cloud over the downed Ramjet, her weapon targeting the lead Pegasus. "Huh?" was all Thunderlane had time to say before a blast a violet energy smashed into him, causing him to fall off the cloud, crashing onto the roof of one of houses, before landing on the ground below. The other Pegasi scattered as Slipstream streaked past a split second later, before pulling a sharp turn towards Nacelle, where the two Apples had just finished binding him. "Phew!" Applejack said after tying the last knot. "Yer tougher then ya look, but ain't nothing a little extra rope couldn't handle, right Big M-" She was interrupted when the large, suddenly wide-eyed stallion roughly pushed her aside, before being struck by a violet beam of energy, sending him flying off of the bound Nacelle. "MAC!" Applejack cried out, before angrily turning to see their attacker, only to be met by a silver metal fist to her face, Slipstream's momentum carrying much of the force of the blow, breaking the mare's nose and sending her off the larger Seeker and into the ground. "Nacelle!" Slipstream called out, her blade igniting and slicing several of the knots, the rope bursting into flame upon contact. "Get up, you big buffoon! We need to turn the tables and regain the offensive!" Her head turned to one of the nearby houses when an idea hit her and she pointed at it. "Grab one of those structures and toss it at the organics! That should scatter the organics and allow the others to recover and counter-attack!" "Why should I listen to you, defect!?" Nacelle shouted as he removed the cut rope that had him bound. "Because," Slipstream growled. "If you don't, we'll lose to organics again! And these ones don't even have heavy weapons or vehicles!" Nacelle growled, but knew that the tiny Seeker had a point, and he'd be damned if he was going to be bested by organics again. Picking himself off the ground, the larger Decepticon wrapped his arms around the house, easily ripping it from its foundations. "Hurry!" Slipstream said, gesturing to the majority of Ponies who had stopped their attacks having noticed the Seeker and his improvised weapon. Skywarp grunted in pain as a surrounding purple aura flung him into the ground just as he had pulled himself from the rubble, with Twilight glaring at him. "Take your 'Decepticons' and leave us be! You are not welcome here!" She shouted. Damn it! The Seeker Lieutenant thought. How can this be happening!? How can we lose to these beings!? They're even less advanced then the Humans! Agh, if only we had just a little bit more Energon in our systems, we'd have demolished this town and these upstarts in a matter of seconds! Perhaps we should- His thoughts stopped when he saw Nacelle now up on his feet, holding one of the structures in his hands and a mere second away from tossing it and literally crushing this revolt. He sneered. Twilight saw the sneer and turned, gasping as she saw what the Seeker fling the house with a grunt of exertion as several of the Ponies and screamed and many began to run out of the way. Skywarp made to lunge and grab the distracted Alicorn with his hands, only for her to vanish in a purple flash, his hands grasping only air. While Twilight instantaneously teleported directly in the house's path, her horn glowing brightly as she caught it in levitation spell, instantly stopping its fatal speed, several crashes were heard from inside as furniture was smashed about. The Alicorn gritted her teeth as she held the massive object in the air, struggling to keep it that way. Nacelle, Slipstream and Skywarp stood, completely stunned at what they had just witnessed. "That's impossible," the Seeker Lieutenant whispered. "How is she...?" Nacelle muttered, dumbstruck "The Princess needs help!" Diamond Tiara called out, looking around at the Unicorns standing there. "What are you doing? Help her out!" At Diamond's call, most of the Unicorns fell in line under their hovering Princess, their horns glowing as they also began to help levitate the house. Slipstream's look of shock turned to frustration as she saw the Ponies rally even more together. "No, NO!" She called out as she raised her Null Ray cannon at the purple Alicorn, firing several blasts at her target, only to be harmlessly deflected as several Unicorns stopped their levitation spells and cast shield spells over the Princess. With a grunt of exertion, Twilight flung the house back at Nacelle, who only just then realized realized what she was- CRRR-AAASH Watching her last hope of victory smash against the Decepticon, shattering into thousands of tiny wood and brick pieces, Slipstream became all too aware of dozens of angry gazes turned towards her. "GET THE INVADER!!" Diamond Tiara cried out as the Ponies charged. "Oh slag this, I'm out!" Slipstream shouted, quickly transforming and zooming straight into the sky, before turning in the general direction of Canterlot, far too fast for any of them to catch. Agh! I hate it when quantity beats quality! Gotta warn Starscream before- She was cut when a powerful rainbow-coloured shock wave blasted her out of the air, sending the screaming Slipstream crashing into the forest beneath her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starscream stared in absolute shock at what he was seeing, a single blue organic with a rainbow mane and tail glaring at him fearlessly. He clutched his open, burning wound as he was filled with anger at this new insult to his pride. "What makes you think you can challenge me!?" He shouted. "You are nothing more then a simple organic! An organic who foolishly stands against the leader of the Decepticons! I'll crush you in an instant, you pathetic, insignificant-" "Wow, you talk a lot." Rainbow cut in, looking completely bored, before grinning. "And what makes you think I came alone?" Her eyes darted to just behind Starscream, causing the Decepticon to whirl around, expecting to find more organics facing him, only to be looking at empty ground and sky. "Wha-AGH!" A sharp impact to the back of his head caused him to stumble forward, only worsening the burning pain from his injury. Rainbow, having struck the robotic being's head, flew over and faced the shocked Starscream, laughing. "I can't believe you actually fell for that!" The Seeker gritted his teeth in anger and pain. "Impudent little-" He lunged out with his hand, attempting to grab the upstart Pegasus, who easily evaded the clumsy attack and struck him on his armoured forehead, her hooves clanging loudly against the against the metal. Although this did absolutely nothing, it only infuriated the Decepticon even further. "That's it!" He said as Rainbow quickly backed off, shaking a hoof to ease the already subsiding pain, trying to see a more effective way of combating the armoured, giant robot, her eyes lighting up when she saw the grisly-looking hole on his chest. "I am going to kill y-" "TAG!" She shouted, leaving a rainbow contrail as she dived to her target, the speed of which completely caught Starscream off-guard, allowing her a clear shot to the more vulnerable, and comparatively softer, circuitry through the armour. A loud crack was heard as her two front hooves smashed into them, feeling several pieces snap from the impact, causing Starscream to take several steps back and scream from the sheer agony the blow caused. Zooming away from his hand that clutched his wound, the Decepticon fell to knee, trying to fight the pain, briefly forgetting about the Pegasus... Until she landed on his head. "You know," She said, her tone showing clear disappointment. "I was expecting a lot more of a challenge fighting a giant, evil robot, especially after seeing the damage you did to Canterlot. Or was that somepony else who did that?" With a shout of both fury and pain, Starscream flung his head forward, briefly catching Rainbow off guard and throwing her off. Her wings sprung open to quickly right herself, leaving her gliding awkwardly in the air, providing Starscream his opportunity. Using his free arm, he aimed its attached Null Ray cannon and fired a violet bolt of its energy, hoping to vaporize the Pegasus then and there, only for her narrowly evade the attack with a midair twirl. Immediately, she flipped around and zoomed towards the Seeker, who attempted to swat her out of the air. Dash once again evaded and flew around Starscream in several circles. "Catch me if you can!" She taunted. With a grunt of frustration, Starscream's hand swung through the air at the rainbow contrails in a desperate attempt to strike her down and salvage the remains of his pride. That was when he noticed a pattern in her flight patterns around him. Always at eye level, before diving under an arm, switching with each fly by, adjusting her flight path depending on the position of his attacking arm, yet every 3 rounds, she would briefly slow just enough to give a glimpse of her mocking face. The old, pre-war scientist in him analyzed and calculated her flight path when he attempted to grab her after giving him a mocking gaze, predicting that she would speed up again. True enough, when he reached his hand out just as she passed him, she picked up her speed just a little extra. Thus, when she flew around him again, he was in a perfect position to swing his arm out, the back of his hand smashing into her side. With a pained cry, Rainbow smashed into the ground, skidding several feet, the dirt and grass flying out and a small trench marking her crash. Laughing victoriously, Starscream raised his free arm and fired a Null Ray blast at the downed Pegasus, the violet beam lancing out towards her. A split second before it landed, her eyes and wings popped open, taking off in a cloud of dust as the beam smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater behind. Landing just ahead of the falling dust and dirt, Rainbow Dash glared at the shocked Starscream, dirt clinging to her fur, hair muddied up and feathers ruffled, but far from injured. Spitting out a small amount of blood, Rainbow snorted. "Alright. Now it's on." How is she still moving!? Starscream thought. "That blow should've killed you!" Rainbow made no reply as she took to the air, flying in a wide circle around Starscream, moving at higher and higher speeds, the wind picking up around him as she quickly reached a speed of hundreds of miles per hour. Starscream raised a Null Ray cannon in preparation of striking a spot she would fly over, when she suddenly found his feet lifting off of the ground. "What in the-" Suddenly, he too late realized the tornado she was somehow creating, his scanners picking up an odd energy emanating from the Pegasus influenced the air around them. The tornado increased in strength as Rainbow put more speed into it, with Starscream flailing about helplessly. He briefly considered transforming into his jet mode and attempting to escape its grasp, but his injury, the low about of Energon in his body, and general idea of flying inside a tornado made him decide against him. All he could was wait and hope that the damage would not be too bad. When Rainbow stopped in mid flight, the tornado immediately vanished, the wind calming almost instantly like nothing had happened, sending Starscream flying towards the ground. Now, the Seeker transformed in a desperate effort to save himself from the crash, only for him to smash into the ground at a jet instead, flipping several times before settling in a cloud of dirt. When it cleared, he was back in his robotic form, lying on the ground and moving slowly, groaning. Rainbow made a dive for his exposed wound, but stopped when Starscream raised his hand, not to cover the injury or attack her, but as a stopping gesture, a pleading look on his face. "Wait, wait! Please, have mercy!" He cried out. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this, before grinning slightly. "Giving up already, huh?" "Please," He repeated, trembling. "No more!" "Well, it's only what you deserve after that attack!" Rainbow said, her wings holding her in the air as hovered above the defeated Decepticon, before grinning again. "That was mistake number one. Mistake number two was thinking that I couldn't take you on!" "Indeed." Starscream admitted, coughing as he slowly righting himself, careful not to provoke the Pegasus again. "I had no idea your species was capable of such feats. Or is that just you?" Rainbow's grin widened. "You're looking at the single best flyer in Equestria! And you're not the first threat to it I've fought against!" "A bold claim, one that you've clearly proven to me." Starscream said as he analyzed the unique energy signature she was emitting. "How did I think I could ever stand against one as skilled as you?" Rainbow chuckled, completely unaware as Starscream's sensors locked onto her signature as internal mechanisms clicked the safeties off all the remaining missiles he possessed. "Best part is, I didn't throw everything I had to beat you, that's how awesome I am! You lost this fight before you even knew it and-wait." She blinked when she saw something click on Starscream's chest. "What's that?" Starscream sneered, the undamaged shoulder opening up, revealing several gleaming silver arrows. "DIE!!!" With that, the missiles sped out in a beeline for the cyan Pegasus, who, with a yelp, took off into the sky, the many missiles relentlessly pursuing their target. Starscream slowly stood onto his feet and laughed as he watched Rainbow fruitlessly attempt to shake them off with various corkscrews, tight turns, and other maneuvers, all of which failed as the missiles stayed on her tail, her speed barely keeping them from reaching her. It doesn't matter what move you pull, organic. Starscream thought, his optics tracing her. They may look human-designed, but these are Cybertronian missiles! Nothing can shake them off their target! You're already dead, organic. I win. Rainbow pulled another tight turn, gaining her a few precious inches before disappearing into a blanket of clouds high above, the missiles following suit. Starscream stood watching for several moments, listening for the inevitable explosions marking her gruesome and deserved death and frowning when nothing happened. How long can she expect to keep this up? She's lost, she has to know that! Thrusters in his feet activated, propelling him into the air as he made his way towards the clouds to see what was going on. Suddenly, bursting through the cloud cover was the Pegasus, diving straight at him. With a surprised sound, Starscream halted his ascent and maneuvered his body and arm to a get a aim at the Pegasus, his Null Ray charging up to full power. He smiled when she stayed charging suicidally at him. Let's finish this! That was when his sensors saw the speed she was going at, far too fast for an organic to physically be able to pull off, and she was only getting faster. A visible cone appeared around her as she pushed herself even further, his systems reading it out. Mach One, Mach Two, Mach Three, Mach Four, Mach Four-Point-Five, Mach F- Suddenly, a deafening boom erupted as a cascade of light blew in a wave throughout the sky, Starscream's jaw dropping in disbelieve at the sight, when the speeding Pegasus smashed into his unprotected injury, blasting all the way through and bursting out of his back like he wasn't even there. Instead of an agonizing, crippling pain, a deathly hollowness spread through him as he stared at nothing, so in utter shock he was, before the appearance of his own missiles streaking towards him rendered him enough out of his awe to realize his folly. "Oh." Was all he could manage to say before the missiles heedlessly slammed into him, a series of dazzling explosions instantly enveloping the hapless Decepticon in a bright fireball of pain and humiliation. Rainbow Dash landed hard on the ground, a shockwave blasting out in all directions from her impact, panting heavily as the various pieces of giant robot landed around her. With a victorious shout, the Pegasus raised a hoof into the air. "Aw yeah! Was that not the greatest stunt pulled off in the history of ever!?" She managed to say. Almost as if in answer, Starscream's head landed right in front of her, his face frozen in a look of agony, his left eye broken and smoking. Rainbow grinned. "Too bad it was only you who saw that. Oh well, have fun being in a thousand pieces." The cyan Pegasus took to the air, where she noticed several carriages and Ponies in golden armour, all heading away from the smoking Canterlot and towards Ponyville, causing a worried frown to show on her face. "Oh, that can't be good." With that, Rainbow immediately raced towards her home, hoping that there was still a home to race back to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All was quiet aboard the Hand of Primus as it drifted ever closer to its destination. Prowl sat in the command chair tinkering with his blaster while Perceptor diligently monitored the communications console. The military bot occasionally glanced up at the main viewscreen, where the system's star was a small, but growing gold orb. A series of flashes appeared on Perceptor's screen, causing the bot's optics to widen. "Oh no, Commander!" He called out. Immediately, Prowl leaped off the chair was next to him. "What's wrong?" "The Probe's signal's been cut off just after it set up," Perceptor answered, pointing at the screen. "You need to see what it managed to catch." Looking down, Prowl frowned at the white screen when it suddenly showed blackness and stars and, his mouth opened in shock when he spotted Human F-14 jets flying in formation towards it, when suddenly the lead jet, with what looked like a drone-jet attached, flew ahead fired at the camera, a split-second later showing a dull white screen again. "SON OF A-"