As Skywarp saw Nacelle crumble from the thrown house, debris exploding in all directions from the impact, and seeing Slipstream flee into the sky, there was only one conclusion to come to; They had lost the battle. Struggling to pull himself up, he gritted his teeth in preparation for the order he had grown to hate giving.
"DECEPTICONS!" He cried out. "RETREAT!"
With the sound of mechanical servos rapidly reorganizing and shifting themselves, the Seeker switched to his jet mode and blasted away, not caring about which direction he was going as long as it was away from the town and its inhabitants. Hearing the call, Nova Storm and Ramjet wasted no time in doing the same, flying off in a separate direction from Skywarp.
"Damn. Kaon damn you all!" Thundercracker shouted, slowly removing his hand from his damaged eyes as he too reluctantly shifted to his jet form and flew straight towards the sky.
Twilight watched them flee, her horn continuing to hum, ready to cast another spell on demand. Yet, as the scattering aliens continued to flee, a strange silence settled over the entire town as everypony processed what had just happened. Then, a great cheer erupted from the townsfolk as Twilight blew a sigh of relief, her horn calmly dissipating the stored up magic. The town had did it., they had won and fought off the aliens.
"Uhh... Your majesty?" A young Unicorn mare said among the cheers, her tone somewhat hesitant. Twilight turned and saw Diamond Tiara approaching, the mare avoiding looking her in the eyes. "I uhh..."
"You were quite brave out there, Diamond Tiara." Twilight said, a small smile forming. "Thanks for motivating the townsfolk."
"Oh! Um, thank you, Princess." Diamond said, her eyes widening in surprise at the compliment. "But, uhh.... Well..." She raised a foreleg, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "It's just that, uhm... Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but..."
She turned at the unconscious alien robot, buried underneath the rubble. "...that was my house you threw at him."
Twilight blinked, before her eyes widened in shock. Oh ponyfeathers!
"I'm terribly sorry Diamond, I-"
Diamond's hoof quickly raised in hasty objection. "No, it's fine, I don't blame you! I mean, the alien did throw it at us and all, and my family is ludicrously rich, they'll-"
Twilight shook her head. "No no, don't worry about it, the Equestrian Crown will compensate you for the damages..."
Diamond nodded, before slowly turning her head to the house that one of the aliens had smashed into during the fighting. "I'm pretty sure the house that's missing a wall is Dinky's and Derpy's..."
"I, uh..." Twilight muttered, biting her lower lip as she processed the extent of the damage. This... isn't gonna be cheap to replace.
"Don't worry." Twilight said, more to herself then to Diamond. She glanced back to the Unicorn, a nervous smile on her face. "We'll, uh, sort this all out and make sure everypony affected will be covered-"
A cry of shock and panic startled her and the entire town. "MOM!" Dinky cried out as she ran to the downed and unconscious Derpy.
Immediately, the sense of victory among the townsponies vanished as more cries were revealed from Ponies seeing their friends and loved ones injured and unconscious, many surrounding them as they moved to help them.
"Thunderlane! Are you okay!?"
"Rumble! Say something!"
"Girls!!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran to her two closest friends, with Apple Bloom trembling as she stubbornly made another attempt to stand up.
"Don't..." The Earth Pony said through grit teeth. "...worry 'bout me, ah'm fine. Check on Scoot."
The young Unicorn hesitated, before turning her attention to Scootaloo, a light groan sounding from the downed Pegasus. Rushing over next to her friend, Sweetie's horn lit up as she looked the injured Pegasus over. Tentatively lifting a wing, Scoot hissed as her wound was exposed to the air. Sweetie gasped at the sight, he eyes widening as she panicked, desperately looking around for a doctor. She quickly spotted Doctor Caramel, but saw that he was already busy looking over the unconscious Derpy, while her daughter stood to the side, looking over her with worry.
"Somepony!" Sweetie cried out. "My friend needs a doctor!"
Suddenly, a loud whistle caught the townsfolk's attention, their gazes immediately turning toward Princess Twilight Sparkle, a firm expression on her face.
"Everypony!" She called out, her voice calm yet commanding. "If we are to help our injured friends, we must remain calm! Those of you who are uninjured, escort the injured to the hospital. Once they have been moved there I-" A loud blast and an explosion of rainbow light that spread across the sky cut her off, her head turning towards the source of the Rainboom. While Ponies muttered among each other as to what it could've meant, Twilight frowned at the sight, remembering the map showing Rainbow's Cutie Mark floating above Canterlot. Which was still smoking in the distance. Rainbow... Please be okay.
She turned her attention back to the immediate situation before her, continuing with her statement as if the Rainboom hadn't occurred. "Those who have any medical backgrounds I strongly recommend you aid our Doctors Caramel and Redheart as they treat our friends."
The various Ponies nodded as they carefully lifted their friends, already organizing into neat groups as the Ponyville doctors coordinated things from there.
"Twilight," Spike said as he approached the Alicorn. "What about Canterlot?"
Twilight frowned as she turned to look up at the distant mountain city, smoke continuing to rise from it. She couldn't hear any signs of a battle going on, were the Princesses still negotiating with the alien leader? Then, a glimpse in the sky caught her attention, as several carriages bearing multiple golden armoured Ponies fast approached.
"Is that-?" Spike asked, but stopped the moment Twilight took to the air.
The lead guard, a gray Pegasus dressed in the silver and gold customized armour signifying his rank, raised a hoof in signal to halt the line of carriages, before flying ahead to meet the Alicorn part way, flanked by two spear wielding Pegasi guards.
"Princess Twilight!" He greeted with a salute as they met. "Lieutenant Gray Skies of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Princess Luna sent us to aid the town of Ponyville against the hostile..." He paused as he tried to think of an adequate term, before settling on the most basic one he could think of. "...Aliens. Are you and the townsfolk alright?"
"We're fine, we've managed to drive them off." Twilight replied, pointing down to the large number of townsponies below. "But we've got injured and a lot of the others are pretty shaken up. Any medics you have with you send them to the hospital to treat the injured, the rest should head down and aid in clearing the debris and aiding the populace."
The Lieutenant nodded at the sequence of orders. "Understood, your majesty."
With that, he turned and whistled to the other guards behind him. "Listen up! We're on damage control for the town! Medics, to the hospital! The rest of you, aid in clearing the rubble!"
As the carriages flew on and descended past them, Gray Skies turned back to the Princess. "Anything else, your majesty?"
"Yes, what can you tell me about the damage to Canterlot? And what of the Alien leader?"
The Lieutenant frowned, somewhat nervously. "I'm not too sure on the extent of the damage, but the majority of the Guard is tending to that. And Princess Celestia... Drove the alien leader away, but he flew so fast, we were unable to catch him. He could be anywhere at this point."
Twilight nodded, sighing in relief that her mentor hadn't capitulated to the alien's demands and that the situation in the capital seemed to be under control. "Good, we can worry about where the aliens have retreated to later, right now, we need to assess the damage they've done."
The Guard nodded, following Twilight as they descended back to the ground, where the guards were already working with the townsfolk in clearing the debris. Several of them, however, loosely surrounded the unconscious Decepticon that lay amongst the crumbled remains of a home, their spears raised and horns (where appropriate) glowed as they watched the alien body warily.
"I-is it dead?" The Lieutenant asked as he and the Princess approached it, with Twilight studying it with a firm expression.
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "I'm not even sure we can qualify it as 'alive' to begin with. It appears to be entirely mechanical."
"From what I've seen of their leader," Gray Skies commented. "They sure acted alive."
"They did..." Twilight agreed as the other guards let her pass.
She stopped at the Decepticon's feet, cautiously laying a hoof on the metal. It was cold to the touch, and the metal rang as if hollow when her hoof tapped it. Despite having an entire house thrown onto him, his metal form only seemed slightly dented. It was then that it really hit her what it was that lay before her. A robot. An alien robot. Science fiction was now becoming fact, an alien race had made First Contact with Equestria. And the aliens had devastated both Ponyville and Canterlot. She frowned as she pondered the implications this held. Were these 'Decepticons' as they called themselves simply rogues? Bandits? Or were they part of a larger organization?
Would more come? If so, how aggressive would they be? Could Equestria stand against an entire army of these machines? Could she and her friends?
"Twilight?" Spike asked her as he cautiously approached.
Twilight turned to face him, seeing the eyes of her assistant, the guards and some of the townsfolk on her.
"What do we do with him?" He asked, and Twilight could see that they were all silently asking her the same question. She was silent for a moment as she tried to figure what to do next. History had thrown them all a curve ball, and there was no way to predict what was in store for her home and nation. She turned back towards the unconscious alien giant that lay amongst the rubble of a home he had attempted to use as a weapon, and her face shifted to a determined and firm expression.
Horn glowing brightly, a series of ethereal bindings formed above the Decepticon. Guided by Twilight's spell weaving, the magical bindings descended, wrapping around the mechanical beings torso and pinning the legs together. After a moment, the Alicorn's horn ceased glowing, and she sighed, turning to the other guards.
"This Binding Spell should keep the alien contained should he regain consciousness." She told them. "If he tries to escape, simply have the Unicorns charge their magic into the spell to strengthen it."
Most of the guards saluted in response, though one younger looking guard, possibly a recruit, seemed unsure. "W-will the spell hold if he tries to break free?"
Princess Twilight was again silent for a moment. This was the strongest version of the spell she could cast, capable of holding down a fully adult dragon if Starswirl's accounts are to be believed, and Twilight had no reason to doubt it. This was an advanced alien, however, there was no way to know if she truly could contain it. "We can only hope." She answered truthfully.
"Twilight!" A voice called out from above, causing the Alicorns ears to perk and several eyes to look up, only to see a blue, rainbow-maned Pegasus streak down and land firmly on the ground in the town square. Twilight couldn't help but sigh in relief as she saw Rainbow canter toward her, looking scuffled, but otherwise unharmed.
"Rainbow!" She called back as she too cantered toward the cyan Pegasus, grappling her in a tight hug, which Rainbow returned as well, with the young dragon catching up, smiling.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she pulled away.
"Pfft, you kidding?" Rainbow replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "This is Me you're talking to, remember?"
"Glad to see you're alright, Dash." Spike said.
The Pegasus grinned at him, before quickly dropping into a more serious, and slightly concerned, tone, looking back at Twilight. "What about you? And Ponyville?"
"I'm fine." Twilight answered, before glancing behind her. "The town... Took some damage, and we've got injured. But all in all, I think we'll be alright. Did you see how bad the damage was in Canterlot?"
Rainbow glanced up at the distant capital city, seeing the now much thinner smoke from the town. "Not as bad as it looks from here. Honestly, I'd say Ponyville took a bigger hit. Besides, I'm sure Princess Celestia and Luna have the whole thing there under con-"
She was cut off when a familiar sound, a belch and a rush of flame, caused her ears to perk, . Both mares turned to Spike, who caught in his claws a dark blue scroll. He blinked. "It must be from Princess Luna!" He said as he relinquished the scroll to Twilight's magical grip, who quickly unfurled it, her eyes furiously reading through the hastily written message.
Twilight Sparkle,
If you are able, please make for Canterlot with all haste, there is much we have to discuss regarding this treacherous attack.
Luna.
P.S. If Ponyville requires any aid in reconstruction or supplies, let me know and I shall see to it at once.
Twilight read through the letter again. And again. Each time her frowned deepened. Why was Luna writing to her? Her eyes widened, had something happened to Celestia? Swiftly rolling up the scroll, she turned to Spike and Rainbow.
"Spike, can you make sure that things continue to go smoothly here in town?" She asked, levitating the scroll to the young dragon. "I'm needed in Canterlot."
Spike nodded as he grasped the scroll. "Don't worry Twilight, I can hold the fort down while you're gone!"
Rainbow nodded, her wings opening up in preparation. "No time to lose, then!"
Twilight shook her head. "I need you to stay here Rainbow, to help keep the town safe. The aliens may have fled, but that doesn't mean they won't come back."
Rainbow blinked, before looking at her with a stubborn expression. "And what if you're attacked by them on the way there? I can't just let you go alone!"
Twilight opened her mouth, but was interrupted when she heard a young voice call out.
"Rainbow!" Both mares turned to see Sweetie Belle rush to them.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're okay, Sweetie Belle, are your students alright?"
"They're fine, Twilight." The young Unicorn mare replied. "Took shelter with the other children in the castle."
She smiled gratefully, before dropping it when she turned her attention to Rainbow. "Rainbow..."
"What is it?" The cyan Pegasus asked, a curious look on her face.
"It-it's Scootaloo." The Unicorn answered, seeming on the verge of tears.
Rainbow stared for a second, before her eyes slowly widened. "Is she...?"
"She took a bad hit, probably the worst of anypony so far." Sweetie answered. "She's in the hospital, the docs said she needed to be treated immediately."
Rainbow looked between her and Twilight, conflict in her eyes. "I... Ponyfeathers!"
Twilight calmly raised a hoof. "Rainbow, you're friends here need you. Check on the Apples as well, make sure they're alright."
"I..." Rainbow said, wanting to argue more, but concern for her adopted sister and her other friends won out and she sighed in defeat, nodding grimly. "Don't do anything stupid, Twi."
With that, the Pegasus took off, racing toward the Ponyville hospital.
Sweetie, after watching Rainbow for a moment, turned to the Alicorn. "Princess, what is going on?"
Twilight frowned. "I don't know, Sweetie, but I'm going to Canterlot to find out."
Her wings flared open, and she too took to the air. "Spike will be in charge until I get back!" And so, Twilight took to the air, although nowhere near as fast as Rainbow was, she still pushed herself to make for the Capital city, hoping that there would indeed be answers as to what really was going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The main court in the Canterlot palace was packed nearly to the brim from the nobles and various citizens of the Capital and journalists from across the kingdom, each of their voices crashing against each other in an effort to have their questions heard, heedless that the other questions other Ponies were asking were nearly the same, demanding to know who or what attacked them and why. A number of the Royal Guard were dispersed to the edges of the crowd in an effort to keep them from being too disorderly and maintain some effort of order, although with most of them split between aiding both the city outside and Ponyville, there numbers were stretched dangerously thin. To compensate, Princess Luna had called in her Night Guard reserves to ease the garrison in the palace itself. However, the Dark Alicorn began to think that that only made the crowd before her more uneasy. She stayed silent as she sat in the throne, giving the crowd a final chance to quiet themselves.
After a moment, she raised her hoof and many of them ceased the constant questioning. Not all, but enough that they could hear her speak.
"Let me say this again, we do not who it was exactly that struck the city, but we are doing everything in our power to ensure that these rogue beings will not harm anypony in Equestria again."
"Princess Luna!" A journalist, a gray Earth Pony with a darker gray mane and a distinct Manehatten accent called out. "What measures is the crown taking to prevent further attacks?"
"For the time being, our efforts are focused on repairing the damage done to Canterlot and the nearby village of Ponyville." Luna answered. "But we will be putting the city guards on alert and patrolling the skies around to provide us with advanced warning in case of another attack."
"Princess!" A highly accented Unicorn of the Capital spoke. "Is it true that the the creature that attacked the city severely injured Princess Celestia?"
Luna blinked in surprise as many other Ponies began to speak up.
"Yes, where is Celestia?"
"Is she okay?"
"Why isn't she here?"
Again, Luna raised her hoof to silence the crowd before they got too loud again. "My sister was in no way injured by the metal creature."
At least, not physically or intentionally she thought to herself, but it wouldn't do to mention her sister's breakdown to them. "She was, however, exhausted in her efforts to drive the creature off and is currently resting in her chambers. When she has recovered, which will be shortly, I'm sure she will answer any questions you have regarding her experience with the creature."
"Princess," the Manehatten journalist spoke up again. "Is it true that Princess Celestia nearly destroyed the Capital in an effort to drive off the alien?"
The crowd was deathly silent as Luna stared at the journalist, forcefully shoving aside the image of her sister's terrifying attack. Heavens above, these modern journalists are little more then an inquisition against the crown! Nevertheless, she had to give some sort of answer to them.
"I am afraid that the exact capabilities of my sister's power are known only to her, yet I cannot believe she would put in jeopardy the entire city. Celestia has ruled for over 1000 years, she is not one to make rash moves like that." Luna frowned and glared at the Manehatten Pony. "The fact that you would even ask such a question is an insult to all her rule as a leader of this fair nation, fair in large part because of her just rule."
At this point, the journalist began to wilt under her gaze, and the glares of a growing number of Ponies. "I-uh... R-right, of course, I meant no disrespect, your highness." He stuttered, before clearing his throat. "I-I have no more questions at this time, your majesty."
"Then if there are no more questions from anypony else?" Luna asked, looking around expectantly. After a few moments of silence, the Dark Alicorn stood up from the throne. "In that case, court is now adjourned. I would like to reiterate to all that the situation is well under control, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that these creatures, be they 'aliens' or not, will be dealt with swiftly should they attempt another attack."
With that, the crowd of Ponies slowly made their way to the now opened doors out of the main court, carefully funneled by the guards. The idle and quiet chatter among them slowly filtered out as the large hall turned from being nearly full to empty. As soon as the last civilian Pony had left, and the large doors closed shut with a loud clang, a crushing silence came over the court room and Princess Luna allowed herself this moment to sigh in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. "I am most certainly not cut out for this kind of bustle during the daytime courts."
There was a swift motion of black, silver, and blue as a Batpony Night Guard swiftly landed next to Luna.
"Your majesty," The guard said, bowing as she did so. "Princess Twilight has been spotted flying into the city, heading straight for the palace."
Luna smiled at that news. So she is alright, after all. "Perfect timing," she said with an approving nod. "See to it that she is escorted to me with haste. I shall be by my sister's chambers."
"As you wish, your majesty." The guard replied with another bow, rising up and vanishing in a puff of black shadow that dissipated in mere seconds, yet by the time it did, she was long gone.
Most Ponies found such movements from the almost exclusively Batpony Night Guards quite unsettling, but Luna merely saw it as efficient. Let the Royal Guards be the visible face of authority in the Capital city of Canterlot, her Night Guards would be shadows, silently watching and alert for any misdeeds and treachery that could occur when the overbearing light of the sun set.
As the Princess began making her way out of the throne room and to her sister's chambers, a worried frown came to her. Even when things were dire, when all of Equestria was at stake, Celestia had always had a calmness about her that had never broke. The only time Luna had seen it crack was when she... was Nightmare Moon. But even then Celestia had still held firm. Never had she seen her older sister with such fear, such terror, like that of a child facing the most terrifying monster they could imagine. How was it that the alien, the so called 'Starscream' could bring that kind of fear to her sister?
Her thoughts were briefly set aside when she turned a corner and saw Twilight Sparkle, flanked by two of Luna's Night Guard, outside of Celestia's chambers with a concerned look on her face.
"Princess Luna?" The lavender Alicorn said, unsure why she was brought outside Celestia's room.
"Twilight Sparkle, I am glad to see you are unharmed." Luna greeted, smiling as she subtly signaled her guards to leave.
The Night Guards bowed, before turning in the opposite direction, vanishing from the hall shortly after.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked. "Is Princess Celestia okay?"
"I..." Luna began, but found herself unable to continue, looking towards the door to her sister's room. She couldn't lie to Twilight, especially when she held equal rank to her. "I don't know."
The sound of a quill scratching on parchment filled the bed chambers of Princess Celestia, dark save for only a few burning candles, as she laid on the floor, surrounded by various empty scrolls of parchment. A few tomes laid open, cast aside, while before the Princess were several hastily drawn images of the crest that the alien wore, the crest that bore far too much likeness to the terror that now plagued the Solar Alicorn. She could vaguely hear voices outside of her room, but she paid little attention to them as she focused on the images she had drawn. Some of them were rough copies from what she could picture of the robotic creature, others had many jagged teeth added to them, they weren't additions Celestia recalled drawing them on. As she finished up yet another rough image of the symbol, she opened up a third tome, flipping through it with her magic, before sighing.
Two hesitant knocks caused her ears to perk, and she laid the tome down.
"Yes?" She called out.
"Sister?" Luna's voice, muffled as it was through the door, was still easily tangible. "May we come in?"
"Oh, Luna, please come in."
A light blue aura formed around the door handle, clicking as it unlocked the door, allowing it to easily open. Both Luna and Twilight blinked as their eyes tried to adjust to the unexpected darkness in Celestia's room.
"Princess?" Twilight asked.
Celestia blinked in surprise, as she suddenly felt shame. No doubt she had heard about her breakdown. Nevertheless, she smiled in relief as she came to nuzzle her Faithful Student as Luna moved past them, more interested in the tomes and parchment that were scattered around where she had laid. "Twilight, I'm so glad you're okay."
"I'm fine, Princess." Twilight replied, returning the nuzzle. "But what about you? Luna told me and I had heard rumours, but-"
She stopped when Celestia shook her head. "I'm sorry you have to see like this, Twilight."
Twilight nooded, slowly. "That alien really shook you, didn't he?"
Before Celestia could answer, Luna spoke up. "I would say it wasn't so much the alien itself, but rather the mark he carried."
She turned, showing two of the images that Celestia had scribbled, one a rough copy, the other showing jagged teeth.
"I..." Celestia began, but found herself unable to continue.
Twilight looked at the images, studying them intently. "The others in the town, they had the same mark. A clan crest, maybe? A factional insignia?"
"Quite likely." Luna answered, before turning to Celestia. "Something about that mark has deeply unsettled you, sister. But why?"
Celestia blinked. She couldn't tell Twilight the horror she had experienced, but she had thought maybe Luna would recognize it. But then again, Luna hadn't broken down like she had. "Luna... Do... Do you remember our parents?"
Now Luna blinked in surprise, that was not a response she had expected, far from it. "I-what?" She stuttered. "W-where did this come from? You never talked about our parents, you always made me drop the subject. Besides, that was far before Equestria was even founded! How in Starswirl's Beard could it possibly relate to... this?" She asked, holding up the roughly drawn symbol.
Celestia looked away. "Forget I asked, Luna. What's the state of Canterlot?"
"I-" Luna was flabbergasted. What has gotten into you, sister? She cleared her throat, before focusing on her more reasonable question. "I've managed to keep everypony from panicking. The damage is thankfully minimal and only a few Ponies were injured. However, it's only a matter of time before the entire Kingdom hears about this and who knows how the rest of Equestria will take this."
Celestia nodded and all three Alicorns stood in silence as they pondered the implications this held, before Twilight hesitantly spoke up.
"Um... Princess?"
Celestia looked down at her student. "Yes, Twilight?"
"Do you know what 'Energon' is?"
Celestia blinked at that. "I'm sorry, what? I've never heard that term before, Twilight."
Luna frowned. "Apparently, the aliens thought we had this 'Energon' in ample supply, their leader didn't believe me when I said we did not."
Celestia stared in confusion at her sister. "That's the reason they attacked us? For something we have never heard before?"
Twilight hummed in thought. "Well, the aliens were machines. Judging from the name, this 'Energon' sounds like a type of energy, maybe a power source?"
Luna nodded. "Their leader did mention something about us using it to power our cities."
Celestia shook her head. "That doesn't make sense, most of the cities use solar energy or other forms unique to them. An entirely new source of energy? I would've known."
Twilight hummed again. "Perhaps I should look into how some of the major cities power themselves. I doubt a highly advanced race would make a blunder that big."
"Are you sure, Twilight?" Luna asked. "For all we know, the aliens could have been lying to us about their motivations."
"Maybe," Twilight replied. "But it's worth looking into."
Celestia nodded. "Alright, but where are the aliens now?"
"Most of them scattered when they fled." Twilight answered, before she remembered. "But we do have one captured and... Unconscious, I think?"
"Unconscious?" Luna asked. "Isn't, um... A different word used for a machine?"
"Offline?" Twilight asked, before shrugging. "I know, but, I'm not sure. Even though they're machines, I feel like that term doesn't quite fit with them."
"We can worry about proper terms for them later." Celestia said, causing both to turn to her. "We still have several of them out there, and they could wreak havoc across the realm, we need to find them before they cause any more damage. Luna, can I trust you to handle that?"
Luna nodded. "Do not worry, sister, my Night Guard will search all of Equestria for them."
Twilight also nodded. "I need to gather my friends, we may need to use our powers if they try to attack again."
"Good. As for the captured one..." Celestia said, furrowing her brow in thought. "I'll need to make some preparations. Until then we must keep a close watch on him, and see if we can't get any straight answers from him when he regains consciousness."
The other Alicorns nodded in response, both of them glad Celestia was coming back to her senses.
"There are issues," the Solar Alicorn admitted. "But we must focus on the safety and defense of Equestria, first and foremost. Once those are taken care of..." She glanced down at the scribbled alien symbols at her hooves. "...We'll worry about those."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the Hand of Primus drifted closer to the alien star system, the Autobot Prowl walked back and forth on the ship's bridge, fuming. Perceptor watched him go with a disinterested expression.
"...Are you done?" The scientist asked.
"Why...?" Prowl said, continuing his movements, Perceptor simply shook his head.
"Of course not."
"Why is it that every time we find a potential source of Energon, every time, the Cons somehow manage to beat us to it? Why!?"
Perceptor sighed, his patience long since waned. "Commander Prowl, please! As I have said before they are likely just scavengers who saw us moving to the system and they simply jumped to conclusions."
Prowl stopped, turning his full attention on the other Autobot. "You don't understand, Perceptor! Those aren't just any Con scavengers, those were the Seekers we saw in the footage. Do you have any idea of the havoc they could wreak? How much Energon they could destroy before we get to them?"
Perceptor blinked in disbelief. "Are you saying they'd destroy the Energon on an entire planet just to keep us from getting it?"
"Why not?" Prowl responded with a shrug. "This is war, after all."
"Commander, with all due respect..." Perceptor said as he approached his fellow bot and friend, laying a hand on his shoulder. "...The war's over."
Prowl frowned, looking at the hand on his shoulder before facing his friend. "Perceptor, I know you're not a soldier, but even you have to know that as long as a single Decepticon is alive, the war will never be over."
Perceptor opened his mouth to protest, but found no argument sound from his voice box. Instead he lowered his hand, glancing at the viewscreen, where the system's local star shone, where a tiny orb was just barely visible, almost certainly their destination.
"But... To destroy all that Energon."
Prowl shrugged again. "I wouldn't put it past them. Either way, though, the Seekers are never without backup, more Cons will be coming to this planet, mark my words."
Perceptor was silent for a moment, before sighing. "What are your orders, Commander?"
Prowl looked at the viewscreen for a moment, before nodding. "Teletraan Six! Activate all shipboard systems, put power to the engines and awaken everyone from stasis!"
"Commander," the robotic voice across the ship began with a hint of warning. "Our Energon stores are limited, we will need to restock within only a few Solar Cycles to maintain such demands on power."
"Do it." Prowl said, a small series of clicks from his right arm, as his blaster emerged from hidden panels in his arm, his fingers tightly grasping the weapon, a determined frown on his face. "I want everyone ready by the time we're in orbit."