//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Friendship is Prime // by Gammerick //------------------------------// Bulkhead and Breakdown stood ready to face off against each other, but then Applejack jumped in between them to try and intervene. "Now hold up there, fellas. I don't know what got into you two all of the sudden, but I'm sure there's a better way to work out yer problems." "What's she going on about?" Breakdown asked in annoyance towards the one trying to interfere with his battle. "I'm sure you two can talk out whatever's got you all riled up. Just be open and true with each other, and I know you'll get things sorted out. A little honesty goes a long way," Applejack said soothingly in an attempt to quell their anger. Bulkhead and Breakdown met each other's gaze before Bulkhead turned back to Applejack to respond. "Applejack," Bulkhead began, "The truth is… there's nothing to talk about. Breakdown and I already know what the problem is." "No, Bulkhead, let's humor the little horse-thing," Breakdown retorted almost sarcastically. "Is it because I'm a Decepticon now? Or is it because I abandoned you and Seaspray at the Battle of Alpha Seven?" "You know the Wrecker code, Breakdown," Bulkhead replied in anger. "A Wrecker never leaves a squad member behind. We barely made it out of there alive because of you!" "I guess you just didn't see the truth, did you?" Breakdown responded coldly. "The Decepticons had more than enough reinforcements to take the outpost, and even if we managed to hold them off, they were still going to overtake the Capitol Station anyway. It was a hopeless battle, but I was smart enough to join the winning side!" Bulkhead clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in anger, while Applejack sat to the side, trying to take in all of this information at once. "I-I didn't know…This is too much for me to handle…" she said to herself while sitting down and trying to understand this spectacle. "You turned your back on your own kind; you sold us out, Breakdown!" Bulkhead shouted. "The truth is you were never a Wrecker to begin with!" "No, the truth is that if you and old barnacle-brain couldn't handle it on your own, then it's your own fault!" Breakdown retorted. "That's it!" Bulkhead yelled before making a charge at Breakdown. He threw a punch and managed to land a hit on Breakdown's jaw, but at the same time, Breakdown managed to connect a hit of his own with Bulkhead's gut. The 2 were slightly knocked back in recoil, but they soon continued brawling. "If this is what the truth brings, I don't think I can take it," Applejack quietly muttered to herself as she pulled her hat over her head in shame. Unbeknownst to any of them, the faint orange glow that was emitting from Applejack's necklace faded away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Pinkie, Knockout and I are not friends," Ratchet protested to his bouncy companion. "And we never will be!" "Oh don't be silly, Ratchet," Pinkie replied with naïve optimism. "You can be friends with EVERYONE! You just need to make them smile." "This is too rich!" Knockout chuckled to himself at the ridiculousness of Pinkie's notions. "See, Ratchet? Knockout's got the right idea!" Pinkie Pie addressed him while oblivious to Knockout's teasing. "You just need to give a great big laugh." "Pinkie, you can't be serious," Ratchet continued protesting to no avail. "We're not just going to be pals simply because we give a little laugh about something." "Why not? It works for me all the time," Pinkie argued to her unwilling friend. "Look, I'll even help you out." "When you're feeling a little blue, Just give a little laugh to change your tune. When you're having a bad day, A chuckle can make those worries go away…" "Is she- is she singing?" Ratchet looked over to Knockout in confusion only for him to shrug his shoulders, just as puzzled as he was. "So why not let out your frustration And make some friends across the nation Cut all of your problems right in half If you just cheer up and-" "ENOUGH!" Ratchet had tried his best to deal with Pinkie's antics, but this sent him over the tipping point. "Pinkie, we're enemies because we're fighting a war against each other. The Decepticons killed our home planet! In their leader's mad quest for power, millions of lives were destroyed! I've lost plenty of good friends because of them. You need to grow up and realize that you can't just fix all of your problems with a little song or laughter!!" Pinkie was left speechless after hearing Ratchet vent out his anger. He may have realized he went too far with her, but he simply turned away from her and said, "We'd better keep moving if we want to find the others," and he started walking off. Pinkie lowered her head in sadness, and her normally puffy hair drooped over her head and fell to the ground, further illustrating how much she had been deflated. "give a little laugh." She quietly sung to herself in a sad tune. The light blue glow from her necklace faded away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm, I think we should go left," Rarity pondered to herself out loud. "What do you think? Starscream?" She turned to her new comrade when she didn't hear a response only to find Starscream collapsed on the floor. "Starscream!" Rarity screamed as she rushed to his side. "Are you alright?" "I think it's best if you leave me behind," he faintly uttered before letting out a ghastly cough. "I'm too weak to go on, and I'll only slow you down. I haven't been good for anything other than dead weight lately anyway." "Oh nonsense dear; I couldn't possibly abandon you," Rarity tried to comfort him. "And what do you mean 'dead weight?' You've got that second-in-command thing going on, don't you?" "And look where that took me!" Starscream moaned in annoyance. "I've been humiliated, demoted, bruised and battered beyond recognition. Worst of all, my superior tried to terminate me in cold blood! I've been reduced to not even a shell of my former self, so why not just give up now while I still can?" "It sounds like the job you're working now is what's doing all this harm to you." Rarity attempted to console him. "I think you would be much better off if you left that nasty old place behind. Maybe you could start your own work. Try and make your own mark on the world!" "You might have a point Rarity," Starscream uttered weakly. "But that still doesn't change the fact that we're stuck in this maze while I'm slowly rotting away…" "Come on Starscream, you can still make it, I know you can!" Rarity hope her encouragement was getting through to him. "Perhaps…you could use that necklace of yours to heal me," Starscream coughed out. "You said it yourself, it had incredible power." "I don't think I can use it like that, Starscream," Rarity replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure it requires the other five elements to work." "Maybe you could give it to me," Starscream wheezed. "I'm sure I can make it work." "I don't know," Rarity responded. "This is incredibly precious right now; I don't want anything to happen to it." "You can trust me, can't you?" Starscream whimpered almost like a little puppy. "Give it to me, I promise you won't regret it." Rarity looked deeply into his gaze before finally making a decision. "Alright, but be careful." As she said this, her horn emitted a light blue glow. The necklace around her neck also became enveloped in a light blue glow as it seemed to unfasten itself from around her neck and float over to Starscream's hand. As soon as it landed in the palm of his hand, an evil smirk ran across his face. "Thank you," he hissed as he extended the fingers out on his other hands before making a slashing motion across Rarity's chest. "Ouch! What was that for?" She asked angrily. Starscream was momentarily confused before remembering that as a human, his fingers no longer had razor sharp talons at the end. Angered by the small setback, he grabbed Rarity and threw her aside before running off with the element in his grasp. "Starscream? What's gotten into you?" Rarity asked while on the floor still trying to collect herself. Never the one to pass a chance to gloat, Starscream turned around to give her an answer. "Nothing at all; it's just that now that I've got what I want, I don't need you anymore." He gloated before giving off a loud cackle. "Are you saying that…all of that…was an act?" Rarity said with tears forming in her eyes. "And it was so easy to trick you, too," Starscream mocked her unmercifully. "Oh Rarity, help me. I can't go on anymore!" he said in a whiny mocking tone. "But…I thought I could trust you, Starscream," Rarity shouted with anger starting to fill her voice. Starscream simply replied with an evil laugh before saying "A word of advice, Rarity; The only thing trust and generosity give you is a knife in your back! I hope it's this easy to trick the rest of your friends into giving me the rest of these elements. With their combined might I'll be unstoppable!" He proceeded his tauntings with another evil laugh. "You monster!" Rarity shouted furiously. "You're even worse than Discord!" "Farewell, Rarity!" Starscream taunted before attempting to make a run for it. However, when he tried to lift up his leg, it absolutely refused to move. He looked down to realize that his feet were now underground. More specifically, he was sinking into the earth! He let out a terrified shriek and tried to pull his legs out. His struggling was to no avail, as he only sank deeper until he was only waist high above the ground. "Rarity, you've got to help me!" Starscream begged. "I'm being sucked into the ground!" Rarity had to practically double take at Starscream's drastic change in attitude. "But all of those things you just said," she said in confusion. "You were"- -"Just testing you of course!" Starscream replied nervously as he was trying to push himself out of the ground to no avail. "And you passed! Now we can put all of that behind us, right?" "I-I don't know what to say." Rarity remained in total confusion. "You don't have to say anything, just help me out of here!" He screamed as he was now nothing more than a head and two hands above the ground. "You can trust me, can't you?" He echoed his puppy dog-style begging from earlier. But Rarity was still taken too far back by this spectacle. She used her magic to pick up her necklace again and ran as far away as she could. "You selfish brat! I'll remember this!" Starscream shouted before he began sinking once more. He let out another terrified shriek before being completely swallowed up by the earth. As Rarity ran away with tears in her eyes, she was unable to notice the purple glow from her necklace fade away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundwave marched down another long stone corridor when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to face his pursuers with no surprise about their identities. "Soudwave," Optimus called out. "We need your assistance in order to stop Discord's reign of terror. If I cannot convince you to cooperate willingly, then I'll have to restrain you by force." "Please sir, my friends and I are the only ones who can stop this," Fluttershy begged. "You have to help us." "I must find Lord Megatron." Soundwave replied flatly. "Anyone who interferes will be neutralized." "So be it," Optimus responded. Optimus charged forward and threw a barrage of punches at Soundwave. However, Soundwave was able to read Optimus's moves and dodged every one of his attacks. As Optimus threw another punch, Soundwave grabbed the wrist and stopped the punch midair. Soundwave then used his free hand to deal a nasty blow to Optimus's gut. Optimus was in great pain as the wind was knocked right out of him. He kneeled to the ground and held his stomach. Soundwave then brought his other hand down to land a strike over Optimus's shoulder. Optimus collapsed onto the floor in agony and passed out. "You are much weaker in your new form." Soundwave observed. He turned to leave only to find Fluttershy flying in front of him and blocking his path. "How dare you!" Fluttershy shouted as she gave him an intense stare. "I don't care who you are, you do not hurt my friends! You got that?" Fluttershy could not see his reaction in his faceless mask, but she was hopeful she could get through to him. These hopes were dashed however when Soundwave immediately grabbed her by the neck and tossed her into the nearby wall. "I must find Lord Megatron." He repeated to himself as he marched onward. Fluttershy managed to stand back up, but she felt a wave of rage wash over her after that last attack from Soundwave. With a look of pure fury on her face, she quickly charged at Soundwave. He turned and tried to counter, but she was flying too fast. She charged in and managed to hit Soundwave right in the chest. She quickly pinned him to the nearby wall and held him up with her front hooves. "NOW LISTEN HERE, BUD!" She shouted furiously. "IF YOU THINK I'LL LET YOU PUSH ME AROUND, YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING. NOW YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME FIND MY FRIENDS, OR I WILL TURN YOU LIFE INTO A LIVING NIGHTMARE. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" It was impossible to see Soundwave's reaction on his featureless face. It is impossible to tell what he was feeling at that moment, but he soon responded with, "I…yield." Optimus started to regain consciousness. He looked up to see Fluttershy pinning Soundwave to the wall. As he looked closer, however, he also noticed that think pink glow from Fluttershy's necklace was fading away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Arcee led the trio down the labyrinth, Rainbow Dash flew slightly above the ground, but stuck closely to Arcee. Airachnid followed behind them at a distance, however. "Hey, Arcee," Rainbow Dash pondered. "I gotta ask. Did something happen between the two of you? You seemed pretty upset back there." "It's a long story, kid," Arcee argued. "And I'd rather not talk about it if I didn't have to." "Come on, you can open up to me," Rainbow Dash countered. "I'm always there for my friends." Arcee gave Rainbow Dash a warm smile. "You're starting to sound like Tailgate." She said warmly. "Who's Tailgate?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "He was an old partner of mine. We used to work together on missions." Arcee replied. "So what happened?" Rainbow asked curiously. "Airachnid happened," Arcee answered as a scowl began to form on her face. "So that's what this is about," Rainbow filled in most of the gaps. "But what did she do exactly?" Arcee thought back to that horrible time. She was restrained and completely helpless as she watched Airachnid take Tailgate offline. It is a recurring nightmare that continues to haunt her almost every waking moment. "Arcee?" Rainbow checked on her nonresponsive friend. Arcee snapped back to reality and tried to brush off her question. "Let's just say I'll never see Tailgate again." "Oh," Rainbow Dash responded awkwardly. "I'm probably no an expert on this matter, but it doesn't sound like she did anything too bad. Maybe for the sake of getting through this maze, you can… let it go… and work with her?" Arcee's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Let it go?" Arcee's voice steadily began to rise. "LET IT GO?" Arcee temporarily lost control of herself as she grabbed Rainbow by the tufts of hair on her chest and held her up against a wall. "After she KILLED Tailgate, you just expect me to let it go?!?" She screamed furiously at RD. "I- I don't know!" Rainbow shouted in panic due to her confusion of the situation. "If someone killed your friends, wouldn't you do everything you can to avenge them? Don't they at least deserve that much loyalty?" Rainbow simply sat there speechless with her mouth open, unsure of how to respond to this sudden outburst. "Come now Arcee, you're scaring the poor thing half to death," Airachnid replied snidely as she began to approach the two. "Only half, though." Arcee gave Airachnid an intense glare before turning back to Rainbow Dash. She saw the look of fear in her eyes and immediately released her grip on Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry," she said solemnly. "We'd better keep moving." Arcee and Airachnid continued down the maze. Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment thinking over what Arcee had said. "If someone killed your friends, wouldn't you do everything you can to avenge them? Don't they deserve at least that much loyalty?" "I don't know," Rainbow sadly whispered to herself before tailing slowly behind Arcee and Airachnid. As she trotted along, the red glow from her necklace faded away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Megatron walked several spaces ahead of Twilight and the kids, never once turning back to check on them. Jack, Miko, and Raf were equally uninterested in their forced alliance. Twilight, however, was curious to learn more about this new accomplice of theirs. She rushed forward to Megatron's side and began investigating. "Excuse me, Megatron," Twilight inquired. "But back there, when you said, 'You don't know if I have been friends with Optimus,' what did you mean exactly?" "And why should I answer you?" Megatron snapped coldly at her. "Who are you to ask me any questions?" "Well I don't mean to sound rude," Twilight snapped back, "but who do you think you are to be so stubborn about answering questions?" "I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticon army," Megatron answered sternly. "You would do well to remember that when addressing me, child." "Well I don't see a Decepticon army around here," Twilight retaliated. "All I see is a grumpy old man lost in a maze." Megatron shot an angry glare at her only for Twilight to glare back. "I like your spirit," Megatron chuckled to himself. "Very well, I'll tell you about me and Optimus." "So are you two friends then?" Twilight asked. "Because you two seem to act pretty strange around each other." "Of course not, Optimus and I are mortal enemies," Megatron replied. "There was a time, however, when I would have called Optimus a brother." "Really?" Twilight's eyes beamed up with curiosity. "It was a long time ago, back in our earliest days of Cybertron," Megatron ranted. "We were both comrades, working together to fight the old, corrupt system of Cyertronian law. We were tired of being slaves to a government that treated its citizens like trash." "Sounds like you two were close," Twilight responded. "But what could have happened that would turn you two against each other now?" "Things changed," Megatron answered. "We grew apart, and we began to see the world differently. We developed different solutions to change the world. These ideas clashed, until eventually we had no other choice but to fight to determine the right solution. And so began a war that has spanned several eons and countless galaxies." "But you and Optimus were friends!" Twilight strongly protested. "Couldn't you have worked together to find a compromise?" Megatron gave an almost hearty laugh at this response. "What a ridiculously naïve way of thinking. This is war, child. There is no room for compromise. To think such a trivial thing as friendship could survive in a clash of ideals is utter foolishness." Twilight stopped in her tracks, completely stunned by Megatron's answer. "But they were such good friends!" She thought to herself. "If they became enemies, then what about me and my friends? What's going to happen to us?" As she stood there in thought, the magenta glow from her tiara faded away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ground shook violently throughout the entire labyrinth. Every group was caught off guard as a portal of white light opened up in front of the six groups. "Congratulations, one and all!" Discord's voice echoed through the labyrinth. "You've all successfully completed the labyrinth! Just step through the portal to reach the end of the maze, where each of you will receive a special prize! I'll be waiting…" All 18 of the participants were weary to trust this message. With no better options, though, each group decided it was best to go along with it. The members of each group cautiously stepped into their own portals one at a time. As soon as they all stepped through, the portals disappeared and every stone wall of the labyrinth sank into the earth below.