//------------------------------//
// X: This Is War 
// Story: Operation: Patriotism 
// by Darkryt Orbinautz 
//------------------------------//

Long live the Last Prime.

Twilight about these words as she ran back to her office. What did they mean? Why were these the first words she said upon hearing Optimus Prime was dead?

Twilight entered her office. It was designed to be big, to allow for Cybertronians to enter through the door without worry. But to Twilight, going inside and standing in the center of the room, the vast size made it feel empty and hollow.

Twilight stood there for a few minutes, holding back the tears, knowing if only one escaped, the dam would burst and the rest would follow.

Optimus would hold back the tears. He always held back the tears.

But of course, she wasn't Optimus.

Optimus wasn't here.

Twilight deactivated her Vehicon helmet. She took if off and held it in her hooves, looking at her reflection in the chrome. The tears she was holding back slipped through. She tossed the helmet away and collapsed on the floor, bawling.

"I ..." Twilight cried. "I was so sure he'd be alive ..." Twilight continued crying, letting her tears slide down her cheek to the floor.

"Now what?" Twilight dabbed a tear from her eye. She rolled over onto her belly and gestured around the room. "What am I supposed to do now? What is it good for? What do I DO?"

"The same thing you were planning to do, darling."

Twilight lifted her head and turned to see her friends in the doorway. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. The old band back together again.

"What … what are you doing here?"

"Why, we came to comfort you, darling!" Rarity led the group into trotting in.

"Eyup!" Pinkie said. "We're all super-duper sad about Optimus, Twilight, and we know you are too."

Twilight sniffed and wiped away another tear. "Thanks ..." She turned away from them. "You … you shouldn't see me like this. I'm supposed to be the leader now. The Supreme Commander. The Supreme Commander. What I was thinking?"

Fluttershy placed a hoof on Twilight's haunch. "That doesn't mean you should cry alone."

"No, it means I shouldn't cry at all." Twilight swatted Fluttershy's hoof away. "Optimus wouldn't cry ..."

"Optimus was a Prime, and subject to some very stringent codes of conduct." Rarity said.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash said. "And those rules were written by, like, a bunch of dudes a million years ago with no idea how outdated they would be in a few millenniums."

Twilight let slip a laugh. "Did Rainbow Dash just say "millenniums?""

"What?" Dash asked. "I'm not dumb."

"I know." Twilight sat upright, rubbing her eye. "Thank you."

"Hey, whatever it takes to get you back on your hooves." Rainbow Dash swiped her hoof through the air.

Rarity smiled at Dash and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "We're all upset about Optimus, darling. Even if we have different ways of expressing it. But if he were here, do you know what he would say?"

Twilight looked to the floor. "He would say we should focus on living our lives and doing what's right."

Rarity nodded. "That's right."

"And he would probably ask us not to declare war on the United States."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Well, I doubt Galloway is going to withdraw his declaration of martial law willingly, darling."

"You're right." Twilight stood up. "We might have a chance to go back, call the whole thing off, and live our lives peacefully on Equestria. But I'm not sure I could live like that with the knowledge I was being complacent with Galloway's attempts to enforce a de facto slavery. We'll fight for what's right, even – especially without Optimus' leadership or ..." Twilight looked at the floor. "Celestia's guidance."

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash tapped her hooves together. "And I'll be with you every step of the way!"

Fluttershy smiled. "Me too."

"Oh!" Pinkie waved a hoof. "Me three! Me three!"

"I'm in, darling."

"Y'all can count on us, sugarcube."

"I know I can." Twilight said. "Thank you. All of you. This isn't going to be an easy time, for any of us, for a lot of reasons. But we can cry about Optimus or lost libraries later."

Twilight picked up her helmet.

"Right now, we have a freedom war to fight."

"Is that what we're calling it?" Pinkie Pie asked, doing a cartwheel. "Freedom War?"

"I kinda like it." Applejack said.

Twilight nodded. "Works for me. Any objections? No? Good. All right, ponies. We'll have to get started. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. This is a fight not just for our freedom, but the freedom of all Equestrians, humans, and Cybertronians to whatever planet they please, at whatever time they please. This is a battle for basic rights. This is a fight to prove our different species can live in peace. This is war."



Galloway sipped a cup of red wine, his feet resting on the table where he and other U.S officials had gathered. Knowing he had pawns and people in the places he did, Galloway took a devil-may-care attitude to his posturing, at least behind closed doors where the public couldn't see him.

“Galloway?” One of the senators spoke up, wearing a broad, but forced grin on his face, “I’m still new here, just recently elected, you see. I was wondering if the state of martial law meant we couldn’t perform our normal law-passing duties? I have a bill I was planning on proposing before this whole thing went down.”

“Sure, sure, let me see…” Galloway said.

“Excuse you?” Another Congressman said. “You are the acting ‘President,’ are you not? Your job is not to review bills. That’s the legislature’s job.”

Galloway huffed. He pulled out a small object which resembled a pen, and clicked on it. The rebelling Congressman stiffened, then smiled. 

“My job is whatever I want it to be,” Galloway said. 

“Your job is whatever you want to be,” the Congressman said.

“Cerebro-shells,” Galloway said, “Nifty little invention. And so insidious. You just need to place one on a ‘friend’ of yours who has access in the White House, then they tag two friends, and those two both tag two more ‘friends,’ and so on and so on until the entire House gets to be under your control. Shame about what happened to my contact, Dropshot... he was a delightful little fellow. Wonder why he disappeared all of a sudden? Probably made a deal with the wrong person. Anyway...” Galloway took a sip of his wine and smiled. "Suffice to say, gentleman, I will be happy to discuss this bill ..."

Galloway slammed his cup down on the table.

"Later. Right now we need to focus on the situation in Wyoming." Galloway waved his finger as he continued to pace circles around the table, almost if he were a shark. "These Imperials, as they call themselves, think they can get to me by taking over my home. Well, it won't work. Between all of us and the U.S Military at our disposal, we should be able to come up with a solution for this occupation." Galloway said. "Now I need -"

The door to the room opened. Every senator on the table lowered their heads when Attinger walked in, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Attinger," Galloway said. "I was in the middle of something."

"Galloway," Attinger said. "We have a situation. There's a riot happening outside. People are gathering, shouting and holding up signs."

Galloway shook his head and adjusted his glasses. "Well, Attinger ...if there's a riot … take care of it."

Attinger smiled. "I was hoping you might say that." Attinger noticed the senators keeping their heads down, little governmental ostriches in human form. One of them let out a gasp when he realized Attinger was looking, afraid they were slated to be executed. Attinger ignored this and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Attinger?" Galloway asked. "No casualties. Can't have people respect me as the President if I abuse the populace, now can I?"
Attinger smirked before leaving.

"Yet, you seem to have no trouble abusing the Cybertronians," one of the senators said.

Galloway's mouth hung open in shock. "Gentlemen … I for one, am shocked, you would be so … gallant to them. Especially considering ..." 
Galloway clicked the pen again. “How much I’ve done for you, all that good work.”

There was a high-pitched hum which carried through the air, and the Senator jerked, the cerebro-shell reestablishing its control and dominating. That awful, forced grin spread to his face.

"You were saying?" Galloway asked.

“Just how much I completely appreciate everything you do for us!” the Senator flashed a thumbs-up, a tear escaping from his eye as a small part of him was still conscious of what was happening, but powerless to control his body or movements.

"I trust you all won't make that mistake again," Galloway said, tapping the pen against his chest. There were murmurs of agreement all around.

"Now," Galloway sat back down, putting the pen in his pocket, "I believe there was a bill being discussed?"




People gathered in the streets, picking up stragglers along the way and marching through. They shouted and banged sticks against trash can lids as impromptu marching drums. Some of them held signs over their heads, written with phrases such as "Martial Law Is A Sham," "Where Is The President REALLY At?" and "The Autobots Are Heroes, NOT CRIMINALS."

"Wake up, people!" One of the leaders of the riot shouted at the top of his lungs. "This martial law decree is a sham, a hoax! For what, we don't know. But we haven't needed a martial law in fifty years, so what makes us need it now?"

Ahead, some distance away, Attinger, his men, and two Americons surveyed the situation and prepared for approach.

"So..." An Americon said, holding up a canister. "This tear gas stuff … it won't hurt them, will it?"

"Not at all," Attinger said. "Well, it'll sting a bit. But only enough to drive them away."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Attinger bit his lip, getting frustrated with the Vehicon's doubt. "Why are you so concerned? I would think as a former Decepticon -"

"Mister Attinger," the Americon interrupted. "I signed up with Galloway's "Americon" program because I wanted to stop being a killer and work for my redemption. So I'll ask it again; will it hurt them?"

Attinger and the Americon engaged in a staredown, both of them doubtful of the trustworthiness of the other.

"Do as you're told, solider." Attinger walked away from them to address the crowd, the Americons' visors watching him with the focus of a hawk. The presence of the paradoxical America-painted Decepticons both intimidated and emboldened the crowd against the giant, armed robots who dared to wear the colors of their country.

"People, people!" Attinger shouted, waving his arms at the riot for calm. "Please, calm down. Any of you care to explain what this is about?"

The people at the front of the riot passed a hand signal to the person behind them, who passed the signal to the person behind them, and so on until it reached the back of the crowd. Attinger noted this must have been a well-organized riot.

"We don't believe Galloway's reasoning for declaring martial law." said one of the rioters. "We think this is a front, a cover-up for something."

Attinger nodded. "I see. But Galloway had those attack plans. Is not that evidence enough?"

"We've looked at the footage." A rioter said. "We've seen interviews, news broadcast with Optimus Prime in them. We've heard him speak. And we've never met him, but just from those interviews, we can tell he wants people to live in peace. So either he's one of the greatest actors and liars ever, and he's secretly been hoarding those plans for invasion all along … or those aren't his plans." The rioter leered at Attinger. "Which do you think is more likely?"

"Plus, it's pretty good timing, don't you think?" A rioter asked. "That these plans are 'discovered' around the exact same time Optimus is pronounced dead, meaning we can't ask him about the plans and let him face his accusers?"

"And the President … just put Galloway in charge?" Another rioter asked. "You can't do that. No President has ever done that. Our Constitution doesn't allow for it. In charge of the military? Sure. But our law doesn't allow for the President to give his title away like it's a crown. Why are the Senators not doing anything? The House of Representatives? The FBI? The Secret Service? The CIA? What, does Galloway just have dirt on all of them or something?"

“You might say that,” Attinger muttered, dimly aware Galloway had found some ‘persuasive methods,’ though he wisely hadn’t told Attinger the specifics. That way, Attinger couldn’t compromise Galloway if he were captured, and Attinger preferred working on a need-to-know basis, and the details he didn't need to know.

“Surely one man can’t come up with enough material to BLACKMAIL every single agency!”

“Who said anything about blackmail?” Attinger said. "I understand you're upset, citizens, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Desperate times according to WHO?"

"According to whom," Attinger corrected him.

"And how come we still can't see the Autobots' base? Does it take you guys THAT long to clear debris?"

Attinger adjusted his glasses. "I see. Well, I will say this. Investigating the rubble of a building takes a lot longer than you seem to realize, especially a building which was a re-purposed Cold War missile silo. Now if that's all, we have no more business here. Please return to your homes."

Attinger turned to walk away. The rioters broke out in protests, right to object to Attinger's dismissal of them. They shouted, raised their signs back up, and threw cans and rocks, one of which struck Attinger on the back of the head.

Attinger stumbled, but didn't fall. He rubbed the sore spot where he was hit and looked at the Americon. He pointed at the Vehicon, snapped his fingers, and gestured to the crowd.

The Americon regarded the object in his hands. With a sigh, he hurled the canister into the crowd.

One protester saw the canister and shouted a warning. "TEAR GAS!"

As the canister emitted its pain-inducing contents, the rioters turned and ran in the other direction.

Attinger watched as they fled and scrambled to get away. He smiled and patted the Americon on the leg before walking away. "Good job."

The Americon rose and watched the people fleeing. A hoard of fearful victims, running once again from the Decepticon menace. Faced with this, the Americon was left with a question.

"Good job? Maybe. Nobody died. Good guys? … I’m beginning to have my doubts,” the Vehicon walked away, reconsidering his choices.



Two Americons, with less doubt in their cause than the two who accompanied Attinger, held Ratchet by the arms and forced him into a bunker.

"Let go of me." Ratchet struggled, succeeding in breaking free from his captors' grasp, but only because they were where they needed him to be.

Ratchet rubbed his sore wrists and looked around his surroundings. It was a military bunker, he could tell. His eyes came to rest on Galloway.

"Ratchet." Galloway greeted as if Ratchet were an old friend rather than a prisoner.

"Galloway." Ratchet bared his teeth. "I knew you were trouble the moment I met you, but I never thought you'd stoop this low. When Celestia finds out about this, she'll tear your planet apart."

"Ah." Galloway smiled. "But that assumes Celestia is going to find out about this. What she doesn't know can't hurt her."

Struggling to believe a single human could contain so much arrogance in his tiny head, Ratchet scoffed. "I've heard that before. It always ends badly. Every time."

"Now, there's a reason I brought you here, Ratchet." Galloway said. "I assume you are aware you were given altered gas which drained your systems at the gas station. My gift to the people. You see, it's part of my, eh, information campaign, shall we call it. To give people the means to defend themselves from violent Autobots and Decepticon insurgents. Some poisoned gas, electric fencing ... oh, and a, uh, a "Transformers Are Dangerous" hotline." Ratchet shook his head, disbelieving he could be hearing the self-serving talk he was, in fact, hearing.

"Now, the reason you're here ..." Galloway pointed at him. "Is to work on that." Galloway pointed to a device pressed against the wall. A large computer which looked it belonged in the '90s, with a bulbous dome atop it which housed a tuning fork. A red line of energy connected the two prongs.

"And what, pray tell, is this?" Ratchet asked, going up to the device.

"A Vigilant model security computer." Galloway said. "Had it imported from Griffon Rock. Just arrived this morning."

"Greetings." Ratchet stepped back, surprised by the red line fluctuating as the computer spoke. "I am Vigil, and I am here to make – insert name of town here – one hundred percent accident free."

Getting over his shock, Ratchet examined Vigil. "You call this a security computer? I could make more advance machinery out of junk in a scrapyard in under three hours."

Galloway chuckled. "Heh, I'm sure you could. But this Vigilant computer – Vigil, here, is here to protect Washington from the Imperials. Have you heard of them? I don't imagine you've had a chance to watch the news what with your base being invaded and getting captured by humans."

"Base being invaded? How did you know about -" Ratchet's optics widened in realization. "It was you! You told Lazerback about the structure's weaknesses!"

Galloway smiled. "And I must say, the plan worked like a charm."

Ratchet was torn between anger and curiosity. The latter interest won out. "And how did you get Lazerback to agree to work for you? I was under the impression he was uncontrollable."

"We all want something in this world." Galloway said. "Lazerback wants to cause mischief and mayhem. All I had to do was promise him he could cause chaos, and he agreed. As I'm hoping you'll agree to helping with Vigil."

Ratchet crossed his arms, tossing Vigil a dirty glare. "And if I refuse?"

"Well ..." Galloway paused in thought. "You can either help me, and have a chance - a small chance - of your friends finding you and rescuing you … or you can not." Galloway pointed to the Americons, who drew up their blasters. "And I'll have Attinger and company execute you and bury you so deeply your body will never be found. Your choice."

Ratchet looked from Galloway, to the Americons, to the computer. Considering his options, he glanced back at Galloway. "I have a condition."

"A – a condition?" Galloway stammered. "Have you – have you looked around you, my friend? You're in no position to make conditions."

"More than once, my knowledge of the human body has failed me." Ratchet said, ignoring Galloway's posturing. "Once, there was that time with Raf being struck by Megatron… and then Bumblebee. Bumblebee lost his voice. And I couldn't fix it. I told myself one day, I would. One day, I would improve my technology and fix his voice. And I didn't. On Equestria, we went through this, this mirror, and emerged as humans on the other side. And while we were there, Bumblebee had a surgery and had his voice fixed at last … by human surgeons." Ratchet closed his eyes. "And not me. I'm telling you this so you'll understand why when I say my condition… is scholarships to your best medical schools in this country."

"S-scholarships?" Galloway asked. "You want scholarships?"

"I think it's a small price to pay for my expertise in dealing with Cybertronian biosystems," Ratchet said. "This is my only condition. Otherwise, no deal and I'll be happy to let your men offline me."

Galloway nodded his head, thinking it over. "Okay. Deal. But I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain."

"Bargain." Ratchet muttered. "More like a deal with the devil ..." Ratchet paused. "Galloway, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you so set against the Autobots?"

Galloway smiled and chuckled. The kind of arrogant, toothy smile done by people who thought they could get away with anything. "Well, there's a few reasons, but first and foremost is that I wanted to rule."

"You wanted … to rule?"

"Yes." Galloway said. "From a young age, I decided I want to be President. Leader of the free world. But … our current legal system says a President can only serve two four-year terms. And I didn't want to be leader of the United States for eight years, I wanted to be leader for life. I wanted the power and the glory. So my scheming, my plans, my moles ... my alliance with Attinger and by extension, Dylan Gould, had been in place for years as I got ready for my big takeover. But there was something missing. Something holding me back. An opportunity. You." Galloway rapped his chest and pointed at Ratchet. "You Autobots gave me that opportunity."

"So … that's it?" Ratchet said. "You sent an army of Predacons against us, separated our family and destroyed our home because you were too spoiled to try to lead your country the legal way? You let Optimus Prime die- stay behind as an excuse for your petty takeover? To satisfy your ego?" Ratchet grimaced.

"Oh, that's right." Galloway said. "No one's told you about Optimus, have they?"

"You know, Galloway, if this is your way of being a tyrant, I would rather put Starscream, a known criminal, in charge of this country. At least he would be honest about being a dictator."

"Hmm." Galloway narrowed his eyes and began to walk away.

"So you killed Optimus so you can be the small, insignificant leader of a country on a small, backwater planet." Ratchet scoffed. "At least when Megatron was still around, he had his eyes set on the known universe."

Galloway stopped and turned back to him. "You know, the Imperials have been making statements and… you are not the first Autobot to say that."

"I won't be the last."

"Hmm." Galloway nodded in acknowledgment of this and left.

Now left alone, Ratchet approached the computer and began pressing buttons. "Uh, hello … Vigil. My name is Ratchet."

"Hello, Ratchet." Vigil said in a pleasant tone. "I look forward to working with you and hope we can get to know each other."

Ratchet sighed while he tried to puzzle together what all of Vigil's bells and whistles did. "Well, that makes one of us."



Somewhere in the desert, Decepticons gathered in masses underneath the scorching heat and blistering sandy winds. They stood in rows, poised and calm and collected.

Deathsaurus approached, keeping a hand on Heavy Load's shoulder. "So glad you decided to join us, Heavy Load. So few Decepticons nowadays still hold onto the dream."

Heavy Load took stock of the statuesque poses the Decepticons were taking. "So … who … are these guys?"

"Decepticons." Deathsaurus said. "They call themselves The Forged. Even if Cybertron is a bit of a political mess right now, they still believe in the idea of Deception supremacy, that a world dominated by Decepticons is possible. They choose to station their bases in places like here and the Middle East so they expose themselves to the harsh sun and prove their resilience. I found them and threw my lot in with them. Normally, they have a ceremony where you have to gouge out an optic or crack your visor before you can join them, but you can talk your way out of it … particularly if Fearswoop happens to know you." Deathsaurus took his hand off Heavy Load and gestured around. "So, what do you say, Heavy Load? Will you join us? I understand it's quite a commitment."

"Hmm." Whatever Heavy Load's thoughts were on the subject would have to wait, as he noticed three figures approaching in the distance. "Look! Over there!"

"Eh?" Deathsaurus turned around, confused about who could have found them here. He drew up his weapons before the shadows came closer and revealed themselves as Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave.

"Starscream." Deathsaurus lowered his weapons. "What are you doing here?"

"We… heard they were Decepticons here." Starscream said. "We have come to join the Forged, if you will have us."

"These are difficult times," Shockwave said. "I was previously in control of the Decepticons a day ago. It is only logical we pool together all available resources."

"Soundwave is dedicated, but he needs a leader." Starscream said. "Shockwave is skilled, but he needs equipment. I am cunning, but I need a goal. We have come for a structure to give us purpose and troops to give us strength. So I ask you ..." Starscream bowed. "May we join the Forged?"

"Hmm." Deathsaurus scratched his chin. "Accept Starscream, one of the most cowardly Decepticons known for running away, into the Forged, who are determined to see their goals? I think not."

"I was not running away, those were tactical retreats!" Starscream raised his voice. He took in a deep breath, realizing his old nature was showing. "Heh-heh, that was the old me, Deathsaurus. I may still have outbursts, but I've changed, I assure you. I can be a valuable asset."

Deathsaurus gave Starscream a dubious look. "I'm not so sure … how I can know for a fact you won't turn tail on us, Starscream?"

"Wait, I thought Fearswoop was the leader?" Heavy Load turned to Deathsaurus. "Why do you get to make decisions about who gets to join?"

"I convinced Fearswoop I would make a good co-leader," Deathsaurus answered haugtily. "Now, Starscream, given your history, explain to me again why we should let you join?"

"Because..." Starscream spoke with calm. "I was an acolyte of Megatron's. For a time, I led the Decepticons and I came close to successfully bringing Megatron back from the dead with the legendary Fortress Maximus super-weapon."

"Bold claims, Starscream, but have you any proof?"

"Ask Twilight Sparkle," Starscream said with sadistic glee. "She'll confirm it."

"I don't know..." Deathsaurus waved his fingers. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Deathsaurus, wait." Heavy Load spoke up. "Shockwave's right. We need to pool together our resources. We can't bring back glory to the Decepticon Empire if we're constantly fighting and belittling each other. Give Starscream a chance."

Deathsaurus stroked his chin, thinking. "All right. I have an idea. Starscream, you can join us in the next mission I have planned. And if you can prove your worth, you and your friends can join the Forged for real. Agreed?"

Starscream smiled. "Agreed."



Back at the Rainbow Principality, Twilight Sparkle got busy setting up arrangements and making plans.

"Raf." Twilight said from behind Raf, who was playing a video game Bumblebee had brought from Raf's house while he stayed here.

"Aah!" Raf dropped the controller. "What?"

"I need you to hack into the government's satellites." Twilight said. "With Omega-One destroyed, we've lost a large portion of our surveillance and ability to detect enemy activity."

Raf blew out a sigh and fetched his laptop from a nearby desk. "I'm fifteen and a half years old … I should be worried about getting prom dates, not hacking into government satellites."

"Thanks, Raf." Twilight hugged him before moving on. "Now, what was the next thing?"

"Uh, Twilight Sparkle?" Arcee appeared, holding an electronic tablet. "I've been reading over your recruitment policies and … well, they're a bit too open."

"Well, of course." Twilight said. "That's the idea. Make the process easy and open so we can get as many new recruits as possible."

"I understand the idea, Twilight." Arcee said. "But there are no preventive measures in here. There's no background checks, a clause saying any previous violent or criminal behavior will be overlooked ..." Arcee placed a hand on her hip. "How do you know spies won't be able to use these clauses to get in?"

"There's not going to be spies." Twilight chuckled. "The first spy we caught was Rainbow Dash. And if the first spy we caught is a loyal, dependable pony like Rainbow Dash, then I'm not really too worried."

"You should be." Arcee said. "I recommend calling in everyone for questioning."

"I’ll do that, Arcee. In a little awhile. I have a situation brewing that needs to be dealt with in Ponyville. "

"Twilight, listen, the longer you wait, the more damage they can do." Arcee clenched a fist. "You need to start rooting around for spies now, before they cause any damage. An inquisition. An internal affairs office. Something."

"I’m aware of that, Arcee. But there’s somebody causing damage to my home right now," Twilight said. Twilight said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

Arcee grunted in displeasure while Twilight walked to another section of the building.

"Troops!" Twilight walked into the control room for their comms. Aerialbots monitored various computers and screens which were set in clustered rows. Some of them wore headphones and maintained radars. "How are things at Wyoming?"

The Aerialbots attending their stations turned to her. "Uh, not so good, boss. You'll want to take a look at this." The Aerialbot pushed a button and a screen popped up, showing a news broadcast with the headline "MAN IN WYOMING INJURED."

Twilight was taken aback. "What?"

"Reports are coming in that earlier today, three men attempted to fight off the "Autobots Imperial" who are currently occupying Wyoming." A female newscaster said. "The men were met with swift and brutal response from the Imperials."

Footage played on the screen showing a jumpy, fast-moving camera switching from shot to shot as three men marched up to an a Imperial-aligned Vehicon.

"Sirs, please, return to your daily business." The Vehcion asked of them, trying to settle the situation without resorting to violence.

"Heck no! You don't think we're just gonna lie here while you waltz in and take over?"

"Sir, please, we're not here to hurt you -"

The men lobbed up a can at the Vehicon, who stumbled from the blow, more from surprise at the attack than from actual pain. The three men rushed the Vehicon.

"Sirs!" The Vehicon drew up his blaster and fired a few shots into the air, hoping to scare them off. The men refused to be intimidated and kept coming, forcing him to respond. The Vehicon retaliated by kicking his foot out, punting the men and knocking them down. They were in a triangle formation, so the one man at the forefront took the brunt of the blow and knocked his companions down as they though were human bowling pins.

"The man at the front of the group is now in the hospital. His companions were in pain, but not injured, their leader absorbing most of the blow." The newscaster said. "The hospital reports he's suffered some broken ribs, but will recover with surgery. A statement from the Vehicon says he used the minimal force he thought he could use and still resolve the situation, but residents in Wyoming remain skeptical. The Vehicon further added his and his fellows' instructions were to try to minimize their influence and keep the city running as normal."

"Oh … okay." Twilight looked at the ground as some of the implications of this event set in. There was one minor incident now, but if three humans would get fed up with the Imperial presence, it was a matter of time before others did. She had given those orders for her forces to run the city as normal, hoping it would keep the populace happy. She should have known; being taken over by a mixture of Equestrians and Cybertronians was far from normal.

Twilight tried to save face and clear her throat. "How are the Combaticons doing?"

"Report came in a few minutes ago. They say they've secured the perimeter, but have destroyed a billboard and the top corner of a building."

"Okay." Twilight said. "Uh, we can replace those. We can rebuild them. Keep me posted." Twilight exchanged salutes with the Aerialbots and left the room, where she found Fluttershy waiting for her.

"Oh, hey, Fluttershy. You looking for me?"

"Oh, um … I wasn't at first, but I couldn't help overhearing the news report." Fluttershy scuffed her hoof, nervous about what to say. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just ..." Twilight placed a hoof on her forehead. "I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't realize it was going to be this hard and this ... complicated."

"Um." Fluttershy tried to hide behind her mane. "Forgive me for asking, but, um, why did you take over Wyoming in the first place, Twilight?"

"Ah." Twilight smiled. "Glad you asked, Fluttershy. It's part of my 49-State Plan."

"Your … what?"

"The 49-State Plan is my first plan of attack with Galloway's forces." Twilight said. "We'll spread our forces out over the country, taking over state by state until we've occupied every one but Washington. Then, we'll put the pressure on Galloway to meet an accord with us by surrounding him with an Imperial border and threatening the well-being of the citizens. But we're not actually going to hurt the citizens!" Twilight added when she saw Fluttershy's shocked expression.

Twilight glanced back to the comm room, thinking of the man in the hospital. "Or at least, that was the plan."

"Sounds like a poor plan if you ask me." Bulkhead said, entering the conversation with Smokescreen by him. "Galloway put a smear on Optimus for his own gain. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care about the citizens. But that's not why we're here."

"Ugh." Twilight groaned. "Don't tell me. Did Arcee send you?"

Bulkhead and Smokescreen exchanged confused looks, not knowing of Arcee and Twilight's conversation. "Uh, no. Smokescreen had a question."

"Okay, so I was reviewing the plans for the layout of the city-base." Smokescreen held up a tablet. "And I couldn't help but notice this … "Civilian District"? What's that?"

"As I explained to Rainbow Dash, the Civilian District is somewhere to put Cybertronians, humans, and ponies somewhere where they can live without heavy government regulation to prove they can live together in peace without being monitored." Twilight said.

Bulkhead made a questioning, nondescript noise.

"What? What is it, Bulkhead?"

"Nothing." Bulkhead said. "It's a good goal and a good effort, Twilight. But it seems risky. You said we were fighting a war. You can conduct a social living experiment, or you can fight a war, but you can't do both at the same time. I know you've put up as many defenses around the area as you could with the Omega Lock, but what if someone gets past them? What if we get infiltrated? Then it's only a matter of time before someone takes the civilians in the civilian district hostage, or worse."

Twilight pouted. This was the second time today an Autobot was questioning her methods. "I can do it. Just you watch."

"No, Twilight, you really can't."

Twilight was about to respond to Bulkhead when an ember of green fire manifested in mid-air.

Bulkhead and Smokescreen followed their instincts and aimed their blasters. "What? What is it?"

"It's Spike." Twilight said. "He normally sends letters between me and Celestia. With a little magical alteration, he could probably send letters to me anywhere."

"Can he use it to track us?" Smokescreen asked.

"No, I don't think so. Not unless I reply and tell him where we are." The green fire floated to Twilight and turned into a letter. Twilight unraveled the letter and read it. ""Twilight. Don't know where you or if this will reach you, but if it does, please help. Skull-faced Decepticon attacking Ponyvile.""

"Skull-faced?" Bulkhead said. He pounded his fist. "Bludgeon!"

"Autobots Imperial," Twilight pointed her hoof, "transform and rise up!"

"Yeah," Smokescreen said. "Hey, I've been wondering. Why is it "Autobots Imperial" and not "Autobot Imperials?"

"It's in the possessive sense." Twilight said. "Now roll out – er, I mean, rise up!"



Spike was lying under a pile of branches for cover, watching on with fear as Bludgeon laid waste to Ponyville, along with a squad of Vehicons and a stealth-jet Decepticon whose robot mode appearance brought to mind a bat. Princess Celestia, Shining Armor and the Royal Guard were present, attempting to contain the destruction and maybe fight Bludgeon's forces off as well.

"Oh, please get here soon, Twilight ..." Spike closed his eyes and crossed his fingers.

"Where it is?" Bludgeon asked, deflecting a laser blast from Celestia with his sword, causing the spell to fire into the sky. "Where is it?"

A Space Bridge opened up near Spike's hiding place. Spike was on verge of having a heart attack, worried more Decepticons would pour through. When instead the Autobots' Imperial emerged, Spike wasn't sure whether it was better or worse.

Twilight, disguised by her armor, arrived on the scene with a team of Imperialcons, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Smokescreen. The Imperials charged into the battlefield, blasters blazing, with Bulkhead taking on Bludgeon's bat-shaped friend and Smokescreen sprinting through, tagging Vehicons left and right.

""War Princess."" Celestia noted, firing another laser at the invaders. "Nice of you to join the party."

"My invitation was late." "The War Princess" said, the armor distorting her voice. "I assume you know who I am."

"Yes." Celestia answered. "Rainbow Dash told Shining Armor, and Shining Armor told me. But know neither I nor Shining Armor will reveal your identity."

"Thanks."

"It's the least I can do after our long relationship together." Celestia said.

"How's Spike doing?"

"He's been staying with me at the castle." Celestia said. "Now, do you have a plan to deal with the Decepticons?"

"I'm working on it." Twilight raised up her hooves. Blasters formed along the edge of her legs, which she used in conjunction with her horn to shoot up the Vehicons.

"Augh!" Smokescreen shouted as a laser hit his back. "Where did Bludgeon find so many Vehicons?"

"That is an excellent question with a rather boring answer," Bludgeon answered.

Smokescreen waited. “...And?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you think I was actually going to tell you my secrets?” Bludgeon asked. “No! I found them. That’s all you need to know! The where and how are none of your business! Now, where is it?"

"Where's what?" Twilight asked. "What's he looking for, Celestia?"

"I don't know."

Bludgeon drew his sword up over his head. His optics swept across the battlefield, scanning for options. At last, he saw one in the form of a stallion attempting to flee the firefight.

"Ah-ha." With the careful grace of a swan, Bludgeon leapt into the air, dodging lasers from Imperials and Royal Guard alike. Bludgeon landed next to the stallion, whipping up clouds of dirt, and he pinned the poor pony under his foot.

"You!" Bludgeon said. "Where is it? Where is the Alicorn Amulet?"

"I-I don't know!" The stallion cried. "P-please, just let me go!"

"Don't toy with me!" Bludgeon glared at him, raising his sword up to strike. "I know it was here. My source tells me it was last seen in this area with a duel between two unicorns. Now where is it?" Bludgeon brought his sword along the stallion's neck, close enough for him to feel the blade without slicing his throat … yet.

"It – it's with Zecora!" The stallion admitted, fearful tears in his eyes. "She's a zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest, over in that direction! The Amulet is wherever she put it! Now please, just let me go … " The stallion cried.

Bludgeon removed his sword and his foot from him. He glared in the direction the stallion pointed and growled. Bludgeon snapped his fingers. "Troops! This way!" Bludgeon bounced into the air. His Decepticons disengaged from combat and followed after him. They managed to slip into the canopies of the trees, despite being harassed with Autobot and unicorn laser fire.

Twilight and Celestia galloped into the middle of the square, surveying the destruction and how much it would take to repair.

"You!" Twilight shouted at the stallion, who whimpered at her approach. "How could you? Selling out Zecora like that to save your own hide? And now that Decepticon is going to go after her and maybe steal the Amulet! What have you got to say for yourself-"

"War Princess." Celestia said. "Do not blame this stallion for what has happened. He was clearly scared for his life, and he was right to be."

"He should have resisted." Twilight said. "He should have held off from telling him."

Celestia gave Twilight bittersweet look. A look of both disappointment, but also understanding. "Not all of us can be soldiers, War Princess. Not all of us have the strength of will to hold out to the bitter end."

"He..." Twilight said, her voice losing confidence. "He should have stuck to his morals -"

"Morals?" Celestia reared her neck back. "And what does a pony who takes entire states hostage know about morals?"

Twilight fell silent. She had no good answer to that. Any one she could think of would involve either self-denial or passing the blame to others.

"So, we know it's the Alicorn Amulet he wants." Twilight said, shifting the topic of conversation.

"But why?" Celestia said. "And how does he know of it?"

Twilight went ‘hmm.’ "Maybe he wants it for its magical power. That much power would be an asset to any Decepticon's plan."

"But the Amulet was designed to enhance unicorn magic," Celestia said. "Will it give a Decepticon magical ability?"

"I don't know about you, Princess, but I'd rather not find out." Twilight looked towards the direction of the Everfree. "We've wasted too much time here. We need to move. He already has a head start on us."



Zecora stepped out of her house to search for herbs when she felt her hut being rocked by quakes in the ground.

"Dear me," Zecora said. She looked around for the source of the disturbance. "Through all this dirt and mud, what makes the ground go thud?"

Bludgeon appeared from the trees. Zecora's eyes widened and her first instinct was to run away. Before she could gain much, if any ground, Bludgeon reached down and grabbed her. He lifted Zecora up to his face and began his questioning.

"Where is the location of the Alicorn Amulet?" Bludgeon asked.

Zecora stared at him, a defiance in her eyes. "Though I can see your eyes are full of zeal, the Amulet's location is something I cannot reveal."

"Grrr ..." Bludgeon was going to either squeeze her in his hand or put a knife against her throat. But the trees around them shaking cut those plans short.

"Come on!" An Autobot's voice said. "The hut is this way!"

Bludgeon pocketed his sword. Holding Zecora with both hands, he began fleeing through the forest, on occasion knocking down a tree to create a blockade to his pursuers. Reaching a clearing, Bludgeon stopped and listened for footsteps. When he didn't hear any, he thought it was safe to pick up his interrogation of Zecora.

"I will ask you again ..." Bludgeon held Zecora by the tail, letting her swing back and forth. "Where is the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Soon the blood will rush to my head, and then I will be as good to you as dead." Zecora said.

Bludgeon growled again and pulled out a knife. "Fine. Let's see if a little pain can make you talk."

"Put her down, Bludgeon!"

Bludgeon turned around to see the Imperials and the Royal Guard, Celestia included, her caught up with him.

"How did you sneak up on me?" Bludgeon asked. "I usually have keener ears and eyes."

"You're not the only who can sneak around." Twilight said. "Now put the zebra down."

"And why would I do that? She has something I want."

"You're surrounded."

"I have a hostage." Bludgeon held Zecora up. "Or do you not realize the danger she's in? The risk you take if you fire on me while I have her in my grasp?"

"No. We do."

As planned, Bulkhead sneaked up behind Bludgeon and slammed his mace onto the back of his head. Bludgeon fell to his knees and let go of Zecora, who Twilight caught with her magic. Twilight levitated Zecora over with them and set her down.

"Now to lock you up, Bludgeon." Bulkhead approached him. Bludgeon was down, but not out, as he was quick to get to on his feet. He turned around and struck Bulkhead, slicing a line from one end of Bulkhead's stomach to the other. Before Bulkhead could recover, Bludgeon kicked him away.

The Imperials and Royal Guard opened fire. Bludgeon dodged what he could and deflected blasts he couldn't dodge with his sword.

Bludgeon's bat-shaped friend came to his rescue, appearing overhead in a stealth-jet mode. He strafed the Imperials with gunfire while Bludgeon bounded into the air and grabbed onto his back. With Bludgeon hanging off him, the jet turned up his engines and flew away.

The Imperials and Royal Guard watched him escape before looking at each other. For the time being, they had a common enemy, but Celestia was still on good terms with the U.S. And the Imperials were … not.

Still, while Ponyville may have suffered some property damage, at least no lives had been lost. And at least this time, the Royal Guard let the Imperials retreat through a Space Bridge, with Shining Armor's expression towards the War Princess making his disappointment clear.



"It's too bad we couldn't get that Alicorn Amulet." Bludgeon's friend expressed once they found a section of the forest to hide out in for a time.

"It's a minimal loss, Mindwipe," Bludgeon said. "Truth be told, the Amulet was merely a stop gap while I worked on my real plan." Bludgeon created a hologram from his wrist. The hologram appeared to be recreation of a glyph. Inscribed on the glyph was a drawing, showing an spherical object with two handles … distinct from, but with an uncanny resemblance to the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

"I was going to give the Amulet to you after I used it to recover this," Bludgeon said.

Mindwipe put his hands together. "Aww, that's sweet… what is 'this?' Hey, come to think of it, how did you learn about the Amulet anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, some human crone told me. Red hair. Said her name was … "Hideous," or something."



Twilight's team returned to base through the Space Bridge.

"Well," Twilight said, "we may not have caught Bludgeon, but at least we were able to stop him."

"Yeah." Smokescreen said. "Judging from what some ponies have told me, the last thing anyone needs is for a Decepticon to get their hands on an artifact like that."

"That's right." Twilight nodded. "That is way too much power for -"

"Commander!" Magnum appeared in the room. "We have a situation!"

"What? What is it?"

Magnum led Twilight and the others to the main lobby of the building. There, Percy was working on a laptop with a thumb drive inserted in. On the back of the laptop was printed a design of a red cobra rearing up to strike.

"Percy?" Twilight asked. "What's going on?"

"We detected Percy attempting to send out an encrypted transmission to an unknown party." Magnum pulled out his heavy gun and aimed it at Percy.

Percy turned towards them. "You're too late."

"No, Percy, it's not too late." Twilight said. "Just … tell us what's going on."

"What's going is that I am sending information to my masters at COBRA." Percy said. "Attinger may have assassinated Adam DeCobray in jail like a pig, but COBRA is still strong. Everything I managed to gather in this thumb drive is being uploaded to their computers now. Now, they'll know everything they need to build their own Transformer. I was hoping to get some schematics on some weapons too, but I wasn't expecting I would only be able to transmit one time before being found out."

"You're – you're a spy?" Twilight said. If Arcee were here, she'd have every right to say "I told you so."

"Give the pony a sugar cube, she figured it out!" Percy said. "It's too late to stop it now. Go ahead and try to jam the signal if you want, but COBRA already has everything they need."

Twilight hardened her gaze. "That's too bad, Percy. I kinda liked you. Surrender peacefully now and I won't subject you to painful experiments which are only really designed to make you hurt in ways you didn't think were possible."

Percy laughed at her. "My superiors were very clear on what my instructions were if I should be caught."

Percy pulled out a gun. Magnum and the others readied their weapons, but Percy went around and put the gun to his own head, pulling the trigger and blowing a hole in it. Blood splattered on the floor as his body dropped to the ground.

Twilight was shocked. Her jaw hung open. Since coming to Earth for the first time, Twilight had been witness to plenty of death and several kinds of death … but she had never seen a suicide before. Never before had she seen someone take their own life. The kind of dedication, of complete disregard for life a person had to have to do that … it wasn't something Twilight realized was possible.

Until now.

"Commander?" Magnum asked. "Are you all right?"

"I..." Twilight put a hoof on her head. "I – no, I'm not all right. B-but we need to focus. Start putting a team together. We need to investigate everyone and discover if there are any more spies in our midst." Twilight looked back to Percy's body. "And someone clean up that corpse."

Twilight didn't expect spies and she did not suspect Percy. But Percy did reveal something else to Twilight; COBRA was still active, something Twilight didn't know. After the raid on the COBRA facility, she hadn't heard any activity from them. And now they had the capacity to build their own knock-off Transformers. But if Twilight knew about them, she could get ready for them. 

She needed to adjust that intent reader she had devised from Fortress Maximus, work on its bugs and iron out the kinks; it had failed to detect both Dash's and Percy's. Who knows what else it had failed to catch from her recruits?

Well… Twilight thought, watching Magnum survey the corpse before moving it. You were right, Arcee.



It was late at night and there was a clear, starry sky out. Across the vastness of space, a comet could be seen streaking through the night.

It was curious what Sunset Shimmer and her six friends were doing out, as it was hours past their bedtime. They walked up to their chosen spot and their eyes fell on the comet.

"There it is, girls." Sunset Shimmer said. "The Secretariat Comet. This is it."

All at once, strange things began happening around the girls. Two pillars of green fire erupted from the ground and revealed She-Demons. The girls' bodies began changing. They winced and groaned and stumbled as they underwent their metamorphoses. Their skin turned deep shades of their respective colors. Twyla's skin turned a deep shade of purple, Flurrie's a sickening yellow, and so on. Their bodies grew in height, their hands stretching into claws. Leather wings and fluffy tails grew out of their backs, bursting through the back of their shirts.

Sunset Shimmer watched her hands with manic glee as they turned into black, long-fingered claws. She put her hands to her face, feeling her skin as it changed. From something smooth and soft to something stretchy and leathery.

Midway through transformation, Sunset looked up with hetero chromatic eyes as the comet passed by.

"This is my – this is our moment, girls." Sunset said. Her smile broadened to a mad, mad grin as wide as a banana.

"My time is now."