• Published 23rd Nov 2013
  • 19,266 Views, 1,381 Comments

Applebloom: Transform and Roll Out! - Dusty the Royal Janitor



Applebloom has a secret. A secret so well hidden even she never knew it. But when the truth comes to light, how will she cope when the reality of her past comes crashing down? More importantly, how will she deal with her new enemies: The Decepticons?

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Ch4: Changing Gears

(A/N: This story takes place after issue 10 of the My Little Pony Comic Book and the Cutie Mark Crusaders Micro Series comic. This story also does not officially recognize any events of Season 3 onward. The story primarily takes place in the Transformers Aligned Continuity Family with certain smaller inspirations taken from the Transformers Animated and G1 continuity families.)

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Applebloom: Transform and Rollout!
by Dusty the Royal Janitor

Chapter 4: Changing Gears


The Apple family waved goodbye to the retreating forms of their friends as they vanished from the light of the porch. Sweetie Belle had exhausted herself completely as the evening went on and she was now draped over Rarity’s back as the fashionista trotted through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo, conversely, had grown more hyperactive as the night encroached and was being led away by her adoptive parents, Lyra and Bonbon, who were doing everything they could (unsuccessfully) to rein their daughter in.

Applebloom couldn’t help but giggle at Scootaloo’s antics as the little orange pegasus accidentally buzzed herself into a rain barrel and had to be pulled out by Lyra’s magic. As her friends crested the horizon, the little filly let out a wide yawn and shut the door, fully ready for some shuteye herself. Just as she was about to ascend the stairs to her room to sleep off the long day, however, she heard angry cursing coming from the kitchen.

“Ruttin’ Horseapples!” she heard her sister shout from a few rooms away.

“Applejack!” she heard Granny Smith shout, followed by the distinctive ‘smack’ of the wizened old mare’s hooves as they made forcible contact with the back of somepony’s head. “Mind your manners! Y’all want me to wash your mouth out with soap?!”

“Sorry granny...” Applejack mumbled, abashed.

“What’s up?” Big Macintosh asked, trotting into the kitchen where the two mares were spatting, Applebloom not far behind him.

Applejack regained her composure and pointed to the kitchen sink. “It’s this darn disposal!” she grumbled. “I can’t get it to work!”

“Oh that old thing?” Granny Smith asked with a wave of her hoof. “That’s always been broken. Ain’t no point in trying to get it to work.”

“I know that Granny,” Applejack began, “but now it’s been clogging up worse’n ever!” she explained. “The sink drains real slowlike and there’s no way to get it to let out the water save for takin’ a plunger to it every time y’all wanna wash your hooves or rinse the dishes.” She huffed. “And without a disposal to clear out the mess, I don’t know how to fix it proper.”

“We can get a plumber to come by sometime this week” Granny Smith shrugged. “It’s no big thing.”

“Or...” Big Macintosh said, clearing his thick throat, “Why not let Applebloom try and fix it?”

Applebloom blinked. “M-me?”

“Hey yeah!” Applejack grinned. “Y’all said yer cutie mark was for mechanics, right?”

“W-well, yeah but-”

“That’ll be put to good use ‘round the farm, I’m sure!” Applejack said with a cheerful nod. “Why not start by givin’ us a demonstration on this here varmint?” she said, mock kicking at the broken appliance.

Applebloom gulped as all the eyes in the kitchen turned on her. She sweated a little at their expectant stares. The little filly desperately wanted to refuse; to come up with some reason why she couldn’t fix the pipes. Her cutie mark was for being a robot, not a plumber. But she couldn’t let her family know that. Who knows how they’d react?

But now she was being called out on her little fib. She couldn’t refuse. If she did, her family would get suspicious and maybe catch her in her lie. But if she took them up on the challenge and she failed at fixing the disposal, they’d know that her cutie mark wasn’t in mechanics. And Celestia only knew what questions would follow after that.

“Applebloom?” Applejack asked, looking at her with a concerned glance, her head tilted. Applebloom snapped out of her reverie with a shake of her head, realizing that she’d gone stock still.

“Um...” The filly stammered, “I guess I can give it a try.” Applebloom trotted up to the cabinet under the sink, dripping with cold sweat.

“That’s my gal!” Applejack cheered, oblivious to the filly’s discomfort.

Applebloom took a deep breath, shivering a little as she slid under the sink to get a good look at the disposal unit.

“Y’all see the problem?” Applejack called from above her.”

“Shh!” The filly snapped, her nerves practically screaming as she looked over the disposal unit. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ she repeated in her head over and over again.

“Let her work.” She heard Granny Smith say to Applejack as she lay there, belly up under the sink staring at the faulty disposal.

Applebloom sighed, her mind spinning. ‘They’re gonna find me out and throw me out of the family. I’m gonna end up on the street, or worse yet in a traveling sideshow circus being whipped by ponies callin’ me some sorta foal hunter or somethi- wait a minute...

The filly frowned as her eyes began to glow. Before her eyes, a green, semi-transparent three-dimensional diagram of the disposal unit appeared before her eyes, spinning around and labeling various components in a language that was both unfamiliar and yet legible to her.

“What.” Applebloom stated flatly.

“Everything okay down there, sis?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, yeah...” Applebloom said softly. “Just... takin’ the thing in.” she muttered, watching the diagram spin before her. As the diagram spun, one little spot in the diagram was revealed to be red and flashing slightly. “That must be the problem.” Applebloom murmured to herself.

“What’s that, child?” Granny Smith asked. “Y’all found the problem?”

“Maybe...” Applebloom said, reaching an arm around the disposal unit and fumbling around. “Give me a sec.”

Applebloom felt around the disposal unit, looking for the problem, occasionally wiggling herself further under the sink as she searched for the red flashing part in the diagram. After a few minutes of searching, she found it. A loose panel hung off of the disposal unit where a few loose wires had slipped out. “I think I found the problem!” she called out. It was no wonder that her family couldn’t find this little panel. It was in a tiny crevice behind the main s-bend. There was no way an adult pony could fit back here unless they actually called a plumber to remove the pipes altogether.

“There’s a loose panel with a few broken wires back here. Looks like a mouse might’ve chewed them at some point.” Applebloom called out to her family. “I can try to fix it if you like.”

Applejack looked to her family. “Maybe we should call somepony then.” She shook her head. “If it’s a problem with the thing’s wiring we don’t want her getting’ shocked or nothin.’”

Big Macintosh cleared his throat. “The disposal’s turned off, right?” he asked softly.

Applejack blinked. “Uh... yeah?”

“Let her fix it.”

Applejack frowned. “Are you sure Big Mac? I don’t want my sister to get her cutie mark only to be electrocuted the same night.”

Big Mac shook his head. “If’n the thing is turned off there’s no electricity runnin’ through it. She’ll be fine. I want to see her fix the thing.”

Applejack eyed her brother warily. “Are you sure she’ll be okay, Big Mac?”

He nodded. “She’ll be fine. Let her have this.”

AJ sighed, looking back and forth between her brother and the sink. “Alright, Bloom. Go ahead an’ try to fix it.” She shuffled a hoof. “Y’all need us to bring you any tools?”

As Applebloom tapped the broken wires, She jumped as she felt something open in her hoof. “No no, not now!” she squeaked.

“What was that?” Applejack asked.

“Um... n-no thanks! I got it!” Applebloom stammered, now literally dripping with sweat as her hoof started to unfold and shift around. “C’mon stop it!” she whispered sharply at her own limb as it continued to twist and unfold, revealing the metallic fingers she bore in her other form.

Applebloom looked around at the tight space she was in. If she changed here she’d probably break apart the whole kitchen fixture! Applebloom couldn’t help but think of the terrified, angry faces of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle when she first changed back at the spaceship. The last thing in the world that she wanted was to see that face on Applejack and the rest of her family.

She begged and pleaded internally for the transformation to stop before it got any further. Her limb ignored her pleas as flesh and fur gave way to unforgiving metals Her new fingers splayed apart revealing wires and cogs where her hoof had been.

“Applebloom?” Applejack called from the kitchen. “You okay in there? It sounds like y’all are clankin’ around with the pipes.”

Applebloom’s eye twitched as her other forelimb began to follow her first hoof, fingers revealing themselves and flesh splitting and flipping to reveal metal. “J-just fine, sis!” she stammered.

“Alright, if y’all are sure.” Applejack said, softly.

Please make it stop. Please make it stop. Please make it stop.’ Applebloom repeated to herself over and over, her eyes clenched tightly shut.

The filly was in such a panic that she didn’t even notice that her limbs had complied with her.

It took a few moments, but eventually the filly allowed herself to open her eyes. She blinked as she looked herself over in the small space. She was still a pony for the most part; still her diminutive size. The only thing that had changed about her this time was her forelimbs, which looked more like her arms in her other, robotic form.

“Huh.” Applebloom muttered, lifting one of her fingered limbs and wiggling it around in front of her face. She let out the breath she’d been holding. “I didn’t need that,” she said, scooting herself into a sitting position beneath the sink.

“Applebloom?” AJ asked.

“I’m fine. Everything is fine.” Applebloom said, looking at the diagram that was still floating in front of her eyes. The hologram had zoomed out on the rotating, holographic disposal, now showing a display of one of her robotic arms as well. The arm in question was shown moving back and forth, placing the palm on the red, broken component.

“It’s just y’all have been takin’ a while in there.” Applejack said.

“Yeah...” Applebloom said softly, looking at her hand. “I was confused for a little bit, but I think I see what I have to do now.” She said to her sister.

“Okay.”

Applebloom took a deep breath. “Let’s see if this works.” She muttered, lifting one of her robotic arms and placing her palm upon the broken disposal panel. Immediately she felt her palm opening up and something pushing its way down her arm. The whole process felt incredibly awkward as she felt little pistons sliding down and out of her limb, clamps fastening her hand to the unit.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Applebloom shouted as she felt something pumping out of her into the appliance. Her head spun as her hand seemed to spin and change atop the disposal, repairing wires and broken pieces of casing with tweezers and miniature torches beneath her hand. It was like an entire Swiss army knife was stored beneath her palm, automatically fixing the broken appliance without her having to focus on anything.

At the same time, Applebloom started to feel a little light headed. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw the disposal changing a little bit; like it was getting shiny and new again despite years of disuse beneath the apple family sink. It could have just been the dizziness and shock from her body surprising her yet again that day, but she thought she saw new little gears and pistons and levers and things popping up on various parts of the device. She shook her head, attempting to reorient herself. She was probably imagining things.

And then just as the process started, it abruptly stopped. Applebloom’s hand unfastened itself from the disposal and her hands quickly transformed back into her familiar forelegs. Taking a deep breath, Applebloom craned her neck and observed her handiwork. The panel seemed to be fastened back on properly, and flipping it open, the wires inside seemed to be properly attached and mended.

“I think I got it.” Applebloom said, stunned. “Help me out, wouldja?”

A moment later, Applebloom felt hooves wrapping around her hind hooves and tail, pulling gently upon her and yanking her out from beneath the sink. As she fully emerged from under the fixture, she quickly righted herself and shook her mane out of her eyes.

“Did you fix it, Bloom?” Applejack asked, dusting her sister off.

“I think so.” She said, nodding. “Give it a shot and see.” She nodded to Granny Smith, who held a plate of half-finished fritters courtesy of Scootaloo. Granny Smith scraped the fritters off the plate into the sink and hit the disposal switch. The grinding noise of the disposal’s little blades rung out from the sink as the fritters were ground into a manageable crumble and flushed down the sink.

“Y’all did it, Applebloom!” Applejack said, hugging her sister tightly. “I knew you could!”

“I guess I did,” Appleloom chuckled. “I didn’t know if I could for a bit.” She blushed under AJ’s crushing hug.

“I always said there was more to you than meets the eye, young’n,” Granny Smith said, trotting over and patting the filly on the head.

More than meets the eye…’ The words of Yoketron echoed in the filly’s head, causing her to shudder a little, though she did her best to maintain a straight face, her eyes flicking down to her hooves, which not minutes ago had automatically seemed to not just fix, but improve upon the rickety old disposal that had never worked. She chuckled a little, attempting to maintain her composure. “Thanks, Granny.” The wizened old mare gave her a kiss on the forehead in response.

Big Macintosh lumbered up to her, looking down at her with a gentle smile. “Good work.” He said simply.

“Thanks, Big Mac!” Applebloom beamed.

The draft stallion leaned down to her and nuzzled her. Applebloom hugged him around his large neck. Big Mac lingered for a moment next to her ear as she did so. He whispered into her ear.

We need to have a long talk tomorrow morning.

Applebloom blinked as her brother pulled his head away. Big Macintosh turned and strode out of the kitchen towards the stairs. The little filly couldn’t help but feel frightfully nervous at his vague comment.

Applejack didn’t notice the exchange at all. “Hoo-wee, Applebloom. Y’all got pretty dusty under that sink there. Why don’t y’all take a shower and hoof it onto bed?” She slapped her sister over the withers, winding the poor filly. “We’ll finish cleaning up down here.”

“S-sure...” Applebloom’s ears folded back. “It’s been a long day. Bed sounds nice.” She said softly beginning to trot towards the stairs.

“And Applebloom,” Applejack said, her voice causing Applebloom to pause. The littly filly turned to look at her. Applejack grinned. “I want y’all to know, I’m real proud of you.”

Applebloom smiled nervously. “Thanks, sis.”


* * *


The battleship Darksyde flew through space like a shark swam through water. The vessel was silent in the vacuum, its spires and spines glittering in the starlight as it approached a small planet. The predator approached its prey stealthily, locking into orbit around its moon without anything below being the wiser.

“Commander Shockwave, sir,” One of the Vehicons on the bridge said to the massive, cycloptic figure in the center of the room. “We have reached 8090-P.”

Shockwave nodded. “Call for Blitzwing and Dead End. I would speak with them.”

“At once, sir!” The Vehicon saluted and turned back to his station, punching a few buttons and dials.

Shockwave stood before the main viewscreen, looking down upon the planet below. It was reasonably similar to many other planets in the galaxy. Comprised mostly of water, continents comprised of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock, a volcanic mantle center. Atmosphere roughly 40% Oxygen and 56% Nitrogen with trace amounts of Carbon Dioxide and other gases. Ultimately disappointing. Shockwave had hoped that a planet with such a significant cosmological oddity for a sun would turn out to be at least somewhat different than most life-supporting planets in the galaxy.

Shockwave went over the data he received from the planet a few times until he heard the door to the bridge whoosh open behind him. The monstrous ‘con turned to see Dead End shuffle into the room, followed by Blitzwing who strutted proudly up to him and greeted him with a salute.

“Heil, Shockwave!” Blitzwing announced. “I have been looking over ze transmissions from ze planet for you and I have found somezing qvite interesting.”

“Report, Blitzwing.” Shockwave said, nonplussed.

“It is fascinating.” Blitzwing went on. “Zere is some sort of interference around ze planet, causing any lesser signals from ze planet to become garbled. Ve suspect zat ze only reason ve vere capable of detecting ze distress beacon in ze first place vas because it vas meant to be an interstellar signal. Localized signals, zough, are completely indecipherable. If zere is any trace of energon or Autobot presence on zis planet, ve cannot detect it from orbit.”

“If we land on this planet, Shockwave” Dead End rumbled, his voice as low and empty as ever, “We’re going in blind. There’s no way to know where the Autobots will be or how many of them there are.” He cleared his throat. “This puts us at a tactical disadvantage.”

“Hardly.” Shockwave said, turning to the viewscreen. “We know where at least some of them will be. Obviously it would take an Autobot to send out the distress signal in the first place.”

Blitzwing narrowed his optics. “It seems odd zat se Autobots vould send out an antiqvated and traceable distress signal after all zis time. Perhaps, herr Shockwave, zis is a trap?”

“It could also be an autobot with valuable artifacts only having just woken up after eons in stasis,” Shockwave said coldly. “Or perhaps a group of Autobots managed to keep themselves safe and out of the war for a great deal of time, but have recently found themselves in distress.” The giant robot waved him off. “Nevertheless, the idea of a trap has already been considered. That is why I am not sending you or Brawl down to the planet. A direct approach would end disastrously if this were to turn out to be a trap.” He made a motion for Dead End to step forward. The Decepticon scout did so with a roll of his eyes.

“However,” Shockwave continued, “Dead End and Waspinator are much more capable of stealth and moving about undetected. The two of them will scope the area out and determine if there is any threat at the point of the signal’s origin.”

“If you insist, Lord Shockwave.” Dead End sighed.

The violet cyclops reached out to grab two headsets from the control panel, handing them to the scout. “Take these communication devices.” He bade him.

“How crude.” Dead End sneered, looking at the headsets with distaste.

“Until we can run a proper analysis of the interference that permeates the atmosphere on the surface,” Shockwave explained, “You will have to use these to communicate with the Darksyde. If you were not to wear them, we would have no way of hearing your short-range reports from the surface, nor would we be able to send you a ground bridge if you were to get into trouble. Take it and give the other to Waspinator.”

Dead End sighed. “Very well then.”

Shockwave nodded. “You will groundbridge down to inspect the point of origin in sixty monocycles. Get whatever you need ready. Dismissed.”

Dead End bowed and retreated out of the room, leaving Shockwave and Blitzwing. The Medibot looked up at his giant commander. “And I, herr Shockwave?”

“Get the Medical wing ready, Blitzwing.” Shockwave said. “If nothing else, I am sure that Waspinator will need it.”

Blitzwing bowed. “Jawohl, herr Shockwave. By your command,” he said quickly, ducking out of the room as well.

Shockwave turned back to the viewscreen depicting the slowly rotating planet once again. The featureless face remained a mystery to all the vehicons who spared a look at him, his singular eye locked upon the flashing Autobot signal in the middle of a vast continent of green.

The data adds up.’ Shockwave thought to himself, remaining as stony and silent as ever. ‘If the answer lies anywhere in the galaxy, it is here


* * *


Applebloom sat on her bed gazing at her two front hooves. The two little yellow limbs honestly seemed innocent enough at the moment. They were just hooves. Cylindrical, fleshy, fuzzy hooves. Everypony had them. Every pony, zebra, donkey, mule and hippogriff had them.

And yet, the words of Granny Smith and Yoketron echoed in her head over and over again, reminding her that beneath their innocent surface, something much more astounding lay.

More than meets the eye.

Applebloom groaned and fell flat back on her bed, not sure if she wanted to be anything more than what met the eye. Just one day of knowing that she was actually an alien robot in disguise and suddenly everything got a lot harder and more confusing. Now she had a great big secret to hide from her family and friends around town. A secret which she just knew in the back of her head was going to get out sooner or later. No secret was safe for long in a small town like Ponyville, and especially not when you slept under the same roof with a living, breathing lie detector.

And it wasn’t just the fact that she had a secret to hide from her family and the citizens of Ponyville. As scared as she was of them finding out about her secret and ostracizing her, she was frankly even more scared of herself. Applebloom’s perhaps mechanical heart (to be fair, she wasn’t even sure) thudded in her chest as she dampened the bed with her sweat. In just the first few hours after she discovered she was an alien robot she had done so many extraordinary things. She’d transformed into a bipedal, mechanical thing at least as tall as Princess Celestia. She’d scanned and transformed into a wagon. She’d managed to outmaneuver and outrace Scootaloo in a race through Ponyville. And less than an hour and a half ago, she’d fixed the kitchen sink and upgraded it, merely by touching her mechanical hand to it and interfacing with it. On top of all of that, she had knowledge of a world light years away that was at war with itself, but it hurt to actually access any of that knowledge.

Applebloom sat there, gazing up at her limbs as she held them over her head and she wondered, ’what else could I do?’

There was an expression that Granny Smith favored: “...as dangerous as giving a loaded gun to a small foal.” Applebloom had never really considered the saying before. After all, there was no way it could apply to her, since guns, bullets, tanks, and most machines of war had long since fallen out of use since the golden age began back a little over 100 years ago. Since then, Equestria had been able to survive perfectly on little more than spears, swords, and magic (this knowledge all courtesy of Miss Cheerilee’s history lessons).

Now though, she started to see that expression in a different light. The gun wasn’t literal, the bullets not physical. Granny Smith merely spoke of power, and its misuse. The misuse of great power could have terrible, far reaching effects. And the foal in question who held the power wouldn’t misuse it because they were especially malicious, but because they did not comprehend the power they held in their hooves. In the hands of such a foal, who knew what could happen to innocent ponies, or even to themselves, if they wielded such dangerous power.

Applebloom was a foal, and right now, she was holding the mother of all guns.

The filly grunted to herself as she rolled off the edge of the bed and paced over to a mirror up against her door. She looked herself in the eye, tilting her head back and forth. She looked the same. She lifted a hoof and pulled down the skin around her eye to reveal a sliver of the organic-looking pink flesh underneath. Was it really organic, or was it just some sort of freaky machine thing made to look that way? Applebloom had no idea.

She opened her mouth to look down her own throat. Again, it appeared to be organic. Saliva dripped from the roof of her mouth and her tongue wiggled in her lower jaw. Her throat undulated as she swallowed and breathed. Everything seemed to be in place.

And yet she knew, just under the skin, there was little more than cold, hard metal. She’d seen it. She’d felt it. So had Sweetie Belle, who’d sat in her as she raced home. She was a mechanical thing. A monster from another world. A creature with no place here among normal ponies like Applejack or Big Macintosh or Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle. She was a living lie.

Wasn’t she? Was she? Everything she looked at right now told her that she was a pony. Was that just a disguise or was that who she really was?

The thought made her head hurt.

The filly grunted, annoyed at the whole thing. Yoketron had said that she was a ‘child of two worlds’ or something like that. Was that even possible? She didn’t know of any ponies that were capable of transforming into metal minotaur-troll robots. Okay, maybe Changelings could pull that off, but that wasn’t any better. Was that even a thing she could get away with? Being a ‘child of both Cybertron and Equestria?’

Applebloom huffed as she gazed into her own eyes. She could barely tell the truth from the lies anymore. She looked back down at her hooves again, lifting one off of the ground and bringing it in front of her face, slowly touching it to the mirror. She didn’t feel like going out and gallivanting across the stars, fighting a war she didn’t understand. She just wanted to live a life out in Ponyville with her family and friends. But could she do that or would that just be a desperate attempt to live a lie? The anxiety of it all made her head pound. The filly shook her head, trying to ward off the impending headache.

The only way to find the truth would be to strip away the lies.

The little yellow filly took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror once again, steeling herself. She felt herself shift, her orientation suddenly upright on her hind legs, as the familiar clanking sound rang out from her body once again. The transformation was over in mere seconds, as always, and a tall, two-legged robot looked itself in the glowing, pupilless eyes once more.

The robotic filly blinked, looking at herself in the mirror. She hardly felt any different, save for the new center of gravity. There was no massive epiphany or rushing sense of enlightenment. She felt just about the same in this form as she did in her pony form. If anything it only made her more frustrated.

With an irritated growl, the little fem-bot turned on her heel to march back to the bed when she suddenly gasped, her eyes widening.

She wasn’t in her room anymore.

Before her lay a vast expanse of metal, as far as the eye could see. Razor sharp shards of scrap metal littered the flat, steel desert and smoldering craters pocked the landscape. Mortars whistled through the air, causing bursts of fire to blast into existence off in the distance as the silhouettes of thousands of beings, just like Applebloom only much, much bigger, fought in a melee of twisted metal, severed limbs, and spilled energon. Robots the size of skyscrapers stomped through the hordes, the ground shaking and thunder rolling out with each ponderous step. The smaller ones could be seen climbing up their limbs and firing bursts of energy into their faces. Bodies were blown open by cannon fire and explosions, sending metallic organs across the battlefield. Massive war machines rolled through the brawl, firing superheated rounds and blasting through dozens of soldiers, shooting aircraft out of the sky to crash on the fighters below. Far on the horizon, a maginificent city of steel and glass burned, the smoke and ash blotting out the sky.

If the sounds of battle were deafening, though, it was only drowned out by the shrieks of the dead and dying. The acrid smell of burning fuel and scorched metal irritated Applebloom’s senses, and the smoke and ash made the air so thick she could taste it. The robotic filly felt sick at the sight of it all. It felt like she was about to lose the fritters she’d eaten when suddenly a burst of purple energy whizzed past her head. Applebloom yelped, spinning on her heel to see a horrible white figure striding menacingly toward her across the steel battlefield, a razor-toothed grin on his face.

Applebloom took a step back as the monster approached her. Other robots attempted to dash towards him from all around her, only to be blown to pieces by the massive cannon on his arm. An army at his back protected his flank from oncoming attackers. Applebloom backed up further, only to trip and fall over a fallen robot’s head, landing hard on her rump as the monster loomed over her. The tyrant stood five times her height, the evil sneer not leaving his face, until a crashing and crunching sound came from behind him.

A massive vehicle, unlike any Applebloom had ever seen before crashed straight through the army at the tyrant’s back. Robots were sent flying everywhere, their limbs crushed and leaking as the massive war vehicle mowed the dark army down. The monster turned to see the commotion, as the war machine turned into a red and blue robot, a gun held in his massive hand. The champion shot the enormous cannon, firing bursts of plasma into several other soldiers, killing each of them on the spot.

“Prime…” The warlord snarled, his face distorted into a grimace.

The red and blue champion straightened up, glaring at the white tyrant. “One shall stand. One shall fall.”

The white one chuckled humorlessly, lifting his arms out to his sides. “Why throw away your life so recklessly?” he asked mockingly.

The one called Prime narrowed his eyes. “That’s a question you should ask yourself, Megatronus.”

The warlord’s face curled into a furious grimace at his words, his razor teeth grinding against each other. “No!” He snarled, his fists clenching as he ran at the champion. “I’ll crush you with my bare hands!” the monster roared, swinging a hook at the hero’s face, metal clashing against metal.

The two titanic robots faced each other down, every other combatant giving them a wide berth. Robots gathered around them in a wide circle, some of them pumping their fists in the air, shouting a chorus of “Megatron! Megatron!” Some tried to rush to the aid of the one called Prime but were held back by other, older bots, claiming that it was ‘Prime’s fight.’

Prime grabbed a hold of the one called Megatron’s head and slammed it right into his knee. Megatron staggered backwards as Prime grabbed ahold of his shoulders and spun him around, hurling him into a crashed warship. Megatron made a sickening crunch, his body making a deep dent in the side of the craft. Prime advanced on his prey, dashing towards the fallen warlord, when Megatron suddenly stood up and hurled a razor-sharp hunk of metal at his chest.

Prime was blown back as the metal pierced his armor, energon leaking out of the wound in his chest. Megatron leaped towards him, sailing high into the air, ready to come down on Prime with both fists as his enemy was weakened, but Prime surprised him with an uppercut straight to the jaw. As Megatron landed flat on his back in front of Applebloom’s hiding spot, the champion leaped onto Megatron, pinning him down and punching him in the face repeatedly.

The assault didn’t slow Megatron down. He pulled out a plasma knife and slashed at Prime’s wound, forcing him to back off as sparks flew from his damaged chest. Megatron tried to kick Prime’s legs out from under him, only for him to leap over the attack and land several yards back on his feet, still clutching his chest. Rolling back upright, Megatron charged his foe, slamming into him with his shoulder and pinning him against the spaceship. The two of them grappled, testing each other’s strength. Megatron slowly managed to force Optimus into a kneeling position, though, bearing down upon his enemy.

“I’ll rip out your optics!” He cried, his face twisted into a raving snarl.

As Megatron’s hand closed in on his eyes, Optimus suddenly slammed his head forward into Megatron’s gut. The white monster stumbled back as Optimus lept to his feet with another mighty uppercut, launching Megatron clean off the ground.

“Finish him off Prime!” A white and orange medical bot shouted from the sidelines. “Do it now!”

Megatron groaned as Prime limped over to pick up his massive gun. The champion levelled it at the tyrant’s head.
Megatron lifted a hand to his face. “No more, Optimus Prime! Grant me mercy, I beg of you!”

The hero narrowed his eyes into a glare. “You who fought without mercy now plead for it?” he growled. “I thought you were made of sterner stuff.”

Just as he pulled the trigger, though, Megatron rolled to the side, righting himself and firing a shot from the massive cannon on his arm. The blast hit Prime square in the gut, punching a hole through the side of his body.




NO!” Applebloom shrieked, sweat pouring down her body in waves. The filly panted, gasping for breath as she shook her head in a futile attempt to orient herself. She was back in her room, lying on the floor back in her pony form in front of her mirror. The filly’s heart pounded in her chest as she looked around her room. Same old bed, same old toy chest, same old pictures on her same old bureau… everything was where it should be, save for the puddle of terrified sweat underneath her.

The farm filly took a deep breath, attempting to shake off her massive pounding headache. The pain felt worse than anything back at the ship. Whatever dream she’d just had must have been something from Cybertron’s past, and if what Yoketron said was any indication, not long before he lifted off with the protoforms. Experiencing it in her dreams was painful in more than one way, and the aftershocks were no walk in the park either.

Applebloom moaned, rising shakily to her feet. Her head throbbed and her ears rang as she attempted to stumble back into bed when her stomach suddenly lurched.

“Whoa, Nelly…” Applebloom managed to croak out. “I think those fritters are coming back on me,” she managed to burp, stumbling to her door like a sailor after his first night on shore leave or Rainbow Dash whenever AJ brought out her ‘special’ cider.

The filly opened her door as quietly as she could, but in her state that equated to ‘dozens of decibels louder than normal,’ and attempted to sneak down the hallway to vacate the contents of her stomach. The filly’s vision blurred as she stumbled down the hallway, her head still feeling like it was being used as a drum in a marching band. She knew, though, that if she could just make it to the bathroom, she’d be alright.

She didn’t make it past the stairs.

Just as she passed the stairway on the way to the bathroom, her hooves decided to give out on her. The filly lost her balance and fell head over hooves down the stairway, each thwack against the wooden fixture adding a new layer of pain to the poor little pony. After several knocks to the head on the way down, Applebloom suddenly heard a horrifyingly familiar clanking noise.

Chnk-Chnk-Chinka-Chnk!

Suddenly she felt like she was tumbling in a different manner. The bumps became a more consistent (but no less painful) rolling sensation as gravity continued to have its way with her. The robotic filly tumbled and fell, landing in a heap with a metallic crash at the bottom of the stairs.

The fritters that so disagreed with her were vacated then and there at the bottom of the steps as Applebloom attempted to regain her balance. Her head was spinning and pounding in agony. But none of that compared to what happened next.

“Applebloom? Is that you?” A voice called from the next room. “Y’all okay?”

She gasped, attempting to change back into filly mode, but the pain in her head was making her too dazed. She couldn’t change back quick enough. She could only look on through her spinning vision as her sister rounded the corner

Applejack gaped at the sight staring at her with wide, fearful eyes.

“...Applebloom?”

Author's Note:

(Authors notes will be added as soon as I am conscious and not nodding off as I am typing. Thank you for your patience.)


Say it with me, folks...

"THAT TOOK LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE"

I'm sorry guys. I don't know why I can't seem to get on the ball with this. I'd LIKE to put out more chapters more often but it's honestly hard to keep motivated, largely for personal reasons that don't need to be brought up in the here and now.

As far as the chapter goes, I had a little bit of trouble writing the Decepticons' part. That was what made it take so long. I remember I started right after I finished chapter 3, but I got to the bit with the Decepticons and then hit a wall. Instead of trying to force my way through the wall I started working on other fics and, well, I guess I just sorta forgot about it... >_<

I'm back now though. I'm working my way through chapter 5 even now, though this next chapter makes me nervous. Applejack is going to end up doing some things and I'm a little concerned about how people are going to end up interpreting it. HOPEFULLY this next chapter won't take too long, but I might end up redoing it a few times to get it right.

Hope it won't take as long until next time.