Re:Resurrection

by drunkenpandaren

Prologue: Brothers

"Captain," saluted Flash Sentry, as his commanding officer stepped up with a grin. "How's the leg, sir?"

"Good as new," replied Shining Armor, tapping his hoof against the floor. "You did fine work filling in for me, Flash. Fine work indeed. Keep this up and you'll be headed for a promotion in no time."

Flash blushed a little and nodded. "Sir, I just did paperwork. Office stuff, sir."

"It's fine; you and your team handled it like a champ." Shining Armor smiled. "I'm just here for a surprise inspection, before I head down to Ponyville for the day. Cadance will be taking over for the time being, if you need anything from the guard."

"Yes sir," said Flash. "And thank you sir for letting us handle things."

Shining grinned, clapping him on the shoulder briefly before heading down the hallway from the MAXIMAL lounge. He got no less than ten meters when his earpiece chirruped three times. He paused. Normally, he would answer it, but he was out of uniform, and on leave too. Rehabilitation was taking a mite longer than usual, because of his insistence of working on his leg strength again. "Shining Armor, go ahead."

"Apologies for disturbing you, Captain Armor, but you're needed at UNIT for a brief moment," came the call of the Old Brig's daughter.

"On my way." Heading over to a nearby wall, he pressed his hoof against a flat marble panel which read his hoofprint. The wall dinged and slid open, revealing a flight of stairs which he descended down before repeating the process. Soon he came into the main hallways of UNIT, the Unicorn Intelligence Team.

Kate Lethbridge-Stiffhoof stood around the War Map waiting for him. There were no Autobots this time, but that didn't put his mind at ease as she gave him a easy smile. "Apologies for the call, Captain, but we noticed something unusual in Grid B-2."

"B-2's Ponyville," said Shining with a sigh. "You sure you didn't pick up Pinkie Pie playing with explosives again?"

"We're pretty certain it was not Miss Pie," acknowledged Kate, rotating the map. "It seems that a local farmer by the name of Carrot Top discovered something in her neighbour's fields an hour ago. We have a team from UNIT down there already, but since it concerns our main allies, I would like you to check it out before heading out on vacation."

"It appears to be an old Cybertronian pod of some kind," said the aid, a bookish mare with mousey brown hair and a thick scarf wrapped around her body several times to accommodate for the length. He remembered her name as Quick Winded. "However, the composition of it seems to be of a slightly strange origin. Our team has said it has a off-set quantum signature."

Shining's brow furrowed at that. "Off-set? Like it doesn't match our own? We're not looking at another dimension's trash bin are we?"

"That's what we'd like to find out. If you don't mind, check up on it, and send a missive back via dragon fire. We will ground-bridge you there."

Shining Armor nodded. "I'll grab my saddlebags and I'll be back then."

=====

Whitetail Woods was by now, no stranger to the sight of a ground-bridge opening up as Shining Armor stepped through. It closed up and he ruffled his fur a little before heading north, away from the woods.

Passing by several ponies, he came to the farm and was immediately stopped by a guard who did the quick Changeling check before he allowed Shining inside. "What are we looking at?" asked Shining, as the huge device had been uprooted.

Huge by pony standards, absolutely tiny by Cybertronian. It stood a good five feet shorter than most pods and ships of the size, and it was designed in such a way that it was without seams. "Poured die-cast construction, as usual," said one of the techs. "We've figured out the commands: basic Cybertronian, but the programming is a little off. It's like it's meant for something more advanced."

"Well, it can't be a relic. All of the relics are accounted for on this planet," muttered Shining as the pod was probed by some devices from Torchwood. "Anything else?"

"Just that it doesn't seem to have any power. Whatever's inside it doesn't want to come out." Night Light, the aid shook his head. "We should be thankful for that, though."

Protoforms on a whole weren't evil to begin with, but a quick reprogramming and a little CNA cloning and/or activation and boom, you had a huge mess on the side.

"I think I got it," said another tech, this one named Tinker Toy, as he hit the button.

The device whirred to life and Shining's men advanced carefully. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen until a device slid out of the side of it. "Now scanning," it proclaimed in a feminine voice as it started to sweep a energy beam around the area.

"Stand your ground, men, this isn't an attack," exclaimed Shining as the men raised their spears. "It's a scanner. The protoform is basing a new form off of the local vehicles."

"I don't think it's doing that, sir," said Tinker Toy as he continued to work on the device and it continued its scan. "It's... looking for something..."

"DNA matches found. Compiling list of known species." reported the device as several animals including ponies were mixed and matched. "Filtering and construction commencing. Protoform creation in ten cycles."

"I guess we wait." said Shining Armor, feeling like his day just got weird.

Ten long minutes passed and soon, the device dinged like it was a toaster oven. "Completed. Releasing protoform."

"Easy, boys," said Shining Armor as the lid began to hiss open. "Don't make any sudden moves, and let it get its bearings."

From the depths of the pod, there was movement. A low groan filled the air and then a large red hoof thudded along the side. Pulling itself up, a huge pony, easily the size of Celestia herself, raised himself out of the pod, or at least Shining figured it was a he. His size suggested a male protoform, and he sported dark blue hair. Shifting, he held his head as he adjusted to the light. "Where... am I...?" asked the pony, and Shining Armor's breath hitched in his throat.

The pony turned vivid blue eyes onto them all, and inquired, "Where... who...?"

"You're... on Equestria, Ponyville. Your pod was found buried deep underground, the recent events must have pushed your pod to the surface," said Shining, finding his voice. "Is it really you?"

"I do not know who you believe me to be," replied the pony. "But.... I know my name.. I am Orion Pax, and I am an archivist, from Cybertron. A historian, if you will." He looked at his hooves. "Though, I do not know why I am in this form, or why my alternate mode is organic in nature."

"Well... Orion, I've got a lot to tell you," said Shining, feeling emotions choke up in his throat. "If you would just follow me, I know a place we can discuss things."

"Of course." Shifting out of the pod, he slid to the ground ungainly. It was the first time that Shining noticed the cutie mark on his flank: a Autobot symbol, but un-personalized at best. "It seems I have trouble working my motivators and servos. If you would allow me a moment to orient myself with my body, then I will accompany you."

"Sure, take your time."

=====

The space-bridge was a two-way street for ships to pass through. Not many Autobots could make the travel unaided. But there was one ship, however, that could make it easily. And it slipped through when a space-bridge was open between worlds.

Coming into high orbit, the ship transformed into a large grey, violet and brass robot. Gazing down on the world, Megatron looked down on it with tired eyes. "Equestria," he said to himself. "How long has it been since I set foot on this world? Too long..."

Holding his chest where he knew the former heart of Unicron had beat, he clenched it. "Prime. Even now you give me reason to return to this planet of sunshine and rainbows. Let us hope I am not too late."

And transforming back into jet mode, he began the uncomfortable process of re-entry.

=====

Resurrection

=====

Twilight was trying to calm her nerves as she picked up her telephone. Dialing the rotary phone, she hooked up into the network that had been installed into the tree house and for a moment, the three-chirrup sound of connecting could be heard. "Bee here," replied Bumblebee.

"Just checking in, Bumblebee," said Twilight and Bee sighed on the other end. "How's Spike?"

"I can see him from here. He and the others are having fun here at the festival. Spike picked you something up in Baltimare. So far, so good. Has Shiny dropped by yet?"

"No, and I'm worried. He's almost late. Maybe I should go out and find him," said Twilight on the other end. She looked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall. He was getting late after all.

"He'll be fine. He's never without his cell and he'll keep in contact with everyone else," soothed Bumblebee.

"I guess you're right, I-- Oh there he is. And he brought a friend. Okay, I'll talk to you later, Bumblebee." And with a click, Twilight hung up as she went to answer the door.

His visitor was pretty large, even larger than Big Mac was and Mac was a large pony. "This is your sister, Shining Armor?" inquired the large pony and Shining nodded.

"Hey, Twiley, this is Opt, er, Orion Pax. He's not from around here," said Shining.

"It's nice to meet you, Orion. Like the constellation?" inquired Twilight, letting the pair inside.

"I am uncertain what you mean by that," said Orion, confused.

"She means the stars," said Shining, as he set his saddlebags to the side. "There's a constellation called Orion the Hunter."

"Ah. Well, I am a archivist by trade. What you would call a librarian." At this, Twilight startled in delight. "You are familiar with the trade?"

"Quite, actually; it's one of my passions," said Twilight excitedly. "How many books have you read before?"

"Many in the halls of Iacon, though the memories now are surprisingly blurry."

An awkward pause followed as Shining said, "Twiley, help me out in the kitchen? Orion, why don't you get settled in? We'll bring out something to eat. Maybe peanut butter sandwiches."

"Okay, nice meeting you, Orion." Following her brother into the kitchen, Twilight watched Shining pull things out of the cupboard. "You're worried," she said.

"Is it that obvious?" he replied with a sigh. "Orion's... well he's... different."

"He looks like a regular pony to me," replied Twilight, peeking out into the library where Orion was working at trying to open a book with his hooves and failing miserably. "But I think you're not coming clean."

"I think he's a Cybertronian," replied Shining. "One with an organic Alt-Mode. Not only that... he calls himself Orion Pax. That was Optimus' name before the mantle of Prime was bestowed upon him."

"How can that be? Cadance told me that he had perished in the war."

"Not really perished, more like joined with the AllSpark. It's complicated, but there was always a chance his spark, the being that makes him Optimus, could have come back to us, in a new protoform. That's what was dug up. Which doesn't make sense either, since the boys at UNIT are studying it, and the object we found was far more advanced than we expected. There's too many variables and--"

"Shiny, stop," stated Twilight. "For one thing, you're rambling. Another... you're putting coffee on peanut butter."

Shining look down and he was holding a scoop of coffee over a peanut butter and jelly that was made from a large daisy. "Oh."

Throwing the food away and restarting, paying attention this time, he poured three glasses of milk. "You think I'm crazy, wanting Optimus back?"

"Not at all. If I died, you'd want me back too. I would as well." Twilight ruffled her wings and wrapped one around him carefully in a hug before retracting it. "But that's not a invite to die on me, Shining Armor."

Bringing the food out for Orion, the archivist had found a book on history and was already reading it when they showed up. "I find your history fascinating," he said, bookmarking his spot and closing the book. "Tell me, does your sun and moon actually rise and fall with the aid of your princesses?"

"Always has been, although in the past before them a team of unicorns used to do it," Twilight answered smoothly. "I hope you like peanut butter and jelly. It's all organic; crushed nuts and smooth fruit from Sweet Apple Acres."

Taking his food in his hooves, he carefully took a bite and nodded. "It is delicious."

Shining watched him eat at a measured pace as he levitated his own food and took a bite. "Best peanut butter and jelly around. Zap Apple Jam is the best and comes from Sweet Apple Acres."

"I will have to visit one day," said Orion. "There is much I have to learn." He then yawned deeply and the pair shared a look. They both knew that Cybertronians had shut down cycles, but to see them yawn...

"I've got a spare bed, though it was meant for Shining. We'll just have to sleep together like when we were kids," said Twilight. "I hope you like random wing-smacks at night, Shiny."

"I sleep with Cadance and she hogs the sheets, remember?" reminded Shining. "I'll be fine."

"I would not feel right imposing," said Orion, unsure.

"No imposition at all," replied Twilight. "We're happy to help."

Later that night, after Orion had retired with the history book to read, Shining and Twilight had pulled out the small laptop and connected to UNIT, where Ratchet was on the other end. "And that's the story, Ratchet. Thoughts?'

"Though we had several instances of Autobots, and even Decepticons, long gone return to us in the process of rebuilding our people, there has been no sign of Optimus' spark. One would assume that the chance of this being the same Optimus we know of is a one in a million chance. Furthermore, the Cybertronian pod that has been retrieved, is of a highly advanced system, one only theorized before the war. It was designed to utilize biological DNA, and fuse it with CNA of Cybertronians, creating a hybrid. But the technology was never perfected, often creating variants such as Fuzors or Transmetals, which quickly perished in the war when employed as weapons. To actually have a fully organic Cybertronian, one with the needs of biological creatures, is beyond our reach currently. Even Shockwave, as demented as he is, could only create Predacons, which require Energon to continue their survival."

"So the possibility that this could be a pod from the future is high," said Shining thoughtfully.

"Or even perhaps from an entirely different reality all together. We've seen this happen once before, with the way our world is linked with Equestrian City in that alternate Earth," added Ratchet. "For now, keep an eye on our guest. We will prepare on our end to receive him for testing in such a way as not to harm his body, or mind."

"Believe us, we all want answers. We'll keep in touch, Ratchet. Shining Armor out." Switching off the laptop feed, he looked at Twilight. "So..."

"He's your friend, Shining," said Twilight with a smile. "He'll be okay."

=====

The smoking crater marked the location of Megatron's arrival. Pushing through the atmosphere had hurt him more than expected, and he grit his teeth as he stumbled through the wilds. There was nothing he could do for it.

"It seems I have come down further than expected," remarked Megatron with a sniff and a distasteful expression for the foliage around him. "A jungle, no less. Far off the mark from the place one calls Ponyville."

"You're a long way from Ponyville," remarked a voice from the underbrush and Megatron whirled, arm cannon at the ready as a mare stepped out of the bushes. "And not a local, by any means."

"Hmph." His weapon powering down, he folded his arm. "And what do you know about this place, pony?"

"Well let's see: you're in possibly one of the most dangerous parts of Equestria, minus the Everfree Forest currently, for one. You've landed in the Tenochtitlan Basin, quite loudly, I might add." Tipping her hat, she added, "And you almost crushed my home with that landing."

"Tenochititlan. Yes. I am familiar with this part of the landmass. Attempts to dreg up Energon here in my... glory days were less than successful due to the locals." That accursed mongrel-ape and his cats. Wait... "I know you..."

"I figured you would," said the mare as she flew up to him. "Been a while, Megatron."

"Daring Do," he said with a smug realization. "You are looking less than scrapped than I last saw you."

"No thanks to you and your 'Cons. But that's what you get for mistaking one of your relics for ancient Aztec power symbols." Daring smirked a little. "What brings you back to this neck of the woods? Felt like chatting? Love the new look, by the way."

"It was not my intention to overhaul my frame, I assure you," snapped Megatron. "Now if you don't mind, I have someone to find."

"Suit yourself. Don't let the rest of Equestria blow you up in the meantime." With that bit of grim advice, Megatron took off as Daring pulled out a phone and called up a number. "It's Daring. Yes. Connect me to the Princess, Code M. Yeah, you heard me, Code M."

Comments

[Ksititan]

Very interesting. One question. What is the first story in this universe? I am very lost and am curios of where all of this tech and knowledge came from. Thanks in advance for the help.