Chapter 56-New Recruit
The next morning, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her young dragon assistant Spike stood outside the castle in Ponyville. Said ponies that inhabited the village ever since Twilight first arrived still as Celestia’s pupil were now beginning to awaken from their slumber.
As Pegasi filled the skies to clear away the nighttime clouds and Earth ponies and unicorns were preparing to open up their stores and fruit stands, all could only wonder just what it was the Princess of Friendship was doing just…standing there.
Not much attention was given to Princess Twilight, which was perfectly fine with her considering she wasn’t looking for anymore autographs to sign or photos to take with fillies and colts. All that was on her agenda today was waiting for her friends to show up. It took a lot longer than she initially planned.
Finally, after about twenty or so minutes of waiting, Spike having recently fallen asleep on her side, Twilight stared down the dirt road leading away from her castle, and lo and behold all five of her friends were approaching her.
And just as asked, the five Autobots were with them.
Twilight stood up from her sitting position, causing Spike’s head to fall and hit the dirt, instantly waking him. While the dragon spun his head about in a quick panic, he rubbed one of his eyes with a claw, yawning and turning towards Twilight.
“Twilight!” Applejack called out, practically racing over to hug her friend tightly. Twilight, though surprised at first, accepted the hug nonetheless.
“We all came as soon as Spike sent the letter,” Applejack explained, looking to the right and left to see the rest of the girls approach. The dark shadows joining them eased the farmpony only slightly. She broke the hug with Twilight, staring into her eyes as she asked, “How ya holdin’ up, sugarcube?”
“I’m doing fine, Applejack, really,” Twilight answered, bringing her attention over to the rest of her friends, Autobots included. All of them looked absolutely crestfallen. Not a smile, not a spark of life in their eyes, nothing Twilight could see.
She couldn’t blame them. Their leader, their only chance of having true leadership was stripped away from them. If anything, they were soldiers without a commander, lost in an endless war. Then again, that’s the reason Twilight asked her friends to bring them.
The princess took several steps past her friends. She faced the Autobots, a friendly smile adorning her exhausted features. Ironhide was the first to speak when he noticed Twilight approaching them.
“Anything you’d like to explain, princess?” Ironhide asked rather bluntly, his rock-like arms crossing over one another. Jazz and Cliffjumper performed similar actions. Jetfire stood silently by Ironhide’s side, his voice lost for a day. Bumblebee stood silently behind the group.
Twilight nodded, her smile only growing. “Yes, I’m glad you asked, Ironhide.”
She motioned her purple hoof behind her, her smile transforming into a grin.
“I have someone you all might want to meet.”
All heads were lifted up on command. Twilight almost laughed to see each and every one of their jaws fall at once. The five mares; Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all turned around to stare up at Princess Twilight’s castle. Their expressions mirrored their Autobot friends’.
A silhouetted figure from the very top of Twilight’s castle leapt off like a pony daredevil not afraid to risk his or her life in one stunt. With skills beyond any of the Autobots’, the being flipped about five times before landing in a cloud of dust and dirt directly behind Spike, frightening the baby dragon.
“GAH!” Spike screamed, backpedaling away from the towering giant that had nearly crushed him. He fell into Rarity’s hooves, all looks of fear instantly washed away as a love-struck look slowly graced his smile.
Rarity rolled her eyes, suddenly bringing those twin sapphires of hers onto the giant. The unicorn could already feel the great tension rising among her friends, not to mention the great fear. Fluttershy had hidden behind Applejack in less than a second, too terrified to even notice the giant’s presence before them. Pinkie was staring, wide-eyed and jaw dropped as the giant slowly stood. Rainbow Dash growled, taking a step forward in front of her friends, preparing for a fight to come when she noticed the blade in its grasp.
Except a fight never came.
The giant stood fully upward, the long sword being jammed in the dirt directly in front of the giant. As both of its hands were placed on top of one another, the giant stood there right in front of Princess Twilight’s castle, its blue eyes staring peacefully at the group ready to fight. The five mares, including Fluttershy (finding the bravery to do so), all stared up at the silent titan.
Blocking out the sun’s reflection off its armor, Applejack was able to make out the black-colored metal skin this being wore alongside the tints of shady blue and gold gracing its chest and arms. The being wore a black helmet, having strange metallic designs resting on its forehead. It was rather strange, but not as a strange as what followed.
Their eyes darted downwards from its golden face and blue eyes to the large gash across its chest. Fluttershy gasped and Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide. It was hard to decipher especially from the glare of the sun and the darkened armor, but the five ponies could never mistake the symbol on its chest.
The upper half of an Autobot insignia, the rest joining the dark gash.
All five mares, all five Autobots, all the town of Ponyville came together to witness the newest Transformer in their graces, hopefully good graces. The visitor was quick to observe the rest of the town’s populace join together in a rather large crowd around the castle. Many whispers were spread about, many accusations that the visitor couldn’t hear. He could only pray they weren’t threats or false accusations.
He was more than relieved to see Princess Twilight step forward towards him.
Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat, instantly silencing the murmuring crowd. She smiled, the grace of her smile directed towards her friends. All of them. Twilight directed her hoof backwards, straight up the towering warrior staring at the crowd with its wondering, blue eyes.
“Citizens of Ponyville, you have nothing to fear,” she began. “Standing behind me is an Autobot…and his name is Drift.”
To her surprise, the crowd all let loose a relieved sigh and left in a much calmer mood than when they had previously arrived. The sea of ponies fell apart, leaving only Twilight’s friends and the Autobots standing in front of the castle. Twilight stood there, mouth closed, her hoof hanging in the air, her eyes wide. Apparently, all that the ponies of Ponyville wanted to know is if the alien was friendly or not.
Twilight released an annoyed snort. Drift chuckled from behind her.
“Okay…well…anyways, Drift here arrived to our world several days earlier on a mission to find Optimus Prime and the Autobots. He’s been spending most of his days hiding in the shadows, and only revealed himself to me last night because his master ordered him to, a master that goes by the name of ‘Alpha Trion’.”
Twilight smiled like a school filly receiving extra credit, leaving the biggest hint on the name she’d given. She had asked an unbelievable amount of questions last night after she brought Drift back to her castle in order to patch him up. Throughout those questions, throughout their trading of knowledge between one friendly species to another, Drift finally told Twilight of his master, Alpha Trion. The name instantly sparked a memory within Twilight’s mind.
It was back when she first met them, the Transformers, back during the first attack in Canterlot. Twilight and her friends, Bumblebee included, were transported to Cybertron after Soundwave had unleashed a dreaded device on them, a device that could control a black hole. Needless to say, the black hole didn’t kill them; rather it sent them to the home world of the Transformers.
Once there, scared and confused, Twilight and her friends encountered an all new face of Autobots, including a being whose knowledge exceeded all others. It was just on a simple computer screen, but Twilight could feel it. She could feel it back then, and she could still feel it now. The knowledge, the name, the Autobot. Alpha Trion.
After several seconds of silence, a pink hoof was raised out of the bundle of ponies.
“Yes, Pinkie?” Twilight asked, rather excited. “Is there something you want to ask, or possibly something you want to know more about a certain name I just gave?”
“Precisely!” Pinkie shouted, only increasing Twilight’s smile. She pointed her hoof towards Drift’s chest and asked, “Why is his Autobot symbol all burnt up?”
Once again, Twilight’s smile fell, and she snorted in annoyance. And once again, Drift could only chuckle. Slamming a hoof to her face, Twilight dragged it down and stared at her friend’s innocent smile, at her innocent question. Perhaps there would be another time to dwindle on Alpha Trion with her friends, Pinkie especially.
“Yeah…that was from last night,” Twilight stated, turning around to stare softly into Drift’s eyes. She explained, “After I realized Drift was spying on me, not for any bad reasons of course,” Drift nodded as she continued, “I chased him throughout Ponyville and…uhh…I kinda, sorta shot an energy beam into his chest.”
Each Autobot gave their shocked expressions. Rarity and Applejack looked at each other, both in disbelief. Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“I don’t even know how many times I apologized because of that,” Twilight sighed, turning her sad eyes up to Drift. He caught her glance quickly, smiling down at her.
“I know how much that symbol meant to you, Drift, especially since you changed sides from the Decepticons to come and fight for the Autobots. It was wrong of me to have done that,” the Alicorn admitted, creating circles along the dirt with her free hoof.
Rainbow Dash’s smile dropped like a rock after Twilight had said that.
...Decepticon?
The cyan Pegasus slowly turned her heated glare over to the giant standing in front of Twilight’s castle. She growled quietly, her teeth showing like a rabid animal. Drift hadn’t even noticed the death stare he was receiving from one of the ponies. He chuckled wholeheartedly, staring down at Twilight.
“Do not be sorry, Twilight Sparkle. A mere symbol does not define a warrior’s status and virtues, rather his actions and the way he enacts them,” Drift replied, earning a satisfied sigh from the Alicorn. Leaving Twilight with a knowing smile gracing her face, Drift walked right on passed her, his sights set on the five giants ahead of him.
The five ponies backed away from his approach, staying to the far sides of the dirt road. Rainbow pawed at the rocks in front of her, her wings standing on end. Applejack placed a reassuring hoof on her friend’s shoulder.
“Easy, sugarcube,” Applejack warned.
She continued to stare at the Decepticon turned Autobot. Drift jammed the end of his sword by his feet, his eyes meeting Jetfire’s and Jazz’s and all the rest. He smiled.
“Greetings, my fellow Autobots. It is an honor to be standing in the presence of true heroes such as yourselves,” Drift began, already earning a few questionable looks from the group. Drift sighed, looking to the side for a few seconds. “I would not know what it is like to be a hero, considering I have been fighting a false war for eons on end.”
A moment of silence entered the morning air that engulfed the large group of ponies and aliens. Memories flashed behind Drift’s optics, memories of the war and who he used to fight for. He could imagine the sound of the necks torn apart from Autobot soldiers he forcefully tried to kill. He could see the death camps, the same camps he was at, torturing and extracting information out of Autobot spies. He could feel the Energon dripping from his fists… It was not his own.
Primus…what was he?
Shaking his head so quickly that none of them noticed, Drift brought his attention back to the five Autobots. He said, “Twilight has told me that none of you have any recollection of who you are or how to fight. Is this true?”
The Autobots looked to one another. Sadly, they all nodded. Each and every one of them.
“That is why I am here now,” Drift stated firmly, bringing his sword out of the dirt to hang by his side. The five giants brought their eyes to the sword, noticing the reflection of the morning sun in its blade practically blinding them.
Drift continued. “In Optimus Prime’s absence, which I have discovered has also lost his memory, I ask that I be willing to guide and train you all on this dark journey ahead. You do not know how to fight, but I do. I can train you all to defend yourselves against the forces of evil threatening to take this world.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up just a second!” Cliffjumper shouted, stepping forward with his hands outwards.
All eyes turned to the red Autobot, confusion spreading like a virus. Cliffjumper took another step closer to the dark blue Autobot, much more so into his personal space. Regardless, Drift stood his ground, not a bit intimidated by the smaller Autobot trying to size him up.
Cliffjumper’s optics narrowed, his pointing finger being jammed into Drift’s chest. “Why is it that you get to take command all of a sudden? You just show up out of the blue, spy on Twilight, feed her some tall tales, and then expect us to accept you as our leader? Sorry, Drift, but I don’t play like that.”
Drift wasn’t at all threatened by Cliffjumper’s words. He stared him down, practically ignoring Twilight’s shouts from behind.
“What?! No, Cliffjumper, he’s actually telling the truth!” the Alicorn shouted rather loudly, making her voice recapture the attention of Ponyville’s crowds.
Cliffjumper shook his head, looking past Drift and into Twilight’s eyes from afar. He said, “I don’t know about you, Twilight, but a blade-carrying, weird-talking, Autobot that was once a Decepticon showing up out of nowhere doesn’t really give me any good tidings.”
He finished by pointing to Drift and mouthing the words “Psycho Decepticon here.”
Rainbow Dash smiled, her glare still trained on Drift. At least there was one Autobot that was on her level of understanding. But to her surprise, Drift pushed Cliffjumper out in front of him rather softly, not too rough as to start a fight, but hard enough to get his point across.
“I gave up that life, Autobot,” Drift told the group, though it was mainly focused to Cliffjumper. With his hand still placed on the red Autobot’s chest, Drift spoke, his tone low. “Perhaps you could give up all of your false accusations and just listen to me.”
Cliffjumper shocked everypony by slapping Drift’s hand aside.
“We don’t need to listen to you! We don’t even need your help! We’re doing perfectly fine here, right guys?” Cliffjumper yelled, turning his head back to the other four Autobots. They stood side by side, their eyes focused on the dirt.
With Cliffjumper’s head back, his eyes pleading on the rest of his Autobot friends, he turned back when he heard Drift let loose a scoff of disbelief.
“Perfectly fine?” Drift repeated Cliffjumper’s words, his blue optics staring into Cliff’s with a small grin tugging at his metallic lips. He chuckled a bit, gripping his sword ever so tighter. “The last I saw of you, red one, was being blasted apart by a Decepticon Seeker, as well as the rest of your fellow Autobots. You are far from being perfectly fine, foolish warrior.”
“At least I don’t spend my free time creeping up on ponies when they’re trying to sleep!” Cliffjumper retorted, earning a shocked glance from both Twilight and Drift. “Why didn’t you do anything to help then? At least I tried to fight back against the Decepticon! If anything, I’m more of a warrior than you!”
Now, things were getting interesting. Drift jammed his blade into the dirt, both of his hands free to do what he pleased with them. He wasn’t afraid to send a heated stare to his brother, Cliffjumper gladly accepting it with his own.
Drift frowned, standing his ground to the Transformer he’s been fighting for eons.
It wasn’t the same. He had to hold himself back. He needed to.
Just a little bit.
“You call yourself a warrior?” Drift began with a question, stepping closer to Cliffjumper. Cliff took a step back from the sudden action. Drift continued as the ponies watched on from the sidelines. “A warrior is not bested by forces led by cowards! You’re not a warrior, you’re just a child.”
Cliffjumper laughed, taking another step back. “Oh yeah, well this child’s about to kick your-!”
He lunged for Drift, but was just as surprised as everyone else with how quick Drift reacted and countered. Cliffjumper jumped forward in an effort to tackle Drift to the dirt, but the Decepticon turned Autobot quickly dodged to the side, bringing up his knee that connected perfectly with Cliffjumper’s chin. Fluttershy and Rarity let out a terrified shriek. Twilight and Rainbow both stepped forward to end it, but stopped, mostly Twilight stopping Rainbow from tearing Drift apart.
Drift reached forward and ripped his sword from the dirt. Cliffjumper fell on his back with a hard thud and a yell of pain. It didn’t end there. Drift acted quickly to tackle Cliff in his state of confusion, making sure to gain every advantage possible. After a tight hassle, Cliffjumper was down and immobilized. He could feel Drift standing over him.
He could also feel the blade’s edge on his throat.
A breath was caught, and nobody knew who it was that took it. Even Rainbow Dash stopped pushing Twilight off of her and stared wide-eyed at the scene taking place twenty feet ahead of her. Nopony moved a muscle. The Autobots, for some strange reason, didn’t take action. Drift held his sword tight against his attacker’s throat. He looked around, noticing that the crowd was slowly starting to join together once again.
He didn’t care. All he really needed were the Autobots to see it.
“Like all children, you have much to learn,” Drift said aloud, presumably to Cliffjumper struggling against Drift’s grip around his shoulders. Drift looked about, noticing the shocked and somewhat hated looks he received from the town’s populace. Stallions shook their heads and mares placed hooves over their mouths.
Drift looked over to Twilight. Her expression said it all.
Surprise. Complete surprise.
Sighing, Drift slowly stood back up, releasing Cliffjumper from his grip. Immediately, Cliff reached for his throat and gasped loudly, crawling away from Drift as if he was Unicron himself. Drift blew air out of his nose, reaching back to place his sword back in its sheath.
“You see what I’m talking about!” Cliffjumper shouted, finally standing back up to join his fellow Autobots. He pointed at Drift. "Decepticon! Why else would he want to hurt me? I say we end him now before he goes and tries to tell the others on this planet! Who’s with me?!”
He felt a large hand on his shoulder.
Cliffjumper turned around to stare right into Ironhide’s face.
The large bot, though skeptical at first, sighed heavily, looking from Cliffjumper and over to Drift. He said, “Kid…you attacked him. He was just defending himself. Also…he’s right.”
“What?” Cliffjumper gasped.
“We’re not ready for war, Cliffjumper,” Jetfire added in, his voice low and defeated as he took his place by Ironhide. His blue optics zeroed in on the blue and black…Autobot standing right in front of them. He sighed, saying, “We’ve just witnessed Drift’s skills…and he can train us for the inevitable fight.”
“You can’t be serious,” Cliff groaned, turning to see Jazz take a step forward.
Jazz chuckled, having both his arms cross over one another. “I just got my behind handed to me a couple days ago, and I am not havin’ that again. If this guy has what it takes…I say we listen to him.”
Cliffjumper tried to come up with an excuse, a reason. “But…but-!”
“Come on, Cliff,” Bumblebee said, shocking everypony around them. He stepped forward, placing his palm on Cliffjumper’s shoulder. “What other choice do we have?” he asked.
For that, Cliffjumper had no real answer.
With the red Autobot just standing there with his mouth open, Ironhide and Jetfire sighed and walked past him and over to Drift. Jazz and Bumblebee followed right behind them. Cliff watched them leave, his head slowly shaking from side to side.
Jetfire held out his hand to Drift. He said, “My apologies for Cliffjumper. We’ve been through a lot lately…and if it’s all the same to you…we could really use your help.”
Drift stared at his open palm for quite some time. Finally, he reached forward and gripped Jetfire’s palm in a tight handshake, smiling gratefully. “I would be honored, Autobot.”
Twilight and her six friends all watched as each and every Autobot slowly began to walk away deeper to the outskirts of town, the conversation between all of them growing with each footstep they took. Twilight smiled to see them bonding so quickly. Her smile only increased when she witnessed Cliffjumper sighing and slowly catching up to the group.
“Well, it’s safe to say that they’ll get along rather nicely,” Twilight stated, rather proud of herself. When she turned around, she felt a powerful breeze and was suddenly nose to nose with Rainbow Dash.
Yelping in surprise, Twilight was suddenly silenced by Rainbow’s scratchy voice filling her ears.
“You can’t be serious with this guy, Twilight! Did you see what he tried to do to Cliff? Who’s to say he won’t do that to the others with our backs turned?! He seems pretty capable of doing it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, drawing in the crowd with her wild accusations.
“Rainbow Dash, calm down!” Twilight warned, her eyes darting from the sea of ponies surrounding her friends. “He’s not a bad guy!”
Rainbow snorted, blowing a strand of mane out of her vision. “You said it yourself, Twilight. He used to be a Decepticon! Their name says it all for pony’s sake! DECEPT-icon! Celestia, why can’t you see it the way I do for once?! Why do you trust this ‘Drift’ character?”
For that, Twilight actually had an answer.
“If he wanted to kill Cliffjumper, he would have. If he wanted to kill me…he had a pretty good opportunity to do it last night.”
Twilight turned back, her soft gaze landing on the midnight blue Autobot.
...So why didn't you?
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Don't. Challenge. Drift.
And as I predicted, Rainbow has welcomed Drift with a perfectly standard Equestrian welcome of love and tolerance (for Rainbow Dash anyway)
Is Spike going to have a big role soon because I've been waiting.
How should we picture drift as in this story
His IDW G1 form
His movie design
Or his aligned continuity Robots in disguise form
Drift has finally revealed himself to the others, and he demonstrates himself to be a much more capable warrior than the Autobots (especially Cliff) are right now. Like it or not, they will have to trust Drift so that they can better prepare themselves for the oncoming storm ahead. After all, Drift is right about one thing. Without their memories and past experiences, they are just children.
Oh, Drift, you are awesome. And an incredibly important addition to the team.
Gezz Rainbow, calm down!
"Yes I've been waiting for them to dispatch each other so that I can take charge with no trouble at all, just me reporting to me."
I hope the Insecticons die first.
5603144 Well, when you've been exposed to war, where there's betrayal, manipulation, doubt, distrust, and evil, you could only do so much to prevent it from happening again. As Rainbow Dash demonstrated, she could only try to keep their guard up. There's a difference from acceptance and distrust. She already accepted he was a Decepticon once, but she can't trust someone who was once part of the group that is deceiving and tried to destroy her home. The Element of Loyalty does not include being 100% open.
5603690 I get all that but Rainbow Dash is just so fun to mess with
Awesome chapter. I caught a few errors though.
images.wikia.com/mlp/images/archive/f/f5/20120719021622!Rarity.jpg
Might Want to change that to sapphires.
One too many words here.
Needs an extra line space here.
Also, several times in this chapter, you refer to Drift as "black and blue". In the film he is actually very dark blue, as seen in these images.
tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/6/6f/AOE-HoundFightingDrift.jpg
i.ytimg.com/vi/sM1-73jar48/maxresdefault.jpg
I suggest going through and replacing "black and blue" with "dark/midnight blue".
That's all I could find. Keep up the good work!
5604068
JD is using Rise of the dark spark Drift who is black and blue because that Drift is more WFC/FOC looking
fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/180/d/1/drift___age_of_extinction___by_goreface13-d7ogqi5.jpg
5603193 Spike having a role in anything important?
Hahahahahahahahahahahha!!!
5603196 Did you miss the parts where Drift is described as black and blue?
I'm not trying to make it sound rude I'm just asking if you misread that part?
5604258 Well when he started the story he told me that Spike was going to have a big role.
Unless Rarity is Chrysalis in disguise, then she should have sapphire eyes.
How is he suppose to know Unicron if he doesn't have his memories?(He didn't even know his own name.)
While it's good that Drift is now helping the Autobots, but all this training is going to take time. Which from the looks of it, the Decepticons are getting ready for another attack. Kinda curious as to what's going on on Nocturnes end. Haven't heard from him since the take over of Van Hoover, and would like to know what he's thinking about his allies after their little trip to Ponyville.
5605457 Uhhhh how about you reread the sentence?
It's not from Cliff's perspective Its from a narrators (JD) perspective.
Plus it's not if Twilight and friends couldn't possibly told the Autobots some of their history including Unicron.
It looks like Drift came to Equestria in the nick of time. :3
5603144
Rainbow doesn't take shit from anyone.
5603193 Spike's role will be more prominent as the story progresses.
5603210 Rainbow is always stubborn, always distrustful of newcomers, especially if they were once monsters that tried to eradicate their race.
5603289 He certainly is!
5604068 Minor errors. Thanks for catching them!
5605457 I'll fix the error right away! Don't know how that slipped by.
And the training won't last that long. Trying to keep this story moving forward and not have much more filler chapters.
5606313 Yay.
Does Lockdown look like this or more movie inspired?
tfw2005.com/boards/attachments/transformers-fan-art/27346991d1360967069-wfc-lockdown-lockdown_botmode.jpg
5608053 It's gonna be Rise of the Dark Spark Lockdown since he never died.
5608284 ok. Just one, thing, if it's ROTDS, then no one will recognize him.
5608461 ROTDS Lockdown looks very similar to AOE Lockdown. Drift will recognize him, since he still flies the ship that chased Drift.
the others will recognize him too right?
5608477 In his introduction it seemed like Lockdown has crossed dimensions from the ROTDS verse to this one.
I'm confused on where Lockdown comes from.
5608630 Others? Who else?
Optimus, Bumblebee, Shockwave, all the other Autobots and Decepticons.
5610006 No, they've never seen him.
5610367 O. Then my perspective of the future for this story has changed. Wonder what will happen.
No doubt that Drift is a badass and an asset to the heroes, but I guess it is a standard reaction for others to be suspicious given that he used to be a Decepticon.