Friendship in Disguise

by Tumbleweed

Chapter 4

“There he is!” Bumblebee screeched to a halt and popped up into his robot mode. Sure enough, Grimlock stood near one of of Canterlot Castle's walls, resting his massive hands upon the battlements as if they were no more than a guide rail.

“Whew!” Applejack galloped up next to Bumblebee. “He ain't doin' nothin, ain't he?”

“Doesn't look like it. He's just looking at...something.” Bumblebee sauntered up next to Grimlock and rapped him on the shin. “Hey! Big guy! Whatcha looking at?”

“Decepticons.” Grimlock rumbled. He narrowed his visor and tightened his fingers, cracking the stones of the walls. “Big fight. Me go.”

“What Decepticons? There can't be Decepticons here!” Bumblebee sputtered. “I thought that's why we came here!”

“You Bumblebee look.” Without taking his optics off of his target, Grimlock grabbed Bumblebee by the helmet and hoisted him up to a precarious perch on the castle wall. Bumblebee flailed helplessly for a few undignified moments, and finally regained his footing. He squinted into the distance where, sure enough, an easy dozen shadowy silhouettes circled around dark columns of smoke like so many sleek-winged vultures.

“I hate it when you're right,” said Bumblebee.

“'Bout time stupid trip no be boring. Me Grimlock go fight now!” Grimlock declared. He lowered his shoulder and pushed forward, shattering the ancient stones with terrifying ease. Grimlock drew a blazing red sword and a double-barreled cannon as he stormed down the streets of Canterlot with all the murderous purpose of a natural disaster.

“Uh.” Rainbow Dash stared at the Canterlot Castle's newest entrance. “Now what?”

“Whaddya think?” Bumblebee stepped from his perch and transformed in midair, landing effortlessly on all four wheels. “We follow Grimlock!”

“What?” Applejack said.

“Who else is gonna watch his back?” Bumblebee peeled out again, and zipped off after the dinobot warrior.

“Hey, Rainbow?” said Applejack, “Them Autobots is supposed to be on our side, right?”

“Probably?”

“Just checkin'.”

---

“Cyclonus! Report!”

“The indigenous organics have offered no resistance, as expected, Lord Galvatron.”

“They never do!” Galvatron melted a storefront with a casual blast of his arm-mounted cannon. “I'd feel disappointed, if I wasn't having so much fun breaking things! Bwa ha ha!”

“Yes, lord Galvatron.” Cyclonus rumbled. “The troops are gathering what energon they can- primitive as these organics may be, they've at least mastered a rudimentary electrical grid, which Soundwave has been able to tap into. We're siphoning as much energon as we can. It...may be enough for our purposes.”

“Pah! Logistics!” Galvatron turned his cannon on another building (and one of his own troopers who wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough). “If I wanted to be bored, Cyclonus, I would have stayed on Chaar!”

“That might have been the wiser course of action.”

“WHAT?”

“Nothing, Lord Galvatron.”

“That's what I thought!” Galvatron seethed, “Has there been any resistance to our assault?”

“None as of yet, Lord Galvatron.”

“NYARGH!” Galvatron leveled a (thankfully evacuated) franchise coffeeshop with a dismissive wave of his cannon. “You said there would be autobots, Cyclonus! You said there would be conquest!”

“We appear to have at least one half of the equation.”

“DO NOT TRY TO TRICK ME WITH YOUR MATHS!” Galvatron swung his cannon to bear on Cyclonus. “I've killed for less, Cyclonus!”

“Of course, Lord Galvatron,” Cyclonus carried the sort of grave dignity usually reserved for gentleman's valets. “I was there.”

“Consider yourself warned! Nyagh!” Galvatron sheared the top story off of a nearby building.

Unperturbed, Cyclonus touched a finger to the side of his helmet, “Lord- we're receiving reports from the forward scouts. Autobots have been sighted.”

“Autobots?” Galvatron brightened with malicious glee. “Where?”

Cyclonus turned towards column of smoke and a chorus of screams rising in the distance. “It shall be obvious shortly, Lord Galvatron.”

Grimlock slammed through a block of storefronts, pushing a Decepticon trooper along with a lowered shoulder. He threw the battered robot away like a broken toy, and then laid into a knot of Decepticons unfortunate enough to be standing within arm's reach.

The savage sword of Grimlock rose and fell with deadly precision, hewing limbs and staving helms. The Decepticons faltered- for while they had the advantage of numbers, they hadn't been expecting to face such stiff resistance- especially after having so easily routing the puny organics earlier.

Grimlock made a sound somewhere between a growl and a laugh, and shoved his sword through a bearded sweep's chestplate. “Me
Grimlock glad you come! Me was afraid this stupid planet going be boring!”

---

“Woo! Look at him go!” Bumblebee stood a safe (relatively speaking) distance away from the carnage, holding a laser pistol casually by his side.

“Is he...always like that?” Applejack said.

“No,” Bumblebee cracked a grin. “Sometimes Grimlock gets mad.”

“Remind me to stay on his good side.” Applejack said.

“He's got one of those?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Eeeeeh.” Bumblebee made a back and forth motion with his free hand.

“Rargh!” Grimlock transformed to his saurian form and started to spew flame in all directions like some sort of murderous hell-sprinkler. The Decepticons didn't last long; Grimlock's furious assault sent them running (on fire, missing limbs, or occasionally both).

“So...uh, are we just gonna stand back n' watch?” asked Applejack.

“That's usually the best thing to do in a case like this,” said Bumblebee. “My sensors aren't detecting any life signs within those buildings- otherwise, I'd be pulling them out by now. Trust me, these Decepti-creeps aren't anything Grimlock can't handle.”

Rainbow Dash shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun, scanning Canterlot's rooftops. “What about that guy?” She pointed with her free hoof.

Bumblebee turned, and his expression fell.

“Okay, now we're in trouble.” Bumblebee said.

---

Several blocks away, perched atop Canterlot's premiere banquet hall, Galvatron watched his troops retreat. “Just like I always said, Cyclonus,” Galvatron muttered, “if you want something right, do it yourself!”

Galvatron cleared the few remaining blocks in a single bound, cratering the cobblestones beneath his metal boots. “Tremble in fear, Autobot, before the might of Galvatron!”

“Hhhrh?” Grimlock spat out a chunk of mangled metal. “Me Grimlock no scared of you!”

“Very brave, Dino-dolt. Very brave- and very stupid!” Galvatron snapped his cannon upwards and blazed away, battering Grimlock with a beam of purple energy. Grimlock reeled at the blow, smashing into a recently abandoned building. Bricks and timber cascaded all around the dinobot, and smoke rose from the fresh scorch mark on his armor. “Hn.” Grimlock muttered, and pushed himself upwards with his skinny dinosaur arms. “Me Grimlock felt that.”

“You'll be feeling more, too.” Galvatron swaggered over to Grimlock, and slapped him back to the ground with an imperious wave of his hand. “More pain!” The titanium tyrant leveled his cannon at Grimlock's head.

Before he could fire, laser blasts dinged off of Galvatron's armor, barely scratching the paint. “What!?” He thundered, wheeling about. “Who dares!”

“That'd be me!” Bumblebee sighted down the barrel of his pistol and planted a laser bolt right in the center of Galvatron's chest. “You can start running scared, if you like!”

“What's he doing?” Rainbow Dash said, aghast. “That big purple guy's gonna crush Bumblebee!”

“What heroic, foolish nonsense!” Galvatron spat. “I've beaten far stronger Autobots than you- surely you know you cannot hurt me!”

“Don't have to hurt ya.” Bumblebee lowered his pistol, still grinning. “Just had to get you to look this way.”

A large, sudden shadow loomed, and then Grimlock snapped his jaws shut on Galvatron's shoulder. The dinobot started to shake his head from side to side, whipping Galvatron off of his feet and shaking him like the world's most murderous chew toy. A final flick of Grimlock's neck sent Galvatron bouncing down the street.

“My turn!” Rainbow Dash cried from above. She flew a spiral around a nearby cloud, compressing it in to a small (and rather sloppy, by weather patrol standards) thunderhead- which she immediately shoved to a point above Galvatron. She jumped up and down on the cloud, squeezing out thunderbolts at random- which naturally gravitated to the largest piece of metal in the immediate vicinity. “Boosh! Boosh! Boosh!” Rainbow Dash cackled with each bolt. “Take that, ya big jerk!”

Galvatron's limbs jerked erratically as lightning cascaded over his purple and grey hull. Snarling, he forced himself upwards and swung at the cocky pegasus- Rainbow Dash zipped out of the way, but the swing of the Decepticon's hand dissipated her weaponized weather.

“Nyargh!” Galvatron snarled, and forced himself up to his feet. “Pathetic! Have you Autobots fallen so low as to let puny organics fight for you?”

Grimlock rumbled down the street, refolding into his robot mode, sword in one hand, double-barreled blaster in the other. “You Galvatron so bad you let tiny ponies beat you?”

“Just for that, I'll see this planet burn!” Galvatron lunged forward, changing into the galaxy's most dangerous artillery piece.

That's when he got hit by a truck.

Optimus Prime roared out of a side alley, and plowed straight into Galvatron. The cannon's barrel was forced upward, firing a hellish beam of purple energy into the sky.

Optimus Prime coolly transformed to robot mode, and leveled his energy rifle at Galvatron. “Give up now, Galvatron. You know how this ends.”

“Like it did in Autobot City?” Galvatron reflexively shifted to his robot mode, though he still sprawled awkwardly amidst the rubble. “Wasn't that when you died?”

“It didn't take.” Optimus' hand didn't waver. “Now give it up, Galvatron. There's no way you can win.”

Galvatron sized up the situation. Grimlock stood a short distance behind Optimus Prime, as if waiting his turn for another shot at the Decepticon commander. Sky Lynx circled overhead, his massive bulk dwarfing the figures flying in his wake; three Princesses, a half dozen Royal Guard Pegasi, and Cosmos (in his saucer form). Bumblebee, Perceptor, and Beachcomber had all taken up positions around the periphery of the battlefield, carrying laser pistols with time-honed ease.

“This isn't over, Prime!” Galvatron pointed his cannon at the ground and fired, surrounding himself in a cloud of charred ash. Using the smoke as cover, Galvatron took to the air and soared away from Canterlot. “Decepticons, Retreat!”

Bumblebee grinned. “I love it when they say that.”

Comments

[ponylover2]

more chapters please

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Okay, nice work with Bumblebee there. :) I'll think of Dash's contributions as mosquito bites. ;)