• Published 20th Apr 2016
  • 1,072 Views, 27 Comments

Equestria: Transformation - Fairweather



The arrival of giant, shape-changing robots from beyond the stars throws Equestria into a new era and an uncertain future.

  • ...
3
 27
 1,072

First Contact: Decepticon

The rain patted lightly against the balcony doors, thunder rumbling in the gray cloud cover that blanketed the city of Canterlot. All of it provided the perfect symphony of relaxation to Princess Celestia as she laid on her large bed, her horn glowing as she levitated a small cup of steaming hot chocolate, a smile of contentment on her face as she took a sip from the hot drink. Stormy days were rare in Canterlot, but Celestia always kept a close lookout for when those days were scheduled to appear, so that she could properly schedule her one-day breaks from court. It was the perfect situation, as the day-to-day affairs of managing court were far slower when the stormy weather came to Canterlot so Celestia wasn't halting any important affairs with managing the kingdom, and with Luna now fully back in her strides as one of its co-rulers she could handle any serious issue that came up, allowing Celestia to finally take full advantage of enjoying the rain, the thunder, and the almost therapeutic effect the weather would have on her.

A magical, glimmering mist phased through the glass of the balcony doors, forming into a shimmering scroll of parchment before the Solar Alicorn, the royal Crystal seal emblazoned on it. Taking it in her magic with a raised eyebrow, Celestia broke the seal and unfurled it, her look of curiousity replaced with a smile as she immediately recognized the hoofwriting.

Dear Princess Celestia,
Hello Tia! I hope I'm not bothering you on your day off, Mother said you wouldn't mind if it was me, but how often does this weather pass by Canterlot? I'm doing well, by the way, thank you SO MUCH for my birthday present, I love it as much as the other gifts I got, which is really saying something! My studies are also going quite well, I really impressed Miss Watercolour with my art work, I think I'm getting really good. Maybe you'll see it next time you visit?

Celestia giggled lightly, I would absolutely love to see your artwork little Flurry, you're such a talented little filly when it comes to drawing and painting, I might have to set some time aside just to see it on my next visit to the Empire. She continued reading.

Anyways, I've been told a lot that I'm the first Pony to be born as an Alicorn and that my Mother, Auntie, and you and Lulu all became Alicorns later on. My Mother told me all about how she was a Pegasus when she was born, and I know all about how Auntie became an Alicorn (I think Father's getting a little tired of telling that story to me).

Celestia could picture the young filly's mischievous grin as she read that last line. She could already see where this was going and would more then happy to oblige if her prediction was correct.

The reason I write to you now is, well, how did you and Lulu become Alicorns? I asked Mother and Father, but they don't know, and I was about to write to Auntie and ask but then I figured I might as well write to you instead. So, if it's not too much trouble, could you please tell me how you got to be an Alicorn?

Hugs and Smiles, Flurry Heart.

Carefully setting aside the letter, Celestia pulled out an inked quill and a sheet of parchment from a nearby pile, hit with the memory of a young Twilight Sparkle hesitantly asking her a similar question. She immediately began writing her reply.

My Dear Flurry,
Your Mother is right in that your writing to me is not a bother, I eagerly enjoy hearing from you no matter the time of day. I am very happy to hear that your art skill is improving and would absolutely love to see your latest work on my next visit. As for how my sister and I became Alicorns, it is of course no trouble telling you. However, I feel my sister Luna should be the one to tell you how she became an Alicorn herself, I'll have her write to you. Now, as for myself, well, long ago, before Equestria was even formed, my sister and I were simple Unicorns from a simple life.

She tried to picture that long ago time from her earliest memories, but curiously found herself only drawing a blank. Odd, usually her nostalgic feelings would paint an almost perfect picture from her memories. Shaking her head, she continued writing.

This coincided with earning my Cutie Mark at the age of seventeen (My, how young I was then!) She giggled to herself at the remark. Luna, like you, was nine at the time and we were wandering alone in a wide grassy field on our way to a small village known as Everfree Village (sound familiar?). We had stopped to take a break, but the Sun was high in the sky, and there was no shade as far as we could see. We were sweltering in the heat, thirsty and exhausted. Luna had asked me if I could cast some sort of spell to cool them off or magically create water, but I hadn't used magic since I was a filly at the time, so I couldn't help us in that regard. Still, we had been without supplies for some time, and I began to fear for Luna's health as we sat in the unbearable heat. It was then that Luna had an idea that sounded unbelievably insane at the time.

"What if you just move the Sun down?" She asked me. I stared-no, gawked- at her, she continued like it was simple idea. "That way, it'll be night and we won't be so hot."

For a second, I was shocked at her idea, before I burst out laughing. "One does not just move the Sun, sister." I replied after regaining some of my composure."

She tilted her head and looked at me with the most adorably confused look. "Why not? We're Unicorns, we move stuff all the time! Well, I've never seen you use magic but you gotta be able to, right?"

I shook my head at her. "Nopony can move the Sun, Luna, it's impossible."

She stared at me in shock, like I had just revealed some earth-shattering secret to her. "B-b-but you're Celestia! You're big sis! You can do anything!" She stood up and stared at me in determination. "No! You gotta do it! Come on, you can make the Sun set, it's too hot out here!"

I stared at her sadly, but decided that the very least I could do was try her idea and show her that not everything's possible. It was a hard lesson that needed to be learned... or so I thought at the time. I stood up and Luna immediately quieted down, looking at me with big, hopeful eyes. I took a deep breath as I prepared to use my magic, something I hadn't done since I was a little over Luna's age. For a brief moment, as my horn glowed for the first time in years, a terrible fear swept over me, my heart pounded and adrenaline pumped through me as sweat beaded down my head, and it wasn't from the heat.

The scratching from her quill stopped as a puzzled look came across the Alicorn's face. Why was she so afraid then? What had she to fear? Failure? That couldn't be it, she hadn't been expecting to be successful at moving the Sun. Letting her sister down and possibly breaking her heart? Again, something she was fully expecting though certainly not looking forward to. She tried to think and remember what the source of that fear was but, like before, nothing popped into her head. For that matter, she realized, why had she not used her magic for all those years as a filly? It seemed like she was actively avoiding using it. In fact, and this one hit her like a ton of bricks, she was 17 when she earned her Cutie Mark!? That was absolutely ridiculous, everypony earned their Cutie Marks at some point in their early lives, sure some were fortunate to find them sooner then others, but she had never heard of a Pony being older then 12 and not having a Cutie Mark... except for herself, it seemed. She shook her head and continued with the writing.

I pushed through it, however, and with all my might, I attempted to use the basic levitation spell on the Sun itself. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but I kept trying, my horn glowing brighter and humming louder as I put more effort into it. Despite nothing happening then, I continued pouring more of my magical energy into the spell, straining it to the point that I was exerting myself far more then what was necessary for something as preposterous as moving the Sun. Yet, for some odd reason, I kept trying. Perhaps, because of all those years of my not using my magic at all, I had essentially unleashed all this pent up force and needed to unleash it at an impossible task. I kept pushing myself further, to the point where I should exhausted myself, but something strange was happening, though I didn't realize it at the time. I felt as if a powerful source of energy was rising from the ground, entering me from my hooves and passing through me up into my horn, feeding yet more magical power into the spell. At that point, I glowed so bright that I might as well have been another Sun, I imagine Luna had to have shielded her eyes at that point, but I didn't know. In fact, even she faded into the back of my mind as I became almost single-minded in my task of moving the Sun, forgetting all about how it was an impossible task. Still, more power then what was natural of me poured into the spell. Then, with a final grunt of exertion, that was when It happened.

It was if the Sun was firmly grasped in my hold, I had lifted several feet into the ground as a radiance filled the field, without fully realizing what I had accomplished, I moved the Sun on a downward path below the horizon, far sooner then what was supposed to happen. As it rapidly retreated, the sky darkened and the stars appeared, only the moon did not show, for obvious reasons. That when a change within myself hit me, I felt as if my had become light, yet stronger, I felt a clearer connection of the magical energy moving throughout my body and beyond, I felt strange new feelings from my newly-formed wings as they unfurled themselves for the first time. When I slowly descended and my hooves touched the ground, I could suddenly feel the magical force of the land itself swirl and pulse deep beneath me like vines or roots, a large amount had pooled to the very spot where I stood. As it all hit me what I had accomplished and the sudden transformation that had occurred, I was shocked, to say the least. But, standing in front of me, her eyes wider then I've ever seen them, before or since, was Luna.

"Best. Sister. Ever." She said, completely heedless of my own confusion and speechlessness.

So there you have it, Flurry Heart, that was how I had moved the Sun for the first time, earning my Cutie Mark, and becoming an Alicorn. I hope this answers your questions, and I'll be sure to have Luna tell you her story as well. And just know, little Flurry, that with time, I'm sure you'll find the reason for why you were born an Alicorn.

Look forward to hearing from you again, Celestia.

With that, Celestia placed her quill down, furled up the scroll, stamped it with her royal seal, and magically sent it off to the Crystal Empire. Yet, the smile was not on her face as she pondered with concern. She tried to think about why she was so afraid to use her magic, why it had been so late in her young life for her to even attempt at earning a Cutie Mark. And, what was she and Luna doing all by themselves in that field, out of supplies, wandering for years and years as she raised the tiny Luna. What happened to them to cause this situation? She frowned as her mind filled with questions about her own life, and yet no answers came. Though it had been literally centuries since she had last tried to think about those days before she and Luna had earned their Cutie Marks, it was odd that there were such glaring gaps in her early years. Not just vague memories fading with time, but absolute blanks. And the most frustrating part was, she felt like it was something she couldn't just forget.

There must be an explanation, she thought to herself. Maybe Luna might know something. With that idea, she stood up from her bed, and made her way out of her chambers to seek her sister out.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Far, far above the kingdom, in the black void of space, the silent probe sped towards the planet, before a thruster activated, slowing it down to a near stop. Not far behind it, several jet fighters flew in close formation.

"It looks like the probe is slowing down by that planet." Skywarp reported.

"And not a moment too soon!" Thundercraker commented. The Decepticons had used what little Energon remained following the device, they were starved, and most of the weapons were on the verge of powering down. As Starscream had kept a generous portion to himself, he was in far better shape then his subordinates, but even he was still dangerously low on his internal reserves.

"We're well outside of explored territory." Nacelle said. "If there isn't any Energon here we won't be able to leave the planet's atmosphere, let alone get to our hideout."

"There had better be Energon on this planet," Ramjet said angrily. "For our commander's sake."

"Mind your words, Ramjet!" Starscream shouted, though Slipstream could sense the growing fear in her leader's voice. The initial enthusiasm that they had when they began following had rusted away with the deca-cycles. "You're speaking to your commander and the soon-to-be-leader of the Decepticons!"

"Here we go again..." Slipstream muttered as she rode on the fuselage of the Decepticon commander for the entire journey, mostly because her small form couldn't hold a tenth of the Energon her larger peers could so she had to save as much as she could. A perk to her size though, is that not only did she seem to use Energon at a far slower degree, but it was surprisingly easy stealing small amounts of it without any of the Seekers noticing, and they had originally suspected she'd be the first to power down for good from starvation, the thought caused her to mentally grin.

"Oh wow," Skywarp deadpanned. "I haven't heard that phrase from you before, you're plan for taking control must be absolutely foolproof."

Before Starscream could retort, Slipstream noticed the probe opening up. "The probe is activating!" She called out. "If it detects us, the Autobots will surely know where we are and what we're up to!"

With a shout of anger, Starscream's engines went into full burn, racing ahead of the Seekers toward the probe. One of his cannons beneath the wing glowed a bright purple, before a beam of energy lashed out, piercing the probe and disintegrating it within a second. Special anti-grav thrusters activated, slowing the Decepticon as they approached the planet the loomed before them.

"It looks a lot like Terra." Slipstream commented.

"Another organic planet." Starscream replied in disgust. "No matter. Slipstream, scout ahead and determine where the Energon is, if there are any sentient lifeforms down there and what their technological capabilities are. We will wait in orbit for your signal."

Without another word, Slipstream detached from her Commander's fuselage, and immediately descended toward the planet's surface. As her vehicle mode heated up from the re-entry, her thoughts fell back to the War and excitement came to her. Another organic world, perhaps if there were sentient creatures on this world, they'd be like the Humans in terms of size, a thought that quickly turned into a hope. As the War on Terra had escalated and the Humans turned to merging their technology with Cybertronian tech, they became a far more substantial threat far more quickly then many of the Decepticons had been expecting. Yet, many of them had such a pride that they refused to treat the tiny, filthy organics seriously. Near the War's end, however, it became clear the Decepticons needed something to fight them on equal footing, hence why Slipstream, at Starscream's suggestion, was upgraded from a simple experiment in Shockwave's lab to a warrior. She fondly remembered her first engagements with the Humans, how she had effortlessly cut them down with her energy blade, despite the advanced armour they wore. Anytime the Humans had faced her, she had easily wiped them out, her own Null Ray, a weapon that Starscream normally reserved for him and him alone, allowing her to destroy even the heaviest vehicles in the Human arsenal. There was only one Human that was able to stand up to her, however brief their duel was. Slipstream quickly corrected herself, the Human she had faced wasn't really a Human, and she had certainly perished in the War when the Humans started to drop their nukes... allowing her to remain unchallenged.

Of course, her speed and size still made her a force to be reckoned with even among the Autobots. Though no kills were credited to her, she had briefly fought against some of the highest ranking and famous Autobots, including Ironhide, Ratchet, Arcee, and even Prime himself. The fact that she was able to get the drop on the Autobot leader himself was a major point of pride for the Decepticon, despite the fact that he had survived with little damage.

A loud sonic boom from her breaking into the atmosphere broke her out of her memories and she quickly set about to scanning the geography below. Her sensors scanned for Energon, and was immediately overwhelmed by the numerous and large signals of the energy source. By the Allspark! I've never seen a planet with this much Energon before, Terra doesn't even come close!

However, there was something off about the Energon she was reading, there was a lot of interference on the Energon specifically, perhaps it was the massive amount of organic life smothering the signals in addition to the moisture of the planet, which always muddied up Cybertronian sensors. Still, this was a find of historical proportions, and so she ultimately kept her doubts to herself as she activated her comm system, instantly connecting to Starscream's comm.

"You can tell the Seekers that they have nothing to fear, this planet is indeed teeming with Energon. More so then Terra!"

"Excellent!" Starscream said, relief clear in his tone. "Now scout out the inhabitants, I want to know if there are any sentients we have to deal with."

At the lower fuselage of the Drone-jet, a 180 degree camera appeared as she fed the footage to her Commander, before dipping below the cloud cover and having a physical glimpse of the continent below, she could easily make out the various settlements below. "Looks like we have sentient organics on this world." The camera zoomed in on a busy metropolis on an island, several bridge connecting to the mainland, it oddly reminded her of another Human city set on an island, New York was it? She paused when she zoomed close enough to examine the inhabitants.

"Uhh..." She muttered, unsure what to think seeing two brightly coloured equines speaking happily to one another. She briefly thought they were simple beasts, but they were communicating far too frequently to be simple grunts, and they were far too expressive, the final confirmation however, was when she another group of the creatures repair a painfully primitive wagon.

"A-are those horses?" Starscream asked.

"No," Slipstream answered slowly, as she continued examining the inhabitants of the other cities and finding more of them. "Judging by the size comparison with Terran fauna, I think they're more in line with Ponies then Horses. From the looks of things, they're the dominant race on this Energon-rich continent, but their technology is so primitive it's laughable. I doubt these creatures will be able to give us any trouble should they try to resist."

She checked her Energon sensors and noticed something surprising. "Wait! Most of their cities have an electrical system, but its powered by Energon! How can these creatures have mastered Energon refining? Even the Humans haven't figured that out."

"It doesn't matter!" Starscream said, triumph in his voice. "It only means that we have refined Energon ready for the taking! Scan for any Ponies that could be there leader so we can 'negotiate'."

Quickly skimming through the various settlements on the continent, it was on the palace-like city on the mountainside, which happened to have a particularly large concentration of Energon, that she spotted a winged and horned dark blue Pony in a gardened area, she was larger then most, wearing a dark crown and other forms of regalia, her mane and tail waving slowly like it was in a soft drift. She had already believed she had found her target when she saw two golden-armoured Ponies bow as she calmly passed by them, that confirmed it for the Decepticon.

"Pony leader sighted." She reported, freezing the image of the Pony and showing her location in what she suspected was the Capital city of these creatures, showing the data from her Energon readings.

"Good!" Starscream's voice practically dripped with anticipation as he examined all the data that the tiny Decepticon had gathered.

"Now we strike!" He shouted to the surrounding Seekers.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The thunder continued booming over Canterlot, and could be heard as a distant rumbling to the floating Wonderbolt Academy. The Wonderbolt recruits paid it no heed as they performed various maneuvers in tight-knit formation. Rainbow Dash watched them all with critical eyes, barking orders and compliments where necessary.

"Keep it up, Team 3! You're doing great! Wind Song, you're lagging behind, don't let Team 2 leave you in the dust!" She turned as she saw another group performing several loop-de-loops over the runway, nodding with approval. "Not bad, Team 1, now do that another 3 times and let's see how you all do. Remember, stay in formation!"

"How's the new recruits training going?" A familiar voice said behind her, Dash turned and saw Spitfire calmly walk up, eyeing the various squads as they flew past. Immediately, Dash gripped the whistle wrapped around her her neck and blew hard, a shrill screech pierced the sky around them, causing all the potential Wonderbolts to stop mid-flight.

"ATEEEEEN-TION!" Dash barked, performing a brisk salute with her wing, within seconds, the recruits landed in single file behind her, save for one who landed face first into the clouds, his tail sticking into the air, he quickly recovered himself and mimicked the salute, as did his comrades, heedless of the tuft of cloud stuck on his muzzle.

"It's going." Dash answered, a knowing smirk on her face as she glanced back at them.

Spitfire nodded and saluted all the Ponies before. "Carry on, cadets!"

"Ma'am!" They called out, before immediately taking back into the air.

Spitfire watched as they quickly reformed into their previously assigned teams, and continued with the flight maneuvers. "You sure are pushing them hard, think they're ready for all this?"

"A few of them need work, but they've definitely got the skill." Rainbow replied. "I'm just seeing if they've got the drive."

The Wonderbolt Captain chuckled at that. "Just don't break them, okay? That's my job."

"Will do, Captain!" The cyan Pegasus replied with a salute of her wing, which Spitfire promptly returned.

"Carry on, Sergeant!"

And so the training progressed, with Rainbow making mental notes on each cadet's progress and what needed to be improved on. Finally, with a blow of her whistle, the Wonderbolt Hopefuls stopped their maneuvers, all of the breathing heavily. "Alright, cadets, that's enough for today! You all did a great job improving yourselves, now hit the showers and rest up, you'll need all the energy you can get when the Captain takes over your training tomorrow."

The cadets nodded, and each attempted a final salute to their trainer, most were only half successful, but Rainbow let it slide. She had worked them hard, the least she could do was cut them some slack now that training was over. The recruits landed single-file and made their way slowly to the barracks. Dash nodded approvingly to them as they left, when her ears perked at several loud booms that reverberated through the air.

"What the hay was that?" She asked to nopony in particular as she turned her head in the general direction of the sounds.

Wind Song, last in line, stopped and shrugged. "Just thunder from Canterlot, that's all."

But Dash knew what thunder sounded like, and that was nothing like thunder should sound like, plus, Canterlot was too far off for the thunder to have an impact as that. Something didn't feel right to Rainbow, her wings twitched and her tail swished in agitation. I've got a bad feeling about this...

With training over and her wings itching to fly, the cyan Pegasus took off from the academy, flying towards Canterlot. Maybe something had gone wrong with the thunderstorm over the capital, if that's the case, she would be a very big help. It may have been years since she was Weather Pony, but she had never lost her touch, and the things she learned over her many years in the profession isn't something one easily forgets. Somehow, though, Rainbow had the feeling something else was wrong.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The six Decepticon Seekers streaked boldly into the atmosphere, not bothering with a quiet and stealthy approach, they had gone into full-burn on reentry, creating loud sonic booms that could be heart throughout half of Equestria.

"Decepticons!" Starscream cried out. "Seize the small town by the castle mountain and await my signal! We'll hold the populace hostage!"

With that, the five Seekers immediately broke formation from the Air Commander, making for the small town not far from them mountainside palace while Starscream maintained his course

"Slipstream!" Starscream said into the comm. "Meet me at their capital, your expertise will likely be required there."

"I thought you'd never ask." Slipstream replied wickedly.

Although he had seen the data Slipstream had scanned, the Decepticon ran a scan with his own sensors and, when he saw for himself the sheer amount of Energon hidden on the planet, he felt for the first time in a long time that he could almost grasp the power that had so often alluded him. And this time, he wasn't going to lose it, especially to any filthy organics. With the city fast approaching, his determination skyrocketed, that Energon was his, this planet would be his, and soon, a newly-reformed Decepticon Empire would be his and nothing would stop him. Nothing.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


As the thunderstorm had finally started to ease off, a few Ponies left their homes to quickly take care of a few chores. However, the loud sonic booms, louder then anything that happened that day, that practically shook the city caused many to wonder if the storm was about to pick up. However, the rain did not pick up again, nor were the continued rumblings of thunder. Many simply shrugged and continued on, after in one of the busier parts of the city, a mare cried out in shock, frantically pointing in the air.

"Look! Up in the sky!"

Many Ponies turned their heads and gaped at the sight. What was originally a tiny, glowing purple speck, grew into a bright red and silver aircraft of a design and speed they had never seen before.

"What is that?"

"Is that some kind of bird?"

"It's as fast as a Wonderbolt! No, faster!"

The strange alien craft continued its fast approach, when suddenly, several small objects leaped from the vehicle, scattering as the arrow-shaped rockets randomly targeted buildings and streets, smashing into them and creating loud and terrifying explosions that shattered the cobblestone streets and towers. Immediately the many Ponies looks of shock and wonder were replaced by sheer terror, the terrified Ponies in the market broke and fled as the craft flew directly overhead, strafing them with blasts of purple energy.

"PATHETIC FOOLS!" Came a shrill voice from the craft.

Princess Luna, who had been relaxing in the Royal Gardens, immediately stood up in shock as she heard the explosions. "What in the name of Equestria!?"

Immediately taking to the air, flanked by two Royal Pegasi Guards, Luna scanned the surroundings and watched in horror as a strange flying craft with screaming engines fired alien weapons at her screaming citizens. Quickly turning into rage, Luna's horn charged up with magical energy as she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "WHO DARES ATTACK THE CITY OF CANTERLOT AND THREATEN MY SUBJECTS!!?"

The Royal Canterlot voice was heard throughout the city, and immediately the alien craft turned and sped towards the Dark Alicorn with a speed that even the Wonderbolts would have difficulty matching. Bracing herself, Luna fired a stasis spell at the foreign attacker, but the craft effortlessly evaded and flew past her, making an almost 180 degree turn over the gardens, when the Princess saw something that stunned her.

The metallic craft shifted and changed, with a metallic alien sound that resonated through, causing her heart to quicken even further. Within a second, the craft had transformed into a two-story tall bipedal machine that grinned evilly at the Alicorn. Suddenly, a much smaller craft flew around a tower, zooming up to the robotic being, and quickly circled him a couple of times, before it too transformed into a pony-sized robotic creature, landing on the monstrous being's shoulder, a matching grin on its face.

"You must be the leader of this land." The tall being said in a shrill, yet malevolent voice. "I am Starscream! Air Commander of the Decepticon Battle Fleet and leader of the Decepticon Seekers! I will accept your surrender now."

Luna gritted her teeth in determination as the alien, Starscream, seemed heedless of the dozens of Royal Guards rapidly surrounding him, the smaller being however, eyed them with an almost eager look in its purple eyes.

"And, for the sake of your pathetic little species," Starscream said. "You would be wise to do so."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Meanwhile, nearly the whole population of Ponyville found themselves herded into the center of the town, surrounded by five, terrible giants of similar design, each of them stared down with amused contempt as the Ponies looked up at them with fear. One was admiring the cannon on his left forearm, almost expecting to use it on them shortly.