Grimlock, Dinobot... and father?

by The Bricklayer

Part 16: Investigations

The Swamps of Equestria

Twilight groaned in disgust as she trodded through the swamplands that currently surrounded her. The mist obscured her vision to only a few feet in front of her, and unknown and most likely horrible creatures screeched and howled from somewhere beyond her field of vision. Twilight was not afraid at all to admit she was nervous. She knew what kinds of things inhabited this corner of Equestria. Hydras, Manticores, and Cerabi to just name a few. But she was a mare on a mission. Now, if you may remember, Twilight had detected something coming down in this particular area around the time of last Nightmare Night...

Golden Oaks Library: Ponyville

Meanwhile, at the Golden Oaks Library back in the small town of Ponyville Twilight Sparkle was hard at work. But it wasn't hard at work on her costume as you'd expect, but she was instead hard at work on something else. You see, the Decepticons hadn't been the only ones to discover the X branded pod come down in the Equestrian Swamps, she had as well using a sensor device she'd been developing on and off over the past few months. A few days ago, it had finally been finished and had detected the pod come down as during it's field test.

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing?" The young drakeling known as Spike asked his adoptive mother in curiosity. "I thought you'd be working on a costume. It'd take quite a lot to top that grandpa costume from last year." He teased, making Twilight huff to herself. It was still a sore point with her with everyone mistaking her Starswirl the Bearded costume for something else like a scarecrow or a old grandpa like Spike had suggested.

"Spike..." Twilight began, quite annoyed. "For the last time, that was a costume of Equestria's greatest magician, Starswirl the Bearded not something as... as simple as a grandpa!" She yelled in further annoyance, making Spike laugh.

"I know that, I was just messing with you Twi. You really need to lighten up, take things less seriously." Spike chuckled making Twilight glare her harshest glare at him and Spike backed up in fear. Twilight then felt immediately guilty. She hadn't meant to scare her son so badly, it was just the stress of everything getting to her.

"I'm sorry Spike, it's just..." Twilight tried to apologize, but found she didn't know how to explain things to Spike in a way he could understand. But she quickly found she didn't need to, as Spike somehow understood something was bothering her very badly.

"It's alright ma, I understand. Something's nagging at you." He said compassionately and placed a claw on one of her shoulders. "I've learned to tell whenever something is. Your pacing, for example. It looks like you're about to wear a hole in the floor."

Twilight looked down, and blushed heavily as she found Spike was right. She was pacing back and forth like there was no tomorrow. She quickly put a halt to her activities, in case she did somehow wear a hole in the floor like Spike had suggested she might somehow do.

"I'm sorry Spike, it's just a device I built detected something, something big in fact coming down in the swamps just north of here and I just don't know what it is, if it's friend... or foe." Twilight responded in a worried tone. Spike nodded in understanding. That did sound pretty bad, and it had to be if it had Twilight this worried. The last time he saw her this stressed out was before their trip to the Crystal Empire and the task given to her by Princess Celestia. Twilight had been so freaked out she'd fail whatever test given and nearly let her fears get to her and fall under the late King Sombra's spell.

'W-Well, let's just hope it's friendly... whatever it is." Spike whispered fearfully. Twilight was now the one to put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, for all we may know it may be some big citybot that's help to come kick the Decepticons off the planet!" She joked, not really knowing how close to the truth she was about cityformers actually existing.

"But you are still going to put on a costume, right?" Spike asked, not knowing when to stop pressing his luck.

"OUT!" Twilight barked, and Spike quickly found himself scampering out of the room...

Behind her, Applejack picked a snake that was slithering on her shoulders up with her mouth and threw it far away, with it landing somewhere far off into the mist. She sighed to herself, this place was stinkin' nastier than an cow dyin' and it's body rotting away in the sun. And believe me, if you ever saw one of those, you could make the comparison. And to be honest, I pity you if ya have.

"Honestly Twi, I get you detected something comin' down these parts hereabouts with that there fancy thingamajig of yers, but do Ah really have to come along with ya?" Applejack grumbled to herself. Surely there were much better ponies for the job, or ones more skilled in dealing with unknown threats, like the Royal Guard.

"Ah mean, Ah may be a bearer of an Element of Harmony, and so are you, but we don't even know what we're dealing with here. If this is what you say it is, we might just be running into Decepticons, and we're far from equipped from dealing with them." Applejack thought to herself.

Twilight smiled back at her, in spite of the disgusting conditions that Rarity would have probably considered the Worst Possible Thing and shrieking her head off at the slightest thing that touched her, even if it was just a small bug.

"Applejack, remember, you and Rarity, and Rainbow Dash for that matter escaped from a Decepticon Warship and trashed some of those Vehicon drones that the Cons seem to love." Twilight reminded her.

"Yeah, but not without help from those Jetfire and Punch fellers. We'd have been killed if they hadn't shown up." Applejack put in, but once again Twilight was keen to remind her of the threats the Elements had faced together.

"Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra, we all defeated those villains together and so I think we can handle a few Decepticons if they show up." Twilight said, listening off the villains they'd defeated one by one with the utmost confidence in her voice. Applejack wished she herself shared that confidence.

"If ya say so Twi...." Applejack trailed off, and just then Twilight stopped right in front of her and Applejack nearly bumped into her hindquarters because of her sudden shock from the sudden stop. Twilight's horn became illuminated with a purple aura, and the area around it swiftly followed suite and the surrounding, almost choking mist cleared to reveal a huge Stasis Pod with it's hatch torn and ripped open, almost... almost as if something had clawed it's way out from the inside out. Twilight swallowed nervously, with Applejack doing the same. Meanwhile, unknown to them, a tall, slender, and dark blue figure watched from the shadows, his "Face", if you could call it that, recording everything said and done by the two ponies.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now." Applejack muttered nervously, very keen on getting out of her as fast as possible. She certainly didn't want to meet whatever was once in that Pod. Suddenly, she heard a call from Twilight.

"Hey, over here!" She heard Twilight exclaim, and Applejack rushed through the mist as fast as her four legs could carry her towards the direction of Twilight's yell only to come across a gruesome sight. There, in front of her, lay the Decepticon formerly known as Breakdown, ripped wide open, with where his spark would be torn out and wires sparking and energon laying in pools all around the area. Applejack nearly retched at the sight.

"Woo nelly, what in the name of buckin' Tartarus did this thing?" Applejack exclaimed as Twilight covered her mouth in horror as she mentally mused "Well, guess we won't have to worry about any Cons..." and looked towards the direction of the Stasis Pod.

"My guess, whatever the Tartarus came out of that pod..." She trailed off ominously, and Applejack swallowed.

"Come on." Twilight said, turning around to head back towards the safety of the calmer lands outside the Swamps. "We've done all we can here."

What both she and Applejack missed was the sound of energy charging up and the green glow of a Groundbridge portal with the ominous figure of the Decepticon Intelligence Gathering Specialist known as Soundwave stepping through it before the Groundbridge closing behind him...

---

The Nemesis

Soundwave's Predator Drone form flew silently through the stormy skies that the Decepticon Warship known as the Nemesis drifted through, his mind bristling with the information. For the longest time, he had wondered what exactly had happened to Breakdown in those swamps, as Brawl had never seen keen to offer up any answers, simply because he didn't know. (Not that any bot on the Nemesis believed him for a Astro-Second.) Now, if you're wondering why Soundwave didn't just make a portal to the Nemesis itself, it was because of strict orders from Megatron himself that Decepticons were no longer allowed to bridge directly to the ship lest the Autobots discover their location like they did last time for their rescue mission to free Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity.

With a shifting of parts, he soon was back in robot form and landing on the Nemesis's assault deck and then strolling through the corridors, Vehicon troops giving him an understandably wide berth in fear of perhaps the most infamous and downright dangerous Decepticon onboard the ship aside from the great Scrapmaker himself, Megatron. Speaking of the Decepticon leader, he was in a very bad mood. Why, you ask dear reader? Well, it all had to do with, perhaps not unsurprisingly, with Starscream and the rest of his troops. Multiple failed attacks on key Equestrian points, and others beyond The Royal Sister's borders all failed, all thanks to those fragging Autobots.

"Ah, Soundwave, you have something to report I presume?" Megatron asked, his back turned to his Chief Intelligence Specialist. And silently, Soundwave bowed before playing back what he had recorded in the swamps.

"If ya say so Twi...." Applejack trailed off, and just then Twilight stopped right in front of her and Applejack nearly bumped into her hindquarters because of her sudden shock from the sudden stop. Twilight's horn became illuminated with a purple aura, and the area around it swiftly followed suite and the surrounding, almost choking mist cleared to reveal a huge Stasis Pod with it's hatch torn and ripped open, almost... almost as if something had clawed it's way out from the inside out. Twilight swallowed nervously, with Applejack doing the same. Meanwhile, unknown to them, a tall, slender, and dark blue figure watched from the shadows, his "Face", if you could call it that, recording everything said and done by the two ponies.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now." Applejack muttered nervously, very keen on getting out of her as fast as possible. She certainly didn't want to meet whatever was once in that Pod. Suddenly, she heard a call from Twilight.

"Hey, over here!" She heard Twilight exclaim, and Applejack rushed through the mist as fast as her four legs could carry her towards the direction of Twilight's yell only to come across a gruesome sight. There, in front of her, lay the Decepticon formerly known as Breakdown, ripped wide open, with where his spark would be torn out and wires sparking and energon laying in pools all around the area. Applejack nearly retched at the sight.

"Woo nelly, what in the name of buckin' Tartarus did this thing?" Applejack exclaimed as Twilight covered her mouth in horror as she mentally mused "Well, guess we won't have to worry about any Cons..." and looked towards the direction of the Stasis Pod.

"My guess, whatever the Tartarus came out of that pod..." She trailed off ominously, and Applejack swallowed.

"Come on." Twilight said, turning around to head back towards the safety of the calmer lands outside the Swamps. "We've done all we can here."

After the recording was finished, Megatron's face lit up in intrigue. This was news indeed. This explained what had happened to the Stunticon formerly known as Breakdown, but more importantly it provided a great opportunity for Megatron. And being the grand schemer he was, he would not let this one slip through his claws.

"A big Stasis Pod, a big soldier..." Megatron mused aloud before looking directly at Soundwave. "Soundwave, a great opportunity has... presented itself to us. It seems we have a rogue. Find him, and bring him in to me. Oh, and one last thing. This mission shall be yours and yours alone. Tell no one else of your mission, understand?" Megatron said, finishing off his sentence with a underlying threatening growl, promising pain and punishment for Soundwave if he did somehow fail in his given task. After Soundwave had left the room, Megatron turned to his personal computer and onscreen, a light purple mare with her mane in a ponytail and turquoise streaks in her hair appeared.

"Ah, Starlight Glimmer. How... nice to see you again." Megatron greeted, having to physically force himself into a civil tone towards the pony.

"I trust my..." Megatron said before swiftly correcting himself at Starlight's harsh glare. "I mean, our little plan for the Element Bearers is proceeding as according to our prescribed agreement?" He inquired, and received only a smirk in reply.

"Yes, milord, those damned "Heroes of Equestria" won't know what hit them..."

END

Author's Note:

Well, bet you weren't expecting THAT twist ending were you? So yeah, Megatron and Starlight Glimmer are collaborating on... something, something which I shall not spoil and leave up to your imaginations for the time being. Anyways, on the chapter. So, Twilight's continuing her investigations into the crashed Stasis Pod in the Equestrian Swamps, and both she and Applejack have certainly found something alright. A very gruesome something. And all the while, Soundwave saw the whole thing. I knew Megatron would have to find out about You-Know-Who sooner or later, and I figured him learning via his chief spymaster was only... Iogical, as Shockwave would put it. Next time, a bit of Alternate Universe hopping for the Cutie Mark Crusaders!

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Soundwave_(WFC)