• Published 8th Jun 2016
  • 2,901 Views, 54 Comments

Maximares Rising - Cydra



The Mane Six find themselves involved in multiple adventures throughout the Transformers multiverse with robotic bodies, trying to find each other and the reason they've been transformed.

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Applejack vs. Soundwave

Maximares Rising

Chapter 1: Applejack vs. Soundwave

It was a bright, sunny morning on Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was getting breakfast together for the family before they all started on their work day. Apple Bloom had yet to get downstairs. Apparently she was sleeping in pretty late today.

Applejack chuckled to herself as she trotted over to the stairs. She'd overslept herself once or twice at Apple Bloom’s age before she called up. "Apple Bloom? Breakfast."‏

"Just 10 more minutes..." came Apple Bloom's yawning voice.

"Nope...come on down." called Applejack, before trotting up the stairs‏

"Alright, alright, I'm comin'," said Apple Bloom as she walked out of her room.

"That's a good little filly," said Applejack before going back down and into the kitchen, "Got plenty of flapjacks for you ta eat up. Better hurry before Big Mac starts eatin' em."

Applejack wandered back, her ears pricking as she heard Apple Bloom complaining about early mornings before the voice stopped suddenly, followed by a series of thumps and thuds that caused a chill to run down Applejack’s spine‏.

Applejack ran back and yelped, "Apple Bloom, are you al-" Her words froze as she saw the bizarre thing at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like some sort of mannequin except it had two legs and two arms. One of those arms was massaging its head which was oddly decorated with Apple Bloom's hair and ribbon. And most disturbingly, Apple Bloom's face was on the thing's chest.

"Ow, mah proces...sor…" said the thing in Apple Bloom’s voice, pausing as it saw Applejack‏.

"What...what the hay..." said Applejack as she backed up before she bumped into something. She turned to find Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. "Guys, Apple Bloom's turned in some kinda mannequin thing!" yelped Applejack.

"Oh dear, looks like our little family secret's out," said Granny Smith before suddenly unfolding mechanically and assuming a shape not unlike the other thing except taller. "It's a bit of a relief to not have to keep imitating that rickety old horse though," said the thing in a much younger-sounding version of Granny Smith's voice.

"Eyup," said Big Mac before also becoming a mechanical creature.

"Where the hay is mah family?" snapped Applejack, backing up, her ears flat against her skull.

"Scattered to the winds, quite literally," said 'Granny', "But don't worry, you'll joining them really soon."

"We can't have you telling anypony about our invasion before we're ready to go," said 'Apple Bloom'.

"Nothing personal," said 'Mac' before his arm converted into a large cannon and he aimed it at Applejack.


Applejack’s eyes shot open at that, the room she was in lit with emergency lighting as a calm voice said, “Hull breach on decks 15 through 24...NSC vessels have firing solution." before a dull boom was heard and the floor shook her off her feet and into view of a reflective metal surface‏.

For a second, Applejack thought her skin was fragmented in several pieces. But a quick look at herself saw that she was still whole...wait, are those seams? Another explosion, even closer, interrupted her pondering. "Warning, transwarp cell damaged. Transwarp field becoming erratic."‏

Another explosion was heard at that, the voice saying "Ghost units detected on deck 5 and 1. Counter boarders respond...alert...core breach imminent. All units abandon ship." as the shaking began to become constant, Applejack noticing several canisters being retracted. "Preparing prototype pods for emergency ejection. Chance of D-warp...100% on detonation," said the voice before it paused, "Warning...subject five is active. Security to neutralize."‏

‎"What's subject five?" asked Applejack. Just then, what looked like a couple of sleek wagons came racing towards her. As they got close, they suddenly shifted into bipedal creatures that were each pointing a gun at her. Applejack gulped and said, "Ah think that's me."

"There it is, blast it!" said one of them, an energy blast narrowly missing Applejack, the voice saying "Alert...reactor breach in 2 minutes."‏
Applejack hadn't a clue what was going on, but she knew what she was gonna do: run. She quickly dashed off as the machine creatures fired at her. They weren't very good at shooting as they mostly shot the machinery that she passed.

One of them snapped, "Watch your fire! The boss'll scrap us if we cause data to be lost." before a boom was heard and its head vanished.
Applejack looked to see more bipedal beings, but these were significantly shorter than the others and looked more like they were wearing armor than being machines. The last attacker turned in shock before one of the new attackers fired a blue pulse that blew it in half before they looked at each other and slowly headed forward.

Applejack wasn't sure she wanted to stick around so she galloped off down a gap between two machines far too narrow for those to follow her through.

The ship shook at that, throwing her off balance as the voice said "Dimensional instability at 100%. Warps detected...structural instability compromised."

Applejack gulped, for some reason her brain supplying a thousand reasons why that was bad before a huge steel hand grabbed her. “Gotcha," echoed a voice before everything turned white.


When Applejack came to, the first thing she noticed was it was intensely hot. The reason why was pretty clear when looked around and saw that she was in the middle of a desert. She shook her head and looked around some more, staggering up a dune to see just more desert, mountains in the far distance, rippling in the heat. After a minute she looked down to see the two machines from earlier, the top open. She had a few seconds to realize what that meant before something pressed against the side of her head. "Don’t even twitch, tin can," said an annoyed voice.

"Who you callin' tin can, tin can?" snapped Applejack.

"I’m talking to the asshole robo-creature that goes around nuking our colonies..." snapped the voice, Applejack turning her head to see a bipedal creature, normal flesh visible under sleeveless armor and holding a huge cannon, the inside of the barrel glowing faintly inside.
A second, more cheerful voice said, "Dante, cool your jets. She's smaller than we are outside the mechs."‏

"So? She's probably an infiltration model," said the first one.

"Bad design if you ask me,” said a second figure, the cheerful one before pulling the helmet off to reveal a furless ape-like face, apart from some black fur on the top of his head and on his chin. "Unless they're gonna infiltrate Paradiso," he added smugly‏.

"I have no idea what you two are talkin' about," said Applejack before looking around and asking, "And where the hay are we anyways?"‏

"Not a clue in hell. Dimensional locator’s offline. Must be somewhere in Cyber...your territory or we're in the uncharted sectors. I’m hoping it’s your territory. All you’ll do is tread on us," said the cheerful figure before slapping the first one’s gun aside, "For the last time, Dante. Calm the smeg down."‏

Applejack was trying to calm herself, but being out in the middle of the desert wasn't helping. There was even a pair of buzzards flying overhead that just screamed 'bad omen’.

"Matt Lynch, you’re a damn idiot and a traitor. These things are the enemEEEEEEE!" he snapped, yelping as Lynch kneed him.

"One: I'm a merc which means I can’t be shot. Two: She's about as threatening as a teletubby and three: We dunno where we are, have limited food and water and even more limited ammo so we need someone who might have the ability to sense supplies." Matt said conversationally as Dante whimpered‏.

"Ya mean me?" asked Applejack.

"Yes. You're a robot. You probably got zoom vision or laser eyes or something," said Lynch.

"What the heck's a robot?" asked Applejack.

"You..." said Dante, tapping the top of Applejack’s head, causing a clanking noise‏.

"Hey, cut that out!" snapped Applejack, backing up.

"Hate to say it but the gung-ho dufus is right. You’re a robot, a Cybertronian to be exact," said Matt before a caw was heard up above and he yelled "SHUT IT, I'M TALKING!" Then there was a whooshing sound and Lynch said, "Oh smeg, HIT THE DECK!"

Applejack looked to see the buzzards flying at them. And it was clear that the only reason she thought they were buzzards was because they were so far away. They were mechanical buzzards, much larger than the real kind with guns mounted on their backs.

Matt rolled onto his back and aimed a hand held device. "Screw you, you robot rejects." he snapped, firing a blast that depressed him into the ground. ‎The blast barely missed the buzzard-bots, but the red-winged one gave out a squawk of fright and flew away. The yellow-winged one was apparently made of sterner stuff and flew back at them, strafing at the ground with its guns.

Matt and Dante fired as it flew over before Dante yelled "You on our side or not? Blast the freak!" he snapped at Applejack‏.

"How am Ah supposed to do that?" asked Applejack, "Ah’m just a pony, not bird-shooter thing."‏

"You’re a smegging robot! Make that funny noise they make!" snapped Matt before he was knocked onto his back by the bird thing‏.

"What funny noise?" demanded Applejack before she heard a metallic growling. She turned to see what looked like a robotic panther crouching on some rocks nearby, the missiles on its hips aimed directly at them.

"That one?" suggested Dante, turning and firing‏

The panther-bot easily jumped around Dante's firing and made a dash forward. Before either of the pilots could react, it grabbed Applejack by the neck and started running away with her. "Get offa me, ya mangy cat!" yelled Applejack as she tried to kick at it.

Matt and Dante kept firing till it was out of sight, Lynch turning before stomping towards his mech, muttering about damn cats. "And what do you think you're doing?" demanded Dante.

"Going after the kitty that ran off with probably our only ticket off this rock," said Matt, not turning around and climbing up his mech and into the cockpit‏

"Aren't you forgetting we have a killer condor to deal with?" asked Dante.

"No we don't," said Matt, pointing up at the clear sky, the buzzard-bot having flown off. "That thing was a distraction to let Captain Kitty-Cat sneak up on us. That thing’s important to them and so it’s probably important to us too," he added, shutting the hatch and his mech powering up before he said over the mechs loudspeaker, "Now are you suiting up or do I get a bounty all to myself?"‏

Dante sighed and muttered to himself, "I'd never hear the end of it," before climbing back into his mech.‏


Ravage grumbled as he felt the protoform kick his chassis again before he finally said in a low voice, "If you do that once more, I will tear out your CPU!"‏

"You can talk?" asked Applejack with surprise.

"Of course I can, fool," snapped Ravage as the two headed down a dune, "Now what is a protoform doing with two humans and their pale comparisons to us?"‏

"What's a protoform?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, you are new. You are a protoform. Barely online it seems," snapped Ravage‏.

"Ah have no idea what that means," said Applejack.

"By the Allspark, are the Autobots truly this desperate?" muttered Ravage before saying, "You are a protoform, a Cybertronian that has yet to take his or her defensive form such as my own." in a voice that was almost a snarl‏.

"Ah’m just an Earth Pony from Ponyville, which Ah’m guessin' is nowhere near here," said Applejack.

Just then, the two buzzard-bots landed. "Finding her a hard nut to crack?" asked the red-winged one, "I bet I can make her spill her secrets."

"Oh, sure, she'll be so scared of you, Laserbeak," said the yellow-winged one sarcastically, "Especially when she saw you fly away with your thrusters between your landing pads."‏

"Silence, both of you. She is a protoform, clearly with corrupted memory," snapped Ravage.

"The boss can find out for certain," said the yellow-winged one.

"Of course. It looks half-starved. One of you idiots, find some energon. She cannot answer questions if she offlines from energy shortage," snapped Ravage‏.

"Can you manage that or are you gonna spooked off," asked the yellow buzzard-bot to Laserbeak.

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny, Buzzsaw," said Laserbeak before flying off.

Ravage transferred his glare to the remaining bot who said “Ok, I’m going, yeesh," before flapping off‏.

Ravage turned back to Applejack and said, "So, tell me what you know of Cybertron."

"Never heard of it," said Applejack.

Ravage rolled his optics and said, "Either you're as dumb as a Dinobot or you were built on this pathetic planet."‏

"Nope, born in Equestria," said Applejack calmly only for Ravage to think.

"No, I do not know that planet. Either it is more memory damage or it was destroyed in the early days of the war,” said Ravage calmly‏.

"What war?" asked Applejack.

"Definitely the memory damage," said Ravage.

The two buzzards flew back at that, holding a glowing substance between them and apparently arguing over who was carrying it till Ravage lost patience and fired a missile over their heads. "ENOUGH!” he roared‏. The buzzards dropped the glowing thing in front of Applejack. "Fuel up quickly," said Ravage.

"Erm...Ah don’t think that edi..." began Applejack.

"Just drink it!" snapped Ravage, pushing Applejack's face into it.

There was a metallic clank and Applejack yelled, "Ow, that hurt!"‏

"THEN DRINK!" snapped ravage, Applejack grumbling as she complied, and her eyes shooting bug-eyed wide. Applejack made a few bangs like an engine backfiring she suddenly started running around the trio at incredible speed.

"Definitely a protoform, can’t hold her energon," said Laserbeak sagely‏.

"Can't we just put her in stasis lock?" asked Buzzsaw.‏

"No, I think she'll do that to herself shortly," said Ravage calmly as Applejack said various things at warp speed‏

"Couldn't be soon enough," said Buzzsaw. Just then, Applejack's speed started to drop dramatically and she soon slumped to the sandy ground.

"Aaaand down she goes," said Laserbeak cheerfully‏.

"Good, you'll be carrying her," said Ravage as he jumped onto Buzzsaw's back.

"Why do I have to carry you?" protested Buzzsaw.

"Because Laserbeak has a low pain threshold," said Ravage before sinking his claws into Buzzsaw.‏


"We're lost," said Dante, Matt saying darkly “Shut up.” for the 5th time that hour.

"We can't figure out blip with our navigators," said Dante.

"We just need to find a landmark," snapped Matt.‏

"Sure...is it the dune over there...or the dune over there?" said Dante sarcastically, his mech pointing at the relevant areas.

"Well, we didn't wind up on a desert planet," snapped Matt, "There's gotta be...something somewhere!"‏

"Like sand?" asked Dante smugly as the two mechs strode along‏.

"Why couldn't we have gotten the flight-capable mechs?" grumbled Matt.‏

"Cause they don’t exist," snapped Dante as they strode over another dune and paused.

Below them looked like what ought to be a simple coal mining operation, though rather out of place in the desert. However, the coal was being shoveled into a large machine was churning out pinkish cube. Most noticeably, the six vehicles that were transporting the coal were construction vehicles of a uniform bright green, at least until they got to the machine and shifted to robot mode to dump the coal in.‏

"Well, we know why the Cybertronians are here. Energy mine," said Dante calmly, readying his shoulder launcher before Matt blocked the shot.

“Yes...shoot the energy mine and crack the planet in half," he scolded‏.

"Like this planet is that small and fragile," said Dante.

"We're small and fragile enough," pointed out Matt.‏

"Fine, we wait," snapped Dante‏.

"Right, those vultures have to come refuel at some point," said Matt, "Then we'll, uh, well, we'll definitely shoot them down."‏

"Urgh...it’s not like they’re gonna drop right in our lap," snapped Dante‏. Just then, there was the sound of jet engines as the two buzzard bots flew overhead, the red one carrying the pony. "Not a word, Lynch," growled Dante‏.

"Ok, take out the yellow one and the other one's sure to engage us," said Matt before pausing and saying, "Well, maybe we ought to do it away from where those other ones can see us."‏


Applejack yelped as she was dropped into the dirt by one of the buzzards. "Ow...darn varmints," she groaned, getting up‏.

"We brought the protoform," said Laserbeak.

"Excellent," said a very robotic voice. Applejack looked up to see a robot taller than the others she has seen. It was mostly blue with a large glass panel on its chest with an angular purple symbol on it. The robot's face was mostly comprised of a red visor and a large mouthplate, so it was impossible to tell its expression.

"Wh...who are you?" asked Applejack, looking around for a possible escape‏.

“I am Soundwave, Decepticon communications officer,” said the robot in a monotone, “My comrades were able to save you before you fell into maleficent hands.”

"Your varmints attacked me and Ah’m supposed to think you're the good guys?" said Applejack skeptically.

Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ravage let out growls at that. "Their programming is more primitive and more likely to react with more hostility than necessary," said Soundwave, "Their roughness was to ensure your safety." The beast bots were about to protest but Soundwave gave them a look that silenced them.

Applejack could sense the lie immediately but common sense also pointed out she was surrounded and in deep trouble. Playing along was the only option‏. "So who was it ya'll were savin' me from?" asked Applejack.

"The organics of this planet are menacing to those strange to them," said Soundwave, "And the Autobots are the worst enemies. They are ruthless conquerors who will destroy anyone who gets in their way."‏

Applejack mentally rolled her eyes at that, wondering how someone could lie so convincingly and thanking her stars for her element‏. "So why go so far out of your way to save me?" asked Applejack, "You don't even know who Ah am."

"Not currently, but that can be amended," said Soundwave before reaching out with two fingers and touching either side of Applejack's head. "Interesting, it appears multiple firewalls have been placed into your harddrive programming, blocking off long-term and some short-term memories," said Soundwave calmly‏.

"How do you know that?" asked Applejack.

"I know many things," said Soundwave, "For example, you are currently unaware of your ability to transform. Shall I trigger it for you?"‏

“Ah guess so,” said Applejack uncertainly.

Soundwave nodded and began to feed in basic training programs as well as how to scan for a form, before starting to add a Decepticon loyalty program...before an energon storage silo exploded and threw everyone on their sides.


"Who the hell is that guy?" muttered Matt, he and Dante watching as their new companion was confronted by what was probably the panther and birds’ boss.

"Not sure, but I definitely know who's side he's on," said Dante, noting the Decepticon insignia on the robot.

"This again? The idiots in high command always blow this theory off..." said Matt before wincing as the leader shoved something into Applejack’s head, "Oh, that’s looks nasty. Dante, your mech has the new AIs. What’s he say it’s up to?"‏

After a moment, the AI responded, "Target is having its programming read and modified."‏

"Ok, that’s good enough for me. Rocket time!" said Matt cheerfully, Dante yelling "No wait!” before Matt fired, the rocket shooting high into the sky, over the intended target of Soundwave and down onto a silo which erupted in a blue fireball.

"Your aim’s still top notch, I see," said Dante dryly‏.

The explosion earned the wrath of the three cassette-bots who charged at the mechs. Soundwave himself started firing at them as well. "Oh well, party time," said Dante in an annoyed tone, the two opening up with their mechs’ main guns, a hail of heavy caliber rounds and plasma shooting down.

The cassette-bots were able to dodge most of the firepower, but soon started getting winged. At this, Soundwave pushed a button on his upper chest and intoned, "Rumble, Frenzy, eject." A pair of cassettes popped out of his chest which soon converted into more humanoid robots than their companions.

"Let's teach them a lesson," said Rumble before he started pounding the ground with his pile drivers.

Matt yelped as the two mechs shuddered under the shake but stayed upright. "Oi, no earthquake tests!" he snapped, firing another rocket, this time on target at Rumble.

The small bot just narrowly avoided getting shot. "I'll show ya how to really rattle 'em," said Frenzy before spinning his drills at such a high speed that they produced a piercing sonic frequency.

Matt yelped as the blast hit his mech, causing sparks in the cockpit. “Warning: sonic vibration beyond safe parameters," said the computer, Matt managing to fire his plasma gun at Frenzy enough to throw the aim off (and sadly onto Dante who began swearing at him).

Of course, this gave Rumble the opening to get closer and cause more seismic tremors. The other cassette-bots were also starting to close in.‏ Matt just snapped at that, Dante rolling his eyes and muttering "Oh, not again,” as he heard manic laughter over the com as Matt just started firing indiscriminately at anything that moved and anything that didn’t, up to and including the sand dunes.

‎The cassette-bots dodged at first, but soon paused when they realized Matt wasn't really aiming at anything. Once they had gotten back to a far enough distance, they watched as Matt wasted his ammo.

"You know, this is more fun than when Blitzwing got into an argument with himself" said Laserbeak conversationally, both of them wincing as frenzy was hit by a lucky shot and went head over heels into a pile of energon‏.

"Shouldn't we take out the other one?" asked Ravage, eying Dante's mech.‏

"No...he’s actually aiming," said Laserbeak, yelping as a shot narrowly missed. "SEE?" he snapped.

"Stand clear," said Soundwave before he fired a concentrated blast of pure sound at the mechs. The two mechs were instantly thrown backwards, sparks from their joints indicating they were out of commission. “Secure the pilots,” Soundwave ordered, adding "Alive and able to converse."‏

"What about the protoform?" asked Buzzsaw.

"She has useful data, bring her as well," said Soundwave.

Applejack shook her head before being hit by a stasis lock blast.


...And woke up with a jump in a strange room. "AJ, I thought I was the one who liked to nap?" teased a cyan winged pony with a rainbow mane and tail‏.

"I am so looking forward to doing the redecorating of this palace," said a white unicorn with a spiraling mane and tail, "Not that it needs much, but just a few little tweaks."‏

"Yeah...like some balloons and some confetti and we could even get Discord to put in a chocolate rain fountain," said a pink pony, bouncing around.

"Uh, do you think we can have a few birdhouses here?" asked a yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane and tail.

"I'm sure we can," said the purple alicorn, "But first, I want to know what all this castle has in it."‏

A mismatch of creatures in one body, floating up at the ceiling said in an amuse voice, "My dear Twilight, a castle like this is probably chock full of secrets. Maybe even some that should stay secret. Haven’t you heard about the saying about curiosity and the cat?" turning into a cat with cartoon x's over its eyes before turning back.

"Discord, this is my castle, my home," said Twilight, "Shouldn't I, of all ponies, ought to know its secrets?"‏

"Said the pony before she wandered into the cockatrice’s lair,” teased Discord.

"Oh, like that's supposed to be the defining example," said Twilight in an annoyed tone.

Just then, a little dragon ran over to her with a few scrolls. "Twilight, we've got 6-" he started letting out a flaming burp that turned into another scroll, "7 reports of those UFO sightings."

"Spike, you know there are no such thing as UFOs," said Twilight.‏

Discord just starting chuckling darkly at that till Applejack asked "What’s so funny?"

Discord said, "You think this universe is just this little planet? Oh, there are things out there that make your princesses look like foals."‏

"Oh, like you've been to other planets," said Applejack.

In a flash, Discord was in a spaceman suit and he said, "I actually have. Some places are rather boring, but others are really fun."‏ He flashed to become a balding hairless ape saying, “I have to say, Jean Luc was perhaps my favorite. But that’s beside the point...” before he flashed back and said darkly, "If you truly knew what was out there, you'd hide in this palace. I hope for everyone’s sake that these UFOs are just the Crusaders experimenting again."‏

"Yeah right, aliens from other worlds," said Applejack, "How gullible do have to be to believe in that?"


As Applejack woke up and saw she had been moved to a cave with the pilots in energy cages and Ravage standing guard, she thought to herself, 'Guess not that gullible at all.'‏

"Oh, look, the tin can’s awake,” snapped Dante from his cell at that.

"Ah ain't a tin can," snapped Applejack.

"Still in denial?" asked Ravage, "Do I have to jump start your T-Cog to get you to believe?"‏

"Just do it, even we're getting sick of the self-denial," snapped Matt.

Ravage walked over to Applejack and looked her over before reaching out one paw and hitting her in the chest. "Ow, what was that-" started Applejack before her body started clicking. Suddenly, she rose up onto her extending hind legs as her fore legs extended and hands emerged from the hooves. Her tail swung around and clipped onto her back while the front half of her head separated and moved to her chest. Now Applejack was a humanoid robot, though a remarkably unimpressive one. Her robot mode was noticeably bereft of any weapons, gadgets, or any particularly robotic details.

"You're more of a protoform than I thought," said Ravage, noticing that Applejack didn't even change size other than standing up.

"Surprise," called Matt mockingly.

Applejack wasn't paying attention to any of them. She was looking on herself and was on the brink of fainting or crashing or whatever this body does. She looked like those creatures her family turned into in her dream. Had she always been a robot? Was there a real Applejack? Was anything real?

"Erm...I think you broke her," called Matt, Ravage snapping "Shut up."‏

Just then, Laserbeak flew in and asked, "What's all the ruckus?"

"The protoform finally transformed," said Ravage indifferently, "Has Soundwave found anything useful in her datatrax?"‏

"Her internal clock’s all messed up," said Laserbeak, before looking at the humans, “Same with their mechs..."

"I said useful, not irrelevant," said Ravage.

"The mechs are scrap, but Soundwave has been analyzing the protoform's datatrax. I think he's making a presentation to Megatron right now," said Laserbeak.

Ravage looked unimpressed, "This tiny thing, it has less to offer then the organics when it comes to firepower or skills.”

"Megatron will probably want to know where she's from. Where did she say it was?" asked Laserbeak.

"I don't know. Hey, protoform, where did you..." started Ravage before looking around and finishing, "...go?"


Applejack was actually not far away, sneaking through the caverns towards where Soundwave was, peering round a corner to see the machine, Soundwave talking to something out of her sight.

"Datatrax of protoform displays prominent tampering," said Soundwave, "But unaltered data heavily suggests she is from a planet with many untapped natural resources."

"And you actually believe this planet of...ponies exists?" said another voice.

"The information indicates it does though the protoform shows modified transwarp energy," said Soundwave calmly.

"Our scientist have barely tapped the full capabilities of transwarp energy yet," said the voice, "Perhaps this protoform is from the future."

"A most logical conclusion," said Soundwave.

"Hmm...I want a full analysis of this protoform, dismantle it completely and find out any useful data from her. I shall be working on a contingency plan in the unlikely event that the Autobots win the Great War," said the voice.

"As you command, Megatron," said Soundwave.

Applejack yelped and backed off, having a good idea what 'dismantled' would mean. Unfortunately for her, Soundwave has very acute hearing and started moving in her direction. Applejack ran as fast as she could, which wasn’t very fast as she wasn’t used to two legs before a sound blast sent her flying.

"Your eavesdropping was inconvenient, but irrelevant," said Soundwave, "You've merely hastened your dismantlement." He was reaching down for her when both he and Applejack heard an appallingly horrible cacophony which made them both grab the sides of their head.

"By the Allspark!" yelled Soundwave as his systems began to fuse from sheer damage. "Ravage...I told you no torturing!” he ordered down the com.

"I'm not torturing them, he's torturing us!" snapped Ravage.

"Impossible!" snapped Soundwave, before an explosion was heard.

‎"Rumble, Frenzy, eject," said Soundwave as he let the Recordicons out of his chest, "Guard the protoform while I deal with the prisoners."‏


Matt and Dante high-fived, looking at the slowly-regenerating Ravage. "Game on...let’s see," Matt said, messing inside the hole before pulling out Ravage’s comm circuitry. "Ok, Dante, call in a cruiser,” he said.

"Command one, this is Reaper 2-12," said Dante into the comm before a voice said in a bored tone. “This is an imperial military channel, state your species and location and remain in position for arrest."‏

Dante paused and turned to Matt, "Maybe we shouldn't risk it."

"Maybe it's favoritism talking, but I'd rather take my chances with the enemies we know than these guys," said Matt.‏

Dante nodded before turning to the comm. “Erm...hi, this is the resistance. We all think you're assholes," he said innocently.

"Do not move, an imperial fleet shall be along shortly to take you all into custody," said the operator with a surprisingly bored tone.

"Good for you, definitely don’t track this signal," said Matt cheerfully. Ravage growled as he tried to get back up but Matt kicked him. "Bad kitty," he said.

Dante sighed as Matt yelled in pain, hopping in place. "Ok...let’s get out of here," he said, looking around for a weapon, his grenade pistol empty.

Just then, a blast of sound knocked them off their feet. Soundwave strode in with an annoyed tone. “You are the one who..." he began, taking into account the stasis-locked Ravage, next to the humans barely up to the top of his leg. "You are proving to be more of a nuisance than worth keeping," said Soundwave, his shoulder cannon aiming at them.

"We do our jobs so well," groaned Dante.

"Once I extract the relevant data from your minds, your bodies will be disposed of," said Soundwave before grabbing the two of them in each hand.

"Meep," began Matt before saying, “Hey Dante...you haven’t got anything else up your sleeves, have you?"‏

"Fresh out, I'm afraid," said Dante.

"Well, we're dead," said Matt simply.


Meanwhile, Rumble and Frenzy were getting bored watching over Applejack. "Ah, why do we have to watch this dumb horse anyways?" asked Rumble.

"Cause she's from another planet," said Frenzy.

"So? We're from another planet," said Rumble.

"A planet we haven't been to yet, dumb bolts," said Frenzy.

"Oh, so?"

"So, that means there's plenty of energy there to drain once Soundwave figures out how to get there."

"Oh, you think whatever's livin' there is gonna put up a fight?"

"Hope, I'm achin' to do some mayhem."‏

"And even if they don't, weapon calibration’s important," said Laserbeak‏.

"What? Yer gonna invade my home?" snapped Applejack.

"Duh, we were planning to do it from the start," said Laserbeak.

"I thought you wanted to help me," said Applejack.

"It's called 'lying'," said Buzzsaw, "Don't you have liars where you come from or do you think everything you hear is the truth?"‏

Applejack glared at that before saying, "You ain’t harmin' mah kin," her hand rotating into a gun muzzle without thinking.

"Oh look, she has a popgun," said Rumble.

"What ya gonna do, shoot corks at us?" teased Frenzy.

The blast that came out sent the duo flying backwards. Applejack looked at her gun with surprise. "Wow, didn't know I could do that," she said. She frowned at that, headed for the cells in time to see Matt and Dante in Soundwave’s grip.

She was about to shoot Soundwave when Laserbeak and Buzzsaw flew at her, shooting with their guns. Applejack narrowly avoided their assaults before saying, "The heck with this, transform or whatever." Her body switched back to her pony form, though she took a bit more notice of the grooves and seams on her. As the buzzard-bots flew in for another striker, Applejack reared her hindquarters and gave both of them a bashing on the neck.

Applejack smirked and galloped into the room at that, only for Rumble and Frenzy to pounce on her. "Going somewhere?" said Rumble as Applejack squirmed

"Your defiance is useless," said Soundwave, "You cannot match the power of one Decepticon, let alone my minions. You cannot even discern fantasy from reality."

"Ya mean the fantasies and realities ya'll want me to believe," said Applejack, "Ah don't how ah got here or why or who's who, but there's one thing Ah do know. Ya'll can try to deceive me as much ya like, but mah heart's always gonna know what's the honest truth." Suddenly, her cutie marks on both flanks blazed bright orange.

Frenzy and Rumble were sent flying, Soundwave snapping, "This is illogical!" before noticing that Matt and Dante somehow had shades on.
The bright orange light encompassed a noticeable area around Applejack before there was a final pulse. When the light faded, Applejack had grown noticeably in size, about as big as a true horse. Not that she'd be mistaken for a horse since she was more noticeably robotic in this form, with what looked like a pair of pistons in her hind legs.

Matt finally broke the silence, saying, “Applejack, could you kick this guy’s ass, please?"‏

"Not a problem," said Applejack before standing on her front legs and kicking the charging Rumble and Frenzy with her powerful new hind legs, the pistons obviously meant to enhance the power of her kicks. While she was in that position, she said something that popped into her head, "Applejack, maximize!" She stood up taller on her front legs at the bottom halves of them turned around as foot pieces and spurs flipped out from them. Her head split in half and moved to the sides of her shoulders, which were rapidly becoming hips. Her hind legs repositioned as hands emerged from the hooves. A panel near her tail opened and allowed a robot head that had the tail as a ponytail to come out. Her hat and part of her mane was flipped up into the air by the transformation but she caught it and put it on her head. Now she was a noticeably taller robot, though only waist-high to Soundwave. "Alright, pardner, let's dance," she said.

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw lunged at her again at that. Applejack reached for the pony mode head halves on her hips which turned out to be holsters for a pair of guns resembling six-shooters, but the shots they fired out were apparently more powerful as she soon shot the two bird bots out of the air.

Soundwave glared, dropping Matt and Dante and firing a series of sonic blasts at Applejack, not noticing as Matt and Dante talked to one another before running for it. Applejack managed to avoid most of the blasts before running at Soundwave. She pulled back her right arm as if to punch him, though it seemed odd that her fist retracted as it did. But when she did close to deliver the blow, the reason became clear as her right arm piston extended and her hoof extended out like a pile driver, which allowed her to belt Soundwave even harder.

The result was impressive, denting the area it hit and sending Soundwave flying into the roof with a crash. "Now if ya'll excuse me, Ah gotta be moseyin’ on," said Applejack.

Soundwave got up at that, aiming his sound blaster before Applejack glowed and vanished.


...and reappeared in a control room, the two mechs working at control consoles. "Hey, it worked, Lynch, I owe you a beer," said Dante’s voice.

‎"How in tarnation did Ah get here?" asked Applejack.

"Transporter...we....borrowed that Soundwave guy’s ship," said Matt cheerfully‏.

"Stealin' ain't the right thing to do," said Applejack.

"Oh, like stripping apart our minds and dismantling you wasn't the right thing to do?" asked Dante sarcastically but meaningfully.

"That and how will you get off planet without a ride?" reminded Matt, checking controls. "Ok...there's a few planets nearby and I can jury rig up a rip engine to get us back. Where to, oh tin pony?" asked Matt.

There was a faint orange glow and Applejack looked down to see that the cutie mark on her chest was making the glow. "Ah think Ah know where ta go," said Applejack, "Can ya open up a map or somethin'?"‏

Matt jumped out his mech and called up a holo on his wrist comp. “All local wormholes, take your pick," he said.

Applejack's cutie mark glowed brighter before a beam of light shone from it onto one of the wormholes. "That one," she said.

"Ok, Dante? Bearing 173...wormhole to dimension X-414. You choose all the fun ones," said Matt cheerfully‏.

"Hmm, there seems to be an instability with that wormhole, like a transdimensional storm, you sure we want to go in there?" asked Dante.

"It's what mah cutie mark's tellin' me," said Applejack.

"You heard the half-insane cyber. Let’s go down the rabbit hole," said Matt.

As the ship turned in the direction the map indicated, Applejack said to herself, "Hang tight, girls. I'm comin' for ya."

Author's Note:

Here's the first chapter of my brand new story. This story is going to feature a lot of Transformers references and allusions, as well as a few other things. For instance, Applejack's nightmare in the opening is loosely based on this picture, but has no bearing on the rest of the story. Applejack's upgraded body uses this design, which I do have permission to use from both the artist and the commissioner. Soundwave and his minions need little explanation, though his conversation with Megatron is meant to foreshadow Megatron's fallacy plan regarding the Golden Disk in Beast Wars. And Discord briefly alludes to one of John de Lancie's most famous roles as Q from Star Trek, which he shares a lot similarities with.

Matt and Dante are the property of Largefish8 who helped me co-write this story. This is the same Matt from Nightmares and Wormholes, but actually from an earlier part of his life before he first came to Equestria. There's a bit of timey-wimey looseness here, but it'll make sense towards the end.

The updates of this story might be on a bit of a sporadic schedule, but they will be constantly flowing. Please keep an eye out for the next chapter and review this one.