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Applejack vs. Soundwave7,158 words
Pinkie Pie vs. Rampage10,256 words
Twilight Sparkle vs. Scorponok24,475 words
Rainbow Dash vs. Starscream17,937 words
Rarity vs. Shockwave, Part 120,910 words
Rarity vs. Shockwave, Part 214,019 words
Fluttershy vs. Megatron14,941 words
Maximares Reunite13,148 words
Spike vs. Abominus18,361 words
Problem on Paradron11,114 words
The Enigma of Combination10,410 words
Return to Equestria13,263 words
Equinaut vs. Cryotek5,612 words

The Enigma of Combination

Maximares Rising

Chapter 11: The Enigma of Combination

This wasn't the first time the girls have woken up in captivity in an unknown location. As a matter of fact, they were downright sick of it now.

"Ok, Matt’s got some dodgy friends," said Rainbow Dash in annoyance.

"Pretty sure they ain't his friends," said Applejack.

"So what kind of cell are we in this time?" asked Rarity, scanning around.

A single porthole could be seen, out into a multicolored nebula, the girls’ sensors going nuts. "We must still be in transit," said Twilight.

"How are we gonna get out of here?" asked Dash, looking around for a door.

A section of the far wall opened at that, the Junkions pushed in before the hatch sealed again. The Junkions looked like they had been poorly handled, considering how many pieces they were in. "Guess we 'opped on the wrong ship," said Gryme.

"But on the bright side, we didn't lose the girls," said Trub.

"We lost Spike," said Twilight sadly.

"Thought this place was roomier," said Trub as she tried to sort out her parts.

Fluttershy stared before she said, "How can you be so...calm? We've been botnapped."

"Things always work out," said Gryme. Just then, Trub beeped something in annoyance. "No, this is my fuel pump," said Gryme.

The group stared before Twilight said weakly, "How are you still active? You're in bits."

The Junkions exchanged glances before Gryme said, "We don't really know. Seems ta be a thing all Junkions can do."

"We try not ta question it, luv," said Trub, "Otherwise, our processors might realize we're supposed ta be offline."

"Huh, I wonder if Waspinator is part Junkion?" asked Pinkie.

"Did you see Matt on the way in?" asked Applejack.

"Didn't see much but the inside of a box," said Trub.

There was a buzz at that, a voice saying, "The deserter’s just fine..."

"You don't have to treat him like this," said Twilight, "He was only trying to take us back home."

"He deserted his post, not our call," said the voice before a hologram of a raven-haired female human appeared, "My name is Director Sino. You'll be guests at my facility."

"I'm hearing 'guests', but I'm not expecting courtesy," said Rarity.

"Well, we are at war. Can't blame me for being sensible," said Sino calmly.

"How many times do we have to explain we're not part of this war?" asked Twilight, "We were dragged into this by a rogue agent."

"Would you call Cryotek a rogue agent?" asked Rarity.

"Ah could call him a lot of things Ah shouldn't say in polite company," said Applejack.

"We only have your word for that. Unsurprisingly, lie detectors don't work on robots," said Sino, her voice slightly colder.

"So what, you gotta plug into our brains and look at our memories to-" started Pinkie before several of the Maximares hushed her.

"No, we have more than enough information in that aspect. There is something else you could help with. We've been asked by the council to give our troops an edge," said Sino, her smile now sharklike.

"I don't like where this is going," said Fluttershy.

"I doubt you will. Cooperate and you might survive the end of this war," said Sino.

"And how long would that be?" asked Pinkie.

"Who can say?" said Sino smugly, before saying, "And I wouldn’t worry about your friend. He's already 'helping'." Her hologram vanished, the door opened and two mechs came in, aiming.

"Blue one, move it," intoned one of them.

"I don't have to move if-" started Rainbow Dash.

A blast from the mech almost parted her mane at that. "I said move it, toaster," snapped the mech.

"Ok, ok, fine," said Dash, "You guys could learn some better manners."

She was led down several tunnels and into an open room. It was a little surprising to find Matt there, albeit strapped to a chair. "Dash, they been treating you well?" asked Matt casually.

"Been better," said Dash, heading over to get Matt free.

"Ah...I wouldn't," he said warningly, nodding his head up slightly to point out turrets in the ceiling tracking them both.

"So what do you think they're wanting with us?" asked Dash.

"I dunno but everyone’s heard the stories of 66. Monsters...viruses...killer technology...you name it," said Matt cautiously before his restraints opened with a click. "Ok, that's a slight relief, but not much," said Matt.

"Stand by for test," said a voice over the room’s speakers, a hatch in the middle of the room opening and a canister slowly rising. "Stand by to release Chemical 44-Delta 5," said the speaker.

"Chemical 44-what?" asked Dash. The canister’s top raised slightly a hissing noise heard, Matt backing up. After a while, Dash asked, "Do you smell something?"

"Not really," said Matt, "You?"

"Something faint, but it smells kinda bad," said Dash.

"No effect, stage 2," said the voice, the room’s sprinklers setting off.

"Ok, that's just annoying," said Matt.

Dash however began to feel ill, more so the more the sprinklers went off.

"Uh, Dash, you ok there?" asked Matt with concern.

"Feeling...weird," said Dash.

The voice said, "Notable negative reaction...prepare to up concentration."

At that, a panel on the canister opened up, revealing a sickly green crystal inside. Matt was concerned by the fact there were visible fumes coming off it. Rainbow Dash’s knees immediately buckled before she fell over.

"Still no reaction on organics. We might have something," said a different voice over the speakers, Matt glaring before trying to kick the canister over. The turret immediately swiveled to point at Matt.

"This is insane!" snapped Matt, pushing against the canister.

The voice said, "The subject will step back."

"What is this thing anyways?" asked Matt.

"A crystal we recovered at a Cybertronian base. It seems to have an adverse effect on Cybertronians," said the voice of Sino, "Chemically, it seems similar to their primary fuel source, energon. But it appears this is a form of toxic byproduct."

"This is inhumane!" snapped Matt.

"They are not human," replied Sino.

"Well, neither are you!" snapped Matt.

"Cute, ok, that’s enough," said Sino. The canister sealed itself before lowering into the floor.

"Dash...you ok?" asked Matt

"I feel sick..." groaned Dash.

"Take her back to her friends. We'll be testing on Lynch next," said Sino.

Matt paused and probably would have run to the door, but the turret fired a shot a few inches in front of him.

The girls and Junkions stared in horror as Dash was pushed into the cell, looking the worse for wear. "Dash! What did they do to you?" asked Twilight in concern.

"They tested some sort of toxic energon," said Dash, weakly, being helped over to where she could sit down.

"Toxic energon?" asked Applejack.

"You know how bad your stomach feels when you eat a bad apple?" asked Dash.

"Uh-huh," said Pinkie.

"It's like that, but worse, and everything hurts," said Dash.

"They tested it on you?" said Twilight in shock.

Dash nodded, "And Matt too..."

"What happened to Matt?" asked Fluttershy.

"Mostly he got mad, but nothing else," said Dash.

The door opened again letting in two mechs again, the lead mech pointing at Twilight. "You...move it."

"What?" asked Twilight.

"Have to test for variables," said the lead mech.

Matt meanwhile was spending his time in a containment cell with some creature recovered from a prison planet Division 66 ran.

Matt looked at the large wolf for a while before asking, "So...what are you in for?"

The humanoid wolf huffed in an annoyed tone. The first few minutes of the cell had been a lesson in how fast Matt could run till they'd both gotten dizzy. Now they'd, through unspoken agreement, were staying on opposite ends of the cell.

"Me, I'm in here because apparently I'm the only non-xenophobic member CPS," said Matt, "The only person who tries to see robots as something other than war machines."

The wolf’s eye twitched as Matt continued "I mean, did you ever think that a trip to a museum would eventually end up in this situation?" before the wolf snapped "By Hircine, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! GUARDS! PLEASE JUST TAKE THIS CHATTERBOX AWAY BEFORE I SNAP!" the wolf wailing the last part, clutching its head.

"Huh, some people are so highly strung," muttered Matt, the guards dragging him out. After heading down the hall, Matt asked, "So, going to see what other chemicals I react to?"

"He was supposed to infect you," snapped a guard.

Matt snorted and said, "Like I'd ever become a werewolf."

"Urgh, where are they taking us now?" muttered Dash as the 6 were pushed along. Twilight had returned in even worse shape, shaking from exposure to the crystal. It was pretty clear being Transmetal offered no protection from this Tox-En, as Pinkie had named it. And she and Fluttershy would probably be tested with it to see how it affects robots that are closer to organic.

The group were pushed into a room to see a mech, Sino's voice coming from it. "Ah...our brave test subjects arrive," she said jovially.

"I'm pretty sure this is breaking one of the rules of war," said Twilight.

"So's dropping kinetic rods on civilian settlements or destroying inhabited colony worlds but that certainly didn't stop your leaders according to the report from the ship that brought you all here. The evacuation was certainly incomplete," said Sino icily.

"STOP LUMPING US WITH DECEPTICONS!" snapped Twilight, green lightning flaring from her horns, "HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TELL YOU WE'RE NOT WITH THEM?!"

"I'm not impressed, girl. I've fought creatures that would send you insane from looking at them. You really think some pyrotechnics will impress me?" Sino said darkly.

A voice over the intercom said, "Ready to proceed, ma'am."

Sino seemed to calm down. "Well...given you insist on this story, I'll take the information from the sergeant," she said calmly.

"Hasn't Matt been tellin' ya the same thing?" asked Applejack.

"Mr. Lynch has a habit of buying every sob story he hears and signing contracts without reading the fine print. That might account for that incident with the Maelstrom Star," said Sino.

"Matt is not stupid," said Rarity, "Reckless, certainly, but not stupid."

"Then give me information. Where's your homeworld?" said Sino, the view below showing Matt being led over to a circular booth and strapped inside.

"And how would we know you won't try to loot it?" asked Twilight.

"Loot it?" said Sino, generally surprised, "No, no, no...we're going to pass the information onto the navy and we'll end this war decisively."

The girls exchanged a look. "Well, it wouldn't do you any good," said Twilight, "We're not from Cybertron. And the way you say that would make it less likely that we'd want to tell you about where to find Cybertron."

"Couldn't really tell you anyways," said Dash, "We've never been into space before we were abducted."

"Fine, I gave you every opportunity. Proceed," said Sino coldly, a male voice saying "Preparing mind probe."

Sino said, "A nasty little piece of technology some prospectors found in the Lavira sector. It forcibly drains memories, some sort of interrogation device. It tends to sends the subject irreparably insane."

"WHAT?!?" yelled the girls.

"I gave you every chance," said Sino smugly.

"And we've been telling the truth at every time!" yelled Twilight, "Why won't you believe us?!"

"Because people lie," said Sino smugly before an alarm began to ring.

"Ma'am, we got a problem; the machine appears to be...self-deleting its software," said a voice.

"That's impossible," said Sino.

"We tried ordering it but it just keeps printing the word 'Nope' over and over," came the reply.

Sino's mech swiveled to look towards Matt. "Well, this certainly says a few things about your friend," she remarked.

"That he's already nuts?" said Dash with a smirk.

Sino snapped, "Take them back to their cells...and take him back to Cell 419...what do you mean Subject 419 threatened to shoot itself if he came back unless we give it earplugs? What sort of werewolf is he?"

Cryotek had been pursuing the test subjects' signal very closely now. Any closer and it would tip off the fleshbags who had them.

"We've pulled as much information as we can on this Division 66. If they have what we're looking for, we'll never get it," said a bot, sending him a file, "A frontal assault would result in us all going offline."

"They must have a back door somewhere," said Cryotek.

"We managed a small scan. I think they might have a space bridge on board...or at least part of one," said the bot.

"Well, that would certainly be a start," said Cryotek.

Just then, Scavenger came in and said, "Uh, boss, the new bot's kinda been acting up."

"How so?" snapped Cryotek.

Just then, a Vehicon's head rolled in. "I said I'd be back in 2 cycles," said Scavenger.

"Gee...I wonder what’s worse? Inconveniencing you OR HAVING MY HEAD TORN OFF!!!" snapped the Vehicon, both bots deciding to let it slide this once. Poor guy had clearly lost his head.

Cryotek turned to Dirge and said, "See if you can get a lock on that space bridge. It will be our only way in."

Dirge paused before asking, "What if it’s not here? They didn’t exactly come here voluntarily."

"Perhaps, perhaps not, fate has an odd way of guiding things," said Cryotek wistfully. The other bots gave him an odd look. "That being said, if it's not there, we'll just take our pony-bots, keep them under tight lock and key, and use them like the compass they were meant to be. Now stop standing around and link us to the space bridge!"

"Yes, sir. Urgh," said Dirge, stomping off, before pausing, "What about the Predacon?"

"He'll be the first one through," said Cryotek smugly.

Dirge grinned, "I'll get to work right away."

The Junkions were next into the test chamber, the Tox-En canister rising without fanfare.

"Waste of time, if you ask me," said one of the mech troopers.

"Waste of metal, if you ask me," said another mech trooper as he threw in Koff.

"Yeah...these flimsy things'll keel over in no time," sneered another, tossing the last two in and sealing the door.

Koff gave a few offended beeps. "No, I don't like these plonkers either," said Gryme.

Trub was looking at the canister. "Erm...girls?" he said nervously.

The Junkion sisters looked at the canister opened, revealing the sickly green energon inside. "Ooh...don't like that color..." moaned Gryme.

"I'm not feelin' well, lasses," said Trub, backing up. The Junkions were tottering on their wheels before they fell over like cut grass.

After a minute, the door opened, the mech troopers coming in as the canister lowered. "Don't know what Sino expected," said one mech trooper as he picked up a Junkion's body.

"You know she likes to be thorough," said the other.

"Lets just toss em in the scrap," said their leader angrily.

"Right where this junk belongs," said the first mech trooper.

Twilight sighed, quickly realising she was dreaming.

As dreams went, this one was pretty unremarkable. For one thing, she was lucid enough to not dismiss any of the strangeness of her dream. Another was that it was just showing her the cells where she and her friends were being kept. But then it moved outside of the cells and zoomed down the halls. Fast enough to show it was a considerable distance but slow enough so that she could remember the details.

The view swept past hundreds of cells, some empty, some with strange pieces of technology, including one resembling some sort of giant fork and some...occupied by things ranging from monstrous to things Twilight tried to avoid looking at till it came to a stop on a blast door.

There was a keypad on the door, but the code flashed upon the screen clearly for Twilight to see before the door opened, a bright, rainbow-colored light glowing within.

Twilight paused before a kindly voice said, "Well, are you going to stand there all day, child?"

"But I-" said Twilight.

"You've come all this way for a reason," said the voice.

Twilight paused before walking in, calling "Ok...where are you?"

The light cleared a bit. Inside the room was a pink glowing sphere. Strips metal were orbiting around it in a spherical shape. "The end of your journey is close," said the voice, "This will be your last stop."

Twilight shot upright at that. "Girls, we need to get out of here," she said in concern.

"Gee, you don't say?" asked Dash sarcastically.

"No...there’s something on here," said Twilight before looking around, "I know what you have locked up."

"And she's gone cuckoo," said Dash.

"Leave her alone. She still has that Tox-En in her system," said Pinkie.

"It’s in room..." began Twilight, thinking back before called "1001." before Sino's voice said "Well...now I really am interested."

"What is?" asked Rarity.

There was silence before Sino said, "Something that's been asleep since we found it, after it crashed our most powerful scanners."

"Which could be a doomsday weapon for all we know," said Fluttershy.

"No...I don’t think it was that," said Twilight quietly.

"Does it matter? Not like they're gonna let us anywhere near it. Or out of these cells for that matter," said Applejack.

"That is true. But if its talking to you which means there's something special about you." said Sino.

"Why is it that when people say we're special, they don't mean it in a way good for us?" asked Rarity, "Or am I just thinking of recent experiences?"

"We'll need to do some more tests," began Sino calmly, adding, "But that can wait till tomorrow."

"Oh goody," said Dash dryly.

Matt meanwhile was being led to the next 'test', looking up at what looked like a giant fork. "Ok...what am I meant to do with this?" he called.

A male voice said, "Just approach the device."

"Is this a mutation ray?" asked Matt.

"Just approach the device," said the voice, Matt rolling his eyes and walking forward.

Energy crackled around the prongs before a small orb of blue energy appeared between them. "Erm...is that meant to do that?" called Matt, the voice replying "Ok...it seems normal." though Matt could make out faint panicked voices.

The orb of energy started growing larger. "Ok, the test’s over," said the voice, the door opening to let in a team of mech troopers.

"For the record, I didn't do that," said Matt.

"Don't flatter yourself," said one trooper.

A shot came out the orb, flash freezing one of the mechs at that. Then a blue robotic dragon emerged from the orb before quickly breathing ice at the other mechs.

"Breach, we got a-" began one of the mechs before the stream swept over them, the dragon turning to look down at Matt.

"Still staying around?" asked the dragon, "You should have stepped away when you had the chance."

"I've seen bigger dragons," said Matt, Cryotek raising an eyeridge as his sensors said the human was speaking truthfully.

"You really are weird," he muttered, flicking Matt away.

Shortly after that, Gonder came through the portal. "You already took them out?" he asked in annoyance.

"I doubt this is all they have. Take your team and engage their forces. No organic prisoners...except that one. I don't want to risk his craziness being contagious," commanded Cryotek, pointing at the unconscious Matt.

Gonder snorted a bit of fire before heading through the door. Of course, that meant ripping it off its hinges and bending the door frame.

Cryotek counted as some drone troopers followed before hearing a hail of weapons fire. "Ah...all muscles, no brains," he muttered, checking his scanners and grinning. It was here. At long last, this treasure hunt was almost over. All he needed now was to get to the X.

The girls looked up as alarms were heard. "Trouble?" said Dash cheekily to the speakers, only for no reply to come, before an automated voice said "Intruders in storage sector 9. Casualties at 45%. Arming self-destruct charges as per protocol."

"Any chance it's Cryotek?" asked Fluttershy.

"Who else could it be?" asked Applejack.

A familiar roar was heard at that, Twilight saying faintly "Spike." before a human scream was cut off shortly afterwards.

"You mean Gonder," said Dash, "And I don't think he'll want to help us."

"No, Spike’s still in there," snapped Twilight, the lights flickering before the door opened a crack.

The girls exchanged a glance. "You don't think..." started Rarity.

"Let's see if we can open it wider," said Applejack before extending her piledrivers.

The door was forced open slowly, sparks flying in time for 3 of Cryotek’s Vehicons to walk round the corridor’s far corner, firing at something in panic before a Cybertronian grabbed them and tore them to pieces, its eyes glowing purple as it turned to look at them, revealing several holes in its chassis.

"Zombie-bot?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I reckon so," said Applejack before opening fire at the bot, aiming for the head in particular.

The Cybertronian paused from the shot before shrieking and lunging, all 6 opening fire at once, shredding the bot till its optics finally went out. "Warning: Containment failure: Section 1. Warning: Containment failure: Sections 2...3...4...5...6...full containment failure. All personnel to escape pods. Station will be thermal cleansed in 10 minutes."

"Looks like we don't have time to waste," said Twilight, "We need to grab the Junkions, Matt, and Spike and get out of here, in that order."

"If he wants to come," said Rarity sadly.

"Alert. Dark Energon subjects are converging on brig. All cybernetic personnel evacuate," said the computer, 3 more zom-bots running into view, ready to lunge before a green blast slammed into them, just green melted metal seen when it cleared.

The girls turned to see Sino's mech, a rather lethal-looking cannon in place of her mech’s right arm. "Bloody toasters. What are you six doing out of your containment cell?" she snapped.

"And wait for the zom-bots to come in and get us?" asked Dash sarcastically.

Sino shrugged. "Good enough. Sergeant. Take them to a ship under guard. We're moving to Site 2," she snapped, several troopers walking forward, before she said icily, "I'm kicking these bastards off my facility."

"Just a minute. What about our other friends?" asked Twilight.

"Who? The junker bikes?" asked one trooper, "Threw them in the scrapheap."

"They didn’t survive the test," said Sino, before she snapped, "Now get them gone."

Matt fell down into a knee high puddle of...let's be generous and say 'juices'. “Urgh...Star Wars made this look easy," he muttered. He’d come round to utter chaos; prisoners, Vehicons and security in a three-way fight. He thought he'd even seen Spike...Gonder at one point. He'd been forced to dive down a trash chute.

"So help me, if there's some tentacled freak down here," muttered Matt. He yelped as something moved out in the pieces of trash. "Oh nuts," he muttered, before hearing a voice snapped "Slag me, me 'ead’s aching."

The Junkion sisters pulled themselves out the trash, looking oddly at home here. "What are you three doing here?" asked Matt.

"They thought we was all done and threw us in the trash ta rot," said Gryme. "But we were forged and raised in a scrapheap," said Trub.

"Good for you. Where's the door?" Matt snapped.

Koff pointed one finger upwards.

"Bull, there needs to be a door for engineering staff," snapped Matt, looking around, a distant banshee shriek heard above. "Also, give me a blaster please," said Matt promptly, keeping his worry out of his voice.

The sisters glanced at each other before noticing something in the trash. They quickly started picking up pieces and putting them together.

Matt, meanwhile, pulled some bits aside to reveal a pair of doors. "Found the door," he called, trying the keypad and growling as he got a buzzing noise.

"And 'ere's your key, guv'nor," said Gryme, hanging Matt a blaster.

"Good. SCREW YOU, DOOR!" snapped Matt, aiming at the door, firing and being thrown over the Junkion’s head, the blast removing the door, and the Vehicon team that had been waiting in ambush on the other side...and the wall at the end of the corridor too. Several escaped...things looking at each other through the hole before running away making 'yipe' noises.

"Y'alright, guv?" asked Trub.

"What kind of power cell did you put in this thing?" called Matt.

"Cybertronian one, guv. Lotta scrapped down ‘ere," said Trub

Matt said, "I like this gun." before he said, "Ok, plan: we get the girls, steal a ship and head somewhere out of the way."

"I can work with that, but ya ain't much of a runner, are ya?" asked Gryme.

"Running’s no good if you dunno where to go. This is an old Type 13 station. I know where the escape shuttles are," said Matt with an insane grin.

"Then we should help ya get there quicker," said Trub before the Junkions transformed to motorcycle mode.

"But I don’t know how ARRGH!" yelped Matt, screaming as Trub grabbed him.

The girls sighed as they were led along. Every so often their 'escort' would open fire on attackers. "Ok...we wait till they're busy, then we run for it," said Dash quietly when their 'escort' was distracted again.

However, Twilight was finding herself getting distracted. She could tell they were getting closer to Room 1001. "Erm, Twi?" asked Applejack, nudging her as the group arrived at a T junction. Their 'escort' were heading straight, but her instincts or her guidance system was telling her to go right.

A blast threw their guards flying, the other troopers firing, and Twilight took her chance, ducking down the side corridor. The girls probably should have questioned where she was going, but they trusted Twilight to know what she was doing. Anyways, it would probably be better than staying with these jerks.

"Twilight, I really hope you know where you're going," Rarity called, before they saw her pausing at one of the few closed doors in the corridor.

"It's here," said Twilight.

"What is?" asked Pinkie.

"I don't know, but it's the reason we've been through all this," said Twilight.

An electronic eye scanned Twilight before a voice said "Access denied." Twilight glared and her horn glowing, the door creaking before bending out and being torn off its hinges.

Inside the room was a pedestal over which hovered the glowing red sphere of energy and the metal shards orbiting around it.

"Twilight...this is what caused all this?" said Fluttershy, walking into the room.

"I think this is what Cryotek has been searching for," said Twilight.

Applejack nodded. "Ok...then we smash it. Anything that varmint wants ain't no good," she said, taking a step forward, readying a blow before there was a flash, her blow having hit a shield.

However, the sphere seemed to have taken notice. The floating metal shards slowed their orbit before they fit themselves together to form four large metal triangles which sat at the 'corners' while the core became partially encased in metal.

"There's no need for violence, Miss Applejack. We're all friends here," said a calm voice that reminded the girls of Celestia.

At that, there was the sound of a distant explosion, along with tearing metal, inhuman screams, and lots of gunfire.

"No!" cried Fluttershy.

"We need to go help them!" said Rainbow Dash.

"We oughta be kickin' them cans!" snapped Applejack.

"We probably ought to find a way out of here now," said Pinkie Pie.

"And what are we supposed to do with that crystal thing?" asked Rarity.

"Everypony be quiet!" snapped Twilight, "We can't be fragmenting now. We have to stick together."

Just then, the crystal core lit up again and a wave of red energy spread out across the room.

The next thing the Maximares knew, they were floating in a white void.

"Who are you? More humans trying to find secrets not meant for them?" snapped a voice from everywhere at once.

"No, we're just a bunch of lost ponies that got put into robot bodies," said Pinkie, not sounding the least bit weirded out because of her environment.

"You are very lucky I can read the minds of those linked to me. Come to think of it, I do remember visiting a planet full...nah, it’s probably an alternate planet. So, who are you?" said the voice.

"I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria," said Twilight, "These are my friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy."

"Wait...that sounds like...are you from planet Equus in Dimension 31?" asked the voice.

"I don't know about the dimension, but Equus is definitely our homeworld," said Twilight.

Then an image of an enormous bot appeared before them. His limbs had a slightly mismatched look and there were parts of them that were constantly rotating, folding, unfolding, swiveling, and repositioning themselves. "So, the Elements of Harmony have found my Enigma of Combination," said the robot.

"Y'all know about the Elements?" said Applejack suspiciously

"Of course I do. The Tree of Harmony grew with the energy of my Enigma," said the robot, "I left a sliver of the Enigma behind to fuel your tree when I left. I am so pleased to see that it has borne fruit and that it has such a good charge. I would have thought it would have needed recharging by now."

"Well, sorta... Wait a minute, how could the Enigma be yours and how could you be involved with the Tree of Harmony?" demanded Twilight, "Who are you?"

The robot smiled and said, "Of course, we did try to leave behind as little evidence as possible and make sure the memory of us would fade into oblivion. I am Nexus Prime of the Thirteen and the Enigma of Combination is my artifact."

Nexus smiled warmly before frowning, “It makes me sad to know my people are trapped in not only a civil war, but that their war has drawn these lost sparks in as well."

"Wait a minute. How could you possibly have visited Equestria before?" asked Rarity, "Sure we would have remembered if we were visited by aliens."

"You don't recall the last time aliens visited your world. Your memory chips were suppressed so you would not seek these humans for aid," said Nexus. He paused before saying, "Then again, there is a slight time difference."

"Time difference?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes. The Matt you have been travelling with is a past version of the one you met. His first encounter with your planet happens after this adventure," said Nexus.

"How do you know that?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Because the Enigma doesn't just create combiners. It brings unity of mind. In here, our minds are open to each other, though the effect is diminished on you. You wouldn't be able to handle the full power of the mind meld," said Nexus.

"How long after?" asked Dash suspiciously.

"About two of your years," said Nexus calmly adding darkly, "This is going to be a long and cruel war for all sides involved."

"So, were we forced to forget about your visit too?" asked Fluttershy.

"No," said Nexus, "I visited your planet long before you were born, before your Princesses were born in fact. Perhaps it would be easier if I show you instead of just telling you."

There was another flash of light and the group found themselves on a ship bridge, a still scene before them. "Behold...millennia before your people recorded history," said Nexus before clicking his fingers and the image starting to play.

A slimmer version of Nexus glared with a grim look at a viewer image that showed a starship graveyard. "Report,” he said.

A smaller bot said, "We were too late. Atlantean and Ashen forces have already clashed. I am reading significant surface damage...off the scales. The south continent is sterile and the north continent has suffered 78% damage. There are still lifesigns but at this damage it is only a matter of time. It seems the Atlanteans care little though. I am reading their rescue ship’s already leaving the system."

"You would think organics would care more about nature," said another robot. This one was built a lot like a black-armored centaur with additional wings extending from his humanoid back. His helmet looked more like a bird's head than ornamentation, only his independent robot eyes and a mouthplate were seen within.

"We are not so different in some ways, Onyx," said Nexus.

"Nexus Prime? What are your orders?" said a crewbot.

"It's not just my orders. It's mine and my brothers' orders," said Nexus Prime.

"Brothers and sister," said a slightly annoyed female voice. A fembot walked into the bridge. She was shorter and slighter of frame than Nexus, but she was still very tall for a femme. She was definitely not the type of girl to waste time with feminine things. The apron-like part of her armor was definitely meant for a smith, not a cook. The huge hammer she carried in one hand glowed with an inner light.

"Of course, Solus Prime," said Nexus, "I was just waiting for everyone to gather. Where is Micronus?"

"Present!" called a voice as a smaller robot floated in. He was tiny compared to the other three, but still big for a Mini-Con. A transparent glowing bubble surrounded his body and an amused look was on his face. "So, we're voting on whether or not to help the organics here?" he asked, "Should we really be interfering?"

"They won't last long without help," said Onyx, looking at the planet, "The natural forces of that world have been almost completely destroyed. The planet won't even rotate on its axis now. Even the moon has become tidally locked."

“Actually, it appears the planet has always remained fixed in place,” said Solus, “See, their sun is a miniature star that orbits their planet, but it appears it has also become tidally locked.”

“Hmm...you don’t see many geocentric planets like this,” said Nexus thoughtfully.

"What can we do though? It'll take months to get a terraformer here and even longer to program one for the local environment," said Solus.

Micronus floated over to a console and said, "There isn't even human life native to that planet, or humanoid for that matter. Most of the sentient beings appear to be derived from Greek mythology. And it looks like these creatures are the dominant lifeforms of the most afflicted areas." He projected a hologram of the three races of ponies.

"Hmm...interesting...but are you telling me that we have nothing on board that can help?” said Onyx.

"Nothing besides us," said Micronus before looking at the data, "Hmm...it appears that these equines have some sort of magic in them."

"Maybe we can use one of our artifacts to use that?" said the past Nexus thoughtfully.

Solus sighed and said, "I think it'll take more than just that. Those equines have no idea how to run their world now."

"Hmm...ok. Comm, send a message to Cybertron. Tell them we will be remaining here for a while longer," said Nexus.

The scene faded away and Nexus said, "Your world was in a very bad state then. The plants needed encouragement to grow, the weather needed directing, even the sun and moon had to be guided through the sky. In short, you ponies had to take over for almost all of nature.

"We had to guide you in maintaining your planet and stepping in for nature. Solus Prime, our greatest crafter, helped the unicorns with harnessing the power of their magic, which was particularly necessary to keep day and night flowing. Onyx Prime, most attuned to natural forces, showed the Pegasi to move clouds and regulate weather throughout your region. Micronus Prime, smallest but no less vital, helped the Earth ponies tap into their inner potential, particularly with getting the plant life to grow. Of course, each of us helped the others out with their various tasks when we could.

"Eventually though you didn’t need our guidance anymore. The Atlanteans had been brought low by one of their creations and the Ashen went into deep hiding to lick their wounds. Your world was out of danger and we had duties back home."

Twilight asked "Wait...so what did you do?"

"I think you may recall that your races were not very unified at the start of Equestrian society," said Nexus.

"Yes...before the three races banded together into the three kingdoms they were...well..." said Twilight.

"Couldn't stand the sight of each other," said Nexus bluntly.

"Yes...not many books and records exist from before Starswirl but...it was pretty bad before the first unicorn kings," said Twilight.

"Yes, I tried to bring your races together. However, my particular kind of unification is mostly of the physical kind. Even the mind meld of the Enigma can't make an entire race agree on everything, not without wiping out their individuality," said Nexus, "What they needed was something to bring them all together. There wasn’t much I could do at the time, so I returned centuries later. I went to one of the spots of your land where nature still worked, what you call the Everfree Forest."

"Wait...are you saying you made the Tree of Harmony?" asked Twilight

Nexus laughed "Not entirely. It was already planted...albeit badly damaged and drained of power. All I did was give it...what’s the word? A pick-me-up."

The scene shifted to a place that the Maximares all recognized. It was the gulch in which the Tree of Harmony grew. However, the Tree was a lot smaller and looking rather sickly, barely glowing at all. It also lacked the five branches that held the Elements. Even its trunk was bare of the Cutie Marks that should adorn it.

Very soon, a past version of Nexus Prime was seen walking towards the Tree. His shoulder pads detached and converted into Mini-Con-sized troopers. He looked it up and down and said, "Hmm, it seems the planet still has some of its natural magic left." He placed a hand very gently on the Tree which glowed slightly. "Yes, you want the ponies to join together, to protect them from strife. But you don't have enough power, you're barely holding yourself up. But I think I can fix that."

One of his troopers said, "Sir, be careful. Any wounded creature can be dangerous."

"It's a plant. What could it possibly do?" asked the trooper dismissively.

"Both of you, shush..." said Nexus scoldingly before saying, "Go check the perimeter again. We’re too close to hydra territory."

The troopers nodded before moving on. The past Nexus examined the Tree of Harmony before his chest started unfolding. Eventually, the Enigma of Combination floated out and into Nexus's hands.

"It is me, or does that thing look bigger back then?" asked Pinkie.

"It adjusts in size for whoever's holding it," said the present Nexus.

A light shown out from the Enigma and into the Tree. Very soon, the crystalline bark of the tree started shining itself. The Tree grew larger, but the five branches didn’t fully grow, only starting out as nubs. However, on the Tree’s trunk appeared Celesia and Luna’s Cutie Marks, Twilight’s Cutie Mark appeared in the middle of the Tree.

The vision faded. "The Enigma repowered the Tree, allowing it to help repair your planet, though it seems it made your species minds compatible with protoforms," said Nexus thoughtfully.

"How exactly did Cryotek do that?" asked Twilight.

A bright blue light shot out of Nexus's optics, sweeping over the Maximares before fading. "Well, this is most interesting," said Nexus.

"What?" asked Rarity. "It would appear that your organic bodies are still there," said Nexus, "Cryotek has managed to convert your bodies into sparks. That Predacon must be a direct descendant of Quintus Prime. A shame he can't make better use of his intellect."

"How do we fix this then?" said Rarity a little angrily.

"Actually, you have the power to..." said Nexus before his image started to get extremely blurry. Then the white void they were in started to crumble into blackness.

The Maximares awoke in a dazed state. But they were soon to notice that Gonder was leering down at them and that another dragon bot was holding the Enigma. "At long last," said Cryotek, "The Enigma of Combination, the Infinite Combinatoric, Nexus Prime's Puzzle. I have searched so long for this powerful artifact and I have you ponies to thank for finding it for me."

Twilight struggled to find her vocal processor for a second before she said, "That doesn't belong to you."

Cryotek turned to look, mildly surprised. "Oh, you're awake. I don't know how your backwards little mudball works, but in the Predacons, possession is nine tenths of the law...and the last part too. if you were strong, you'd have taken it yourself," he sneered, still looking at the Enigma.

"You...didn't...earn it..." said Applejack as she was trying to stand up.

"Of course I did. I went to all that trouble, developing a way to turn you into Cybertronian sparks just so you'd lead me to it, like scraplets to iron," sneered Cryotek, pausing as more explosions were heard. "In fact...you made all this possible," he added evilly.

"Don't credit us for your crimes!" snapped Fluttershy.

"And Spike isn't even supposed to be part of this!" snapped Rarity, "Give him back!"

"Gonder, do you want to go back to these...Maximares?" sneered Cryotek, using their team name mockingly as he guessed it.

"And be a small weakling again?" snarled Gonder, "I think not."

"That is not Spike!" snapped Twilight, "That's just your shell program controlling him like a cyber-tick."

Gonder’s eyes glowed and narrowed at that. "You compare me to one of those pests?" he snarled, opening his mouth, the pilot light for his flamethrower seen ready to fire.

"Not here! I have the Enigma!" snapped Cryotek.

Gonder just smacked Cryotek aside before snarling, "It's time I put you nags out of my misery."

"Well, you aren’t needed anyway," said Cryotek behind Gonder as he loomed over the girls before a blue blast shot through Gonder from behind, Cryotek lowering his arm as Gonder fell sideways, clutching his chest. "He was too independent anyway," said Cryotek, before his comm buzzed.

"Lord Cryotek, enemy reinforcements have arrived. The ship’s huge. We need to-" before the line went dead.

"SPIKE!" yelled the Maximares. Twilight quickly shined what she hoped was a healing light from her horn.

"Don't leave us, Spike!" said Rarity desperately.

"Hang in there!" said Applejack.

"We're going to bring you home!" said Fluttershy.

"You're going to be ok!" said Rainbow Dash.

"We're going to make it through!" said Pinkie Pie.

"You're still our friend!" said Twilight.

"Oh this is actually rather cute...but redundant. Rather like you six," Cryotek sneered. He aimed his dragon arm at them and said, "Well, since you're no longer of use to me, I suppose I should reunite you-" Just then, the Enigma in his hand flared up. At the same time, rainbow-colored light was shining from the Maximares into Spike's chest.

He covered his optics as the hole in Spike’s chest healed over with a metallic creak, a brief flash signifying that his spark was back, though Spike was still in stasis lock. The Maximares looked drained from whatever they did, almost in stasis lock themselves.

"Well, it seems I was mistaken," said Cryotek, "Perhaps you do have some use to me still." He spoke into his communicator. "Dirge, we're taking on passengers. Get some cells ready and some guards to my location," he commanded, looking at Spike, "I'm afraid you missed your chance to deal with Gonder."

"Small palladium potatoes, if you've got the Enigma," said Dirge.

"Oh, I do," said Cryotek, "And I'm very eager to test its powers."

"You got 10 minutes then we leave, you little tin toys. Find the girls. I do not wanna be locked up in the stockade again," snapped Matt via the Junkions’ comm. They'd found a hanger pretty easily and Matt was prepping a cargo ship for launch.

"Roight away, guv'nor," said Gryme, "They shouldn't be too 'ard ta find."

"Urgh...ok...you remind me of the bits I don't miss about home," muttered Matt before he said "Call in when you find them."

The three Junkions motored through the base, having to drive around a few piles of rubble and bodies. "'Ow are we supposed ta find them again?" asked Trub.

Koff beeped something. "Well, it's a little 'ard to find the center of trouble 'ere," said Trub.

They skidded to a halt in time to see a mechanical dragon walk past with several Vehicon troopers, the girls seen unconscious in stasis bubbles.

"Huh, all that's missin' is the purple dragon," said Gryme.

Koff pointed at the group, making blasting motions.

"Take 'em all on? Did ya dent yer calculator?" asked Trub.

"It's three of us and...a bunch of them," said Gryme.

"We ain't exactly a 'eavy armor division neither," said Trub.

Koff rolled her optics at that before heading out before the others could grab her

"Ya know, it's that kinda rock-'eadedness that got 'er voice box trashed in the place," said Trub. But then they charged in after their sister.

Cryotek turned in surprise as a few shots bounced off his chassis. "Now what?" he asked in annoyance before a trio of two-wheelers charged at his squad.

His guard turned and aimed, a few getting blasted as Cryotek smirked. "Oh this is rich," he sniggered, looking at the Enigma. "This is a perfect time to test what this bauble can really do," said Cryotek before saying, "Corral them."

The Vehicons nodded, firing to force the trio into a circle. "Excellent," said Cryotek, "I'm not sure if the Enigma can make anything valuable out of junk, but let's give it a try."

The Enigma seemed to resist for a moment before it bathed the trio in its energy. The Junkions quivered before they started coming together. Trub changed mostly back into motorcycle mode before attaching to Koff's leg. Gryme folded up before attaching to Koff's back, her left arm becoming much longer as Koff's arm folded out of sight. Koff's right arm also extended longer as the headlights and handlebars of her motorcycle mode came over her head, the headlights becoming optics while a grill-like mouthplate was revealed. The Junkion combiner ended up looking like a sort of motorcycle centaur with extended arms and a somewhat insectoid head.

"Urgh...I guess not everything’s a success. Vehicons, wait till I am gone before you vaporise it." said Cryotek, before his comm beeped.

"Lord Cryotek, the human dreadnought’s only a few minutes away from our position. I think it’s tracking the groundbridge signal."

"Then send the groundbridge to my current coordinates," said Cryotek, "It's time we, as the fleshing say, blow this popsicle stand."

There was a long pause before Dirge asked, "What does that even mean?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. But I do want to leave right now," said Cryotek.

There was a crackle as the groundbridge portal opened, flickering wildly.

Dirge looked at Cryotek. "We still have bots all over the station," he said.

"We've got plenty to spare in the armada," said Cryotek, "If they can't get back on their own, then they're detritus." Dirge nodded as the Vehicons looked at each other. "Well, gentlemen, once you've disposed of this trash, head on through," said Cryotek before he stepped through the portal, the Maximares floating through behind him.

The Vehicons began to approach. "Two cans of energon says I can blow her limbs right off," sneered one Vehicon, aiming.

The Junkion combiner hadn't responded since she was formed. It wasn't because her processor was slow, but because it was still processing its new form. But now it has finished updating.

The Vehicons took aim but it was a bit late for that. The left arm extended a large blade that speared one Vehicon through the torso. And the right arm extended a blaster that blew the other Vehicon's head into little pieces. The others looked surprised before firing a couple of shots before their heads were neatly removed in one slash.

The combiner looked around before saying in a deeper, but still female voice, "Well, that was easy. But where's the purple dragon?" She turned when they heard a weak groan from down the corridor, rolling over to see the Predacon trying to get up. "Oy, you Spike or Gonder?" asked the Combiner, pointing her blaster arm just in case.

"Spike...Man, my head hurts," muttered the Predacon.

"No Gonder?" asked the combiner.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's gone for good," said Spike before looking at the combiner, "Who are you, the Junkions?"

"Well, yes, but more," said the combiner, "Been thinkin' of callin' meself Detrio."

"They...where are the girls?" said Spike, before the PA said "Announcement. Reinforcements are boarding on decks 2, 5 and 12. All armed personnel will be shot on sight."

"No time ta talk," said Detrio, "We gotta roll."

"Where?" said Spike, trying to get up.

"The human’s gotta ship waitin'," said Detrio.

"Ok, better..." groaned Spike before his legs buckled.

"Better 'op on," said Detrio, turning around so that her lower half was pointing towards Spike. Spike tried to climb on, but Detrio soon started buckling. "Mind...sheddin'...a little?" she groaned. Spike concentrated before shifting to his smaller robot mode.

The bots looked around, seeing a shimmer, the groundbridge still not fully sealed. There was also the clank of approaching mechs. "I don't think we have a lot of options," said Spike.

"We better send Matt a shout first," said Detrio, carefully tapping one side of her head.

They turned to see several troopers coming into view, Matt at their head. "Wait!" he called.

"Sorry, guv," called Detrio, "But the bad guy's gettin' away and we can't lose 'im when 'e 'as the girls."

"We'll try to contact you later," called Spike.

"No! Come back!" yelled Matt, the two vanishing through the rift. "I hate robots," muttered Matt.

The duo rolled to a halt in some sort of cargo bay. However, the cargo bay was hardly empty, as there were a few Vehicons in there who immediately noticed them. "Er...perhaps we should have looked before we leapt," said Spike.

"Intruders...get security down-" began one of the Vehicons before it was blown apart, another lunging at Spike. Spike quickly stabbed out with his lance.

The far doors opened, letting in some more vehicons, some in tank form, before Cryotek's voice snapped, "What’s going on down there?"

"Found a couple of stowaways," said Blastcharge, who was leading the tank drones.

"Well? Get them off my ship," snapped Cryotek.

Blastcharge grinned before saying, "Hey, it's the Predacon, he survived."

"Not for long," said Scavenger before aiming his shovel towards Spike and firing the blasters on it. Spike yelped, dodging the blasts.

Detrio was having a little more trouble. Her combined form was built for speed, but its larger size made it harder to dodge. That said, it seemed her body could take more hits than expected.

Spike meanwhile staggered back to look out an open cargo bay to see a familiar planet down below. "Hey, that's Equus down there," he said.

"Nice, now get shootin'!" called Detrio before she was knocked off her wheels by Blastcharge.

The shock caused her to disassemble back into her Junkion components. Trub clutched at her head and said, "Ok, that was weird."

"Urgh...Junkions." muttered Blastcharge, aiming his blaster. For Spike, this was the last straw. He was still one of these Predacon things and they had breaking points...and he'd just reached it. Spike's form swelled as he shifted to dragon mode before roaring loudly.

Blastcharge turned in shock before Spike tackled him, rolling before sending the luckless Vehicon flying. Yet still more Vehicons were rolling into the cargo bay, bringing a hail of gunfire, lasers, and various other blasts.

"We're leaving." snapped Spike in a voice closer to Gonder/s in deepness, grabbing the trio and heading for the closing cargo doors.

"You can't fly in space, can you?" asked Gryme.

"You'd prefer to stay with them?" snapped Spike, two small holes opening on his back.

“But how are we-" started Gryme before small thrusters extended out of Spike's back and he rocketed out of the cargo bay into open space outside.

The Junkions settled for screaming as Spike flew towards the planet, two fighters breaking off to chase them. "Uh, Spike, ya might wanna look back," said Trub.

"I know!" snapped Spike, rolling to avoid several shots, heading for the planet.

"Spike...how hot can you get?" asked Gryme nervously.

"I can take lava baths, why?" asked Spike.

"That’s good. We can't!" snapped Gryme, Spike glaring before letting one last blast from his boosters, hugging round the Junkions.

The fighters continued to follow, firing as Spike turned into a blazing comet of re-entry heat, even as they heated too, exploding before they could peel off. The heat was pretty bad, even if the Junkions knew they could repair any damages later. But the worrying part was that Spike kept falling even when the atmosphere started to cool him off.

Spike, his chassis glowing faintly orange, turned his head to see the wreckage of the last pursuer fly past, before he spread his wings properly, gliding towards the lake where the Ponyville dam was, easily spotted from where he was. His eyes narrowed when he spotted ruined houses in the town and what looked like Cybertronian constructions nearby.

"Whatever they're building, we need to break it," said Spike.

"'Ang on," said Trub, "Ya ain't attackin' nothin' till ya get fixed up. That drop 'ad ta leave some 'oles yer armor."

Spike nodded, landing near the lake before jumping in, a hiss heard as the water cooled him. "Ok...not doing that again," he said with relief, the Junkions looking around at the forest and grass.

"So, this is Equestria?" asked Gryme, "It looks so...green."

The group paused as they heard a few snaps from the trees. Spike quickly got his lance out. He wasn't about to get taken prisoner again after just getting back home.

"Spike?" said Trub with concern before a blast narrowly missed her.

"Halt! We're not going to have more robot invaders!" snapped a voice.

"Wait a minute. Mayor Mare?" called Spike.

There was a pause at that, Spike's vision spotting a half dozen ponies in the treeline, thinking back to when he and Twilight had seen that world where Chrysalis had won.

"It's me, Spike. There's, er, been a few changes," said Spike.

"It’s a trick," snapped one of the other ponies.

"Oh, no, not this time," said a voice Spike was surprised to find he was happy to hear again. There was a flash of light behind the Junkions that caused them to jump, turning to see some sort of organic chimera floating behind them with a grin.

"Cor! Looks like someone's DNA scanner threw a major wobbly," said Gryme.

"Gryme, be nicer," reprimanded Trub, "These fleshies can't choose 'ow they look."

The creature chuckled, floating around them. "Interesting. I wonder what sort of pony you were to result in this," he said.

"They weren't ponies," said Spike, "They're from Cybertron."

"Junk," said Gryme.

"Cybertron's not that bad," said Spike.

"No, we're from the Planet of Junk," said Trub.

"Spike...I know you like to play the paladin at Ogres and Oubliettes but I think someone took the armor thing a little too serious," laughed the chimera, the ponies looking surprised.

"This isn't armor. Well, not just armor," said Spike, "I've been installed into this robot body just like Twilight and the others."

The chimera's smile faded at that, literally. "What?" he said darkly, his pupils glowing red. Koff pointed up to the sky and beeped something. "Come again?" asked Discord. Koff beeped and twittered, sounding frustrated.

"Sorry, mate, she can't say more than that," said Gryme.

"Her voice box busted a while back," said Trub.

"Hmm...let’s see," said Discord, clicking his fingers, causing a flash of light, revealing Koff strapped to a car lift and Discord dressed like a mechanic. "Now, let's see what's going on under the hood," said Discord before taking an electric screwdriver to Koff's upper torso.

"Oi!" snapped Gryme, sending a blast at Discord, a hole in the chimera's chest letting the shot go through.

"My, my, look at all this encrusted filth," said Discord, "Ever heard of a carwash?" Discord shook his hand before opening the tip of his claw, sending a blast of water into the torso, before clicking his claws again, a flash of light turning him and Koff to normal, Koff a little bug-eyed from what Spike thought of as 'first time Discord shock'.

"Now, let's try that again. Speak up," said Discord.

Koff spluttered and crackled before saying in a breathy, refined voice, "Cryotek has them all up on his ship. They're up in orbit right now, along with his entire armada."

Discord’s eyes narrowed as he looked up, Trub saying "The heck you looking at? It’s not like you can see it."

"And what the bloomin' 'eck did ye do to 'er voice?" asked Gryme.

"I fixed it," said Discord.

Spike peered down at Mayor Mare. "So...if you have Discord, why haven't we won yet?" asked Spike.

"Well, I don't think Discord can reach that high," said Mayor Mare, "Anyways, the ships seem to have the same anti-magic technology they're using to keep the princesses captive."

"What?! asked Spike before looking up and noticing for the first time that the sun was in the exact same position when the invasion started.

"I did warn Twilight that the universe is a dangerous place," said Discord darkly.

"You have no idea," said Spike.

On Cryotek's flagship, the Maximares were being subjected to one of the most heinous tortures imaginable: a villain gloating about how he's just won.

"At long last, after so many decacycles of looking, I finally have my prize," said Cryotek, stroking the Enigma fondly, "You ponies have no idea what I've been through to get this.

Dash said sarcastically, "But I bet you're about to tell us."

"Well, it is a fascinating tale," said Cryotek, "You see, your friend is not the only one who's been chronologically displaced."

"What are you talking about?" snapped Twilight

"Oh, that part of your memory's still blocked?" asked Cryotek, "I would have thought you'd remember your last adventure with him by now. Well, the bottom line is that I'm actually further along the timeline than you are. In fact, just about...now, my past self is helping the Quintessons invade the Cybertron I found you on."

"Wait...what?" said Twilight.

Cryotek smirked. "Yes...strange, isn’t it?" he sneered, before waving around, "That said, you'll be happy to know I've almost finished with your planet. In a few days, I'll be done."

"I still don't get it," said Pinkie.

"What in particular?" asked Cryotek.

"Well, for starters, why travel back in time in the first place?" asked Pinkie.

"That wasn't a conscious decision," said Cryotek, "You may be reassured that the Quintessons' invasion will fail and I ended up being thrown out of the universe. And there are things that exist between dimensions you don't want to meet."

"I can believe that," said Twilight quietly.

Cryotek said, "Anyhow, in a few days my plan will come to fruition and I'll be gone, after draining every bit of energon out of your people."

"Uh, you know organics don't have energon," said Fluttershy.

"Oh, there are many ways to convert other sources of energy into energon," said Cryotek, "And this magic seems to create a potent strain."

"You're gonna...suck out everypony’s magic like Tirek?" said Fluttershy in horror.

Applejack said, "Ah'm bettin' the princesses'll have something to say."

Cryotek smirked, "True...but did you know EMP weaponry works just as well on your magic as on us? It was a complete accident...but if it works. Your leaders are already being drained."

"What?!" asked Twilight in horror.

"Between those two, there's almost enough energon to fuel my army, but you can never have too much," said Cryotek.

"So what's yer plan? Combine yerself with that thing?" asked Applejack, nodding to the Enigma.

Cryotek laughed, "In a way, I suppose."

"I can't imagine how you'd be able to coordinate an entire army as one," said Rarity.

"It's not always about combining," said Cryotek, "This time, it's about reassembling."

"Reassembling?" asked Dash.

"Yes, in the Great War, there was one particular Decepticon bigger and more powerful than all the others, a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut. In fact, he was so powerful, that after the war, the Autobots split him into as many pieces as they could and scattered him across the universe."

"And I suppose you've already collected all of this Decepticon's pieces," said Twilight.

Cryotek grinned and said, "Of course I have. We're standing his head right now."

The Maximares looked around, suddenly noticing that a lot of the screens were monitoring energon flow, brainpulse activity, and stasis maintenance. Cryotek held up the glowing Enigma and said, "With the power of the Enigma of Combination, I can now rebuild the great Titan, Trypticon."

And we're back with the third-to-last chapter. Now things are finally coming to a head. First of all, we finally see what Cryotek has been after: the Enigma of Combination. We also get a look at four of the Thirteen and how they interacted with Equestria. For the record, I'm not saying they shaped all of Equestrian history, just helped it start up after nearly all natural forces have stopped working. It took a little work to fit the Tree of Harmony into this.

Besides that, we have some Tox-En that appeared in Transformers: Prime. Detrio is an original character though based off of the combined form of the Arcee sisters, even if it never appeared in the movie. Lastly, we have Trypticon, who's gained a lot of notoriety in recent years. He was actually a rather recent addition to the story and he's definitely going to be appearing in the last two chapters.

Speaking of which, the last two chapters will be posted tomorrow and the day after, well before the TF/MLP comic comes out on Wednesday. Keep an eye out for them and please review.

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