TRANSFORMERS: Darkness Rises

by TheClownPrinceofCrime

Adapting to New Surroundings

Grimlock took his precious time to process what was happening before him. He just went through a hidden portal in a forest and thus found himself in a world with new, different creatures he’s never seen before. “This world appears to be the same as Equestria but with...no ponies?” he mused. He walked toward the ocean to see how deep it was; he needed to find a way out of the island.

He thought of returning to Equestria through the same hidden portal that brought him on earth, but his curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to discover what the strange world had to offer. With that, he dived into the ocean and saw various kinds of fish floating around. He was amazed at the natural sight but he wasted no time in gazing at everything that was around him. He swam across the ocean to search for land and civilization.

5 HOURS LATER

As Grimlock continued swimming underneath the ocean, he spotted land not far ahead of him. He snuck his head slightly above the water surface to get a clearer look. His hope came true. He discovered the beach where there were people packing up there chairs, towels, supplies, and belongings to depart from the beach. He then noticed that the sun was setting.

Grimlock knew he had to wait till all the humans had left the whole area so he would not cause a panic among them of seeing a giant alien robot. It took about half an hour for them to leave. It was then 8:00pm. The full moon shone brightly in the night sky.

Seeing the coast was entirely clear, he jumped out of the ocean and landed on the sand. He looked around to make sure there was no one around. Seeing he was alone, he turned on his com link to contact his Dinobot comrades, “Swoop, do you read me? Swoop?! Can you hear me?”

With no answer, he moved on, “Snarl, do you copy? Snarl? SNARL!!”

“Slag, do you hear my voice? Slag!” Grimlock said as the com link still went static. “Scrap.”

“Perhaps the signal cannot reach my comrades considering I’m in a different planet. If I can’t reach them, I won’t be able to reach Optimus or the other Autobots.” Grimlock said to himself. “Hmmm, luckily for me, there are none of those flesh creatures around. But I have to be quite to not disturb their sleep.”

As he said this, he slowly walked out of the beach and walked on the streets to look for someplace where he can settle for the night and discover more about earth. However, keeping a low profile would be very difficult during the day. He would have to figure out how to make it easier.

As he continued walking on the roads and passing by several buildings and houses as quietly as possible, he spotted a huge warehouse. He drew closer and noticed that the warehouse was abandoned. Glad that he could finally settle in a hidden place, he snuck inside and rested his metal body on the hard ground. After making himself comfortable, he lowered his head and powered down to rest for the night.

MEANWHILE IN EQUESTRIA

“Grimlock!! Grimlock!! Where are you?!” Swoop called out.

“Boss!! Where are you? You’ve been gone all day!!” Slag shouted as all three Dinobots were looking for their commander all day in Canterlot and in the forest. They began to be very worried for him.

“Where has he been? The last time we saw him was in the Everfree Forest! How is it he’s missing?!” Snarl stated with a tone of worry.

“I don’t know, Snarl. But we have to keep looking for him! We’ll find him!” Swoop encouraged.

“I sure hope we do! Optimus and the Autobots were worried about him!” Slag said.

“Yeah, especially Optimus since he told us he had flashbacks when Grimlock abandoned his post on Cybertron. He didn’t want Grimlock to go through that experience again.” Swoop recalled.

“Speaking of which, I feel...really sorry for our leader. He’s had rough days with the ponies because he didn’t get along with them really well like he thought he would. He’s really a tough hard-sparked guy if you ask me.” Snarl said with sadness in his voice.

“Indeed. He’s been through much worse than all three of us had been. (Sigh) I wish things would’ve been easier for him.” Swoop sighed.

“But the thing is, life is rough. The hard lessons we learn in life are there to prune and refine our character and life experience so that we can be better in what we do and say.” Slag said. The other Dinobots looked at him awkwardly as he said this.

“What?” Slag asked confused from the stares.

“Ugh, Slag, when did you learn that?” Snarl asked.

“Oh, Applejack told me all of that. I thought it would be relevant for Grimlock’s situation.” he honestly replied.

“Ah-huh... interesting.” Swoop muttered. All three of them resumed their search of Grimlock. They were unwilling to give up on their continual search for him. It was already nighttime in Equestria with Luna’s moon shining bright in the night sky.

As they were searching, they spotted the same glowing circle on the rock hill in front of them. It caught their attention immediately and decided to investigate it.

“What is that? Is it some kind of energon or something?” Snarl asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen energon that is golden or yellow. It could be something else though. But we’re going to find out.” Swoop answered. He transformed to pterodactyl mode and flew ahead of his friends. Snarl and Slag likewise transformed into stegosaurus and triceratops modes respectively and ran ahead to catch up with Swoop.

They both rejoined together as they stood before the glowing medium on the rock. Slag stepped closer to touch it with his horns. But as soon as he touched it, the portal opened itself and started to pull the three Dinobots in a gravitational pull. Unable to resist the pull, they were sucked into the portal before it closed again.

BACK ON EARTH

The sun slowly rose in the horizon as the morning commenced. Grimlock’s systems came back online. His visor lit up before he got on his feet and peeked outside the warehouse. He noticed the sun was rising. He realized that once he would step out to the outside world in broad daylight, he would be discovered by the humans and cause massive panic among them. Therefore, keeping a low profile was a necessity.

“Ahhhh, hello morning! Let’s see what this world has to offer and find out if it’s better than Equestria or not. I hope those flesh creatures are more respectful and considerate unlike those annoying ponies...well except for Fluttershy. At least she’s decent.” Grimlock said. “But I must find a disguise first if there’s any. Don’t want to get caught and cause fear among them.”

He exited the warehouse and walked behind several buildings where he wouldn’t be seen by the humans. He then saw a golden and gray semi truck with its trailer driving in a distance. He was hiding in a alleyway between two large buildings. “Hmmm, that’s a good looking vehicle right there. Might as well become a triple-changer.” he said. He scanned the truck. After looking both ways making sure there were no vehicles incoming and no human bystanders around, he jumped out of the alleyway and transformed into his new third disguise: a semi truck although with no trailer.

“Ahhh, yes, I look fabulous as Rarity would say! Nice! Now, time to discover more things.” Grimlock marked as he drove away.

Sunset Shimmer rose from her bed as she started to brush her teeth and have breakfast. After she finished eating, she took a shower, got dressed, then packed her school supplies to prepare for school. She closed and locked her front door and started her walk to school. She paid no heed to the same sports car from yesterday once again tracking her moves.

“I have the girl on sight. What should I do?” Sideways asked Shockwave via com link.

“Follow her. Do not by any means lose sight of her. I’ll give the order for you to capture her when the opportunity presents itself.” Shockwave ordered.

“As you wish.” Sideways complied.

Sunset arrived at the school and greeted her friends that were there already. They prepared themselves to have their classes for the day as usual. Sideways waited on the street which was in front of the school, waiting for the right opportunity.

Grimlock kept driving endlessly almost all morning as he beheld every building he passed by such as the restaurants, stores, skyscrapers, hospitals, and malls. He sure was having an amusing time. He was tempted with the idea to forget about returning back home in Equestria and even the ponies and Autobots. He thought that he would have a more pleasant experience and enjoyable time in solitude than to be told what to do by Optimus, Twilight or anyone else. He would rather do whatever he wished without having to be scolded for his actions every time.

His train of thought was completely derailed when his scanner on his radio beeped loudly. The GPS revealed a Decepticon energy signal which caught him by surprise. “Decepticons?! Here?! How is that possible?!” Grimlock shouted.

“When will these Decepticons learn to stop touching every planet that is not theirs to take?!” Grimlock groaned in anger and annoyance. “Fine! I’ll find whoever that Decepticon is and scrap him!” he said as he turned right to accomplish his new objective.

Several hours went by until it was recess time. Sunset and her friends stepped outside the front doors to hang out together. “I hope you guys did great on your history tests. That was a tough one.” Sunset said. The rest of the girls groaned as she mentioned the difficulty of their exams.

“Tell me about it! Learning all those history people is just challenging sometimes! Knowing all the dates, their names, their works, everything!” Rainbow added.

“That’s because you’re always sleeping during class.” Applejack frowned. “Can’t you just stay awake and pay attention for once?”

“Always sleeping?! Of course I pay attention! What are you talking about?” Rainbow denied. Applejack then glared at her.

“Okay, maybe I do sleep in class...sometimes.” Rainbow said blushing. The girls continued giving that ‘yeah right’ look at her. Rainbow then gave up her pride.

“Okay fine!! You win! I’m just tired all the time! No big deal!” she excused.

Sideways listened to their conversation while still in vehicle mode. “The female is outside with her friends. They’re right in front of me.” he reported.

“Now is the time. Capture her. If her friends intervene to save her...kill them.” ordered Shockwave.

“With pleasure.” Sideways said with eagerness in his voice.

“Look, I know that these subjects are hard to grasp, but you got to admit that they are interesting and very important to know.” Sunset said. “I’m learning a lot to be honest.”

Before any of the girls would further speak, Sideways drove right unto the sidewalk. This caught the girls attention. To their surprise, the car transformed into robot mode. The shape-shifting, changing gears, metal parts moving from and connecting to each other shocked them beyond words. Never have they seen a vehicle that transformed before until now.

Sideways stood before them as he chuckled wickedly. “Hello there, fleshlings. Mind if I interrupt the conversation?”

“WHAT THE?! What is that?!” Rarity screamed.

“What in tarnation is that?!” Applejack yelled.

“That’s cool!! An alien robot! Let me take a picture of you!!” Pinkie said while taking snapshots of Sideways. The Decepticon snatched her phone away and crushed it with his fingers. This shocked Pinkie.

“Enough!! Bring me the girl with the red and yellow hair...NOW. I’ll spare your lives if you comply.” he threatened with his blaster pointing at them.

“Sunset? Never! Whoever you are, we won’t let you take her!!” Twilight said glaring. The rest protected Sunset by covering her. They ponified themselves as they were ready to fight.

“Ahhhh, you have magical powers! So Sunset isn’t the only one then. I guess I’ll take you all!” Sideways said. He fired his blasts at them but they deflected every shot with their powers.

Applejack ran up to the Decepticon and punched him on the leg. He yelled in pain as he faltered. He tried to grab her but Rainbow Dash dashed by and carried her friend away before he can seize her. Sunset and the other girls sent their magical blasts at Sideways. He took every hit unprepared. He was sent flying in the air and crashed on the ground. The other students that saw the battle were amazed. Others cheered while others ran away for fear of the Decepticon.

“That’ll keep him down! Nice work, girls!” Twilight said. The rest celebrated their success. But it was premature.

Sideways got back up and stood before them. His armor bore no sign of damage whatsoever. It was as if they were nothing to him. This surprised the girls when they saw him seemingly unharmed.

“Hahaha!! Did you really think I’ll be beaten that easily? That hit I received on my leg was ineffective. I pretended to be hurt to increase your false confidence. Your magic has no effect on cybertronian armor!” he said gloating. “Now, your powers shall belong to the Decepticons!!”

“SIDEWAYS!!!” a familiar voice called out.

Sideways turned around to see a semi truck approaching them. It transformed into a bigger robot twice his size. He immediately recognized the Dinobot. The girls and the other students were once again astonished to see another robotic being before them. Grimlock stood before his opponent. “Leave these creatures alone!! Pick on someone your own size!” Grimlock told him.

“Grimlock! Well, well, I didn’t expect to see you here. I haven’t fought an Autobot for like forever. But I can finally kill an Autobot at last.” Sideways said activating his chainsaws.

“I like to see you try, Decepticon.” Grimlock challenged him while unsheathing his energon sword.