Episode 23: "Prisoner of War"
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Hiding behind some rocks on the grounds of what had been Vorak's kingdom, Tempest Shadow looked through her binoculars at her targets: two Predacons wanted for a devious crime at Rainbow Falls. Her mission was clear: Capture Terrorsaur and Laserbeak and bring them to Ponyville. "All right," She whispered in a hushed voice to her comrades. "As soon as everyone is in place, we make our move. Is that understood?"
"Copy that, hornless," Rattrap remarked, causing Tempest to groan in annoyance at the smart aleck Maximal. "As soon as the gang's all here, which should be any minute now."
"Roger that. And in the future," Tempest warned, catching Rattrap's attention. "You will watch what you say, rat."
"Eh, whatever you say." Rattrap replied and shrugged his metallic hands.
Rolling her eyes, Tempest returned to watching Terrorsaur and Laserbeak as they finished digging the mass grave back up.
"Terrorsaur," Laserbeak whispered. "My sensors indicate we are being watched."
"So what if we are?" Terrorsaur remarked while placing a rock on the mass grave. "You're a Pred, I'm a Pred. Anything can happen at a moment's notice and you know it. Now let's do what Megatron asked us to do. Stand guard over these worthless scrap heaps so no one else goes missing."
But Laserbeak had his suspicions. Ensuring that his wing blades on his arms were sharpened, he kept an eye on the rocks behind him and Terrorsaur.
"Look at them," Cheetor remarked to Rodimus Primal from another part of the gravesite. "Murdering cowards. Just the sight of them makes my energon boil."
"Yes, attacking and killing innocent creatures because of their nature," Rodimus muttered, ensuring that his weapons were loaded. "The sooner we capture them, the better" Then, tapping into his radio, Rodimus made contact with his brother. "Optimus, when do we strike?" He asked.
Up on a cliff high above the gravesite, Optimus Primal and Tigerhawk heard the question. "As soon as they make their way back to the castle," Optimus answered. "But do not fire until Captain Tempest gives the order. Remember, she is in command of this mission, not anyone else."
"Acknowledged," Rodimus replied before turning off his radio and sighing in frustration to Cheetor. "Some creatures are just impatient."
"Hey, you want this to go right, don't you?" Cheetor asked while looking over at Rodimus. "I hate Terrorsaur and Laserbeak as much as you do. But we've got orders to bring them back alive."
However, Rodimus wasn't the only one filled with rage. On Tempest's left, Dinobot cocked his guns and struggled to control his trigger finger, catching Tempest's attention.
"Dinobot," Tempest whispered. "Take your finger off the trigger until I give the word. I don't want any accidents."
Groaning, Dinobot reluctantly did as he was told. "They have no honor," Dinobot declared to Tempest. "No honor at all."
Tempest couldn't help but sympathize with Dinobot and the rest of the Maximals accompanying her on this mission. But they all had to stick to the plan assigned to them by Twilight and the other princesses.
"All right," Tempest whispered into her radio, looking back at the two Predacons. "It looks like they're finishing and preparing to head back to the castle. As soon as they start to leave, we make our move. Acknowledged?"
"Acknowledged." Rodimus replied.
"Acknowledged." Optimus replied too.
"All right, I think we've spent more than enough time here," Laserbeak declared, still sensing that he and Terrorsaur weren't alone. "Let us go at once."
But Terrorsaur wasn't complying. Instead he activated his shoulder cannons, ensuring that they were loaded. "Megatron gave us an order to guard the grave," Terrorsaur declared. "And that is just what we're going to do. Who's going to stop us?"
Suddenly, Terrorsaur heard the sounds of rustling coming from behind him and Laserbeak. Immediately jumping into a defense position, Terrorsaur began searching for the source but found nothing."Who's there?!" He cried, turning around to the rocks behind them. After a moment, no other noise was heard and his guard was lowered. "Hmm, something's near us, Laserbeak. Megatron must be informed at once."
Judging her moment carefully, Tempest made her presence known from behind the rocks. "Now!" She whispered over the radio as the Maximals and pony guards emerged from their hiding spots, their weapons drawn on Terrorsaur and Laserbeak as they surrounded them. Tempest then cried out in a loud voice. "Hold it right there! In the name of the Princesses of Equestria, you are under arrest for the attack on Rainbow Falls!"
Terrorsaur and Laserbeak locked their eyes on Tempest, knowing that they were about to be captured as prisoners of war!
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"Drop your weapons!" Tempest commanded in a loud voice. "Do it now!"
But Terrorsaur wasn't going to comply as he prepared to fire his shoulder cannons at Tempest.
"Might want to listen to her, beak breath!" Rattrap shouted. "Either way, you and bird boy are coming with us!"
"We should listen to them," Laserbeak cautioned, already thinking of surrendering. "There's no other choice! Megatron will understand."
Groaning, Terrorsaur still kept onto his guns, preparing to fire his shoulder cannons at any moment.
"You might want to listen to your friend, Terrorsaur!" Cheetor declared with a grin. "Unless you wanna end up in the scrap heap!"
Yelling in anger, Terrorsaur opened fire, shooting several blasts from his shoulder cannons. But Optimus acted quickly from above. "Interceptors, fire!" He shouted as two small blasters from his shoulders were launched towards Terrorsaur's blasts, countering them.
Looking up, Terrorsaur saw Optimus and prepared to open fire on him. But then he loudly screeched in pain as he felt venom circulate through his body just as a beam of energy struck him and caused him to transform into beast mode.
Emerging from another part of the gravesite, Rhinox and a floating orb walked over towards the downed Terrorsaur and Laserbeak (the latter of whom immediately transformed into his beast mode and surrendered).
Standing over the downed Terrorsaur, Tempest looked down at him and scowled while several pony guards placed chains around his neck. "You should have surrendered willingly," She declared as Terrorsaur was dragged away. "It would have been less painful."
Tempest then turned to Laserbeak as he was also fitted with chains on his neck and his wings were tied.
"What are you…going to do with us?" Laserbeak nervously asked.
"Take you prisoner, what else?" Tempest asked in a mocking voice before turning her attention to the pony soldiers. "Take them back to Ponyville on the double!" Then she watched the two Predacons be taken away, before turning her attention back to the Maximals.
"The transformation lock lens worked well," Rhinox declared to Tempest. "As well as the cyber venom we copied. It might be useful on the other Predacons."
"Well either way, Megatron will be thinking of retaliation," Optimus Primal replied. "What happens now?"
"The transformation lock lens does give us a slight advantage over the Predacons," Tempest said to the Maximals. "If the Predacons do plan on figuring out a way to free their comrades, then we'll have to be prepared. All of you here continue keeping an eye on Megatron and his forces, the guards and I will deal with the captured Predacons."
"You got it, ma'am!" Cheetor saluted, causing Tempest to smile in amusement at Cheetor's eagerness.
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…
At Canterlot General Hospital, Twilight was back at the bedside of the badly injured Star Tracker. The blood transfusion had been a success, now all she could do was hope and pray that he would pull through. "How is he?" she heard a voice say that belonged to Celestia as Twilight's mother figure and Luna walked into the room.
"Thanks to me, he's gotten a lot of blood back into his system," Twilight replied as the two alicorns joined her. "Still, he's got a long road ahead of him. It's not a guarantee he'll wake up."
Looking down at Star Tracker, Luna couldn't help but sigh in disbelief. "Such a fine young colt," Luna declared, draping a wing over him. "Whoever did this will pay dearly."
"Yes, that is what will happen," Twilight remarked, looking over at Luna. "The consequences will be severe and swift. I swear on my life. I've already ordered Tempest to capture the culprits alive so they can face Equestrian justice."
Clutching her friend's hoof tightly, Twilight continued to ponder what sentences that she and her friends would be carrying out on the offenders accused. There hadn't been an execution since before she and her friends had come to power. Would that change?
"Twilight," Celestia advised. "You do realize that there will have to be a trial before any sentence is carried out. That's how the law works here. And even in war there are lines we do not cross."
"I'm well aware of that, Celestia," Twilight replied to her mentor and mother figure. "But there won't be a long trial. The evidence is written on the walls of Rainbow Falls. Justice will prevail."
At that moment, a pony guard stepped into the room, saluting Twilight as he entered. "Your highness?" He called, catching Twilight's attention. "The offenders have been captured by Captain Tempest Shadow and the Maximals."
Rising to her hooves, Twilight felt a sense of gratification at what she just heard. "Where are they taking them? Did they say?" Twilight firmly inquired .
"They are being taken to your Castle of Friendship." The guard answered.
"Place them in the dungeons for now," Twilight ordered and the guard immediately complied by saluting Twilight. "My friends and I will deal with them personally." Dismissing the guard, Twilight was left to contemplate how to proceed.
Meanwhile,Through the streets of Ponyville, the captured Terrorsaur and Laserbeak were paraded past shuttered houses and businesses.
Inside her house, Luster Dawn was awakened by the sounds of hoofbeats and rattling of chains. "What…what's that?" She muttered to herself, climbing out of bed and going towards her bedroom window. "Captain Tempest? What's going on?"
Opening her window, Luster looked out to see the parade going towards the Castle of Friendship with the imprisoned Predacons. "Who are those guys?" She wondered as the parade went by her house. "Are they the Predacons we're fighting?" But she received no reply, the noise of the procession drowned out her inquiry.
Closing her bedroom window, Luster was left to ponder what was happening. "Wait 'til the others hear about this." She declared before reluctantly going back to sleep.
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Opening his eyes, Terrorsaur found himself inside one of the cells of the Castle of Friendship's dungeons. His neck had been shackled and his wings were forced up in bonds against the wall of the cell. "What…where am I?" Terrorsaur muttered. "What is this place?" Just then, he heard the sounds of hoofbeats coming down towards his cell and he saw four purple legs.
"Is this the cell?" Twilight's voice asked as Terrorsaur continued to try and remain defiant. "Let me inside."
The cell door opened andTerrorsaur found himself face to face with Twilight and Tempest staring right in front of him. "Are you the one named Terrorsaur?" Twilight asked in a stern, quiet voice only to be met with silence by Terrorsaur. "Answer the question!"
"You will answer when asked a question!" Tempest commanded, using her unstable magic to force Terrorsaur to look up at Twilight. "Address the Princess!"
"Are you the leader of this land?" Terrorsaur asked and Twilight silently nodded that she was. "I thought you would be more of a strong leader. You hardly seem like leader material."
Snarling, Twilight grabbed Terrorsaur's neck with her hoof and held it up. "You listen and you listen good," She growled. "I know who you are, Terrorsaur! You're responsible for the death of at least twenty five of my subjects and badly injuring fifty more! One of whom looks up to me and is fighting for his life right now thanks to you and your 'friend'!"
"Where's…Laserbeak?" Terrorsaur asked, gasping through his clenched throat. "If you've done anything to him I'll…"
"-He's not your concern right now!" Twilight retorted before releasing her grip on Terrorsaur. "The two ponies staring in front of you, they are the ones you should be concerned about!"
And at that very moment, in another cell Laserbeak was greeted by the presence of a light blue pegasus pony with a rainbow colored mane and tail.
"This one is willing to cooperate, your highness." A guardspony saluted.
"Good," Rainbow Dash replied as she looked up at the captured Predacon. "Are you the one called Laserbeak? Well, are you?"
"Y..yes," Laserbeak gasped, unable to move due his restraints. "I am Laserbeak, servant of Megatron."
"Of course you are, no doubt about it," Rainbow remarked, hovering over the condor Predacon with her forelegs crossed. "We know all about you, buddy. Killing twenty five innocent ponies and for what?! Is it your idea of sport?!"
"It wasn't the way we were supposed to execute the plan," Laserbeak explained. "Grogar commanded us to…"
"He commanded you to do what?!" Rainbow asked, giving a death eye to Laserbeak.
"-Attack the village and take prisoners." Laserbeak answered.
"But you and your buddy got trigger happy and look what happened. Sure hope it was worth it for your sake," Rainbow sighed in disgust while flying back and forth. "Who was your commanding officer in the assault?"
"The one known as King Sombra," Laserbeak answered, much to Rainbow's surprise. "He also was the one who forced us to retreat. And now it seems he's abandoned us to our fate like the coward he is."
Meanwhile, Twilight was having none of the defiance that Terrorsaur was giving her.
"Where is Laserbeak?!" The Predacon asked.
"I told you that he's not your concern right now," Twilight snapped, but much to her surprise, Terrorsaur found her anger amusing. "We are. Now pay attention to what we will ask you! The more you resist the longer you prolong your suffering."
"You want me to reveal why I did what I did," Terrorsaur guessed. "Is that it? Well tough break, I ain't telling you anything!"
"Don't play games with me, birdbrain!" Twilight shouted in an angry voice. "I can see that you are more than determined to give me a hard time! Well, I'm stronger than you are! Now talk!"
"About what?" Terrorsaur laughed and Twilight backed away in frustration. "About how the famed Princess of Friendship was too scared to become Supreme Ruler? That's right, I know about your little 'panic attacks'. Grogar and Megatron studied your history very thoroughly."
This made Twilight even more angry as she stuck out her left foreleg and struck Terrorsaur across the face despite how much it hurt. "Don't go there, Terrorsaur!" Twilight screamed as Terrorsaur merely shook off the slap. "Don't…you…even… dare!"
"It's true, isn't it?" Terrorsaur taunted with a sinister smirk. "Thanks to Grogar we know your strengths and your weaknesses! You don't scare me."
"It's clear to me that you're just an enemy seeking to mock me," Twilight snapped back. "Well, let me tell you something. I am stronger than you and all your Predacon friends combined! With my friends by my side and the Maximals allied with us, the likes of you aren't as much of a threat as you might think. Your little sneak attack was futile, as will any such cowardly actions by Grogar."
"Is that so?" Terrorsaur taunted again. "Well, watch this, princess! Terrorsaur, terrorize!" Attempting to transform, Terrorsaur suddenly found himself unable to transform into his robot mode. "What? No! Impossible!" Terrorsaur cried, his fearless and defiant nature suddenly turning to panic. "Terrorsaur, terrorize! Terrorsaur, terrorize! What did you do to me, Princess?!"
"Let's just say the Maximals looked up a bit about your past advantages," Tempest replied, producing a magic bubble showing the transformation lock lens that the Predacons once had. Terrorsaur was shocked and dismayed by what he was seeing before him! "And this is only the beginning for you and your comrades! The advantage you gained after sacking Vorak's kingdom is about to be negated."
"You dare steal our secrets?!" Terrorsaur screeched while struggling against his bonds.
"Well what are you going to do about it? You can't transform and you can't escape," Twilight declared. "Make no mistake, you are a prisoner of war now, Terrorsaur. And the same is true for your 'friend' and fellow Predacon."
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Back inside Laserbeak's cell, Rainbow Dash continued to aggressively question the Condor Predacon about the attack on Rainbow Falls. However, there was something else in the back of her mind. "Before we continue the questioning, buddy," The pegasus mare growled. "There's something else we need to talk about."
"What is it?" Laserbeak pondered.
"You see," Rainbow began as she recalled the experience. "A while back, two pegasi from the Wonderbolts were out on patrol when you attacked them. It was you, wasn't it?"
Immediately, Laserbeak realized just exactly what this so-called 'princess' was talking about. "Why do you ask me about that?" Laserbeak hissed. "They deserved it! They were intruding on Predacon territory!"
This struck a chord with Rainbow, and the Wonderbolt Princess snarled and grabbed Laserbeak by the throat. "Neither of them deserved the trauma you inflicted upon them, you monster!" She hissed, glaring right at Laserbeak. "Especially Vapor Trail!"
"Vapor Trail?" Laserbeak snickered. "Oh, is that her name? Sounds like a pathetic weakling if I ever saw one!"
"She is not a weakling!" Rainbow declared in a scary, low tone of voice. "And as long as you are our prisoner, beak boy, I'm going to make your life absolutely miserable for what you did! By the time I'm done with you, you'll regret your decision to attack my fellow Wonderbolts!"
Having seen enough, Rainbow turned around to make her way out of the cell. But, she had one more set of parting words for Laserbeak. "Thanks for the information. I'll make sure Spitfire knows how little you think of her teammates. Don't be surprised if she comes calling in the near future and really lets you have it." She warned, flying out of the cell and slamming the door behind her.
As she left Laserbeak's cell, Rainbow saw Twilight and Tempest emerge from Terrorsaur's cell with exhausted looks on both of their faces. "Got some useful information out of Laserbeak," Rainbow declared. "How did things go with Terrorsaur?"
"He will get what is coming to him, Rainbow Dash," Twilight sighed, her face filled with exhaustion. "He already knows he can't transform and escape from us."
"So what happens now?" Rainbow questioned.
"We go after the remaining Predaconsm, one by one if we have to. We can't fight a war against Grogar and a war against the Predacons. And since we still don't have a way to reach Grogar, we'll go for the next best thing and take down his Predacons allies," Twilight answered as they made their way out of the dungeons. "But if there is one thing we learned, it's that the Predacons are strong minded. Terrorsaur was mocking me, trying to make fun of my anxiety."
Rainbow was horrified to hear this, causing her stop midway up the stairs. "What?!" She gasped.
Feeling the pain of her emotions, Twilight briefly turned away.
"Twilight…" Rainbow stammered in disbelief. "I'm…I'm…"
"It's all right, Rainbow," Twilight answered, looking over at her fellow princess. "I'm going to have to get used to those kinds of words. I can't let them rattle me. Right now, we need to act on the intelligence given to us. What did Laserbeak say? Anything we can use?"
"He said that King Sombra was leading the attack," Rainbow Dash explained. "Supposedly, they got trigger happy and opened fire before he could give any commands. And after he gave the order to retreat, King Sombra fled."
Having heard this intelligence, Twilight felt that something needed to be done. She needed more and more Predacons to interrogate as well as any of Grogar's forces. "It seems to me," Twilight declared as they walked into the Castle's throne room. "That there could be more attacks planned on our towns and cities throughout Equestria by either the Predacons or Grogar's army. We need to be ready."
Activating the map of Equestria, Twilight realized that protective measures would need to be taken. "I'm going to recommend," She declared. "That every single land in Equestria is given the most aggressive form of protection possible. If there are any planned attacks, we will stop them before they happen. We will notify the Changelings, the Hippogriffs, the Dragons, everycreature! And if anyone attacks…we strike back just as hard! It may even be time to start taking the fight to our enemies."
"But how do you plan on doing such a thing?" Rainbow asked.
"We give them Carte Blanche!" Twilight replied to her fellow princess. "We take prisoners of those who wish to surrender and we destroy those who defy us and refuse to surrender! Until Grogar and his forces are stopped in their tracks, we must use whatever aggressive measures are necessary."
The sounds of Twilight's voice made Rainbow Dash quiver in slight fear. The Wonderbolt and Princess of Loyalty was beginning to sense that what happened in Rainbow Falls was fueling a rage inside of Twilight, a rage that threatened to get out of control.
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Back at their captured kingdom, the Predacons were alerted by the capture of Terrorsaur and Laserbeak. "Are you certain?" Megatron asked Soundwave. "Are you absolutely certain?"
"Yes, Megatron," Soundwave answered. "The Maximals and the ponies took Terrorsaur and Laserbeak prisoner."
"I was afraid it would come down to this, yes," Megatron sighed as he leaned back in Vorak's throne. "We capture an ally of theirs, they capture an ally of ours. All this is part of the game of war, Predacons."
"So, what do we do, boss?" Quickstrike asked. "How do we avenge Terrorsaur and Laserbeak's capture?"
"Why, we plan an attack on the ponies' kingdom," Megatron declared while rising from Vorak's throne. "It's only a matter of time before they come after us. Far better to have the coming battle be on our terms rather than theirs, yes."
"But be forewarned," Soundwave advised. "Reports indicate that the Maximals have a replica of Tarantulas' transformation lock lens. It's highly likely that it will be used against us."
"I am aware of that, Soundwave!" Megatron thundered. "And I am also aware that they also created a replica of Scorponok's cyber venom! They are using our own weapons against us, so it will not be easy to defeat them."
Turning back around towards his throne, Megatron continued to ponder what to do. "But, I have faced greater twists and turns before," He declared as he and his Predacons prepared for what was ahead of them, despite the fact that their own weapons were used against them now. "These ponies may think they have me pinned down, but I am certainly not out. Oh yes…"
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Really Rainbow? To be fair, Twilight is rightfully justified to be angry. Besides, this is WAR! You have to tend to get dirty to protect your citizens and win.
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10647178
This is Why I like being a Anti-Hero. No Offense. But, people like Grogar or Storm King Can't Change. And I bet they don't even want to redeem themselves or be "Friends" with the Ponies. So, even if they imprisoned them. They always just escape one day. That's why we have Execution/Death Sentence back in the day and even in Modern Day.
10653898 Maybe, but there is a saying "He who fights monsters must be careful not to become a monster himself."
10653957
Well, tell that to the Doom Slayer. Because, he isn't bothered by it, and he actually enjoyed his job VERY MUCH! Besides, being a "Monster" killing the Real Monsters, and still protecting Lives doesn't sound too bad. I mean, the Witcher or the Dragonborn is okay with it too.
Plus, Execution/Death Sentence is technically Legal by the Law. I mean, Grogar started the War, and they'll be War Crimes.
Again, the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up are all really well done. Loved how well the operation to capture Terrorsaur and Laserbeak went. And, yeah, I can kind of understand Twi being THAT angry (and, as Rainbow can attest, Twi is REALLY scary when she is angry) even if she needs to control herself enough to avoid becoming no better than Grogar (she definitely isn't there YET, thankfully, but if she isn't careful, well - think Superman in the Injustice universe). And I DID appreciate Rainbow managing to scare as much information out of Laserbeak as she did. Yeah, while the point about how war can (and usually DOES) force leaders to do things they WILL deeply regret later in order to get the job done IS a very good one, there IS such a thing as going too far, something I hope Twi will learn sooner rather than later.
At any rate, certainly looking forward to more of this.
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With what's happening with Star Tracker, it may very well be the catalyst of Twilight's actions.
10654951
Indeed. Definitely not arguing the point.
Oh boy Twilight is learning to use the dark side it seems. Looks like we're both gonna be done in February.
10655415 And as Yoda put it "Anger leads to hate, hate... leads to suffering." Once you start down that dark path, it can be very difficult to leave it.
10656617
Yes indeed.
Kind of wished we see Spike's reaction to Twilight's aggressiveness and such.
In fact is he with them at the meeting? He's the Royal Advisor so he really should be by Twilight's side and be in the meetings always.
Or otherwise it feels like more and more like nothing "changed" and Royal Advisor is just a fancy tittle of "Number 1 Assistant" and is just in the girls' shadows..
Discord's plan sure screwed Spike even more with how the other girls have to become princesses and it ends up messing up the whole Royal Advisor thing.
Since the villains are now poking at Twilight about her anxiety attacks, I wonder if some villains will try to make her think she has stolen "everything" from Luna? I mean, the whole "successor" thing and retirement stuff was solely Celestia's idea.
Luna most likely had to retire due to not wanting to be separated from Celestia, which means Celestia screwed her over hard due to Luna had to give up everything(her moon, her throne, her destiny). She didn't get to shine as much as Celestia and now her chances of doing so is robbed from her.
Would be amazing in seeing some villains trying to make Luna think she made a mistake in retiring or making her realize she hated it.
Given how her bitter line of "We always do things your way" in Between Dawn And Dusk seems to be more than just Celestia hijacking on how their vacation would go.