Transformers Prime: Ponies in Disguise

by RavageXeno

Chapter 18

Grimmy continued to surge forward, creating a large zone around the chariot which was free of soldiers. Scar’s army was watching the carnage from either side of the chariot, safely out of range. The Xenomorphs had faded back into the forest, and Starscream could only catch the odd glimpse of one in the shadows beneath the trees.

Starscream shuddered as Grimmy let out an almighty roar, and he began pacing around the circumference of the circle. A light blue barrier now kept him from his prey, and it wouldn’t yield to the jets of flame. Only half the army now remained, the others had either fled or had fallen, but the soldiers that remained were huge menacing brutes.

“We should move,” Xena Rose said as she finished the last of her popcorn.

“Yes, I agree,” Rarity said, looking with disdain at the area around her. “We should at least move to where we aren’t behind enemy lines.”

“Right, I’ll teleport us over,” Twilight said eyeing the distance between the two ridges. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I’ll walk thanks,” Xena Rose said, taking a step towards the ledge. “I need to give the Requiem Void to Haunt anyway,” she continued, patting her saddlebag and continuing on her way towards the ledge.

“Hey, I’ll take it. I’ll get it there faster,” Rainbow said, jumping in front of her. After hesitating for a moment, Xena Rose handed over the bag then vanished over the edge of the ridge. Rainbow quickly shrugged on the saddlebag and grinned at her friends.

“See you guys on the other side,” Rainbow called out, before launching herself into the air and soaring upwards.

---

White fluffy clouds had broken away from the dark thunder cloud above the battlefield and provided cover for Rainbow to fly through. She kept catching glimpses of the battle below her, and Grimmy was still being kept at bay by the forcefield. She wasn’t needed in a hurry, so she took her time and simply enjoyed the flight. The battle was yet again at a standstill.

As she was gliding over an especially big cloud, a grey blur slammed into the side of her and forced her to land heavily on the soft surface. She scanned the sky for her assailant, but there was no sign of anyone else. Just as she was about to shrug it off as a stray wind current, a familiar pegasus landed on the cloud a few meters in front of her.

“The bag Rainbow, give it to me,” Starscream demanded, glaring at her. Her mouth opened as her brain slowly processed what she was seeing, before she shook her head and crouched in preparation to flee.

“Starscream... What are you doing?” Rainbow asked, taking a step away from him.

“I’m taking the Requiem Void to my Queen. But you’re getting in the way,” He replied, taking a step towards her. Rainbow had seen him throw off his cape and crown in disgust earlier - and he had apparently done the same with his gauntlets after she had left - so she had thought he had hated the Queen.

“You’re not getting it Screamer,” Rainbow shouted, returning the glare. Starscream growled at her, and leaped towards her. But she was already in the air, dodging around clouds whilst keeping tabs on where he was.

When he appeared to suddenly vanish, Rainbow hovered in place searching for him. Though after a few minutes she guessed that he’d given up. Or crashed.

Gaining her bearings, she realised that she was nearly a mile away from where she was supposed to be. She quickly set off again, bursting through clouds rather than going around them to save on the time that she had lost. As she burst out of a cloud, something hit her from above, sending her spiralling until she crashed on another cloud.

Jumping to her feet, she glared at Starscream as he landed in front of her again and held out his hoof.

“Now this is the last time I’m going to ask nicely. Give me the bag,” he demanded, returning the glare.

“Sorry Screamer, no can do I’m afraid,” Rainbow said grinning at him. Snarling, Starscream leapt at her, but she jumped out the way and flicked her tail out, making him trip and land on his face.

“Starscream, you want the bag come and get it,” she called out laughing, before jumping over to an adjacent cloud and waving at him. Starscream heaved himself to his feet and growled at Rainbow.

“Okay then, lets tango,” Starscream said then leapt after her and landed in the spot she was in moments ago. He looked up at the sound of laughing to find her smiling at him from the other end of the cloud.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” she jeered, just missing him every time he lunged. After running circles around him for a few minutes, she gave him the slip and watched for a few more as he searched frantically for her. “You don’t seem to be very good at dancing...” she remarked from the small cloud she was lounging on.

Looking up to where the voice had come from, he saw her and growled. His eyes flashed a darker shade of red and he lunged at her, beating his wings to propel himself upwards faster. Rainbow jumped of the cloud just before he smashed through it. Before she could get clear, Starscream grabbed her tail in his teeth and flung her to the side.

Rainbow crashed into a cloud and as she once more got to her feet Starscream landed in front of her and spat stray strands of hair out of his mouth. Noticing the pure hatred in his eyes as he began making his way towards her, she decided it was best to alter her approach.

“Ow.... You ruined my tail...” She exclaimed, in the whiniest most irritating Rarity impression she could muster, whilst she lifted a fore leg to her head. Starscream stopped in his tracks, his jaw slack and his head tilted slightly. Using his moment of confusion, she spun round and bucked him in the face sending him flying to crash face first in the cloud.

“Grrrrr... I’ll grind you into dust!” he shouted, spitting out pieces of cloud.

“Haha! Not before I eat your spark for breakfast,” Rainbow responded, using a term that she had heard them use to make the sentence seem less morbid.

Before either of them could move to make good on their threats, something flew in from the side and crashed into Starscream, sending him once more crashing into the cloud. Whilst his assailant remained in his place.

“I’ll take this dance,” a second Starscream said, smiling at Rainbow. Now it was her turn for her jaw to go slack. New Starscream was stood in front of her, whilst old Starscream was still picking himself up off the cloud.

Though her confusion dissipated a bit once she was able to notice differences between the two. New Starscream was still wearing his gauntlets and had a small scar on his cheek. Old Starscream was now looking at his counterpart with pure hatred.

“Rainbow, get out of here,” new Starscream said as he turned to face himself. Not waiting to see what would happen, she leapt into the air and flew towards Haunt at the centre of the battle.

She landed on the ground in front of the chariot next to Haunt panting slightly. She handed over the bag with the requiem void, and sighed with relief.

“Thank you Rainbow,” Haunt said, before offering Rainbow a flask of water, which she drank eagerly whilst watching the battle before her. Grimmy was slowly pacing a few feet from the barrier, and every few minutes a small flicker of flame would pour out of his mouth.

“You can go and join your friends on the ridge if you like,” Haunt said after she had been given the flask back. Before she could answer Starscream appeared, flying towards them at a ragged pace from somewhere in the clouds. As he landed, he tripped on a pebble and was sent rolling across the ground until he hit the side of the chariot.

“By Primus I’m so annoying,” he said as he clumsily picked himself up, and after noticing he was wearing the gauntlets Rainbow relaxed slightly.

“What happened to other Starscream?” Rainbow asked as he walked over to them. A flash of confusion swept across Haunt’s face, but she just shrugged and returned her attention to the breaking through the force field.

“It doesn’t matter, you won’t be seeing him again,” Starscream said, with a hint of menace in his voice which made a shiver run down Rainbow’s spine. Before she could ask what he meant, Lily gave out a loud hiss and everyone followed her gaze to see the army parting to give way to someone.

Olethron sauntered calmly towards them, her horn lit up with an aura the same colour as the force field. As she got closer, Starscream seemed to crouch lower to the ground as if he was trying to hide from her. She stopped directly behind the barrier, and smiled at them.

“Hello guys, did you miss me?”