War From the Stars

by James Pwyll

Introduction

On one side, seven girls and their dog looking on with awe and fear. On the other, five enormous robots from space looking down with uncertainty as to what to do next. However, in due course, it fell to the respective leaders of both groups to make the first move. Sunset, steeling herself, began to walk forward, with Twilight briefly looking concerned for her wellbeing but ultimately trusting her decision. Meanwhile, Optimus too began to walk ahead of his colleagues, though his size admittedly meant that it took fewer steps on his part than Sunset. Eventually, the two stood before one another, with Optimus bringing himself down on one knee so as to look her in the eye. After yet another bout of silence, the gargantuan automaton finally addressed her. "Greetings. I am Optimus Prime, commander of the Autobots."

His mannerisms and tone gave Sunset the distinct impression of one who had been leading for a very, very long time, and after clearing her throat, she returned his greeting. "I am Sunset Shimmer, and...um..." Realising she had no actual title to match his, she instead defaulted to glancing to the girls behind her, putting on a smile before again looking to Optimus. "And we welcome you to Earth." She reached out her hand, silently inviting Optimus to take it for a shake. However, upon seeing the Autobot look to her with confusion, she chuckled before explaining. "Oh, it's...it's a human thing. We shake hands." She then looked to the much larger hands that Optimus had compared to her. "Which, now that I think on it, would be pretty difficult for us, wouldn't it?"

But Optimus was by no means put off by her words, instead giving a single, respectful bow of his head. "The gesture is appreciated regardless, and you are most kind to welcome us, Sunset Shimmer."

With the ice having officially been broken, both sides began to approach the other, and while there was clearly no formal procedure for something like this, they took a stab at it any way. "We have had brief encounters with biological life in the past," Red Alert remarked. "But actual dialogue hasn't been conducted for...a very long time."

Twilight, smiling to her, giggled slightly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we're not used to this sort of thing either."

Pinkie, with her usual degree of tact for this sort of situation, rushed over to Chromia with an absolutely giddy look to her. "Sooooooo...whatcha here for?"

That particular question caused an air of unease among the Autobots, several of whom looked to Optimus, as if asking for permission. When their leader gave them a nod, Chromia finally looked back down to the party-loving girl to answer. "Well, as you can probably tell from how banged-up our ship is, we didn't mean to come here like this. It was supposed to be just a routine scouting trip. But, as usual for us, the universe wouldn't let us catch a break...and we were shot down."

That answer burst the bubble on the uplifting, optimistic feeling that had permeated the girls until that point, with Rarity seeming aghast at the notion. "Good heavens! By who?!"

Optimus, standing tall once more, looked to the side. "The Decepticons."

There was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there in his prior dialogue, and something about it sent a small shiver down Sunset's spine. But, before she had a chance to ask him who these attackers were, Elita stepped forward and answered the unspoken question. "For a long time now, our world was divided in two. A war that spread across the planet, splitting our population into either Autobots..." she gestured to herself and her crew before looking back to Sunset. "...and Decepticons."

"...A war," Applejack muttered to herself, her words heavy and solemn, evoking looks of understanding from the other girls.

Bumblebee, picking up on that sentiment, spoke aloud again, though as before it was only Fluttershy who could understand him. "Oh, no, it's okay. You didn't offend us. It's just...well..."

Rainbow picked up where she left off. "Let's just say that wars aren't really the kind of thing you talk about with us unless you're reading a history book."

Sunset nodded, then looked back to Elite and folded her arms. "So these Decepticons...are they still up there?"

Chromia smirked to that, answering in Elita's place. "No, thankfully. During the fight we knocked out their engines, so they fell down too." Her eyes narrowed. "If we're lucky, they didn't make it."

"And if they did?" Sunset asked warily.

Finally, Optimus turned back to face her. "Then your world may be in grave peril." As before, he got down to one knee before continuing. "Please know, it was never our intent to bring our planet's problems to yours. But, if our enemies have indeed made planetfall, then the risk your people now face cannot be overstated."

With the gravity of the situation finally dawning on them, the girls took on looks of fear and nervousness, and after Sunset stared at Optimus for a while, she looked over to her friends, and before long the eight of them all walked off to the side, ready to speak privately. Optimus, recognising this, turned to his own crew, discussing matters of ship repairs. Meanwhile, Sunset briefly looked over her shoulder before speaking to her friends. "So...what do we think?"

"Oh, you mean besides how crazy it is that we find out there's aliens and they've brought a massive, world-spanning war to our doorstep?!" Rainbow asked with understandable trepidation.

"Can we trust em?" Applejack asked. "If these ere Bots are part o' some war, how do we know they're not as dangerous as those Cons?"

"I think we can trust them," Fluttershy added. "I know I was scared of them at first, but...I have a good feeling about them."

"Be that as it may, darling, we still have the small matter of them being giant robots from beyond the stars," Rarity pointed out. "That's going to cause ripples."

Sunset nodded as she mused on that. "Rarity's right. If people find out about them, there'll be a panic. Somehow...we need to keep this quiet."

Optimus, looking back to them, took on a softer tone of voice. "In that, Sunset Shimmer...I believe we can help."

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Why didn't Spike get to say anything to the Autobots here?

[A.P.O.N.I.]

11593460
He's already on the ship, sniffing around.