Transformers: Ancient Legacy

by Goldymarg

Ambush, pt 2

- Sweet Apple Acres, Afternoon

*knock, knock*
“Applebloom? Applebloom, are you in there? It's Sweetie Belle, please open up...”

She had been knocking on her door for at least five minutes, with no answer whatsoever. She didn't even hear any movement from inside.

“Scootaloo's here too, we just wanna talk. Nopony's mad at you, honest.”

Still no answer. Sweetie Belle frowned and looked at the floor, realizing that this wasn't going anywhere. Careful not to bang her cast, she walked back down the stairs to meet up with her friend.

“No luck, huh?” The orange filly was sat down on the couch near the window, and had a frown that matched her own.

“No...Granny Smith told me that she hasn't come out of her room since last night.” She brushed her cast with her other rear leg, her eyes still staring at the floor. “I just wish there was something we could do...”

Scootaloo got up and walked over to her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Just give her some time alone. She's still blaming herself for everything that's happened.”

She snapped her head up, “But-but we don't blame her! It was an accident! I-I mean, nopony could've known what was down there!” She fell to her haunches, moments from crying again. “I just...I just want her to be okay...”

Sweetie Belle felt herself being embraced by her friend, her eyes closed. It looked to her that she was holding back tears as well. “Me too. But we have to give her some space for now.”

Upstairs, Applebloom rolled over onto her left side, staring out of the window. It was probably around the fifth or sixth time she'd moved at all today, her limbs protesting either soreness or sleepiness. She hadn't even bothered to tie her trademark bow in her hair. Her eyes stung from crying all night, and the thoughts of what she had done prevented any rest. She hugged a pillow to herself, her head hazy with anguish.

“Maybe ah shouldn't talk to them anymore...ah don't wanna hurt them again.”

----

(“Applejack, I've been meaning to ask you, how's Applebloom doing? Getting caught up in this mess looked traumatic for her.”)

(“None too good, Twi...she didn't say a word on the way back to the farm. She wouldn't even come outta her room to go to school. Ah'm a might worried bout' her...”)

(“Would y'all pipe down?! Last thing we need's those bugs findin' us again!”)

They had somehow managed to lose the swarm of myrmex in their own expansive tunnels, and were currently hiding in a small crevice Brawn had smashed open for them. Their only source of light came from a dim illumination spell, courtesy of Twilight's horn.

(“Well, old man? It was your idea to come down here. You got a plan? Or do I have to deal with being crammed in a box for another megacycle?”)

Ironhide responded while peeking around the corner. (“We ain't even gonna have time to cool our gears. These things kin sense us somehow.”) He brought his head back into the crevice and looked down at the ponies in his palm. (“Twi, how far are we to the target?”)

Twilight already had the compass floating in front of her. (“I'd say about 100 to 200 yards. I think we'll be able to make it there in a few minutes in your vehicle forms.”) She grimaced, realizing something else. (“Then again, I'm not sure how winding these tunnels are. Delver myrmex have a habit of making very expansive colonies.”)

Brawn chuckled, pointing a thumb to himself. (“That's what I'm here for! If we need an entrance, I'll make one!”)

Their leader nodded, deciding on a course of action. (“Alright...only thing we kin do right now is confirm the target.”)

(“And how are we supposed to get there without being diced into energon cubes?”)

*CRASH*
“SKREEEE...”

The wall across from them rumbled and smashed open, spraying bits of sandstone in their direction and revealing another squad of screeching insects. Acting on instinct, Ironhide whipped out his scatter blaster and fired several times at the ceiling, starting a cave-in. “No time ta think bout' that, we gotta move!”

The Autobots transformed into their vehicle forms, forcing Twilight to teleport herself and Applejack onto Brawn before they hit the ground. She unfortunately was not able to stop their falling momentum, as they both hit his backside rather hard. “Ow! Ironhide, watch what you're doing!”

“Sorry Twi, mah hands moved faster than mah head...!”

Applejack held onto her hat as they accelerated away from the collapsing tunnel. She was finding more reasons to like him little by little, this time because of the space on his rear end. She wouldn't of been able to save her prized possession if she had to hold onto something. Gritting her teeth, Applejack took a second to find her center of gravity on a speeding Autobot, edging herself over the windshield to get a decent view up ahead. “Twi, crank up the juice on yer horn, their headlights ain't cuttin' it!”

As the path ahead of them illuminated, they noticed more cracks appearing in the walls as they sped by, no doubt more myrmex following their every move. The cowpony looking ahead felt a creepy sensation in her nerves, and an icy feeling going through her limbs. No matter how far or fast they traveled, more and more ants kept cropping up. Even so, she kept facing forward. She didn't want to imagine what it looked like behind her, knowing that the entire corridor must be covered in vicious ants by now. And from the way things looked, it was only a matter of time until one of the ants managed to intercept them. Startling Twilight a little, Applejack dove into her saddle bag and pulled out a pre-tied lasso by her teeth. “Think ya can multitask yer spells? These two are busy savin' our hides right now, so we'll hafta keep these varmints off em'!”

“No problem Applejack, just hang on a second!”

It was hard maintaining a levitation, gem finder, and illumination spell all at once, but she was eventually able to gather her wits and teleport the two of them back inside Ironhide. Now that she had some stability, she didn't waste any time poking her head out the left side window to see just how many myrmex were chasing them.

“Oh no...!”

It was like a wave of knives and antennae was flooding down the tunnel. Some of them were even crawling over each other just to ensure that no space was left unused. Their intermittent screeches were bone chilling, and the clicking of their legs was so numerous, it was like a fall breeze blowing over a mountain of leaves. A sudden left turn down the tunnel jerked her away from the window and back to reality, slamming her into her friend. Knowing what that entailed, Twilight looked at the compass again while still plastered to Applejack.

“Ironhide, you're off by 23 degrees west! Maintain your heading!”

“And how do ya expect meh to do that with these bugs chasin' us?!”

“I...I don't know! Just figure it out!”

“Get offa me already!”

As far as getting to the target location was concerned, Twilight had no choice but to trust their judgement. Dealing with the swarm chasing them on the other hoof, she could do something about. Scrambling to the window again, she pointed her horn towards their aggressors and started firing concussion sparks, remembering to keep the compass at her side. The blasts she fired were powerful enough to smash the sandstone around them, but the ants didn't even flinch or slow down. Rather, they uselessly bounced off their exoskeletons.

“Might as well be throwin' corn kernels at em'...hold on Twi, ah got an idea!”

With her lasso still in her mouth, Applejack looked forward out of her own window, waiting for another myrmex to appear in their path. The second she spotted one piercing its pincers through the ceiling, she spun the rope, and with the motion of an hardened expert, lassoed one of its pincers. A combination of gravity and an apple farmer's jaws brought the ant down with a loud crash, tripping up the wave of insects behind like a row of dominoes. Applejack reeled her rope back with a grin, amazed that she was able to pull it off.

“Careful, will ya?! That thing was way too close for comfort!”

“Ah, that ain't nothin' you can't handle! Ah'd be a bigger problem if we were ta throw down, short stack!”

“Will you stop calling me - !”

A rapid pulse from the compass forced Twilight to intervene. “Enough! Brawn, we've reached the target! Break open the floor, NOW!”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” The camo green Autobot sped ahead and transformed, punching the floor the moment he skidded to a stop. “One entrance coming – huh?!”

At first he thought he should have pulled his punch, realizing seconds later that it wouldn't of made a difference. The entire tunnel around them shattered and fell, finally revealing the target they had been pursing since this morning.

“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...!”

The first thing that could be processed was their eyes and optics obnoxiously filling with an all encompassing azure light. The second, was that the chamber beneath the crumbling tunnel had to be around 200 yards deep. The third, was the panic that followed after being dropped into such a deep cavern – a cavern that housed a massive mound of energon crystal.

“Of course! Myrmex are known to collect gold and jewels in mounds like this! That must be the reason why they're attacking you two!”

“Twi, stop yappin' an' git yerselves to safety! Me an' Brawn kin handle the fall, but th' two a ya can't!”

Getting to safety was indeed at the face of Twilight's thoughts, but her last words came out like a knee jerk reaction. Knowing that she only had seconds to spare, she grabbed Applejack and teleported to the only place she could see that could almost break their fall; the top of the energon mound. Once again, she couldn't stop their momentum, but a hard landing was much more preferable than a fatal landing. The fall was like landing on pointed cobblestone, slightly jagged, but not enough to create lacerations. Twilight dispelled her magic before they landed, knowing all too well what would happen if any of her spells got too close to an energon deposit this big. Applejack managed to catch the compass between her hooves before it fell, much to the relief of her partner. She squeaked a sigh out, “All this tumblin' around's makin' me feel like a saddle at a rodeo...you okay, Twi?”

Rubbing her head with a groan, she replied, “Fine...but I'm more worried about those two...!”

Taking the compass and rope again and depositing it back into her bag, Twilight edged her way across the energon mound, being overtly careful not to nudge anything the wrong way. Her research on it was still fresh in her mind, and the last thing she wanted was their journey to end in a ten ton explosion. Peeking over the edge while on her belly, she saw that the Autobots were already fighting hordes of myrmex, Ironhide fending off any that came near him with his scatter blaster, and Brawn resorting to his bare fists, punching and throwing them into each other. They weren't as numerous as what was chasing them down the tunnel, but that would not last much longer. Twilight was beginning to feel an irrational panic well up from her chest and into her head; sure, they had finally reached their destination, but so what? They were smack dab in the middle of a vicious ant colony bent on tearing apart her new friends and harvesting their energon, with no conceivable way out. She felt her hooves going to her head without thinking, her breath speeding up. “Oh no, what do we do, what do we do?! They can't keep this up forever, it's only a matter of time until the myrmex tear them apart!”

“Twi, these things have energon inside em'!”

“W-what?!”

Between blasting the ants in the face and bashing them with his firearm, Ironhide eventually noticed a blue glow coming from the cracks inside their carapace. As the barrel of his gun met with the head of another myrmex, he yelled to her, “Ah don' understand it either, but this means we've only got one way outta this! If these bugs are carryin' energon, they you've gotta blow that mound sky high with yer magic!”

Applejack jumped to her hooves and galloped over to the mound's edge, not caring in the least about how dangerous it was. “That's the nuttiest thing ah've heard all day! Ain't NO WAY we're doin' that! Twilight here told meh that an explosion like that dropped ya both ta yer knees, and that was only a small one! Who KNOWS what'll happen if this mountain lights up!” She had displayed her anger earlier, but not like this. Brawn may have said some insensitive things that riled her, but the thought of anyone here getting brutally injured out of necessity infuriated her. She would have kept going on about how wrong this was, but Twilight had already decided.

“No Applejack, that's the point! An energon explosion caused by magic will stop all the myrmex in the colony! Ironhide's right, there's no other way!” Before she could argue back, the lavender unicorn grabbed her and teleported to the Autobots feet. “Everyone stay close!”

“Twilight, NOOO!”

The cowpony's protest hung in the air as Twilight fired a single blast of magic at the colossal energon mound. As it collided, the myrmex immediately ceased their attack, their heads turning toward their prized possession in unison. Scuttling past their prey, every insect began climbing the energon mound, others even joining them from indiscriminate parts of the colony. Eventually, the amount of ants covering it blotted out the azure glow. Twilight and Ironhide could only watch the electricity build within the target location in dreadful anticipation. They had already experienced how it felt to be at ground zero of an explosion like this. They knew how much it hurt. And just as Applejack said, there was no telling what a blast of this magnitude was going to do to them. The red Autobot transformed his shotgun back into his hand, clenching it tight. The only thing he and his partner could do was walk it off when it was over. Twilight, however, still had one more thing she could try.

“I'm sorry about this, Applejack...”

Leaping in front of everyone, she generated her magic barrier once again as electricity began arcing out between the swarm of myrmex.

“...but we didn't have any other choice!”

“Twilight, you...you plum...!”

*BTOOOOOOOM*

The sound was deafening. The light was blinding. The earth beneath them shook, and the hordes of insects were slammed against the walls of the chamber with sickening cracks, doing nothing to contain the shock wave of azure energy. Twilight's barrier held for naught a second, shattering into mystical glass as the explosion contaminated her horn in the same manner as last night, only magnified ten fold. Her body quaked and her eyes rolled back into her head, a severe migraine throwing her coordination off before she fell over, not even giving her a chance to scream. The Autobots didn't fare much better; Ironhide and Brawn had energon arcing out of their bodies like an incomplete circuit, an obvious sign of overloaded power cells. Spasming just like their pony friend, both went limp and fell over with a loud slam. Applejack was the only one unaffected, but was forced to play witness to her friend's suffering as the wave passed by.

“Dag nabbit, Twilight...there shoulda been another way outta this mess...!”

Aside from the electricity still sparking out of the Autobots, the chamber had gone pitch black with the detonation of the energon mound. Galloping over to her side, Applejack knelt down onto her knees to check on the lavender unicorn. “Twilight! Twilight, please tell meh yer alright!” Her head faced the other two victims. “Ironide, say somethin'! Brawn...are ya okay?!” There was no response from anyone. Feeling her heart racing faster, she put an ear to her friend's mouth. “Oh thank Celestia...yer still breathin'.” It was at least one sign of good news. With the knowledge of her friend's safety, she was able to calm down enough to notice the clicking of the myrmex had stopped.

“Looks like Ironhide was right...” She turned her attention to the unconscious pony at her hooves. “Still, ah don' even know if it was worth it...ah really hope th' three a ya are gonna be fine...”

Applejack knelt down completely and rested her chin on Twilight's shoulder, closing her eyes. For the first time in her life, she had never felt so powerless.

(“...still don't understand why you insisted on coming out here anyway.”)

Brawn's words echoed in her mind. She wanted to be there for Twilight, for them all, but all she could do in this situation was hope her friends weren't mortally wounded.

“No...that ain't right. Ah still gotta do somethin', even if it ain't much!”

She jumped to her hooves, reminding herself that she needed to pull her weight. Looking to the ceiling, she wondered out loud, “First thing's first, we gotta find a way outta here.”

A small rumble beneath her threw Applejack off balance, nearly toppling her over. At first she thought it was an earthquake caused by the explosion, but what happened next would make her wish it was just that.

*CRASH*

The sounds of sandstone being broken echoed in the chamber, pieces of debris landing all around her. She couldn't see what was causing it, but judging from the way it sounded, something alive was punching through layers of earth.

“...don't tell meh there's still some a those bugs left?!”

The crash emanated from where the energon mound was. However, the sounds she heard afterward were the same ones she had grown accustomed to in the past tweleve hours; scraping metal and clanking gears. The sounds that Cybertronians made when they transformed. Dark purple light shone in the darkness, followed by the metallic slam of 'something' jumping near. No, some things. The lights framed themselves around bipedal bodies, letting Applejack know that these were indeed Cybertronians. The insignia on all of their chests, however, made her unconsciously take few steps back, her teeth grit and her knees shaking.

“D...Decepticons...!”

Her eyes had now slightly adjusted to the darkness. There were five of them in total, each sharing a similar color scheme; a sort of forest green. What drew her attention was the massive gash one of them had in their chestplate. It sparked and leaked in the same way as the energon discharge she saw coming from the Autobots. In fact, they all looked damaged in some way, whether it be from battle or from age. The largest one started walking toward her fallen comrades, drawing a weapon and laughing a hearty laugh.

“Lo+ki# }&at we go^ h$!e?! Som( Au^%b@ts >*ady t( be%#m& +pa%e par=*!”

That feeling of helplessness was back again. It was bad enough she couldn't do anything about their injuries, but what could she possibly do against Decepticons?

“Ah...ah gotta do somethin'!”

She jumped over her slumbering friend, making it a point to put herself between them. Scooping up a small piece of sandstone, she tossed it into the air, turned around, and bucked it at the approaching Decepticon with a single hoof, the piece smashing against his head hard enough to make him stop. His attention turned to his attack, his yellow visor staring her down.

“S&, ^ou w$}na ge; bl+st`d }=rst, <*h?!”

“Whoa nelly...I really botched this one up...!”

Applejack succeeded in what she set out to do. But all that meant was now this huge thug was going to blast her before getting to her friends.

“Oh no you don't! Head's up, Decepti-scum!”

It was Brawn. The Decepticon had just enough time to face him before the smaller Autobot jumped up and grabbed the arm his weapon was attached to, bringing him to the ground and onto his back as if he were made of air. With a grunt, he swung their attacker around once and threw him into the one with the gash in his armor, sending them both flying. Applejack could only stand there in disbelief, not fully understanding how someone so small could chuck something so big.

“Boy howdy, so that's why yer called Brawn!”

The damaged Decepticon threw the other off him, clutching his wound and screaming in pain. He started yelling at the other four around him in their alien language while still on his back, making gestures and pointing at the pony standing near them.

“W*^tev$r th+” t{ing i@, /=ptu%e it $?r i+]erro#at!~n! Br$w+, >*ke a- e^it #n +(e +ei#”ng! }*ast O?>, Vor%*x, +\t u< %?t o* h@*e!”

The one that collided with his apparent leader sprung to his feet and transformed into his alternate form, a twin barreled artillery tank. His frame tilted back slightly and produced two grounding clamps in the front, slamming them down to provide stability. Both Brawn and Applejack quickly got the message as he pointed his main guns up at the ceiling.

“Hey hey, you'll bury us ALL if you're doing what I think you're doing!”

He rushed the tank with every intention to stop him, but realized too late that he let his panic get the best of him. One of the other Decepticons dashed directly in front of his path and shot him once, throwing him off his feet.

“Brawn, no! AHH!!!”

*BTOOM* *BTOOM*BTOOM*

Applejack covered her face with her foreleg and averted her eyes, feeling the force and heat of artillery fire. The shells en route to the ceiling left behind a jet black smoke trail, resulting in deafening explosions. While she was looking away, two of the others transformed into flying vehicles, one of them a shuttle with a massive jet engine, and the other a helicopter. The spinning of the chopper blades caused the cowpony to peek over her elbow, unfamiliar with the sound. It was just enough of a distraction for the fifth Decepticon to dash over while she was unawares, grabbing her with his cold, metallic hand. Dropping her hat, Applejack struggled against his grip with all her might, only for it constrict even more. It was as if he was letting her know he could crush her with the slightest of gestures.

“Hey! L-leggo a' me! Let GOOO!”

Her cries for help merely earned a cruel laugh from all five of them. The shuttle Decepticon blasted his engines and flew overhead, giving the signal for her captor to jump up and grab his wing, not paying any mind to how his movements were affecting his prisoner. His grip made it hard to breathe. Her eyes were screwed shut in a futile attempt to alleviate her stress, and the amount of g-force the flier created made her sick to her stomach. When the familiar heat of the desert sun hit her face once again, Applejack opened her eyes to a horrid sight; they were at least several miles in the air, and the hole created by the artillery tank had started to crumble. The pony's lungs pressed against metal, desperately trying to get more oxygen. Her friends were still down there, being buried alive.

“NOOO!!! TWILIGHT, IRONHIDE, BRAWN!!!” She tore her eyes away from the sight, tears falling freely. “You...y'all ain't gettin' away with this!!!”

Once again, her protests were ignored. Looking around, she saw that all five of the Decepticons were here, three of them hitching a ride on their fliers. They came to a quick landing just outside of the semi-collapsed crater in the myrmex colony, the two vehicles transforming back into robot form. Her captor tossed her to the ground with an idle motion, each of them surrounding her in a wide circle. Applejack gasped for air and coughed up the sand that entered her lungs.

“Yer gonna...get it now...!”

She quickly righted herself with defiance in mind, but the Decepticon that took her here already had a dual-barreled firearm pointed in her face. He was the only one here with a visible mouth, creased into a smile that seemed to say 'just try something'. The cowpony sat herself down slowly, realizing she was at the mercy of these thugs. Her cheeks quivered and her face was flushed red with frustration and grief. There was nothing she could do.

“Alright, data script's translated. Time for some answers.”

The voice came from the one with the gash in his armor. He typed a few commands on his arm with his free hand while the other clutched his wound. “Blast Off, weld this shut. I'd rather not lose any more energon.”

“Sure thing.”

One of the fliers transformed his hand and produced a flame, narrowing it into a blue stream of heat. As he worked on his apparent leader, Applejack decided to at least try and make sense of the situation. “Alright...ah already know yer Decepticons, but whaddya plan on doin' with me? Who the hay are all you creeps anyway?”

His faceplate moved in tandem with his speech, much like the Autobots she'd seen before. “Who we are is none of your concern. And we'll be asking the questions here.” The one called Blast Off transformed his hand back to normal, stepping aside to let him walk closer. Staring her down with his yellow visor, he continued, “I think it's obvious you've met with the Autobots, so I'll cut straight to the point. What is this planet and how did we get here?! How many Autobots are still functioning?! Where are they holed up?!”

She kept facing the barrel of the firearm, her eyes set on her questioner. “Ironhide was right bout' you Cons...y'all ain't nothin' but trouble.” She faced him completely, anger seething in her words. “Ah ain't tellin' ya nothin', hear me?!” It was true that she was afraid for her life. But her values were more important to her than preserving it, especially after seeing her friends buried. She would rather be gunned down than betray them.

“Should've expected this.” The rest of them walked back a distance, save for the helicopter Decepticon. “Vortex, this thing's all yours.”

“Heh heh heh, thought you'd never ask!”

He jumped into the air and spun around, transforming back into his vehicle mode and flying directly over Applejack. His blades began spinning at an incredible velocity, sucking up the sand around her.

“How's about you have a taste of Vortex's wild ride?!”

----

“Twil...wake...”

Her head felt like it was literally throbbing. Every muscle in her body strained to move, as if she had run an entire marathon in the span of twenty seconds.

“Twilight, wake up!”

Consciousness inevitably came, but she didn't want to open her eyes. Every action she was taking, every movement of her body, even every thought she was thinking; it made her hurt even more.

“Grrr! C'mon Twi! This thing's too heavy...ah can't keep this up forever!”

“That's...Ironhide...!”

Twilight's eyes snapped open while she lay on her side. In the corner of her eye, she saw the old Autobot standing over her, holding what looked like the entire ceiling of the cavern over his head. Brawn sat off to his left, clutching his left shoulder. Feeling the urgency of the moment, she started to jump to her hooves, only to feel a shooting pain in her skull the moment she moved her head. Falling back down, she prodded her horn with her hoof fearfully and cautiously, the same pain filling her head and traveling down her spine.

“ARRGGHHH...! That's...that's right...! The energon explosion...my horn's still contaminated...”

The thought of malignant energon festering in her horn made her feel even worse than the pain she was experiencing. Celestia knows what it may have been doing to her while she was unconscious.

“Twilight, it's too far for any of us ta make a run for it! You gotta teleport us outta here!”

Easier said than done. Teleportation of anything around her own size was easy enough, but she had never attempted to move anything the size of an Autobot. Even worse, her magic was currently unstable from the blast wave. There was no way she could trust herself with such a daunting task while she was in this state.

“Ya better hurry up, Twi...ah've probably got less than a microcycle...!”

The sounds of buckling metal and sand falling on her face reminded her of the current danger. She knew what she had to do to fix the problem with her horn, but it was like tearing an old band-aid off. No, more like pulling out a harpoon with a barb.

“O-okay...I can do this...!”

The lavender unicorn's horn sparked with blue and magenta energy, her eyes shut and quivering. Trying to isolate this amount of energon corruption pushed both her willpower and pain threshold to its limits. It was as if her head was full of needles, and she was forced to remain calm while somepony shook her really hard.

(“It's no good...it hurts too much! I-I can't...”)

Ironhide dropped to one knee with a slam, the ceiling drawing ever closer.

(“No! It can't end like this...we have to get out of here!”)

The energy discharging from Twilight's horn blended into a single shade of bright purple. She sensed the hairs on her coat stand on end and the tingling of static around herself. It was the last thing she felt before ten thousand tons of sandstone came crumbling down.

*DTOOOOM*

The sound was her death knell, her body jerking into a fetal position. She shuddered in place for a full minute before realizing that she shouldn't be able to move at all. That she shouldn't be feeling the same migraine that had been terrorizing her. That she should be dead. Twilight's eyes opened slowly, unsure of what just happened. The sight that greeted her washed away any stress left in her chest.

“We're safe...? But-but how?! I was panicking, I-I didn't even get a chance to cast anything!”

Her head still hurt immensely, but not to the point where it was debilitating anymore. Finally able to stand on four hooves, she took a quick look around. There was a new hole in the cavern ceiling, and charred pieces of sandstone littered the area. It appeared that they had somehow moved from the deathtrap below them to above it. Brawn stood and began walking toward her, replying while still clutching his damaged arm. “Don't know how you manged it, but...you did. Thanks for the save, Sparkler.”

Twilight's head was still darting around. “Wait, where's Applejack?! (GASP), don't tell me...!”

“Relax, she's still alive. For now, anyway...” Reaching her, he held out his hand, the cowpony's hat in his palm. The unicorn standing in front of him levitated it to herself while he called out, “Hey gramps, hope you're listening, because we've got a situation. The Combaticons were the real source of the energon signal.”

Ironhide had a hand on his own shoulder, rotating it around to work the kinks out. He sat down, resting his right elbow on his knee, the news apparently something he didn't want to hear. “Scrap...this day jus' keeps gittin' better an' better. Ah'm guessin' they took Applejack ta interrogate her?”

“Yeah. Right at the same time Brawl blasted in a new skylight. One of them got me good...sorry to let you down.”

“Don' apologize ta me. Ah ain't th' one with a captured friend.”

Brawn let go of his wound and moved the fingers on his damaged arm, scowling. “I told her this isn't a picnic...not my fault she didn't listen.”

Twilight chose to ignore his last comment. “Tell me, who are the Combaticons? And what are they doing out here in the middle of the desert?”

Ironhide grimaced and averted his optics. “The Combaticons are Megatron's elite military unit. There's five of em' in total, an' each of em' specializes in very a specific field of warfare. The fact that they're even here at all changes everythin'...”

Brawn continued for him, “Jazz and Jetfire both reported that Bruticus was blasted off the Ark's deck by an aerial strike. That probably explains what they're doing here; must've fell into the desert all those decacycles ago. Too bad he didn't burn up on re-entry...”

Twilight interjected, “Wait, who's Bruticus?”

“It's the Combaticon's combined form. He's the reason why the Ark fell out of the sky...he targeted our fuel tanks right before we entered the space bridge.”

Twilight's head was still awash with dull pain and energon contamination, but it didn't inhibit her thought process. It was pretty simple to fit the pieces together. “Then...the energon deposit. It's here because the Combaticons fell to Equestria. And when it exploded, it woke them up the same way it woke the Autobots up.”

Ironhide punched the ground, apparently one step ahead of her. “Ah know...mah stupid idea's th' reason why they're outta stasis.”

Brawn's wound still crackled intermittently with energon, but was otherwise still able to use his arm. “Can't worry about that now. What's the plan?”

“Ah'm outta ideas...those ants aren't nothin' compared ta what we've got on our hands now. They outnumber us, out gun us, and out muscle us. We wouldn't stand a chance in a frontal attack. Worse yet, Applejack's probably spilled everythin' she knows bout' what's goin' on by now...”

“What?!” Twilight began walking up to him, ignoring how much it hurt to move. “Applejack is one of the most loyal and dependable friends I know! She would never betray us!”

“Ah'm not sayin' she's the kind that would, ah'm sayin' that Vortex ain't gonna stop till' she does. He's the Decepticon's interrogator; even the best of us have had vital secrets pried out cuz' a him.”

Brawn clenched a fist, “Which means we gotta act, and fast! Look, I managed to get a good look at Onslaught, and he's got a huge, honking hole in his chest right here!” He pointed to the left side of his chestplate. “Isn't that something we can take advantage of?!”

“Even if we take out Onslaught, it's still four ta two. We still wouldn't stand a chance out in the open.”

“No, you're wrong. It'd be four on four.” Twilight had the energon compass out once again, holding it in her hoof. Although it was somewhat difficult to maintain a gem finder spell with her horn still corrupted, the pulsing shard inside told her enough before she dispelled it. Putting on Applejack's hat, she explained, “These Combaticons didn't get very far. In fact, they should be just outside the myrmex colony. And that gives me an idea.”

Brawn looked away and crossed his arms, scoffing. Ironhide's brow creased, unsure of how he should handle this. “Look, Twi...ah appreciate yer gusto, but this ain't somethin' ya kin take lightly. Fightin' giant bugs is one thing, but these are trained professionals. Those five Cons gave us some a' th' biggest problems near th' end a' the war on Cybertron.”

“That doesn't matter! Listen, we might be outmatched as far as muscle goes, but we've got a few other things that are just as good! Fresh legs, and the element of surprise! Just like Brawn pointed out, they must still be exhausted from their last fight on the Ark! That means they must all be damaged and low on ammunition! We have a fighting chance, but you have to trust me!”

The old Autobot stood up, putting a little too much force into his legs. It seemed like he wasn't having any of this. “Ferget it! Ah've seen way too many Autobots git scrapped cuz' a' dumb decisions, an' ah ain't lettin' you make one too!”

Brawn held a hand out in front of his senior, “Hold on a sec. She might be onto something.” He turned his head to face Twilight, smiling smugly. “Think I might've been wrong about you, Sparkler. Let's hear you out.”

----

“You know, I can stop this at any time. All you have to do is tell us everything you know!”

This was the worst Applejack had ever felt in her life. True to his name, the Decepticon Vortex had created a makeshift tornado in his vehicle form, trapping her inside until she said what they wanted her to say.

“You...ain't gettin'...nothin' outta me, hear?!”

She brought her forelegs to her mouth to suppress another bout of nausea. In the past fifteen minutes, she'd been thrown around so much that she was getting used to being dizzy. The winds flailed her limbs around constantly, the heights giving her vertigo. And yet, the only thing they had got out of her were more insults. She knew better; Vortex was planning on dropping her when he was done, even if she talked.

“Vortex, my scans indicate this thing is using the atmosphere to live. Cut off the supply.”

“Ooo, sounds like fun Onslaught!”

“HAH HAH HAH HAH! This outta be good!”

Applejack's hooves moved from her mouth to her neck, the tornado suddenly being robbed of air. So far she had only been thinking about protecting her friends, but for the first time since this torture started, she began to worry about her own life. Trying to breathe was futile, her lungs only filling with heat and stagnation. Her chest was tight and her vision was starting to blur.

(“Ah don' wanna go out like this...but ah'll...never...!”)

“What? Vortex, what happened?! Where did that creature go?!”

“I don't know! It just vanished in some pink flash!”

Applejack breathed in greedily and forcefully, her voice cracking a little as a result. She had never appreciated having air in her lungs as much as she did now, or being firmly seated on the ground. Right on the verge of blacking out, she felt sompony's hooves around her before her rear felt the hot sands again. Her breaths returning to normal, her eyes opened to see her trademark hat being worn by the pony she came here with.

“Twilight, yer okay!”

Smirking, she cried out, “Hey Onslaught! I've got a surprise for you!”

Hearing his name, the Decepticon turned around to see a bright, azure glow. Finally gaining a feel for it's unique wavelength, Twilight forced the energon corruption in her horn to the surface, compressing it into a sphere twice her own size. With her head clear and her weapon primed, she fired it directly at Onslaught. The recoil launched her backward a small distance, her friend's hat flying off. Taken completely by surprise, he was only able to finish turning around before the sphere of magic and energon collided with his chest, exploding with no actual force, but shorting out his power cells with a familiar shock wave.

“UGGGHHHH!!!”

The three other Combaticons around him were similarly affected, their backs becoming rigid and their bodies spasming. Vortex gained altitude to avoid the shock wave, unsure of what just happened.

“I don't know who you are, but you've got some guts to pull something like that! I've got something for ya, ya little –”

*BLAM*

With the others under the effects of energon overload, Ironhide took aim from afar and blasted his tail rotor with his shotgun, forcing the helicopter to transform in mid air before he crashed. Not letting the chance slip by, Brawn transformed and sped to the falling Decepticon, jumping a sand dune and crashing into him moments before they hit the ground. Going back to robot form, he got a good grip on his chestplate as they landed, showing off another smug smile.

“If you wanted to fly away so badly, you should've just asked me!”

Grinding his feet into the sand, Brawn hefted Vortex by his armor, raised him over his head, and threw him into the other Combaticons, dropping them all like bowling pins.

“Now, Ironhide! Give them the nitrogen!”

He was already in vehicle form, halfway there. Transforming and skidding to a stop, he pointed the fingertips of his left hand at their downed foes, spraying a white, gaseous substance at them. Vortex made an attempt to claw his way past his teammates, but was in no position to react fast enough. In the span of five seconds, the Combaticons were frozen over, their bodies still and smoking with cold, white ice.

(“Heavens to betsy...”)

Applejack simply sat there aghast as she put her hat back on. Just moments ago she was fearing for her life, and in the next she finds out her friends were safe and sound, saving it. Was this how battles were won during their war? Were the Autobots used to dealing with situations like this all the time? She stood up and dusted herself off, still feeling slightly wobbly. The questions invading her head didn't help either.

“Twilight...ya saved mah life. And ya even brought mah favorite hat back!”

The unicorn stood up and shook the sand out of her mane and tail. She placed a hoof on her horn and sighed softly, a few pangs of pain still swimming about her head. She responded with her eyes still closed, “It was a team effort. There's no way we could have subdued them without working together.”

She adjusted her hat, looking at the ground while chuckling. “Yeah...yer right. S'pecially since it was Ironhide's fancy water gun that turned em' inta cocktail ice. What was that anyway?”

Both Autobots had walked over to them both, overhearing their conversation. “It's kinda like chemist kit inside mah hand. Ah'm able ta shoot all kinds a' stuff; liquid nitrogen, hydrochloric acid, crude tar, an' whatnot.” He demonstrated by pointing his hand upward and shooting a few white puffs out of it. “But if ya wanna thank someone, thank Twi. She's th' one who hatched a plan ta save ya. Even got us outta that pit.”

“Yeah...I gotta admit, she did pretty good for her first day out in the field. Can't say the same for you though. You should be lucky you got someone to come to your rescue!”

Ordinarily this would get another rise out of Applejack, but one look at Brawn's shoulder snuffed out those feelings pretty quick. Galloping over to his side, she exclaimed, “Brawn! Ah thought that shot did'ja in, are ya alright?!”

The smaller Autobot raised an eyebrow. It seemed like he was expecting to have another argument. “Oh, yeah. I'm fine. What, you think a shot to the shoulder's enough to scrap me?”

“Heh...guess not.”

*BTOOM* *BTOOM*BTOOM*

Unfortunately, their victory was cut short. Both Autobots raised an arm in front of their face at the noise, flashes of orange light disrupting their optics. They had failed to notice that Brawl's main guns mounted on his back were not completely frozen, giving him enough leeway to haphazardly fire off shells straight up into the air. Ironhide saw the mortars sail up and curve back down, quickly realizing they were too close to their blast radius.

“Look out!”

Once again acting on instinct, he grabbed both ponies in each hand and began running, nearly tripping over himself in the soft, desert sands. They barely managed to get within a safe distance before the mortars came down around the Combaticon's icy prison, the force of the blast pounding against Ironhide's backside, the already sweltering air becoming hotter. He crouched down and held his hands close to himself, doing all he could to protect them from the explosion. Turning his head around, he set his jaw; even though the smoke hadn't cleared, he could already hear them talking, breaking away from their frozen trap.

“Argh, Brawl...how are you on ammo?”

“That last salvo was all I had left. I'm out.”

“That's fine...it doesn't matter at this point. We're not taking any more chances.”

Another hot wind blew away most of the smoke, revealing they had indeed managed to melt off most of the liquid nitrogen. Clutching his chest and holding a fist out in front of himself, he announced, “Combaticons! Combine into Bruticus!”

Two of the Decepticons tucked away their limbs and folded their bodies, transforming into the legs. Onslaught jumped into the air and transformed into the torso, connecting to the legs and producing a head in proportion to his body. Vortex and Blast Off transformed into their respective vehicle modes before flying into Onslaught's sides, producing hands and becoming the arms. The newly formed Decepticon tested moving its fingers and legs, taking a step forward. Even in the sand, the booming stomp of its leg shook the ground.

“Bruticus online! Ready for action!”

Stepping down from Ironhide's grip, Twilight got a full view of their new enemy. She forced herself to stand her ground, gulping. This monster was at least three times larger than most Cybertronians she'd encountered. Vortex's helicopter blades were mounted on its left shoulder, and Blast Off's engine made up its right forearm. Its legs were more solid, no doubt to provide stability. Two large cannons were mounted on its back, and its face was covered in a pentagon-shaped plate, its crimson eyes piercing even though the glaring sunlight. Twilight briefly thought about where Onslaught was keeping all these parts. He took a step backward on his right leg and slowly raised his right fist, clutching it so hard it was shaking.

“Twi, quick! Git that barrier a' yers up, NOW!”

She complied the second everyone was together, and not a moment too soon. Reeling back and putting his whole body into the blow, Bruticus slammed the ground like a hammer, generating a shock of both force and sound, powerful enough to distort the air and make the waves visible. Twilight's barrier held, but only barely; the moment it struck, she fell to her knees, gasping. It was like being punched in the face.

“So...strong...! Ugh!”

Her barrier flickered and vanished, nearly lapsing into unconsciousness again. The strain on her magic was taking its toll now. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Shaking her head lightly to stay awake, she felt the giant Decepticon speaking.

“Huh, looks like the sand absorbed most of the juice. Doesn't matter! I'd rather pound you bugs into paste myself!”

He began walking toward the four of them, each step feeling like a small tremor, the metal of its body clanging against itself and the desert. Applejack had her friend's neck around her forelegs, trying to keep her standing.

“Guys, Twilight can't keep on doin' this! What are we s'posed ta do?!”

Brawn had his legs planted apart, ready to dodge the next attack. “There isn't anything you can do! It took an entire squad of Autobots to take this guy down!”

“No...we've still got a chance!” Twilight righted herself, pushing past the exhaustion the day had wrought. “Onslaught's wound, the one you saw when we were in the colony, where exactly was it?!”

He pointed, “The left side of his armor, there!”

Bruticus' body was already covered in battle damage and bits of ice, but looking closely, it was there. A dent in his body larger than anywhere else, arbitrarily welded over. It stuck out like a sore hoof, looking like an obvious rush job.

(“I feel like I'm going to pass out any second now...but I've got to do this! I might be the only one who can!”)

The massive Decepticon balled his fists and swung recklessly the moment he reached them, once again putting his whole body into the blows. Clouds of sand burst into the air as his hooks connected with the ground, not caring or even looking at what he was trying to hit. Ironhide and Brawn dodge to the left and right respectively, while Twilight teleported herself and Applejack out of harms way, behind him.

“Hey! Quit MOVIN'!”

He turned his attention to the red Autobot, gaining a thankful sigh from the lavender unicorn. She was already formulating a plan.

“Ironhide, keep his attention on you!” Reaching into her saddle bag again, she pulled out the lasso and tossed it to the cowpony. “Applejack, stay on his right side! Brawn, go with her and get ready for my signal!”

“Hey! Since when am I taking orders from you?!”

“Just do it!”

It was becoming apparent that although Bruticus had more than enough power to flatten them all, he didn't have the speed or mobility to effectively use it. Even for an old codger, Ironhide had no problem dodging any and all punches he was throwing. Having enough, he transformed his right hand into a narrow cylinder, igniting a pilot light. “I've got something for YOU, Auto-bug!”

Utilizing Blast Off's engine, Bruticus fired a massive stream of flame, hot enough to melt the sand around them without even directly touching it. Ironhide was forced to transform to vehicle mode and strafe around him to avoid being incinerated. His sluggish movements still persisted as he tried to burn him, but under these circumstances the old Autobot wasn't able to counterattack either.

“A flamethrower?! Wait...that's it! Ironhide, can you produce potassium chlorate?! If so, fire it at his feet!”

“Yer th' boss, Twi!”

Getting behind him and going back to robot mode, he pointed his left fingertips and sprayed a fine, white powder at his right leg, covering it in white crystals. The Decepticon simply laughed at this gesture. “What, you run out of pebbles to throw at me?! You're makin' this too easy!”

Onslaught himself would have already realized Twilight's plan. However, Bruticus was single minded, intent only on crushing whatever was in his path and nothing else. He wasn't capable of comprehending how reactive the chemical caked to his leg was. The moment he turned his flamethrower on to burn the Autobot, the powder exploded from the residual heat, stopping his attack and dropping him to a knee.

“Now, Brawn! Throw off his balance! Applejack, take him down!”

He had no problem listening to her now. Running to his right leg, he dug his fingers under the sand and lifted with all his strength. He strained for around two seconds before prying his weight off the ground, sending him backward slightly. It was enough for Applejack to lasso Bruticus' neck, using the momentum created from Brawn's intervention to force him onto his back, the slam of metal resonating throughout the desert. The moment he was down, Twilight teleported onto his torso, pointing her horn directly at his patched wound.

“This is what you get for torturing my friend!”

All it took was a single concussion spark. She hadn't said it out loud, but she was counting on the fact that Bruticus' power cells were still corrupted by the initial energon blast she fired. Her gamble turned out to be the best course of action, as their enemy fell into a seizure, a mixture of azure and magenta electricity arcing out of his body. Her magic spent for now, Twilight jumped from his body before she could fall, pushing her muscles to gallop away, his screams of agony getting further away. A few stray volts licked at her coat, but she was unharmed when she came to a halt. Taking a moment to catch her breath before looking back, she smirked a little with half-lidded eyes; the Combaticons had disassembled, their bodies smoking and unmoving.

“Yee haw! Atta girl Twilight!”

Applejack galloped over and joined the exhausted unicorn, lifting her foreleg over her shoulder moments before she collapsed. She could feel her heart beating like a humming bird and the grains of sand stuck in her coat grinding against her. She'd have to remind her to take a bath later.

“That was some fancy horseplay ya did there. You doin' okay Twi?”

Her voice sounded weary and forced. “Nothing a good nap won't take care of – (GASP), HEY!”

What she saw next felt like somepony pinched a nerve in her heart, feeling a jolt of anxiety down her spine. Once again pushing past her tiredness, Twilight galloped back to the fallen Combaticons and jumped onto Onslaught, staring down the barrel of a scatter blaster.

“Ironhide, what do you think you're doing?!”

He looked back at her, his brow creased. “What's it look like? Ah'm finishin' what we started.”

“But...but, you can't just kill them!”

“Twi, I'm mah day, I've scrapped so many Cons, ah've lost count. An' the Combaticons are too much of a threat ta th' Autobots, ta any of us. You gotta step aside.”

She slammed a hoof down, glaring at him. “No! Ironhide, you...you're a good person, I know this! If you kill them, you won't be any better than them!”

His thoughts turned to the conversation they had on the way here, about how she talked about the 'magic of friendship'. He didn't voice it out of respect, but his sentiments were with Brawn. He had been fighting this war for so long, longer than most of the other Autobots. He knew what it meant to take down the enemy, what it entailed. Looking into her tired eyes, he saw naivete. He saw innocence and optimism. He saw an individual untouched by conflict. Transforming his arm back to normal, he decided.

“(sigh), Twilight...if you kin find a way ta haul this scum back ta th' Ark, ah won't scrap em' here. We'll lock em' up in th' brig.”

Her legs gave out, causing her to fall to her belly. With her anxiety gone, her energy was too. “...thank you, Ironhide.”

His expression remained pensive, walking a distance away and transforming to vehicle mode. Brawn scowled at the unicorn, his arms crossed. “Tch...forget what I said earlier. You don't deserve to be out here on the battlefield.”

Applejack ignored him, slowly approaching the downed Decepticon team, looking at the smoking body of Onslaught while biting her bottom lip. “Don't listen ta him, Twi. It took a lotta guts ta do what ya jus' did.”

Twilight inched her way over and slid off his body into the waiting hooves of her friend. “It's okay...like I said, we're from different worlds. There's no way we could understand their feelings. But...”

She watched Brawn storm away, clutching his shoulder again. “...maybe we can learn from each other. Now come on, we've got to find a way to gift wrap those Decepticons before we can get going again. We can't keep the others waiting.”

“Alrighty.” Applejack looked up at the still bright sky. “Got things done all before supper too.”

(“WrrrRRRrrr...”)

“Huh?!” Her head snapped around, hearing a barely audible screech. Disengaging from her friend after she saw the look in her eyes, Twilight asked her, “Applejack, what's the matter?”

She lifted her hooves up one at a time, looking at the ground as if she were searching for something. Breathing out, she pulled her hat over her eyes. “Uh, it's nothin' Twi. Ah jus' thought some more a those bugs were after us. Think ah've had a bit too much sun fer one day...”

----

[Shockwave's Case Files, Entry #: 072]

Matter transmutation. Energy and force manipulation. Animation. Control of atmospheric conditions. These are a small number of phenomena I have witnessed, and all attempts to understand the semantics and mechanics behind any it have proven inconclusive.

At first, I had believed these creatures to be primitive and complacent. Despite the amount of time I had observed this civilization, no amount of technological advancement was shown. And yet, in the past few decacycles, I had come to a realization. This is not a world ruled by science and machinery. It is one where the mysterious phenomena called 'magic' had advanced instead. It is most definitely a commodity worth exploiting for the Decepticon cause...

As such, priority has been given to a number of projects; improvement of space bridge technology. A new R&D facility designed specifically for experimentation of 'Equestrian' life forms. But most importantly, snuffing out the remaining bugs that had been interfering with my ultimate designs.

Author's Note:

If you must comment, please do so in the first part of Ch.3. Once the first parts of Ch.4 are posted, this will be combined with the original part and fall to oblivion ~

Comments

[Elusive Phoenix]

I face-desked out of pure brilliance. I haven't even read this yet, but the last line in the description blew my mind.

Dis gon b gud.