• Published 2nd Mar 2013
  • 8,279 Views, 732 Comments

Transformers: Equestria's Darkest Hour - JDPrime22



Direct sequel to Transformers: Fall of Equestria. A new war is raging on between the Autobots and Decepticons on the peaceful land of the ponies. The Legend of the Transformers will fall in Equestria's darkest hour.

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Me Grimlock

-CHAPTER XXVI: ME GRIMLOCK-

TELETRAAN CONNECTION ESTABLISHED

“Me Grimlock here to save universe!”

-Grimlock

INTEL: ME GRIMLOCK WANT TO MUNCH METAL!!!

____________________

Cliffjumper opened his optics, completely oblivious to know how he was still alive.

He looked around him, nothing had changed. That same mushroom cloud hovered menacingly in the air while more and more ashes rained like snow. The Crystal Empire was the same as he left it: tattered streets filled with massive pieces of crystal rubble pockmarked the landscape, several deactivated Decepticons lay across the ground, and the sky was still filled with lightning clouds.

This brought our little red hero to where he thought he was going to die.

He looked forward, completely shocked to know that Megatron never fired the shot from his riot cannon. Megatron stood there, a terrified expression on his face as he looked down at his chest.

A blue hole remained at the top of his chest, smoke drifting off the hole and disappearing into thin air. Megatron looked at the hole in his chest, completely shocked and confused to see the second blast coming.

Cliffjumper heard another shot, this time he looked up to see a blue ball of energy flying over his head and hitting Megatron right between the optics. The Decepticon leader flew backwards, his back hitting the gravel with a loud thud.








There he lay…completely dumbfounded at the event that just transpired.

Someone had saved him and even managed to defeat Megatron, the ruthless Decepticon leader that was the cause of millions of innocent deaths back on Cybertron. And all Cliffjumper could show for it was deep, slow breathing.

So he stared above, the lightning dancing across the clouds as Cliffjumper’s vision began to fade. He coughed again, small quantities of Energon piling onto his chest. Cliffjumper wanted to see who his savior was just as much as he wanted to thank him but…he couldn’t.

He was dying.

Several seconds went on, Cliffjumper had begun to lose the fight and let eternal stasis take its grasp around his spark. His vision went dark, taking his life with it into darkness.








But something stopped it.

And Cliffjumper soon found out what it was.

He lifted his head upwards, to where he saw two glowing blue optics shining directly above him. He could only make out the outline of this anomaly. It had twin horns atop his head, along with its bulk stature and long blaster replacing its right arm. Cliffjumper sighed heavily, relieved to see the Autobot symbols on both its right and left shoulder.

Although Cliffjumper was happy to see his fellow Autobot helping him back to his feet, he seemed to not remember a thing after that…for he passed out.

____________________

“Welcome back, big guy.”

Grimlock shook his head, slowly standing up to his feet. Once he was at full height, he looked around, finally realizing that there was a war going on.

He had never been here, but it seemed to have been a tragic battle in his absence. The skies were dark with only the color brown being the clouds’ colors. Ashes fell at a fast pace while several thousand pieces of debris and rubble lay across this wasteland. But what surprised Grimlock the most was the massive mushroom cloud in the distance, glaring down at him with its treacherous and luminous stare.

Grimlock glared right back.

Absorbing the cataclysm around him, Grimlock turned back around, taking one knee as he stared at the pony that had saved him. Rainbow Dash stared at Grimlock too, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Tell me everything that has happened and how I can fix it.” Grimlock told her, opening his palm and letting the ashes land on his black hand. He crushed the ash in his hand, small particles floating away from his grip.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, finally looking back up at the Dinobot and nodding. She explained everything in full, everything that had happened after Grimlock had saved them from the Changeling Hives. Grimlock had many questions, interrupting her in mid-speech and asking away. Rainbow tried her best to answer each question, there was a lot. Grimlock growled in anger once she described what happened to Slug, he shook his head once she explained Jazz’s demise, and he looked to the skies once she finished with something destroying the castle.

“…And now…the Crystal Castle is gone. Without it…the Crystal Heart is useless. It won’t do anything to stop Sombra so there’s really nothing left we can do, Grimlock. The only thing you can really do is wipe the floor with these Decepticons invading the empire but that’s mostly it.” Rainbow Dash finally finished, taking a deep breath before retreating her gaze to the ground.

Grimlock rubbed his chin, deeply in thought. But thanks to Shockwave’s experiments he could only come up with a small plan. It was the only plan he really needed.

Looking at Rainbow Dash again, Grimlock asked, “Where is King Sombra?”

Rainbow shrugged her wings, using that as her only answer.

But it seems Rainbow didn’t even need to answer Grimlock, for a deep laughter came from behind them. Grimlock spun around, his visor landing on an area deep down the road ahead of him; the laughter was coming from over there….

Turning towards the Pegasus, Grimlock’s visor glowed brighter for a split-second.

“Was that Sombra?” Grimlock asked, clenching his fists.

Rainbow Dash stared at the road behind Grimlock, gulping quietly and nodding.

Grimlock nodded back, taking another knee and softly rubbing her head. Rainbow Dash smiled, looking upwards towards the Dinobot as he began to speak.

“Thank you for bringing me back to the Autobots, Rainbow Dash,” Grimlock calmly stated, gently scratching her behind the ears with his massive finger, “But now you need to find your friends and get to safety.”

He slowly got back up, turning away from the Pegasus and clenching his fists in anger. He still had one more thing to do before he could stop Sombra, something that seemed to really grind his gears. He may not have been alive once Starscream had infected him with Dark Energon, but he was alive to hear Rainbow Dash tell him how Starscream said he was his pet.

Grimlock belongs to no one.

“I’m going after Starscream,” Grimlock growled, “Then I’m going for Sombra.” He looked back at the Pegasus, seeing her slowly fly over to him and pat him on his massive shoulder.

Rainbow Dash flashed a smirk and gave him a wink.

“Get goin’, big guy. Smash a ‘Con for me.”

That’s all Grimlock needed to hear.

Nodding once, Grimlock watched as Rainbow Dash flew away, leaving him alone in the cataclysm with only thought in mind: kill everything.

He started off at a slow walk, which transformed into a slow sprint once he began to move down the crystal street, closer to his target. Grimlock looked above, growling in anger once that mushroom cloud began to come in clearer. This however…didn’t mean anything to the Dinobot.

He had found his first target.

“Starscream….you’re finished.” Grimlock quietly growled to himself as he ran towards the Seeker. Starscream stood alone, his fists planted on his waist as he stared into the mushroom cloud with no one around him…







Several heavy footsteps rocked the ground.

With his smile vanishing, Starscream slowly turned around down the street, his arms falling to his sides. At first he saw nothing….then the impossible had arrived….right in front of him.

“Impossible….this can’t be!” Starscream yelled in defiance, taking several steps backwards once the Dinobot leader ran straight for him, his visor as red as the Autobot symbol on his chest.

He fell back, cowering in fear once the mighty Autobot stood in front of him, his entire body glowing with a rich, raw intensity. Starscream could see the clear anger he possessed in that wretched visor that glared down the Seeker, filling him with no hope whatsoever. Grimlock was an Autobot again…and free from Starscream’s control.

Right when things couldn’t possibly get any worse…

“No one…controls GRIMLOCK!!!”

Grimlock unleashed all the anger and fury he had on the cowering Decepticon at his mercy. Smashing both fists to the ground, Grimlock’s entire body shifted and moved into place, allowing the massive dino head to erupt from the center. Starscream watched in absolute horror as his once-slave was free and seeking revenge.

“RAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!”

Grimlock lowered his massive head down towards Starscream; the Seeker unable to move with his fears of Grimlock breaking his slavery and becoming free had played into effect. All he could manage were several screams.

“NO! Stay away from me! STAY AWAY! Don’t you touch me, you stupid Dinobot! Don’t you come any clos-AHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Grimlock reared down, biting Starscream’s mid-section with his upper half in his mouth. He lifted up his master, shaking the Seeker wildly in his jaws until he thought he couldn’t take anymore. But Grimlock wasn’t finished with him, chucking his body to the ground and lifting up his foot.

“Please stop! PLEASE NOOOOOO!!!!” Starscream wailed in agony once Grimlock brought his foot down, crushing him.

Starscream was silenced.







Grimlock breathed in and out heavily. His vengeance was completed. Starscream was no more. But there was still one more thing he had to do, and it would ultimately decide the future for this world. According to what Rainbow Dash had told him, nothing except the Crystal Heart could stop Sombra and that the Decepticons were invading Equestria.

Grimlock lifted up his dino head, watching the road in front of him suddenly being filled with Decepticon soldiers piling out of the dropships that sailed down from the skies. He remembered most of them: Leapers, Brutes, Destroyers, troopers, Heavy Soldiers, and War Machines.

They were going to need more Decepticons.

Roaring loudly, Grimlock charged forward into the heart of chaos, his hunt for Sombra had begun.

With each powerful stomp hitting the grounds, Grimlock roared again once he spotted the first wave of Decepticons infesting the streets. They were simply troopers, to which Grimlock decimated each one with pure ease.

Opening his mouth, Grimlock released a relentless torrent of flames to the tiny soldiers, each of them barely having enough time to react to the behemoth heading their way.

“What the-WHAT IS THAT THING?!?!” One of them screamed, backing away in total shock once he witnessed the creature burning away his fellow Decepticons.

Another stepped forward, whipping out his assault gun and shouting, “I don’t know just shoot at it!” Together, every single Decepticon trooper had their assault guns out, shooting away at the mighty Autobot demolishing their forces.

Grimlock kept at it with the fire erupting from his jaws, the powerful flames burning the soldiers around him until they were nothing but a pile of melted metal. He closed his mouth, instead lifting up his feet and crushing what remained of the first wave of soldiers.

“AHHHH!!! I don’t wanna get deactivated!” One of the troopers cried, cowering in fear once the Dinobot finally approached him, swiping away with his massive tail and killing the soldier with ease.

It was too easy.

Unfortunately, the commotion Grimlock caused with killing the Decepticon soldiers attracted the attention of the rest of the army. Heavy Soldiers revved up their chain guns, Leapers smashed their fists together, Rocket Launchers readied their missiles on the top of rooftops, Destroyers transformed into Decepticon titans, and even more dropships sailed downwards to where this new battle was taking place.

Grimlock roared.

Charging forward, thousands of bullets penetrated the Dinobot but merely scratched his armor. Once that failed, the Leapers charged in, either flying or running straight for the Autobot creature. Grimlock charged right at them, ramming his knees into several Leapers which sent them into the nearest of buildings.

Once one of them hit the ground, he pulled his claws out of the ground and shouted, “He’s bigger than they usually are! He’ll fall just the same!”

But he never had enough time to attack the Dinobot, for Grimlock busted right through the Leaper’s fellow Decepticons and brought his jaws down on him. Flinging the Leaper upwards with his jaws, Grimlock reared down, bringing his pointed tails upwards and impaling the Leaper right on the tip.

To finish him off, Grimlock brought his head up and breathed a massive amount of flames on the Leaper impaled on his tail. He flung his tail, sending the dead Leaper into the nearest dropship, bringing them both to the ground.

Grimlock was having so much fun that he almost forgot about his rage.

He transformed back into robot mode, staring at the massive Decepticon forces heading right for him. Standing back up, Grimlock realized that he would need to gain a certain amount of rage in battle in order to transform again. His anger towards Starscream had allowed him to transform instantly…but he would have to fight for it this time.

“Tired of this!” Grimlock groaned, really wanting to change form but being unable to do just that. Pulling out his glowing orange blade, Grimlock charged forward to the next wave of Decepticons.

These were the Heavy Soldiers.

Once again, several more bullets were sent his way, forcing Grimlock to activate his shield and deflect the bullets. He looked passed his shield, glaring at the seven Heavy Soldiers slowly moving in on him. He would have to time it just right…

“Scrap,” one of them shouted, pulling his weapon back and refilling it, “Cover me! I need to reload!”

Perfect.

Giving away a deadly battle cry, Grimlock put his shield away, charging right for the group of Heavy Soldiers. Although several bullets did hit him, it was just the kind of moment he needed to finish off the group of ‘Cons.

He brought his sword forward to nearest soldier, slicing his head clean off. When he finally realized that his head was gone, the soldier still didn’t have time to react when Grimlock reared back, driving his blade right through his back.

Swinging and slashing his way forward, Grimlock finished off what remained of the Heavy Soldiers and continued forward to the next wave.

This one was going to be a challenge.

The Decepticon Destroyers revved up their mini-guns, firing away at the Dinobot leader. Grimlock got to cover, looking back to observe these titans more. There were only two of them, but their size would make it exceptionally difficult to move forward. They both were taller than Grimlock, only slightly though. Both Destroyers carried mini-guns replacing their right arms, their red visors searching for the Dinobot.

“WHERE ARE YOU?!” One of them shouted.

Grimlock chuckled darkly, remembering that these titans weren’t very bright.

Grimlock looked down, picking up a large piece of rubble and chucking it towards another crystal house, one that wasn’t even close to him. The Destroyers turned towards the sound and fired their mini-guns in that direction.

This was his chance.

Running from out of the cover, Grimlock drove his blade directly into the leg of the first titan, receiving a painful yell from it. The second titan turned towards the new sound, instantly firing away with his chain gun once he had spotted the Autobot. Unfortunately, Grimlock had expected this and used the first titan as a shield.

The first Destroyer died after several more bullets penetrated his chest and face, allowing Grimlock to finish it. Grimlock pushed as hard as he could and chucked the dead titan right for the live one, watching as it hit the second one perfectly.

With the distraction laid out, Grimlock dashed forward, driving his blade right into the Destroyer’s gut. And just as he planned, the Destroyer reared down and clutched his open wound, allowing Grimlock to finish him off.

He grabbed the Destroyer’s head, ramming his sword right in his red visor. To deliver even more pain, Grimlock twisted the blade in the Destroyer’s head, finishing it off for good.

The dead Decepticon titan landed forward, its entire body still twitching from Grimlock’s rampage. Grimlock chuckled at that, cleaning his sword of the liquid Energon that remained on it. He stared ahead, watching as the dropships continued to resupply the Decepticon army that he just demolished. Grimlock growled in anger when he finally realized that no matter how many Decepticons he destroyed, that there would always be more coming.

“Lucky me…more ‘Cons to crush.” Grimlock growled, preparing to take a step forward.









Something happened…something he never felt before.

Grimlock stopped moving once a deep chuckle resounded in the air, forcing him to look around for the source of the chuckle. He saw nothing, nothing but the Decepticon armada closing in on his position.

And then….it flew right overhead.

Grimlock looked up to see a dark shadow fly right over his head and head straight to the mushroom cloud, a trail of darkness following it. He couldn’t tell for sure but…he could’ve sworn the shadow just tal-

Welcome, Grimlock. Allow me to introduce myself. My name….is King Sombra, and you are interfering with my plans for total conquest. Stop right now…or face your demise.’

Grimlock clutched his sword in anger. Now he wasn’t imagining things. That shadow was King Sombra…and he was going right for the mushroom cloud. That meant it was Grimlock’s next destination.

“The only demise you’ll be seeing, Sombra…is yours!” Grimlock spoke to the open air, not really caring if Sombra heard him or not. So Grimlock charged forward, his sword held tightly in his right fist while his attention was on the mushroom cloud in the distance.

The dropships lowered themselves to the ground, dropping off several more troopers and Destroyers as they flew off towards the starships to resupply. Grimlock, however, didn’t falter nor did he give up. No matter how many Decepticons he saw in his path, no matter what the odds were, he was going to save this planet.

Grimlock slashed his sword left and right, barely feeling any rage from this battle taking place. It was only until right now when Sombra began to tap into his mind….and torture him.

‘You can’t stop them all, Grimlock! The Decepticon army is too destructive even for you to fight!’

Grimlock merely growled, grabbing the nearest Decepticon soldier and jabbing his blade into him several times. He smashed the dead ‘Con to the ground, finally responding to King Sombra.

“More! Bring more!!!” Grimlock shouted, actually happy to see the dropships sailing down from the skies.

‘I will enjoy tearing you limb from limb.’

“You’ll get a personal demonstration, Sombra!” Grimlock retorted to the voices in his head. He was instantly brought back to the real world once he felt a sharp pain shoot through his right shoulder. Grimlock turned towards the road, finally realizing what had happened.

Dropships and Decepticon jets began to fill the skies once again, all of them heading right for him. The jets practically infested the skies in the thousands while the dropships were simply scattered around here and there. All around him, more and more soldiers came out of the shadows, each of them equipped with their own little blaster. More and more Heavy Soldiers, Leapers, and Destroyers fell from the sky, each of them heading straight for the Dinobot leader.

Grimlock continued to stare, his mind quickly trying to process what to do. He finally realized that the explosion which only left the mushroom cloud must’ve wiped out Optimus Prime and his Autobots, leaving him the only Autobot target left!

The entire Decepticon armada was heading right for him.

Clenching his fists, Grimlock continued to hear Sombra in his mind, taunting him…and eventually making him very…very angry.

‘I have arrived to what remains of my glorious castle. You worthless aliens have caused nothing but death and destruction once you came here. I was actually going to rule this pitiful planet, rebuild my empire, but now I can’t. The castle is destroyed…which means the only fun I’ll have is killing your little pony friend…what was her name again? Rainbow Dash?’

“No you won’t!” Grimlock screamed, forgetting about the army in front of him with only his mind dead set on finding and killing King Sombra. He slashed his sword forward, clearing the road of the Decepticon troopers. Although more just kept coming, Grimlock continued to fight, not at once giving up or backing down.

To finish off the group, Grimlock lifted his sword high into the air, bringing it down which created a large shockwave that sent each soldier in different directions. He was immediately met with more Decepticon Leapers, many of them flying right for him.

“Their armor…weak on the back.” Grimlock muttered to himself, dodging the swipes from the various Leapers charging for him. Using his shield to bash the two away, he spun around and sliced his blade down on the nearest Leaper, hitting it right in the back.

‘I will find that little Pegasus…I will tear her apart….just like I did with the Autobot Jazz!’ King Sombra screamed in Grimlock’s mind, eventually regretting doing just that.

Grimlock growled. His anger now full. Putting his sword away, Grimlock felt as if his entire body was on fire, the little threat made by Sombra had allowed this to happen. He cared so much for Rainbow Dash, especially right after everything she had done for him, and if Sombra was threatening to kill her…

“Losing….control!!!” Grimlock roared, smashing his fists to the ground and transforming.

His anger was unleashed in a fearsome roar, shaking the entire ground. While many of the Decepticon forces tried to retreat, most of them weren’t so lucky and were killed on the spot. Grimlock charged forward, his dino mode now in full affect.

Grimlock stomped, bit, clawed, swiped, burned, and chomped his way through the street, his destination slowly reaching its point. The dropships fired several missiles at the Dinobot, along with the jets swooping down and dive-bombing the monstrosity. Grimlock was peeved, biting down on the nearest Heavy Soldier and flinging his entire body at the dropship, sending both of them in flames and to the ground.

Using his fire breath, Grimlock shot down the Decepticon jets zooming right for him, many of them smacking against the buildings or the gravel below. Grimlock continued his rampage, all the while with Sombra screaming in his head.

‘You are weak, broken! GIVE UP! GIVE UP NOW!!!’

Grimlock bit down on the nearest soldier, shaking his body and ripping the Decepticon in half.

“Never! Never give up! Never back down! Never surrender!” Grimlock roared, breathing several torrents of fire on the Decepticon troopers running around in a straight panic.

Once they were cleared away, a Destroyer stepped forward, a little frightened to see the lumbering Dinobot heading right for him. That thing had decimated nearly the entire Decepticon fleet, what could he possibly to do that thing?!

The Destroyer revved up his mini-gun, firing away at the Dinobot. It merely scratched Grimlock’s heavy armor, allowing the Dinobot to move freely and chomp down on the titan’s arm. Grimlock jolted back, ripping the entire arm off and flinging it to a group of Decepticon soldiers. Using his tail, Grimlock stabbed the titan right in the gut, causing the Destroyer to fall to his knees. Grimlock reared forward, biting down on the Destroyer’s head and ripping it clean off.

“HAHAHA!!! Puny Decepticons!” Grimlock roared, continuing his path of destruction closer and closer to the mushroom cloud.

Grimlock caught something lumbering in the distance. From his old knowledge, Grimlock assumed them to be Decepticon War Machines. One of them stomped forward, jamming its multiple legs into the ground while it fired several missiles from its top, each of them going for the Dinobot.

Grimlock reacted fast, stomping away from the War Machines and charging right for its leg. After chomping down on its leg, Grimlock reared up, this brought down the first War Machine. Using its body, Grimlock spun around and flung the War Machine right for the others, destroying each one.

“Enough of this,” Grimlock shouted, transforming back into robot mode once his rage had depleted, “I’m coming for you, Sombra!”

So he charged forward, his destination at an end once he had reached the mushroom cloud. Grimlock knew that the Decepticons were going to leave him alone now; they would rather retreat than die any day. This gave Grimlock the short moment to witness just what powerful force that could’ve caused this cataclysm.

He stood at the edge of a massive crater, the mushroom cloud directly above him. Grimlock could see nothing inside the crater for it was too large and filled with dust. It must’ve been long enough to spread across at least a mile. Grimlock looked over the edge, seeing nothing but a long drop which led to the center of the crater.

“Where is Som-?” Grimlock was saying…although he never got to finish when a sharp pain stabbed his backside. Grimlock roared in pain, falling to his knees with his hands planted on the ground.

He breathed in and out several times, immediately feeling a dark presence hovering right above him. Grimlock didn’t want to look up but he had to…just to see what he was up against.

Grimlock lifted his head upwards, meeting a gray face with large fangs. The rest of the body seemed to be cloaked in shadow or a dark force, something Grimlock didn’t understand. The being he must’ve guessed to be King Sombra lowered himself to the ground, his cloak of darkness soothing around his body until it became a red robe.

Grimlock growled once King Sombra trotted casually for him, a look of anger strewn across his features. He could’ve smashed this creature easily if it wasn’t for the pain in his back…that strangely seemed to be spreading across his body.

When he was nice and close, King Sombra flashed a crooked grin, showing Grimlock his rows of fangs.

“Hello, Grimlock. I am King Sombra…it’s not a pleasure to meet you.” Sombra snarled, licking his lips at the Dinobot. Instantly as he did that, Grimlock reared for the unicorn, immediately getting held back by an unknown force around his wrists.

He looked down, shock in his visor to see his wrists clamped around two black beams of energy. The beams forced his hands downwards, forcing Grimlock to look at the unicorn King without fighting back. Grimlock glared at King Sombra, noticing that his dark horn flared up along with his look of disapproval.

“Aw, aw, aw, Grimlock, no touching the King without permission.”

When Grimlock simply glared at him refusing to respond, Sombra continued, facing away from the Dinobot. “I have seen many Autobots during this tragic battle in MY Empire, but none have come to the level of superiority as you have, my giant friend,” He leaned his head in close to Grimlock’s, smiling when the Dinobot merely struggled against the powerful beams of dark energy around his hands.

He continued, his horn flaring brighter to keep the Autobot on his knees. “What amazing power you must contain in that simple mind of yours. It truly must be something powerful,” He got in closer, nearly bumping foreheads with the Dinobot, “And where there is power in a soldier…there is fear in a soldier.”

King Sombra’s horn flared brighter, slowly touching Grimlock’s forehead.

“Let’s see what my newest slave has in that mind of his….”

Grimlock struggled even harder, screaming words such as ‘no’ and ‘stop’ but ultimately failed to stop Sombra from going into his mind…in search of his greatest fear. King Sombra smiled with glee once he had entered the mind of a soldier, the visions and memories of the Dinobot playing in his mind.

The King saw several memories, all of them on Grimlock’s home world. He saw as Grimlock’s team entered this wasteland known as the Sea of Rust, instantly falling to these massive insect-like creatures. The memories shifted to a one-eyed Decepticon and three others standing over Grimlock, each of them jamming deadly surgical devices into Grimlock’s open wounds. Memories shifted once again, this one to where Grimlock was escaping the Space Bridge once it began to hit meltdown. His entire body flew upwards, morphing with the Space Bridge as it entered space and formed the portal, ultimately sending Grimlock to Equestria.

Sombra was so close…but something happened.

Something horrible happened. The vision faded. Grimlock's growls of anger grew stronger. Sombra’s smile changed to a look of despair once the memories fell apart and only an image of Grimlock remained in front of him. He didn't seem afraid, he didn't seem hurt. Sombra had just used his most powerful spell on this beast and it wasn't fazed. It just looked pissed.

Sombra gasped when shock when the beast did something completely unexpected. Grimlock held Sombra’s own head in his fist, blood dripping from his throat at a quick pace which landed on the dark floor with several splashes.

King Sombra’s eyes shot open, his horn fizzling out.

“I FEAR NOTHING!!!” Grimlock screamed, breaking free from his magical bonds and standing menacingly over the fallen King.

Sombra crawled away on his back, his eyes growing wide to see the Dinobot above him pull out a large, orange blade. He was even more terrified to see Grimlock drive the blade right for him…the sword jamming right into his chest.

King Sombra didn’t have enough time to teleport away…he felt every bit of pain.

As well as the amount of fear flowing through his veins.

____________________

A gentle nudge awakened the lavender unicorn.

Twilight squirmed on the ash she laid in, yawning, “…Ohhh…five more minutes, Spike…”

This time it was an ungentle nudge that woke her up. Twilight sat bolt upright, squinting her tired eyes around the area. It was completely dark, except for the small sliver of light escaping from the exit directly next to her. Ashes danced around in the small, gray light, eventually fading away. Twilight looked around, finally realizing that nothing had changed.

All around her were her closest friends, each of them gasping in relief to see her awake. Twilight even spotted Rainbow Dash among the group, smiling softly at her. Before she could hug her, Twilight had to know what had happened after the…

Twilight’s eyes grew wide.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright, darling,” Rarity gushed, gently stroking the tangles out of Twilight’s mane, “For a second there we thought you had-“

“Girls!” Twilight yelped, slowly getting back to her hooves and making her way to the exit. Fluttershy approached her, gently touching Twilight’s shoulder.

“Oh…Twilight, you’re cheek is b-bleeding. We should really cover it up so it doesn’t get infected.” Fluttershy quietly explained, reaching her shaking hoof forward to touch Twilight’s open cut on her cheek. But to her surprise, Twilight pulled away, her eyes focused on the exit.

“I’m fine, Fluttershy,” Twilight explained with her voice shaking, “But…something i-isn’t right here. Rainbow Dash,” She turned towards the Pegasus who lifted up her gaze towards her, “how did everything go? Did you give Grimlock the crystal?”

Rainbow Dash flashed a tiny grin.

“Y-yeah...don’t worry, though. Grimlock will take care of everything.” Rainbow Dash managed another smile before her gaze retreated downwards.

Twilight sighed with relief, “Well that’s good.”

Applejack stepped forward, gently nudging Rainbow Dash with her hoof. “Say, Dash, how did ya survive that there explosion? That sucker nearly wiped us clean off the face of Equestria.” Applejack explained in her western drawl.

The pink pony joined in the conversation, hopping right in between the two. “Yeah! Is it nice outside again? You gotta tell us, Dashie! You gotta, you gotta, you gotta!” Pinkie quickly shouted to her fellow Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes darted across the ground. She eventually sighed and pointed her hoof over to the hole in the wall.

“I’d think it’d be better if you guys saw it for yourselves.” Rainbow Dash muttered, stamping her hoof on the ground quietly. Every other mare exchanged glances, eventually turning towards the hole and making their way outside.

They were all very lucky to have Blurr guide them to this safe location. Although it was just a tiny crystal house it had saved their lives along with Twilight’s shield protecting each one. None of the four mares had known what kind of horror laid ahead once they stepped outside into the light, but Twilight had this feeling that it wasn’t going to be good.

And she was right.

The five mares gasped in unison, Fluttershy nearly breaking down to tears along with Pinkie Pie. Rarity held her hoof over her mouth to keep from screaming. Applejack couldn’t even speak for that matter! Rainbow Dash merely stared at the ground, not really happy with seeing the carnage again. Twilight gulped hard, her eyes scanning the lifeless wasteland once known as the Crystal Empire.

It was impossible to see the once-magnificent empire that resided in this ruined landscape. The winds howled passed everypony’s ears, giving a slight chill to each mare as they all stepped out into the rubble-strewn roads. They were nothing but small specs in the vast, colorless wasteland. Once a bright, shining symbol of hope to all of Equestria, the Crystal Empire now lingered as a shattered husk of what it once was: a metropolis of peace and prosperity.

With millions of crystal debris, numerous shredded streets, a slew of splintered buildings, and incalculable pulverized houses, the Crystal Empire’s existence as a beacon of hope to all of Equestria now only exists as a figment of the equines’ imagination. What is left to mark the success for the crystal ponies who resided in this empire? For the Crystal Castle and its once gleaming, smooth architecture has now been reduced to mere memory.

That was the worst part of it.

When the Crystal Empire became ground zero for the new Autobot and Decepticon civil war to rage on, the entire area was reduced to rubble….including where the Crystal Castle once stood proudly.

Now all that remained was a towering mushroom-shaped cloud lingering in the air. The six ponies stared ahead, their eyes growing wide with shock and terror, although they tried to avert their eyes from the column of smoke and fire. For ashes rained with no remorse across the landscape, the howling winds pushing the ash right in everypony’s faces.

Twilight closed her eyes and blinked them furiously, trying ever so hard to get the small ash that had landed in her eye. Once that was done, she looked onwards towards the pillar of death and destruction: the mushroom cloud.

Its treacherous appearance filled her heart with hopelessness and sorrow. Fierce, sinister, and ominous were the only words that could describe this cloud of ash and debris rising into the air. Speaking of the air, all around them, the mares only saw ash and snow mixing together to form a white barrier of dread that covered what remained of the Crystal Empire.

But worst of all…the last hope for all of Equestria was gone…reduced to ash.

Twilight blinked fiercely, forcing the tears to stay in when realization finally hit her: the Crystal Castle was gone. What hope did they have now? There was no way they could inspire the crystal ponies (or if there even were crystal ponies anymore) to light the love and hope to fill the Crystal Heart. Heck, even if they did manage to raise their spirits it would still be useless. The Crystal Heart could only work and save Equestria if it was united with the castle itself.

All hope was lost…

This time Twilight knew it for sure.

All hope was lost.

Staring ahead at the column of smoke of darkness, Twilight took a seat on the tattered streets, sniffling loudly. The rest of her friends came to her side, each of them taking a seat as she did.

After a long moment of silence, the howling of the cold winds being the only sound, Twilight opened her eyes and let the tears break free. Her heart was broken…fully knowing that they couldn’t save their home from the Decepticons anymore.

King Sombra would rise to power.

The Decepticons would rule the planet.

And the new age of slavery and torture would begin because of their failure.

Twilight stared at the mushroom cloud, sniffling hard before they changed into whimpers.

“Oh no…..how are we supposed to save Equestria now?” Twilight asked practically no one, knowing that none of her friends had the answer to their predicament. They all knew as well as she did that there was nothing left for them to do.

Fluttershy stared at the ground, the ashes piling up on her pink mane. She looked up from the ground, her eyes filled with tears. “D-do we just…g-go home?”

Twilight closed her eyes, her head sagging lower.

“What good would that do?”

All of a sudden, the howling of the cold winds wasn’t the only sound audible to the ponies. A voice came out of the mist, causing each mare to look up in surprise.

“Hello?! Is anyone alive out there?! This is Hound!”

Twilight instantly shot up from where she was sitting, as well as the rest of her friends. If Hound was here…then that meant he had the crystal shards. The six mares scanned the battlefield, Twilight being the only one brave enough to shout out to him.

“Hound! It’s Twilight Sparkle! Follow my voice!” The unicorn screamed.

It only took a few seconds for Hound to answer back.

“Okay! I’m coming for you!”

The Element Bearers waited patiently and in silence, their eyes scanning the white walls of mist surrounding the area. Once again, the mares began to lose hope, realization returning to their minds to tell them that the crystal shards technically were useless now. But none of them could bear to tell Hound that…he had probably gone through a lot to get them.

Several more seconds had passed, and none of them even caught a glimpse of his green design or even the red Autobot insignia he carried. But they stared on, in hopes of finding the only Autobot that seemed to be functional in this wasteland.

It was quiet…then his voice came back.

“Alright…alright I’m here.”

The six mares turned their heads in a 180, each of them calmly smiling to see the Autobot soldier reach them, his right fist closed tight. All six of them stopped smiling once he came into view, Rarity’s smile changing into a look of horror.

Hound’s chest was ripped to shreds, but strangely no Energon was leaking out. Several scratch marks spread across his body along with one of his legs limping pretty badly. That didn’t stop the Autobot from giving each mare a…crooked grin?

Twilight tilted her head, her confusion quickly leaving her as did Hound’s strange smile. He gave them a tiny grin, finally coming into view. Hound knelt down in front of them, breathing calmly as each pony slowly approached him.

The violet unicorn’s eyes drifted downwards to where they landed on Hound’s closed fist, much to Hound’s dismay. He balled his fist even tighter, keeping his optics hard on the six ponies. Once she looked back up at him, her smile was quickly disappearing.

“Do you have the shards?” Twilight asked.

Hound narrowed his optics on her, refusing to talk for a few more seconds. Once their suspicions were soon to be aroused, he nodded, holding out his right fist.

“Yeah…I got ‘em.” Hound mumbled, opening his right hand to reveal twelve, perfectly carved shards. Each of them glowed dimly in his fist, the light quickly fading away once it was released to the elements around them.

Twilight’s spirit was crestfallen; the shards weren’t reacting to the castle anymore because there WAS no castle anymore. Keeping her emotions inside, Twilight forced a smile and thanked him properly.

“Thank you, Hound.” Twilight smiled, reaching her hoof forwards to grab the shards….but oddly enough…Hound pulled his hand away, closing it.

Twilight reared her hoof back, completely flabbergasted as to why Hound would do that. She looked at him again, finally realizing that his face bore no expression whatsoever. He just stared at her….with those two lifeless eyes.

“Ummm…” Twilight began, “mmm…if you could just give me the shards then we can…”

Hound shook his head.

“No.”

Each mare took a step back, their expressions of confusion mirroring each other’s. Twilight stared at Hound as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard. Snorting, Twilight stuck out her hoof and sternly said, “Hound. We need the shards now.”

Hound continued to stare at her, his fist balling even harder. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Twilight.” Hound casually explained, slowly shaking his head.

The unicorn was about to say something again, probably going to shout at him, but instead it was Pinkie Pie to answer to this. She giggled uncontrollably, smacking her hoof on the tattered grounds.

“Hee, hee, hee! Good one, Hound! But we already played ‘Keep Away’ with Soundwave today! So yeah…we kinda need the shards.” Pinkie smiled broadly at the Autobot, it as well quickly fading away when Hound turned his stone-cold stare at the pastel earth pony.

Hound continued to stare at the pink pony, just to make sure her smile left her face so he could explain. When it was gone along with every other mare’s, he answered, “This is no game, Pinkie Pie. I’m not giving you the shards.”

Pinkie Pie’s lower lip puffed out, giving her best puppy dog eyes. “Come on, Hound. This isn’t funny anymore.”

“Then why were you laughing before?” Hound retorted to the pink pony, causing her to retreat next to Applejack.

Seeing this play out, Rainbow Dash scoffed, flaring up her wings to fly in mid-air. Once she was airborne, she began to grow a hard glare towards the Autobot. “Okay, Hound, how ‘bout you just give us the crystal shards and we won’t tell Optimus how you’re actin’, huh?”

“Optimus is dead.”

Rainbow Dash stopped flying, her body softly landing on the ground with a soft thud as each mare stared at the green Autobot kneeling down in front of them. Twilight’s lower lip began to quiver, her body trembling.

“W-what?” Twilight shuddered.

Hound nodded, sighing casually, “Yep…he’s dead, alright. Along with every other Autobot, he was probably blasted to shreds in that explosion.”

Rarity shook her head, snorting in anger, “How can you be so casual about this?! If Optimus is gone then why aren’t you even a bit sad about that?!”

The Autobot turned his head towards the unicorn, his optics hardening on her. Leaning in closer, the mares couldn’t even believe that he actually growled at their fellow unicorn.

“Because I don’t give a scrap, lady,” Hound growled, his optics scanning each pony in front of him, “Optimus Prime and the Autobots are dead…giving the Decepticons a full advantage on taking over this planet and putting you ponies into slavery.”

Applejack took several steps back along with the rest of her friends. She picked at her ear with a hoof, glaring at the green Autobot. “Mah hearin’ better be goin’ south if Ah didn’t hear what Ah thought Ah heard!” Applejack said, stamping her hoof on the ground.

Hound nodded, chuckling, “Oh you heard every single word, cowgirl.”

That wasn’t the answer Applejack wanted to get.

“What?!” She screamed, “W-what are you thinkin’?! Yer talkin’ just like a Decepticon!”

Hound’s chuckles turned into a short but strong laughter. The six Elements backed off, their eyes growing wide and their breathing increasing once Hound finished his statement on them.

“Oh you definitely haven’t figured it out yet, have you?” Hound asked, bringing up his left hand and slowly swiping it over his chest. When his hand went down, the six ponies yelped in surprise, their shock reaching an uncontrollable level.

There glowed a bright Decepticon symbol on Hound’s chest.

Twilight forced her eyes to fall off the dreaded symbol on Hound’s chest to stare at Hound’s face, her face contorting into disgust and terror.

"I...am a Decepticon." Hound smiled at them with a crooked, wicked, and evil smile.

When none of them had the bravery to even speak out to this, Hound shrugged, standing back up to full height. He had expected a bigger surprise from the ponies, obviously from one of the Autobots being a traitor this entire time. But when they all just stared at him with that blank, shocked expression, he smiled broadly, ready to explain his plan.

“Well…since you are all most certain to die here, it wouldn’t hurt to tell you of my story now would it?” He asked, his optics scanning the six mares over and over.

When they didn’t respond, he began, “You see…my name is not really Hound, obviously hehehe… My name is Makeshift…I’m what you might call a Decepticon ‘Shapeshifter,’” Makeshift slowly said the word so the ponies could get it clearly, “During the Autobot exodus on Cybertron, Megatron and his elite Decepticons piled onto the Nemesis for immediate departure. Along with myself, the strongest of every Decepticon flooded into the Nemesis for attack on Optimus Prime’s vessel…the Ark.”

The ponies didn’t even flinch, giving him their blank stares.

He continued, “Anyways, I used my expertise on shifting and sneaking throughout the Ark until I found the perfect body: Hound. That young Autobot soldier didn’t stand a chance. After I killed him, I took his form and proceeded to masquerade as the Autobot. What a perfect opportunity as well…for we arrived on your world shortly after the Space Bridge sent us here for the first time.”

That seemed to get the wanted expression Makeshift had been wanting. The six ponies gawked at him, terror filled their eyes but their ears were open and listening carefully. But they still didn’t talk, giving Makeshift a small frown.

Makeshift shook his head, silently mumbling something before he continued, “It was easy pretending to be Hound. All I had to do was stay in the background and speak only a few times. I even forced myself to befriend your brother, Twilight.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide, her glare now hardening on the wretched Autobot traitor that stood before her. Makeshift chuckled, finally getting the unicorn’s full attention.

“You stay away from my brother you…you…you monster!” Twilight screamed with her horn beginning to flare up, ready to strike him down.

Makeshift flashed a scrap-eating grin, lifting up his left hand as he continued, “Trust me, unicorn, I wanted to. But to remain incognito long enough for me to reveal my true identity would have to take some time. Which it eventually did. I lived with the Autobots for many months, learning their secrets, gaining their trust and all that, and it was only until we came to your world for a second time that I could unveil my true quest: killing the Autobots.”

Makeshift looked at his left fist, smiling proudly at his handiwork.

“I succeeded.”

Gaining enough courage, Fluttershy rose up from where she was curled in a ball to ask, “W-what d-did you d-d-do?” Makeshift brought his attention to the timid Pegasus, his blue optics flashing red. “EEP!” Fluttershy yelped and flew behind Rarity, cowering with her hooves shutting out her eyes.

Makeshift smiled again, glaring at each pony. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie all glared back. Fluttershy refused to look at him again out of fear. Makeshift didn’t care about her…he just needed to let them know who he finished off.

“Well…since you asked so nicely…I’ll tell you all what happened,” Makeshift smiled at the six mares, bringing up his left fist and jabbing a thumb to his chest, “I received Jazz’s message. He was injured…and carrying precious cargo. This was my moment…I had to act now…so I did. Once Jazz, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee came to me, I killed each of them off, swiping the shards away and making my retreat so I could find you six.”

If he was happy to have their attention before then he was actually excited to see each of them give a horrified expression, possibly when he told them about the three Autobots’ demise. The white unicorn flashed tiny tears in her eyes, bringing up her foreleg and sobbing into it. The pink pony’s mane deflated, her hind legs gave out as she stared at the ground with big, teary eyes. The yellow Pegasus broke down to full-out sobbing, her hooves completely blocking out her teal-colored eyes

While the other three glared at him, each of them sporting small tears, the three that were crying refused to look at Makeshift anymore. He growled, bringing his attention to the lavender unicorn.

“Oh why don’t you just cry like the rest of your friends over there? Slug was right, you are all nothing but weak and worthless little bugs in our path….and you should feel inferior to us. Decepticons are going to be your new masters, Twilight Sparkle, the sooner you accept that the sooner it’ll be for you to bow down to lord Megatron.” Makeshift leaned down and brought his hand underneath Twilight’s chin.

Twilight smacked his hand away with her hoof, glaring at the Decepticon in disguise with a terrible stare. She growled quietly, stamping her hoof on the ground. “No! I don’t care what you say! Even if Jazz, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee are dead that doesn’t mean we’re going to give up to the likes of you! We’re going to fight on until the last breath if we have to!” Twilight shouted. Rainbow Dash finished it off with a small glob of spit that hit Makeshift right on the cheek.

The Decepticon in disguise merely laughed, standing back up. After wiping the spit off his face, he chuckled a bit and said, “Well too bad. I’m not letting you six go anywhere. After your little incident last time with stopping Discord and actually having lord Megatron surrender to the Autobots, it got me wondering…that you six seem to have a way with saving the world. So yeah I’m just gonna kill you all right now.”

He was done talking…Twilight knew this because he lifted up his left hand in the air, a large, purple blade suddenly replacing his hand.

But right before the six Elements could react or before Makeshift could bring down the blade, the Decepticon stopped, screaming in pain once a red sword was driven right through his chest.

To his surprise, Makeshift was lifted up, the red sword digging deeper into his spark. Makeshift howled in pain, his form of Autobot Hound flashing wildly to the ponies’ amazement. For once they saw Hound, and then they saw a dark Decepticon, then Hound, then the dark Decepticon, then over and over again.

Right when Makeshift didn’t think his body could take anymore…it couldn’t.

The red sword ripped Makeshift’s body in half going upwards, the dead Decepticon falling to the ground in a pile of scrap.

Once his spark had vanished, the six ponies breathed in heavily, their colorful eyes drifting upwards to see their savior. All they saw in the misty air were those twin Autobot insignias glowing red, followed by the twin blue optics and glowing red sword.

Twilight knew this Autobot by heart.

“Optimus,” Twilight gasped, running forward but stopping only a few feet from Makeshift’s tangled mess, “th-thank you for saving us, Optimus.”

Once the other five had arrived, Optimus Prime sighed with relief once he spotted Rainbow Dash. He had once believed that something terrible had happened to her, but he could cast those thoughts away when Applejack began to talk.

“Optimus,” Applejack began, “this varmint here named…uhh…Makeshift, yeah, he…h-he killed Hound and has been takin’ his form this entire time!”

Fluttershy stepped forward, wiping away her tears as she breathed, “He told us th-that you died…along with Bumblebee…Cliffjumper….and Jazz. Please…please tell us he’s lying.”

The last Prime couldn’t bear to look at her tear-stained face anymore. He brought his gaze downwards to where his optics landed on the dead Decepticon. Giving it a light kick, Optimus quietly said, “Trust not in Decepticons…or Autobot traitors. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee are still alive.”

But when he looked back at the six mares, he sighed heavily, bringing his soft gaze towards Pinkie Pie especially.

“But…I’m afraid he wasn’t lying about Jazz.”

When he said that, Pinkie Pie whimpered hard, breaking down into heavy tears yet again. Optimus watched with such a broken spark as Applejack and Rarity trotted over to their pink friend, gently nuzzling her in an obvious show of comfort.

Optimus looked down at Makeshift’s remains again. “Twilight, come here.” Optimus addressed the unicorn, watching as Twilight slowly came up to Makeshift’s dead body. Optimus kicked it hard this time, looking down to see Makeshift’s hand open up.

Twilight’s mouth opened but no words could escape. Her eyes were locked on the twelve crystal shards completely unharmed and lying in the Decepticon’s grasp. She levitated each piece, holding them in mid-air. She smiled at the last Prime.

She opened her mouth to speak again….

…until a very large explosion came from behind them.

Everypony spun around, even Optimus Prime looked forward to see what the commotion was. The mushroom cloud remained in its position…but something had fallen into the crater where the castle had once stood….

Instinctively, the six ponies slowly trotted over to the crater with Optimus Prime right behind them. Dodging several large pieces of rubble in their way, they made it to the edge to where Twilight peeked over first.

What she saw had to be part of her imagination.

Something was stirring in the crater…..rumbling…..growling….moving….

It was only until then did the yellow eyes shine in the darkness below.

Author's Note:

10 internet points to whoever guesses what was in the crater right.