> Ocean Bound Colossus > by Seth Typofather > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Brace For Impact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Power systems malfunctioning. The giant battleship shook in the gravitational pull of his assigned planet, it was no ordinary ship however. It had no driver, no crew and no inhabitants of any kind but one. Itself. The ship bore an insignia on the bow of it’s form, the insignia for the Decepticon empire. This was the mightiest Decepticon, rivalling even his leader and Devastator alongside Bruticus combined. He was Tidal Wave. How it had come to this, the mighty transport and war vessel for the Decepticon cause at the mercy of a faulty thruster running low on energon and the gravity of a planet. Prepare for impact in T-minus 60 seconds. The atmosphere burned his body, in a desperate attempt he tried transforming, only for his cogs to lock from the stress. His body was red hot and careening towards a large body of water, hopefully this would cool the colossal ship down. If the impact didn’t decimate him before the atmospheric heat first. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Impact imminent. The crash shook the oceans, causing a shockwave to rumble across the surface in the form of a tsunami spreading outwards which slowly dissipated as it went on. Rising to the surface of the water, still in his battleship form Tidal Wave scanned his surroundings. Energon signature not found, energon tracker beyond repair, initiating recon mode. His body split into three sections, one a flight transport, the second a destroyer and the third a troop transport. All three sections started floating in separate directions to find land, the flight transport releasing his Minicon, Ramjet. Tidal Wave’s Minicon took to the skies to speed up the search, if either one found land, their universal tracking beacons would alert each other to reconnect at the specified location. ——— “Breakfast is served, m’lady.” Black Tuxedo, Celestia’s personal bowed to the vanilla coated alicorn, her otherwise perfectly magnificent mane frazzled from the rough sleep. “Disturbances, m’lady?” He enquired, setting down the tray of toast and fries eggs with hay bacon strips on the bedside table. “Yes it was,” She replied. “Remind me to drink less at one of Pinkie Pie’s parties.” Celestia half joked. Luna meanwhile snored in her tower as loudly as two orcs doing battle, sighing and shaking her head the older co-rule rod Equestria sat up on the bed. “Actually, remind me to install sound proof coating on my sister’s tower. Her and that colt last night were too loud.” Rubbing a hoof on her face to eject the images. “Understood, m’lady.” He nodded, leaving the bedroom to do his duty at once. Once the door shut the princess rubbed her hooves together in anticipation for her meal, her golden aura raising a hay bacon strip to her awaiting mouth. With a thunderous crash the room shook, no, the entire foundation shook like terrified puppy. “What the Tartarus?!?!” Celestia screamed, the tray crashing to the floor. “Who disturbs our rest?!?” A nearby scream from the other tower overshadowed the rumbling, no doubt Luna using her Royal Canterlot Voice. The ‘our’ being used to describe her and the colt currently sleeping in the same bed as her rather than herself. Rolling her eyes Celestia began to conjure a scroll and quill once the rumbling subsided she paused. Rolling her eyes again with an audible scoff to herself she forgot Twilight had decided to take residence in the castle for a while. ——— Ramjet sailed the skies, his optic sensors dead set on below. This was an advantage for him as he had to not worry about encountering air activity from anything at this height, hopefully. He beeped a message towards Tidal Wave, Ancient Cybertronian language that few organics understood. Ramjet was ordered by his host to keep him addressed on current sightings every 10 minutes, the ocean seems to be getting brighter from the deep ocean blue. A sure sign that land was nearby. To make things even better, the energon signature had returned. ——— Message received, setting location. The destroyer, which housed Tidal Wave’s spark activated it’s boosters to get to the location at a faster pace only for him to stop. Energon insufficient, activating solar to energon converters. Whirring emanated from the command centre, sending signals to the rest of his parts which at the same time opened up multiple panels lining the length. It was now a matter of waiting until his power supply was charged enough to begin his conquest. Energon supply at 10%. Estimating time to be one hour before energon supply at 100% capacity. Until then Tidal Wave relied on using as little energon as possible to use his propellors, slow but effective. ——— “An earthquake? In Equestria?” Twilight questioned. “But that’s impossible, Equestria hasn’t had quake in centuries!” She exclaimed, flicking through a book of Equestrian geology. “Why one now?” “This was no ordinary earthquake, Twilight.” Her mentor replied, knowing something was wrong with the quake on a very technical level. “Tremors such as this occur when something was rising from the ground or… crashing into it…” She trailed off slowly at her younger sister entering with a disgruntled expression. “Good afternoon.” “What’s so good about it?” Luna snapped back, her mane messy. Holding their hooves to their noses Celestia gagged at the stench coming from her younger sister. “I think you should shower…” Blushing at the response Luna sniff herself before gagging and galloping off in the direction of the royal showers. “Discovering what it’s like to experience the world of mortals has resulted in this with me multiple times,” The vanilla coated alicorn blushed. “so I’m sure Luna will grow out of it and take more responsibility… I hope.” A large sonic boom echoed through the city, breaking a few windows. “Now what?!” Celestia exclaimed as she observed out the window, she was met face to nosecone with a hovering jet. Frozen in fear the jet beeped a few times, scanning her and Twilight. Beeping once more it flew up before leaving the city, another sonic boom coming minutes later as a reminder. ——— Energon signature identified, designated Protocol A and Protocol B. Energon supply at 64%. Estimated time before 100% capacity, 20 minutes. > Chapter 1: Data > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fully charged and ready, Tidal Wave’s three main components began sailing towards land. A small screen in the command centre frizzled to live, a large imposing figure with protruding tank tread shoulders and insect like pincer horns on a helmet shaped head. “I take it you’ve landed successfully?” Megatron enquired, the screen quality so bad all that could be made out from Megatron was his silhouette covered by occasional streaks of static. Before the obedient war machine could reply his leader spoke up again. “This world is full of energon, I expect you to not fail this time. No Autobots, no worry. But, just in case I will be sending over Cyclonus.” Not Cyclonus! He was about as stable as a loose bolt, Tidal Wave groaned in response. “Demolisher?” Asked Megatron, clearly understanding why Cyclonus would be refused. As useful as Demolisher was he was a land based vehicle and would probably hinder the mission. “No? Hmm, then I suppose Starscream would be more useful in your situation, expect him in a few Earth hours if he doesn’t fool around.” Not the best choice, but it was far better than Sideways. “Satisfied? Good, now don’t fail me.” His voice now the usual serious and threatening tone. The frequency cut off, that was enough for Tidal Wave to get the message of what would happen if he failed to capture the largest energon supply do date. Hopefully that arrogant on again off again traitor would keep his proton cannons tucked away, why did Megatron keep him around so much? ——— The Canterlot Archives was full of information of all sorts of things, magic, history and so on. But not one book, not even a measly pamphlet could explain what that thing just was. Slamming her head in frustration into the book she was reading Twilight had just about given up. “Buck this…” She grumbled, usually she was well collected but not even having information on something as major as this had her at wits end already. Sighing she flew up to a book case against a wall, putting the various books from that shelf back in alphabetical order by title. Once placing the last book something clicked, the book case swung in like a giant door. “Another secret hallway, figures.” Trotting cautiously into the are a few torches lit up, more book cases lined the walls of the large hallway. Unlike the books in the Archives they weren’t hardbacks, they looked comic like in appearance. Noticing a sign on the side of a book case Twilight inspected it. “Do not touch, Luna’s comic book collection.” She read, then took a look at another book case. “Alien technology. This might be useful.” Her horn’s glow enclosed the collection of books, just to be met with a golden aura midway. “Celestia?!” “Twilight?!” A few seconds passed by between them. “So you’re interested in finding out what that thing is too?” Asked the Princess of Friendship, her levitation spell dissipating at the same time as the Princess of the Sun’s. Nodding in response Celestia picked out a random book. “Before I even bother to ask how you got in,” She levitated the book to her student. “We should research first. Just avoid Luna’s comic books, she can be on edge if she found hoof or magic prints even on the protective plastic casing.” “O-Of course, Princess.” Opening the book and flicking through the pages, hoping an image would catch her eye. Nothing. She levitated it by alphabetical order replacing a book that was previously there, flicking through it as well while Celestia was flicking through books as well with the occasional second take to make sure what she saw was right. Seconds turned to minutes and the case was practically empty, only a few books left with an odd metal disk laying on it’s side. Noticing the odd item Twilight levitated it towards her, inspecting the thing from all sides. It had a feel of power emanating from it, something non Equestrian. “Hey princess? You think this thing might help?” “Not a clue, I’ve tried everything to make it work.” “Did you blast it with magic?” Now that Twilight mentioned it, that was the only thing she didn’t do. She gestured for her student to drop it on the floor, from what she can assume from the protruding glass sphere was the top. Aiming her horn directly at it she fired a normal beam of her power, the glass sphere absorbing it and lighting up. “Now I feel stupid.” Celestia mused. “Datacon activated, Model 18 Delta. Do you wish to continue?” The disk spoke, a hologram appearing from the glass with a choice of yes and no. Both princesses stared at each other in bewilderment just to make sure what they saw was right, what was a Datacon did not matter. What mattered was how this thing could display visions without magic, clearly created by a technologically advanced race. “Yes?” Twilight spoke to the disk with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. The yes option flashed. “Intel databanks opened.” The disk replied in a much more confidence and with a hint of intelligence. “Good afternoon, how may I assist you?” The voice asked. “Oh my, new faces. Or, wait.” The disk scanned them. “Winged unicorns? Hm, that’s a new one for the data folders.” “Excuse me?” “Yes purple one?” “What are you?” She asked, leaning down to inspect it a little closer. “My name is Model 18 Delta, but you can call me Delta. I’m a Datacon made for the sole purpose of recording information and storing it away within my files, once my kind exceed their data limit they exchange data into a superior unit for permanent data storage. Me.” Delta explained, showing quite a huge amount of pride when mentioning itself. Hopping up and down with giddiness Twilight could not contain herself. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! Celestia! Do you know what this means?! Information that nopony has ever heard of before!” “Calm down, Twilight. Remember why we’re here?” Chuckled Celestia with a small smile and maternal tone. “What do you wish to know?” Asked Delta. “Well, there was an earth quake-“ “I see.” “And as soon as i look rout my window I saw a purple flying object that shone a light on me and my student, then it simply flew off.” “Purple?” It asked, the princess nodded. “Did it look like this?” A holographic image of a purple jet appeared before them, fully rendered and with a 3d model and grid view. “Yes! That’s the one!” “That my dear is the Minicon Ramjet, a flight based Minicon with the ability to enhance the combat power of any Cybertronian that wields it.” Now that was an odd name, Ramjet. What concerned her more was the mention of ‘Cybertronian’. “I’m guessing you two don’t know what a Cybertronian is?” The princesses shook their heads in unison, Delta sighed. “Pardon me.” The hologram dissipated and the disc appeared to shut down before an audible clicking and whirring emanated from it, the disk split into two, creating arms and legs, the sphere creating a chest piece. Needless to say it was impressive to how this little thing could turn into a small bipedal machine capable of sentience, a small rod grew from it’s wrist as it’s head looked like it was wearing an old style teachers cap. “Pay attention now, history class is in session.” The machine began with hint of excitement, this was especially refreshing for Delta due to the fact it had not exchanged information to new beings in centuries. > Chapter 2: Comedy at Another's Expense > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Are you sure you should trust me with such a mission?” The air commander for the Decepticon Air Fleet mocked. “I thought you considered me not worthy enough to carry out such missions.” Megatron snorted, as much as he hated to give Starscream this job he was so far the fastest out of his little group of Decepticon survivors. Slamming a great fist down onto the control panel his expression was that of impatient rage. “Are you questioning my orders, soldier?!” “Oh no no noooo.” Starscream mocked once more with his trademark cocky smirk on the transmission screen. “You’ll get your energon oh ‘great’ and ‘powerful’ Megatron.” An exaggerated bow for effect and that was all it took to cause the emperor of the dark side of the Cybertronian war to transform into his alt. mode, a tank, and take aim at the screen. “If you dare fail me I’ll be sure to tear your servos from your sparkless corpse and ram them into your optics!” He screamed, firing at the screen and destroying it with a great purple explosion. Meanwhile in the depths of space all Starscream could do was laugh maniacally at giving his leader something to yell about, it was what helped him get by while hiding on the moon aside from causing Cyclonus and Demolisher to fight over something trivial back at the base on mentioned moon. Back to the matter at hand, he was to be helping Tidal Wave. Knowing that giant pile of alloy, he hated Starscream’s circuits with a passion, the upside however is because of his rank as second in command to Megatron he was completely loyal and obedient. This especially helped because of his limited intellect. Now where was he? Oh yes, following Tidal Wave’s signature towards that planet. It practically leaked energon of a whole new degree and his sensors could pick it up millions of miles away, he could even taste it. His spark burned much deeper than his desire to taste the energon, pure anger. After centuries of being Megatron’s stress ball, his punch bag, his personal jester. He had been moulded by his leader and grown to despise him for it, even to the point of forgetting who he was before becoming Megatron’s second in command. This was all going to change however, all it shall take is a full supply of unstable energon. ——— “-And now the location of the Decepticons to this day remain a mystery.” Finished the Datacon, tapping the holographic board with it’s stick. “Any questions?” It retracted back into the wrist it came from. This was too much to process all at once, a war going on longer than the history of Equestria itself. A race of living machines that could blend into a society if given the chance. An energy source more powerful than alicorn magic? More deities that create a balance between good and evil and one of them was their home world?! All that could be noticed now was Twilight drooling over this information, he pupils wide in anticipation for more research. Taking a deep breath she have her little fit she was beaten to the punch by her own mentor. “This is so bucking awesome!” Celestia screamed, hopping like a filly who just got the best birthday present. As a princess, especially one who was seen as the goddess who raised the sun, the one who banish Nightmare Moon and Discord she was usually seen as the motherly figure. Now? She was acting exactly like Twilight after she read the latest Daring Do book, ‘The Manticore Crown’. Clearing her throat, realising that she just embarrassed herself in front of not only her student but a sentient machine who was staring at her with awkwardness laced in his optics and posture. The vanilla coated alicorn sat back down blushing while hiding her face in her flowing aurora mane, raising a hoof as if to ask a question. Giving a bemused stare to Celestia, Delta sighed. “Yes?” She was honestly about to ask the silliest of questions, if Delta was male or female. Protoforms were gender neutral until given a body so could she be blamed of being curious? No, Delta was obviously a male from his appearance and voice. But a question did come to mind, Minicons never usually come out of what Delta describes as stasis unless they were registered. “Do you know who ‘Ramjet’ is registered to?” Asked Celestia, deep concern in her voice. Holding up a servo for her to wait as Delta searched his files he gravely started pacing. “Is something the matter?” Still pacing the Datacon searched his memory files over and over again to be sure, but the information disturbed him. “He’s registered to the troop transport for the Decepticon army, Tidal Wave…” Another 3d model of a colossal ship rotating midair, the eyes set on it widened with fear at what this thing looked capable of, especially at the size comparison of the Minicon next to it. Absolutely massive. “I have no data on his robot form unfortunately, he barely comes out of his alt. mode and when he does none live long enough to tell of it. Those that do I’ve never met so I have an empty data file on that. All I can say is we need to alert someone, or somepony as you two put things, who can handle it.” ——— This was getting boring, but what choice did he have but to wait for Starscream under Megatron’s orders? If he even disobeyed so much as one syllable, his ‘insubordination’ would be dealt with extreme punishment. Just as he was about to send a message to his leader a Decepticon signal showed up on his radar, about time. A familiar shape of a large grey and bright red jet approached, transforming and landing with a large thud on the gigantic bow of the ship. “Trip go well?” A booming voice asked from the speaker system. “Shut up, you simpleton.” Starscream growled, tapping his foot. “Just give me the coordinates for land and let me do the rest, can’t be too hard a reconnaissance to understand this planet. It has organics right?” “Yes.” “Did you scan any while you were here?” “Yes.” As simple as Tidal Wave was he did understand the usual protocol for organic populated planets, smirking the red Decepticon awaited the coordinates and scannings. “Not too far, that’s good.” He mumbled at the coordinates, not even bothering to inspect the scanning data his Minicon jumped off and landed on the bow by his registered leader’s feet. “Ok, organic integration complete. Starscream transform!” Announcing as dramatically as possible, his large wings folded backwards against his back while his panels began shifting into new positions as well as shrinking to get accustomed to the size of the disguise. “Hey what the, why is this- Hey what kind of organic disguise is this-“ Getting cut short he took a second to look at the ground, he was at eye level with Swindle, his Minicon, who was beeping continuously and holding his sides as if laughing. “What’s so funny?! I order you to show me this instant or ill crush you between my… hooves…” Staring at what was his servos Starscream began to piece it together, he was now a bright red pegasus with a blackish grey mane and short blackish grey tail and reddish orange eyes. There was also a tattoo on both sides of his flank which resembled his trademark wing sword with Decepticon symbol, unbeknownst to him, displaying his exceptional sword skill. “WHAT IN THE ALLSPARK AM I?!?!” Loud booming laughter emanated from Tidal Wave who could barely contain himself, having enough of this foolery he shot off, transforming his hind hooves into jet thrusters while using his new wings as stabilisers. “Don’t forget to look into a mirror!” ——— “Megatron.” “What is it Tidal Wave? Can’t I enjoy a cube of fresh solar energon without being bothered?” Snapped Megatron as Cyclonus and Demolisher, covered in grease from repairing the monitor watched on. “Forgive Tidal Wave Lord Megatron… but Tidal Wave have something Tidal Wave thinks Lord Megatron will like.” Sighing, he had nothing better to do anyway. “Very well, opening frequency.” A video recording appeared of Starscream's transformation, taking a chug of his energon, Megatron observed in anticipation. “WHAT IN THE ALLSPARK AM I?!?!” Something shook the run down base, maybe even the moon itself. A laughter so terrifying it could even shake the bowels of what humans call Hell itself. This laughter was soon followed by two others, one a very gruff voice and another more unhinged high pitched voice. “OHAHAHAHOOHHAHAHA!” Guffawed Cyclonus, slamming the save function for his still roaring leader. “Kehehehe… expect a promotion when you return with a new Minicon.” “We get promoted?” Whispered the sky blue robot with a propellor for a back to his comrade. “I dunno… maybe if we work real hard we might get new Minicons.” Replied Demolisher, both giving each other a high five in agreement. > Chapter 3: Rude Sleep, Kind Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bursting through the air at incredibly high speeds Starscream continued to grumble and scream at himself or whoever was currently taking up his mind. “I’ll show you to treat me in such a manner! I’ll tear your faceplate off and ram it up your-“ He was cut short by slamming into a cloud. Something was not right, clouds were not solid like this. “You dare mock me?!” He screamed, detaching his pegasus wing with his mouth and swinging wildly at it until it was nothing but pieces. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’LL KILL YOU, MEGATRON!!!” The enraged cybernetic pegasus shouted through his full mouth at the remains of the cloud. Coming to his senses he forgot the mission at hand for the brief moments he was busy attacking a cloud, sighing content at letting out his frustration he inspected a lump of the cloud closely. It was solid, and malleable. Starscream began to mould it using his hooves, hoping he knew how to use those things right. Before long he was finished with a masterpiece, a cloud sculpture of him standing over a lump he imagined as his tyrannical leader. Content and with a smirk the Decepticon continued his flight a little more slowly this time, but still fast enough to cause a few shockwaves here and there. ——— “Sugarcube, ah think you should start clearin’ them clouds about now!” Called up Applejack, element of honesty and current owner of Sweet Apple Acres to one of he rest friends, Rianbow Dash who was laying back on a cloud. “If mah orchard don’t get enough sunshine ah’m holdin’ you responsible.” She warned, pulling up her Stetson hat to get a clear view, her orange coated body sweating from a hard days work as well as her blonde mane and tail looking much more unruly than usual. “Alright alright AJ I’ll do it, y’know I’m just letting it all pile up so I can be done with my daily quota.” “There’s a big surprise.” The farm pony rolled her eyes. “Just be quick about it, no telling what would happen to the orchard if-“ A cloud got sliced in two by a red blur, exploding into vapour. “What the hay?!” Another cloud hurts into vapour, followed by mad laughter and whooping. “This is amazing!” Starscream cheered, swiping at the clouds all around the small town while ignoring all eyes watching him. Applejack gawked at the massacre of the clouds, Rainbow dash could not believe what was going on as well. “Hey! Stop!” She called out, but to no avail as the figure sped off in the direction of the Everfree toward some clouds. “Oh it is on!” Flaring her wings up Rainbow Dash shot after the red pegasus. Glancing behind him he saw the rainbow mane of another pegasus shooting at him, Starscream quickly placed his wing in it’s rightful place. “Well scrap, a local organic. I’ll play along I guess, information is better than none.” He grumbled, transforming his hind legs back into hooves he skidded to a halt midair to talk as the cyan blue pegasus crashed into him. Two voices were speaking over him, barely audible with some traces of static and blurry vision from the impact. "What in tarnation where *fizzt* ya thinkin' Dash?! "I'm *crackle* sorry!" Starscream felt like he was being lifted. "I'll take him to Fluttershy's, the hospital is currently under renovations." A deeper masculine voice replied. "Alright *fizzt*, thank you Big Mac. *Fzzzzzzzzzz* ——— What a headache, wait. How long had he been knocked out? Scanning his data banks he found no data on how long, typical. Shifting in a small bed he felt a wet rag upon his head, a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane smiling kindly down at him. “Now now, don’t move too much. You took a real big blow to the head… Rainbow please apologise.” The one known as Rainbow Dash stared at the ground and snorted. “Rainbow!” She sternly commanded, still containing that kind vibe. Snorting again the cyan blue pegasus trotted over to Starscream. “Sorry… I kinda went too fast… but you were going way too fast for me to stop when you did!” She added defensively. “Whatever…” Grunted Starscream, avoiding eye contact with both of the organic life forms. “Aww somepony’s grumpy.” Cooed the pegasus with a smile, raising a hoof to give Starscream a comforting stroke on his mane. Instinctively he swatted it away, earning a glare from Rainbow Dash. “Hey! Nopony treats Fluttershy like that!” Glaring in his face now, this actually surprised him to how fast she was for an organic. “Rainbow, you of all ponies should know that if some pony’s tired you just leave them be.” Rainbow Dash seemingly floated to the ground, staring apologetically at her kinder friend. "I’m sorry mister..uhm..” “Star-…” Their names were odd, yet they matched their appearances. This could be harder than he thought to blend in, humans usually had simple names. He couldn’t copy humans yet those equines were easier for some reason, maybe the pegasi matched his design a lot closer. But this was a case where his creativity and silver tongue was a guaranteed survival. “Shooting Star.” He blurted, hoping that would work. “What a nice name, are you hungry?” He shook his head, he had no way of copying their internal anatomy and even then he would need to convert it into energon. Yet something told him their food would be less than satisfactory judging by their race even if he could eat. “Well that’s alright, just let me know if you need anything.” Now that this Fluttershy creature mentions it, his servos and internal structure needed coolant. “Water.” Nodding with another kindly smile she left the room to what he could assume was the kitchen as Rainbow Dash eyed him carefully. “Y’know, that was awesome back there. With the clouds.” She complimented, also avoiding eye contact. “Where did you learn that?” “Uh, special training.” He half-lied. “Must be special, you were goin’ around faster than any pony aside from yours truly.” Rainbow Dash held her head high with a cocky grin, obviously modesty was not her finest attribute. Fluttershy returned with a cup of water. “Here you go, oh, I hope it’s not too cold or too warm…” It did not matter regardless, coolant was coolant. He took a gulp of it, it tasted…good. Were his sensors malfunctioning or was it a result of the crash? Regardless his servos felt looser and something else felt better, he had never been shown kindness like this before. His deep thoughts were interrupted by Flutterhsy placing another wet rag on his forehead. “Now just rest here for a while, are you new to town by the way?” Excellent, I can blend in even easier if I simply lie I live near town. “Yes.” He replied with a fake smile, something Fluttershy frowned at. She was coming closer and he Starscream did not know why, had she found out his lie? Is she aware he is a Cybertronian? “Something you’re not telling me, you’re not happy aren’t you…? Was it something I did wrong?” Her wide gentle eyes showing deep regret over something she had no control of, it was honestly surprising to how seriously she took things and would take the blame for it. Reminded him of a certain Autobot leader’s kindness to his troops. “No no,” He replied. “I’m just..I’m just dealing with so many things at once here, please leave me to my stas- I mean, rest.” “Ok, if you need anything just let me know. Ok?” there it was again, that kind smile that sent uncomfortable shivers down his metal spine. This had to take some getting used to. ——— Land found, awaiting return of Starscream. Floating at a beach Tidal Wave rested his bow against the wet sand, understandably tired from landing and having to find land he settled in for status until alerted. > Chapter 4: Pain > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- More voices, this will not do. For once he gets a good statis nap and it gets interrupted by…more talking horses. Right... this world is full of them. Groaning Starscream lifted his body from the bed, the wet rag dropping to his lap. What the Allspark was he even doing here? He shouldn’t be taking pity from some worthless organics, then again, it did feel nice to be treated for once. “I see you’re better already! Oh that’s great!” A pink pony with a hairstyle resembling that of the powdered sugar clouds humans call cotton candy and bright blue eyes stared back cheerfully into his. “That means we can throw you a welcome to Ponyville PARTY!” She screamed with giddiness, another talking equine who this time irritated him to no end already. Pretty much like Cyclonus only less insane and more happy to the point of hyperactive. But the word did stick, party? Was it something those humans threw for a special occasion, with cake and all that slag? The only parties he’s ever been to was his own integration into the Decepticon forces back when Megatron spoke with words and not war, what was there to celebrate about someone joining a town? Glaring back at her blue eyes with his orange ones he placed a hoof on her face and pushed her away. “I don’t do parties.” Starscream simply replied with a bemused stare as the pink pony shook herself off then bounded back up to his face, this time even more surprised than she met him. “DON’T DO PARTIES?! Oh you must have never had a party in your life! Not even birthday parties? That is the most super saddest thing Iv’e heard!” Her mane slightly deflating at the thought of somepony who lived a lifetime without a single party. “Nuh-uh, you’re gonna come to this party, I won’t stop until you get your first super party EVER!” She proclaimed, holding up a hoof like some sort of dramatic school play for what humans called Shakespeare. “What's your name, dare I ask…?” “Pinkie Pie!” The pink pony replied with an ear to ear grin that made an audible squeaky sound, he could either laugh at the name, or spew bolts and motor oil all over the bed. What Starscream did was get up, and head towards the door, hiding his squirming lips about to burst into laughter. “I’ll… I’ll just go buy a home uh… scrap…” No money, of course they used an entirely different currency most likely. And to get a home in this rock was about the best idea to blend in he has had thus far, maybe one with a basement so he can relay signals to Tidal Wave in privacy. A hoof placed itself on Starscream’s shoulder, his wing dropped off from how loose it was. Cover blown! Abort, abort! “AHHHHH! Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you had prosthetics!” Panicked Pinkie. “Lemme get that for you!” Grabbing the wing she attempted to jam it back in before Fluttershy came back. “Ow! That’s not how- AH!” Either she was too nice or too stupid, it didn’t matter either way because the pain was unbearable. “Wrong way!” “DON’T WORRY IT’LL ALL BE OVER SOON!” ——— Head held low and grumbling the cybernetic pegasus trotted towards Sugarcube Corner, apparently as some sort of invitation to live with them for a while until he finds a ‘job’. He had no other choice, since the wing incident at the kind pegasus’ cottage he had this bandage he was forced to wear to dull the pain until his self repairs are done, though it did sting with a surge of connected electronics with every step. Not to mention suspicion was already high against him being new to the town, what did catch his wandering eyes was this giant castle made of crystals. It was practically leaking energon, no, it was made of energon. But for some reasons the citizens mention magic, you mean that protoform stuff that magicians taught at birthday parties? The area he was at looked…off…far more off than the usual houses or trees turned into houses. A gingerbread house, of course. Rolling his eyes in annoyance Starscream trotted closer to the door, a note stuck on it. Dear Shooting Star, come to the castle. It’s a surprise! It was marked with a heart and cursive writing that spelled out ‘Pinkie Pie’. Groaning for having to walk a little more, especially in this organic disguise which caused him considerable pain Starscream calculated the quickest route. He wish dot be able to simply transform and stride, but of course, public area and the mission. His mission. The building before him blew him away, it was massive up close and the energon scalings were off the chart. Just being near it fed him enough to make a trip to base and back until he either got bored or attacked, too powerful for Megatron’s filthy servos. Something seemed a little off, energon usually had no taste, in fact it was actually quite bitter from his knowledge. This tasted…good? Fresh and undisturbed. Taking a small intake of air and exhaling confidently he pushed a hoof against the door, it swung open quite easily for a giant door. Trotting inside his hooves echoed through the giant dark lobby, it was completely empty. “Slag…” Starscream muttered to himself, turning around to see the door closed. “What the?” A light lowered from the ceiling, it was a disco ball made of crystals that began to spin and illuminate the lobby. It was full to the brim with all sorts of ponies of all colours and sizes. “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” A large crowd cheered, causing the confused Decepticon to fall on on his haunches. His processor couldn’t take it, first being treated for an injury now he was welcomed already. This had to be some sort of pathetic dream! This was almost too easy! "Side-plan... pretend to party to get in their good spirits to earn their trust so they won't bother me." He whispered to himself. ——— Hours had gone by, but no transmission, this was getting troublesome. Tapping a large finger on his steel throne the leader of the Decepticons patiently awaited a signal from either Starscream or most hopefully, Tidal Wave. “How long does it usually take for someone to take over a planet not infested with puny Autobots with a death machine? A rock full of talking equines no less.” He grumbled, slamming his fist on the arm rest. “That’s it, I’m alerting them myself.” “But sir! We just need to fix the wire connection before you can send any transmissions for good!” Cyclonus called out from under the controls, holding a wrench and a few wire cutters. “Then you’ll do.” Growled Megatron, grabbing his minion by the propellor and jamming him between the wires. It worked for now, save for the amount of screaming coming from below. “Come in Tidal Wave, do you read me?” A loud snoring replaced what was usually grovelling. “This is no time for a stasis nap you bolt brained buffoon!” Just more snoring. Looks like Starscream was his only hope of a response. “Come in, soldier.” Megatron growled. “Yes?” “Oh good, you’re still awake.” Replied the Decepticon leader, gritting his teeth in a fake smile. “Pardon me when I say what is taking so long?” He growled, trying his best to not yell in rage. “The organics on this planet are smarter than you think, but don’t worry. I have everything under control, they already accepted me as one of them. So just sit back and be patient ‘mighty’ Megatron.” Starscream said with a smirk, even in his pony disguise this irritated Megatron, actually it made him even more annoyed. “Energon like this takes time to get your servos on, I’ll be back with Tidal Wave within a few…Earth weeks.” “Unacceptable! I order you to gather it and bring it now!” He roared. “Aren’t we whiny?” Laughed the cybernetic pegasus as the transmission cut off, Cyclonus crawling out covered in wires. That was the last straw. “STARSCREEAAAAM!” Stomping inadvertently on the crawling Decepticon’s head at his feet who yelped in pain. “Thank you Megatron…” Cyclonus weakly replied before going into stasis lock from the pain. “Remember to tell him to continue repairs when he wakes up,” Ordered Megatron to Demolisher who for the whole time was paralysed with fear at watching his leader’s cruelty. “understood?” He sternly asked, looming over his soldier. “Y-Yes, sir!”