Another accident in Wheeljack's lab goes wrong, and now Sunset Shimmer, the Rainbooms, the Shadowbolts, and the Autobots have to learn to live in each other's lives.
Now off from their two week ban, the Bolts are back to help Sunset Shimmer's friends the Rainbooms, and the Autobots back in action. But unfortunately, another accident occurs in Wheeljack's laboratory and things don't quite necessarily go well... at least no one turned into a baby this time. Right?
This was originally written and published by FourShadow. Go check him/her out. He/she is pretty cool.
It was another beautiful Sunday afternoon. The Rainbooms were all gathered in the park with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on lookout. They had all gotten word that there was a Decepticon fugitive from the Alchemor running rampant in Canterlot, and they had all mobilized to hunt it down.
“Any signs yet?” Optimus asked.
“Nothing yet. Wait… hold on,” Sunset said, looking down at her device. “I’ve got something!”
Jumping from the air was a orange vehicular mode, which converted into its alternate form. Decepticon marks on his shoulders, lobster-like pincers, and a crustacean face with blue eyes sticking out.
“Yep. There’s Bisk!” Rainbow called.
“One hundred trees jumped in under an hour! Make that two hundred and I will own the record!” The Decepticon shouted.
“I hate to ruin your fun, Bisk, but you’ve caused enough damage!” Sunset said, readying herself for a fight.
“Y’know, I wonder if he eats fish on his downtime…” Bumblebee pondered as he pulled out his blasters.
“Less talking, more fighting, Bumblebee!” shouted Rainbow.
“I’m gonna get me the catch of the day!” Bisk charged forward and drove his pincers towards Sunset and her friends.
“Jump!” Sunset yelled, jumping off to the side avoiding contact with his pincers. It was a very close shave, as she felt her hair graze the side of Bisk’s claws.
“Oh good heavens! Sunset, are you alright?” Rarity cried. “He didn’t slice any of your beautiful hair, did he?”
“Nah, but if I did, then you would’ve screamed.” Bisk was about to nip Rarity’s off, but Optimus tackled him and rammed his shoulder into his face.
“My hair’s fine, Rarity.” Sunset got back to her feet. “Just get your head in the game. Blasters up, everyone!”
Everyone readied their blasters to fight.
“Everyone, set for stun!” Optimus ordered.
“Y’know, on a scale of one to three hundred, how dangerous is Bisk?” Pinkie asked, cartwheeling and firing her blasters in perfect sync.
“He’s more a Z-Grade enemy here.” Jazz replied, twirling his gun around. “Not too big of a problem, but a nuisance nonetheless.”
“So… he’s less than a hundred?” asked Pinkie. “I just wanna know. This new sci-fi anime I’ve been watching says people over a hundred are criminals and those over three hundred should just get blown up…”
“Basically somewhere on a 25 of a threat level. Not much of a threat.” Jazz shrugged.
“Then why are we fighting him?” Pinkie stopped moving, only for Bisk to kick her into a cotton candy cart. She climbed out and began picking all of the cotton candy out of her hair in massive clumps, then proceeded to eat each individual bite.
Sunset sighed. “Pinkie, we’ve got to round up all of the prisoners who escaped. Because of Starscream, our entire planet’s in danger of being hurt by those guys, so we got to get them all locked up again. Now… everyone… FIRE!”
The girls all charged up their blasters and opened fire on Bisk, but unfortunately, he turned into vehicle mode and outran all of their shots, before leaping over and landing a few feet behind them, knocking them all onto the ground face-first.
“Y’know, you’re not very good at this, girls.” Bisk smirked at the felled Rainbooms. “I expected Megatron or Starscream to beat you, not lil’ old me…”
“Good thing we’re standing!” Bumblebee yelled before smacking his face with his fist, knocking him out cold.
Sunset and the girls looked at Bisk as he fell on his back, twitching in pain. She smiled.
“Great job guys. Well, should we uh… should we call someone? Take him Canterlot Prison?” Twilight asked. “Put him there with everyone we’ve captured so far?”
“There is only one place for Alchemor convicts…” Optimus Prime stood atop the felled Bisk. “I trust you know what I mean.”
“I believe I do.” Sunset nodded.
“Y’know, I’ve not tangled with dimensional transportation in over three decades, guys.” Wheeljack messed around with a giant ring-shaped machine, with all sorts of lights around it. “No guarantees it’ll work, either. Most of the time I try teleportation, things end up as ash or don’t even go through at all…”
“Or whatever machines you make go wrong and they turn teenagers into babies.” Sunset quipped.
“Hey! That wasn’t my fault, Sunset!” Wheeljack shot back. “Just a slight miscalculation in the torque of the ray. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Sunset just smirked.
“We have no place on Earth to keep Alchemor fugitives, and we all know that getting back to Cybertron is an impossibility,” said Optimus Prime. “Therefore, we must do the only logical thing and send the prisoners deep into space, far away from any planets, space stations, or any other cosmic life.”
“You sure it’s not just gonna toss ‘em out at the barber shop like last time?” Rainbow smirked too.
“I’m positive.” Wheeljack said back. “And no, it won’t send them to a parallel dimension! Not like last time…”
“I suppose it’s all for the best.” Rarity watched the portal spring to life. “If there’s no way to keep them in check here, then space has to be the best bet for all of us.”
“We’re probably going to have to invest in making a prison for them at some point.” Knockout, a medic spoke. “If there’s any of them who can fly, they might crash land back onto the planet which will make capturing them another long hassle…”
“I agree with your idea, Knockout, but finding the right resources and Cybertronian tech to house them all in might take ages.” Optimus took Bisk by the head and carried him over to the portal. “And really, Bisk didn’t do much for the Cons anyways. This should be a merciful send-off.”
“Better than Megatron blowing his brains out with a Decepticon rifle.” Fluttershy nodded.
Knockout shrugged. “True, true. Oh, before I forget, how have our Crystal Prep friends been since the incident of uh… two weeks ago?”
“It’s been two weeks already?” Sunset went through her phone and checked the date. Sure enough, it had been two weeks since the Shadowbolts were last at the base. “Huh, I guess you’re right. We can let them back in now.”
“I’ll call up their guardians to pick them up.”
“Perfect!” Wheeljack said. “And when you do… there’s something I wanted to show you guys. I’ve got a new experiment set up, and I want you all to give me some feedback on it.”
“Its not another age-reversal experiment is it?” Sunset asked.
“No, no! Far from it.” Wheeljack shook his head. “I manufactured a new tool to help batle the Decepticons. Since they like to mess with our heads, I figure that two can play at that game. My new device will allow you to get into a Con’s head, to really break ‘em up from the inside so we can mop ‘em up on the outside.”
Fluttershy gulped. “It won’t kill them.. Will it? I know they don’t like us, and we don’t like them but… it seems cruel to do something that could kill them.”
“No, it’s not gonna kill them. What do I look like, a monster?” Wheeljack asked. “It’s just gonna give them some psychological nightmares, make them hesitate so that we can have more clean shots at ‘em.”
Around the corner, a green Autobot made himself visible.
“Hey, the Shadowbolts are here,” said the Autobot, twiddling his fingers. “Well, most of them anyway. Highbrow’s having a heck of a time trying to get Sugarcoat to come over and Sour Sweet and Smallfoot went out for a drive. They said they’d be here in a few minutes.”
“Excellent, Hound.” Optimus replied. “Make sure that their gear is returned to them.”
“Got it, boss!” Hound saluted before leaving.
The Autobot guardian to Twilight, Punch, looked back at the others.
“Am I the only who’s a tad worried for those girls? They don’t seem like the happiest bunch of people on this planet.”
“Sugarcoat was pretty upset when I watched her last week at the coffee shop.” Sunset tapped her feet. “She was typing ferociously on her laptop and didn’t say a word to anyone. I’m worried about her…”
“Well, since they’ll be coming soon, maybe we can talk to them.” Ironhide said, “Come on, let's give them a warm welcome back.”
The girls and the Autobots stepped out of the lab and handed Bisk over to Wheeljack, before walking into the main entrance where the Shadowbolts were coming out of a Groundbridge. And standing near the bridge was Hound, Blaster, and Outback.
“Welcome back, Indigo.” Hound grinned, taking a knee down to greet his friend.
“Good to be back, Hound.” Indigo suited herself up. “Man, two weeks felt like forever!”
“Well, you’re back now. I’m glad to have my partner back on duty.”
Lemon grinned as she faced her partner. “Blaster, my man! Good to see ya!” She leapt up and gave him a high-five dunk
Blaster chuckled. “Lemon Zest. Still as spunky as ever. I missed that happy smile on your face.”
“Yeah. I tried my best to keep it the past couple of weeks.” Lemon fiddled with her headphones’ playlist. “Even with the new songs by Sapphire Shores and Coloratura out, I missed this place so much too…”
Sunny Flare greeted her partner with a friendly look as well.
“G-day Sunny. I’m glad to see a friendly face like yours back here.” Outback said in his friendly Australian accent.
“Still have that accent, huh Outback?” Sunny asked.
“Course I do. It’s grown on me right proper.” Outback smiled and crossed his arms. “Now, how’s about we light somethin’ up and eat? You must be starving.”
“I’d love that.” Sunny grinned.
“Well if you do, be back soon. I got a new experiment I want you all to see.” Wheeljack said.
“It better not be a age-regression experiment buddy!” Lemon snarled and jabbed her finger.
“It’s a weapon to attack the Decepticons with, Lemon.” Wheeljack deadpanned. “I’m not gonna make the same mistakes twice.”
Lemon’s finger drooped. “Oh. Sorry…” She innocently rubbed the back of her head.
Soon, two more forms came out of the portal. One was Sugarcoat who looked less than happy, and the other one was her guardian Highbrow: a Headmaster who left Cybertron to help the Autobots with their fight with Megatron.
“Look, I know you’re not happy about this, but just be glad that you’re back.” Sunset walked up to Sugarcoat, before she could even open her mouth. “It’s one thing to be punished, but it’s really not a good idea to be a bad apple about it.”
“Perhaps its best we leave her be for the time being Sunset.” Highbrow spoke. “She’s had that demeanor for the past two weeks as her friends told me. Not exactly healthy to be mad for that long…”
“Perhaps Wheeljack should make a machine that takes the bad things out of her and leaves only the good stuff…” Sunset stroked her chin. “But then there’d be a bad Sugarcoat that’d probably break out of the machine, attack everyone, and try and throw Good Sugar in there so she can cause mayhem in the real world…”
Sugarcoat tilted her glasses and huffed. “Don’t even start with me, Sunset.”
“Geez, who died in her house?” Lemon asked.
“Maybe Megatron is hiring. At least he’d treat us harshly, just as how we’re supposed to be treated…” she mumbled.
Highbrow shook his head. “Sugarcoat, no. A girl like you deserves respect, you aren’t evil like that Principal Cinch.”
“But CPA doesn’t DO RESPECT!” She screamed. “I WANT PRINCIPAL CINCH BACK! NOT THAT BUBBLY-HAIRED MORON, CADENCE!”
Highbrow shrunk down and slowly backed off. He could feel his head about to jump out of his socket.
The others were left scared as well. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all slowly backed away from her angry face.
“Yeah, Wheeljack, you’d better make that de-toxifier in your spare time. Sugarcoat NEEDS therapy…” Sunset walked off with the group.
“No problem, Sunset.” Wheeljack cracked his cyber-fingers.
Later, all of the Autobots, the Rainbooms, and the Shadowbolts had shown up into Wheeljack’s lab for the experiment. Sour Sweet and Smallfoot had finally arrived as well, and needless to say the couple were trying to keep a good distance from an angry Sugarcoat.
“Now, then. This new device should allow us to gain the upper hand over the Decepticon horde.” Wheeljack held a small remote in his hand, which was connected to a large laser-like device with red rings around it. “Activate it, and the Cons’ll have nightmares more terrifying than any horror movie you could ever think of…”
“Are you sure this is safe Wheeljack?” Applejack asked. “I still remember last time…”
“Yeah, I don’t want anyone to repeat past trauma.” Ironhide shivered.
“I’m not gonna screw it up!” Wheeljack yelled. “Why do you all keep doubting me? I’m just as capable of beating Megatron as the rest of you guys!”
The girls all raised their eyebrows at Wheeljack.
“What?”
“Just go on with the experiment already!” Sideswipe whined.
“Look, I know you’re all upset with me because I ruined AJ’s lunch, caused Rainbow to lose an award, and sent the Bolts away from here for two weeks, but you really need to know that I am a capable scientist. And who would you rather have me working for here? Optimus or Megatron?” He asked, looking as the group fell silent.
Sunset just shook her head. “Just get on with it, Wheeljack. We’re waiting.”
Wheeljack activated the device. “Always naysaying everything I create. Thinking I cause more problems than accidents… I’ll show them…” he mumbled under his breath and secretly increased the power of the device. “I think that it’s time we shake things up and no-one will be the wiser…”
The machine’s power increased, and the sound grew louder.
“Uh… is it supposed to do that?” Applejack asked.
Wheeljack’s eyes bulged. The machine’s power was sounding louder and louder, like it was about to explode. His little act of sabotage had gone too far and now he was in danger of blowing the whole base to pieces.
“Everyone! Hit the deck!” Optimus ordered.
But before anyone could move, the machine detonated, sending a blast of white light out the room and down the corridors, blinding everyone inside. The sound of an explosion could be heard, with clattering metal, tumbling ash, and all other cacophonous noises shattering the silence.
Wheeljack opened his eyes and looked around him. Everyone was out on the ground, groaning in agony from the blast. Ashes and soot covered their faces and half of Sugarcoat’s hair has been burned to pieces.
“Are you all okay?” Wheeljack asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Applejack stood up, but realised she was in much bulkier clothing than usual. “Hey? What am I doing with a robot body?”
Lemon Zest got herself up as well, and she groaned.
“I can’t believe this, I… wait. Why am I bigger? And…” Lemon’s eyes widened. “Where are my boobs?”
She felt herself, and she felt her behind. “That is not mine!”
“Oh... “ Sunset moaned as she got up. “Wait… something isn’t right. Everything’s much bigger than before.” He looked to the left and he saw the girls. “Girls, did I grow smaller?”
“Wait. Why is my voice so deep?” Asked Optimus, looking around. “Plus, why do I sound like a boy now?”
Wheeljack blinked. “Oh no… everyone, please don’t panic… but I think you all just switched bodies.”
Everyone examined themselves for a brief moment and screamed in harmony with each other, slamming their hands to their temples. The only ones who didn’t were Sour Sweet and Smallfoot, who seemed to be fine with their new forms.
“Huh. They took that better than I thought they would.” Wheeljack said.
Everyone except for Sour and Smallfoot were still screaming in fear at the situation they had been stuck in. Now they were stuck in each other’s bodies.
“Geez, how long can they scream?” Wheeljack tried to say over their terrors, holding his hands on his audio receptors. “Surely, they must be throwing out their voices by doing this…”
After five more minutes, everyone had finally stopped screaming and tried to get adjusted to their new bodies. The Rainbooms and Shadowbolts tried to feel around in their bot bodies while the Autobots had issues trying to balance with their human bodies.
“Why are we switched!?” Twilight screamed.
“We can’t be robots again!” Rainbow yelled. “I have an important track meet tomorrow and I can’t miss it for anything!”
“Is it really that bad?” Smallfoot asked.
Everyone looked back at Sour and Smallfoot who still stood. They didn’t seem like they were freaking out.
“Wait… did they get switched too?” Pinkie Pie broke the silence.
“Let's see how long it takes them,” Sour snarled with Smallfoot’s voice. “I bet five bucks Indy won’t last ten minutes.”
“Ahem.” Indigo snapped, with her black hands on her, er, his hips. “Care to explain why you aren’t freaking out, Sour, Smallfoot?”
“Well…” Smallfoot said. “I’ve actually been playing human several times in the past when I took Sour on dates. I’ve pretty much gotten used to this. Plus…” She did one spin, twirling the skirt around that Sour was wearing. “I actually wanted to see what things were like from my partner’s view.”
Fluttershy let out a little giggle. “I will admit, it is kind of nice to see things from another perspective.” She raised her arm out that belonged to Bumblebee, looking at herself. “This is pretty cool.”
“Yeah, okay, it may be fun for you two, but it's not exactly a picnic for us! I mean look at me, my legs are skinny, and I’ve got a high crotch!” Sunny complained. Looking to the side, she saw Outback in her own skin tapping his foot against the ground with a scowl. “Not that it's a bad thing!”
“Look, clearly this was all another one of his big design flaws.” Sugarcoat made air quotes in Highbrow’s body. “Just turn us back to normal and get the machine set up the right way and we’ll leave you to it.”
“Uh… that may be a problem.” Wheeljack said.
“Let me guess.” Highbrow knelt in Sugarcoat’s body. “It’ll take far too long and you’re just one Autobot. You really need to get another scientist friend, Wheeljack.”
“I’d hire Von Joy, but he’s busy over in Canterlot. Wish we took Perceptor with us back down to Earth…” Wheeljack shook his head.
“Look, even if you can’t fix us, you’ve really made a right mess of this, Wheeljack.” Outback scoffed in Sunny’s outfit. “I don’t think you’re really cut out for this sorta thing if you’re just gonna make screw-up after screw up.”
“Look! I may screw up every now and again, but we always get things fixed. Until we can get this manner resolved, you all need to learn to live in each other’s body for the meantime.”
“I can’t be in this body for so long!” Lemon whined. “Blaster’s got my boobs! And my butt!”
“...I did not need to hear that.” Sour said, shaking her head, rubbing her red hand on her green visor.
“Hold on, everyone. Ya’ll are takin’ this a little bit too hard.” Applejack spoke through Ironhide’s voice. “I’m sure that Wheeljack didn’t mean to do any harm with his little experiment, but now we need him to try and fix this as fast as we can. We wouldn’t want any other bots to notice us like this.”
“He, I mean SHE’s right.” Sunset stammered. “We can’t let the others know, or they’re going to panic.”
Rainbow nodded. “She’s right. Besides, we were actually bots for a few weeks when we first met the Autobots. If we can make it through a few weeks, then I think several hours should be a piece of cake! Or a day…”
“Easy for you to say!” Sugarcoat snapped. “You’re not the one who has a body with a head that detaches easily.”
“Technically, Autobot heads are harder to sever than human heads,” said Optimus Prime. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, girls.”
“Unless you are a Headmaster like me. Well, was.” Highbrow replied, staring up at his own body. “Do be careful though. If you try to transform, my head will just detach into a smaller body. It’s a lot harder to transform back into a giant again.”
“I hope that I am not intruding, but I have news of another Decepticon renegade out on the loose,” Teletraan-1’s voice drifted through the lab. “I have reports that Blitzwing is rallying a lower-rank Decepticon by the name of Stockade into destroying the nearby forest. If he is not stopped, the oxygen of Canterlot could fall rapidly, plunging humans into a state of breathlessness.”
Sunset’s eyes widened. “Scrap. Okay, looks like we’ve got a Con stop. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, you’re with me. The rest of you… I’ll think of something later. Autobots…” Sunset readied herself to sound off. “Transform and roll out!”
Sunset’s body changed its shape into the semi-truck that was Optimus’s vehicle mode, and the rest of the girls transformed into their guardian’s alternate forms as well. Then in a zoom, all of them rushed out of the lab ready to face their foe.
“Great, so they get to go deal with a Con while we’re by ourselves?” Sugarcoat complained.
“Hey come on, we can still have some fun. Maybe there’s a place we can go to for the time being. What if, uh… Hey. How about this. Teletraan-1. Just for fun, can you find us the nearest haunted, abandoned amusement park?” Indigo smirked.
“The oldest site is a few dozen miles north of the city,” Teletraan-1 showed off the site of an abandoned theme park. “It was shut down after a fatal error on one of the roller-coasters, taking the lives of six people in the process.”
“Can you open up a Groundbridge for us there? We need a place to chill for the time being, plus… if we’re gonna be in these bodies for a bit, we can practice where no one will see us.” Indigo said.
“Understood. Opening Groundbridge now,” he boomed.
“Come on ladies, er, guys.” Indigo said, running forward. The other girls ran forward as well, leaving their guardians stuck in the girls bodies.
“Hey, wait! Don’t damage my…” But it was too late, and they had already left. “Body.” Hound drooped. “Well great, now they’ve run off with our bodies.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” said Outback. “Anyone fancy a barbie while we wait? I’ve heard these human bodies have amazing senses of taste.”
“I would suppose so,” Smallfoot said, doing another twirl and giggling. “I really like these skirts. They’re so cute! Knockout, what do you think?”
Knockout was too busy staring at himself in a mirror, looking at Rarity’s entire body from top to bottom “Oh my god…” he gasped.
“What? What’s wrong?” Bumblebee asked.
“I’m FABULOUS!” Knockout grinned.
Blitzwing and Stockade were blasting trees out of the ground with their heavy firepower. Being a triple changer, Blitzwing had no trouble bombing some trees in jet mode while using tank mode to clear out the ones that he couldn’t reach. As for Stockade, he used his blaster to destroy the tree trunks from the root, causing one to hit another and cause a domino effect of falling trees.
“Those foolish AutoNOTS aren’t gonna be able to stop this!” Blitzwing took to the skies again. “Take that, nature!”
Sunset and the girls all halted in place, watching the two Cons make their attack.
“Looks like we’d better hurry.” Sunset moved closer and hid behind a tree. “Take out the lower-level con first, then move on to Blitzwing.”
“Seems like Starscream’s now sending his own little minions to round up Cons.” Rainbow smirked. “Can’t he just do it himself?”
“Starscream isn’t fit to run a bakery, Rainbow,” said Rarity. “What makes you think he could possibly command the Decepticon horde?”
“Well… Megatron’s not around. He’s free to command everyone else. I’m only saying.” Rainbow shrugged.
“Let's talk about this later. We need to stop them before someone gets hurt. Autobots, let's Blitzwing them back into the Stockade!”
Pinkie Pie just facepalmed.
“Oh, COME. ON!” Sunset groaned. “Can’t I just have one good battle cry?!”
But before anyone could say anything else, Blitzwing drove his sharp jet’s tip right into Sunset’s back, before taking her high into the air and slamming her down on the earth. He then turned into tank mode and pointed the barrel at her face.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Optimus Prime…” Blitzwing chuckled. “Of all the times I’ve had to fight you, this was the weakest ambush you’ve done yet.”
“It may not be our best, but we still win in the aftermath!” Twilight retorted.
Blitzwing huffed. “Stockade… see that Bot there? That would be one of our former Cons. Show him what happens to those who betray the Decepticons.”
“By your command, master.” Stockade pulled out a hot burning stick used to mark cows. It had the Decepticon logo on it and he was about to put it right in Twilight’s eye when Rainbow just kicked Blitzwing away and flipped Stockade onto his backside.
“Attack!” Blitzwing hissed and turned into jet mode.
The girls and Decepticons were locked in a fast-paced battle that no human eye could keep track of. Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to keep up with Blitzwing while the others focused on Stockade, who was quick to turn into vehicle mode and outrun their attacks.
“I wish Sideswipe could move at Blurr’s speed,” Rainbow groaned, narrowly missing another hit with her fists.
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood for a moment and pulled out guns from their backs, ready to shoot.
“Ready, Fluttershy?” Pinkie grinned.
“You sure we can beat this guy?” Fluttershy asked. “He’s just one Decepticon, y’know. And there are seven of us.”
“Aww, it’ll be fine!” Pinkie booped Fluttershy’s nose.
The girls just opened fire on Stockade, but Blitzwing kicked up the ground and made a quick wall of earth for a few seconds, which fell back into the ground shortly after.
“Oh come on!” Rainbow groaned, positioning her gun. She pulled the trigger, but Blitzwing came charging at her, and threw a hard punch into her face, knocking her flat on her back. “Why are these suits so friggin heavy?! I could just use my magic and run rings around this guy!”
“We have to work with what we’ve got, Rainbow!” Sunset called back. “Just keep trying!”
“Look, I can see you’re out of practice, so I’m just gonna put you out of your miseries real quick.” Blitzwing turned back into transformer mode and charged up his cannons. Two massive beams of light slashed along the ground, causing explosions to burst up around the Rainbooms.
The girls were thrown all around in the air as the explosion went off, and as it did, Stockade and Blitzwing just transformed and left the scene while the girls suffered the attack.
Sunset groaned as she pulled herself up. “You know what… being a robot is a lot harder now. At least before it was easier.” She stretched her arms around, trying to loosen some of the rocks that fell into her pits.”
“Hey, I’m sure that the Autobots are having just as much problems as we are…” Applejack tried standing back up, but couldn’t move an inch.
The bots were all gathered around a barbecue, laughing as they fried up burgers, hot dogs, and shrimp. Outback manned the grill while the others sat around a picnic table outside.
“Man, I gotta hand it to the girls. I’m pretty jealous right about now.” Bumblebee took a big bite out of a burger. “This stuff’s pretty good!”
“Well there’s one other thing you forget, Bee.” Smallfoot said, leaning forward. “I’m a cyborg, remember? I live off of human food. But I am glad you all are enjoying what I enjoy every day.” Smallfoot just smiled as she laid back on a beach chair.
“Man, I kinda wish I was a cyborg like you, Smallfoot.” Sideswipe slid a hot dog into his mouth. “Thrr frrd hrrh hr ammmzng!”
Smallfoot let out a small scowl as she wiped some spit from her face. “Okay, first of all, when you eat, please don’t talk with food in your mouth. That’s gross. Also, chew with your mouth closed, I don’t need to be staring at the inside of Rainbow’s mouth.”
“Oh!” Sideswipe gulped the food down. “Sorry about that.”
“Hey it’s fine Sideswipe, don’t beat yourself up about it.” Smallfoot said, sipping a drink.
“I tell ya, I don’t think I’ve ever had a barbie in ever.” Outback took a shrimp from the grill and took a big bite out of it. “Now I know how the Australians feel when they they say throw a shrimp on the barbie.”
Highbrow took a bite from a burger as well, but he thought for a moment as he looked around.
“Hey, uh guys? This just occurred to me. Are we sure the girls would be… okay with this?” Highbrow asked.
“Why do you ask that?” Hound replied.
“Well, we don’t exactly know their diets, and I’m not sure how much this food will affect them.” Highbrow said, taking another sip of water.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, guys. We’re all just chilling. It’s what humans do, don’t they?” Hound smiled and slipped a shrimp into his mouth. “Plus, I’m sure the girls can manage putting on a few calories.”
Smallfoot blinked as he looked at Indigo/Hound. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m only eating lightly because I don’t want to make my girl upset when she gets back in this body. If there’s one thing I know she wouldn’t want, it’s gaining a lot of weight.”
“You can feel free to finish whenever y’want, y’know.”
“Well, I’m going to at least play safe for a bit. This isn’t my body after all.” Smallfoot said.
“Speaking of which, how are the girls doing?” Optimus lifted a brow. “I’m sure they can succeed, but I still want to make sure.”
“Last I heard, they were doing alright.” Ironhide replied. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“I agree. Rarity may be a fighter, but I’m positive she’ll know not to scratch my paint.” Knockout said, sipping some tea. “Ah… that is absolutely wonderful. Now I see why she loves it so much.”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Punch said, with a small gulp. “I hope…”
All of a sudden, a groundbridge opened up, and the Rainbooms all fell out the other side, covered in ashes and blaster marks. They all groaned and looked up at the Autobots as the portal behind them faded away.
Sunset breathed heavily. “I was wrong! Being in each other’s bodies is a lot harder than I thought!”
Rainbow then glanced up and she let out a scowl at Sideswipe. “Hey! What are you doing to my body?! You’re gonna get me fat and stretched out!”
“Yeah… I think it’s time to jet.” Sideswipe was about to run away, but Rainbow quickly caught him.
“Oh no you don’t, boy.” Rainbow crossed her arms. “You’re not getting away that easy.”
Sideswipe sighed. “Scrap.”
Rainbow shook her head. “I need to stay in shape for the game tomorrow, and putting burgers in my belly isn’t helping!”
Rarity groaned as she pulled herself up, and Knockout froze when he got a look at himself. There were now scratches and marks all over his finish. Worse, he noticed his right arm had one of the car doors removed.
“You… do you know how hard that is to replace?!” He spluttered.
Rarity gulped. “Oh no…”
Twilight sighed. “This is going to be harder than I thought…”
The Groundbridge portal opened up, and the five Crystal Prep students, still in their partners’ bodies walked on through. Once it closed, they looked ahead the first thing they noticed was a sign in front of them that was boarded up wtih closed marks, and an additional sign that said, “Keep Out.”
“Geez, what happened to this place?” Indigo looked at the vines coiling around the fence. “It’s like no-one’s been here since, like, forever!”
“Which is why it’s the perfect place to hide out.” Sunny Flare cut down the padlock holding the gate shut. “No-one’s gonna find us here.”
Sour could only gulp. “Are you sure this was a good idea? Why not just go to a forest or something? Why an abandoned park? Not to mention it's outside of Canterlot?”
“Oh, relax, Sour. It’s an abandoned amusement park. If anything, we’re gonna be the scariest things here.” Lemon smirked. “Plus, I kinda wanna see how a clown would react to a fifty-foot tall robot.”
“That’s an implication that we’re not alone. And this place has been boarded up so technically we would be alone. But I’d like to point out if there is someone around that sees us, we don’t have anything good to cover,” Sugarcoat deadpanned. “This is outside of Canterlot, and the only people who know that the Autobots exist is EVERYONE in Canterlot. If anyone else outside finds out, we’re dead.”
“Sugarcoat, you’re overthinking this.” Sunny wrapped her arm around Sugarcoat’s. “We’re armed to the teeth and we’re all together. Nothing’s gonna kill us out here.”
“Yet six people died here in a roller coaster accident?” Sugarcoat lifted a brow
“Oh trust me, Sugarcoat, there’s a lot more to that story than you know.” Indigo smirked. “Plus, it was totally human error. The machine didn’t just have some wacky-dacky malfunction or anything…”
“Well, enough talk. Let's just go in,” Sugarcoat said walking forward.
The girls pushed through the gates and stared up at the sky. Ravens cawed above them as they flew from their metallic perches and dropped feathers over their heads. Every part of the amusement park, including the food stands had either rotted and crumbled or had been completely overtaken by moss and ivy. There was almost no part of the park with any color or life to it of any kind.
The girls all looked around the place, observing the rusted machines that laid dead and unmoved. Sour, who moved close behind them kept on shaking and the metal on her body rattled and shuddered with every step that she took. A loud grinding noise filled her ears and before she could say anything, one of the carriages from the ferris wheel rotted off of the frame and crashed right behind her.
Sour let out a small squeak and she nearly jumped as the crashing noises filled her ears.
“Sour, dude. Calm down… Geez. You’re more jumpy as a robot than you are a human,” Lemon said.
Sour shivered a bit more. “S-Sorry girls… I guess… I don’t know. Something about this place doesn’t feel right.
“C’mon, what’s gonna happen?” Indigo shrugged. “Are a bunch of clown zombies just gonna come outta nowhere and start chasing us down?
“Or maybe a killer clown from outer space with a laser weapon that’ll turn you into cotton candy!” Lemon joked.
“Girls! I don’t want any ‘nam flashbacks to Killing Floor 2, alright?!” Sour shouted. “It’s bad enough that there’s killer clowns. But zombies dressed up as every circus act under the sun? No. Thank. You.”
Sugarcoat scowled back at Sour. If she could raise an eyebrow, she could. But having an entire blue visor as a set of eyes didn’t express much.
“Sour, what exactly is making you this jumpy? I don’t recall you having much fear.” Sugarcoat replied, turning herself around with her hands on her hips.
Sour shuddered a bit more as she looked. “I don’t know, I guess… okay, I’ll admit… I am actually afraid of abandoned places that look like this…”
“Ah, you’re just a bit of a scaredy cat.” Indigo stroked the cannon on her shoulders. “We’re Autobots now. Nothing scares us.”
“Y-You don’t know that! I know everyone’s scared of something! My partner has fears, you know that!” Sour said.
Lemon rolled her eyes. “Sour, how long ago did this supposed monster devour her planet? Almost, maybe thousands of years ago? It's not here now, is it?”
“N-No…”
“Then you’re fine!” Lemon said.
Sour just shivered some more, still clutching close to Sunny Flare.
Suddenly, a creaking noise came from the carousel and everyone shot their heads over towards it. But they saw nothing but a derelict hunk of metal, worn down from years of neglect and abandonment.
“Look, Sour, it’s gonna be fine. There’s five of us, actually…” Lemon tapped her yellow compartment on her chest. “Nine of us. I’ve got cassette warriors in my chest, which Blaster forgot to eject. That’s nine people in total, we’ll be fine.”
Sugarcoat just sighed and kept on walking. As they looked around, there were more sights in the park to be seen. An abandoned roller coaster with a few of the cart components off the track, looking as if they had crashed. Worn out paint from a few more buildings, along with more moss and plant life growing around them.
“So… where do we go now?” Indigo asked.
“Why not try and see if we can transform? I think that’s our first step.” Sunny spoke up.
“Transform? As in, we turn into the cars and drive around and stuff?” Indigo lifted a brow. “I’m kinda cool staying like this, dudes.”
“Technically, three of you can, but Lemon and I can’t. Lemon’s just gonna turn into a boombox, and Highbrow told me not to since one, he’s a helicopter; and two, if I do, my entire head will disconnect into a smaller robot. I’m not even sure if I can get back into robot form if I do that,” Sugarcoat said.
“Well, if Highbrow can transform and turn back to normal without any problems, then I’m sure you can do the same, Sugarcoat.” Sour lowered her brows. “Aren’t you and him supposed to be the brains of this operation?”
“I’m being smart here. I don’t know if I can even change back, not to mention, I have never actually flown a helicopter.” Sugarcoat crossed her arms. “Highbrow’s small head does all of the flying.”
Lemon shook her head. “That just sounds weird... “
“The point is, I know nothing about being a Headmaster.” Sugarcoat scoffed.
“Oh come on, this shouldn’t be too hard!” Sour said as she got some space. “After all, we were technically Autobots one time, right?”
“Yeah, then we lost the suits and now they’re probably in Starscream’s hands by now,” Sugarcoat retorted. “Your point is?”
“The point is that we should be used to transforming by now, Sugarcoat.” Indigo put her hand on Sugarcoat’s shoulders. “In fact, let me try first.” As Indigo tried to transform, she found it hard to mold her arms and legs in the right way to get the right shape. “Oh… hang on a bit. Just a sec. Let me just…”
“Let me try!” Sour said. “Smallfoot’s transformation is simple.” She moved her arms close to fold them in, but nothing happened. “Oh come on! Transform! Uh… Convert! Convert! Come on! Convert!” Sour groaned. “This shouldn’t be that hard! All she does is tuck her head in, move her arms to her sides, and bend her legs backward, that’s it!”
“I can just imagine how jarring it was for Optimus when he had to do it the first time.” Sunny just looked up to the sky. “But anyway, you’re all trying way too hard here. Let me do it.” Sunny contorted her arms and legs and was able to pull the shape off perfectly on her first attempt. “Booyah.”
“Question.” Sugarcoat asked. “How will you transform back?”
“Simple.” Sunny jumped back into robot form and gave a smug pout. “Like that.”
Sugarcoat would’ve rolled her eyes if she could. “Mini-bots always have the simple transformations.”
Indigo groaned some more as she tried to transform, but with how she groaned, she sounded like she was constipated.
“You okay there, Indigo?” Lemon asked.
“Ergh… how does this work!?” Indigo groaned. “I swear, Hound’s gotta be in pain whenever he tries doing this kinda stuff…” With how she was bending her body, Indigo might as well have been in yoga class instead.
“Indigo.” Sunny spoke. “Relax… just concentrate and calm down, Indigo.”
“Easy for you to say!” Indigo’s leg hung straight over her head and her finger digits were popping out of her hand. “You’re not the one who looks like they’re about to die from playing a game of Twister!”
“Look… it’s not that hard. I’ll show you girls.” Sunny said.
She moved in front of Sour and Indigo and readied herself.
“Just focus into the center of your brain, calm your senses, and tell yourself to change shape.”
Just as the girls were about to untie Indigo, they heard the laughter of some gravelly teenage boys in the distance. They looked out through the stalls and saw a group of humans running towards one of the chain-link fences towards the park.
Lemon scoffed. “Great. Now what?”
“Hide. Now.” Sugarcoat sternly said.
The bolts all hid, but Indigo was still tied up. “Uh, guys?! Are you forgetting about somebody?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” Sugarcoat grabbed Indigo by the chest and dragged her into hiding.
Everyone peaked their heads out a corner and watched the boys laughing.
“What do we do now? We can’t exactly tell them to go.” Sour asked. “If there’s any footage of us taken, the Autobots are dead. We have enough problems, we don’t need military teams hunting them down and melting them to make new weapons of mass destruction.”
Everyone stared at Sour awkwardly.
“Can’t we just knock ‘em unconscious and wipe their memories or something?” Lemon asked, only to get glares from the others. “What? It’d be much easier for them.”
“We’re giant robots. And we can’t exactly call anyone at the moment.” Sugarcoat said. “Hmm… wait. Indigo, you said this place was closed down for the deaths of six people on the roller coaster right?”
“And it was closed again for child killings, malfunctioning equipment, unclean substances, along with lord knows how many other murders,” Indigo said. “Seriously, this place has a messed up history.”
“Since when was child killing brought into this?” Sunny asked. “All that got this park shut down was that roller-coaster incident. Some pretty big-name dignitaries brought their kids here on one of their days off and it was not a pretty sight to behold…”
Indigo blinked. “Oh, well… I heard a lot of rumors about this place at Crystal Prep. Said this place was haunted with tons of deaths.”
“And you actually bothered to look into it?” Sugarcoat asked.
“Well, Fleur De Lis, Diwata Aino, and Ginger Owlseye are, like, the most popular girls in school there. They were spitting out rumours like a cowboy hocks loogies into those spit cans,” said Indigo.
“... I see.” Sugarcoat said. “Well, if we can’t tell them to leave… then I say we SCARE them out.”
“Scare them out?” Sour lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”
Sugarcoat for the first time, gave them a smirk. “I have an idea. But I’m going to need all of your help. Now…”
The teenage boys walked around laughing in hysterics as they wandered the abandoned park. They were all making quips about how ruined the place was and what kind of pranks they would be able to pull with no-one around. It was like a gold mine of delinquency for them all.
“I tell you, man, this place is perfect. Just attract some people in, and BAM! We get them good.”
“Shyeah. I reckon we could totally pull some mondo-awesome pranks here, bro,” said another teen. “How ‘bout you guys?”
“Yeah…” a boy said. “Who’d be dumb enough to walk here? Besides, it's not like the people who died are ghosts are anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be radical if we could talk to the dead?” a third boy asked. “I’m sure those ghosts have a lot to talk about. Like, how did they survive that crash?”
“Oooh…” a voice said. “Ooooh…”
“Whoa… you hearing that, dudes?” the second boy asked. “Sounds like someone’s making a gnarly attempt at trying to frighten us.”
Sour smirked as she hid behind a building, and continued to make noises. But what she didn’t notice was a pair of blue eyes that were watching her from another building.
“Oooh… ooooh…” Sour spoke in a ghostly moan.
Lemon watched as Sour made noises and she covered her mouth, trying not to burst out laughing.
“Yo. Dude! Or dudette! Whatever, man, I don’t really care either way,” the first teen said. “Are you, like, really dead? If so, we wanna talk to you.”
“You do not belong here…” Sour whispered. “You have disturbed us… why do you mock the deceased?”
“Uh… we weren’t really mocking anyone,” the second boy spoke.
As Sour continued to impersonate a ghost, the blue eyes staring down from the top of the castle came into the light, revealing a white creature with darker blue accents to his body. He flapped down silently, curving his wings in as he swooped down around the Shadowbolts.
“You have made us angry by being here…” Sour continued to moan. “For this, we punish thee with a horrible curse more frightening than anything you could ever imagine…”
“Please, brosef, have some mercy on us or something like that.” The leader got down onto his hands and knees. “We didn’t mean to disturb you or anything. Just wanted to know how you survived a roller-coaster accident.”
“We punish thee with…”
“DEATH!” shrieked the figure.
Everyone looked up and saw a giant white and blue bat-like creature zoom overhead, leaving a massive slipstream of wind in his wake that knocked the boys airborne. He swooped across the sky at blisteringly fast speeds and concealed his presence by going behind the ruined castle.
“Forget this, man! We gotta hide!” one of the teens said. “These ghosts mean business!”
The three boys ran from where they were and began to leave where they came in. And as they ran, the creature that swooped down, flew off somewhere else and ducked behind a building. Noticing the coast was clear, the girls stepped out and laughed.
“Nice job guys!” Indigo chuckled. “I don’t know who made that bat, but that was amazing. Nice touch.”
Lemon laughed hard. “Oh, they were so freaked out!”
“Girls, do you really think that it’s a good idea to come out now with that… thing prowling around?” Sugarcoat stayed hidden behind the stands. “Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t any of us. As far as I can tell, none of us have any wings…”
Both girls eyes widened and they ran back behind a building where Sour, Sugarcoat, and Sunny were hiding.
“None of you staged that?” Indigo asked. “N-None of you?”
Sour shivered. “None of us. And I think that… thing was watching us the whole time. While I was hiding behind that building there, I felt someone, or something watching me. I guess it was that big thing.”
“Well, if it’s gonna stay here, then we’re not safe at all.” Sugarcoat crossed her arms. “This was a bad idea from the start. I’m just gonna open up a Groundbridge and that’ll be the end of that.”
“Uh… here’s my question. You barely know how to operate that body, and you don’t know all of the switches. How exactly are you going to make a portal escape back home!?” Indigo snapped.
Sour shivered. “She’s right… we’re stuck out here with that… thing!”
Sour tightly pulled Lemon close, not wanting to lose her.
“Ugh, you’re all just terrified. Once we get back home, you’ll see that it was nothing but a fluke.” Sugarcoat poked her head out and attempted to active a portal pressing a button.
The second her head poked out, the creature’s talons swooped down and ripped her head from her body. It clattered and clanged across the road, causing Sugarcoat’s body to fall down chest first and halfway transform into its immobile helicopter form.
“SUGARCOAT!” The Shadowbolts all cried out as they watched their lifeless friend spark electricity from the ripped wires.
A bat-like screech pierced through the skies as the beast perched itself atop the castle once more. But all the bolts could hear was their own frantic groans and moans as they grabbed her head out of view and tried putting Sugarcoat’s body back together.
The head that was severed off began to clank and whir, as soon the entire head began to change its shape and revealed a much smaller robot that was no bigger than the teenagers.
“I guess it’s a good thing I’m in a Headmaster, huh?” Sugarcoat said.
“Yeah, but I don’t think you’re gonna get put back together, Sugarcoat…” Sour Sweet just had to look at how badly torn Sugarcoat’s head and neck wiring was. “It’s totally ripped to shreds. You could power down any second now.”
“Girls, I’m fine. Look, Highbrow’s head is an entire living thing on its own. He’s still functioning even when he’s decapitated. Sure, I might not be able to get back to my body now, but he’s not dead.”
“Sugarcoat, you don’t even HAVE a body to get back to.” Indigo pointed out the wires again. “I’m pretty sure that without the head on his body, Highbrow’s literally just a talking paperweight now. Just look at the damage! How can you say you’re gonna be okay with a slash like that?!”
Sugarcoat looked back on the damage from the sizzling wounds of the larger body that looked like it was barely halfway through the transformation to helicopter form.
“Well...” Sugarcoat grimaced and put a distressed face on. “This is a problem.”
Sour held Sunny close to her as she felt herself quaking and whimpering. “We should have just stayed home…”
“Okay… Clearly, we need to have some sort of plan on how to use these new bodies.” Sunset paced back and forth in front of the girls. “Because let’s face it. Today was a disaster waiting to happen.”
“You can say that again.” Rainbow nodded.
“I don’t think it was all that bad…” Fluttershy twiddled her robot digits.
“It was a tragedy, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “Those ruffians ruined my paintwork out there! How am I supposed to think of it as a non-tragedy?!”
“So they got the drop on us. We just have to hit ‘em harder!” Rainbow held her fist out. “Plus, I kinda need to redeem myself after that last battle…”
“How are we supposed ta fight when we have these clunky bodies?” Applejack held her arm out. “Ah feel so silly right about now.”
“I don’t!” Pinkie squeaked. “I feel so cool with this new body!”
“Pinkie, you ALWAYS feel cool with everything,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Girls!” Sunset interrupted. “Er, guys… look, we just need to try a little more. We can do this, we just need to stay calm, cool, and collective. Hopefully none of the other Bots will find out…” Sunset sighed.
Twilight looked around for a moment and raised a brow. “Hey, wait. Where are the Shadowbolts?”
“Indigo, dah, I mean Hound said they were going somewhere to practice their bodies.” Sunset replied, stuttering.
“Hopefully not too far,” Rarity said, analyzing the scratched paint. “Ooh… I hope my sweetie pie can get this fixed… I would hate it for him to have these dents forever.”
“Can’t he just buff that out?” Rainbow asked. “He’s got a waxing tool, doesn’t he?”
“Do you know how hard it is to buff these things out with a robot body, Rainbow Dash?”
“It's not hard for Knockout.” Rainbow said, shrugging her shoulders.
Rarity just moaned some more. “This is a travesty to Autobot fashion as we know it!”
Off to the side, some Autobots just stood in awkward silence seeing ‘Knockout’ acting melodramatic. Knockout did get a little dramatic at times, but this was just over the top.
Rarity stopped and she noticed some of the faces staring at her. “Why not take a picture? It’ll last longer!”
The Autobots just shrugged and walked off, leaving them alone.
Rarity wiped her forehead as if sweat were to come down.
“Too close… at least most of them don’t know.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got to be careful with some of them. Some of these guys might see right through the disguise, so we got to be extra careful.” Sunset replied.
“Be careful about what?” A female voice asked.
The girls nearly flinched, but they tried not to. Hesitantly, they turned around and met the face of their newest addition to the team; Road Rage.
“Road Rage!” Sunset jumped. “What’re you doing here?”
Road Rage nearly flinched from ‘Optimus’s’ reaction.
“Oh, I just wanted to let you know, Wasp and I finished our training today. And uh… if you guys don’t mind, I… I could use someone to talk to.” Road Rage’s voice sounded a little hurt.
“Sure. What do you wanna talk about?” Twilight asked.
Road Rage looked behind her, seeing that no one was near.
“Okay, uh… can you promise not to tell Sunset or any of the girls about this? Especially the Shadowbolts?”
“Why not the Shadowbolts?” Fluttershy tilted her head.
Road Rage scrunched her eyes. “They hate me… Look, I… I know I’ve only been here a few weeks, and I still have a lot to learn but… I guess I’m not really feeling like I belong here. The other bots they… they’ve said some things…”
“What things?” Applejack lowered her brows and slammed her fists together.
“That I’m a stupid glitch.” She winced and teared up at the name. “Calling an Autobot a glitch is just like a human calling a woman a very offensive word…”
“That name is entirely uncalled for.” Sunset shook her head. “The Autobot or Autobots who said it owe you an apology. Tell us who it was so we can tell them off.”
Road Rage looked away. “Does it really matter? They’re only going to keep on calling me it. Besides, no one likes a tattle-tale…” Road Rage whimpered.
“Road Rage. Can you look at me?”
Road Rage slowly looked up to Sunset and a little bit of golden lubricant was seen at the corner of her eye. She quickly moved her hand up to get rid of it.
“Road Rage, I understand you are new. But if there are problems you are having, you can talk to us. We Autobots stand stronger united together, not against each other.”
“Still, though, the bots who said you’re a glitch are in BIG trouble.” Dash nodded.
“Oh, I hope we don’t have to kick them out of the Autobot regime…” Fluttershy whispered.
Road Rage did listen, but as she listened to them speak, she couldn’t help but notice Bumblebee’s little scared movement. Bumblebee never acted like that. At least, not when she was around.
“Um… Bumblebee? Are you okay?” Road Rage asked, tilting her head.
“Uh… yeah, why?”
“Well… maybe this only me, but… I don’t recall you being this scared.”
“R-Really?” Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. “What makes you say that? I’m not frightened. I’m Bumblebee!”
“You’re never in trouble, Road Rage,” said Sunset. “And you never will be again.”
“Oh, well, okay…” Road Rage said with confusion. “But… I just needed to talk, okay? I’m not asking for anyone to get in trouble. I… I just wanted to talk. I would have talked to the girls but… I’m not sure what they’d think.”
“The girls are feeling a bit under the weather at the moment.” Applejack stood up. “But we’re happy to field any questions from you to them on your behalf.”
“Alright, well… thanks for listening. I really appreciate it guys.” Road Rage gave a weak smile.
“We will help you in any way we can to make sure you can adapt to your new surroundings.” Sunset replied. “And don’t let the others get you down.”
Road Rage nodded. “Alright. I’ll try not to.” And she walked off down the corridors.
Fluttershy sighed. “That was too close... Imagine what would happen if she found out…”
“Yeah. The bots would be furious with us.” Sunset sighed and knelt down to the ground. “We’d never be able to show our faces in public again.”
Rainbow leaned back against a wall and rubbed her forehead. “I hope the others are having better luck than we are. Wait, where’s Optimus?”
“Aside from here, that is.” Pinkie raised a finger.
“Is there any chance they might have gone back to Canterlot?” Twilight asked.
“If they did, they would’ve contacted us by now.” Sunset scratched her chin. “So where are they?”
“I do hope Knockout’s not on a mission with my body.” Rarity’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “It’s bad enough that I got his body ruined. I shudder to think of what damage he could do to mine!”
It turned out Optimus and the other girls returned back to Canterlot, but Knockout insisted on making a stop at Rarity’s store where they could stay hidden and talk for the time being.
“So what’s the plan, boss?” asked Sideswipe as he leaned up against a wall.
“As long as we are stuck like this, we risk an easier deactivation at the hands of the Decepticons,” said Optimus Prime. “We will hide here in Miss Rarity’s shop where we are safe from them.”
“Well in case you don’t know it, the girls have school tomorrow. We can’t exactly interfere with their schedules.” Ironhide replied.
“Not unless Wheeljack finally got off his lazy butt and fixed the darn machine already.” Bumblebee tapped the ground with his foot. “Seriously, he creates upgrade chips and can single-handedly take on a Combiner. Why can’t he fix a mess he made?”
Knockout however was too busy looking around at the different clothes she had in the store.
“Knockout are you even listening?” Jazz asked.
“I’m sorry to be rude, but I am not.” Knockout replied back without looking back at them. “All of these clothes, she makes all of these clothes, yet she wears the same thing every day? Isn’t that a bit… odd to you?”
Knockout turned around and gestured to the blouse and skirt he was now sentenced to wear.
“So?” Bumblebee asked.
“That’s enough, brothers. Nothing will come out of this fruitless argument.” Optimus turned to the window display of the shop. “Now, we need to sort this whole thing out as soon as possible before things get any worse.”
Punch huffed. “As if things couldn’t get any worse. I mean look at me! I know Twilight isn’t exactly the strongest, but… come on! I look ridiculous!”
The others just stared at him in awkward silence.
Meanwhile, as the Autobots continued complaining and talking to one another, a tiny camera-droid watched their every move from the window. Once it scanned the Rainbooms and verified their facial data, a smaller part of itself opened up to reveal a micro-microphone.
“All of you complain about such silly things. Just stay focused on the task at hand.” Optimus turned away. “For all we know, there could be a Decepticon watching us right now…”
On the droid’s screen, the wavelength of the voice it picked up fluctuated wildly. A message saying, “ERROR. ANOMALY DETECTED IN VOCAL PATTERNS. TRANSMITTING DATA TO BLITZWING, BUT HE WILL NOT LIKE MY UNCERTAINTY.” Then it flew away.
Elsewhere, over in Canterlot, the Autobots in the Shadowbolts bodies were busy walking around and enjoying the sights now from the human point of view.
“So… this is what it's like from the Shadowbolts point of view.” Hound spoke, watching everyone go about their daily lives. “Indigo really needs to get out more.”
“I know.” Smallfoot’s eyes darted from one thing to another. “Just looking at these sights is enough to give me jolts in my energon. It’s amazing.”
“Say, if we have to be in these bodies for another day, do you think we might able to survive their school?” Highbrow asked.
“Y’mean Crystal Prep?” Blaster asked.
“Yes. I know repair work, it takes some time. Do you think we can survive a day in school in these forms?”
“Maybe it might be worth a call, just to make sure.” Outback fiddled with his comm device to try and get a hold if Sunny Flare. Despite his attempts, all he got was a voicemail message.
“Sorry, mate. I’m pretty busy right now riskin’ life and limb out there.” Outback’s voice echoed in his ears. “Talk to ya when I get back.”
“Son of a glitch!” Outback hung up. “Straight to voicemail…”
“What could they be doing that’s so busy?” Blaster asked, rolling his eyes. “Well, hopefully they…” Blaster stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened. “Oh my god. I left my cassettes with Lemon!” He clutched his temples. “This is a nightmare!”
“Blaster!” Smallfoot threw a hard slap across Blaster’s face. “Calm… down. Look, you’ve know Lemon long enough to know that she wouldn’t do a thing to harm them. I’m sure they’ll be fine. Also…”
Smallfoot threw another slap onto Blaster’s face.
“OW! What was that for!?”
“Personally for me, I wanted to do that to Lemon for all of the innuendo jokes.” Smallfoot shrugged with a smug grin.
Blaster rubbed his face. “That really hurt, you know…”
“Y’think a Decepticon’s pinned ‘em down?” Outback tipped his hand. “I heard rumors that there was a pretty nasty con in those parts.”
“I’m sure there’s nothing down where they went.” Hound said. “Besides, it's not the first time they’ve been out alone… but then again… they were only out for a little bit…” Hound felt his heart start to pound against himself. Now he was realizing how bad it would have been to leave them out there by themselves.
“Guys… can we calm down? I’m sure it’ll be fine. We just need to stay calm, and assure ourselves, they’ll be alright.” Smallfoot said.
Looking ahead, the group was distracted. They could see two people ahead that they instantly recognized. Cadence and Shining Armor, the heads of Crystal Prep.
“Oh, it’s Shining Armor and Dean Cadence.” Hound said. “You think they’ll recognize us?”
“Hound, we’re in the girls’ bodies, they won’t see anyone except for the Shadowbolts. Look, let's just try to stay calm, alright?” Highbrow asked.
“Hello, everyone.” Cadence waved at the Autobots. “It’s nice to see you all out of school hours.”
“Oh, uh… hi, Dean Cadence.” Hound chuckled nervously. “Uh.. how are you doing?”
“Fine. I was just out taking my daughter on a little trip around town.” Cadence looked down at her daughter, Flurry Heart.
Smallfoot instantly looked and a big smile crept on her face as she looked at the adorable little sight.
“Aw, a baby!” Smallfoot gushed.
Cadence’s brows shot open. “Sour. You’re not… mad about it?”
“No, I love babies! Aw, she’s cute!” Smallfoot squeed.
The others all sunk into their shoulders.
Oh no, not again...
Darkness began to fall on the abandoned theme park, and the Decepticon atop the castle let out a toothy grin as he opened his wings and swooped down across the ground, blowing away everything in his path.
It let out a large scream as it flew down and then it flew up into the air, performing a spin around and land back down on the castle. Cawing like a bird, it glared down on the Shadowbolts cowering in their hiding place.
“Hide all you want, little ones…” it whispered. “Move, and I take off the rest of your heads.”
The Shadowbolts were still leaning against a wall, hidden from the creature.
“Girls… I’m willing to bet… that thing’s a Decepticon.” Indigo gulped.
“Why do you think it’d be hunting us?” Lemon asked. “Just look at those claws! They could take Optimus’s eyes out!
“Correction. They’ll take all of our eyes out if we don’t get out of here!” Sugarcoat whispered, still in her tiny state. “Look, someone just keep trying and call for help. We can’t stay out here.”
“Whatever that con does, it reacts to noise.” Sunny looked up at the bot as it clawed across the rooftop. “If we call the others, it’ll kill us. No iffs, ands, or buts.”
“I don’t care at this point, we need to go home now! I don’t want to stay here!” Sour whimpered. “She carefully raised her finger up to where Smallfoot’s ear would be, and she hit the button. “Sour-I mean, Smallfoot to base. Please… someone pick up…”
“I see you…” the Con switched to Energon-vision and saw the Shadowbolts’ outline. As soon as their communicators started transmitting, sonic rings emanated towards him. “Got you.” And he leapt off, swooping towards them.
“Crap, run!” Indigo yelled, grabbing the remains of Highbrow’s body and starting to run. Soon the others began to run with her, as they all ran out into the open fleeing in terror from the creature.
“Good god, someone pick up!” Sour screamed.
“Too slow!” The Decepticon grabbed Sunny in his talons and flew her higher into the air. Higher, and higher, and higher still until she touched the clouds above.
Indigo pulled out the only gun she had available and she shot up into the air, firing non stop. She had to make a clean shot, otherwise her friend would die.
Eventually, a scream of a bat cried in pain, and a scream of an Australian filled the air as Sunny fell down from the sky straight back down to where the girls were standing.
“Incoming!”
“Screeeeee!” The con howled and barrelled through the girls, smashing them through the dodgem cars, ferris wheel, and strength test game.
Carefully, getting back up, the girls stayed close together until right behind them, a green portal began to glow, opening their escape.
“You dare fight me?!” The Con screeched. “You will pay for your insolence!”
Everyone ran quickly into the portal, and as they did, the portal closed right behind them, sealing their escape. The Decepticon was just too fast for them and flew through them at the very last second.
The girls all fell flat on their faces as they made it through. What they didn’t see was the con swooping fast over their heads and down through the expansive halls of Autobot HQ.
The girls all looked up and slowly got back up on their feet still shaking in fear.
“That was horrible!” Sour felt herself about to cry. “I don’t want to do that again!”
“I’m just glad that we got away from that thing.” Sugarcoat sighed. “But we lost my body in the process…”
“Indigo, didn’t you take it with you?” Lemon asked.
“Well… I did… and then I accidentally dropped it when we were screaming in terror.”
“That’s just great.” Sour re-opened the Groundbridge. “Well, looks like we’re gonna have to go back or Sugarcoat willl permanently power down.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… we aren’t going back out there. I don’t know about you, but that… thing, is still out there. Wait… you don’t think that Decepticon is from the prison ship, do you?”
“I wouldn’t put it past it, but—“ Sugarcoat felt a surge jump through her head “—WARNING. MUST RETURN HEAD UNIT TO BODY. TOTAL POWER DOWN IMMINENT.”
“Sugarcoat, why don’t you just power down for a bit?” Indigo said blinking. “Wow, that sounded weird.”
“No. Just no.” Sugarcoat glared at Indigo. “You want me to kill myself now?”
“N-No! Never!” Indigo jumped in shock. “I just thought it’d be a good idea to maybe conserve your power y’know?”
“POWER LEVELS FAILING. HEAD UNIT CORRUPTION TAKING HOLD.” Sugarcoat said. “RETURN HEAD TO BODY IMMEDIATELY OR THIS AUTOBOT WILL TERMINATE FOREVER.”
“Sugarcoat, just take a break and sleep. We’ll find something to give you more power.” Sunny sternly said. “NOW.”
Sugarcoat sighed. “Fine…”
Eventually, she just stood still for a moment and watched as her entire body converged into the head unit.
“There. Hopefully we’ll still keep Sugarcoat alive. Sunny, any chance we can check the files on the computer? Maybe we can find out something about that… thing, that nearly killed us.”
“I’ll take a look…” Sunny said, trying to access into the databanks. But as she looked into the files, there was nothing in sight. No pictures or files were found with what they ran into.
“Wha… he’s not in the database… This thing isn’t from the Alchemor!” Sunny panicked. “He’s not in any of the files! Not even the base files!”
A ghostly howl echoed through the corridors. It wasn’t one made by the clanking of far off materials, but one that sounded faintly like a bird of prey’s call.