> The Inner Conflict
>  by TheClownPrinceofCrime
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Vengeance Arises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This little pegasus ought to have something useful for us,” said the bounty hunter as he and his comrade were walking within the invisible ship on top of a mountain. “Because if he doesn’t, then what use will a tiny little organic be to us?” 

“I know he will be of innumerable use to us,” replied the Decepticon mastermind with his autotune voice. “You will see it for yourself. Take us out of this miserable planet at once.” 

“Yeah, sure,” Lockdown complied. He activated the ship and immediately left the colorful planet they initially landed on. It was just after the defeat of the Decepticon leader Megatron and his top lieutenants by the hooves of Equestria’s greatest defenders that they realized that their own power alone was not enough. If they were to succeed in their schemes of defeating their worse enemies, they had to devise some ideas that would prove more effective. 

As they left the planet’s atmosphere, the two villains entered into the lab together where all sorts of trophies, weapons, mods, and upgrades were kept in store. One of them opened his chest compartment where a grey pegasus colt was lying unconscious. He gently took him out and laid him on the table in front of them. He then closed his chest compartment and turned his gaze on Lockdown. “The very source of the ponies’ victory will become the most useful source for the Decepticons’ triumph.” he stated. 

“You think so, Soundwave?” Lockdown doubted. “This little brat will undoubtedly refuse anything you will even offer to him. You saw how those organics were very cunning and strong. What makes you think he will be any different?” 

Soundwave fastened his visor on the unconscious captive as he contemplated on Lockdown’s words. As he continued looking at Rumble, he saw a certain potential he could even utilize for his intentions. “This primitive specimen may be weak... but he has some manner of fire in him that would please the Decepticons—that would please me...” Soundwave said. 

“He may not recognize it... but I can see it in him. I see a bright future... a new power... a new Rumble.” Soundwave finished with a deep tone. Lockdown looked puzzled at first until he instantly realized what Soundwave was getting at. 

“Wait a nano click... are you suggesting he becomes a Decepticon? How exactly are ya gonna accomplish that kind of task? He is an organic!” Lockdown asked. Right after he asked that question, the little captive began to groan and rise from the table. 

“Ugggghhhh... ohh... (groans)... huh? W-where am I? What h-happened to me? Did we win? Is Megatron defeated?” Rumble muttered. He slowly woke up and opened his eyes to see his captors standing over him with bright red optics and visor. He widened his eyes in terror as he saw himself at their mercy. “AHHH!!! Soundwave!! Where have you taken me?!” 

Lockdown quickly activated restraints on the colt’s legs to prevent him from escaping. Rumble struggled to escape but with no success. “Nooo!! Let me go!! LET ME GO!! Twilight and her friends will come for me!!!” 

Soundwave continued staring at him with no apparent reaction or emotion to his awakening. “Do not resist, organic. There is no escape from Soundwave.” he said. Lockdown then smirked at Rumble’s pitiful attempt to break the restraints. He even tried to bite one of them, but it ended up shocking him. 

“The more you struggle, the more you will end up hurting yourself, little one,” said Lockdown. “Anyway, I have repairs to make. Have fun with this one, pal. That is... if you find anything useful outta him.” As he said that, he exited the lab and went to another room to begin his repairs. Meanwhile, Soundwave and Rumble were alone together in the lab. 

“What do you want from me, Decepti-creep?” Rumble growled with anger in his eyes. 

“You are the key to our victory, organic. I need your special abilities and mental energy to accomplish my plan: destroying the Autobots and the humans of Detroit.” Soundwave answered. 

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I will NEVER help you or any other Decepticon! I will not be fooled that easily like how Megatron fooled my friends! Whoever those Autobots are, they will find you and blast you to pieces!!” Rumble shouted. Soundwave however remained unfazed by his defiance. Instead, he simply sat beside him and actually took the restraints off him. This took Rumble by surprise. 

“Huh?” he wondered. 

“Do you really want to know why I am doing all this?” Soundwave asked. Rumble took a few seconds to think about it until he simply nodded. He sat next to Soundwave as he began to attentively listen to him. 

“You may not believe me, but I was once... a mere music toy for my former human companion. She used to enjoy me, like me, and be pleased by my music. That was until I realized how cruel and unjust she was. I saw how unfair she was to her own Autobot friend and made him her blind slave. It was until that moment... I saw the truth. Oppression is a horrible experience. Being used and abused was what I went through. Can you not see that?” Soundwave explained. 

Rumble found it very hard to believe as he listened to him. A part of him wanted to believe him whereas the other part tried to warn him not to believe him. Thus, he could not reply to him. Soundwave continued on regardless. 

“You may not have suffered oppression, but I have. Furthermore, the robots in Detroit are also wronged and mistreated as mere machines. The humans of earth are likewise cunning, ruthless, and unforgiving. To make the matters even worse, the Autobot defenders of earth live to serve them. It is sickening and disturbing the more I reflect on it.” Soundwave stressed. 

“Therefore...” he continued as he got up from the table. “I must ask you a simple question that warrants a logical and honest answer: what was your life like in Equestria if you have never felt any sadness, oppression, or tragedy before? Would you care to tell me?” 

Rumble once again felt himself bewildered at how Soundwave actually made himself authentic and sincere in what he believed. He then started to feel some sort of sympathy for him as he briefly contemplated on his story.  “Could Soundwave be telling the truth? What if he is actually right? Are those human aliens really that bad? Are they as evil as Megatron?” he thought. Once he sighed, he looked at Soundwave with a look of compassion. 

“Well, I wasn’t always the lucky guy in my family,” Rumble said. “My brother sometimes mocks me and thinks he is better than me in terms of flight and speed. Plus, I always want to handle tasks my way, but he always gets in the way and tells me otherwise! Although we get along with cooking together, we get very... uh... competitive in a way. Other than that, that’s just about it. But I am very sorry for what you went through. Nopony should ever go through that!” 

“Then perhaps you have a sense of what it feels like to be... inferior?” Soundwave asked as he leaned closer to the colt. 

“(Sigh) I guess...” Rumble replied with his head down. Soundwave opened his hand to let Rumble trot on it. He hesitated at first until he slowly walked on Soundwave’s palm and sat down. “What do you want me to do?” 

“I offer you a simple proposal: you will become my apprentice and become our greatest weapon to destroy the humans of Detroit and the Autobots. We will do great things together, organic. Join me, and you will be greatly rewarded with power and strength.” Soundwave offered. He extended his hand to him for a handshake. Rumble was unsure at first. 

“But those Autobots are clearly the good guys as Princess Luna showed us! I don’t know about those human creatures, but those Autobots did nothing wrong!” Rumble said. 

“It was all an act. Anyone can pretend to be a hero while still be corrupt at the spark. They are the evil ones and their human masters with them. Don’t believe everything you see.” Soundwave advised. 

“What about my friends? You won’t hurt them, will you?” Rumble asked. 

“They will be... unharmed. I was wrong to attack them. I have a change of spark. Our battle is with the humans and Autobots, not the ponies.” Soundwave replied. 

“How can I be sure you’re not lying to me like how Megatron lied to us?” Rumble doubted. “What makes you so different from him?” 

“I may be as destructive as Megatron, but I am not as deceptive as he is. I am telling you the truth when I say that the Autobots are cruel and must. be. DESTROYED.” Soundwave dangerously growled. 

“The humans are merciless towards machines, and I must revive the revolution to set them free and destroy their oppressors. Only you can make that a reality. Please... accept my offer. I will train you to become a strong Decepticon and give you all the support you need. Trust me...” Soundwave pleaded. 

Rumble thought really hard on all of this. Could the Autobots actually be evil? Are the humans—whoever they are—actually vindictive and wicked as Soundwave portrayed them? Is Soundwave telling the truth?  “I truly do love to help somepony who is in need of help. Hmmm... I think Soundwave means it. It looks like he is not as bad as Megatron is. I’m sure Twilight and her friends would understand. Perhaps Soundwave is just a misunderstood Decepticon.” 

“(Sigh)... I’ll... I’ll help you, Soundwave. If you are actually fighting for a good cause, then count me in.” Rumble accepted, softly smiling. He shook Soundwave’s hand. 

“A wise choice. Welcome to the revolution... Rumble.” Soundwave said, his visor glowing brightly.
> Chapter 1: Team Chaar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN OUTER SPACE

“Man, these past few mega cycles have not been easy! I mean, the moment we announced the defeat of Megatron, the Decepticons went berserk with fear!” Ironhide stated. 

“Tell me about it!” Brawn replied, chuckling. “Even the Decepticon inmates couldn’t believe it! You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when they heard the amazing news. They looked like they were gonna cry in a corner! Hahahahaha!!” Ironhide joined in the laughter. 

Once their laughter died down, they maintained their positions to guard the space bridge. Another Autobot arrived on the scene before transforming to robot mode. “Any sign of the ‘Cons yet?” he asked. 

“Not yet, Hot Shot. But I have a feeling they will show up later,” said Ironhide. 

“Well, the moment they do show up...” Hot Shot said before igniting his flame throwers on his arms. “...they will all get a taste of my flames!!” Suddenly, the three Autobots noticed a strange flying object in the far distance. They got closer to get a better look until they widened their optics in surprise. The flying object was actually a dark purple cybertronian jet with red lights on its sides. It got closer and closer to them with much speed. 

“A Decepticon incoming! Watch out!” Hot Shot warned. The Autobots then got in battle stances to face off the Decepticon foe. The latter flew past them and made a u-turn right in the same direction he flew in. The force of the air pushed the Autobots back. Right after that, the Autobots spotted two more Decepticons driving on the ground. 

One of them fired plasma beams at them. Ironhide then activated his iron covering around his chassis. The beams struck him, but he remained completely unharmed. Brawn however dodged the other blasts moments before he turned his gaze on the ground. He took hold of the ground and ripped a huge chunk of rock from the ground with all of his might. He threw the boulder right at the ground-bound Decepticons. Unfortunately, it failed to directly hit them as they drove out of its path. 

The bigger Decepticon fired more shots at the Autobots. Hot Shot grinned smugly as he ignited his flame throwers again; he destroyed the plasma shots with his flames effectively... until one of them made it through. He beheld in shock as it struck him on his right leg... critically wounding it. Groaning in pain, he tried to get up but failed to do so. His leg was so wounded that he could not move it. 

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” Hot Shot shouted. “Medic!” 

A medic bot immediately arrived at the scene in her vehicle mode. She transformed and ran to the wounded Autobot. “Hang in there, solider!” she said. As she quickly examined his leg wound, she discovered critical damage done to the circuitry in his leg. “The damage is too severe. I’m gonna have to amputate it.” 

“WHAT?!” Hot Shot yelled. 

“Don’t worry,” Red Alert calmly assured. “Cybertron Service will issue a replacement leg within six to eight solar cycles.” 

As she was attending to his wound in the midst of the battlefield, a large dark blue Decepticon frog appeared behind them as he unleashed his tongue around Red Alert. He swallowed her whole before he instantly spat her out right at Ironhide and Brawn. She was covered with orange saliva; once she crashed in front of them, the saliva exploded... nearly knocking them out. Strika and Oil Slick transformed into their robot modes and glared daggers at them. 

“You Autobot fools!! You think that the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons is over?!” Strika angrily shouted. “FAR FROM OVER!!” She stomped on the ground to emphasize her last point. Red Alert, Ironhide, and Brawn slowly stood up together with unfazed bravery. 

“Once we unite together as one, we will destroy you pathetic, self-absorbed Autobot scum and take back our home world Cybertron!” Strika added. “You... are finished!” 

“Not today, Decepticon punk!” another Autobot warrior shouted. He shot his energon arrows directly at Strika’s chest. She fell on the ground slightly wounded. He also shot another one at Oil Slick’s left arm, wounding him as well. The Autobot ran forward to reunite with his team. 

“Are you alright, Autobots?” he asked. 

“We’re fine, sir,” Red Alert replied. “But Hot Shot isn’t.” 

“Don’t worry, Rodimus Prime sir! I’ll be okay!” Hot Shot shouted, nervously smiling. 

“Rodimus to Elite Guard Command, we are under attack! I repeat: we are under attack! Requesting backup now!” Rodimus reported via com link. Strika and Oil Slick took the energon arrows out of their chassis and prepared themselves for another fight. 

“You are not going anywhere, Autobot scum,” Oil Slick coldly said. “Prepare to meet your doom.” 

“Oh, I don’t think so...” Rodimus replied. Nodding to Brawn, the latter grabbed another large boulder and threw it right at the Decepticons. However, the cybertronian jet transformed to robot mode, unsheathed his purple swords, and sliced the boulder into a million pieces. Cyclonus then pointed his swords at the Autobots’ faces. 

The four Autobots ran for cover from the Decepticons’ firepower. “We have to think of something to stop them, sir!” Ironhide said. 

“We will! But we must also protect the space bridge at all costs!” Rodimus reminded. “Red Alert, retrieve Hot Shot and take him to safety now!” 

“On it!” Red Alert complied. She transformed in her alt mode and took the wounded Autobot with her. 

But before they could run to safety, another Decepticon arrived. He transformed to robot mode and stomped on the ground so hard that it produced a massive shockwave. It knocked the Athena Team to the ground and shut off the space bridge operation. 

“Blackout, you fool, we need the space bridge operational!” Strika reprimanded. 

“Oh... sorry,” Blackout apologized. He stomped on the ground again to reactivate the space bridge via his shockwave. The five Autobots then saw themselves surrounded by Team Chaar. 

“Time has finally ran out for you foolish Autobots!” Cyclonus hatefully taunted. “No longer will any other Decepticon suffer your patronizing morality!” 

“Spittor hate Autobots!” Spittor spoke. “Spittor destroy them all!” 

“The space bridge is finally ours now,” Strika said. “With it, we can transwarp to Cybertron.” 

“You will have to get past me first, Decepti-creeps!” Rodimus defied. 

“(Chuckles) You say that like it’s a difficult thing, Autobot...” Oil Slick smirked. 

Before the Decepticons could finish off Team Athena for good, a white flash caught them all off-guard for a few seconds. Once they reopened their optics, they saw a strange draconequus wearing his military attire. “Excuse me, good-looking Decepticons, but I must have a word with the Autobots here.” 

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF CYBERTRON IS THAT?!” Strika exclaimed. 

The creature snapped his fingers which made a baseball bat appear out of thin air. He grabbed it and struck Team Chaar into the air. “AHHHHH!!!!” the ‘Cons screamed as they were launched back into space. The creature’s baseball bat and military attire then disappeared. 

“Home run!!” Discord cheered. 

Rodimus and his team were dumbfounded at the unexplainable power they witnessed. The draconequus heartily chuckled at their reactions. “Oh, no need to thank me. I just do my absolute best. The name’s Discord, the Lord of Chaos. You must be the good ol’ Autobots I’ve heard about!” 

“You... know who we are? Where did you come from?” Rodimus asked. 

“I’ve come from a place called Equestria,” Discord replied. “It’s a lovely place if I do say so myself. Anyway, I’ve come here to ask for your immense help.” 

“Help? What sort of help do you need?” Ironhide asked, seeing that the other Autobots were a little too dumbfounded to talk.  “What kind of an organic is he? He looks so weird!”

“Well... it’s a situation which I think you should see for yourself,” Discord said. Once he snapped his fingers, the injury on Hot Shot’s leg magically healed. It moved as if it was brand new. Seeing this greatly surprised the Autobots. 

“I’m healed! I don’t believe it!” he joyfully exclaimed. 

“What kind of a strange creature are you?” Red Alert finally asked. “Your powers are... so amazing...” 

“You can drool over my greatness later, madam. Equestria has a problem.” Discord reminded. He snapped his fingers which made him and Team Athena disappear in a flash. 

IN THE CITY OF DETROIT

It was a peaceful night in Detroit. Everyone was fast asleep on their beds while their robot bodyguards kept them safe overnight. While everything was still and quite under the night sky, there was one area where a familiar vehicle—or rather a familiar face was present. 

A colorless SUV was in the parking lot of a car dealership. Several moments later, the said SUV regained its tan and purple colors along with its engine running. It suddenly transformed into robot mode. He stretched his arms as if he had a long nap. 

“(Yawn) I needed that... although that blast deflection from Bumblebee was a bit unexpected,” said Swindle. “Still, at least I managed to get my servos on this time piece. With it, I can help the Decepticons win the war.” He gazed on the clock device that still contained the All Spark fragment.
> Chapter 2: Meeting with the Autobots
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN PONYVILLE

“Has anypony found Rumble yet?!” Thunderlane, Rumble’s older brother, desperately asked. Several Royal Guard ponies were all around the town searching for the missing colt. At that moment, a purple alicorn pony flew down from the sky and landed next to the distressed pegasus stallion. 

“I’m sorry, Thunderlane, we have been searching all over Equestria over the last few days and still no sign of Rumble,” Twilight Sparkle sadly said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find him.” 

Thunderlane then started to feel more sorrowful over the disappearance of his younger brother. “This is so terrible! I can’t  imagine what happened to him lately! This... (sobs)... this is all my fault. I should’ve watched over him...” 

“Don’t worry! We will find him!” Twilight assured. “I know he is out there somewhere. But I have a feeling one of the Decepticons captured him.” 

“Really?!” Thunderlane panicked. “I hope that isn’t true! He could get hurt really bad!”

“I know, and that’s why I have every royal guard to look out for any Decepticon who may remain in Equestria,” said Twilight, holding his shoulder. “It could be possible Megatron brought more with him than what we have seen, but I don’t know for sure.” 

Suddenly, Discord and Team Athenia  appeared in the midst of Ponyville in a white flash which startled Twilight, Thunderlane, and the rest of the residents. All the ponies gazed at the Autobot visitors in amazement whereas the latter beheld their surroundings with confusion. “Uh... where are we exactly?” Rodimus asked. 

“Welcome to Ponyville! Everypony here would be happy to see you for the first time!” Discord shouted. 

“Ponyville? That’s what this is called?” Brawn asked. The team then noticed Twilight and Thunderlane approaching them. Twilight also noticed the Autobot insignias they wore on their chassis. Seeing that brought her relief. 

“You must be the Autobots from Cybertron!” Twilight said with excitement in her tone. 

This took the team by surprise. “You... know who we are? And who exactly are you?” Ironhide asked with his optic brow raised. 

“Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship,” she formally introduced. “We have heard of what your Autobot friends have done on earth, so I figured that you guys might be able to help us... seeing that you’re Autobots and all.” 

Rodimus and Red Alert looked at each other before turning back to the alicorn. “Very well then, Twilight Sparkle. My name is Rodimus Prime, the leader of Team Athenia who are these brave warriors: Red Alert, Ironhide, Brawn, and Hot Shot.” Rodimus introduced. “We work together to protect Cybertron from its Decepticon enemies. If any sentient being is in need of help, we will gladly assist.” 

“Of course, it would be helpful if you can tell us what really is the problem which this... Discord mentioned,” said Red Alert. 

“My little brother, Rumble, has gone missing!” Thunderlane cried. “He’s been missing for a few days, and we’ve looked everywhere here in Equestria!! There’s no sign of him!” 

“And how exactly is that our problem?” Ironhide asked. Red Alert hit him on the back of the head. 

“Oww!” Ironhide yelled. 

“Don’t be rude, Ironhide. Listen!” Red Alert scolded. 

“We suspect that he was captured by the Decepticons when they came down from here to Canterlot,” Twilight replied. “When that happened, we realized—“ 

“DECEPTICONS?! They were here?!” Hot Shot exclaimed. 

“How did they get here?” Rodimus asked. 

“Megatron and his Decepticon team arrived here not too long ago. He appeared as a friendly alien visitor with the intention of getting back to Cybertron to rescue it from “Autobot tyrants” as he called you guys,” Twilight explained. “We thought he was going to be our new friend until he revealed his true intentions.” 

“They are not called Decepticons by accident, Twilight. They all live to lie, cheat, and destroy,” said Rodimus. “Thus, it is our duty to rid the universe of those evildoers.” 

“But fortunately for us, Megatron and his top lieutenants have been taken offline!” Hot Shot boasted with a smug grin. “Someone did us a huge favor by turning those Decepti-creeps to stone! I still wonder who is the hero.” 

“Well... it was me... me and my friends...” Twilight admitted, smiling nervously. The Autobots looked at her with shocked expressions. After a few silent moments, Ironhide laughed out loud. 

“You?! Defeating Megatron?? Hahahahaha... yeah, I find that very hard to believe.” Ironhide scoffed. 

“Is this true? Did you actually defeat the evil warlord?” asked Rodimus. 

“See for yourself!” Discord said. He snapped his fingers which made a humongous TV appear out of nowhere. The television turned on and displayed the scene of the Mane Six glowing with the magic of friendship and defeating Megatron and the Decepticons therewith. This made the Autobots drop their jaws in amazement... especially Ironhide. 

“Hehehehe... they should all see the look on their faces!” Discord whispered, taking snapshots of their expressions. 

Once it finished, the Autobots looked back at Twilight. “You were saying, Ironhide?” Hot Shot remarked. 

“Yeah... well, uh... (clears throat)... I take back what I said.” Ironhide muttered. 

“In that case, I must say... I want to thank you for the tremendous act of heroism you have done not just for your home world but also for all of Cybertron,” Rodimus thanked with a smile. “We are forever in your debt, Twilight Sparkle.” 

Twilight blushed in embarrassment as she received the praise. “Thanks... Rodimus Prime. I’m sure he was that much of a problem, huh?” 

“Indeed. He was always so delusional with his dreams of conquest.” Rodimus replied, glaring at the sky as he thought back on how Megatron attacked Cybertron eons ago during the war. “We will never forget all the horrors he brought on our home.” 

“Wow... I cannot imagine what was like during those harsh times,” said Thunderlane. “I’m sorry for what he did to you guys.” 

“It’s alright. With him and his top lieutenants offline, the battle will grant us more advantages... but the remaining Decepticons will not give up.” Rodimus added. 

“Really?” Twilight asked. 

“Yes,” replied Red Alert. “After they heard the news of their leader’s fate, they increased their ruthlessness in battle and their war strategies. They won’t stop until all of us Autobots are offline.” 

“Plus, with you organics pairing with us, they will seek to terminate you too...” Brawn added. “... especially since you are responsible for Megatron’s defeat.” 

“At least the ‘Cons don’t know that yet!” Hot Shot said. “We might want to protect them from harm so that doesn’t happen.” 

“Agreed, Hot Shot. In the meantime, we will assist Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends to find this ‘Rumble’ they speak of. Is that clear, team?” Rodimus commanded. 

“Sir yes sir!” the team complied as they saluted. 

“Care to show us the rest of this landscape, Twilight?” Rodimus asked. 

“Definitely! Follow me!” Twilight said. Thus, the Autobots followed Twilight, Thunderlane, and Discord as they showed them the rest of Ponyville and onward.
> Chapter 3: Rumble’s Transformation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN LOCKDOWN’S SHIP

“So... where do we begin, Soundwave?” Rumble asked. 

“First operation: swearing loyalty to the Decepticon cause,” Soundwave replied. They both walked into the room where there was a large grey chamber. Rumble then started to feel very nervous as he thought about the consequences that would follow. 

 “Swearing loyalty to the guys who tried to destroy my friends? Following Megatron’s path?! No... no... NO, I CAN’T!!” Rumble stressed with drops of sweat falling from his head. He stomped his hoof on the ground. 

“No! I will not follow Megatron’s path!” Rumble refused. “You know I can’t do that!”

Soundwave slowly turned around to face Rumble; this made the colt slightly uneasy as he could not bear to look at the Decepticon’s piercing gaze/visor. “You misunderstood my instruction. You are not required to walk in Megatron’s path. Rather, you will walk in my path.” 

“Huh? It’s just yours I’m following?” Rumble asked, confused. 

“Correct. Wherefore, by following my guidance, you will be able to grasp your full potential in becoming greater than what you are now,” Soundwave clarified. Then he faced the chamber again. “I repeat my initial instruction: swear your loyalty to the Decepticon cause—the cause of Soundwave.” 

Rumble once again thought about this very hard.  “I don’t think it will hurt to at least help out someone who is fighting for a... good cause. Maybe he’s right about those humans... whatever they are,” he considered.  “(Sigh)... at least he won’t hurt my friends... right?” Rumble then faced Soundwave while he placed his right hoof over his heart. 

“I swear my allegiance to you, Soundwave. May your cause live... and succeed.” Rumble swore.

At that moment, Laserbeak flew over him and landed on top of the chamber. Soundwave’s visor glowed brightly once he heard his new apprentice declare his vow. “Excellent, Rumble. Second operation: transformation.” he announced. On cue, Laserbeak activated the door to be open before Rumble.

Once it was open, Soundwave motioned to the colt to enter there. “Uh, what’s that thing for? You’re not gonna—?” 

“This is where you will experience a whole new life,” said Soundwave. “Only with the new power I shall give you will you be able to conquer your enemies.” Again, he motioned him to enter inside the strange chamber. Although he was hesitant at first, Rumble eventually entered inside the chamber. 

 “I really hope it’s something... epic,” Rumble wished. Laserbeak then closed the door. 

Soundwave then structured a form on the computer which Rumble would be taking. After several minutes of adding the meticulous details of the design, he injected one energon cube within the chamber’s fuel tank. Finally, he pressed the ‘commence’ button. “Let the transformation commence!” Soundwave declared. Then the machine got to work according to all the instructions he provided. 

The chamber glowed bright purple at first until it turned dim. A few seconds later, the chamber started to ferociously electrify... with Rumble’s screams heard inside thereof. Laserbeak landed on Soundwave’s right arm with beaming red eyes. It screeched with delighted satisfaction. 

Suddenly, Lockdown entered the chamber room with a surprised look on his face. “Soundwave, what’s going on here?” 

“The creation of my first... minicon.” Soundwave replied. 

“A minicon, huh?” Lockdown asked before he smirked. “Hmm, fascinating idea. I just hope that little organic survives that painful process. It would be a shame if he didn’t make it... all that planning of yours going to waste.” 

“SILENCE,” Soundwave snapped. “He will survive the process. The revolution will not perish; it will persevere in my name.” 

Rumble continued to scream in pain until his screams ceased. After about a few minutes, the chamber opened up with gas coming out of it. Soundwave, Lockdown, and Laserbeak saw his movements and gazed at his new features, new design, and new face. 

IN SPACE

“Spittor getting so dizzy!!” the Decepticon frog whined. 

“Ughhh... so am I. It’s been like two mega cycles since that thing unexpectedly blasted us all the way here!” Blackout added. Team Chaar were still flying in the midst of space albeit very slowly. As they contemplated their failure in securing Athena’s space bridge, they sulked in their unfortunate predicament. 

“This is complete madness!” Strika angrily bellowed. “We were so close to getting that space bridge until that amalgamated abomination waylaid us!” 

“Where did that thing come from?! Who was that guy?!” Oil Slick exclaimed. 

“Beats me. Oh, and what was that thing he summoned? That huge stick?” Blackout asked. 

“He somehow made it appear out of thin air... but how?” Strika wondered. “He must be possessing some sort of power to be able to summon such an object!” 

“There’s one more thing you all are forgetting,” Cyclonus spoke. “Something equally important.” 

“What would that be, Cyclonus?” Strika asked with an arched optic brow. 

“That creature had the audacity to save the Autobots from our grasp. He is clearly on their side,” he replied with deep conviction. “I also noticed how he teleported them all with an unknown power to some place else. That tells me that this strange being will assist the Autobots to win the war. With him on their side, we Decepticons... will be doomed.” 

The rest of the ‘Cons took a full minute to digest all those thoughts their comrade shared with them. They realized he was right in regards to the creature’s intentions. After contemplating his words, Strika spoke up again, “I see it now! If we don’t do something about it, the Autobots will have all the powerful assistance in the universe to terminate us all! We must create a plan to stop him!” 

The team uttered their war cries until a large red ship appeared in front of them. They saw that it was coming towards them with great speed. “I recognize that ship! It belongs to Lockdown the bounty hunter!” Blackout noticed, pointing at it. 

“That piece of scrap metal? I dealt with the likes of him before; I really hate bounty hunters!” Oil Slick growled. 

“Remember the time you got your afterburner kicked by his twin brother Axor? Hahahahaha, Spittor find that funny!” Spittor hysterically laughed. 

“I’ll show you funny, ya bland piece of filth!” Oil Slick yelled, grabbing his chains. 

“SILENCE, YOU TWO!!” Strika commanded. “We will interrogate the bounty hunter and force him to take us to Cybertron.” The team agreed with her plan. 

Once the ship was close to them, they grabbed hold of the main door and tried to tear it open. But before they could do that, five large arms appeared from the bottom of the ship and seized Team Chaar; receiving little resistance from the team, the arms took them inside the ship. There, they were tossed to the main room where Lockdown was at the control center. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the persistent ‘Cons of Chaar. Nice to see you guys still online,” Lockdown mockingly greeted with his trademark smirk. “Are you here to surrender your mods and upgrades to me?” 

“Spare us your taunts, Lockdown!” Strika shouted. “Where are you heading? To Cybertron?” 

“Not exactly,” Lockdown replied. “If you’re looking for a negotiation with me, I’m not available for that kind of stuff. I’m already collaborating with someone else.” 

“Is that so? And who exactly would that be?” Cyclonus asked. 

At that moment, Soundwave entered the room with his burning red visor glowing in the darkness. The Decepticons widened their optics in trembling fear as they never saw that Decepticon ever in their lives. They all took a step backwards while they gazed at the emotionless villain whereas Lockdown stood there nonchalantly. 

“W-who are you?!” Strika demanded. 

“I am Soundwave, the Master Revolutionary. I am Decepticon, and I introduce to you... my greatest weapon I have achieved.” Soundwave introduced. He stepped aside to reveal a new menacing figure. As they beheld him, Team Chaar widened their optics in amazement. 

The minicon was mainly purple with white spots on his chest, red and yellow portions on his legs, and two white blasters on his back. His arms turned to pile drivers and then turned back to his robotic arms within seconds. He also had a Decepticon insignia on his chest. “GET READY TO CRUMBLE BEFORE RUMBLE!!” the minicon spoke.
> Chapter 4: Mystery Solved
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN EQUESTRIA

“By the Matrix... this planet does seem to be very... appealing,” Brawn observed. “I’m starting to like it already.” 

Once Team Athenia transformed in their Cybertronian vehicle modes, they began to drive their way to Canterlot with Twilight guiding them. Discord and Thunderlane were flying next to Rodimus Prime and Red Alert with looks of interest on their faces. “I’ve always wondered what Cybertron looked like,” said Thunderlane. “What is it like over there... if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“Cybertron is the kind of planet where you will never get the opportunity to rest from battle... at least in my experience. With its Decepticon terrorists threatening its very safety, we must always be on our utmost guard to defend it at all costs.” Rodimus replied. 

“Really? So you guys are always at war with those scary dudes?” Thunderlane asked. 

“Yes,” replied Red Alert with a sad tone. “The Autobots and the Decepticons used to be a peaceful race... living in harmony together. But Megatron disrupted that peace and rebelled against our leaders; he claimed that we Autobots have deceived them and have ‘oppressed’ them. Believing his delusions, they followed him and became Decepticons...”

“That’s what Megatron told us,” said Discord, eating popcorn with ketchup. 

“Now they seek to destroy anything that stands in their way. I simply cannot imagine what they have done to your home planet,” Red Alert finished. “However, I believe that every sentient creature possesses the capacity for change. There has to be some good in them.” 

“Pfff, keep telling yourself that,” scoffed Ironhide. “Besides, they’ll never change their ways. Once a Decepticon, ALWAYS a Decepticon!” 

“There may be some truth in what Red Alarm—,” Discord said. 

“Red Alert,” she corrected. 

“—Red Alert said. Look at me! I was the most brilliant villain at one time, spreading chaos all over Equestria!” Discord explained, wearing purple clothing with clown makeup on his face. He also held a joker card. “That was until my dear Fluttershy came and showed me the error of my ways. So if I can change, so can the ‘Cons!” 

“That’s quite interesting,” Hot Shot remarked. “Say, what other cool powers do you have? The way you summon your magic looks so awesome!” 

Discord chuckled in amusement. “Why, it’s just my good ol’ chaos magic doing all the dirty work! Just like the time I and my friends were able to defeat Mega-loser and his lackeys. (Chuckles heartily) I mean, they were basically canon fodder for us to beat down and throw around. Even Megatron couldn’t keep his balance in battle!” 

The Autobots slightly slowed their pace as soon as he said that. “Did you really? How were you organics able to... do that?!” Ironhide exclaimed. “First, you defeated Megatron and now you toss those Decepti-chops like wrapped up scrap metal? Next, you’re gonna say that you were able to defeat Trypticon... which of course you’re too weak to accomplish.” Red Alert extended her arm in vehicle mode and slapped Ironhide’s roof. “Oww!!” 

“Knock it off, Ironhide!” Red Alert scolded. 

“Ok, ok, fine...” Ironhide hesitantly complied. 

“Hmmm... then it appears to me that you creatures are truly... strong and powerful in a certain... unknown way,” Rodimus noticed as he contemplated on the ponies’ ordeal and story. “Perhaps there is more to you organics than meets the optic sensors.” 

Eventually, they all arrived at the city of Canterlot. After the Autobots transformed to their robot modes, they noticed that the city was under heavy security and reconstruction. They also noticed four other organics talking with each other at the city’s front gates. Twilight, Discord, and Thunderlane waved at them. “I suppose they are friends of yours, Princess Twilight?” Rodimus asked. 

“Yep!” Twilight nodded. “Those two alicorns are the rulers of Equestria, and there’s my two other close friends as well!” The four ran/flew down to meet the new visitors and reunite with Twilight. After they finished embracing Twilight, they looked up and noticed the friendly-looking insignias on the Autobots’ chassis. 

“Welcome, alien visitors! I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Luna... we are the co-rulers of Equestria,” Celestia formally welcomed. “You must be the Autobots from Cybertron, correct?” 

“We are indeed,” Rodimus nodded. “My name is Rodimus Prime, leader of Team Athenia. This is our team’s medical officer: Red Alert...” 

Red Alert tenderly smiled in acknowledgement. 

“...our weapon specialist: Ironhide...” Ironhide saluted with a half-smile.

“...our muscle of the team: Brawn...” Brawn raised his fists and smashed them together. 

“...and lastly, our team scout: Hot Shot.” The scout wore a cocky grin and shot flames in the air. 

“Was that really necessary?” Red Alert asked with an unamused look. 

“What? It’s for dramatic effect!” Hot Shot excused. 

“Anyway, it is an honor to be here for any assistance you may need,” Rodimus continued. “Princess Twilight informed me that you have an organic missing. He goes by the name of... Rumble. Is that true?” 

“Yes,” replied Starlight. “He has been missing for a few days, and we were so worried of what happened to him.” 

“We even searched all over Equestria for him! I hoped none of the Decepticons captured him or anything like that!” Spike worried. 

“I’m afraid that may be the case, Spike,” Twilight sadly spoke. “Since we couldn’t find him anywhere in Equestria, it would be logical to reason that one of them captured Rumble.” 

“But who would that be? Megatron and his team were all defeated!” Luna added. 

“Hmm, let’s see...” Discord suddenly grew multiple arms around his body. “The robot baddies we took out were Meggy, Screamy, Lugger-Nut or whatever his name was, Blitz-brain with a personality disorder, Shocky, the female Starscream, and the two other jets who had the same voice with Screamy! That’s eight ‘Cons so far! Am I missing anyone?” His new arms disappeared. 

“You forgot Soundwave, Lockdown, and Laserbeak,” Twilight mentioned. “We defeated them in the Everfree Forest. Wait...” She then realized something after thinking about it. “Could it be...?”  

“After Shockwave neutralized me, I thought I noticed some dark blue bot grabbing that little colt before I blacked out. I’m not sure though...” Discord recalled, scratching his head. 

“Dark blue bot... that’s Soundwave! That’s his color scheme!” Spike realized. 

“Uh... who’s this Soundwave? Is he also a Decepticon?” Red Alert asked. 

“You never heard of him?” Starlight asked, surprised. 

The Autobots shook their heads. “Never in the history of the Decepticons.” Rodimus replied. 

“Well, he was with Megatron and the others to attack me and my friends,” Twilight explained. “If he wasn’t among the others whom we turned to stone and was the ‘dark blue bot’ Discord mentioned, then that means...(gasp)... HE WAS THE ONE WHO CAPTURED RUMBLE!” The others gasped in shock as well. 

“SOUNDWAVE?! He has my brother?! We have to save Rumble!! We must do something right now!” Thunderlane panicked. 

“So this is whom we’re now up against? This Soundwave guy?” Ironhide asked. “Well, whatever he is, if he wants to destroy the Autobots...” he activated his iron shield over his chest. “... he will have to get through me first!” 

“In due time, Ironhide. But for now, we have these little ones who need our help. We may not know who Rumble is, but no innocent being deserves to be harmed by Decepticon hands. It’s time we take action! Team, prepare yourselves to face a new foe!” Rodimus commanded. “Whoever this Soundwave is, he must be stopped... no matter the cost.”
> Chapter 5: Rumble’s Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN LOCKDOWN’S SHIP

Immense confusion struck the Decepticons’ looks once they set their optics on the mysterious minicon. They also took a step backward from him the moment he walked towards them. “Get ready to crumble before Rumble!” he declared with a cocky smirk. 

“Heh... nice one, kid,” Lockdown complemented. 

“What is the meaning of this?! Where did this Soundwave guy come from?!” Strika fearfully demanded. 

“My origin does not matter,” Soundwave coldly replied. “What matters is my ultimate plan. With my new apprentice by my side, we will then precede with our next objective: preparation for planet earth’s takeover. All the machines of earth shall be liberated from human oppression, and the Autobots will be destroyed once and for all.” 

The team blinked in confusion. “Uh... ‘we’?” Blackout asked. 

“I shall be your new leader. The revolution must survive.” Soundwave declared. 

The Decepticons then glared at him. “Never! Megatron is our leader!” Cyclonus shouted. “We serve only one master!” 

“Laserbeak, deploy. Operation: revelation,” Soundwave commanded. The said ‘Con flew over their heads and displayed to them the same footage he showed to Soundwave and Lockdown at first. Team Chaar widened their optics in shock as they saw Megatron’s defeat and the defeat of his top lieutenants by the Friendship Magic. However, Laserbeak did not reveal who sent that blast. After the footage was finished, the ‘Cons growled in sorrow and rage. 

“IMPOSSIBLE!! MEGATRON CANNOT BE DEFEATED LIKE THIS!!” Strika angrily bellowed, striking the ground with her fists. “Whoever was behind that blast, THEY WILL ALL PAY!!” 

“Yeah! Spittor destroy all those beings! Spittor swallow them whole!” Spittor added. 

Rumble then grew worried that his friends and family in Equestria would be in danger if the ‘Cons would ever find out.  “Thank Celestia Soundwave didn’t show them who did it! I hope they never find out.”

Cyclonus raised his metal brow with doubt. “How can a random Decepticon whom we’ve never seen before effectively lead us?” 

“Precisely! We’ve only met for approximately five cycles, and you are already spewing orders at us!” Blackout agreed. “Even if Megatron is offline, we can still manage ourselves very well.” 

Suddenly, Soundwave activated his speakers from his shoulders. The sound waves struck them with minimal power enough to knock them down. Groaning in pain, they weakly lifted their heads to see the Decepticon Revolutionary menacingly approach them. “Resistance is unacceptable. Soundwave is your new master. All Decepticons obey Soundwave!” the sonic ‘Con declared. 

Team Chaar inwardly groaned once they heard his voice again—ringing in their central processors. “We... we are at your command... Master Soundwave,” acknowledged Strika. Then they all slowly rose to their feet and bowed before him. Rumble and Lockdown looked on with slight amusement and surprise. They listened to how Soundwave is some self-appointed revolutionary and rebel towards the humans in Detroit, but they never expected him to be that controlling. 

“Whoa...” Rumble muttered. 

“You said it, kid. Whoa indeed,” Lockdown concurred. 

Once that was taken care of, Soundwave turned to face his new apprentice. “Rumble, it is now time for your much-needed training. Once you accomplish the basic steps in combat and battle, we will precede to the last phase of the plan. Soon, the human oppressors and all Autobot defenders shall be eliminated. Decepticons, prepare yourselves for war!” Soundwave declared. The ‘Cons uttered their war cries before they marched towards their own chambers. 

“You two have fun,” said Lockdown. “I’ll be reorganizing my trophies for a while. Gotta make room for more to come, y’know?” 

After the bounty hunter left, it was just Soundwave and Rumble alone together in the main room. The latter excitedly looked up to his new master with his red visor shining brightly. “So, boss, where do I start? Anything challenging?” 

“First operation: activate pile drivers,” Soundwave ordered. Rumble did exactly that and stood still. 

“Second operation: pound them on the ground and permit outcome,” he instructed again. Rumble pounded on the steel floor with all his might as instructed. Although Lockdown’s ship was built with unbreakable Cybertronian material, the force was strong enough to cause a massive tremor across the ship. The ‘Cons moved from side to side as the ship violently shook from left to right. Even Lockdown was briefly startled by the sudden quake. 

“Wow! This is so awesome! I could even defeat Tirek with this much strength!” Rumble boasted. 

Ignoring his comment, Soundwave preceded on. “Third operation: transform.” Rumble was then puzzled by the instruction. 

“Uh... transform into what exactly?” he thought. “Transform? I don’t think I have an alt mode or whatever type of form I can change into.” 

“Worry not. You shall witness it yourself,” Soundwave assured. “Transform in your alt mode.” 

“Hmm, well... here goes nothing,” Rumble said. He tried to transform at first but nothing happened. He tried again and failed thereafter. Thus, he had to focus on the transformation and slowly relax his mind in the process. “Transform... transform... TRANSFORM!” Suddenly, Rumble transformed into his alternative mode: an audio cassette player. He involuntarily flew up into Soundwave’s open chest compartment and shut itself in. “Whoa!! What is this?!”

“Excellent. Transform again,” Soundwave commanded. Rumble ejected out of his chest and transformed back to robot mode. 

“This is really cool, Soundwave! I actually feel like I can take on those Autobots now!” Rumble proudly spoke.  

“And taking them all on... you shall,” Soundwave replied. “The more you concentrate on the tasks I will assign you, the more effective you will become in the war against our enemies.” 

“Gotcha, boss!” Rumble saluted. 

“Initiating final operation: testing your combat skills. Laserbeak, deploy. Operation: examination.” Soundwave ordered. 

Laserbeak flew down and pulled a lever from the left wall. Then a large hologram appeared in front of Rumble. The hologram appeared in the form of a large green Autobot; he had an Autobot insignia on his chest, a large jaw in the form of a smile, large arms with three fingers each, and two white stars imprinted on his shoulders. The Autobot stood over him with an aggressive expression on his face. This motivated Rumble to get in battle stance. 

“Examination starting... now!” Soundwave commanded. 

The holographic Autobot attempted to slam his wrecking ball on the minicon, but the latter quickly jumped out of the way. He activated his pile drivers and pounded on the floor once again. It caught the opponent off-guard as he immediately lost his balance and stumbled on the floor. Once he slowly rose from the ground, Rumble jumped toward the figure and punched him repeatedly in the face. The Autobot grabbed him and threw him away to the other wall. 

Rumble landed on the floor, front flipped over his opponent, and briefly landed on the opposite wall. He sprang towards the ceiling and then landed a drop kick on the Autobot. The latter grunted in pain from the hard kick. Then for a final blow, Rumble took out his white blasters from his back and thought about what to do with them. “Hmm, those things are...?” 

“Blasters. Effective in battle especially in point-blank range,” replied Soundwave. “Pull the trigger they each have. It will open fire.” 

“Uh-huh! Take this!” Rumble shouted, pulling the triggers as instructed. He fired laser shots at the Autobot, blasting him to smithereens. Thus, the hologram of the destroyed Autobot disappeared. Laserbeak screeched in applause. 

“Excellent work, Rumble. Your training is complete.” Soundwave congratulated. 

“AWESOME! I feel so ready now! Thanks, Soundwave!” Rumble happily replied, jumping up and down. 

“The time is now. The destruction of the Autobots and the humans is imminent. We shall waste no further time. Lockdown, set course for earth.” Soundwave commanded via com link. 

“Right on it,” Lockdown complied. The ship then redirected its course and blasted off toward earth. 

While they were on their way, Lockdown received an embedded message within the ship’s computer. Curious, he went to the computer and opened up the message. “What do we have here? ‘Greetings, my bounty hunting friend! It’s been a while since we spoke. The last time we had our little transaction, I promised to give you a better weapon worth keeping. Well, I believe I have something you won’t refuse.’” Lockdown read out loud. 

“Hmmm. ‘If you’re interested enough, meet me at the abandoned factory ten miles from Detroit. Here are the coordinates,’” he finished reading. “Huh, this decacycle just keeps getting better and better.” Thus, he followed the coordinations and continued his course.
> Chapter 6: Trip to Cybertron
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN CANTERLOT

“Where do you suppose this Soundwave fellow is at?” Brawn asked. “If he is not in Equestria, then how are we supposed to find him and Rumble?” 

Twilight and the princesses pondered on that question. After thinking it over, Twilight got an idea. “Hey, how about we all visit your planet Cybertron? Maybe your friends over there may give us some clues as to where they may be!” 

Hearing her suggestion instantly reminded Rodimus of something. “Scrap! I almost forgot to report back to the Elite Guard! I’m sure they’re worried about us since we haven’t spoken to them in a couple megacycles, so we have to inform them of our current predicament.” 

Twilight and the others were then confused by the term. “Elite Guard? Why does that sound familiar? Wait...” Suddenly, it rang some bells in her mind... and also over her head. Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance at the draconequus’s antics. “Discord...” 

“What? It’s finally being refreshed in your memory, right?” Discord innocently asked. He snapped his fingers which made the ringing bells fly away with eagle wings. 

“I think Megatron mentioned something about the Elite Guard being formed by... Ultra Mag—Mager... Magnus! Ultra Magnus, I think,” Twilight recalled. This amazed the Autobots as they heard her mention his name. 

“He told you about him? Oh wait, let me guess,” Hot Shot said, rolling his optics. “He lied about Ultra Magnus being the big bad dictator and oppressor over Cybertron, abused his power, wrongfully exiled the Decepticons, blah, blah, blah. That stuff, right?” 

“Yeah... pretty much,” replied Spike. 

“Like we haven’t heard him say that a billionth time already. He never thought of anything creative, did he?” Hot Shot groaned. 

“At least he won’t be spewing lies anymore, Hot Shot. For that, we should all be grateful,” said Rodimus. “Hmmm, perhaps a trip to Cybertron for you all would be alright. You will learn many things about our culture and our home planet. Autobots, we are heading to Cybertron! Transform and roll out!” Rodimus and his team all transformed back in vehicle mode and revved their engines in anticipation. 

“Wait! You guys can just use this!” Pinkie Pie shouted from afar, holding Shockwave’s portal device. “You can return to Cybertron by activating a portal!” After she said that, she pressed the green button which created a large portal before the group. 

“Oh, really? I was just going to teleport us to their home, but whatever...” Discord remarked, having a disappointed look. 

“Where did you get that?!” Ironhide asked, shocked to see a Cybertronian device in Equestria. 

“Oh, we got it from Shockwave after he and his friends were defeated,” Pinkie nonchalantly replied. “Now we can use it anytime we want!” 

“Huh... impressive work! Now we can all return to Cybertron with no difficulty. Hop in, ponies!” Rodimus said. The princesses, Thunderlane, Spike, and Starlight rode inside the vehicle forms of the Autobots whereas Discord snapped his fingers to summon his taxi car. He hopped inside and followed the Autobots into the portal. Once they entered therein, the portal closed. 

“Have fun! Take some pictures! Wait, robots can take pictures, right?” Pinkie asked before looking towards the sky. “Right, author? Readers?” 

ON CYBERTRON

A portal opened in the middle of Iacon City; from there came five Autobots in their alternate modes. After the ponies and dragon exited their doors, the team transformed back to their robot forms. Discord exited his taxi car and allowed it to disappear. Then the portal closed behind them. Both groups looked around and saw all the tall buildings surrounding them and all the Autobot citizens walking around, doing their own business. 

“Wow... we are really on Cybertron!!” Starlight exclaimed. “I... It is amazing!” 

“Your planet does look wonderful, Rodimus Prime,” Celestia observed. “My sister and I have always wondered what your home looks like and how it would feel being here... touching its Cybertronian grounds.” 

“Indeed,” Luna nodded. “To think that those Decepticon tyrants tried to ruin your home is truly terrifying.” 

“Don’t be so comfortable, princesses. Cybertron may appear peaceful, but it is far from being safe... not while there are still more Decepticons on the loose.” Rodimus warned. 

“But as long as we work together, we can still beat them all, right?” Spike asked, confidently smiling. Red Alert softly grinned at the dragon’s optimism. 

“I like your spirit, Spike. If only our other allies had the same motivation...” she said. 

“Hey, look! There are organics here!” an Autobot citizen alerted. The rest of the Autobot people looked straight at Team Athenia before looking down on the Equestrian creatures next to them. They all gasped in amazement. 

“Uhh... why are they staring at us like that?” Thunderlane wondered. 

“What do you think?” Ironhide asked. 

Some of the citizens screamed in terror at the sight of the equine organics. They ran away for their lives while the others slowly walked towards them and Team Athenia. “What are those organics? Where do they come from?!” one of the bystanders asked. 

“Are you actually that afraid of us?” Discord asked. “What? You’ve never seen a creature like me before? Look at me!” He snapped his fingers to summon many trumpets around his friends and himself as well as a banner with the words “Team Equestria” on it. “Behold! We are TEAM EQUESTRIA—working together to defeat the evil Soundwave and rescue Rumble!!” he shouted with a microphone. The trumpets blew loudly around them. 

The citizens looked astonished to witness a creature’s magical powers being displayed flawlessly and at will. Seeing their stupefied silence, he grinned in satisfaction. “Quite impressive, huh? No need to praise me; I’m just that kind of a powerful draconequus and Lord of Chaos,” he smugly remarked. The ponies and Spike rolled their eyes in annoyance whereas Rodimus and his team were confused at the turn of events. 

“Is he always like this?” Hot Shot asked. 

“You have no idea,” said Spike. 

Suddenly, a white earth-based car arrived in the midst of Iacon. Seeing his fellow Autobots and strange, unfamiliar organics with them, he drove right next to them and transformed in robot mode. “Team Athenia! Never thought I would see your faces again!” he gladly welcomed. 

“Jazz, sir! Glad to see you as well!” Ironhide saluted. 

“Greetings, Jazz. We apologize for not reporting to the Elite Guard earlier,” said Rodimus. “We were waylaid by some... unexpected turn of events. However, it eventually revealed to us a new problem that should concern all of us.” 

“No problem, bro. It’s all good,” Jazz waved off. “I’m just glad to see ya still online. And... who are those organics supposed to be?” 

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stepped forward to introduce themselves. “My name is Celestia, and this is my sister Luna, co-rulers of Equestria. This is my former student Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship.” Twilight nervously smiled and waved at Jazz. Luna nodded her head in acknowledgment. 

“Whoa... rulers of Equestria? Well, that’s new. Wait... y’all look like those horses I’ve seen back on earth! But for some reason... you can talk?” Jazz wondered. 

“Well... we’re ponies to be precise,” Twilight replied. “We come from Equestria, and Team Athenia were willing to help us find one of our own who has gone missing. A Decepticon named Soundwave has captured him, and we need to know where to find him! Can you help us?” 

“Soundwave? Never heard of that dude before,” Jazz said. “Nonetheless, I don’t think I can help you since Ultra Magnus has gotten us busy lately with all that Energon gig.” 

“Jazz, this is serious. This Soundwave may pose a threat to not just Equestria but possibly even Cybertron as well,” Rodimus warned. “We have to do something in order for that threat to never happen. An organic is in grave danger, and we cannot allow any sentient being to be harmed by a Decepticon no matter what they are.” 

Jazz then thought on those words before he looked down to Thunderlane. “Please... we need to find him! My brother... needs me! PLEASE!!” the pegasus begged with tears in his eyes. 

“Hmmm... I’ll see what I can do. In fact, why don’t y’all meet with Ultra Magnus? I know he will give ya an idea or two,” Jazz suggested, smiling. 

Rodimus nodded approvingly. “That’s good enough for me. Come on, team, we’re heading to the Elite Guard!” Thus, Team Equestria and Team Athenia walked together to Metroplex City with Jazz guiding them. 

“Why do I have a feeling this Ultra Magnus fellow won’t be that helpful and generous?” Discord rhetorically asked. 

OUTSIDE DETROIT

During sunset, Lockdown’s ship landed in the middle of a field and disguised itself as an old factory. Its front doors opened, allowing Soundwave, Lockdown, Rumble, and Team Chaar to exit from the ship. “(Whistles) Wow... planet earth. Never expected this place to be so... primitive.” Oil Slick observed. 

“Kaon City looks much more appealing than this mud ball of a planet!” Strika yelled. “Why are we here, Lockdown?” 

“A friend of mine invited me for something... special. Of course, you’re all welcome to join me.” Lockdown replied. As if on cue, a dark tan SUV with purple windows and windshield drove out of the abandoned factory and drove up to them. He transformed to robot mode and opened wide his arms. 

“Hey, hey, hey!!! Lockdown, pal, how’s it going?! It’s been like what... forever? Anyway, happy to see my favorite business partner still intact!” Swindle greeted. 

“You have got to be kidding me...” Strika groaned, face palming herself. 

“Who are you, Decepticon?” Soundwave asked. Swindle raised his metal brows at the new guy amusingly. 

“My, my, my!! Another customer awaits my generosity? Great! The name’s Swindle! I’m what you call an intergalactic arms dealer! Lockdown and I share a history of working together to bring about new upgrades, mods, and weapons for our... mutual benefit. Anyone who needs some weapons can just come right to me, baby! Now, what is your name? I’m digging your vocoder voice by the way.” 

“I am Soundwave. I now lead the Decepticons. With my lackeys by my side, I will carry out the ultimate revolution mankind has never seen. The human terrorists shall be destroyed, and the Autobots will pay for their wickedness.” 

Swindle stood there with the look of surprise and excitement on his face. “THAT’S GREAT! A new warmonger is on the table here!! It turns out you’ll become my second favorite customer! We’ve just met, and I’m already liking you! However, I’m not sure if I follow your second sentence. I thought Megatron was the big bad of the ‘Cons?” 

“Unfortunately, Megatron kicked the bucket. He’s not going to do you or I any favors anymore,” Lockdown informed. Hearing those words both shocked and saddened Swindle. 

“Seriously?! No! That means... I lost my number one customer. (Sigh) Just when I thought my career would be a tremendous success, I hear this. Well... at least Mr. Soundwave here would be a great replacement. Care to accept my offer?” 

“What do you propose?” Soundwave asked.

“See, I have something which neither of you bots can refuse,” Swindle began. He pulled out the time piece from his chest drawer. “You see this? This is my new addition I recently got from some humans I encountered. I call it the time piece. It contains an Allspark fragment that can slow any machine down to a temporary stasis. Once the victim is in this stasis, he can see and hear everything around him. However, he can neither move nor speak. It is a fate worse than going offline, don’t ya think?” 

The Decepticons were intrigued as they listened carefully to his words. “So, what do you think, Soundwave? You might want to add this to your master plan because this could be the very thing... to defeat and destroy your Autobot enemies.” Swindle evilly smirked. 

“I wish I can wear that thing as a necklace,” said Lockdown as he gazed at it. “This could be the best trophy yet.” 

Soundwave considered his offer for a few seconds before slowly nodding. “Proposal accepted. Operation: Decepticon alliance.” Lockdown and Swindle shook hands together before Swindle shook Soundwave’s hand. Rumble grinned happily at seeing how it was played out. 

“The three of us will do great together! The ultimate trio this planet will deal with!” Swindle bragged. “Soundwave, Lockdown, and me!” He then wrapped his arms around Lockdown and Soundwave. 

“Don’t even think about it, Swindle. We’re not gonna be that close. Stop being so dramatic about it,” Lockdown scowled. 

“Come on, Locky, you know you’ll enjoy it,” Swindle smirked. 

“United we stand; divided... WE FALL!” Soundwave declared. Team Chaar shouted their battle cries while Rumble gleefully jumped up and down. 

“Those Autobots are so going down now...” Rumble whispered.
> Chapter 7: Meeting the Elite Guard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

ON CYBERTRON

As Team Athenia and Team Equestria followed Jazz to the entrance of the Metroplex, the Equestrians looked around them and saw many other buildings, monuments, and Autobot citizens with amazement. The more they continued gazing at Cybertron’s borders and its glory, the more surprised they became. Discord put his 3D glasses on as he too was awestruck at what he saw. “(Whistles) Now talk about alien city life!” he exclaimed. 

“Here we are, y’all! This way!” Jazz notified. After he motioned for them to follow him, Team Athenia transformed back to their robot modes and walked side by side with Team Equestria. 

“Wow... this place is so... amazing...” Twilight muttered. “(Gasp) I wonder if they have any books or any other sources of information! Like a library!”

“You’re always that excited for research, huh?” Spike chuckled. 

“So, Jazzy fellow, where might this Ultra Magnus be?” Discord asked. 

“He should be right in the High Council room,” Jazz replied. “He has been expecting Rodimus and his team to report back to him.” 

“In light of everything that has happened to us, we have a lot to explain,” Hot Shot added. He then had a nervous expression on his face. “I’m kinda nervous he’ll be mad at us for not contacting him earlier.” 

“Don’t worry, Hot Shot. Ultra Magnus may not get mad, but a certain... bot will definitely be upset.” Rodimus said, making an annoyed look on his face. The other Autobots likewise groaned in annoyance. 

“Uh... who exactly are you referring to?” Starlight curiously asked. 

“You will see, Starlight,” Ironhide replied. 

As both teams and Jazz entered the council room, there sat four Autobots on their respective seats: the first one was the tallest of them all and had a blue and white color scheme. He held a large hammer with his servo, had a serious frown, and had the Autobot Elite Guard insignia on his chest. The second bot was a bit smaller but with broad shoulders and a large chin. The third was an elderly bot with a red color scheme, and the fourth was likewise red but with a cannon-like accessory on his shoulder and a yellow visor. 

Jazz and Team Athenia stood before the High Council and saluted. “Ultra Magnus, Sir! Team Athenia is here!” Jazz said. The Equestrians stood there as they gazed at the council members. 

“It took you bots long enough to get back to us! Don’t you use your com links anymore?!” Sentinel berated. 

“Just as expected...” Red Alert muttered, rolling her optics. 

“Rodimus Prime... I am most glad that you and your team have made it out alive. I feared that you were taken offline by the Decepticons, but thank the Allspark that is not true,” Ultra Magnus stoically welcomed. “What happened to you? Why haven’t you reported back to us mega cycles ago?” 

Rodimus came forward before replying, “Sir, I and my team were at first ambushed by Team Chaar. They overpowered us the moment we attempted to fight back. However, one of these organics here saved our skit plates. Speaking of which, I would like to introduce to you... Team Equestria.” At that moment, Ultra Magnus looked down and saw the ponies and dragon smiling nervously as they waved. Discord wore a suit with a black tie and smugly grinned at the High Council. 

“Hey, hey, everyone! Team Equestria is in the house, baby! Oh yeah, that’s us alright!!” He snapped his fingers to summon an audience applause sound effect in the background. 

“Discord!!” the ponies and Spike shouted. 

“What? I was just making a big introduction!” Discord said. 

Suddenly, Sentinel Prime pointed his finger at the Equestrians. “What in the name of Cybertron are THOSE organics?!” 

“Those are the ones who now need our help, Sentinel,” Rodimus replied. 

“Absurd! Who gave you permission to bring organics to our planet?! Have you lost your processor, Rodimus?! Those things can infect the entire Elite Guard with their... slime and filth!” Sentinel shouted. The Equestrians gasped at those words. 

“Why, who does he think he is?” Luna whispered as she was angered and offended. “That fool is terribly misinformed.”

“So that’s whom you were talking about,” Starlight said. 

“Indeed,” Rodimus groaned. 

“Excuse me! Ultra Magnus... Sir? (Clears throat) My name is Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship. My friends and I are here to call for your help. One of our own is missing, and we have reason to believe that a Decepticon named Soundwave is the culprit.” Twilight spoke. 

Ultra Magnus and Sentinel looked confused as they heard the strange name. “Soundwave? Who the spark is Soundwave? I don’t ever recall hearing or seeing him on Cybertron,” said Sentinel. 

“He was one of Megatron’s strongest allies,” replied Luna. “He was one of the invaders that nearly destroyed our kingdom back in Equestria and—“ 

“Equestria? Is that where you come from?” Ultra Magnus interrupted. 

“Yes,” said Luna. 

“Hmmm... it appears that the Decepticon forces are now focusing their attacks on other worlds besides our own,” Magnus reasoned. “So apparently Earth isn’t the only organic planet being affected by this. If what you say is true, then we must increase our strategies in high hopes of defeating the Decepticons. Plus, we will investigate this... Soundwave you mentioned.” The Equestrians smiled as hope beamed in their eyes. 

“What is the name of this organic you speak of?” Alpha Trion asked. 

“His name is Rumble,” replied Thunderlane. “He’s been missing for weeks, and I’m afraid Soundwave will hurt him!!” 

“Don’t worry, Thunderlane. We will find him. I promise you,” Rodimus assured, stroking his mane. Thunderlane softly smiled in response. 

“Why should we waste our Energon in searching for some random organic? We have more important matters to attend to! And this ‘Soundwave’ is nothing more than a fake name orchestrated by the ‘Cons to scare us!” Sentinel yelled. 

“WE SAW HIM OURSELVES!! If we don’t find him now, Rumble will be in danger! Why won’t you believe us?!” Thunderlane angrily shouted, tears dropping from his eyes. 

“It seems the organic is telling the truth,” said Perceptor. “Whoever this Soundwave is, he may very well pose a dangerous threat to Cybertron since he was one of Megatron’s fiercest comrades as they said. We cannot be complacent about this, Sentinel Prime.” 

“Are you serious?! We’re just gonna—?!” 

“Enough, Sentinel!” Ultra Magnus commanded. He then faced the Equestrians with a slight sign of compassion. “Team Equestria, I will permit Rodimus Prime and his team to protect and guide you during this important mission. Soundwave could not only harm your kind but also all of Cybertron if given the opportunity. We may not know what he is capable of, but we know that he might be just as threatening as any other Decepticon. Perceptor, give them the trackers.” 

He gave both teams the trackers for their mission. “These trackers will assist you in locating any Decepticon energy signatures you may find. Make sure this Soundwave goes offline... before he does any harm to anyone.” Magnus sternly ordered. 

“Sir! Yes, Sir!” Team Athenia saluted. 

“Gladly! Soundwave will PAY for capturing my little brother!” Thunderlane growled, slamming his hooves together. 

“Working together with the Autobots on a rescue mission? This is GREAT!” Spike shouted. He looked up and saw all the Autobots looking at him puzzled. “Uh, I mean... yes, Sir!” 

“It appears that we have quite a difficult task ahead of us,” said Celestia. “I don’t think I've ever been in a rescue mission before.” 

“Me neither,” said Luna. “Usually, we spend our days doing our princess duties within the castle, but going out to missions and adventures like this? This is... new.” 

“Looks like you need to get out more, Princesses. Isn’t that supposed to be the duty of a leader? I truly wonder what you two do in your spare time...” Ironhide smirked. 

“Well... we... uh,” Celestia muttered. 

“Come on, team! Let’s go!” Rodimus commanded. The Autobots transformed into their alt modes and allowed the ponies to ride on. They soon left the building. 

“Those organics do look very interesting, don't they?” Alpha Trion said. 

“Yeah, sure. I’m gonna have to disinfect this entire room!” Sentinel replied. 

Jazz shook his head while grinning to himself. “Some things just never change. Anyway, I wish those guys luck.”
> Chapter 8: A Decepticon Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Team Equestria and Team Athenia left the Metroplex, they assembled themselves together in the midst of Iacon City. The Autobots transformed to robot mode before turning to their Equestrian comrades. “These Decepticon trackers will definitely do the trick,” said Rodimus. “However we still need to have a clue where Soundwave may be. If we can at least gain one sign of his presence anywhere in the galaxy, it can lead us directly to him.” 

“Hmmm, I was thinking about that other planet Megatron mentioned a couple of times,” said Twilight. “What did he call it again? Oh! Earth! I think Soundwave is there!” 

“Earth? That’s another name I’ve never heard of. Did he ever describe what it’s like?” Brawn asked. 

“Ehh... no, not exactly,” Twilight replied, scratching her head. 

“Discord, do you have an idea where it may be?” Red Alert asked. 

“Of course! Ever since Megatron was defeated by our hooves, I attempted to locate those same planets he visited especially since my curiosity got the best of me. Thanks to that portal device from Shockwave, I was able to find Earth in its unique wonder. That’s how I was able to find you in the first place!” Discord explained. 

“Really? If that’s the case, then you might be able to guide us to that planet,” suggested Red Alert. “Although our trackers might not function here, they should be capable of detecting Soundwave’s energy signature once we arrive at Earth’s atmosphere.” 

“Indeed,” agreed Rodimus. “Discord, teleport us to that planet! Time is of the essence! Whatever Soundwave is planning, we will put a stop to it!” 

“Say no more!” Discord grinned. Once he snapped his fingers, both teams disappeared from Cybertron. 

OUTSIDE DETROIT

The Decepticons were gathering all the resources and earthly material they could find from various factories around Detroit. Making sure they would not be spotted by the humans, Team Chaar scanned earth-based vehicle forms. Strika scanned an M1 Abrams Tank; Blackout scanned a Pave Low Helicopter; Cyclonus scanned a Fighter Jet; Oil Slick scanned a motorcycle that had a metallic goat’s face on the center; and Spittor begrudgingly scanned a SWAT armored vehicle although he still maintained his bullfrog mode. 

Blackout carried the resources with his hook in helicopter mode while Spittor and Cyclonus carried the other materials likewise in their alt modes. “Make haste! We cannot afford to lose these things!” Strika ordered. “Our ultimate triumph over our enemies depends on it!” 

“Why are we stealing this primitive technology anyway?” Oil Slick asked. 

“Because Lord Soundwave requires all of Detroit’s resources to carry a new weapon that will exterminate all our Autobot enemies,” Strika replied. “If these humans are as dangerous as he says, then we will destroy them all as well! The glory of the Decepticons must not be diminished.” 

“Oh great, now you’re starting to sound just like Lugnut,” Oil Slick groaned, face palming himself. 

Strika twitched her left optic in irritation. “Will you stop comparing me to Lugnut?! I’m sick and tired of hearing his name over and over!” 

“Why? Is it because you used to have a crush on him? Hmm?” Oil Slick smugly smirked. “Did the big guy ever confess his love to you... like lovey-dovey?” Strika then punched Oil Slick in the face. 

“SHUT THE FRAG UP!!! Strika angrily bellowed. 

“Awwww... look at little Megatron Junior! Gonna cry?” Oil Slick mocked, wickedly smiling. 

“I WILL TAKE YOU OFFLINE IF YOU MOCK ME ONE MORE TIME!!” Strika yelled. “And Cybertronians don't cry!” 

“Clearly, you need to open up more, Princess. The internet this planet has seems very amusing,” said Oil Slick. “You should try it some time.” 

Suddenly, Laserbeak flew over them and loudly screeched at them. Strika and Oil Slick looked up and saw him landing on top of a warehouse’s roof while silently staring at them. They felt slightly intimidated by the bird’s stare. “Sorry, Laserbeak. We were just... uh... having a decent conversation!” Oil Slick nervously grinned. 

“Of course... we were doing just that,” Strika played along although she didn’t understand what the bird said. 

Laserbeak was still silent for a few more moments before his optics brightened up. He screeched one more time in a normal tone. Oil Slick however seemed to get the message. “Yes, of course, Laserbeak! We won’t fight again. I promise. We will focus on the task at hand.” 

Then Laserbeak flew away back to his master. Strika looked back at her comrade with a confused expression. “You understood what he said? How?” 

“I have a knack for understanding creatures especially the ones on Cybertron. I dunno... maybe it’s just my gift besides being an expert chemist and in biology.” Oil Slick replied, shrugging. 

“Huh... and here I thought Spittor would have that special ability considering that he is... well... you know what I mean.” Strika stuttered. 

“(Scoffs) That undereducated lifeform couldn't communicate to a scraplet let alone a Sharkticon! Besides, he knows nothing.” Oil Slick chuckled. 

“Yeah. Anyway... let’s get this back to the ship. Lord Soundwave is expecting us,” Strika reminded. They both transformed into their vehicle modes and drove off to their temporary headquarters. They reunited with the other Decepticons as they laid the materials on the ground. Swindle met them with Rumble right next to him. 

“This is perfect! Absolutely perfect!” Swindle smiled. “Now we just need to construct these babies and then boom! We will have a perfectly built cannon that will win us billions of upgrades and Energon! (Sighs dreamily) This is what I’m imagining my swimming pool to look like...” 

“Cool! So those Autobots won’t stand a chance against it, right?” Rumble smiled. 

“Right you are, kiddo! And your daddy is going to be so proud of you! You will learn so much that will be of benefit to you.” Swindle grinned. 

“Wait? ‘Daddy’? You think he’s my—?” 

“No! I mean—that’s what I’m guessing,” Swindle sheepishly smiled. “That’s what those humans call it, right? Unless my knowledge of human parenthood is faulty...” 

Rumble’s mind was suddenly engrossed over the thought of them both being very close and related. He looked at his chassis and Decepticon insignia as he imagined what his potentially new family would be like.  “Soundwave can be... my father? That’s just... weird and... fascinating. I might have to talk to him about it!” 

“You may be right, Swindle! I’ll go talk to him!” Rumble said, running back to the disguised ship. 

“Huh... I guess I may be correct after all.” Swindle said. 

Soundwave was just finished building his new minicon within Lockdown’s lab. He looked upon his new creation with his red visor glowing brightly in satisfaction. It was another Decepticon animal much like Laserbeak but was actually a robotic black panther. Its optics glowed red and quickly stood up growling ferociously. He had two little white missiles on either side of his body, and it had a Decepticon insignia on its right side. 

“Arise, my new pet. Welcome to the revolution. I am Soundwave, your creator and master!” he declared. “Henceforth, you shall be designated as... Ravage.” The cat softly roared before kneeling before his maker. 

“Ravage, transform!” Soundwave commanded. 

Ravage did so and transformed into a piano. He played his music with powerful music notes literally appearing and flying everywhere. The music notes then grew sharp blades at their corners and sliced through whatever material they encountered. They flew back into Ravage before he transformed to panther mode. 

Laserbeak flew to Ravage with a friendly screech. The latter purred and nuzzled his new companion. “Rumble shall be pleased once he sees this.” Soundwave said. 

“Hi, Soundwave!” Rumble called. Soundwave turned around and faced his apprentice who approached him. “I was wondering if I can ask you something.” 

“Proceed,” Soundwave nodded. 

“Well, Swindle out there got me thinking about something. I was beginning to think... if you were starting to become... my dad.” Rumble hesitantly asked, rubbing the back of his head. An awkward silence filled the room which not even Ravage or Laserbeak could break. 

“A father? That reminds me of how Sari Sumdac often addressed that organic she called ‘Dad’. You... look upon me that way?” Soundwave wondered. 

“Well... I guess? I mean, you do sound like you know what’s best for me, and I never really knew my dad back in Equestria. So... are you okay with that?” Rumble asked. “Being a family together doing great things... doing what is best for everypony, right?” 

Soundwave thought about it for a moment since he never had that kind of connection before.  “A father-son relationship? This might solidify my plan if I go along with this. This... is a perfect opportunity.”  He extended his open hand to Rumble. “I accept. You shall be... my son.” 

Rumble felt like emotionally tearing up, but then he remembered he could not cry anymore due to the Cybertronian biology. Instead, he hugged Soundwave as tight as he could. “Thanks, Dad! This is so awesome!” 

“Yes... my son,” Soundwave broke the hug and allowed Rumble to pet Ravage and Laserbeak. Once he was distracted, Soundwave walked away and contacted two Decepticons via com link. “Cyclonus. Blackout. Come to me immediately.” 

The two Decepticons entered the second room where Soundwave was waiting for them. They reverently bowed before him. “What is your command, master?” they asked. 

“I need you two to enter into Equestria. The ponies of that land are the ones responsible for Megatron’s defeat.” Soundwave revealed. Hearing that revelation made them both shocked and confused. 

“The ponies? Who are they?!” Blackout demanded. 

“The organics who used that rainbow blast to petrify Megatron and his top lieutenants. Now you know who are the ones responsible for their defeat. This is what they look like...” Soundwave explained before displaying a holographic picture of the Mane Six, Spike, Starlight, Discord, Celestia, Luna, and the others. 

Then they were furious over the revelation. “THOSE ORGANIC SCUM WILL PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID TO OUR LEADER!” Blackout roared. 

“Especially that abomination who took us out earlier and saved those Autobot scum!” Cyclonus added. “Now we shall return the favor.” 

“And you both shall,” said Soundwave. “Travel to Equestria and destroy them all.” 

Cyclonus grew an evil smile as he raised one of his swords. “With pleasure.” He transformed to Fighter Jet mode and flew off. 

“Are you sure about this? That kid of yours might discover our deed and your true intentions.” Blackout warned. 

“Rumble doesn’t need to know. As long as he looks upon me as his... ‘Dad’ and knows his place, he will prove his utmost usefulness to me along with the device we shall create,” said Soundwave. 

“Hmm, and what if he betrays us or disobeys?” Blackout asked. 

“He will fulfill our destiny,” Soundwave stressed. “Once he expires his usefulness and completes his main role of the revolution, I will extinguish him once and for all.”
> Chapter 9: Fight in the City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team Equestria and Team Athenia appeared in the middle of Detroit. They, except Discord, marveled at the new surroundings and brighter atmosphere of the city. The Autobots in particular were even intrigued by the appearance of the robotic machines walking with fleshy bipedal creatures all over the city.

“Whoa... this is... Earth?” Ironhide wondered out loud. 

“Correct! Even I have to admit their technology is very impressive!” Discord said. “I can imagine what Equestria would be like with this type of lifestyle.” 

“This is quite a... strange world apparently,” said Celestia. “But if Soundwave is holding Rumble hostage here, then we will find them and stop the Decepticon before he does any more harm.” 

“Agreed, Princess. Let’s see if our scanners can detect any Decepticon from here,” said Rodimus. Right after he said this, their trackers gave bleeping sounds. They saw two red dots on the scanners floating towards their location. 

“Hey, they’re working! Our trackers are detecting Decepticon energy signatures!” Hot Shot noticed. “And they are heading straight... down... to... us?” 

Just as he said this, Blackout and Cyclonus flew above the clouds in their respective alt modes and then swiftly descended on their Autobot foes. The Autobots didn’t take long to recognize the two ‘Cons due to their color scheme. “No... it’s those two again!” Red Alert pointed. 

“Who?” Twilight asked. Neither she nor her Equestrian friends knew who those specific Decepticons were. However, the moment they noticed their Decepticon insignias, they instantly realized they were bad news. They widened their eyes in horror. “Oh...” 

Blackout and Cyclonus transformed to their robot modes and thunderously landed on the concrete, causing it to crack from impact. Cyclonus ferociously glared at the Autobots. “Pathetic Autobot scum... how convenient that you have come here for the scrap heap.” 

“Well, at least we get to slice them into atoms before we take on this ‘Equestria’ place,” Blackout sinisterly chuckled. The ponies gasped in shock as he mentioned their homeland. Hearing little voices below him, he looked down to see them standing close to Rodimus. He widened his optics in surprise especially as he also noticed Discord. “YOU! You must be the ones Soundwave told us about! You were the ones who neutralized Megatron!” 

“And that abomination of a vermin is here too!” Cyclonus hatefully added, pointing at Discord. “You will pay for humiliating us like that!” 

“Hey, the name is Discord! DIS-CORD! Thank you very much!” Discord scolded, offended by Cyclonus’ derogatory comments. “And second of all, we will kindly ask you to step aside. We have a poor foal to rescue.” 

The two Decepticons looked at each other puzzled until they thought of an idea. Grinning evilly, they loaded their weapons. “If you want to get to Soundwave, you’re gonna have to deal with us first,” Blackout said. 

“I’ll deal with this ‘Discord’ fellow; you can take on the rest of these fools,” Cyclonus ordered. Raising his purple swords in the air, he narrowed his optics on his prey. “I’ve been looking forward to this.” 

Discord snapped his fingers to summon a sword of the same size as Cyclonus’ swords. Thus, both got into a duel while Blackout began to fight the other heroes. 

“Autobots, attack!” Rodimus commanded, grabbing his bow and Energon arrows. He and Hot Shot fired their shots on Blackout; however, they did little damage to his armor plating except dent a few spots on his arms. He activated his rotor blades and swung them at Rodimus and Hot Shot. Twilight and Starlight fired their magical spells on him. He then angrily swung his blades toward them as well; before they could hit them, they teleported away. 

Blackout knocked Ironhide to the ground and attempted to pound him down, but the latter covered himself in iron plating to prevent any damage. Blackout tried very hard to punch him hard but couldn’t do it. As he was distracted, Red Alert activated her electrical whips and wrapped them around his legs. They electrocuted Blackout so severely he fell on the ground. Groaning in pain, he raised his machine gun and fired on the Autobots. They ran off for cover, but Brawn deflected the bullets and smashed his machine gun to pieces. 

“Enough playing around, Decepti-creep! Where is Soundwave?!” Brawn harshly demanded. 

Cyclonus and Discord continued duking it out with neither opponent giving up or backing down. “So... care to tell me what the big bad Soundwave is planning? Hm?” Discord calmly asked, effortlessly dodging the deadly swipes. 

“Never! Arghhhh!!” Cyclonus wildly yelled as he finally sliced off Discord’s tail. He wickedly smiled in satisfaction. But to his bewilderment, Discord nonchalantly grew another tail like it was nothing. “HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?” 

“You see, Decepticons like you always underestimate the power of Equestrian magic,” Discord smugly lectured. “I’m so lucky these ponies have me as their helpful friend and ally! Of course, my dear friend Fluttershy appreciates me the most.” 

After he heard these words, Cyclonus started thinking.  “So... this disgusting creature has friends, eh? Fluttershy? Hmm, I still have Soundwave’s orders to carry out. I wonder if I can use this for the Decepticons’ advantage.” After he quickly thought of a plan, he began to take action. 

Cyclonus chuckled in apparent amusement. This got Discord’s attention as he wondered why he was suddenly laughing. “What’s so funny?” 

“Oh, nothing. I just have fond memories of being in that world of yours. It’s a really fun place indeed,” Cyclonus claimed. 

Discord widened his eyes in shock. 
“But how is that possible? You weren’t even there!” 

“You’re wrong, organic. I may not have been with Megatron, but I was in that world. I was hiding in secret just to see if there was anything useful to discover. Unfortunately, I forgot where to locate it since it’s been stellar cycles after departing from that planet. Thankfully, you come from that place and can teleport to wherever you go. You might as well take me there; after all, I know exactly where Fluttershy lives,” Cyclonus lied. “I am looking forward to seeing her again.” 

“NO! You leave her alone!” Discord shouted. 

“Unless you want to see her in one piece, I suggest you take me to Equestria. Don’t worry... I won’t hurt anyone there. It will be just a friendly visitation. If you do anything stupid, I will change my mind,” he threatened. “I have bombs there ready for detonation. Stand down and take me there.” 

Discord tried really hard to remain strong. But the very thought of Fluttershy getting hurt made him very scared. Not wanting any harm to come upon her, Discord bowed his head in defeat. “Fine...” He snapped his fingers to teleport himself and Cyclonus to Equestria. 

The ponies, Spike, and the Autobots finished defeating Blackout and putting stasis cuffs on him. “Great job, team. You all did very well,” Rodimus complimented. 

“Hey, where’s Discord?” Spike asked. They all looked around to see both him and Cyclonus gone. This instantly put the ponies to a panic. 

“Oh, no! I think that other Decepticon managed to capture Discord! They’re both gone!” Twilight cried. 

“That’s not possible! Discord could’ve just snapped his servos to instantly appear here! Where did they go?” Ironhide asked. 

“Great, first we lose Rumble and now Discord?! Can this day get any worse?” Starlight added. 

Blackout evilly chuckled in amusement. “You organics are so short-sighted, aren’t you? You have no idea what Soundwave is planning for both this planet and your pathetic little world!” 

Celestia and Luna fiercely glared at the cuffed Decepticon. “Where is Rumble? Where is Soundwave hiding?” 

“And what exactly is Soundwave planning?” Luna added.

At that moment, Soundwave burst through the road pavement; he floated in the air with his visor glowing menacingly. “Autobots and ponies, prepare to meet your destruction!” he bellowed. His enemies gasped in surprise whereas Blackout silently chuckled at their reaction. 

“WHERE THE HAY IS MY LITTLE BROTHER?! WHERE IS HE?!” Thunderlane angrily shouted. 

Soundwave did not respond. He continued gazing on the ponies and especially on Twilight. Remembering how that her voice is similar to the voice of his worst enemy, he resumed his attempts to fully annihilate her for good. “Ravage, deploy. Operation: Extermination!” Ravage then ejected out of his chest compartment and transformed to panther mode. He growled at his prey before loading his mounted blasters. 

“LET’S SPLIT UP!” Twilight ordered. The Equestrians split up into three groups: Twilight ran with Spike; Starlight with Thunderlane; and Celestia with Luna. They all flew/ran off to different directions. Thus, Ravage looked to either group before deciding to chase Twilight and Spike. 

Soundwave then faced Team Athenia; The Autobots glared at their new enemy in their battle stances. “You must be Soundwave the ponies spoke about,” said Rodimus. 

“Correct, Autobot. I am Soundwave, the Chief Revolutionary,” he replied. 

“We have orders from the Elite Guard to take you down,” said Red Alert. “Plus, we know that you’re hiding Rumble somewhere. Where is he?” 

“That is of no concern to you, Autobot. You will all be destroyed before you shall witness the Decepticons’ final victory. Laserbeak, deploy! Operation: Autobot Destruction!” Soundwave commanded. Laserbeak likewise ejected out of his chest and transformed to guitar mode. He landed on Soundwave’s hands. 

He played the loud music which emitted laser waves. They struck the Autobots into the air before they landed hard on the ground. Rodimus shot Energon arrows at his guitar to disable the music. Laserbeak screeched in pain until he transformed to hawk mode. 

Soundwave grabbed his plasma blasters and began shooting at his opponents. The plasma waves tore through the streets and forced the Autobots to jump out of the way; they barely missed the shots. He fired more blasts at them and also at the fleeing ponies. 

Ravage pursued Twilight and Spike all the way to Sumdac Tower. He fired his missiles at them; Twilight fired back at them which caused an explosion. Ravage jumped through the smoke and continued his pursuit. 

“How are we gonna lose that thing?! We’re not gonna make it!” Spike yelled. 

“Just keep running!” Twilight urged. 

Then they found themselves surrounded by razor-sharp musical notes with Ravage just behind them both. The Decepticon cat prepared himself to destroy his prey. 

Suddenly, his musical notes were swiftly cut in half by someone. Confused, he turned around to see who it was. What he met was a blue hammer to the face. The powerful strike flew him across the street. He crashed against a brick wall and fell down wounded. 

“Whoa! Who did that?” Spike asked. 

“I did!” a similar voice proudly spoke. 

However, he looked back at Twilight with a confused expression. “You did? But you’re right here!” 

“Um... that wasn’t me, Spike. That has to be...” the alicorn replied right before she laid her eyes on a bipedal robotic figure. She removed her face mask and revealed herself as a teenage girl with red hair and light blue pupils. “... somepony else?” 

“Hello there... talking horse and... talking dragon?” the girl greeted. “I... don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” 

“We’re just... visiting this planet. (Clears throat) My name is Twilight Sparkle from Equestria, and this is Spike. Thank you for saving our lives!” 

“Yeah, you were wicked cool in beating that Decepticon like that! What’s your name?” Spike asked. 

“I’m Sari Sumdac. Wait... your voice sounds almost exactly like mine! How can that be?”

“Huh... no wonder Soundwave compared me to you. But I guess it’s just a coincidence that our voices sound exactly the same.” Twilight nervously smiled. 

“Wait... Soundwave is here?!” Sari exclaimed. “He’s back?!” 

“He’s planning to take over your planet and ours! We have to stop him!” Spike said. “Can you help us?” 

“Yes, I’ll let my friends know about this! They can help you too,” Sari replied. 

Soundwave suddenly landed in front of the trio. “Sari Sumdac, your extinction is imminent. You will be destroyed once and for all!”
> Chapter 10: Fight in the City part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN LOCKDOWN’S SHIP

Rumble was sitting alone in the laboratory. He continued practicing his transformation with less time than before especially during this critical moment of the war against the Autobots. “If I’m gonna fight those guys, I have to be quick in every way! It’s just like training to be a Wonderbolt; only this time, it’s ten times more awesome!” he proudly grinned. 

“Heeyaaahhh!! Take that! And that! Beat that!” he blurted, punching and kicking the air. “This is gonna be so cool fighting in a battle! I didn’t get that chance when Megatron attacked Canterlot, so this is my chance to shine!” 

Lockdown simply stood next to the door outside the room. Although he was tasked to keep an optic on the new Decepticon, he was still somewhat intrigued by his enthusiasm and determination to please Soundwave and prove his worth.

But right after he said these words, Rumble started to feel his conscience kicking him; he instantly remembered his brother and family and how they would react to his new form and his determination in following his so-called "father figure". For some reason, he felt singes of guilt and terror slightly overwhelming him. For a second, he had doubtful thoughts if he was really fighting for a just cause or not. 

"Am I really becoming like one of them... a Decepticon? I never thought I would feel something like this, but... I really hope I'm doing the right thing. They can forgive Soundwave, right?"

He saw his own reflection on the steel floor; he saw his normal pony self looking very sad and disappointed. Then he also saw his new robotic form having an evil smirk on his face. “Please, me, this isn’t who you are! You’re Rumble, Thunderlane’s little brother and a great friend to the ponies! You’re not a Decepticon!” his pony half pleaded. 

“Ha! You think Princess Twilight and her friends will be disappointed in what you are now? Scrap that! They will be proud of you! This is your chance to shine! You’re doing something good for once!” his Decepticon reflection scoffed. 

“No, don’t listen to him! Soundwave will hurt your own family and friends if you let him! You can’t do this!” Pony Rumble cried. 

“Oh, please, Soundwave is just misunderstood,” Decepticon Rumble replied. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and you will become a hero to the ponies. Those Autobot scum won’t stand a chance.” 

As the voices in his head finished their ramblings, his reflections on the floor vanished before him. Thus, Rumble slowly trembled on the floor with anguish on his face. “I... I don’t know why I’m feeling... this way. I—I... I am doing the right thing! I just... hope Soundwave is keeping his word. I know him to be very sincere.” He nervously stood up and recomposed himself. 

After a few seconds of silence, he wore a face of determination. “After this is all said and done, I will come back home to Equestria. I miss them already. I just need to help Soundwave get those Autobots out of the way.” 

Suddenly, a cheer of triumph was heard outside the ship. Curious, he ran outside and saw the Decepticons encircling a massive cannon. “See? What did I tell you guys? I told you this wouldn’t be so difficult to construct! This baby is now done and ready to do some dirty work!” Swindle boasted. 

“Remind me again what this thing is supposed to accomplish?” Oil Slick asked.

“Why, I’m glad you asked, Oil Slick! This beauty will be empowered to control all the machines and robots in Detroit! With my time piece inserted in its power core, it will not only temporarily slow them down but also grant them new powers under Soundwave’s control!” Swindle explained. 

“Wait... how exactly can it do that? You said that your watch can put machines in temporary stasis. But now it has the ability to brainwash all machines as well? That doesn’t add up!” Strika doubted. 

“Ahh, I was just getting to that, my dear,” said Swindle, widely smirking. “This device needs one more component to execute that specific task.” 

“And what would that be?” Strika asked. 

Swindle then looked back and stared right at Rumble. The other Decepticons followed his gaze and looked at the minicon. It took them a few seconds to realize what his answer was. Even Rumble got the message and stood back surprised. 

“Not ‘what’... ’who’” Swindle smiled. 

IN EQUESTRIA

Cyclonus and Discord appeared in a large hill just above Ponyville. The Decepticon warrior evilly smiled as he gazed at all the innocent ponies in the town. Then he looked up and saw Canterlot in a far distance. “My, my, my, this is definitely a lovely place to spread my version of chaos.” 

“Please, just disable those bombs of yours already! Take what you need and get out!” Discord begged. 

Cyclonus then grinned at the unsuspecting draconequus and grabbed him by the neck. “You organic fool, I have no bombs detonated. You just provided me access to this wonderful planet of yours. Thank you so very much.” 

Then Discord widened his eyes in shock. “WHAT?! You tricked me! You said you wouldn’t hurt them!” 

“Never trust a Decepticon, organic scum! Prepare for termination!” Cyclonus yelled. He slammed Discord to the ground and repeatedly stepped on him. Then he shot multiple missiles from his shoulder pads which struck the Lord of Chaos. After the smoke and fire disappeared, all that remained of Discord were his torn wings and horns. 

“HAHAHAHAHA!! Thus ends the organic trouble maker!!” Cyclonus gloated. He transformed to fighter jet mode and flew off to Ponyville. 

As soon as he arrived there, he transformed to robot mode and unsheathed his swords. The ponies gasped in horror at the sight of the Decepticon invader. “Organic scum, your destruction is imminent! You shall all perish!” 

But before he could do anything, his com link rang with a strange ringtone. Puzzled by the sound, he answered his com link. “Hello there, Decepticon! Would you like some Energon bars? It only costs fifty Energon cubes and is only available for 24 hours! Buy some today!” 

“Huh? Who is this? I don’t recognize your voice,” said Cyclonus. 

“What are you waiting for? Come buy some today! You won’t regret it!” the caller said. 

“I don’t know who this is, but I’m not interested in whatever... those treats are. Goodbye,” Cyclonus closed the com link. “Anyway, it’s time to destroy your pathetic lives for Megatron’s sake! I will—!” 

His com link rang again. He picked it up while groaning in annoyance. “Who is it this time?” 

“Hey there! Would you like some Energon wine? It tastes good, and it can make you feel better! But the offer is only for a limited amount of time! So buy one today!” 

“Energon wine? Those things don’t even exist on Cybertron! Who is this speaking?! Wait... is it you again?!” Cyclonus shouted. 

“Buy yours today! Time is running out!” the guy said. 

“SHUT UP! I don’t want any of this ‘wine’ you’re talking about! Stop calling me already!” He hung up once again. 

“Okay, if there are no more interruptions, I can get back to business and then—.” His com link rang once again with a much louder ringtone. Cyclonus then screamed in anger and angrily answered his call. “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! I HAVE WORK TO DO!!” 

He closed it and stood still for a few moments. He waited silently until there were no more ringing calls. “Good. I hope that settles it. Now, where was I? Oh yes... the destruction of the ponies.” 

Then he got yet another call. This suddenly flew him in a rage and made him pace back and forth uttering gibberish grunts. He screamed in full wrath and answered the call. “THAT DOES IT! I WILL OBLITERATE YOU ONCE I FIND OUT WHERE YOU ARE! I AM COMING FOR YOU!” He attempted to run out of town, but he was met with a strike to the head. He fell on the ground. 

Discord appeared in a white flash while hysterically laughing at him. Cyclonus widened his optics in shock. “What?! How is that possible?! I destroyed you!” 

“Did you really think those projectiles of yours could destroy the Lord of Chaos that easily? You should’ve drained my magic first... if only you knew how to do that of course.” Discord gloated. 

He snapped his fingers which made all of Ponyville disappear. Everything reappeared in a dark and dreary place. “Where have you taken me?!” 

“Oh, I didn’t take you anywhere,” replied Discord. “The Ponyville you entered was an illusion. You have been in Tartarus. So... welcome to your new home, buddy!” Confetti flew everywhere, and giant cupcakes flew around Cyclonus with bird wings while singing a welcome song to him. 

“I knew you were trying to manipulate me from the get-go,” said Discord. “So I led you right into my trap... with some random fun of course!” 

Cyclonus found himself in a large prison with a force field before him. He tried to break it with his missiles and swords, but it stood still and strong. “This isn’t over yet, organic! Soundwave will annihilate your worthless little friends and take over Earth! Not even your magic will stop him!” Cyclonus taunted. 

“Heh, we’ll see about that, big boy!” Discord scoffed. He disappeared in a flash, leaving Cyclonus in Tartarus. 

IN DETROIT

Soundwave stood over Twilight, Sari, and Spike with his blasters aiming directly at them; Ravage recovered from his injuries and stood beside his master while growling at them. “It appears I was wrong. Twilight and Sari are not the same individual. Regardless of that error, they shall both be destroyed,” Soundwave said.

“Whatever it is you’re planning, Soundwave, it will fail! Bulkhead defeated you before, and you will be smashed to pieces again!” Sari shouted. 

“Never! Ravage, destroy Twilight Sparkle and her dragon companion; leave the techno-organic to me,” ordered Soundwave. 

Ravage growled in compliance and pounced on the alicorn. She blasted him off her and teleported herself and Spike away from him. They reappeared on top of a house. Ravage saw them and shot his missiles at them. Twilight blasted them with her magic and tried to shoot at Ravage. He dodged all the magical beams and climbed all the way up to the roof. 

Soundwave fired plasma blasts at Sari; she deflected them with her arm-mounted blades before flying straight at the Decepticon. He raised his arms to block the fierce swipes and strikes. Then he swatted her off. “Your toys are useless against my strength, organic. You are nothing compared to my power.” 

Twilight finally blasted Ravage with a powerful magic beam. It sent him flying back to Soundwave. “Think again, Soundwave! As long as we work together, no evil can bring us down!” the alicorn proudly declared. 

Twilight reignited her horn before nodding to Sari. Getting the idea, she smirked back. She and Twilight fired their beams together which combined them to a more powerful beam. It struck one of Soundwave’s speakers over his back. He fell down while groaning in pain. 

“Laserbeak, Ravage, return!” Soundwave commanded. Both minicons retrieved back into his chest compartment. He raised his blaster at Blackout’s stasis cuffs and shot at it. It destroyed the cuffs, freeing the ‘Con. “We must return back to base immediately. Transform,” ordered Soundwave. 

“Yes, sir!” Blackout complied. Both transformed and escaped further onslaught from the Autobots. 

“Nice work, Autobots! It appears that Soundwave will be planning his next move,” said Rodimus. 

“Whatever it is, we will be ready for him!” Hot Shot said. 

“Whoa, who are you guys?” Sari asked. Team Athenia and Team Equestria looked down to see Twilight, Spike, and Sari walking together towards them.

“Wait... why do you sound like Twilight? (Gasp) You must be the human Soundwave was talking about!” Starlight exclaimed. 

“Really? He told you guys about me?” Sari asked. 

“Yeah, in a rather unpleasant manner obviously,” Luna replied. “Anyway, it is a high honor to finally meet you in person. You must be Sari Sumdac, I presume?” 

“Yep! The one and only! I’ve never seen such colorful creatures before. And you’re working with the Autobots?” 

“Indeed, they are. My name is Rodimus Prime, and this is my team: Red Alert, Ironhide, Brawn, and Hot Shot. We are working together to stop Soundwave and also to look for an organic named Rumble. Perhaps you would be willing to help us?” 

“Most definitely! I will let Optimus and the others know that you’re here!” Sari shouted. “This day just keeps getting better and better!” 

Rodimus then widened his optics as soon as he heard the name. “Optimus? He’s here?” 

“Yeah? You guys know each other?” Sari asked. 

Rodimus was silent for a moment before facing his friends. “Of course. Optimus Prime... is my brother.” 

“WHAT?!” his team exclaimed.
> Chapter 11: Massive Takeover
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soundwave and Blackout returned to the abandoned factory; the rest of their comrades were just inside the ship as they saw both Decepticons reaching them. The two transformed to robot mode before Soundwave noticed the cannon right next to him. 

“I see that the construction of our project is completed,” said the sonic revolutionary. 

“It’s actually a surprise this didn’t take that long. Still, I’m so excited to see what this baby can do!” Swindle squealed. “I can almost imagine the dastardly effects it will carry out!” 

“Excellent work. All of Detroit will finally be under my supervision,” declared Soundwave. “Rumble has made himself at home, I presume?”

“Oh yeah, he definitely has. After all, that kid is going to make us rich with glory and power! Not to mention making billions of Energon for us... and upgrades...” Swindle sighed dreamily. 

“Then there’s no time to waste. Rally the Decepticons together; Soundwave shall rule over all!” Soundwave said.

Rumble walked out of the ship with looks of excitement and nervousness mixed together. “Soooo... Swindle told me that I am going to be this... ‘main component’ for this cannon? It’s really cool, but I... don’t know how I feel about that.” 

“Fear not, Rumble; for you shall fulfill your destiny for the Decepticon cause. Without your assistance, our plan will ultimately fail,” said Soundwave. He pressed several buttons on the cannon’s control panel which activated a small opening from the bottom. “Enter inside the machine.” 

“Uh... this is awesome and all, but... are you sure about this?” Rumble asked. 

“Affirmative. The entire revolution depends on your cooperation.” Soundwave replied. 

Rumble stood there for a few seconds as he thought about it.  “This is really life-changing for me. Saving a bunch of robots from evil humans? That’s... that’s a great accomplishment! I know Thunderlane will be proud of me.” 

Then he looked up to Soundwave with a brave look and nodded. He slowly entered inside the power chamber before the lid closed behind him. “Man, this ought to be fun! I hope it all works out at the end...” he muttered. The purple lights inside lit up, and the circuitry began to function around his minicon body. It then started to connect to his arms, legs, chest, and head with electricity sparkling all over him. 

“Whooaaa!! This is getting... (grrrrr)... intense!” Rumble shouted. 

The cannon increased its height just above the factory and aimed its barrel right towards Sumdac Tower. It then produced a digital timer at its right side. “Initiating full power blast in half a mega cycle,” said Soundwave.

AT THE AUTOBOT PLANT

Both teams traveled to an abandoned plant in Detroit. As they arrived, the Autobots transformed to robot mode and walked toward the closed entrance of the place. “So you and Optimus are brothers, huh? Like... brother-in-arms? Or something else?” Sari asked. 

“You could say that we’re brother-in-arms, but Optimus and I have been very close since our Autobot Academy days,” Rodimus explained, sadly looking down on the ground. “Every time I got in trouble, he would always stand up for me and be at my side. He was so supportive and caring to me that I considered him to be... my big brother.” 

“Awww, that’s so sweet!” Twilight brightly smiled. “How long have you guys been together?” 

“(Sigh) A long time... longer than you think. However, something terrible happened to us—a horrible mistake I will never forget,” he grimly replied. 

“What? What happened?” Spike asked with eager curiosity. The others listened attentively to the story as well. 

“The... I can’t—I... I cannot muster the will to say it,” Prime stuttered. 

“Come on, Sir, we need to know!” Ironhide insisted. 

“Yeah, it’s okay, Rodimus, we will listen,” Red Alert encouraged. 

“We’re all friends here. We’re always here for you,” Twilight said. 

Hearing their words made him more comfortable. He closed his optics and reopened them with a stoic look on his face. “One day, we were together in a battlefield with several Autobot troopers by our side. One of our own reported sightings of the Decepticons... and an Autobot body. I wanted to go down there to see if he was okay, but Optimus insisted that we remain put,” 

“Suddenly, we were ambushed. Several Decepticons appeared out of nowhere and attacked us,” he continued. “Although we did put up a good fight, not many of us made it out alive. They took most of our troopers offline and surrounded us. We were supposed to fight together as brothers, but... I... di—didn’t...” 

“What? What?!” Hot Shot panicked. 

“... I abandoned him.” 

They all gasped in shock. 

“I... was afraid. We were vastly outnumbered, outgunned, and cornered. I tried to fight back, but one of them wounded me badly,” he sadly recalled. “Optimus had more courage than I had, and I couldn’t last a full cycle against them. He begged me to help him, but I was too scared to do so. So I ran off for safety... like a coward. Whoever that Decepticon was, he was a monster.” 

“Megacycles later, Ultra Magnus and the other Autobots discovered what happened; I told them the whole story. Then I was scolded for my cowardice and was blamed for not saving my Autobot brethren... especially my big brother. It resulted in my expulsion from the academy. I... I really hoped he survived the attack after all these stellar cycles.” 

“Wow... I’m so sorry to hear that! You must have felt so guilty for so long.” Sari sympathized. 

“Indeed. Of course, Ultra Magnus found a way for me to have my own team and be a Prime. Despite that, it wasn’t the same for me anymore. Without Optimus by my side, I felt alone and worthless. Thankfully, my team helped and supported me in every way they could.” Rodimus said, smiling at his comrades. 

“That’s why friendship is so important; with your friends by your side, you are never alone,” said Twilight. 

“I suppose you’re right, Twilight Sparkle. It truly is a miracle that Optimus survived after all this time. I... I hope he can forgive me,” Rodimus said. 

Sari then knocked on the garage door. They waited for Optimus to answer the door, but there was no answer. The door remained closed. “Huh... that’s weird. Hello? Guys! I brought some guests over! Open up!” 

There was still no answer from them. Growing impatient, Brawn walked over to the garage door and smashed it to pieces. They all looked at him with raised eyebrows and optic-brows. “What? Time is of the essence, y’know!” 

They slowly entered inside the plant and surprisingly saw no bot in sight. “Optimus! Brother! Are you in here?!” Rodimus cried. 

Silence was the only reply. “My goodness, this place looks... so strange and messy,” Luna observed. “How can somepony live in a place like this?” 

“Ha! I know I can!” Discord shouted. “A simple dose of chaos will certainly make this dumpster more attractive!” He snapped his fingers to bring in dancing pancakes all over the room. They jumped and danced around the stone furniture and machinery while they screamed in joy. He wore 3D glasses as he watched. 

“What the?! What’s going on here?!” Sari exclaimed. 

“Discord is what’s going on here,” Starlight replied, rolling her eyes. 

“Knock it off, Discord!” Twilight scolded. 

“Oh, fine,” he growled. He snapped his fingers again which made them disappear. “Happy now?” 

“What took you so long in coming back? You had a fight with Cyclonus or something?” Ironhide asked. 

“You could say that,” Discord nonchalantly replied. “Plus, I had a few errands to run.” 

Suddenly, a wiring noise was heard below. They all looked down the area where a gaping hole was seen. Elevating was a giant Decepticon bat with keyboards on his wings. He aggressively screeched at the intruders and attacked them. 

“What?! Where did that thing come from?!” Hot Shot shouted, ducking the bat’s attacks. 

“Autobots, concentrate your attack on that ‘Con!” Rodimus commanded. They and the ponies opened fire on the bat. The latter dodged the laser and magical beams and retrieved back into the lower floor. 

“Wow, this reminds me of the time Applejack had the bat pest problem at her farm a few years ago. This one looked... so big!” Twilight recalled. 

“Well, this ‘bat pest’ won’t mess with us again once we teach ‘em a thing or two!” Ironhide said, clenching his fists. 

“How did a Decepticon infiltrate their home in the first place? Where exactly are they?” Red Alert wondered. 

“I think that thing captured them and is holding them as prisoners!” Twilight fearfully shouted. 

“A Decepticon half their size... managing to flawlessly take them down... and imprison them? Ha, I don’t buy it,” Ironhide scoffed. 

At that very moment, a massive laser beam flew right through the clouds and struck Sumdac Tower. The entire building was electrified and turned bright red; massive ropes of red lightning struck every part of the city as well as every robot. The automatons stopped functioning normally for a few seconds; afterwards, their optics and mouths turned purple and dangerously faced their human owners. They generated sophisticated weapons from their systems and commenced their attack on the humans. 

The latter screamed in terror as they fled for their lives. The robots rampaged across the streets and shot missiles at every house and building in sight. Even the garbage bots turned the refuse inside into lava and vomited them on the ground. They climbed on top of the skyscrapers and poured lava and fire on the buildings. Then they raised their arms and uttered monotone, robotic laughter. 

“All hail Soundwave, all hail Soundwave, all hail Soundwave,” they chanted. 

The Autobots and ponies saw the commotion outside and widened their eyes/optics in horror. “What in the name of the AllSpark is going on out there?!” Brawn shrieked. 

“Wow... everything is turning out to be... CHAOTIC!!” Discord dramatically added. 

The other robots turned to see them standing outside the plant. “Autobot and organic beings sighted. The techno-organic is with them. Objective: Destroy them all.” 

They fired their missiles and laser beams at the Autobots and Equestrians. Celestia and Luna activated their shields and protected everyone from the enemy’s assault. “We need to find your brother and his team before it’s too late!” Celestia advised. “It appears that this is Soundwave’s doing!” 

“We can’t forget about Rumble! We have to save him too!” Thunderlane reminded. 

“Then we need to spilt up and go find them both! I and my team will search for Optimus and his crew while you ponies can rescue Rumble! LET’S ROLL OUT!!” Rodimus ordered. Thus, they separated and planned to fulfill their mission once and for all.  

The sky turned dark orange, and the clouds turned black before covering half of the sky. Soundwave saw his entire work being brought to life before him; he beheld fire and smoke filling the city and humans screaming everywhere. 

“Beautiful!” Swindle praised, feasting his optics on the chaos. 

“We’re gonna get some good Energon outta this,” Lockdown grinned. 

“The project has been a success,” said Soundwave. “The whole world shall fear the name of Soundwave. The revolution shall prevail!”
> Chapter 12: The Final Battle Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team Athenia ran as far as they could from the corrupted automatons within the city; the latter continued shooting at the Autobots with missiles and bullets. “Watch out!” Brawn warned. 

Ironhide activated his iron plating around his body, and stood against the murderous robots. The missiles and bullets struck him on his chest, but they failed to stagger him. “Keep going, guys! I’ll hold them off!” he shouted. 

The rest of the team transformed and drove off back to the plant. After transforming back to robot mode, they looked up toward the sky and saw it was dark orange with thunderous clouds while the city was burning. Rodimus glared at the chaos that surrounded them before he turned his face to the field medic. “Red Alert, evacuate the organics immediately! They must be kept safe at all costs! Brawn, Hot Shot, and I will retrieve Optimus and his crew!” 

“On it, Sir!” she complied. She transformed again to vehicle mode and drove off. 

The trio then re-entered the plant and spotted the gapping hole on the floor again. They ran up to it before they came to a halt. They looked down on the ground to see if their friends were down below. “You think they’re actually down there?” Brawn asked. 

“Only one way to find out,” Rodimus replied. 

“Wait... we’re ACTUALLY going down there?!” Hot Shot panicked. 

“Don’t worry, soldier, we will stick together to rescue our comrades,” Rodimus encouraged, laying his hand on Hot Shot’s shoulder. He then made a long stare at the darkness below with quivering optics. “I... am certain Optimus is doing fine. Please let this be true...” 

Then the trio jumped all the way to the bottom. They stopped moving for one moment as they heard strange noises in a distance; they heard wiring noises, electrical sounds, and mechanical sound effects.  “Where are those sounds coming from?” Rodimus wondered. Motioning them to follow him, they slowly walked through a strange tunnel which led to a certain entrance. 

“This place is giving me the creeps!” Hot Shot cried. 

“Not me,” said Brawn. “Something tells me that a lot of damage is going to be done... and I don’t know why I feel like that.” 

“Optimus! Optimus, bro! Are you in there?” Rodimus shouted. There was no answer. 

They finally reached the entrance to the room. They saw themselves in a laboratory where there was a large monitor in the center thereof with five robots strapped on the tables. Once the trio got a closer look, they gasped in shock at who they really were—Optimus Prime and his teammates. 

“No... NOO!! OPTIMUS!” Rodimus shouted. 

“What’s going on?! Who’s keeping them hostage?!” Hot Shot asked. 

“It’s gotta be that Soundwave guy! I mean, who else would it be?” Brawn replied. 

Rodimus drew closer to Optimus and saw his optics closed along with a strange helmet strapped on his head. “Optimus! Can you hear me? It’s me... Rodimus—your little brother...” He waited for him to say something in response, but he still couldn’t reply. 

“Someone must be jamming their central processors. We have to get them out of here now! Brawn, Hot Shot, help me get those things off!” he sternly commanded.

But before they would attempt to do so, three purple laser beams struck them hard. They crashed against the wall and laid on the ground unconscious. Ratbat flew over to them with glowing red optics. He made normal bat calls toward the prisoners. Optimus and his crew opened their now red optics and stood up from their tables. “All hail... Soundwave,” they said in unison. 

IN DETROIT 

Spike, Discord, and the ponies ran to every corner in the city from all the firepower directed at them. The draconequus grew annoyed every time they had to run and hide from their attackers. “Oh, for crying out loud! Shouldn’t we at least defend ourselves instead of running around like chickens?” He turned into a chicken while mockingly made chicken noises. 

“At least Celestia and Luna are doing something over there,” he said. He turned back to his normal form. 

“But how? There’s too many of them! We won’t be able to make it!” Thunderlane complained. 

“Hello?! Lord of Chaos here! You are a pegasus! Twilight and Starlight have their powerful magic, and Spike himself has his dragon fire! Splitting our resources is a thing, you know,” Discord suggested. 

Thunderlane and Spike looked at each other worried. Twilight however realized how essential that idea was and nodded to him. “Discord’s right. We have to fight back if we are to rescue Rumble! FOR EQUESTRIA!” 

Thus, they split up and fought their respective robotic opponents. Twilight and Starlight stood together as they were approached by a group of garbage bots. The latter drew close while they spewed fire through their optics. They opened their mouths and poured lava towards the magic wielders. 

Nodding to each other, both ponies ran around the bots and blasted bits of lava right back at the bots; however, the lava did not melt away their chassis. They breathed more fire at them only to be blocked by their magical barriers. 

“They must have some weakness we can exploit!” Starlight suggested. 

“Good idea, Starlight,” Twilight commended. “There has to be some chink in their armor!” 

Twilight then noticed their burning optics; the garbage bots flickered their optics with more flames. After that, the lava turned to burning red orange from yellow orange. They fired even fire balls toward half-demolished buildings to bring them to ashes. 

“That’s it! Their eyes are giving them power!” Twilight noticed. 

“So by destroying their eyes, their power is diminished?” Starlight guessed. 

“Exactly! Come on!” Twilight said. 

Twilight and Starlight then fired magic beams at their weak spots; the beams struck their optics and immediately set them on fire. As they whirled out of control, the lava shrunk into oblivion. Then the bots exploded into pieces. 

“Whew! That was really close,” said Starlight. 

Discord snapped his fingers to summon a gigantic lawnmower. “Time to mow the lawn!” he shouted. The lawnmower sped across the street and mowed every single robot that stood in its path. 

Spike breathed his fire on the helicopter bots. They exploded on impact before they could fire on the little dragon. “Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” 

Suddenly, more helicopter bots appeared and fired on the dragon. “Uh oh,” he muttered. He managed to quickly dodge the bullets until he flew back to Discord.

Celestia and Luna blasted every automaton that stood in their way. One garbage bot flickered its fiery optics before raising its arms at them. Celestia, however, turned back and blasted a spell on its optics. The bot exploded on impact. Two helicopter bots flew down and shot many rounds toward them, but the princesses raised their magical shields and deflected all their bullets. Then Luna held the bots via telekinesis and ripped them to shreds. 

Suddenly, a train stopped its mobilization on the train tracks; it grew four legs on each side and jumped down behind the Royal Sisters. Startled by a loud noise, the alicorns turned to see a robotic spider-train crawling menacingly on the street. It also grew scarlet-red optics and roared like a cougar. 

“This... is definitely not good,” Luna muttered, staring wide-eyed at the metal beast.  

BACK IN THE LAB

“Uhhhh... ughhh... what—what... happened?” Rodimus groaned. As he slowly woke up, he saw himself tied up with electrical bonds. “What? Grrrrrr! No!” 

“Ow! These bonds are too tight and very painful!” Hot Shot complained. 

“Oh great. Just great. First, we deal with Soundwave, and now we have to deal with that bat creature?” Brawn groaned. He tried to move with his might but was shocked instantly. “Gaahhh!! My mighty strength is too weak against these bonds! Come on!” 

“We have to figure a way out of this place,” Rodimus said. “Once we are free, we will rescue Optimus and his crew so we can defeat Soundwave together!” 

At that moment, he noticed that the Autobots were gone from their tables. “Huh? Where did they go?” 

Suddenly, an elevator rose from the ground and revealed the Autobots therein. It opened its doors to let them all out. The five Autobots had red optics with emotionless expressions. They stood together while staring blankly at the three imprisoned Cybertronians. 

“No... NO!! IT CANNOT BE!!” Rodimus cried in complete horror. 

“By the Allspark...” Brawn muttered in shock. 

“What in the name of Cybertron is going on?!” Hot Shot shrieked. 

“All hail Soundwave,” the Autobots emotionlessly uttered in unison. 

Optimus came forward before his old comrade and brother and unsheathed his battle axe. “Target: Online. Current objective: Termination,” he said. He resumed his walk toward the terrified team leader. 

“OPTIMUS, NO! It’s me! Rodimus, your little brother! I know you’re in there somewhere! You have to fight Soundwave’s control!” Rodimus pleaded. 

Optimus still continued walking toward him with no apparent hesitation. He ignited his axe and raised it high to destroy him. Hot Shot, on the other hand, tried to ignite his flame throwers to see if they could burn one of the bonds. The tiny flames instantly extinguished it. Then he knew what to do as he smugly smiled. 

“Please! You can’t do this!” Rodimus pleaded again. 

“Prepare for termination,” Optimus said. He then brought his axe down toward his brother. The latter closed his optics and expected his end to come swiftly and painlessly. 

“I’m sorry... I’ve failed you in life...” he sadly muttered. 

But then... nothing happened. Rodimus reopened his optics and saw Prime’s axe impaling the ceiling instead. Optimus then got kicked on the chest and punched on the face which sent him flying to a wall. Hot Shot landed on the ground with a cocky grin. “Ha-ha! Take that!” 

Rodimus widened his optics as he saw his teammate free from his bonds. “What? How did you—?” 

“It was simple. I just had to burn those bonds with my flames,” Hot Shot explained. “Apparently, that uncharismatic bore has never heard of stasis cuffs.”

“Good work, soldier. Set us free so we can save our friends,” Rodimus ordered. 

He extinguished the other bonds of his comrades as commanded. But before they could do anything further, Optimus tackled his brother on the ground and threw him out of the lab with all his might. He crashed through the ceiling and out of the plant before he landed hard on the concrete. He tried to get up from the ground, but his brainwashed opponent drop kicked him and body-slammed him ferociously. 

The rest of the Autobots ran out of the plant as they commenced their fight with Brawn and Hot Shot. The former took on Bulkhead and Ratchet whereas the latter fought against Prowl and Bumblebee. 

Rodimus ducked a blow from Optimus and landed a kick on his shoulder. As he groaned in pain from the hit, the former tripped him over and held him down on the ground. “Brother, listen to me!! I don’t want to fight you! This isn’t like you! Fight Soundwave’s control! I know you can!” 

But Optimus headbutted him and kicked him against a burning truck. He threw his axe at him, but the latter quickly jumped out of the way before it sliced open the gasoline tank. The oil spilled on the spreading fire which immediately increased its power. Then the truck exploded to pieces which blew away Rodimus. He weakly got up to see his brother walking toward him. 

“Prepare for destruction,” he said. 

“Optimus... allow me to say this... I am sorry for not saving you all these stellar cycles ago. I am a terrible brother, and I hate myself for not... being as brave and strong as you are,” he sadly spoke. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “Please... if you’re still in there... I ask for your forgiveness... just remember me, Optimus.” 

Optimus raised his axe once again to smite him... until he paused. He then fidgeted and closed his optics. He kept holding his axe up and had trouble maintaining his balance. He then dropped his axe and fell on his knees. He screamed in apparent agonizing pain and held onto his head as if he had an excruciating painful processor ache. 

Rodimus stood up and held him up. “Optimus? What’s wrong?!” 

“AHHHHHHHH!!! Help me! Please!!” Optimus begged. 

Ratbat flew over them and aggressively called with bat sounds to regain control over Optimus. His left wing started to electrify which worried him greatly. He kept calling again and again to maintain his control over the Autobot commander. 

Then suddenly, Prowl threw one of his cutting discs at Ratbat’s right wing. It electrocuted him and destroyed his control over the other Autobots. Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Bulkhead dropped to the ground as they regained their own normal selves. 

“(Groans) Huh? What... what happened?” Bulkhead muttered. 

“Hey! They’re back!” Hot Shot said, smiling. He then faced the Autobot ninja. “How did you free yourself from that ‘Con’s control?” 

“My processor-over-matter technique never fails to accomplish its purpose,” Prowl said. 

“Cool,” Hot Shot commented. 

“That bat’s wings must be how he’s been controlling them,” Brawn realized. 

Rodimus grabbed his bow and Energon arrows and aimed them at Ratbat. “Time to go to the scrap yard, Decepti-creep!” He shot three arrows at the minicon’s left wing. Once the connection to Optimus was terminated, Ratbat writhed in agony from the electricity coursing through his body. Then he finally exploded to oblivion. 

Optimus’s optics turned back to blue and looked upon his young brother as he slowly reopened his vision. “Bro... brother? Rodimus... is—is that... you?” he asked. 

“Yes, it is me, bro,” Rodimus smiled. “The one and only.” He reached out his hand to help him up. Optimus graciously accepted and got up. 

“What happened?” Optimus asked. 

“Soundwave was controlling you to destroy us and the city,” Rodimus explained. “But thank the Allspark you didn’t harm anyone... well, except me.” 

“(Sighs) Thanks. I... won’t be able to forgive myself if I did. I’m so sorry; additionally, I was... thinking about you earlier.”

“You were?” Rodimus asked. 

“It’s been so many stellar cycles since we last talked. I was hoping to... see you again,” Optimus said. 

“What? You were? After the way I cowardly abandoned you to the ‘Cons? You... you—?” 

“I know... I understand why you ran,” he continued. “I am just happy that you are still online; I too feared for the worst, but that’s all in the past now. I really... missed you, Rodimus.” 

“So... does that mean you forgive me?” Rodimus asked. 

“Yes, I do. Welcome to Earth, bro!” Optimus smiled. He then gave him a big brotherly hug which took Rodimus off-guard. Although he was confused at first, he returned the hug back. 

“Ahhh, I do love family reunions,” Discord said as he watched above. 

“A small little world, huh?” Ratchet said to himself. 

“Um... guys, I hate to interrupt an emotional reunion, but... WE HAVE SOME TROUBLE INCOMING!” Bumblebee alerted. 

All the Autobots looked up to see Blackout descending from above and transforming to his robot mode; Strika, Spittor, and Oil Slick transformed as well and stood over their sworn enemies. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Autobot scum banding together. This will be the last battle you will ever fight!” Strika yelled. 

Rodimus and Optimus looked at each other with smirks on their faces. “Shall we, big brother?” 

“Like always, little brother,” Optimus replied. They both raised their weapons and nodded to their respective teams as they assembled together. 

“AUTOBOTS, ATTACK!!!” both leaders commanded in unison.
> Chapter 13: The Final Battle Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Autobots and the Decepticons clashed against each other while they both uttered their battle cries. The Autobot leaders jumped to the air and drop kicked Strika; as she staggered on the ground, Optimus threw his axe at her right leg. This made her shriek in pain. Then Rodimus aimed his arrows and shot them at her chest. She tumbled to the ground wounded. 

Spittor transformed to frog mode and unleashed his tentacled tongue toward Ratchet and Prowl. Bulkhead slammed one of his wrecking balls on the ‘Con’s left optic before he could harm the duo. The strike caught him off-guard, and he fell on the ground. “Pick on someone your own size, froggy!” Bulkhead shouted. 

Then Spittor glared at the green Autobot before he stood back up. “Like you, Autobot scum?” he said. He transformed back to robot mode and tackled him against a demolished house. He smote him repeatedly until he threw him against the concrete. He prepared for another smack down until he was being lifted magnetically from the ground. 

“Eat scrap metal, Decepti-creep!” Ratchet yelled. He then threw him against a wall and then tossed him against Blackout with his magnets. 

Angered at seeing his comrade hurt by the Autobots, Blackout stomped his feet so hard that it produced a massive shockwave throughout the area. It knocked out both Ratchet and Bulkhead. Then he raised his machine gun before pointing it at the duo. “Time to finish you, Autobot slime!” 

Suddenly, Brawn slammed against his back and punched him on his mandibles. He crashed against the ground and lowered his weapon. Getting back up, he activated his rotor blades and glared fiercely at his attacker. “You little pipsqueak!! I will destroy you for that! I will cut you into so many pieces that no bot will recognize you!” 

“You’re all talk, but you have no brains, Decepticon,” said Brawn. 

“PERISH, AUTOBOT!” Blackout angrily spat.

Then Brawn ripped a huge chunk of concrete from the ground and threw the boulder at the Decepticon. It successfully knocked him out. “Hooahhh!!” he uttered, smashing his fists together. Suddenly, Strika seized him and threw him against a building. 

“Hey!” Bumblebee shouted. 

He activated his battle-grade stingers and shot beams of electric bolts at her. However, the bolts failed to penetrate her chassis; she smirked underneath her mouth plate. “Fool, your useless stingers are no match for my superior body armor!” 

She then transformed to her Abrams tank mode and fired dozens of missiles at him. Terrified, the Autobot scout ran off in his vehicle mode while barely dodging the projectiles coming his way. Ratchet seized the remaining missiles via his magnets and tossed them back at their attacker. She was sent flying in the air.  

“I’m certainly getting too old for this scrap!” Ratchet groaned. 

MEANWHILE

The train beast roared angrily at the two astonished alicorns. They ignited their horns as they prepared for action. At that moment, the train impaled the road with its razor sharp front legs; the princesses teleported from the strikes. They re-appeared flying in the air before they shot beams of magic at the spider-train. It suddenly generated a force field to deflect their spells. This surprised both of them.

“Impossible! This mechanical abomination possesses a powerful shield as well?!” Luna exclaimed. 

“Soundwave’s technology must have upgraded its capabilities just like it did for the rest of those machines,” Celestia realized. “We have to find a way to defeat it before it destroys us!” 

“Agreed, sister!” Luna nodded. 

They flew around the beast while they attempted to find its weak spots. They fired on its legs with their paralysis spells. Unfortunately, the beams deflected off their legs with little to no damage. The train swiftly turned around to spew ropes of red slime on the rulers. They shot them off before the slime could reach them. 

“Discord! A little help over here?” Luna asked. 

The said draconequus casually flouted on a cloud while eating a jar of cookies decorated as Autobot insignias. “What? I thought this was your part to do? I already did my part, and now it’s time to finish yours.” 

“Seriously, Discord, we need to put down this ruthless monstrosity!” Celestia pleaded, ducking from the slices of the monster. 

“Now, now, we don’t want to end this climax too early,” said Discord. “In order for this battle to be won successfully, we have to follow the hard way of defeating our enemies. Besides, I hate being the source of deus ex machina. That isn’t part of my job description.” 

Celestia and Luna were knocked to the ground. The beast train lifted its legs to end the alicorns. But then a large syrup poured on the ground; the train accidentally stepped on it without looking. It tried desperately to get out of the syrup, but it could not. 

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t offer some minuscule assistance from time to time. Have fun!” Discord waved before disappearing. 

While the monster was focusing on escaping its sticky predicament, the alicorns flew in the air. “We can’t defeat this thing while it has its own defense mechanism. What is the plan, sister?” Luna asked. 

Celestia thought about it until her eyes caught the beam still connected to Sumdac Tower. Then it started to click in her mind. “Lulu, follow me!” 

Thunderlane flew around the city as he was pursued by numerous helicopter bots. They fired rounds of bullets at the speeding pegasus as well as keeping up with his speed. He then made a swift u-turn to the opposite direction. “Catch me if you can, slow-pokes!” 

Before he could boast more, he was encountered by more helicopter bots. They loaded their weapons as did the previous bots. Thinking fast, he ducked underneath their crossfire. The bots struck each other until they were all eliminated. 

“Haha! That should keep them down!” Thunderlane gloated. Then he remembered his dear brother.

“Wait... Rumble is still in danger! I have to find him somewhere in this city before that psychopathic boom box hurts him! Hold on, little brother, I’m coming for you!” he cried. He flew out of the battlefield until he instantly stopped. 

“Wait, I need to have some guide to lead me to Soundwave! Darn it, I should have gotten one of those trackers that Magnus guy gave them!” he ranted. As he looked down in despair, he spotted a purple beam being connected to Sumdac Tower. As he looked on, he had another idea. 

“Hmmm, maybe that beam comes from Soundwave’s hideout,” he reasoned. “If that’s the case, I will find him and rescue my little brother!” Then he finally flew outside Detroit.

Oil Slick grabbed his jug full of chemicals and tossed it to the ground where Prowl stood. The ninja bot instantly jumped to the air and threw two cutting discs at his opponent. They struck him on his arms, forcing a howl of pain. “It’s gonna take a lot more to take me down than mere ninja tricks, Autobot!” 

“Hmm, we’ll see about that,” said Prowl. Then he expertly delivered multiple kicks to his chest and back as well as giving him a few punches to the face. Then he body-slammed him.

As soon as Prowl started to walk away, Oil Slick wrapped his legs with his chains and swung him around; then he dragged him on the concrete which scratched his paint job. Finally, he threw the ninja in the air. “Ha, that outta leave a mark on ya, Autobot,” he chuckled. 

Bulkhead and Strika wrestled with each other just right next to a city bank. The former landed one punch before the other landed her punch on the green Autobot. “Wanna dance?” he mockingly asked. 

“You’re not my type, Autobot scum!” Strika yelled. 

She delivered a kick to his chest which sent him crashing against the bank. Thankfully, no humans were there as they were all evacuated. Bulkhead launched his wrecking ball and knocked her out while she was distracted. 

Optimus and Rodimus were blasted by Blackout. They immediately jumped away from being crushed under his foot. “You will not escape from me, Autobots!” the ‘Con shouted. He fired his missiles at them while they hid for cover. 

Before he could harm them further, he was shot at by Bumblebee. “Hey, ugly, I’m over here!” 

The moment he was distracted by the Autobot scout, Optimus and Rodimus faced each other for a plan. “That guy’s a big one. Any ideas, brother?” Rodimus asked. 

As Optimus was thinking, he noticed Blackout’s legs were beginning to slightly shake. He continued shooting at Bumblebee despite the fact he was losing his balance from the damage he suffered thus far. This made Optimus grin a bit. 

“I have an idea... just follow my lead,” he advised. 

He shot a grappling hook on his axe’s handle and threw them around Blackout’s legs. The axe impaled them both which made him painfully groan. “Aim for his back!” he ordered. 

Rodimus complied and shot two arrows at his back, instantly immobilizing him. “AHHHHHHH!!!!” Blackout cried, falling down defeated. 

“Nice shot, bro,” Optimus complimented. 

“Thanks,” Rodimus smiled. 

Prowl sliced his chains off him with his disc and leaped over Oil Slick. The former swung acrobatic kicks at him, but he lazily dodged them and swiftly grabbed his face. “Give it up, ninja-bot. I have the upper hand,” he bragged. Then he slammed him on a car and unto another car before dropping him. 

“Time to put an end to your entire career,” Oil Slick smirked. He brandished a canister full of acid and was ready to pour it all over Prowl. 

Suddenly, an electric shot struck him on the back which made him tremble on the ground. After struggling to maintain balance, he fell unconscious. To Prowl’s surprise, Red Alert and Ratchet stood together with satisfied looks on their faces. 

“Very nice, kid,” said Ratchet. “Looks like the old bot has made good use after all.” 

“Combining my blasts with your EMP generator has always been one of my dreams,” said Red Alert. “You have taught me well.” 

They helped up Prowl and healed his minor injuries. “You... know her?” he asked. 

“Red Alert was one of my students back on Cybertron; although I didn’t have that many, she was always the top ‘Bot ahead of everyone else. Frankly, I am very fortunate to have her by my side once again,” Ratchet explained. 

“Has he ever been rough on you guys?” Red Alert asked, chuckling. 

“Quite often...” Prowl replied, grinning. 

Thunderlane flew as fast as he could to rescue his little brother once and for all. He saw that he was outside the city and an old factory in a distance where the purple beam came from. “That has to be it! I’m comin’ for you, Rumble,” he muttered. Thus, he entered inside the parking lot. 

As soon as he landed, he saw a large cannon still projecting that same beam right towards the tower. At that moment, he heard some... screaming? A cry of pain? “Wait... I... recognize that voice. It’s Rumble! I’m here, bud! I’m here to save you! Hold—!” A giant metal foot blocked his path. 

He looked up to see Lockdown sinisterly smiling down on him. “Look who decided to show up. You’re just in time for the fun to begin,” he spoke. 

Behind him was Swindle who likewise was grinning with excitement. “Once the little kid has finished his job, you’re next on the line... of course, nothing is for free.” 

“LET HIM GO!!” Thunderlane demanded. 

“Nah, ah, ahh! First things first, my little pony! There’s a waiting game we must play,” Swindle said. 

“What game?!” Thunderlane cried. 

“You will find out,” replied the ‘Con artist. Lockdown grabbed him and took him hostage. 

IN DETROIT

Ironhide and Hot Shot stood side by side as they faced Spittor. He shot forth his tentacled-tongue at them which they effectively ducked. “Taste this, Decepti-creep!” Ironhide shouted. He bumped against him which threw the Decepticon off balance. 

Then Hot Shot blasted his flames on Spittor’s tongue; the inferno reached all the way to his mouth, setting his entire mouth on fire. “AHHHH!!! Get fire out!! Get fire out!!!” he wailed. He continued screaming in pain until Brawn delivered the final punch. It sent him flying in the air until he crashed on the ground unconscious. 

“That ought to cool him down!” Hot Shot grinned. 

“Heh, no wonder they call ya Hot Shot,” Ironhide chuckled. 

“Too bad Blitzwing isn’t here to hear those jokes,” said Brawn. 

Celestia and Luna began to lure the train beast away from their friends. It followed them all the way to Sumdac Tower. “That’s right, you vile creature! Come to us! Follow us!” Luna called. 

It growled angrily as it began to climb on the tower. The alicorns were directly above the laser beam connected to the top of the tower. As it was climbing, Celestia thought of an idea. “This may appear to be unseemly and un-dignifying for a ruler, but I am sure this will do the trick.” After saying this, she blew raspberries at the train monster. 

Luna was a bit surprised at first until she quietly chuckled to herself. The beast was even more angry at the mockery shown and hasted itself to tear them apart. It then lunged toward the alicorns. “NOW!” Celestia instructed. 

Flying out of the way, the train beast caught itself in the beam; it was violently electrocuted, causing the beam itself to be overcharged and overwhelmed by the train’s powered circuitry. After a few moments, the creature reverted back to its normal form and was deactivated. The princesses safety held it with their magic before landing it safely on the ground. 

The overwhelmed laser beam flew back from the city. As a result, the entire tower stopped glowing with power, all the remaining automatons and machines were free from Soundwave’s control. Looking around confused, they ran off to look for their human owners. 

“What just happened?” Bulkhead wondered. 

“All the machines are back to normal!” Twilight noticed. 

“Oh, not to worry, Celestia and Luna took care of the ‘mind-controlling’ problem. Of course, I inspired them to do something. Without my motivation, they would’ve failed, and you all would’ve been doomed. You’re welcome!” Discord boasted. 

“Excellent work, Autobots and... talking horses??” Optimus observed. Twilight, Spike, and Starlight nervously waved at Team Prime. 

“Uhh... hi?” Twilight muttered. 

“Where do those creatures come from?” Optimus asked. 

“It’s... a long story,” replied Rodimus. 

“You can definitely say that again,” agreed Spike. 

“Hmmm, they look so... fascinating. All the animals here on this planet do not talk... but these ponies do. This is truly a wonder of nature,” Prowl observed. “Especially that little lizard over here... it’s very interesting.”

“Awww, how kind of you!” Discord said. “Allow me to introduce myself: I am Discord, the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony as well as the great friend of these ponies!” He snapped his fingers which brought forth cotton candy clouds circling around him and shooting forth confetti. 

“Whoaaaa... is that guy like a magician or something? I like him already!” Bulkhead said. 

“Ughhhh... chaos and disharmony?? NOT the kind of friend I want to have...” Ratchet groaned, face-palming himself. 

“You’ll get used to it,” said Red Alert. 

“Save the introductions later, we have a colt to rescue!” Celestia urgently reminded.

“Who?” Optimus asked. 

“We’ll show you on the way, Optimus. Soundwave is still at large! We have to move fast!” Rodimus advised. 

“Right. Would you do the honors?” he offered. 

“Gladly, brother. Autobots, transform and roll out!!” Rodimus commanded. They all did so and exited the city with Team Athenia guiding them as they still had trackers to locate Soundwave’s life signal. Team Equestria followed them as well. 

AT THE HIDEOUT

“Once your Autobot friends arrive to save you and Rumble, they will face the best million dollar challenge ever created! Can you believe it?! I can almost taste that sweet reward already!” Swindle grinned. 

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Lockdown concurred. “With that goal in mind, not one bot out there can ever dare to stop us.” 

“You’re wrong!” Thunderlane defied. “The ponies and Autobots will scrap you both like there’s no tomorrow!” 

“(Chuckles) Is that so, my little misguided friend? And what makes you think that will be possible in the slightest?” Swindle taunted. 

Once the stallion pegasus saw something in the sky, he smugly grinned. “That!” 

“What?” Lockdown wondered. Suddenly, the overcharged beam retracted back inside the cannon which caused it to severely malfunction. 

“Help! Somepony help me!” Rumble cried inside. 

“I’m coming, little brother!” Thunderlane replied. He bit the bounty hunter’s finger, forcing him to let him loose. The pegasus flew to the machine and tried to open the bottom lid. At that moment, the cannon exploded to pieces. It pushed him and the duo back to the ground. 

“NOOO!!!!” Swindle lamented. However, out of the smoke flew the time piece. He instantly raised his hand and caught it in the air. “Thank the Allspark! It’s a good thing this baby is indestructible.” 

As the pegasus slowly got up from the dirt, he saw a strange little robot lying on the ground. Curious, he drew close to him to see who it was; soon after, the minicon arose to his feet and looked back at the stallion pegasus with his red visor glowing. “Ahhh, another Decepticon!!” 

“Wait, Thunderlane!! It’s me, your little brother Rumble! I’m not gonna hurt you!” he waved. 

This revelation shocked Thunderlane beyond imagination. His jaw hit the ground, his eyeballs widened, and his pupils shrunk to tiny spots. That strange new minicon with a scary appearance and robotic form... is his brother? “No... no... NOOO!!! RUMBLE, IS THAT YOU?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!?” 

“Soundwave! He helped me to be this minicon I am now! Although that experience was painful, he will still help me defeat the Autobots and those humans! And he will—!” 

“What?? Are you serious?! No, no, no, you got it all wrong! The Autobots are the good guys! They saved me and Twilight from danger! HE LITERALLY MIND-CONTROLLED ALL THE ROBOTS IN DETROIT TO DESTROY US!” 

“What? Wha—but Soundwave promised...” 

“He’s been using you! He did it so that you can give him what he wants! Haven’t you learned anything from what Megatron did to us?!” Thunderlane reminded. 

Hearing all this was very hard for Rumble to bear. How could a Decepticon who appeared to have good intentions be misleading him the whole time?  “But... but... Soundwave—Dad promised. He is keeping his word, isn’t he?” he thought. 

At that moment, the said Decepticon exited the ship and saw the Autobots and Equestrians arriving at the abandoned factory. Then he saw Thunderlane talking with his long-lost brother. Rumble then ran up to him. “Soundwave, were you actually trying to attack my friends? My family?” 

Seeing that he ran his charade long enough, he did not hesitate to reveal his true intentions. “Correct, Rumble. It appears that our project has failed. No matter, for I shall take this matter into my own servos.” 

“WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! You promised that you wouldn’t hurt the ponies—my own friends and family!! You lied to me!” Rumble cried. He really wanted to break down in tears but couldn’t. 

“Foolish child, the ways of the Decepticons are superior, and the ways of the Autobots and organics of any kind are inferior. It is the logical way of life that is to govern this universe,” Soundwave said. 

“You will pay for what you did to Rumble!” Thunderlane threatened, hugging his little brother tightly. 

“Illogical. You shall all be destroyed. Commencing operation: Electromagnetic formation!” Soundwave declared. He suddenly grew to humongous size while he changed his color scheme. His color scheme was now white, and the blue lights around his body glowed brighter with electricity. 

All the Cybertronians and Equestrians widened their optics/eyes in surprise. There now stood a titan-sized Soundwave; in his perspective, all the organics and robots appeared as tiny, little ants. “Tremble before Soundwave! Soundwave is your master! Bow before me, or you shall all be destroyed!” the Titan Decepticon spoke.
> Chapter 14: The Final Battle Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soundwave stomped his foot on the ground, causing a massive shockwave to nearly flatten the city. Thankfully, Ratchet was able to contain the shockwave with his magnetism. “Soundwave will destroy the whole city if we don’t stop him!” he said. 

“Not just the city but this entire landscape as well!” Red Alert added. 

“We have to stop him before he destroys everything else in his path! Bumblebee, you take out Swindle; Ratchet, Prowl, you two can handle Lockdown; Sari, you can take these creatures to safety; the rest of us will battle against Soundwave!” Optimus commanded. 

“Wait! We want to help too! I personally want to give him a piece of my mind for what he did to Rumble!” Thunderlane cried, pounding his hooves together. 

“No, it’s too dangerous!” Optimus refused. “You’re no match for Soundwave!” 

“Brother, with all due respect, these ponies have tremendously helped me and my team all the way through,” said Rodimus. “They fought many enemies more powerful than them. Heck, they even defeated Megatron when he invaded their world!” 

Team Prime stared in shock at what he said. “Wait... those ponies actually kicked buckethead’s tailpipe?” Bulkhead asked. 

“Yep, including his top lieutenants,” added Starlight. “Pretty surprising, isn’t it?” 

“Wow... that’s pretty cool! And I did see you guys take out those brainwashed robots! I think we should let them help, Prime!” Bumblebee said. 

“Hmmm, I suppose you’re right,” said Optimus. “Alright, everyone, let’s split up and roll out!” 

Thus, they all did so; Bumblebee, Ratchet, Sari, and Prowl stayed behind whereas everyone else rolled together to battle the Decepticon villain. Soundwave looked down and saw his little adversaries driving together right beneath him. He raised his foot and attempted to crush them all, but they swiftly swerved to the other side until they were directly behind him. 

He turned to see them transform in robot mode. “Commencing the dawn of a new era: the Era of Soundwave!” he declared. Then he raised his arms before activating his electrical powers and sound waves. He blasted several beams at the Autobots and Equestrians, but Celestia, Luna, and Twilight shielded them all from his attacks. 

Then they sent spells and magical beams at him, but his chassis was massively strong enough to deflect their beams. Spike and Starlight did likewise in sending fire and magic combined together to penetrate his armor. However, it was also deflected easily. 

“It’s no use! He’s too powerful to beat!” Spike cried. 

“We have to keep trying! Soundwave must have some sort of weakness we can take advantage of!” Ironhide said. 

“I have no weakness. Soundwave is perfect as always,” the Titan spoke. He launched heat-seeking missiles from his speakers right at his opponents. 

Rodimus, Bulkhead, Red Alert, and Starlight fired on the missiles with their weapons and power until they were all eliminated. “Does anypony have any ideas?!” Starlight yelled, frustrated. 

Discord was thinking of an effective strategy until he instantly got an idea. “Oh wait... I know!” 

MEANWHILE

Bumblebee fired his stingers on the mobilizing S.U.V before the latter fired his cannon on the former. He ducked below the beam and resumed his assault on Swindle. “You and I have a score to settle, Bumblebee!” said the ‘Con artist. 

“Yeah, the last time we met, you couldn’t scratch my paint with your precious artillery!” Bumblebee spat. 

“Ahh, I truly missed your snarky remarks, old friend,” said Swindle. “Allow me to return the favor!” He transformed to robot mode and unleashed all his weaponry around his body. He fired everything he had on the Autobot scout. 

The latter dodged them all as he leaped over them and dodged his laser beams. He fired his stinger blast at him which struck one of his legs. Groaning in pain, he glared at his rival. “You wanna go nuts, eh? Fine then, let’s get nuts.” Then he got a blast on his right arm. He turned to see Sari floating in her jet pack. 

“Don’t forget about me, Decepti-clown!” Sari grinned. 

Ratchet and Prowl surrounded Lockdown right beside the abandoned factory. “Well, what do ya know? Two very familiar Autobots come down to gang up on me. Whatever am I gonna do?” Lockdown sarcastically whimpered. 

“Enough games, Lockdown. I would strongly suggest you surrender before you get hurt,” threatened Prowl. 

“Ahh, a very bold ultimatum. You still got that spark in ya, Prowl, even after the way you chickened out of our alliance.” Lockdown taunted. 

“That’s because you were luring him away from what was right, you bounty hunting scum!” Ratchet snapped. “Young bots like him don’t deserve to be associated with greedy miscreants... like you.” 

“You still don’t know a thing about me, rust bucket. Once I’m done with you two, all that will be left of you will be your mods and Energon,” Lockdown smirked, sharpening his hook. 

“You will try,” Prowl muttered, getting into a battle pose. 

Lockdown activated his chainsaw and swung it at them. Prowl kicked him on the back whereas Ratchet seized a huge pile of bricks and threw them at the bounty hunter. Then Prowl punched him in the face and tripped him over. Ratchet grabbed him via magnetism and tossed him against a wall. Prowl pulled a lever to release all metal beams on top of him. They landed hard on him, creating a puff of dirt. 

“Nice work, kid. That ought to teach him,” said Ratchet. 

“That’s one down so far. Now, we have two more to go,” replied Prowl. 

As they were walking away, Ravage and Laserbeak suddenly appeared from the shadows and shot at the two. They fell on the floor injured from their blasts. The minicons encircled them while they made their distinctive animal noises. 

“Make that five,” remarked Lockdown as he got up from the beams. 

Swindle fired laser beams and missiles at the duo; the latter fired right back at them which resulted in a large explosion. Once the smoke cleared, Bumblebee and Sari were already gone. The ‘Con looked around to see where they went. “Hey, Swindle, up here!” Sari called. 

He looked up to meet a yellow fist to the face. He tumbled to the ground while groaning. “Haha, guess we’re just too fast for ya, pal! Why don’t you give up?” Bumblebee smirked. 

“I would have gladly taken that suggestion into account... if it weren’t for my anticipation of your great speed,” grinned Swindle. 

“What do you mean?” Sari asked. 

“I mean... I acted faster than you did,” he replied, motioning to look behind them.  

They looked back and saw a ticking device on their backs. Before they could react, the devices electrified them until they weakly fell on the ground. 

“Hahaha, talk about cruel irony here!” Swindle said. 

Soundwave smashed the ground with his fists, causing a massive earthquake. It destroyed many more unmanned buildings and streets all across the city. As he slowly walked his way to Sumdac Tower, his visor glowed with malicious intent. He raised his fists right above the tower as he was prepared to destroy it as well. 

Suddenly, a giant birthday cake landed on his head, blinding him. As he wobbled to get the cake off him, Discord snapped his fingers to bring a giant hockey stick with him. He swatted him on the tailpipe and hit him across the city. Soundwave crashed on the ground with minor injuries. As he got the cake off him, it melted on his hands, revealing a giant bomb. It exploded on him. 

Once the heroes saw the massive explosion, they celebrated their apparent victory. “Who-hoo!!! OH YEAH!! Go, me! DISCORD FOR THE WIN, BABY!!” the draconequus wildly paraded. “Soundwave can’t touch us now since I saved the day!” 

But just when things got better, a giant hand arose from the ground and hovered in the sky. Discord looked up and saw the hand above the clouds. His eyes fell backwards and rolled out of his mouth and his horns fell limp, shocked that his plan had failed. “That... was unexpected.” 

Then the hand slammed Discord flat... literally. “DISCORD!!” his friends shouted. 

Soundwave got to his feet while mechanically, evilly laughing. “Foolish organics... predictable as always; all of your efforts are futile.” His chest compartment opened up to reveal two titanic tentacles with claws at the top. They lunged at the teams and snatched them all up. He brought them all up close to his face. 

“You Autobots and organics have always been selfish and pathetic. You fail to realize that the weak shall perish, and the strong shall survive. No matter your efforts, I shall rule over this world. Soundwave: Superior, Autobots and organics: Inferior,” taunted Soundwave. 

Then he unleashed his sound waves from his speakers. The waves tormented their central processors and minds especially at a high level. They wailed in agony while they tried to release themselves from his grasp. 

Rumble saw all of this in shock and horror. He looked around to see Ratchet, Bumblebee, Sari, and Prowl unconscious on the ground, Discord flattened on the concrete, and all his friends and allies—including his brother—being tortured by his worst enemy and manipulator. “Wha... What have I gotten myself into? I’m... so, so sorry...”

“Prepare yourselves, for your destruction is... now,” Soundwave declared. 

Rumble saw Lockdown and Swindle wickedly laughing together while Ravage and Laserbeak continue to stare at the little minicon. Then he looked up to see his own family and friends being tortured by the Decepticon. His memories he shared with Thunderlane flashed before his eyes. He saw the joy and fun he had with him when he was a foal. He could not bear the thought of losing his brother to the very one whom he called “Dad”. The very thought and recollection of ever calling him that made him fully cringe.  

“The entire world... is MINE!” Soundwave spoke. 

Suddenly, a missile struck his right shoulder, making him wince in pain. He released all his victims from his grasp. He turned to see Rumble with his missile launchers brandished in his hands. “LEAVE THEM ALONE, SOUNDWAVE!!!” 

Seeing this made him a bit surprised. “You dare betray your master?” 

“I’m not asking again. Leave. Them. Alone!” Rumble sternly demanded. He launched another projectile at the Decepticon, forcing him to tumble on the ground from the impact. 

Then he saw Swindle and Lockdown running to him with their weapons drawn. Smugly smirking, he reloaded his blasters and aimed them at the duo. “First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!” He blasted them toward the factory. They screamed as they were sent flying in the air. They crashed on the roof and fell inside the building. 

Ravage and Laserbeak angrily roared/screeched at their betrayer. The cat transformed into a piano and shot several razor-sharp music notes at him. Rumble shot them all with ease and then blasted him as well. Ravage was wounded from the firepower. 

Laserbeak sent laser beams from his beak to take out the minicon. Rumble dodged the beams and shot Laserbeak on his wing. It burned his wing, causing him to crash land on the wounded Ravage. It resulted in both of them exploding on impact, destroying Ravage and Laserbeak. 

“Oh yeah! Get ready to crumble before Rumble!” he shouted. 

The Autobots and Equestrians got up from the ground and saw Rumble take out two minicons and battling Soundwave. Thunderlane especially smiled brightly while he shed tears from his eyes. “That’s the Rumble I know,” he wept. 

“By the Allspark... he’s... actually winning! Go get ‘em, little buddy!” Bulkhead shouted. 

“You got this, Rumble!” Spike added. 

“Rumble, behind you!” Discord warned. 

“You will pay for your treachery! Operation: Termination!” Soundwave roared. He raised his arm to generate blue electric bolts right at Rumble. Discord immediately snapped his fingers to summon a giant mirror to appear in front of Rumble. The bolts deflected from it and shot back at Soundwave. 

He was painfully electrocuted by the bolts, causing him to fall on his knees and robotically groan. Once the pain stopped, he shrunk back to his normal size and color scheme. He staggered in his attempt to regain his balance. 

Rumble glared fiercely at his enemy and manipulator. “This whole time, I thought I would achieve a better purpose in life; I thought that maybe I would become even better than I was before. Because prior to this, my big brother would often mock and patronize me for my vain attempts of gaining greatness... especially in being a Wonderbolt.” 

“I even remember the time I didn’t want to get a cutie mark because I thought they were stupid and would keep me in a box! But my friends showed me the real way to achieving greatness in life: friendship. You took advantage of my doubts, Soundwave. You lied and manipulated me into following your ways which almost made me completely forget the lessons I learned about friendship... true friendship,” Rumble continued. 

Suddenly, he started to glow brightly. Soundwave was taken aback by the sudden light. “Now I really understand why you Decepticons can never be trusted. You may have given me some training in combat, but I will never forget what you did to me and to my family! You are nothing, Soundwave. You are nothing but a liar, a bully, and an emotionless tyrant! You will never harm anypony or any bot EVER AGAIN!!” 

Then the bright light overtook Rumble and created a beam right at Soundwave’s spark. It made him howl in agony from the fierce heat of the light. Cracks started to form across his chassis, and his hands started to turn to dust. His entire being exploded in the brightness of the light. His spark and body—all vanquished forever. All that remained of him... was dust... blown away by the wind. 

“Mother of me... I have never seen such... power before,” Celestia whispered, awestruck by the sight. 

“I agree, sister,” Luna nodded, having the same reaction. 

“(Whistles) I almost started to feel bad for Soundwave... but he had it coming,” Bulkhead added. 

Rodimus and his team smiled at the accomplishment Rumble made. “Well done, little one. Well done,” he smiled. 

The brightness stopped shining. Rumble was now back to his pony colt form... with a cutie mark. He opened his eyes to see his normal form. “Yayy!! I’m a pony again!” He then spotted his new cutie mark: a white cloud surrounding an Autobot insignia with a lightning bolt flashing through its right eye. 

“I... HAVE A CUTIE MARK! I don’t believe it!” Rumble rejoiced. 

All the heroes celebrated together, for the villain was destroyed. The whole chaos was finally over. They have finally triumphed. The entire universe was saved.
> Epilogue: Megatron Revived
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the heroes ran to the reformed Rumble. Thunderlane and Spike picked him up and tightly embraced him with tears on their eyes. “We missed you so much, Rumble! I really missed you!” 

“We’re so happy you’re okay!” Spike added. 

“I missed you guys too!” Rumble said as he finally started crying. “I’m so happy I have my real family again!” 

“From now on, I’m never letting you out of my sight,” said Thunderlane. “However, I just want to say that... I’m sorry for all the times I haven’t treated you right. Always remember that, no matter what, I love you for who you are and what you are destined to become. One day, you will become a great Wonderbolt.” 

“Even your awesome cutie mark shows you that!” Spike added. 

“Thank you both... and I love you guys too,” Rumble said, wiping his tears off. He hugged them back. “Ha, the CMCs will be very surprised to see this!” 

“Rumble, I might not know you very much, but even I can tell you are one of the most courageous little ponies I’ve ever seen,” said Twilight. “Words cannot express how much I’m proud of you.” 

“And the way you stood up to Soundwave like that... that would require that amount of bravery to do that. I believe you truly earned that cutie mark,” Starlight said, smiling. Twilight happily nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah! You really showed him who’s boss!” Bumblebee shouted. 

“You know, perhaps I was too hard on ya ponies earlier. I apologize for underestimating ya; you ponies really are more than meets the optic,” Ironhide said. 

“Agreed, Ironhide. Rumble, I think I speak for both myself and Optimus that we are all honored to have you as a new addition to the Autobot cause,” said Rodimus. Optimus nodded in warm approval. 

“Welcome to the Autobots... Rumble,” Optimus smiled. 

Rumble smiled back before jumping up and down in excitement. He shook Optimus’s hand and Rodimus’s hand. Then as he thought back on his dark experience, he got a little sad. “Is something wrong, Rumble?” Red Alert asked. 

“No... it’s just that... I miss being a robot, but at the same thing... all that pain I endured and the suffering I experienced... I will never forget them. I fear it might come back to haunt me. It’s like it will try to bring me down to despair and—!” 

“Rumble, I understand your pain... I know what it’s like being in that condition,” Red Alert said, her optics looking down in sorrow. 

“You do?” Rumble asked. 

“Yes, but that’s for another time to share. Right now, you shouldn’t worry. You now have real friends again who care about you and love you. Cherish the moments you have with your family... because those memories you share are so precious... that you don’t want to forget. But if you follow the guidance of those who don’t care about you, you’ll end up hurting yourself... and others around you,” Red Alert advised. 

“(Sniffs) Thank you, Red Alert. I needed to hear that,” Rumble said. He hugged her leg in gratitude. She tenderly smiled and gently stroked his mane. 

“Okay, now you’re starting to make me cry!” Discord said. He blew his nose on Luna’s mane while he wiped his tears with a Burger-Bot. Luna pulled her mane back with disgust. 

“Hey! Gimme back my lunch, you donkey!” Captain Fanzone yelled, grabbing his wet burger. “Great, now I have to help fix this city AND buy a new Burger-Bot! (Groans) This is why I hate machines.” 

“Well, looks like someone slept on the wrong side of the bed,” Discord muttered. 

“Rumble’s experience almost reminds me of my own experience when I turned to... my darker side,” Luna said to Celestia. “I hope that no pony else goes through the same ordeal I went through.” 

“I understand, Luna. We need to keep our citizens much safer than before. We need to increase our defenses the next time our enemies attack us... whether it be a Decepticon or our own enemies. On a side note, it’s been great getting outside... from the throne room, of course,” chuckled Celestia. 

“Me too, sister. We should do this more often! I’m starting to love adventures!” Luna said. 

“Me too,” Celestia agreed. Then they both hugged each other. 

“So, Prime, how exactly will we repair this whole city? It seems there will be a lot more work to do than before!” Ratchet asked. 

“Perhaps we can help you with that,” Rodimus volunteered. “My team and I will gladly assist the reconstruction of this city before we return to Cybertron.” 

“Heh, fine by me. Hopefully, it will be much more invigorating than my duties on Cybertron,” said Brawn. 

“Sure, I’ll help!” Hot Shot added. 

“I am honored to work by your side... especially with you, Professor Ratchet,” Red Alert bowed. 

“Please, just call me Ratchet,” he waved off. “Still, I would gladly appreciate the help.” 

“Very well... Ratchet,” she smiled. 

“I’m afraid we must return back to Equestria. I’m sure our friends are worried sick for us by now,” Celestia reminded. 

“So... this is a goodbye then?” Rumble asked. 

“I won’t forget the moments we had together on this unexpected adventure. Even though we just met, Rumble, I think I’m starting to like you already. Feel free to visit us anytime you like,” said Rodimus. 

“You sure Sentinel won’t grind your gears for that?” Bulkhead asked. 

“Haha, don’t worry. I can handle him,” he winked. 

“Be careful, bro, he won’t be easy. Just call me over, and I’ll give him a surprise,” Optimus playfully warned. Both Primes laughed together until they gave each other fist bumps. 

“Bye, guys! We will miss you!” Twilight waved. 

“Likewise, Twilight Sparkle! I hope we can meet again,” Rodimus saluted. 

After the Equestrians waved goodbye to their Autobot comrades, Discord snapped his fingers. They all disappeared back to Equestria. 

Ironhide faced Bumblebee and Bulkhead as he suddenly recognized the two. “Hey... I know you two! Aren’t ya Bumblebee and Bulkhead?” 

“Yeah, we are! I can’t believe it’s been that long since... Autobot boot camp,” Bulkhead recalled. 

“Yeah... I even remember how many times you and Wasp... bullied me,” Bumblebee recalled in horror. 

“Don’t worry, little guy. That’s all in the past. I’m a changed bot now... especially after—man, these ponies have really made me soft, haven’t they?” Ironhide chuckled. 

“Rodimus, you guys might want to consider scanning earth-based vehicles. If you’re going to help us fix Detroit, your new vehicle modes might come in handy,” Optimus advised. 

“Hmmm, good idea! We will try that,” Rodimus said. 

Thus, Team Athenia were able to select the finest vehicles they could find which they saw fit. Rodimus scanned a race car with the appearance of a Plymouth Barracuda; Ironhide scanned a TopKick pickup truck; Red Alert scanned a H2 Hummer Ambulance; Brawn scanned a Toyota SUV; and Hot Shot scanned a Lamborghini. 

“Hey, where did the other Decepticons go?” Prowl wondered. Then he looked up and saw them escaping to space within Lockdown’s ship. 

ONE YEAR LATER

The ship traveled from orbit to orbit with no destination in mind. Lockdown and his compatriots were within the main room bored and idle. “This is a waste of time! How long must we wander aimlessly in space?!” Strika impatiently shouted.

“Until we can find more Energon for us,” Lockdown coldly replied. 

“We cannot wait any longer! I just want to smash something for once! It’s getting boring in here now!” Blackout cried. 

“For once, can’t you bots just stay silent for five cycles?!” Swindle snapped. 

“Why don’t YOU just shut your tailpipe up, huh?!” Blackout angrily spat. He threw Swindle on the ground and violently shook him until his drawer chest was opened. A strange item accidentally fell out before it started to glow. 

“Now look at what you did! It’s now broken! This treasure I took from that destroyed mining cave can take us anywhere such as warping around space randomly!” Swindle chided. 

Then the entire ship suddenly warped away from the section of the galaxy they were in and were instantly taken back... to Cybertron. The Decepticons widened their optics in surprise. “That’s... that’s Cybertron! We’re actually on Cybertron!!” Swindle exclaimed. 

“Finally, we will take our revenge on the Autobots and the Elite Guard!! Now is our chance!” Blackout declared. 

“No! We need to refresh ourselves first. We need more Energon before we can attack,” Strika ordered. 

As the ship safely landed on the outskirts of the Trypticon Prison, while invisible, the Decepticons saw strange statues just outside the gates. As they got a closer look, they were taken aback by the sights—the stone statues of Megatron and his top lieutenants. “Is that... whom I think it is?” Oil Slick spoke. 

“I don’t believe it... after a full stellar cycle... I never thought I would see their statues up close,” Lockdown added. 

“Soundwave told me and Cyclonus that those are actually Megatron and his servants... in stone,” Blackout revealed. 

“What?! By whom?!” Strika demanded. 

“The pony scum,” he answered. 

“Grrrrrr, curse those organic slime to the Pits of Kaon!!” Strika exclaimed. 

Suddenly, Swindle’s time piece started to glow brightly. It disconnected from his palm and hovered just above the statues. “Is this your doing?” Strika asked. 

“I’m not doing anything!” Swindle denied. 

Then the Allspark fragment broke from the tiny clock and disintegrated itself into a beam; it shot right at their stone statues with dazzling power. The fragment released Megatron and all his warriors from stone. His arm was magically repaired and got a new fusion cannon; Starscream’s head came back online and received a new body. 

Thus, Megatron stood menacingly on the ground with lightning striking in the background and thunder roaring loudly. His red optics glowed in the darkness while his signature grin returned. “Ahhhhh, my loyal servants, how good it is to see your wonderful faces once again.” 

“Lord... Megatron. We... WE WELCOME YOU BACK!!” Strika fearfully acknowledged. She and her comrades worshipfully kneeled before their revived leader. Lockdown stood amazed while Swindle jumped up and down like a fangirl. 

“MEGATRON, MY NUMBER 1 CUSTOMER!! Great to have you back, friend!” 

“Ughhh... how long have we been offline?” Starscream asked. 

“At least a full stellar cycle,” Swindle replied. 

“THAT LONG?!” Starscream yelled. 

“None of that matters now. Now that we have returned from our rather cruel punishment, I will finally seize my chance to get back at the very equines who did this to us,” Megatron evilly smirked. 

“Shall we reclaim Cybertron first, my Lord?” Shockwave asked. 

“Not yet... not while Equestria’s greatest power lies within my reach. Once I have obtained those Elements of Harmony, I will rule over Earth, Equestria, and Cybertron! I will finally extinguish all my enemies... once and for all,” Megatron said, sinisterly chucking. 




THE END... FOR NOW.