Dark Lance's team had been sent to find new worlds, but now they've found much more.
Before they are able to land on the latest planet they have found, Dark Lance's team of Autobot explorers are attacked. Returning fire, both their ship and the enemy's are forced to crash on an unknown world. With their ship heavily damaged and stasis lock a constant threat, Dark Lance and his team must contend with the Decepticons who crashed with them while simultaneously keeping themselves hidden from the local populace. They will soon find, however, that some planets hold secrets as ancient as the stars themselves. Inspired by Beast Wars.
The ship hovered in the glow of a moon, in the orbit of the latest world it had come across. It had been to many worlds, some inhabited, some very dangerous. Inside, a being made of metal stood at a control panel, unmoving, waiting for the scanners to finish. His body was painted bright yellow with green stripes and he had large, forward-pointing, horizontal tubes for shoulders while wings were attached to his arms. His head was covered with small, scale-like metal plates, which alternated between green and yellow to create a checkerboard pattern. The screen suddenly beeped, and a new image of the planet below appeared. The screen traced numerous lines across the surface of the image, creating dividers between land and ocean, and highlighting various natural formations. The metallic being that had been staring at the screen touched a button, and the image of the planet shifted to one side as categories and numbers appeared on the other.
Skybreaker had been on the Star Runner for about half as long as the ship had been in service, but the readouts he was currently looking at were unlike anything he had seen before. There was intelligent life on this planet, but very few artificial structures in comparison to most planets with sentient beings on them. Also, there were several different types of intelligent life, making this planet even more unusual. It was a relatively small planet, with low gravity and a thin, dense atmosphere. But that is not what had captured the relatively young robot's attention. It was the fact that the planet was practically covered in Energon that had really surprised him. In all his travels, he had never even heard of a planet with that much raw Energon.
But now, here one was, just below his feet.
He quickly moved across the ship, towards the bridge. Rather than take the elevator, he turned towards the stairs, jumping into a luge position as he transformed. His feet extended past his legs, allowing them to turn away from each other and connect into a long, pointed fuselage as his entire upper body tilted forward and his arms folded up into his shoulders, allowing the engines that made them up to ignite as his thruster pack realigned itself to add more propulsion. He rocketed up the staircase, returning to his robot mode in midair to come screeching to a halt outside the door to the bridge. It split down the middle and opened to either side, and his three comrades looked at him expectantly.
"Well?" said Dark Lance, the commander. He was slightly larger than Skybreaker, and was colored a dark blue with black trim. A pair of flattened jet engines laid against his back, layered with directional flaps over and under them. Nestled between the two engines was a bladed shield and his signature lance, from which he derived his name, while a sickle hung from the armor plates attached to either side of his waist. His face was framed by a large fin on either side that swept upwards to a point, giving the illusion of ears, while on top of his head sat a battle mask, etched with two large fangs designed to intimidate foes. "What did we find?"
"We found the mother load." he replied, "The entire planet is practically covered in Energon."
"That's great!" replied Burnout from her seat at the environmental controls and status feed. She was a light brown, with white and dark brown trim and highlights. Her head was a light cream color with a brown crest that swept back past her head, and her left arm was almost completely covered by a large, out-of-place gauntlet that held her medical tools. "We can finally get enough to keep us going without worrying about how much is left."
"It won't be that easy." said Bunker, a bright white male who had a blue cloak hanging from each shoulder, allowing the large spike that was pointing straight up on his lower back to be easily seen from his place at the ship's helm. His face was mostly concealed underneath a white, slitted battle mask that pushed forward along the horizontal middle, giving the sense of a face without actually seeing it, though, the top half was pushed up slightly at the moment to reveal his optics. The mask pulled back as it got higher, coming to a decorative point about seven inches above his head. "Don't forget that long-term exposure to large amounts of raw Energon like this is also capable of putting us into stasis lock. We'll need beast modes in order to spend any substantial length of time down there."
"Also," Skybreaker said, "the planet has multiple sentient species. It will probably be more difficult to gather the Energon on this planet than it has been in the past."
Dark Lance sat silently in thought for several moments. He and his team had been sent out into the cosmos to discover and befriend new life forms, leaving one of the many protoforms in the ship's storage bays behind at each friendly planet as an ambassador, protector, and researcher. Since then, however, their mission had changed.
After the Decepticons had started the Great War which destroyed Cybertron, Dark Lance and his crew had not just been looking for new allies, but also new sources of Energon, and a new world to call home. The planet below had more than enough of one of these objectives, but the fact that there were sentient life forms already living there made the chances of this becoming their new home planet mathematically negligible. However, the Energon reserves on the ship were running out, and they couldn't afford not to at least land and try to make contact.
Before he could give his orders, though, a huge explosion rocked the entire ship.
Outside, another ship had appeared from behind the planet's moon, and had fired on the Star Runner before they were detected. The second ship's commander smiled.
"Direct hit. Fire again!" he ordered.
A second bolt of energy whizzed through the vacuum, hitting the now-tilted ship on its underside, causing a large panel to come loose and hang limply in space.
Inside, Skybreaker took his seat at the ship's gun controls, activating the auto-turrets, and powering up the primary cannon. Taking quick, precise aim, he began to return fire at the other ship, having anticipated his leader's orders.
"Damage report!" Dark Lance yelled over the thumping of the guns.
"The primary hangar bay has been breached, and we don't have power in the main starboard engine!" Burnout replied, watching her screen for any new alerts as the ship rocked violently again, and the lights flickered.
"Bunker, start a landing run, I'm going to see what I can do about the loose panels!" As Dark Lance got up to head to the hangar, Bunker started hitting buttons and switches, the years of simulations, practice, and experience allowing him to begin the landing procedure before the order was even completed.
Running toward the airlock, Dark Lance turned on his comm link.
"Burnout, what's the update?" he queried.
"Not good," the medic replied. " We don't have enough power to do a proper landing, and the hangar panels won't hold during reentry."
"Scrap." Dark Lance muttered, now at the airlock. Opening the outer door, he jumped away from the ship, his legs turning to face away from each other before his feet flipped up, the heel spurs in back becoming exhaust ports for the ion repulsor engines in his legs, which folded up to a more compact position. Simultaneously, his chest plate extended away from his body and rotated upwards, the sensory array located there coming to life as his robot head was concealed and rendered useless. His shoulder guards then folded down along his arms, covering them completely before they stuck straight out, his chest separating itself and turning downward so that his arms now pointed towards his feet, allowing the hydraulics of his jet mode's neck to move down and connect to his abdomen. His lance and shield flipped up onto his alt-mode head as his back thrusters splayed out to either side to form a pair of forward-swept wings. The last pieces to move were the panels that held his sickles, which moved to his back and connected with each other before flipping to his rear to become vertical directional panels. He then flew to the hangar's outside to get a better look at the broken panel. Burnout was right, there was no way he'd be able to fix the damage during the firefight sufficiently for it to stay attached during reentry. Changing back to his robot mode, he magnetized his feet to the hull, and quickly considered his options.
Attempting to use himself as a decoy would only ensure their destruction. A head-on attack would yield similar results. He couldn't fix the damage under current circumstances, and the ship wouldn't be able to outrun its attackers. That left one option.
Re-activating his comm, Dark Lance began issuing orders.
"Skybreaker, use a missile to take out their engines. Bunker, roll the ship so the hangar is facing away from the planet. Burnout, depressurize the hangar. I'm going to jettison the protoforms into orbit. Hopefully that will keep them out of Decepticon hands until we can fix the damage." Without response, his orders were carried out. He saw the missile streak away from the ship, pass the other, and turn around just as a cloud of gas came out of the hangar and the ship started to tilt further.
Within seconds, Dark Lance was at the hangar control pad, putting in directions that would be copied and used by the protective stasis pods to keep themselves in orbit. He then raced through the jettison procedure, checking each of the dozens of pods for any flaws or damage as the Star Runner was hit again and again by the enemy ship's cannons, shuddering from the impacts. Once he was satisfied with the state of the pods, he went to the inner most wall and turned to look at the broken door which had been jammed into place by blaster fire. Firing his rockets after propelling himself off the wall, he stuck both arms out in front of himself, curling his hands into fists and bracing for impact. He slammed into the door, causing it to burst out into space and disappear from sight. He then returned to the control panel, and pulled the ejection lever. All at once, the pods moved forward from the walls, lining up neatly before being sent careening out the hole where the door used to be by the slingshot mechanisms in the floor. Dark Lance watched them fly out, and then right themselves using compressed air as the onboard computers took control. When the last pod was safely away, he returned to his jet mode, and flew out to see what else had transpired while he had been dealing with the protoforms.
What he saw was carnage. The other ship was now helplessly listing towards the planet, its engines all but useless. His own ship was not doing much better. Large holes and scorch marks covered the surface of the once-pristine exploration vessel, and it, too was now caught powerlessly in the planet's gravitational pull. Both ships, however, refused to go down easily, and were still firing all of their weapons at each other. He hurried back to the airlock, and once inside, returned to his companions, calculating his next move.
When he got there, he could hardly recognize it. Panels had been knocked loose by the shockwaves, causing the wiring inside to float lifelessly down into the room. His allies were still at their places, Bunker trying desperately to get the ship back under control, Skybreaker concentrating on his targeting screen with a look of grim determination, and Burnout tapping furiously at her keyboard, trying to get the vessel's self-repair functions to work, while alerts constantly flashed onto her screen, blinking red to tell her of the new problem.
Dark Lance knew full well how this fight would end.
His mechanical eyes clicking back on, Dark Lance realized that he was still alive. Sore and disoriented, but alive. He was lying on his front on the floor of the ship, his head looking across the room at his own command chair. He moved his body to get up, but although everything was working properly, he couldn't move. He quickly realized that this was due to a large beam from the ceiling laying on top of him. Knowing now what was on his back, he put more power into his arms and legs and pushed off the ground, the beam sliding off his back to return to the floor. He looked around. Burnout was facedown on her console, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Skybreaker was on his back, the chair of his station having broken under the massive stress of the combat. Bunker was lying next to his seat, a large dent in the controls where Dark Lance assumed he had hit his head and blacked out on impact. There were a couple of small flames in parts of the bridge, telling him that he had not been offline for long.
He then felt a small buzzing sensation in his fingers. The first sign of high levels of Energon radiation. Ignoring the inconsequential fires, he moved to the large holographic display in the back of the room behind his command chair, clearing it of debris before pressing a button. The panel beeped cheerfully, and Dark Lance quickly started typing in commands, feverishly hoping that the computer's equipment was still intact enough to do what he needed. When he finished, there was a series of clanks and whirrs as the display split open to reveal a small, round object with an antenna on top, a pair of small, folded up wings, and a satellite dish on the bottom.
^Good, Teletraan six is still operational,^ Dark Lance thought, seeing that the probe was still in working condition. ^Now to start looking for some new forms.^ He quickly pressed a few buttons, and the probe launched into the air, its wings unfolding and catching it before it hit the ground. By this time, there were also small, silvery streams of what looked like liquid metal coming from several points in the console. Dark Lance payed them no mind, since he knew they were nanobots which would move through the ship, repairing what they found. Teletraan six then flew out through a hole which had opened in the ceiling, and Dark Lance turned back towards his unconscious crew. He quickly started to drag them, one by one, out from their places of rest, then picked them up and carried them into the next room, placing each into a different chamber which then closed around them. When he was done, he returned to the holographic display, hoping that Teletraan six would be back soon. He could now feel the Energon buildup in his circuits from the radiation, making him slower and more worried that he would go into stasis lock before Teletraan six returned, dooming them all.
His fears were quelled, however, as the hole in the ceiling opened once more to admit the probe back into its place within the holographic display, which then returned to its normal state and proceeded to show him images of various creatures from this world. He quickly scanned through them, and chose four which looked almost as if they had evolved specifically so his team could use their forms.
They were all small horse-like creatures, but they had differences between them that made it easy for him to pick which one would go to which member of his team. The first was plain, and looked almost identical to the horses on Earth. It wasn't quite the same as what he had seen in the records for that distant world, but it was impossible not to see similarities. He assigned it to Burnout, since she had the fewest accessories, and proceeded to the next, the name of which escaped him, but had the same body, except for the addition of a pair of wings which had a strange structure that appeared able to bend and shift in ways that most winged animals would find impossible. He gave it to Skybreaker, an obvious choice since he was the team's scout. The third creature, a unicorn, had a single, spiral-patterned horn jutting from its forehead instead of wings. He decided to give this form to Bunker, reasoning that the white Autobot's spear would be disguised well as the horn. The final form that Teletraan six had found he did not recognize, but it had both a horn and wings, making it perfect for Dark Lance to carry his weapon without having to sacrifice his ability to fly.
Once he was done, Dark Lance moved back to the second room, just as mechanical sounds began to emanate from the first pod, indicating that the process of modifying their bodies for their new beast modes had begun. He stepped into the last pod, which then closed, and waited for the machines to finish their work.
When he awoke from the induced stasis of the modifier pods, the first thing Dark Lance noticed was the hair. He had done this before, but the addition of organic structures to his body always made him feel like he had replaced another being's consciousness. The doors opened with a hiss, allowing him to step out and look at himself in the light. He was still dark blue, but was now on all fours, another sensation he was not unfamiliar with, but did not find entirely comfortable at first, either. He moved each piece of his body in rapid succession, ensuring that everything was still there and that he could move it all properly. His flight packs had unfolded and flattened out, refolding into a position which made them look just like natural wings, feathers and all. His sickles had been modified so that the blades could separate from themselves into a multitude of flexible, black fibers to make up his new tail, with the blades on his shield doing the same on his head to form a short, spiky mane directly behind his lance which, of course, now masqueraded as a horn on his forehead. His shoulder guards were now unfolded down his arms to become his front legs, with his original legs spinning backwards to achieve the long, powerful rear legs of the creature he was mimicking. His chest plate had extended out and up to form a new neck and head for his disguise.
He looked around after finishing his self-diagnostic to see his team finishing each of theirs. Standing in front of him now were three equine forms: a plain, somewhat feminine horse, with a light brown coat and a dark brown mane, which split in the middle to fall equally to her left and right, and a similarly colored tail; a creature that Dark Lance finally remembered from Earth mythology as a pegasus with a bright yellow coat and equally bright green messy mane and tail; and a pure white unicorn with a short, dark blue, slicked-back mane and dark blue, flowing tail. When they were finished, they went back into the bridge to clean up before continuing to the next order of business: the Decepticons.
"First of all," Dark Lance began, "we need to figure out how far away they landed from our ship."
Bunker carefully pressed a few buttons with his relatively clunky new appendages, and the holo-display then showed a curved line to indicate where the planet's surface was, as two small dots came into view, tracing two more lines down to the first. A number came up, indicating the distance between the two impact sites. It was not far.
Dark Lance considered the lines for a moment, then issued a command. "Aerial map of space between the crash points," he told the computer. The lines disappeared, and a large map of the area between the Autobot and Decepticon ships appeared in its place. To the northwest, there was a small town. A forest extended between the two crash sites, with the Decepticon ship itself smashed into the west side of a mountain, piercing it, while their own had slammed into the ground in the south side of the forest, digging a long furrow through the foliage with its engines before burying itself partially, with the rest of its bulk concealed from the town by the forest trees. Dark Lance looked intently at the map for a few seconds, before finally making his decision.
"Burnout, you go to the town, and make sure that the Decepticons are not already there. Bunker, start repairing the main ship functions. Skybreaker, you and I will head for the Decepticons' ship and try to find out if they are still functional. No one is to engage. If something happens, radio the others immediately. We don't know enough about this planet yet to get involved with the locals, so try to keep low profiles until we do."
The others nodded, and started on their assigned tasks. Bunker went further into the ship to get his tools, while the others walked outside to leave. The first aspect of this new world that they noticed was the lower gravity. They had been experiencing it for some time, but they had been accustomed to moving through their ship in zero-g, so it had not occurred to them how different this planet's gravity was from other planets they had visited until they were outside. The second thing they noticed was that the atmosphere wasn't just thinner, it was also much denser. This possibility had crossed Dark Lance's mind when looking at the holograms of their new forms, but he hadn't thought it would be to such an extent.
Having completed their initial observations about this new environment, Dark Lance and Skybreaker spread their new wings, and took off, acclimating themselves for a few seconds to this latest method of flying. Even though their wings looked comically small in comparison to the rest of their bodies, the two Autobots were easily capable of keeping themselves aloft in the low gravity and dense atmosphere. Now sure that they wouldn't need immediate medical attention, Burnout turned towards where the town on the map was, and headed off, the door closing behind her. Dark Lance and Skybreaker, also satisfied that they could now control their latest forms properly, steered north to where the Decepticons' ship had crashed.
When Burnout got to the town, she was very surprised at the inhabitants. It looked like they were all one of the forms she, Bunker, or Skybreaker had taken. She found it odd that they were all so similar in form, but she had seen much stranger things in her travels. She also wondered how they could build such intricate structures as the buildings she was currently passing without any fingers or other manipulators to hold the tools or carry the materials. The only thing that truly bothered her, however, was the fact that she didn't see any of them with both wings and a horn, like the form Dark Lance had taken. She wondered if it was just chance, or if that particular form was rare or unusual.
Meanwhile, Dark Lance and Skybreaker were hidden in some foliage a short distance from the Decepticon ship. When they had gotten close, they had been able to hear voices and movement inside, indicating that their foes had, in fact, survived the crash and were still fully functional. So the two had decided to wait in hiding until they had seen their enemies' latest forms, so that they would not accidentally, and incorrectly, assume that a random animal was not a robot in disguise.
Their patience was eventually rewarded, as another, red-colored version of the creature Dark Lance had become walked out, followed by a dragon, a lion with bat wings and a scorpion tail, and a cross between a lion and an eagle with its head feathers swept backwards. Instantly, the two hidden robots knew which of their enemies was which. Bloodwing, the leader, had chosen the same form as Dark Lance. Small wonder, since the two were so similar in their other alt-modes. The dragon was Fireburst, the second-in-command of their team, and their heavy weapons expert. The bat-winged lion was Crosswire, the group's medic, if you can call him that. Dark Lance and Skybreaker had seen firsthand what that mad monstrosity was capable of, and it had been one of the worst experiences of their lives. The last was Sharpedge, who lived up to her name in every way possible. From her combat style to her way of speaking, she was one of the meanest Decepticons to ever exist.
The two hidden Autobots watched in silence as the group in front of them checked several places outside the ship, set down some small discs around the area, and then went back inside the ship, which disappeared a few seconds later, shrouded by a cloaking field. Dark Lance got up, then motioned for Skybreaker to follow. Once he was sure they were a safe distance away, he took to the air, the other following close behind.
Burnout's mission had been much less eventful. After setting down a pair of infrared tripwire alarms connected to their ship's alarm system, she went back to the town's library, and began studying the history of the world she was now on after telling an overly friendly purple unicorn she couldn't chat due to urgent business. She also discovered that the unicorns were able to use magic, explaining how they could build so much, while thinking it was a good thing Dark Lance had sent her instead of Bunker. After she had gone through most of the library, she decided it was time to go home. She managed to get out without being stopped again by the librarian, and started heading back towards the Star Runner.
During his comrades' absence, Bunker used the peace and quiet to focus utterly on the task at hand. He first repaired the Energon shields, allowing him to return to his normal form and get the rest of the job done faster than he would have otherwise. Except for one interruption from Burnout to sync up her alarms to the ship, the time passed by quickly and quietly. He may be willing to fight against Unicron himself one-on-one for any of them, but he enjoyed the quiet, peaceful moments. They calmed him, and he was able to do a lot more when he wasn't being interrupted constantly by his teammates. By the time the others got back, he had almost all systems except the engines up and running.
"Nice work, Bunker," Dark Lance complimented as he walked in with Skybreaker, both of them transforming into their robot modes. He was now able to see that Bunker's arms were his rear legs in beast mode, with the tail becoming his signature pair of flowing capes. The head of his beast mode now faced the ceiling, with its horn flat against Bunker's back. Skybreaker's beast mode had him laying backwards, with his main shoulder-thrusters becoming the head, his arms forming the back, and his secondary hoverpack turning into his front legs. Dark Lance was always amazed at how no matter what alt-mode one of them took, the transformations they used were always very similar to previous modes. Even his new beast mode was reminiscent of his usual jet alt-mode. Burnout soon appeared, showing that her old gauntlet had become the majority of her beast mode's head, while her other hand joined it to form the bottom portion of the mouth. Her whole upper body then twisted to put everything in alignment, including the two front legs which now hung off the back of her shoulder blades, looking like they wanted to mimic Skybreaker's backpack.
The four of them then sat in the newly-repaired chairs surrounding the hologram table. Each told the others what they had accomplished over the course of the day, until everyone knew everything that had transpired up to that point, including the fact that they were not horses, but ponies, as well as various other terminology and historical information Burnout had picked up during her studies. Then the other three looked expectantly at their leader, waiting for his verdict on what their priorities would be while they were here. He was silent for almost a minute, mulling over what their course of action should be. Should they go on the offensive, and try to take out the Decepticons before they could do anything to prepare? No, that wouldn't work. The 'cons were always ready for battle, and his team was still tired as well. Try to repair the ship and leave? That was an even worse idea. Even if Bloodwing didn't attack them during repairs or takeoff and let them leave, the natural inhabitants of this world would be unprotected, and that was unacceptable. What about the protoforms? Barring a meteor shower of large proportions, they would be safe in orbit. Start mining for Energon right away? No, the locals might have evolved to need the crystals to survive. He had to make sure they wouldn't suffer without it first. Which meant only one option remained: they would have to go out and reveal themselves to this world. Soon. If they didn't, Bloodwing and his team might gain the upper hand by tricking the population into thinking the Autobots were the evil ones, which had already happened once, and he didn't want it happening again. He was about to tell the others his decision when an alarm went off. Something was walking around outside, possibly a Decepticon. The hologram table hummed to life, showing them a picture of three small, probably younger members of the beings that inhabited the area: a regular pony, with a bow the size of her own head holding her mane back; a unicorn with a curly, two-toned mane; and a pegasus riding a scooter. The three young creatures were staring, mouths open, straight at the ship. Dark Lance looked at Bunker.
"You haven't gotten around to fixing the cloak field yet, have you?" He said, already knowing the answer.
"I had just started on it when you got back." Bunker replied grimly.
After a moment, Dark Lance decided to go outside and talk to the unexpected visitors. He transformed into his beast mode so as not to scare them, his team doing the same in case the three younglings came in before Lance had a chance to warn them. He opened the door, to find three large heads with eyes that took up almost the entire area of their faces looking up at him eagerly. Somewhat startled at the fact that they did not seem at all worried about the idea that they were standing next to an alien spaceship, he paused for about a quarter of a second. Which was more than enough time for them to start asking questions.
The questions came faster than the ammunition out of a machine gun. He waited for them to calm down a bit before answering, his memory banks having served him well by remembering each question in the order they were asked, allowing him to answer in the same order if he wanted. Which he didn't because he knew he wouldn't have their attention for that long, so he had to get to the important parts first.
"I am commander Dark Lance, of the Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team," he said with an authoritative and important-sounding voice. He knew how to handle kids like this. It was all in the presentation. "I have come from the planet Cybertron to find new energy sources and a new home for my race. My team and I crashed here after being attacked, and we are now stuck here for some time, since our ship cannot take off in its present condition."
The three faces (which was all he could see of them at the moment) looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before saying "Cool" simultaneously in awed voices. They then looked past him, and the orange, purple-maned pegasus that had been on the scooter asked "So, can we come in?"
He thought for a second. He knew that he and his team needed to be on good terms with the locals if they were ever going to get anything done while they were here, but he didn't want to put these three in danger if the Decepticons decided to attack. He looked at the setting sun, and decided that the Decepticons weren't going to do anything before morning at the earliest. "Alright," he finally answered, the three faces looking like they had just been given the greatest gift of their entire lives. "Just let me-" Before he could finish, all three of the young ponies had shot past him, and were inside the control room, looking around. ^Uh-oh,^ he thought.
Sure enough, he followed them in to a scene of chaos. Despite his team's best efforts, they had already managed to root through several open panels, press numerous buttons on at least five different consoles, and turn the hologram table into a holographic game of dress-up. Before they could do any real damage, however, Bunker, Burnout, and Skybreaker finally caught one each with their beast mode teeth and were holding them up off the floor, out of reach of everything else. Dark Lance walked over and explained the rules of the ship to the new guests.
"First of all, you can't run around like that inside. There are a lot of loose cables, open panels, and sharp edges in here you could hurt yourself on. Second, this stuff is very delicate equipment, and must be taken care of properly in order to function. That means no standing on things and pressing random buttons, trying to play dress-up. Thirdly, and this is the most important, don't touch something if you don't know what it is. You can ask, and we will tell you, but don't touch. If you can't do as you're told, you aren't allowed in, alright?" he finally finished, getting a defeated "Okay..." from the three small fillies. He nodded to his three comrades, who then gently set the foals down on the floor.
"So, what are your names?" the orange one asked, obviously excited to meet anyone she didn't already know, and eager to get to know them. The other two also turned around, looking at the ones who had caught them, which is when Dark Lance noticed two things: first, his team had somehow managed to unintentionally catch the filly of the same type they were disguised as. He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, or if Primus was trying to send him some kind of message, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that each of the fillies had saddlebags filled with gems. Or at least, they looked like gems. He quickly realized, however, that the "gems" were actually Energon crystals, and they were glowing. A lot. And getting brighter.
"The bags!" he yelled, knowing his team would notice it too. They looked at the bags, saw what was about to happen, and immediately snatched one each off the fillies, before running to the door and throwing them out, the confused ponies staring dumbly at them. Once all three sets of saddlebags were outside, Bunker smacked the door control, closing it just before there was a series of loud bangs, and the shockwaves from the explosions rippled through the metal of the ship, making it hum and groan.
The fillies looked at each other, then at the four ponies in front of them, then back to each other, confused as to why the gemstones they had spent the last few hours collecting just decided to explode. Dark Lance came over to them, wondering why they had had so much Energon to begin with. Did they use it as an energy source? Food? Currency? But before he could open his mouth, the earth pony with the bow asked sadly, "Does this mean we ain't allowed in anymore?" her accent caught him slightly off-guard, but he reacted before they could start asking him more questions.
Knowing full well that most creatures didn't know Energon was explosive until one of his team showed them, he shook his head, to which the fillies looked very relieved. Now it was his turn to ask a couple questions.
"Before we talk about that, though, I don't think I've heard any of your names yet."
The unicorn gasped with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, we should know better. We were just really excited, that's all. Anyway, my name is Sweetie Belle." Her tone and inflection told Dark Lance that she was raised, at least, by a higher-class parent, and that she was more accustomed to being scolded on etiquette.
The pegasus spoke up next. "I'm Scootaloo, the second-coolest pony in Equestria!" she said enthusiastically. Equestria, huh? Probably the country they were in. Also, she said "second-coolest", which meant that there is someone around here who is extremely good at what they do. Looking at Scootaloo, he guessed that that "something" had to do with pleasing the crowd. What the crowd was there to see, though, he had yet to find out.
The yellow filly with the red mane went last. "And ah'm Apple Bloom!" She said with a smile, her accent coming through again. She looked like she spent a lot of time on a farm, maybe even lived on one. But he wasn't sure just yet, so he withheld any comments about it.
"And we're..." the three ponies said together while striking a pose, "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" they exclaimed proudly, their mouths stretched into wide grins. His team then moved forward to introduce themselves as well.
"My name is Bunker. I am this team's scientist and helmsman."
"I'm Burnout, the medic. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Skybreaker. I do recon stuff."
After introductions were finished, and with the names of the three fillies safely in his processor, Dark Lance then asked about the obvious subject. "So why did you have all those Energon crystals, anyway?" he asked.
"What's En-er-jon?" Scootaloo asked, confused.
^Not unexpected, but it was worth a shot,^ Dark Lance mused.
"Energon is what those crystals you had were made of," he explained, knowing what the next sentence would be.
"But I've never seen gems do anything like that before," Sweetie Belle said, intrigued by the explosive power that she had just witnessed.
"Most races that live around Energon don't realize it can explode like that until we show them. I would guess that the crystals you had were set off by the various consoles you went through, slowly setting off a chain reaction in them that caused them to become unstable." He had explained this many times before.
Satisfied with his explanation, Apple Bloom was the next to speak.
"So how do you know what it does?" she asked him. Again, memories of a dozen other worlds and a dozen other beings asking him the same question flashed through his main processor. He looked at her for a moment, knowing where this conversation would go, and wondering what the reactions of the three fillies in front of him would be when he showed them his natural form.
"I know what it does because I use it as sustenance," he replied calmly.
"Wait, what? Why would you eat it?" Sweetie Belle asked, confused.
"I don't eat it like that. First it has to be refined into a more stable compound. Then I can use it as fuel." he explained patiently.
The three fillies thought for a moment before Apple Bloom spoke up. "But ah thought only dragons were able to eat gemstones?" she asked, "How come you ponies are able to eat 'em, too?"
"Because my team and I aren't actually ponies," he said, bracing himself for the worst. The three in front of him looked more confused than anything else.
"But you look just like ponies," Scootaloo said, before Sweetie Belle gasped.
"You're not Changelings, are you?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice. The other two suddenly looked worried as well.
"I don't know what a 'Changeling' from this planet looks like, but I don't think so, no." he replied, seeing relief wash over the fillies' faces. He looked out the window, suddenly realizing it was already dusk, and that his guests needed to get home soon. "It looks like we'll have to finish this conversation another time, though. It's getting dark. Time to get you back home." The crusaders let out a collective "Awwww...." before starting towards the door, Dark Lance close behind.
He followed them all the way to the edge of the woods, not wanting to leave them to fend for themselves if the Decepticons, or one of the dangerous-looking animals they had disguised themselves as, decided they wanted to do some late-night hunting. When they approached the edge of the forest, Dark Lance could hear worried voices in the distance. It soon became apparent that the voices were calling Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. When they finally cleared the last of the trees, Dark Lance could see six ponies of various colors hurriedly looking around and listening for sounds of answer, when their ears spun around, followed quickly by the rest of their heads as he and the Cutie Mark Crusaders revealed themselves from the foliage. Two of them, a white unicorn with purple mane and tail and an orange-colored earth pony with a cowgirl hat, raced over in front of the others. The orange one slowed down as she saw that the fillies were unharmed, and with an escort, but the unicorn didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she certainly didn't care.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, thank goodness you're safe," she said, giving the two-toned unicorn a hug. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be back over an hour ago!" She looked at the filly, tears of relief welling up in her eyes.
"It's alright, Rarity, we were just meeting some new friends," she explained to the pony Dark Lance assumed was her sister.
"So we can see," said another, purple, unicorn as the rest caught up. "Thanks for bringing them back, we were really worried."
"I wasn't," argued a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. "After all, Scootaloo was with them, and if she plans on being as awesome as me one day, then she shouldn't have any problem with anything in that forest." The purple unicorn shot her a glare, before turning back to Dark Lance with a smile.
"Anyway, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said, puffing her chest out slightly with pride. Dark Lance could tell she was a student, but also that she was very intelligent, from the way she enunciated her words carefully, but quickly. "I'm the personal student of Princess Celestia, so if you want to know anything, I'm sure I can help you." She smiled widely.
^Personal student of royalty? She must be ridiculously skilled in order to have that kind of status. She probably knows more about this world than the rest of them put together, so I should keep her in mind if anything comes up.^ he thought to himself, already mentally practicing how he should get in contact with her.
"My name is Rarity," the first unicorn said, "and let me thank you right now for bringing back my sister. I know she can be a hoof-full, but she's really a good girl." Dark Lance cocked his head slightly in surprise as she said "hoof-full", but it made sense to him that they would use the term "hoof" instead of "hand", since they didn't have hands. He also noticed the careful, deliberate way she talked, indicating that she put a lot of effort into how others saw her. Her expertly groomed mane and tail cemented this idea quite firmly into his memory banks.
^She probably has a job in the textile industry here. That could be useful.^
The orange pony was the next to approach him. "Ah'm Applejack, Apple Bloom's big sister," she said with the same accent as the filly. "Our family owns Sweet Apple Acres, the farm on the edge of town," she explained, confirming his suspicion that Apple Bloom lived on a farm.
^If we need money for something, we may be able to get jobs there. I'll have to find out about the local currency, though.^
Suddenly, a pink pony with a dark pink, fluffy mane and tail popped up in front of him. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she nearly shouted at him, smiling happily. Dark Lance knew right away that she was going to be like this every time he saw her. "What's your name?"
"Dark Lance," he said simply.
^Oh, dear. She's one of those types that doesn't ever stop talking, isn't she? Bunker is going to have some serious issues keeping his cool around her.^
"Cool name," the cyan pegasus from earlier replied, hovering a few inches above his head, "but not as cool as mine: Rainbow Dash!" she said, with a bit more pride than was necessary, he thought. He also noticed Scootaloo looking at her with wide eyes and a big smile, realizing that Rainbow Dash was probably the pony she had been thinking of when she called herself "second-coolest". He decided not to mention it, though, as he suddenly realized something.
"Wasn't there one more of you?" he asked, sure that there had been six previously. The others looked around for a moment, and Twilight took a step to her left, revealing a scared, pale yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane and tail. She eeped in fright, curling herself up tighter to try and hide behind her mane. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned that he had done something to frighten her.
"B-B-Behind you!" she stuttered. Dark Lance spun around, expecting at least one of the forms the Decepticons had taken to be directly behind him, ready to pounce. Instead, he saw nothing but forest. He then became aware of a light pressure on his left front leg, and looked down to see a snake latched on to him with its teeth. He lifted his leg up to inspect the reptile and turned around.
"Is this what had you so worked up?" he said, hoping it was.
"Omigoodness!" the pegasus said, running up to him. "Are you okay? Let me see." She then grabbed the snake with her hooves, and pulled it off of his leg, tossing it into the brush before looking at where it had been attached to him. He wondered for a moment how she had done that, since hooves weren't particularly dexterous. The fact that she was suddenly not scared of the snake also baffled him, since she had just been using one of her friends to hide from it. She suddenly hummed in thought. "That's odd, I could have sworn it bit into you. But I can't find any wound marks." She sounded very confused.
"And this is Fluttershy," Twilight said, introducing her distracted friend for her. Fluttershy blushed hard, realizing what she had just done.
"I'm so sorry mister Lance, I just got so worked up when I saw that snake, I forgot what we were doing." She looked like she wanted to hide behind her friends again, as she took a step back.
"It's alright," he smiled at her, not wanting to worry her further.
"Hold on a second..." Rainbow Dash interrupted, moving to Dark Lance's side. "How come you don't have a cutie mark?"
"A what?" he asked, worry beginning to form in his processor as he realized that there was apparently a major flaw in his disguise.
"A cutie mark? You know, the thing that every foal gets by the time they grow up, symbolizing their special talent?" He then noticed the images on the back legs of each of the six adults. Teletraan six had not shown him anything like that when he saw the holograms, and Burnout had apparently not come across the term during her time in town. He shook his head, painfully aware of his mistake. Something that important to the culture would definitely cause problems with his disguise.
"How can a pony not have a cutie mark?" Twilight asked, looking like she was deep in thought.
Fortunately, he didn't have to answer, because Apple Bloom did it for him.
"He told us he wasn't actually a pony, he just looks like one."
The others looked to him in shock. "You aren't a Changeling, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously. ^That's the second time today,^ Dark Lance thought. ^What are these 'Changelings' they keep talking about?^ He also became aware that it was getting hard to see, due to the sun having set, so he decided to end the conversation quickly.
"I do not believe that these Changelings are anything like me, but its dark out, and I need to get back to my team. How about we continue this tomorrow morning? I believe you have a library of some sort?" The crusaders let out a disappointed "Awww..." before the others could respond.
"Alright," Twilight said, after thinking for a moment. "We'll meet at the library tomorrow morning, and we can introduce ourselves properly. Is everypony alright with that?" She looked around, and got nods of agreement from her friends. "Alright then, see you tomorrow!" She said excitedly. Dark Lance waved goodbye, then turned around to head back into the forest. There was a gasp behind him, and Rarity ran to stop his path.
"You aren't actually thinking of going in there now, are you?" she asked incredulously.
"Um, yes?" he answered, not understanding why this was such a big deal. It seemed like a regular old forest to him.
"But there's all kinds of animals in there that could eat you right up!" she replied, a look of concern covering her face.
He looked at the leg which had had the snake attached to it not that long ago. He didn't feel any pain, and it looked just fine. Unsurprising, considering he was made of metal. "I think I'll be alright, but thanks for the concern." he said, stepping around her.
"Are ya sure ya'll will be alright?" Applejack questioned.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," he said, smiling. "I don't think I'll have any problem getting back." He waved one last time before disappearing into the trees.
Dark Lance awoke from the re-energizer station to find the image panels that showed the exterior of the ship brightening his room with the sun that had begun to rise. He moved the various panels of his body, and went through his morning systems check before stepping out of the small chamber that he had gotten into the habit of calling his bed, after some lengthy discussions with the inhabitants of one of the previous worlds. He stretched, ensuring that he was fully mobile, and opened the door to the lodging corridor. Moving towards the bridge, he reminded himself of the meeting with the ponies, and wondered about the "cutie marks" that their previous conversation had ended with.
^Rainbow Dash said that their cutie marks symbolized their special talent, which explains why they each had a different one,^ he thought as he passed a group of repair drones working on one of the main relay conduits in the wall. ^But none of my team have one. Will this cause problems? How unusual is it for a pony to not have one? And most importantly, is it easily noticeable?^ Questions raced through his mind, one following right after the other, until he reached the bridge. There, he found Burnout looking at the holo-display, going through various parts of the ship, and occasionally typing on the small touch pad that was hooked up to it. Across the room, Bunker was laying on his back underneath the gun controls, engrossed in what he was doing.
"Where's Skybreaker?" Dark Lance said. Bunker thoroughly ignored him, forcing Burnout to answer instead.
"He's outside, working on the main weapon systems," she said, returning to her work. Dark Lance moved to the door, pressing the open button before transforming back to his four-legged disguise. He then took off, letting the door close behind him, circling back to find Skybreaker.
It didn't take long for him to find the yellow and green scout, who was working underneath the main gun.
"How's it coming?" he asked, landing a few steps away.
"Alright," his subordinate's bottom half replied, the rest of him concealed by the panel he was under, and not stopping in his work. "The primary servos are bent, and there are a couple of busted hydraulics in here, but none of the load-bearing portions look like they're in imminent danger of breaking. I just want to get it back up and running so that we have it in case Bloodwing and his cronies decide to show up. Can you hand me that wrench?" He pointed to a socket wrench near Dark Lance's feet. The commander picked it up in his teeth, and spat it out underneath the panel Skybreaker was working on.
"Well, I'm going into town to meet with the locals, and see what I can find out about this place," he said, turning towards the direction of the town.
"Alright," the reply came from under the panel, along with the resumed sounds of repairs being made. "Tell 'em I said 'hi'."
With that, Dark Lance took to the air, making a circle above the half-buried vessel to ensure that an attack was not imminent, before heading in the direction of the town.
Landing just before he cleared the last of the trees, Dark Lance took a better look at the town which he had only seen so far shrouded in darkness. From his current position, he was slightly above the town, giving him a good look at the layout.
There were a number of rather large, wooden structures huddled together, with a tree cottage set apart from them near the edge of the forest. Another tree with windows in the upper branches near an open area in the middle of town caught his eye, recognizing it from Burnout's description as the library. He could also see a larger, multi-story building a little ways in in the middle of another clearing. There was a barn visible on the far side of the town, which he guessed was part of Sweet Apple Acres, but the building that stood out most was a small, oddly shaped structure tucked into the south side of the town. It caught his attention because it looked like it was made of cake, frosting and other edible materials that looked strangely similar to sweets he had seen from other planets, both in person and in the records he had received from the other teams. He took a breath, using the fresh air to cool his circuits so he would be able to operate properly in case of an emergency. Then he started down the dirt path towards the town.
When he entered the town itself, he became aware of a quickly growing number of eyes watching him. Glancing around, he realized he was getting numerous strange looks from the ponies in town. ^Uh-oh,^ he thought, worrying that his lack of a cutie mark had already given him away. ^I need to get over there fast.^ He quickened his pace slightly, trying not to look nervous, but he kept getting weird stares, and breathed a sigh of relief as the library came into view, releasing the air that had heated up as he had been worrying. When he got inside the darkened library, he closed the door behind him just before a loud bang startled him back to looking at the suddenly bright room, expecting to find one of the Decepticons who had also crashed holding the ponies hostage. Instead, a cloud of confetti and streamers drifted down onto his face, their source appearing to be a light blue cannon that Pinkie Pie was standing behind. Twilight, who was standing in a line next to the other ponies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing in front of them with a small, dragon-like creature like they were taking a picture, gave her an annoyed look.
"Pinkie, I told you you weren't supposed to do that until we were sure he was okay with it," she said, obviously unappreciative of the pink pony's confetti cannon.
"Aw, c'mon Twilight, you didn't even let me get a welcome party ready, and I couldn't just let such a perfect opportunity like that pass without doing anything," she replied to her friend, who still didn't look too happy about not being listened to. "Besides, he'll be fine, he doesn't even look worried." Which was technically true, but only because he had so much practice at keeping his composure in tense situations. He had already prepared his body to transform and begin combat between the time the cannon went off and he realized it was just party decorations coming from the muzzle.
Shaking the confetti and streamers from his head, Dark Lance finally spoke. "It's alright, Twilight, she just startled me, that's all," he reassured her, returning his insides to their correct positions, allowing him to move freely again. "Besides, I'm more curious about why the ponies around here have been staring at me."
Looking back at him, the purple unicorn then noticed that in addition to his horn, he also had wings, something she had not seen in the dark of the previous evening.
"Well aside from your lack of a cutie mark, I'd say they were staring at the fact that you look like an alicorn," she said, studying this new discovery. "There are only three in Equestria, and they're all royalty," she explained, while Dark Lance cursed himself for choosing something so obviously less common than the others. Too late now though, since the ship didn't have the materials necessary to create a new form for him. He sighed, panels on the back of his current head allowing cool air to move across the circuits making up part of his main processor, letting him relax a bit.
"So you said you aren't actually a pony, right?" Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence. "Can we see what you really look like?"
Dark Lance thought for a moment, making sure there wasn't a reason not to show them. Satisfied that he couldn't come up with one, he nodded, then took a step back so that he would have enough room.
He transformed more slowly than he usually would, allowing the others to see more clearly how his two forms were able to change into one another. First, he stood up onto his hind legs, turning one backwards and flipping his foot down, then copying the motion with the other. His forelegs then extended away from his body, and the coverings on his lower arms flipped up, revealing his hands. Simultaneously, his wings refolded themselves back to their flight pack positions. Finally, the top of his head and horn flipped onto their storage space on his back, as the neck and head of his beast mode fell forward and compressed into his chest plate, the ears flipping up and back to give his shoulders extra protection. His tail plate was the last to change, splitting in the middle and moving to either side of his waist as the fibers reformed into his sickles. Now in his robot mode, the ponies in front of him gasped in amazement, looking up and down at him with awe as they tried to grasp how the pony that had been standing in front of them could turn into something so vastly different.
^Well that reaction could have been a lot worse,^ he thought to himself as the ponies processed what they had just seen.
"Now that was pretty awesome. I've never seen anything like that before," Rainbow Dash said, obviously impressed with his transformation. The others had similar looks of amazement on their faces, telling him that the Changelings they had mentioned were not, in fact, anything like him.
"Yes, bravo, bra-vo," a mocking tone called from Dark Lance's right. He snapped his body around, readying himself again for a fight. On top of the bookshelf, next to an open window, a red alicorn with a dark brown, slicked-back spiky mane and short, similarly colored tail, was laying comfortably, a mean smirk plastered across his face. Dark Lance's eyes widened in shock, a habit he had picked up from various species that he found was actually useful in ensuring that he knew what he was looking at. This time, though, he didn't need the extra confirmation. The smiling, blood red alicorn looking at him was, without a doubt, Bloodwing. He drew his shield and lance, preparing himself to intercept the Decepticon leader if he tried to attack the surprised and confused ponies a few steps away. Bloodwing, however, simply laughed.
"Oh, please, Lance, do you honestly think I came here just to fight you?" he taunted, allowing one of his forelegs to dangle lazily off the shelf, the other supporting his head. "I want to make a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Dark Lance asked suspiciously, the apertures in front of the blue lights in his eyes narrowing, making it easy for the tense, worried ponies that were now standing protectively around the fillies to see that he didn't trust the relaxed Cybertronian.
"I want to help you leave," Bloodwing replied as he inspected his hoof for dirt and cosmetic damage. "I'm even willing to let you use parts from the Darksword to repair your ship."
"What's the catch?" Dark Lance asked, fairly certain he already knew the answer.
"You have to do so immediately," his enemy responded, now laying with his hooves crossed, like he was sitting at a business table. "Without further interference in our affairs." Dark Lance didn't have to think for even a nanosecond, his answer forming in his voice box before Bloodwing was even finished speaking.
"No deal!" he proclaimed in an angry, indignant tone. "I don't know why you even bothered coming here, if those were your terms. Like I'd ever leave a planet behind, knowing you were going to have your way with it!" He moved into a battle pose, his right arm pointing his lance right at Bloodwing, the other arm, with his shield, ready to swing forward to defend or, if necessary, slash at his opponent with the blades fastened to the top. Bloodwing sighed, and turned around as he got up to move towards the window behind him.
"Well, I *had* hoped you would finally be greedy and give up for once to spare yourself some pain, but I suppose that's not going to happen." The red alicorn spread his wings, and took off out the window, heading off into the distance.
"You're slaggin' right it's not going to happen!" the unhappy Autobot leader yelled after him. He waited a moment before putting his weapons away to make sure he wouldn't have to defend the town from the turned-down Decepticon. After he had relaxed his position, the others turned towards him.
"Who the hay was *that*?" a shaken Twilight asked him, worry coating her voice.
"Bloodwing," he growled, grinding some of the smaller gears in his neck to produce the guttural sound. "He's the leader of the Decepticon Deep Space Exploration Team, and he's one of the most calculating individuals I've met. He and I have been fighting each other for a long time, and his ship firing on us was what caused my team to crash-land here in the first place." He glared at the open window, silently debating his next move.
Racing above the forest canopy, Dark Lance mentally prepared himself to begin combat while he flew back to the Star Runner. The tone Bloodwing had used before he left told the dark blue commander that his foe was going to attack soon. He had to get back to the ship before that could happen, and warn his team, so he had hurriedly said an apologetic goodbye at the library before changing back into the creature he now knew was called an alicorn, and took off. As he neared the ship, he could see Skybreaker cleaning up his tools. ^Good,^ he thought, as the pegasus look-alike put the last wrench in a bag, and zipped it up with his teeth. ^That should mean he got the gun operational. I just hope we don't have to use it.^ He frowned at the thought of the destruction the cannon could wreak on the forest. ^Because if we are that outgunned, we won't be getting off this planet online.^ He landed next to his subordinate, quickly telling him of the impending danger.
"We need to get ready for a fight. The Decepticons will probably be showing up here any minute." Skybreaker dropped his bag, and started moving quickly towards the entrance.
"I hope you two have some good news for me," Dark Lance called as he and Skybreaker walked into the bridge, which looked much better than when Dark Lance had left. Bunker was now leaning into the ship's navigation console, a number of multi-colored wires hanging out of it.
"Some," Burnout replied, still standing at the holo-display. "Environmentals are back online, as well as the various minor sub-systems throughout the ship that had been knocked out in the crash. Most of the major power conduits have been repaired as well, with only a handful in the engine rooms still non-functioning." She read the report with the quick, effortless efficiency that came with being a medical expert. It was something even her commander had trouble doing from time to time, but she always delivered it perfectly.
"Also," said Bunker, most of his upper body still buried in the control console, "I've managed to get all primary interface consoles except this one back to full functionality."
"Alright," Dark Lance replied, moving to the holo-display. "Get ready for combat, we're about to have company." As the others stopped what they were doing to check their weapon systems, Dark Lance began typing on the holo-display's control panel. The display opened, and Teletraan six shot up, catching itself before flying out of the ceiling to keep lookout.
After a few seconds, a short alarm sounded, turning the Autobots' attention to the display, which now showed the top of the forest canopy, as well as multiple winged figures approaching them at high speed. Dark Lance didn't waste time giving his order.
"Autobots, transform and move out!" he commanded before changing into his beast mode and running to the door, the others fast on his heels. As soon as he was clear of the door frame, he leapt into the air, unfolded his wings, and made a beeline for the incoming Decepticons. As he sped towards them, he realized something. There was an alicorn, a dragon, and the lion/eagle hybrid which he remembered as a griffon from yesterday, but the bat-winged, scorpion-tailed lion known as a manticore that Crosswire was disguised as was nowhere to be seen. He turned skyward, realizing his mistake, but it was too late.
As the Energon net sprang up in front of him, Dark Lance could only brace himself for the abrupt halt that came with it. His momentum carried him in a fast circle, slamming into the ground with a thud, and the scrape of metal against metal as the plates of his head were jarred against each other. Looking behind him, he saw that the net was tied around multiple trees, which was what resulted in him slamming headfirst into the ground, but standing next to the closest tree was Crosswire, still in his strange beast mode. He was grinning evilly.
The mad scientist took a single step forward before Dark Lance saw a white blur behind him, and he was launched over the net, howling in pain and surprise. Bunker came up to his captive leader and used his teeth to pull the net open just enough so Dark Lance could get out. Nodding his gratitude, he spread his wings and flew back above the trees, where he saw Skybreaker being chased through the air by Fireburst and Bloodwing, all three still in their alt-modes. Seeing Dark Lance appear from beneath the trees, the young bot flew straight at him, the two Decepticons still on his tail. Dark Lance directed himself back at Skybreaker, understanding what the scout intended. Turning at the last possible moment, Skybreaker revealed his oncoming commander to his pursuers, having blocked their view with his body. Before they could react, though, Dark Lance slammed into Bloodwing, knocking both of them out of the sky, and sending them tumbling to the ground below. Now that there was only one opponent to deal with, Skybreaker turned around to face his challenger, the fire-red dragon roaring with all the menace it could. The Autobot scout replied with his own battle cry before charging straight at the monster.
Meanwhile, down in the forest below, Burnout had locked gazes with Sharpedge, who had dived at her through the dense leaves, attempting to finish her with one blow. The initial strike had missed, and the two of them were now staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. Burnout shifted one leg slightly, and then Sharpedge was in the air, her talon reaching backward, ready to attack. Burnout anticipated the move, however, and jumped out of reach just as the claw slashed at the space she had been occupying. Deftly turning around, the medic used her anatomical knowledge to angle a two-legged kick so that one hoof connected with her opponent's chest, and the other slammed into the Decepticon's eye as her head lurched forward from the first. Sharpedge reared back, screaming in pain and anger. Burnout grinned a little, knowing that the enemy scout had underestimated her combat abilities because of her rank as medic.
In another part of the forest, Bunker found himself dodging yet another stab from Crosswire's tail before lunging back with his horn. The two fighters had yet to land a blow on each other, despite their best efforts. Bunker's less bulky form gave him the agility to dodge the Decepticon's attacks, but his spear had to be shorter in order for it to look natural in his beast mode. This meant that the advantage of reach he usually had that allowed him to keep his opponents at a distance was not there, and it was starting to aggravate him. Dodging another swipe from his adversary, he decided to change tactics. If he couldn't attack Crosswire's main body, he would attack the deranged doctor's weapons. He lunged again, this time at the scorpion tail which had dug yet another ditch into the ground around them, and scored the first solid hit of the fight. He allowed himself a small smirk as a thin trail of Energon fluid streaked through the air behind the retreating tail, knowing that victory was now his.
Skybreaker, on the other hand, was not faring as well. Fireburst was cruel and uncaring, and his beast mode was the same. Another gout of flame spewed from his maw, and Skybreaker barely dodged it, his tail singed in the attack. Turning around, he noticed that although his opponent was fully capable of hovering, starting and stopping were difficult. The large, ungainly form may be powerful, but it was not at all maneuverable. Realizing this, he used it to his full advantage, flying quickly past the relatively slow brute of an opponent he was fighting. The dragon suddenly stopped, his whole body jerking at the movement, and slowly turned around, only to have the yellow and green blur shoot past him again. He swiped futilely at the empty air, and turned again. Skybreaker now knew what his advantage was, and he was going to use it to its fullest extent. He flew in tight, confusing circles around Fireburst, who was becoming increasingly agitated by his inability to even land a blow on the Autobot scout. Finally, Skybreaker flew right behind the Decepticon's head and turned around, bending his legs in mid-air. When Fireburst finally looked at him, he violently extended his legs, kicking the now-infuriated dragon in the face, disturbing his flight. The bright yellow scout grinned as he realized he might just pull this off.
The team's leader, however, was not so sure. He had locked his horn against Bloodwing's almost immediately after landing, pressing his head against the red alicorn and trying to get into a position where he could make his enemy surrender. Neither had managed to get more than a step or two before the other pushed them back, though, and they were both getting tired. Bloodwing suddenly dipped his head to one side, causing Dark Lance to slip, giving him the opportunity he needed to flip his head upwards, sending the dark blue Autobot stumbling back. Seizing his chance, Bloodwing pushed the assault forward, his head violently pitching every which way like an angry bull. Dark Lance finally saw an opening, and brought his own head down, blocking the upwards thrust his opponent had intended for his spark chamber. Pushing down with the weight of his body, he put the Decepticon leader's face into the ground, holding it there, waiting for his opponent to give up. Instead, a metallic hoof smacked him in the snout, the impact reverberating through his mostly-hollow pony head. He took a few steps back, shaking his head as Bloodwing pulled his nose from the dirt, wiping of the muck with a hoof.
Before the two could continue, though, a large red object came crashing down through the trees, Skybreaker right behind it. Seeing his commander, Skybreaker quickly jumped to his side, taking on a ready pose as the object revealed itself to be Fireburst. Next, a white mass came flying into the clearing from behind Bloodwing, narrowly missing the Decepticon leader and landing next to Dark Lance, who saw that it was Bunker as he got up and dusted himself off. Crosswire slowly limped forward through the hole in the branches, stopping next to his leader. Then Burnout and Sharpedge appeared from Dark Lance's right, each one dodging and returning the other's attacks. They appeared to be evenly matched, but when they saw their respective teams, they broke off from their fight to stand next to their comrades.
Dark Lance decided to speak, but knew that what he had to say would fall on deaf sensors.
"Bloodwing, stop this. We don't have to fight, and this planet does not have the means to save itself from the destruction we could cause!" he pleaded, already knowing that he would not be listened to. As he expected, his opponent just laughed.
"Oh please, Lance, do continue. I know you've got another heroic speech in there, so let's hear it." He smiled. He would never actually do what the emotional Autobot wanted, but he enjoyed listening to his rival's ramblings about peace and harmony. To his mild surprise, though, there was no speech this time.
"Please, Bloodwing, just stop. We don't have to do this." Dark Lance pleaded, hoping that the Decepticon leader would listen to him, just this once. Instead, he got even more laughter.
"'Please, Bloodwing'? That's it!? I guess you used up all your heroics, huh?" he laughed again. "I mean, really, if that's all it would take, don't you think I would have joined you a long time ago? And to think you used to be so fearsome." He looked truly amused by his foe's pleas, and Dark Lance didn't like it one bit.
"Alright then," Dark Lance sighed, his circuitry cooled by the flow of air, "I guess we have no choice. Autobots, transform and prepare for battle!" he shouted to his team, who rapidly complied.
"Decepticons, transform and destroy!" his counterpart yelled with excitement, standing up as his wings fell away from his back, allowing his forelegs to rotate behind him to form his right arm, his left appearing from below his beast mode's neck before his entire upper body rotated and dropped down, forming his shoulders as his wings returned to their previous position. His head protruded as his shoulders dropped, revealing a double row of red plates sitting on top of his abyss-black face. His eyes and mouth were lit a bright red, giving him a demonic appearance. His legs turned around as this happened, and his feet extended from the backs of his hooves as the front moved back and up to form a solid heel spur. He then removed the top of his beast mode's head, attaching the long, single spike of mane to his left arm before drawing an equally long, double-edged sword from the bottom of his horn, which then split into three parts that laid down parallel to the top of his shield, spinning so that the center part of the horn was sticking straight out above the mane, and the two pieces from either side of the horn stuck straight back, making the shield look even more dangerous than the sword.
Fireburst stood up on his front legs as his neck collapsed into his body, which rotated upwards as his front legs supported him, his rear legs folding backwards and locking into place on his back. His tail, now positioned above his head, split down the center, rotating outwards and falling to either side as the tips split into a pair of clawed hands, his elbow, wrist and swivel joints revealing themselves along the lengths of the halves of the tail. His wings hung at the sides of his legs as the top of his beast mode's mouth moved up above his eyes, and the bottom split to either side, creating a helmet around his hard-edged, serious face. He grabbed the single claw on each wing with his new arms, and drew two long, curved blades from the outer-most spines.
Sharpedge pushed her wings back as she moved to a bipedal stance, allowing her shoulders to rotate the area around them until her talons pointed up, and then fold down as her rear legs unfolded, turning the claws on her feet into knee guards. The center of her beast mode then pulled away from her in flaps, unfolding from the struts that held them to become skirt armor. The sides of her beast mode head then pulled away as the front flipped down to her chest, the sides giving her a swept-back collar as her robot head was revealed to be as appropiate to her name as the rest of her.
Crosswire cackled with glee at the order, anxious to see the looks of fear the Autobots would give him. His beast mode's head, tail, and entire spinal area lifted away from the rest of his body, then turned so that the head was on his right and his tail on his left. He also stood on his hind legs, which then unfolded, revealing a whole new leg attached to the end of the first. His forelegs then moved towards each other and occupied the space where his beast mode head once was. Then the panels that used to be his stomach moved away, and his lopsided, patchwork head fell forward as the areas that were once his shoulders unfolded down to rest on the screens in front of him that were on the back of his stomach panels. He smiled as he tested his joints, revealing sharp, white teeth.
The next series of movements would have baffled any onlookers with their speed. Bunker's spear extended and compressed from its horn disguise so that he could wield it properly as he rushed forward to take on Fireburst. The split mane of Burnout's beast mode flipped around to either side to create a wrist-blade as she prepared to defend against Crosswire's scorpion tail and lion head. Skybreaker and Sharpedge leapt into the air, the wings on Skybreaker's arms now multi-tasking as his primary weapons, parrying and deflecting the Decepticon's swords, which she had formed from the two longest feathers of her wings, the edges becoming solid and sharp. Below them, Dark Lance and Bloodwing used their flight packs to charge one another, their weapons and shields slamming together as they each pushed with all their might, trying to make the other yield and fall.
Each of them realizing the other would not give in, the two leaders pushed away, using their flight packs to balance themselves, and then lunged again, this time changing the trajectory of their weapons in mid-motion to deflect the other's attack. Dark Lance, his right arm now crossing his body, moved his left under it to make an uppercut with his shield blades, twisting his body while lifting his lance to generate the force needed to do any damage. Pulling back just enough to not be hit, Bloodwing responded with an upswing of his sword, only to be sidestepped and stabbed at by his opponent's main weapon.
Meanwhile, Bunker had lured Fireburst away from the others so there would be no interference in their duel. He and Fireburst had never seen eye-to-eye, and neither had achieved a significant victory over the other. He dodged another sword strike, bringing his spear up to block the second, twisting the pole to push the blade away and open up his opponent to a counter-slash. His blade grazed the Decepticon's shoulder, and he jumped away so he could react faster to the next attack. Instead of attacking, though, Fireburst stood his ground, taking up a defensive stance with his blades pointing inward slightly. Bunker shuffled forward once to get in range, making a false lunge. His old foe took the bait, and he pulled back just as the red transformer's blades came upward to try and disarm him, simultaneously opening up their wielder to the second, true lunge, which connected with the center of his chest plate, pushing him backwards. Fireburst snarled in anger, and Bunker smiled with confidence.
In another part of the forest, Burnout parried her attacker's lion teeth yet again with the blade of her gauntlet. Neither she nor Crosswire were well-versed in combat, but he had more weapons and a longer reach than she did, and she was now in dire straits because of it. She dodged another strike from the scorpion tail that extended above her foe's left shoulder, and noticed several small cuts and holes in the bulbous appendage. She had been wondering what had caused them for some time, and it finally dawned on her that the origin of the wounds was Bunker's horn. Realizing that Bunker had also come across the issue of reach, she decided that if it worked for him, it should work for her as well. The next attack to come at her was with the teeth again, but this time she knew what to do. Pulling back just out of reach, she swiped at the feline face, and heard the satisfying cry of pain from the Decepticon's vulture-like robot head. This fight was hers.
Above the trees, however, a very different kind of battle was taking place. Skybreaker and Sharpedge twirled through the air, the two scout-class robots using all of their maneuverability as they attacked and blocked each other. Pulling back slightly from the last attack, Skybreaker fired a short burst from his main thrusters, catching his opponent off-guard as he swiped at her again with his wing blades. Smiling slightly, he passed her and turned around, expecting her to be clutching at a wound in her abdomen. Instead, he nearly got a face full of sword before bringing his arms up to block the downward strike of both the Decepticon's weapons. The slight delay in his reaction, however, was enough to let her follow through and push him down so that he would be looking directly at the sun in order to watch anything she did. Pulling back both arms, Sharpedge dived at the blinded Autobot, preparing to stab him with both blades at once. Now it was her turn to smile.
Back in Ponyville, a small crowd was gathered at the edge of the Everfree forest. The ponies there had heard the various battle cries, clanging metal, and occasional cry of pain, and were curious as to what was happening in the woods next to their town. A few of them even had telescopes or binoculars, and were trying to follow the aerial battle, but the erratic movements of the two flyers were too fast for them to follow closely enough to see anything more than a pair of vaguely humanoid blurs. Twilight had seen the crowd gathered at the edge of the forest, and after retrieving her own telescope, had begun to try and follow the action as well. She eventually managed to see that the combatants had certain pieces similar to animals, and it didn't take long for her to realize who it was that was fighting. Running back into town she gathered her friends, quickly explaining to each what was happening.
In the forest, however, the fighting had already ended. Both sides were worn out, simply staring at each other. They all knew the battle was over, but none of them were willing to risk vulnerability by transforming back to their unarmed alt-modes. So they stood there, staring at each other, waiting for the Energon radiation to force them all back into the safety of their beast modes. When the sparking electricity that came with the onset of Energon buildup and stasis lock finally began to dance across their bodies, the two leaders grudgingly acquiesced to their bodies. Bloodwing was the first to give his command, seeing that his Autobot rival would not be destroyed this day.
"Decepticons, transform and return to base," he snarled, changing back to his alicorn mode. His subordinates followed suit, and were soon heading back towards their crashed ship. Certain that his team was now out of danger from the Decepticons, Dark Lance reciprocated the order.
"Autobots, transform, and let's go home." he returned to his four-legged alt-mode, and turned back to the Star Runner.
Neither side noticed the blue flowers they walked through on the way back.
When they returned, Skybreaker groaned and immediately headed for the auto-repair bay. He had managed to prevent himself from being put offline, but Sharpedge was a better tactician than him, and had been able to do quite a bit of damage. Safely inside the protective Energon field, the others also returned to their robot forms to assess the damage they had taken. Burnout had taken most of her damage to the gauntlet with her tools, leaving the rest of her body relatively unscathed. Ignoring the minor injuries she had sustained, she went to Dark Lance, who was holding his side. Knowing that she would not listen if he told her to check Bunker first, he moved his hand away, allowing her to repair the large gash that Bloodwing had inflicted. He winced once as she began, the exposed nerve endings sending their displeasure at being tampered with to his main processor. The proximity alert went off soon after, though, and the holo-display clicked on to reveal six ponies and three fillies walking towards the ship.
"Main hatch open," Dark Lance commanded the voice activation system. They didn't typically use voice commands, due to the delay between the order and the recognition of what they said, but it was useful on occasion. The nine ponies walked up the short set of stairs, and looked at the damaged bots.
"We heard fighting in the forest, and we wanted to make sure you were all okay," Twilight explained as Burnout continued to work on patching up the commander's side. The lavender unicorn looked worried.
"It's alright. We'll live to fight another day, but thanks for the concern," the Autobot commander replied. The reaction he got wasn't what he expected.
"Wait. Whaddaya mean 'fight another day'?" Applejack questioned, looking even more worried than when she arrived. "You tellin' us you plan on this happenin' again?"
"Unfortunately, yes," he replied, unsure as to why this was a big deal. Every other race they had come across knew the concept of war, and several had been in active conflict during the time they had spent in their company. War was by no means a good thing, but it was something that he had come to accept as a fact of life. ^Are they really that unaccustomed to combat?^ he thought. ^Or have I simply become numb to it?^
"Finished," Burnout interrupted, getting up. Dark Lance rose as well, stretching his torso to make sure he still had his full range of motion. Satisfied with her work, Burnout turned to where Bunker was lying, and moved to his side to repair the larger wounds he had received during the confrontation.
Dark Lance returned his attention to their guests and noticed that the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who he had seen enter the ship, were nowhere to be found.
"Where are Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?" he asked, looking around for any clues as to where they went. The others also started turning their heads around, searching for the three fillies who had led them there. Failing to see any sign of them, Dark Lance moved to the holo-display, which was hooked up to the main security systems, and put in a command to find them. A few seconds later, the table showed an image of the three wandering through the ship, looking around. A small-scale map of the ship appeared near the bottom of the image, a blinking dot indicating the location of the fillies. As the others came to look, he typed a few short commands, then watched the image as the attention of said fillies turned to the ground and headed off into the distance. They started moving again, this time with curiosity at whatever was on the floor. He then clicked the holo-display off, and returned his own attention to the six ponies still in the room. Rarity was the first to speak.
"Well? Did you figure out where they are?" she asked, obviously worried about the safety of her sister.
"They're down in the lodging corridors. If nothing else, they're fast for little tykes. I put up a light path to give them a tour of the ship. They should be back up here in less than an hour." he said confidently. Rarity still didn't look too happy about her sister roaming the halls of an alien spaceship unchaperoned, though. "Don't worry. Even if something does happen, I'll know about it almost instantly. They'll be fine." he assured her. She looked calmer, but still not unconcerned. ^Well, that is to be expected of someone whose younger sibling is wandering around in what is, essentially, a stranger's house.^ he thought. ^They should be fine, though. I locked all the dangerous rooms off anyway.^
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a small cough. He turned to see Twilight looking at him again, the same worried look still covering her face.
"So what were you guys fighting about, anyway?" she asked, obviously wanting to help.
"Huh?" Dark Lance replied, confused as to whom she was referring.
"Well , you were fighting, right? What were you fighting about?" she repeated the question. After a moment pondering what she meant, the dark blue Autobot finally figured out what she was talking about.
"We weren't fighting each other," he answered, receiving confused looks from the visitors. "We were fighting the Decepticons, who also crashed here." More confused looks told him he would need to explain more thoroughly.
"Alright," he began, "this is kind of a long story, so we should probably move somewhere more comfortable. Come on, we can go to the lounge area."
"You have a lounge area?" Rainbow Dash asked, apparently surprised that robots ever rested.
Dark Lance chuckled. "Yes, we have a lounge area. We may have better endurance than organic beings like you, but even we need to rest and recharge occasionally."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." the multi-colored pony said, satisfied with his explanation.
When they arrived in the large, circular room, Dark Lance motioned to a pair of benches as he removed his weapons and set them on a weapon rack. He then lifted his flight packs as he and the ponies sat down, draping them over the back of the couch he was now reclining on. He opened a small cabinet behind his head, and pulled out a canister, twisting open the cap and lazily taking a drink before finally speaking.
"I would offer you all cans, but I don't think refined Energon and oil would mix well with your biology," he said with a grin. The others looked surprised at his sudden change of attitude. The only one not looking at him like he had just grown another head was Pinkie Pie, who was humming happily. Noticing this, he took another drink before answering the question that was practically written on their faces. "The lounge room is the one area of the ship that everyone can forget about their duties. In here, I'm not the commander, just Dark Lance." The others seemed to accept this as he took another drink, emptying the can. Finally, he sighed, slouching a little as he organized his memories and thoughts to explain the story of his race and how his ship came to be here. Looking up, he saw that his audience was now comfortably seated, waiting for him to start.
"Alright. Well, I suppose I should start by telling you about our home planet, Cybertron. It's a completely mechanical world, with no organic beings of any kind ever existing on it naturally. Millennia ago, it was a peaceful place. No wars, no evil, no nothing. At least, it seemed that way to most folks. But there's no such thing as perfection, and our race is no exception. In the gladiator pits of Kaon, Cybertron's slums, a warrior appeared who utterly annihilated anyone he was put up against. His name was Megatronus. He became more popular with each victory, and as his fame grew, so did his power and influence. He eventually started speaking out against the Primes, our leaders, saying that they were corrupt and incompetent. He garnered support throughout all of Cybertron, talking of a new Golden Age where all would be able to live as equals, with no crime, no conflict, and enough Energon for all."
He paused to get another canister, and passed it to Bunker, who had just walked in and sat down next to him. "Sounds like a pretty cool guy," Rainbow Dash said, obviously approving of the ambitions of the character she was hearing about. Lance nodded.
"Doesn't he? He was certainly charismatic in his ascension. He eventually met an archivist named Orion Pax in Iacon, the capital of Cybertron. Orion also believed that the council of the Primes needed to change their methods, but while he thought to change the world government through diplomacy and law, Megatronus sought after the power to change Cybertron with greed and force. He demanded he be given the rank of Prime, as well as the Matrix of Leadership, one of our most prized and powerful artifacts, but he was denied and both of these things were given to Orion, who was also given a new name to suit his new station: Optimus Prime. After this perceived betrayal by both the council and his friend, he ceased all attempts at diplomacy entirely. He shortened his name to Megatron, seceding from the Autobots and creating a new faction of our race: the Decepticons. He began a mad quest for glory and power, destroying anything and everything that got in his way. Eventually, the Energon flows that both sides believed to be inexhaustible, began to run out and dry up. Cybertron had been ravaged nearly to the point of destruction, and Megatron showed no signs of stopping. Optimus Prime, who had once called him friend, oversaw the creation of a massive ship, designed to carry the remaining Autobots safely to another world, where they might be able to escape the destruction wrought by the Decepticons. I don't know if Optimus ever made it to that vessel, but I do know that Megatron chased him to a distant, inhabited planet known as Earth. Optimus now combats Megatron and his servants on that world, determined not to let his one-time ally destroy the inhabitants there as well. My team, however, was sent out to the stars long before most of this. When we left, Megatron was still Megatronus, and we payed him little mind. Since his ascension, though, we have had to combat another team across the galaxy, preventing them from taking over the worlds we come across while simultaneously looking for new sources of energy, and a new home. We were getting ready to search through this world, before we were blind-sided, and crash-landed here, stranded with the Decepticons."
His story finished, Dark Lance leaned back, patiently allowing the six ponies who had listened so attentively to work out the gravity of what he had told them. Their faces were etched with horror at what the seemingly benevolent Megatron had become. During the story, Skybreaker and Burnout had entered as well, and were now sitting in chairs behind their leader, not wanting to interrupt the telling of their history. Twilight eventually looked up from her thoughts, and Dark Lance waited while she tried to figure out how to word her next question.
"Have you ever tried to get them to join you, and end the war peacefully?" she asked hopefully. Dark Lance nodded.
"Every time I see them," he said sadly. "I have yet to convince even one of them of the foolishness of this conflict. Their beliefs and desires run too deep to be talked out of it. But defectors are not unheard of, and I still have hope for a peaceful resolution to the war." Twilight looked back at her hooves in thought for a second, before returning her gaze to the Autobots.
"So what do you plan to do here?" she asked simply. This time, Skybreaker was the one to answer.
"We're stuck here until we can get the ship repaired, but unless we can find a way to stop Bloodwing and his team from destroying this planet in our absence, we aren't going to leave either way," he said, the confidence and sincerity of his voice reassuring her and her friends. "We're Autobots. And we don't let our friends get hurt if we have any say in it." He pounded a fist into his other hand for emphasis.
Turning back to their guests after Skybreaker's proclamation, Dark Lance continued. "However, our disguises obviously need work. Do you think you could help us blend in more effectively?" he asked. The six ponies in front of him looked at each other, smiling, and then turned back to him, nodding in unison. "Alright then. Before we get started on that, though, we should check on the little ones." He got up, retrieving his weapons from their resting place as he walked out the door. After a short elevator ride back to the bridge, he and the others found the Cutie Mark Crusaders wandering around, looking at the screens which had been left on. Hearing the doors hiss open, the three fillies turned and walked over to see what was going on.
"Where were you guys?" Scootaloo asked as she came up to them. "You were gone when we got back here."
Twilight answered before Lance could speak. "We were finding out where our new friends came from," she explained, continuing before one of them could ask anything else. "We'll fill you in later. Right now, I need to send a letter to Princess Celestia." She started towards the door.
"Who's that?" Bunker asked, caution tinging his voice.
"Don't worry. She's my teacher. She's very nice, and I'm sure she'd be willing to help you all in any way she can." She suddenly stopped and turned around, as if she had realized something. "By the way, we've met Dark Lance, but I don't think we've met any of the rest of you properly yet." She looked expectantly at the other three.
^Well this could be interesting.^ Dark Lance thought to himself.
"My name's Skybreaker," the yellow and green scout said, striking a pose to show off his wings. "And I'm the fastest thing in the air!"
"Heh, sorry, but that title belongs to me," Rainbow Dash interrupted, puffing out her chest with pride. "You may be big shots back on Cybertron, but around here, I own the skies." Skybreaker looked at her, an amused grin on his face.
"Oh really? How about a race, then? I'll even let you map out the course," he challenged. "Come back and find me when you're ready." The hyper-active speedster rolled one of his shoulders, his grin and stance now taking on an air of confidence. Dash shot him a glare.
"Ok, then. I'll map out a course so tough, it'll make your head spin!" She jumped into the air, and hovered so that her face was level with Skybreaker's. "And when I win, you have to stay on the ground for a week!" Dark Lance cocked his head at this. He was used to Skybreaker taking some risky bets, but this was a completely unknown challenge, and the team couldn't afford to be without its primary flier for an entire week. Twilight looked similarly worried.
"Alright, what happens if I win?" Skybreaker replied, curious as to what the multi-colored pegasus would be willing to do.
"You won't," she assured him. "But just in case you get lucky; I'll let Rarity dress me up however she wants without complaining, and then walk around town in it." At this, Rarity's eyes gleamed, and Skybreaker's mouth broke into a wide, confident grin. Applejack was face-hoofing, and Bunker was standing next to her with his arms folded, shaking his head.
"Alright, Rainbow, you've got yourself a bet." He stuck his hand out, and she shook it with her hoof, the two competitors locked in a stare-down. Bunker introduced himself next, breaking the uneasy silence.
"My name is Bunker. I do most of the research, development, and repairs on the ship. I'm also the helmsman, when we can fly." Twilight looked at him excitedly.
"Could I see some of your work sometime? I'd love to know more about your technology." Bunker nodded, happy to see someone else who understood the value of knowledge and information. Smiling slightly, Burnout went last.
"I'm Burnout, the team's medic. And actually, I was hoping one of you could show me around and tell me what you know about the medicine here. I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it." Fluttershy jumped up at this.
"Oh, you're a doctor? If you want, I could show you what I know about taking care of ponies and animals sometime." Burnout smiled nicely at the pegasus, instantly able to sense her timidness.
"That would be great, thanks."
It was now early afternoon, and the ponies waved goodbye as they left the clearing the ship was in. When they were out of sight, Dark Lance and his team returned inside to finish repairs on themselves and what little was left that they could do on the ship. The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, and the four of them went back to their rooms to recharge overnight after locking all the hatches.
The next morning, Dark Lance was awoken by the sound of crashing outside his room. Getting out of his bed, he opened the door to the lodging corridor, and found his three subordinates sprawled in a confused mess on the floor.
"Hey, boss." Skybreaker waved, a sheepish smile on his face as he looked out from under Burnout, Bunker laying underneath them both.
"What the scrap is going on out here? It sounded like Unicron had shown up when I came out of recharge." He watched the three Autobots pick themselves up off the floor, Skybreaker having more trouble than the others. Even when he was back on his feet, the scout wobbled back and forth, trying and failing to keep his balance. Dark Lance cringed as he fell back on the floor face-first, before deciding something was wrong. The yellow and green speedster had his fair share of shortcomings, but his balance was what he attributed his ability to go faster than anyone around any turn to, and he was currently incapable of even standing up properly. Crouching down to get his face closer, Lance decided to check the balance core of the scout himself. "Hold still," he told Skybreaker as he opened up one of his main back panels. Looking in, he could see Skybreaker's balance core was spinning normally, but it was now misshapen. He used his optics to capture a single frame, then disabled them so he could check the image without the distractions of actual vision. He could now tell that there were small blue dots on the entirety of the now potato-shaped core, indicating some sort of invasive substance or possibly a parasite. Closing the panel, he reactivated his optics and stood up, turning to Burnout. "Get him down to the repair bay. I want to know exactly what's causing this, and how to fix it." The medic stood stock still, nodding once before bending down to pick up Skybreaker off the floor. He noticed her unusual silence, and chose to point it out. "Are you alright, Burnout?" he asked worriedly.
"Yessirfinesirneverbettersir." she answered nervously, spinning around to salute and simultaneously dropping her charge, who fell to the ground with another crash and a muffled groan of pain. She winced, but held the salute, obviously worried about what her commander was thinking about her lack of control over her condition. Dark Lance looked at the two in confusion.
"Burnout, what is going on?" he asked, obviously not willing to deal with any antics today.
"Nothingsirwe'refinesirespeciallyBunkersir." she answered, still saluting. The commander turned to his resident scientist.
"Bunker, what's she talking about?" his voice was becoming more insistent, showing that his patience was running out. Bunker sighed, his arms coming out from behind his back. Dark Lance could now see that the white Autobot's hands were missing. Looking him over for further problems, Lance also noticed that his feet were still in beast mode. He returned his gaze to Bunker's head. "Alright, what happened?" he asked firmly. He crossed his arms to show that he was not going to let anyone leave until he got an answer. Skybreaker, still on the floor, turned his head to reply.
"We don't know. We went into recharge mode last night, perfectly fine, and then when we got up this morning, we were all wonky." He tried to stand again, without success. Burnout was still standing perfectly still in her salute. Dark Lance sighed.
"Alright, let's all get to the repair bay, and see if we can figure out what's causing this. Burnout, help Skybreaker get over there." He shook his head in exasperation as the scout faceplanted yet again.
"Yessirrightawaysir." the medic replied, turning around to help him get back up off the floor. As Dark Lance turned to move towards the repair bay, he heard Bunker choke back a laugh.
"What now?" the leader said, not eager for more problems.
"Yo-your lance," his subordinate stuttered out, trying to keep himself from losing all control. Dark Lance grabbed the hilt of his weapon, unlatching it from its resting place on his back and bringing it forward to look at the... giant flower? He looked in shock and confusion at his weapon-turned-plant and sighed, his shoulders slumping at this new development. The outer shell that typically protected his hand from retaliation while in combat had now spread outward, with the tip of the lance as the fulcrum, and folded in on itself, making a convincing blue flower. It had the same light blue dots across its length as Skybreaker's balance core, making it look even more organic. Returning it to his back, Dark Lance sighed again, and made his way to the repair bay. When they got there, he helped Skybreaker onto one of the examination tables. Burnout's voice box may be malfunctioning, but her skills were still fully serviceable. She moved the table to a scanning block in the wall, and fed the entire thing with Skybreaker still on it into the block to be checked for anomalous readings. After several seconds, the machine beeped, and it regurgitated the scout back out into the room. Burnout watched as the screen next to the block showed the data from the dots.
"Well? What are we looking at?" Dark Lance asked. He forgot, momentarily, what had happened to her voice box.
"Wellitlookslikethere'ssomesortofstrangeformofEnergonthathascoalescedontohisbalancecoreandhascorrupteditsothatitdoesn'tworkright.IthinkthisEnergonmaybewhatisaffectingallofusinsimilarways,causingtheproblemswe'reexperiencing." For once, Dark Lance did not find the fact that his species did not need air to breathe, or speak, a good thing. He slowly repeated what she had said in his mind, picking apart her analysis and forcing it into words that made sense to him. He eventually managed to figure out from her rapid speech that the cause of the problems they were experiencing was an unknown form of Energon. He quickly came to the conclusion that they needed more information on what had exposed them to this new Energon.
"Alright. Burnout, you go to the town. My disguise is ruined, Skybreaker can't even stand, much less walk or fly, and somehow, I don't think Bunker's condition is restricted to his robot mode. When you get there, find Twilight, and tell her what's going on. I don't care if you have to write it out to get her to understand, just make it happen. Skybreaker, sorry, but you're stuck here for the moment. We'll get you out to the control stations so you can still do something if Bloodwing's team tries anything, but until we get back, I don't want you leaving the ship." As Burnout moved towards the door, Dark Lance went to help Skybreaker.
"What about us?" Bunker asked as they headed to the bridge.
"I don't think we were the only ones affected by this unknown Energon. You and I are going to the Decepticon ship to find out if I'm right."
Fireburst had seen his leader unhappy. He had seen his leader disappointed. He had seen his leader pleased, depressed, gleeful, amused, angry, and destructive. But he had never seen Bloodwing as infuriated as he was now. The red alicorn threw another wrench across the room, screaming in rage. Sharpedge ducked, allowing the tool to break another screen. They had all been awoken by Bloodwing yelling over the intercom to come to the bridge, where they had found that their leader was trapped in his beast mode, unable to access any of his other functions. And he was not exactly thrilled about it. Fireburst decided to say something before his commander broke everything in sight, including them.
"Sir, please calm down. I'm sure there is some sort of reasonable explanation for this." He knew instantly that his attempt to calm his leader did not work.
"'Calm down'? You want me to 'calm down'? When I've been turned into A SLAGGIN' FLESHY BY PRIMUS-KNOWS-WHAT, AND NOT ONE OF US HAS ANY IDEA HOW TO FIX IT!?" he roared, putting his face right up to Fireburst's, who drew back, fearing slightly for his own safety.
"Yes," he replied calmly. "We've all been affected by whatever is doing this, and losing control won't help fix it." Bloodwing drew back slightly, still angry, but now thinking. He finally sighed, obviously still unhappy, but no longer murderous.
"Yes, you're right Fireburst. Losing control will not help. Thank you. Sometimes I forget how intelligent you are because of your alt-mode choice. It's good to have someone who is capable of making me think straight." He put a hoof to his head for moment, rubbing his temple. He then turned to the other two members of his team, looking for clues as to what caused their conditions.
Crosswire had the most varied changes. His eyes had become large and glossy, his mouth now had a default curve that made him look like he was smiling, and his tail was now much smaller, with its stinger shortened to the point of being useless. His already small wings had become tiny, and he now almost looked....cute. Sharpedge, on the other hand, had her feathers puffed out to ridiculous levels. They now almost covered her face, as well as her claws and talons. There was no longer a single cutting edge anywhere to be seen. He sighed. None of them knew this planet well enough to figure out what had happened, and their medical equipment had been damaged almost beyond repair in the crash. The full-body scanners were completely ruined, so they couldn't even try to look for anomalies in their systems at the moment. However, there was one thing they could do. On the way to the Autobot ship, he had seen a small hut through a break in the trees. If any being on this planet knew what had happened, it would probably be whoever was in that hut. After all, if they lived in the forest, they must know how to deal with its dangers. He smiled evilly as a plan formed in his head.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Burnout had finally managed to tell Twilight what was going on, and the two of them were heading back towards the forest. As they neared the edge, however, a very familiar-looking dragon appeared from the trees, blocking their path. He growled, putting his body in a fighting stance, lowering himself to the ground. Burnout stopped, considering her options. There was no way she would be able to take Fireburst in a head-on fight, and chances were that the others wouldn't be able to help her in time. So she decided to stall by talking.
"Whatareyoudoinghere?Whatdoyouwant?" she asked, gaining a look of confusion and then amusement from the Decepticon.
"Well, it looks like Bloodwing was right. You fools were affected by this as well. As for what I'm doing, isn't it obvious? I'm stopping you from going anywhere. After all, it wouldn't work with my master's plan if you managed to get to your destination before him." He smiled as Burnout frowned, realizing that she would not be able to get back to the others in time to help them. Twilight looked similarly worried as she started to speak.
"Wait, what are you talking about? What is his destination?" she said, taking a step forward from behind Burnout.
"Oh, poor little fleshy can't figure it out? He's going to the hut in the forest. After all, if anyone knows how to fix this, it will be someone who lives with the cause, right? Don't worry, though. We won't hurt them if they cooperate. At least, not until we have what we need." He laughed, sending shivers down both of their spines.
During this exchange, Dark Lance and Bunker were investigating the area where the battle had taken place the day before. As it turned out, Dark Lance had been correct in his assumption that Bunker's hands and feet were affected in beast mode as well. The white Autobot's legs, instead of ending in hooves like they should while in his unicorn form, now had his robot mode hands and feet. Dark Lance had thought it was one of the most disturbing things he had ever seen, but kept his mouth shut about it. Instead, he focused on the strange, out-of-place blue flowers that littered the site of their combat with the Decepticons. His optics clicked once, and their insides changed to their scanning mode. He took a reading of the strange plants, and used his remote connection to the ship to compare the analysis with the one Burnout had taken from Skybreaker.
"Bingo," he said, as the result of 'perfect match' flashed across his optics. "This is exactly what we're looking for. Bunker, start gathering some of these flowers, we'll need them for a more thorough investigation of their properties. Hopefully, we can synthesize an antidote. It could be useful as a bargaining chip. I'll head back, and get the lab ready for work. Burnout should be back soon as well, so maybe we'll have some definite answers as to how this happened." Bunker nodded, and Dark Lance started heading back toward the ship. Before he could get more than a few feet, however, there was a large explosion from deeper in the forest. Dark Lance snapped his head back toward the sound, and he could see a small cloud of smoke rising from the forest. Quickly deciding that it was probably the Decepticons again, he told Bunker to continue his work before taking off in the direction of the disturbance.
By the time he got there, the commotion was over. He landed next to what used to be a large tree, the inside hollowed out and converted into a house of sorts. It had been blasted open, what was left of the entryway laying scattered on the ground outside, and what looked like chemistry ingredients had been thrown about, littering the floor. Getting close to the blast area, he found the tell-tale scorch marks of a detpack on the wood, confirming his suspicion that Bloodwing and his team had been here. He moved slowly through the room, deciphering what had happened. At first glance, it looked like there had been a struggle, but the uniform way the various containers had been knocked off their shelves showed that they had been purposefully shoved. Also, it looked like some of the items had been taken, with the leftovers having been pushed to either side of their landing place on the floor.
^Whoever lives here, Bloodwing was trying to intimidate them. But why would he resort to property damage? He's done this sort of thing before, but every other time it's happened, he just used his robot mode. Why would his tactics change so suddenly?^ He pondered for a minute, rubbing his foreleg against his chin. It suddenly occurred to him that it may have something to do with the plant. It had disabled whatever was most important or useful to each of his team: Skybreaker's balance, Burnout's speech, Bunker's hands. Even his lance had been affected, rendering it useless. If Bloodwing had also been changed, chances are it had taken away his ability to change into his much-preferred robot mode. Dark Lance smirked slightly. He knew how much Bloodwing thought himself superior to organic creatures, and now he was trapped in the form of one. He then thought of the other three Decepticons, and realized that if all of them were contaminated similarly, they would probably be much weaker than normal, allowing him to rescue whoever had been kidnapped. He walked back outside, and followed the fresh tracks that had been left by his quarry.
Inside the Darksword, Bloodwing paced anxiously while the zebra his team had taken captive moved around a large cauldron in the middle of the room, mixing it slowly and adding an ingredient occasionally.
"Isn't it ready yet!?" he barked, unwilling to stay trapped in his alt-mode any longer than he had to.
"This mix takes time, it's no fault of mine," she replied matter-of-factly. Bloodwing growled at her. What little talking she did had been in rhyme, and it was starting to annoy him.
"Just hurry up. I can't stand being in this ugly form for so long." He resumed his pacing, staring straight ahead as he fumed silently. The door opened, and Fireburst walked in, calmly striding towards the cauldron their prisoner was working around.
"How much longer?" he said, looking in across from the zebra.
"Not long yet, no need to fret. You'll soon be well, freed from the spell." Fireburst narrowed his eyes, suspicious of what the creature he considered a witch was actually doing. He had no knowledge of this planet, and no knowledge of how herbs worked. He had, however, come across multiple beings on other planets who were capable of creating truly devastating concoctions with only a handful of plants. He didn't say anything, though, and moved to his commander.
"The medic went into town and met up with that purple unicorn you were talking about. I think they're planning on making some sort of rescue attempt. We should be ready for them." Bloodwing looked up from his grumbling, glad for the distraction, and flicked his gaze to Crosswire and Sharpedge, who had been silently standing off to the side since they got back, and were now staring blankly at him.
"WELL? You heard him, get to your combat posts!" He watched them run to the door, amazed at their lack of initiative. As soon as the door opened, however, they were both knocked over as Dark Lance came rushing in past them. Fireburst turned, and instinctively tried to breathe fire at the intruding Autobot, but instead simply released a harmless cloud of bubbles. Dark Lance slid to a stop next to the zebra, wedging his flower-horn underneath the cauldron.
"Run!" he yelled as he flipped his head upward, spilling the mixture all over the floor. "I'll deal with them, you get out of here!" She nodded, and turned to the door, running out as Crosswire and Sharpedge picked themselves up, still dazed by the unexpected assault. Dark Lance then launched himself at Fireburst, slamming his shoulder into the dragon's relatively sensitive neck before rolling over him and bucking Bloodwing in the side, slamming him into the wall. He bull rushed between the two other Decepticons on his way out, slapped the door controls, and slipped through the closing portal, rolling through the small opening before dropping to the ground and running to catch up with the now-liberated zebra. He quickly took the lead, bringing her to the Star Runner, where Twilight and the others were waiting.
"Zecora, are you alright? We ran into that dragon, and he said they were going to do something to you." The tone of her voice matched the worried look on her face.
"Worry not, Twilight my dear. I am safe, thanks to our friend here," she answered, turning to Lance. "I'm curious as to your story, but we do not need to hurry. Your bodies look how they should not, and knowing your plight takes little thought. I can help you return to yourselves, but first I'll need some things from my shelves."
"Alright. Bunker, Burnout, Twilight, you three stay here. I'll go with Zecora to get what she needs. Get the repair bay ready, we'll be back soon." The two of them left, and Bunker motioned for Burnout and Twilight to follow him as he went inside.
The trip to the ruined tree and back was surprisingly uneventful. Dark Lance thought for sure that they would be attacked by an enraged Bloodwing, but he didn't even hear anything that would signal a Decepticon attack. When they returned, Zecora used one of their storage crates as a makeshift pot, mixing her potion while Burnout and Bunker studied how the plants and chemicals mixed. During this time, Dark Lance was able to slowly get Skybreaker back down from the gun controls, returning only a couple of minutes before Zecora finished.
"The brew is ready to make you steady. Simply soak for a while, and soon you will smile." She gave her best grin to punctuate the statement, and Dark Lance helped the scout over to the crate.
"By the way, Zecora, I've noticed that you don't seem too fazed by our regular bodies. Why is that?" he asked as Skybreaker scrambled over the edge of the makeshift pool, splashing slightly as he fell in.
"Stranger do I see, in this Forest of Everfree. You are not that scary, considering you are extra-planetary," she answered smoothly. It amazed him how quickly she could come up with those rhymes. Even some of the smartest scientists he had met wouldn't be able to do that. He wondered for a moment if she had powers of precognition, but quickly dismissed the idea as impossible. Even if she did, it wouldn't help enough to make a difference in her abilities.
When they had all finished, Burnout took a sample of the mixture to try and develop a synthetic version that could be manufactured in case it was needed again. They then drained the rest, and Dark Lance escorted Twilight and Zecora to the forest's edge. Twilight had offered to let the herbalist stay with her until they had found a replacement tree for her to move into, and Dark Lance waved as they went into town before returning to his ship. He entered the bridge to find Skybreaker practicing his gunner skills in one of the pre-programmed simulations. The scout paused the session, and turned to face his commander.
"Hey boss, I got a question."
"You always have questions, Skybreaker. What is it?" He sat in his command chair, resting his leg components since he knew he would be there for a few minutes.
"Well, you managed to save Zecora, and I assume you wrecked whatever she had made for them, so why didn't Bloodwing or the others try to attack? They always try to get back at us when we mess up their plans." Dark Lance thought about it for a minute, going through possibilities and crossing them off as he dismissed them, until he had a reasonable explanation.
"Probably because they weren't combat-capable at the time. Bloodwing was stuck in his alt-mode, Crosswire looked like he had been made kid-friendly, Sharpedge was turned into a walking ball of feathers, and Fireburst had his fire breath turned into bubble breath." The scout had been trying to hold back during this, but hearing about Fireburst sent him into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Dark Lance grinned at the memory as well, remembering the look of confusion and embarrassment on the Decepticon's face as the bubbles popped harmlessly against the ground and walls. When Skybreaker finally calmed down, he continued. "Also, they probably recorded what the ingredients for the mixture are. Bloodwing wouldn't have bothered coming after us if he already had everything he needed. It may take a day or two, but they'll be able to make their own soon enough. In the meantime, though, we have a moment to relax." He thought for a second, going down his mental to-do list. "Which reminds me: Twilight had said something about a Princess. I'll probably use this time to meet her so we can get moving on repairs and do some Energon mining. I want to be sure nothing will happen while I'm gone, though, so I want you to put up a spy camera to monitor the Darksword. If anything happens, I want to know about it before things get ugly." Skybreaker nodded in agreement, and turned back to his simulation as Dark Lance leaned back and tilted his head upward in thought, signaling the end of the conversation.
The next morning, Dark Lance woke up early, rousing the rest of his team so that they could get to work. Bunker headed straight for the engine room, while Skybreaker took one of the stealth cameras out to set up near the Decepticon ship. Dark Lance set up the video feed while Burnout went to town to get Twilight. When it came on, he could see Skybreaker's face looking at the camera.
"There. That should do it," he heard over the comms channel. The scout then moved out of frame, and the image shifted while he aimed the camera at the part of the mountain they knew the Decepticons' ship was located, though it was still cloaked. "How's that look?" he asked, still making some minor adjustments.
"That'll do, Skybreaker," Dark Lance replied. "We should know about any moves the Decepticons try to make now. Come on back, and get ready to go. If we can get an audience with the Princess, you're coming along too."
"What?" Skybreaker complained loudly. "Why do I have to go and put up with the boring royal people?" He had dealt with the upper echelons of other societies, and he had always come to the same conclusion: they were more boring than scrap. No exceptions.
"Two reasons: one, I don't want to be on my own if something happens and I need more firepower. Two, If something happens down here, I want to be able to get back and assist the others. You're faster than either Burnout or Bunker, and while Bunker is a better fighter, you are still fully capable of handling yourself in a situation where we're outnumbered."
Skybreaker went silent at that, unable to find a decent counter-argument. Dark Lance, as always, had a perfectly valid point. He was the fastest, and he was perfectly capable of fighting multiple opponents at once. His commander's ability to come up with debate-ending arguments was something that the scout had come to severely dislike. Not because it was bad, just that it was annoying how he could never win in a disagreement because of it. He finally sighed in defeat.
"Alright, boss. I'll be back soon." Dark Lance shook his head, smiling with understanding as he remembered a time when he was just as inept at verbal duels. His reverie was quickly interrupted, however, as Burnout returned with Twilight, the small dragon creature riding on her back.
"Hello, Lance, nice to see you again," the purple unicorn said as she walked in, smiling warmly.
"Hi Twilight. I wanted to talk to you about this 'Princess Celestia' you mentioned. I was wondering if it would be possible to meet her, so that we can talk about what my team and I will be doing while we're stuck here." Twilight perked her ears forward at this, and nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course. I'm sure she wants to meet all of you, as well. When did you have in mind?"
"If possible, I'd like to see her today. Sooner rather than later, preferably." Twilight nodded, and turned to the dragon.
"Spike, if you would," she said politely. Spike nodded, then reached into one of the bags across her back, pulling out a quill and ink. Having procured the correct items, he looked between Twilight and Dark Lance expectantly.
"So, who's it going to be from, exactly?" Twilight looked at the commander, raising her eyebrows questioningly.
"Me," he said, taking the hint. Spike started writing almost immediately after he started talking, obviously having a good deal of experience in this sort of work. "Princess Celestia, I am writing to you via your student to request an audience. I am from off-world, and my team and I are currently stranded here. I would like to discuss with you what my team will be allowed to do while we're here, as well as answer any questions you may have regarding us. I would like to meet with you soon, as the ones who damaged our ship are currently incapacitated. Awaiting your response, Dark Lance." When he was finished, the dragon rolled up the parchment, and wrapped a ribbon around it to keep it from unrolling. He then held it up, and took a deep breath before engulfing it in flames. Dark Lance was more than a little surprised by this.
"Why did you just burn it?" he asked, which drew a small giggle out of Twilight.
"He didn't burn it. He used a special magic link to the princess to send it straight to her." This merely confused the Autobot even more, but before he could say anything, Skybreaker walked in.
"Hey, I'm back. Hi Twilight, how's it goin'?" he said nonchalantly.
"Hi Skybreaker. Alright. We just sent a message to the princess asking for a meeting. It shouldn't take long for her to get back to us, so we just have to wait a little bit," she replied, smiling warmly.
"Cool. Let me know when you find out our schedule," he said as he walked to the elevator to the lodging corridor.
"It's not going to take that long, Skybreaker," Dark Lance said with a slight warning tone. He knew better than to let his subordinate go to the lodging corridor when they were waiting for something. Last time, he had had to go down and get him up personally. The scout stopped, his hand halfway up to the call button, and sighed.
"Alright," he replied, his entire body slumping slightly in defeat. He turned around, and walked over to sit down backwards in the gunner seat. A moment later, Spike belched, and a small roll of paper materialized from the cloud of vapor that came from his mouth. He caught it, and undid the ribbon holding it together. Scanning over it once, he cleared his throat before speaking.
"'Dark Lance, I would be more than happy to meet with you today over lunch. I have never had the pleasure of meeting an alien race before, and would love to find out more about you. Twilight, please escort them to Canterlot right away so that we may meet face-to-face. I will await your arrival in the feast hall. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.' Looks like we're going to Canterlot, huh?" Spike said as he re-rolled the paper and stuffed it in a saddlebag.
"Yep," Twilight replied, grinning. She then turned back to Dark Lance "Whenever you're ready to go, just tell me." He looked over at Skybreaker questioningly, and received another sigh and a nod in response.
"Actually, we're ready to head out now," he replied. Twilight smiled at him again.
"Okay, then. Let me get my stuff back to my house, and we can leave. C'mon," she said, turning around and heading back out the door. Dark Lance motioned for Skybreaker to follow, and they both changed to their alt-modes, following Twilight out of the ship.
After returning what she didn't need at her house, and dropping off Spike at Rarity's since he didn't really have to go, they started heading north.
"Okay, so we aren't going to just walk there, right?" Skybreaker asked after a minute, worried that they would be on the road for such a long time. Twilight giggled slightly before answering.
"Of course not. We're going to take the train!" As she said this, they turned a corner, and a large locomotive was sitting in front of them at a small station, waiting to go. Twilight went up to the ticket counter, and asked for tickets,tossing over some gold coins before grabbing the tickets with her magic. She floated two of the tickets over to Dark Lance and Skybreaker, who grabbed them in their mouths before turning to get on the train.
Skybreaker spent most of the ride staring out at the scenery passing by, while Dark Lance and Twilight discussed various topics of their two cultures, comparing and contrasting the differences between them. He caught a couple glances of their destination as the train made its way up the mountain, passing through various tunnels of rock on the way. As was expected, the palace itself stood out, even amongst the highly-decorated city surrounding it. He sighed again, thinking about every other world leader he had met. He hadn't come face-to-face with many of them, but they were all, without fail, the most boring and uptight beings he had met.
^Just a few hours, Skybreaker,^ he thought to himself. ^A few hours, and then you can go see if Rainbow Dash has that course ready. Then, you can run it as many times as you want, as fast as you want, and not have to worry about a single piece of etiquette until at least the next planet. Just make it a few hours, and you're a free Autobot.^ He continued to repeat the phrase 'just a few hours' to himself until the train stopped. He sighed one more time, and followed his two companions out of the train.
The city itself was a sight to behold. Large, ornate buildings lined the cobblestone-paved streets, and even Skybreaker had to wonder how beings with no natural manipulators could build such impressive structures. He then saw unicorns levitating objects as they walked by, and mentally smacked himself.
^Right after seeing Twilight do that, too.^ He shook his head at himself, disbelieving of his own forgetfulness. He returned to looking at the city, and soon noticed that his group was getting some curious glances from the snooty, uptight ponies they passed. He glanced around once to make sure he hadn't imagined it, and found that several of the ponies behind them were also looking at them with confused faces. He picked up his pace a bit so that he could whisper to Dark Lance.
"Uh, boss? We're gettin' some weird looks over here," he said. Dark Lance looked around, and noticed the extra attention they were attracting.
"Don't worry about it for now. Just act like it's normal. We should be there soon." The commander continued walking, resuming whatever conversation had been taking place between him and Twilight previously. Skybreaker returned to his place a few steps behind them, and spent the rest of the walk going through his list of probable etiquette procedures. He was so lost in thought that if Twilight and Dark Lance hadn't been standing slightly to either side, he would have walked right into them. Looking up, he found himself in front of a pair of ridiculously tall double doors.
^Okay, let's see. Obvious palace? Check. Unnecessarily large doors? Check. Guards who get paid obscene amounts of money to literally stand around and do nothing?^ He glanced to either side of the doors as they opened, finding the individuals in question. ^Check. Now we just need some statues, a hedge maze, gardens that have no real purpose, and a nice, big throne room that makes anyone who stands in it feel small and powerless.^ Sure enough, he spied all items of his mental Checklist of Boring Royal People on the way to the meeting. ^Why do they all have the same junk in these places? Most of it doesn't even get used half the time!^ His mood was slightly improved when they were lead into the dining hall, which had a table covered with vegetables in it. He was surprised to see that it was not one of the typical 1000-seat tables they were usually shown, but a short, 10-seat table. ^Well, at least they don't have one of those stupid, uselessly long things that make it so you can only talk to about three or four people.^ At one end, there was a large, white pony, about twice Dark Lance's size, sitting comfortably with a small plate of food in front of her. She had a flowing, multi-colored mane, while the dark blue and black pony at the other end had a mane that looked like the night sky, stars and all, flowing in an equally imperceptible wind. ^What is doing that?!^ Skybreaker wondered, completely at a loss as to what could be making the manes and tails of the ponies in front of him move how they did. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the larger of the two.
"Greetings. I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. Please, sit down. We have quite a bit to talk about."
"So, Dark Lance, where are you from? I'm anxious to hear how you found our planet."
Dark Lance and Skybreaker were now sitting across from each other one seat away from Princess Celestia, allowing a respectful distance while simultaneously letting Twilight sit next to her mentor. The three ponies were all politely eating their food, while the two Autobots simply sat and watched.
"My team and I, including Skybreaker here, are from a world called Cybertron. We're one of the deep space exploration teams moving across the galaxy, looking for new energy sources. We only happened to come across this planet by chance." The princess hummed slightly while she chewed, thinking over what he said.
"That must be lonely for you, being away from your homes and families for so long. I... actually have some experience with that, unfortunately." She looked down at her food for a moment, and Dark Lance could see, in his peripheral vision, Princess Luna doing the same, although with a much more saddened, almost guilty, look. He made a mental note of it, and moved on.
"Actually, it's not that bad. We aren't actually born, you see, so the families we have are our friends, with an occasional set of twins caused by a split spark during the creation process. We still have romantic relationships, but usually not offspring."
"Creation process? You make it sound like you came out of a forge or something." Dark Lance turned towards the new voice, and saw a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane walking in. Next to him was another alicorn, pink this time with a three-colored mane and tail. Unlike Celestia and Luna, however, her hair did not flow in an ethereal wind, and was much more solid-looking.
"Shining Armor!" Twilight suddenly jumped down from her seat, ran towards the unicorn, and practically tackled him with a hug. "How are you? I haven't seen you since the wedding! You too, Cadence! It's great to see you again!" She and the pink alicorn then did a short song and dance, which Dark Lance recognized as their version of a secret handshake, before Cadence spoke.
"We're doing well, Twilight. I'm interested in your new friends, though. I didn't realize there were alicorns other than myself, Luna, and Celestia." Twilight suddenly seemed to remember that the Autobots were still there and returned to her seat, blushing and smiling apologetically to them as she passed. Shining Armor sat down on Skybreaker's other side, while Cadence sat across from him, next to Dark Lance.
"Shining, Cadence, this is Dark Lance," she gestured with a hoof, and the commander nodded to them in greeting, receiving nods from each in return, "and this is Skybreaker." She gestured towards the scout, and he waved at them, grinning. They responded in kind, before using their magic to put together salads of their own. After a few seconds, Cadence glanced at the empty platters of her sister-in-law's new friends, and grinned slightly before swallowing her food to speak.
"You two are allowed to eat, you know. We won't think you're rude if pick up the wrong fork. A lot of ponies get confused, sometimes even me," she said with a sheepish smile. Dark Lance chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"It's not that. Skybreaker and I actually aren't able to eat this food. Our bodies won't process it like yours will. Thank you, though." At this, every pony at the table except Twilight gave the two of them confused looks. Celestia was the first to speak after this.
"If you want, I can call for other foods. We have quite a few options, due to guests of other species that occasionally visit," she said, a concerned frown on her face. Dark Lance chuckled lightly again before answering.
"As much as we appreciate the gesture, princess, I don't think you have anything we can eat. We actually aren't ponies at all. We just use these forms to protect and disguise ourselves." She cocked her head slightly, and he noticed that the other ponies at the table had stopped eating.
"So if you're not ponies, than what are you?" she asked conversationally. Dark Lance could detect the slight trace of caution that now tinged her voice, though. "You aren't Changelings, obviously. You wouldn't have come here if that was the case."
"No, we're not. We are actually machines, capable of rearranging our bodies to take on other forms. Typically, we would have vehicle-based alt-modes, but this planet has so much raw Energon that the radiation it gives off requires us to use organic-based forms to protect ourselves. Otherwise, our bodies undergo stasis lock, which disables all of our systems, and we basically go into a coma." The others were speechless at this explanation, and even Celestia didn't seem to know what to make of them anymore. Her look of surprise, however, quickly changed to one of curiosity.
"Would you mind showing us? I'm very curious as to how this transformation works." Dark Lance nodded once, and stood up. He moved a few steps away, then turned around to face them before activating his t-cog, and slowly changing into his robot mode. Once again, he received looks of amazement from his audience. Shining Armor's jaw had even fallen, although he quickly closed it after a small giggle from Twilight. Luna was the first to speak this time.
"That was easily the most amazing thing we have ever seen!" she proclaimed loudly. Dark Lance stretched slightly, his plates somewhat stiff after being in beast mode for so long. While he was doing this, Shining Armor got up from his seat to get a better look at the Autobot.
"That's incredible," he said, wide-eyed. "I don't think anypony would have guessed that you were actually something else entirely. And you said you can both do this?" Dark Lance nodded, and looked at Skybreaker. The scout got out of his chair, and took a couple of steps away as well before also changing to his robot mode. Shining Armor let out a small breath of amazement before continuing. "Do each of you have a different transformation like that?" He asked.
"Mostly," Dark Lance responded. "Some of us are the same models as others, or suffered a split spark when we were created, resulting in the same alt-modes and transformations, but most of us have unique bodies, so our mechanisms don't function identically."
"So, how many of you are there?" Luna asked. She was obviously curious about this amazing new species. Mechanical aliens that could change form without magic. Who would've guessed?
"Our team consists of four members: Skybreaker, myself, as well as Bunker and Burnout, who stayed behind at our ship. There is also a Decepticon team, which also has four members: Bloodwing, the leader, Fireburst, Crosswire, and Sharpedge. Before we were shot down, we also had about 50 stasis pods with protoforms in them. I was able to eject them before we entered the atmosphere, though. They're currently in orbit around the planet." This particular statement caused Luna's eyes to widen.
"Did thou just say 'in orbit'?" she asked. She was trying to keep her voice calm, but Dark Lance could hear that something was about to cause problems for him. "As in 'in orbit around the planet in space'?" He nodded once, and the night princess's eyes went wide. "I scheduled a meteor shower for two days from now," she said, still slightly in shock.
"What do you mean, 'scheduled'? You make it sound like you can control meteors," Dark Lance said, obviously somewhat confused.
"Actually, I control all of the night sky, as well as dreams, to a certain extent. I am the princess of the night, after all." She puffed out her chest slightly near the end with pride, but Dark Lance noticed a slight falter in her movements, giving away the insecurity she forced it past.
^Whatever happened, it still bothers her. Not unlike my own ghosts....^ He kept his expression neutral, not giving away what was going through his mind as he continued. "What do you mean, you 'control the night sky'? That would take phenomenal amounts of power, and while you obviously are more powerful than other creatures on this planet, I don't think you're quite that powerful. Either of you." He turned towards Celestia as he said this while he sat back down to drive his point home. The white alicorn gave him a small smile and nodded once.
"You are correct, Dark Lance. Mostly, at least. Luna really is capable of controlling the planet's moon, and I am fully capable of controlling our sun, but neither of us is able to control the stars. Luna uses very powerful illusion magic to change the appearance of the sky, allowing her to create different constellations and effects. However, she is able to use her power to occasionally summon various stellar phenomena from great distances. It's quite impressive, really." Luna blushed a little, before Skybreaker decided to ask a question of his own.
"You also said something about dreams. What did you mean?" Luna seemed to perk up a bit, like he had asked about her favorite hobby.
"Yes, I also use a type of advanced illusion magic to influence ponies' dreams. It's easily my favorite kind of magic, because it allows me to help our subjects with their problems, and it allows them to see me more often." She gave a wide smile at that, and Dark Lance could see that this particular subject was able to distract from whatever self-doubt was eating at her. Before they could continue, though, Celestia changed her posture slightly, and he could tell it was time for business.
"So, Dark Lance, you mentioned in your letter that there was something you believed you need permission for? What would that be?" She gave that same gentle smile, and he suddenly realized something that had not even occurred to him yet.
^She's old. Far older than any of the other inhabitants of the planet, possibly the oldest. She isn't going to give anything away unless she is truly taken off-guard. And that is obviously not easy to do. I guess I'll just have to pay more attention than normal to how she acts. Hopefully I'll find out more than just her name by the time we leave.^
"We were wondering if we could start a small mining area. Your planet has massive amounts of Energon, which we use as fuel, but it has to be mined and refined first. Otherwise it's just a volatile shiny rock that gives off a light radiation. Speaking of..." He stood up, and transformed back to his alt-mode before sitting back down, with Skybreaker mirroring his movements.
Celestia gave him a curious look before speaking again. "You know you don't have to change back on our account? We don't mind your normal form." This was followed by nods of agreement from the others.
"As much as I appreciate that, princess, we actually do have to. Remember I said that Energon gives off a light radiation? Well in large enough quantities, raw Energon radiation is capable of putting us into stasis lock if we stay out of beast mode too long. It doesn't affect organic creatures, so as long as we aren't in robot mode, we aren't subject to its effects." This was met with a thoughtful hum from the white alicorn, before her sister began speaking again.
"But doesn't it hurt when you change like that? Your entire body shifts and moves in very uncomfortable-looking ways." She now had a slightly worried, cringing look on her face, like she had just seen someone's arm get broken. Dark Lance, however, merely shook his head.
"Not in the least. It's kind of like your wings. All of our parts just move into different places. Nothing actually gets changed, it just has new positions. They just move, they don't break." Luna appeared satisfied with his explanation, and he turned his attention to Shining Armor, who had a look of intense, almost angry focus on his face. "Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The white unicorn was quiet for a couple more seconds, slowly chewing his food.
"Your horn. When you changed, it flipped onto your back, like a weapon. Why would an explorer need a weapon for peaceful endeavors?" He kept his eyes locked with Dark Lance's the entire time, driving home the point that he wasn't going to let this drop. Dark Lance looked down at his plate sadly, a small sigh escaping him.
"Unfortunately, the galaxy isn't as safe as most of us would like. We've come across several planets with animals capable of putting us off-line for good. Also," he paused, a small look of anger coming over his features, "there's the Decepticons. We can't afford to go unarmed while they still function. If we did, we wouldn't even last a megacycle."
"So why can't you come to an agreement or truce of some kind? I'm sure that these-'Decepticons', was it?-would be willing to end this peacefully if you talked to them." Shining Armor said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world (which to him, it was), slightly confused as to why explorers would be embroiled in a war of any kind. Dark Lance sighed, and looked over at the stallion, using his sensors to do a cursory scan of his body, and finding that the unicorn had no kind of permanent physical damage. Which meant he had no real combat experience.
"You've never been in a war, have you?" the Autobot asked.
"Well, we had that Changeling invasion a couple weeks ago..." Dark Lance sighed, wishing he didn't have to say what he was about to say.
"So that's a 'no', then. I didn't think so. You don't seem like the type of beings to go to war. The Decepticons won't just let it all end at this point. They've invested far too much time, effort, and Energon to get anything less than everything they want. At this point, only two options remain: the destruction of the Decepticons, or the destruction of the Autobots, followed by the enslavement or extinction of every other living thing in the galaxy." This was followed by slack jaws and shocked stares from every pony at the table, even Celestia. Cadence was the first to regain the use of her voice this time.
"But, if that's how far they're willing to go, then you must have been fighting for an incredibly long time. How long has this war been going on?" The others had finally regained their composure, but Dark Lance couldn't help but think that it was pointless for them to calm down now.
"We've been fighting for almost as long as I've been online: 5 million years." At this, he could swear he heard bones clack under flesh as the ponies' jaws dropped again, this time with no semblance of self-control present. Celestia, in particular, looked like she had been shocked beyond all logical boundaries, and her entire body had relaxed slightly, her wings drooping and her legs bending slightly as her eyes unfocused and seemed to stare off at the unseen horizon beyond the castle walls. Shining Armor had a look of pure horror on his face, his eyes flicking back and forth like he was looking over an intricate map of a battlefield. The faces of Twilight and Cadence were suddenly filled with realization, but still seemed unable to grasp the full scope of his words. Luna, however, had a look of sudden awe, the idea of a war capable of being fought for that long would not have seemed possible even ten minutes ago, but with the number of unbelievable things he had said already, she didn't have any trouble accepting this. Before she could say anything, though, Twilight perked up like she just realized something and started speaking.
"Wait a second. You said the war has been going on almost as long as you've been online. Just how old are you?" The other ponies at the table once again turned toward the commander expectantly.
"5.5 million years old. Most of that time has been spent in stasis, though. Moving from star to star takes a very long time, and attempting to stay active during that time is a waste of Energon, as well as dangerous to one's mental health." He then gestured to Skybreaker with his head. "Skybreaker, however, is only 2.2 million years old. He was brought online accidentally by a younger inhabitant of one of the planets we visited. Gave us quite a bit of trouble during that time, too." Skybreaker rolled his eyes at his leader's light teasing. "Anyway, you've probably already figured this out, but our species matures on a completely different scale from organic creatures. Our bodies don't age or decompose as rapidly as carbon-based life forms, so our minds don't either."
"Fascinating." Celestia said, obviously impressed with their longevity. "But I feel we've gotten a bit off-topic. How about we return to the business of your mining request?" she asked gently.
"Agreed," Dark Lance said, chuckling slightly at his own digression. "Let's get back to business."
Five hours ago, after Dark Lance and Skybreaker's departure.
Bunker sat in his lab, carefully placing another wire into the small device on his work table with a pair of tweezers. He set the small copper strand into the laser-cut groove that would be its new home, and slowly pushed the ends of the wire into their respective connectors before gently pressing down along the entire length of the strand, pulling his hand back and relaxing a bit once he finished. He then grabbed the soldering iron next to him, and cemented the ends firmly in their place before closing the small protective cover and then closing the rest of the small, band-like device.
"Finally," he said, stretching his body after sitting hunched over for so long. "Now I just need to test it. Hopefully Burnout isn't too busy." He picked up the small object, and walked out to the elevator. As he was going up, the ship sensors alerted him to someone knocking on the door.
^Well, it's not one of Bloodwing's crew, they would just blast it open. And I don't think Dark Lance or Skybreaker would bother knocking on the door of their own ship, which means it must be one of the locals.^ When he came out of the elevator, he took the hallway towards the bridge instead of the med-lab to find out who wanted their attention, transforming into his beast mode as he went. When he arrived and opened the door, though, he wished he hadn't bothered. Standing before him, looking as innocent and hopeful as they could, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He briefly contemplated shutting the door right then and there, but decided against it. If he did that, he would never hear the end of it. Instead, he decided to try a slightly more subtle approach.
"This had better be important," he said, giving the three an unwelcoming glare. They shrunk back a little from the look he gave them, but quickly returned to their normal cheery selves.
"Yeah, it is!" the orange one said excitedly. "We came to get Skybreaker! Rainbow Dash said she was nearly done with the race course, and we volunteered to bring him back!" She grinned widely at the end, obviously happy about helping her idol.
"Well, sorry to waste your time, but he's not here. He and Dark Lance went to Canterlot to speak with the princesses. They won't be back for a few hours, at least." The three fillies let out a disappointed "awww" at this new development. Seeing how distressed they were and seeing an opportunity to get something done faster, he decided to give them something to do other than get depressed, and pulled the device he had been working on out of his beast mode's head, getting slightly disturbed looks from the Crusaders. Ignoring them, he continued. "How about you do something a little more purposeful for me, since you're heading off a ways already?" The three fillies' faces lit up at this idea, and nodded their heads vigorously. "Alright, here's the job. See this thing here? This is a high-power communicator. The Energon radiation on this planet is messing with our comm signals, so I made this to cut through the interference. I want you to take this to Rainbow Dash, and use this small red button to turn it on. Then, I should be able to talk to her myself without having to leave the ship. Once we're done, come back so I can use this to contact Dark Lance. And whatever you do, don't drop it. It's extremely fragile, so it will break very easily. Be careful with it." He said the last sentence with extra emphasis, staring hard at each of them in turn to make sure they fully understood how serious he was.
The Crusaders took the communicator, and gently placed it in their wagon. Scootaloo then started moving along a bit more slowly than usual, as the other two shouted "Cutie Mark Crusaders Testers, yeah!" Bunker shook his head in exasperation at their antics before turning around and going back inside to work on the mini-miners while he waited. On his way, though, he noticed Burnout leaning against a doorway with her arms crossed, smiling like she knew something she wasn't supposed to.
"What?" Bunker asked, stopping to give the medic a questioning look.
"I saw that," she answered as her grin widened further.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he answered as he walked past her to continue his work.
"Oh, sure you don't. You keep telling yourself that." She giggled a little, then returned to her station to continue her own project.
After Bunker got back to his lab, he set up his communications equipment to receive the new communicator's signal, then turned to his next project. Sitting in the corner were five six-foot-long cylinders, each one with a handle on the top. The mini-miners. All of them were severely damaged, having been in one of the less-armored areas of the ship during the firefight and subsequent crash. He grabbed the first one, which had been crushed slightly on one side, and heaved it onto his workbench. He stood it up, and pried open the legs so he could detach the plates designed to protect the sensitive internal mechanisms. Looking in, he found that most of the pieces were actually intact. He pulled his tools closer and started working.
He had already fixed the first miner and started on the second by the time he realized something was wrong. He checked his internal clock, and found that it had been over an hour since Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had left. He put down his tools and moved to the comms array he had set up earlier to make sure he hadn't simply been too absorbed in his work to notice it go off. Satisfied that that was not the case, he quickly left his lab to find Burnout.
When he got to the med-lab, Burnout was staring at a computer screen which appeared to be running some sort of simulation. The screen suddenly flashed red, and Burnout threw her arms up before leaning all the way back in her chair and letting out a groan of frustration.
"Having trouble?" he asked casually.
"I can't get the nano-shell sim to work. Every time I try to fix one problem, it causes another." She sighed, and looked at her guest. "So did you need something? You don't come out of that lab just for social calls."
"Those three should've contacted me by now. I'm going out to find them. Chances are they broke that communicator, and I don't want them trying to fix it themselves. Fortunately, I put a tracking chip in it, so I shouldn't be gone for very long." He made his way out as Burnout called a farewell to him, and was soon galloping through the forest to retrieve his lost equipment.
He followed the small blip on his internal map, and quickly realized he was not heading towards Ponyville. Wherever they were, they either didn't know how to get back, or they weren't able to get back. He quickened his pace, hoping they weren't injured so he wouldn't have to explain it to their families. Before long, he was almost on top of the tracking unit, and he slowed down so he could pay more attention to what was around him. He came across a small clearing near the eastern edge of the forest, and the communicator lying in the middle of it. He picked it up, and noted that it was in almost perfect condition; only a few small specks of dirt blemished its surface. He wiped it off, then put it back in his head's storage area.
"Okay," he said to himself. "That's not good. There's no blood on the ground, though, so they weren't severely injured when they dropped it. Now I just need to figure out where they went after that."
He began an echolocation scan, using the sound waves to find more freshly-compacted dirt, which would indicate any tracks the fillies or their scooter and wagon might have made. He quickly found what he was looking for in the form of curving lines cutting through the ground. Following them, he came through a particularly large bush to find the scooter and wagon crumpled against a tree nearby. He still saw no blood, but now he was certain they were being chased by something. They wouldn't have left their stuff behind otherwise. After finding their hoofprints leading away from the site of the crash, he once again quickened his pace, hoping not to find a scene of carnage. Fairly soon, he heard snarling ahead of him, and slowed back down to prevent detection.
Dropping low to the ground and carefully choosing where to put each of his legs, he managed to push himself far enough through a small bush to see past it without being noticed. On the other side was another small clearing, this one at the base of a short cliff. In the clearing was a group of five strange wolf-like creatures that appeared to be made of wood. There was also a sixth one that was trying to get into a small opening at the bottom of the cliff, scrabbling and growling in frustration at its failure to gain entry. Bunker shifted his optics to thermal, finding that the wolf-creatures themselves did not give off heat, but there was something in the hole in the cliff that did. He zoomed his vision, shifting to a low-light setting, and he could just make out a small patch of yellow that looked a lot like a hoof.
^Well, now I know what was chasing them. Now I just have to get them out of there safely.^ He quickly decided how to dispose of the predators, and he waited to put his plan into action until their pacing brought them into a perfect line. When they were all aligned, he rushed forward, plowing into the first and impaling it with his horn, then continuing through the others, which was made easier when they simply fell apart as they were struck. By the time the last one had registered his presence, it was already at the end of his horn, and had no time to react to his assault. When he stopped, the wolf which had been digging at the cliff had turned to him and was now snarling at him in anger for his fallen pack-mates.
Bunker simply laughed once before transforming, startling the wolf long enough for him to pull out his spear and throw it at the creature, dispersing it just like the others. Satisfied that the wood-wolves were no longer a threat, he moved over to the wall and dropped to one knee, lowering his head to look in at the three small, shivering balls of fur inside.
"Applebloom. Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo." At the sound of their names, the three scared fillies looked up to find Bunker's metallic head looking in at them. "Come on. Let's get you home." He didn't need to give them any further urging before they all clutched at his outstretched arm, allowing him to pull them out. As soon as they were clear of the hole, they moved themselves to his chest, pressing their faces into his softer organic plates for comfort, and almost pushing him over in the process. Not knowing what else to do, he hesitantly wrapped an arm over them to make them stop shivering, but suddenly stiffened when he looked around for his spear.
The weapon itself was still in the ground where he had left it, but the debris from the creature he had impaled with it was gone. He swiftly put the crusaders back on the ground and retrieved his weapon, replacing himself between the fillies and the forest and taking on a defensive stance facing the trees. Recognizing the sudden change in his demeanor and also taking notice of the missing pieces of brush, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo huddled together behind the Autobot, waiting for a signal to do something. Bunker stood still for several seconds, scanning the bushes with every visual wavelength he had, looking for any giveaway that would show him his target. As he started to let down his guard, however, there was a growl. Long and low, obviously from something much bigger than what he was looking for. As he wondered what it could be, he noticed a massive shadow behind the closest trees. It moved upwards, over the canopy, and revealed itself to be a giant version of the wolves he had defeated earlier.
"I-it's gonna eat us. We're gonna die." Applebloom started to break down as she panicked, crying against Bunker's leg.
Bunker's response was profound in its simplicity.
"No."
With that proclamation, he took two steps forward and began twirling his spear, allowing the weapon to transform in his whirling grasp. The main shaft split into four pieces and shortened into a wide barrel. The compressed shell shifted and twisted into a stabilizer handle and trigger guard as the handguard pivoted downward to reveal a firing mechanism. The tip then split and turned down, forming a shoulder rest. Bunker smoothly shifted the gyrations of his arms and hands until the weapon was brought to an abrupt stop on his shoulder, ready to fire. The mega-wolf growled at him, and he brought up his targeting system.
"Whatever you say, twig-brain." He aimed at the massive creature's head, and pulled the trigger. A small glow emanated from the muzzle, before a beam of yellow light erupted from the cannon, punching a neat hole through his target's head. The wolf reared back in pain, trying to escape the burning beam of light, but only succeeded in sealing its own doom as more of its features were brought into the path of the unyielding ray of destruction. The massive wolf fell, coming apart from itself the whole way down, before slamming into the ground in a huge burst of the same green mist that the smaller versions had exuded upon their destruction with far less sound than Bunker would have thought of such a huge creature. He waited several seconds, listening for any sounds that would indicate the creature getting up again, but heard nothing. He returned his cannon to its place on his back, and turned to the Crusaders.
"Are you all okay?" he asked as he made a quick scan to confirm that they were unharmed.
"Yeah, we're fine," Applebloom said. "But we dropped your communicator thing when those timberwolves were chasin' us." All three of them hung their heads as she said this, expecting a lecture from him for losing something so important. Instead, Bunker simply reached behind him and extracted the communicator from his storage compartment, eliciting looks of surprise from the Crusaders.
"Good thing I installed a tracking device in it, then, huh? I figured something might go wrong on the first test, even though I was planning on using Skybreaker or Burnout for the distance check. Fortunately, following your tracks after I found this was fairly easy. Now, how about we get you home?" All three of them could only nod as they finally started to relax and the adrenaline wore off. Sweetie Belle yawned, and Bunker could see the events of the day catching up to the other two as well. He gave a small sigh, and changed back to his beast mode, motioning for them to get on his back. They gratefully obliged, and Bunker hadn't been walking for five minutes before he heard snoring coming from them. Their departure was made unhindered, but it did not go unseen by a pair of ice-blue eyes in the shadows.
When they finally arrived at Ponyville, it was already late in the afternoon. Bunker found Applejack and Rarity about to go out and search for their missing family members, until they saw him coming out of the forest. Seeing their sisters on his back, they ran up to him, Rarity being the first to speak.
"Oh my goodness," she cried as she saw them unconscious. "Are they alright? What happened?"
"They're fine, just tired. They ran into those wood-wolf things on their way back, and wound up going deeper into the forest. I had given them a new communicator to test when they got back, so when they didn't call me with it, I used the tracker in it to find out what happened. I had to get rid of the wolves, but these three were fine when I found them." Rarity and Applejack had both removed their sisters from Bunker's back at this point and settled them onto their own. "By the way, I don't know where Scootaloo here lives. Do either of you know where her house is?" Both mares thought for a second before Applejack spoke up.
"No, actually. Now that Ah think about it, they've never said anything about goin' ta Scootaloo's house before. Ah honestly have no idea where she lives." She looked over to Rarity, but she merely shrugged.
"Well, I'll just take her to, um.... Fluttershy, I think? The pink-haired one?"
"Oh, don't worry about it, darling, I'll keep her at my place," Rarity said as she levitated Scootaloo off of Bunker's back. "I've had all three of them stay with me multiple times, so having only two of them to handle won't be any trouble. Besides, Fluttershy already has her animals to take care of. I don't want to give her any more work if I don't have to."
"Alright, then. If you think you can handle it, I won't stop you. Thanks." He turned and started walking away, waving a short goodbye, until something landed right in front of him and kicked up a cloud of dust. Startled by the sudden movement, he jumped back, prepared to defend himself. This turned out to be a pointless gesture, as the landing object revealed itself to be Rainbow Dash, looking at him quizzically.
"What's with you?" she asked, confused at his reaction.
"For future reference, never surprise someone who walks around armed. It's bad for your health." He then moved around her to continue his way back, and she started following him.
"Yeah, anyway, where's Skybreaker? I finished that course, I want to see what he thinks." She smiled in both pride of her accomplishment and excitement for the upcoming race as they continued walking, until Bunker suddenly remembered what had started the day's whole ordeal. First checking to make sure there weren't any ponies watching, he opened his head-case, getting a look of revulsion from the pegasus next to him as he pulled out the communicator.
"That reminds me. Let's find out, shall we?" He put the band on his foreleg, and pressed the power button before carefully punching in the frequency for Dark Lance's comm unit with his other hoof. The screen was blank for a few seconds, and then Dark Lance's face appeared.
"Bunker. I see you finished that communicator I asked you about. I assume you want to find out the status of our mission here?"
"Yes, sir. Also, when you and the others will be getting back. Rainbow Dash says she finished the course for her race with Skybreaker."
"I'll be staying here overnight. I need to speak further with Princess Luna regarding a meteor shower two days from now. Twilight and Skybreaker, however, should be back on the next train in. Be careful, though. We spotted Sharpedge snooping around earlier, and she was back to normal. Bloodwing will probably be making a move soon. Also, I got permission from Princess Celestia to start a small mining operation in the gem fields west of Ponyville. I want the mini-miners up and running by the end of the week so we can get started."
"Understood, sir. I've already completed repairs on the first miner, and the others shouldn't give me too much trouble. I take it you'll be back tomorrow?"
"Yes. Call me if anything happens. I don't want the Decepticons to damage our equipment when we've finally gained an advantage. Dark Lance out." The communicator went dark, and Bunker turned to Rainbow Dash.
"Well, there's your answer. The train should be here soon. Skybreaker is probably tired from playing nice all day, though, so don't be surprised if you have to wait until morning to race." He started walking towards the ship again as Dash took off. "Hopefully Skybreaker wins. Heh, never thought I'd say that about the cocky little 'Bot. Too bad we can't afford him losing that bet." He continued on his way, noticing the lack of animal sounds in the forest. He shrugged it off, attributing it to the destruction he had wrought on the wolves earlier. He had still not noticed the pair of eyes watching him from the brush.
Skybreaker stepped off the train right behind Twilight, surprised at how low on power he was. Normally, having to talk with royalty was only mentally exhausting, but the princesses of Canterlot were definitely an exception to how leaders of a country behaved. Apparently, Celestia had caught on to the fact that Skybreaker was bored and didn't want to be there, so she had taken him for a walk in the hedge maze. During said walk, she asked if he would be willing to help her with something. Remembering everything he had been told by Dark Lance about dealing with royalty, he had accepted. And then wound up helping Celestia trick the entire castle staff into thinking Nightmare Moon had returned. They had even gone so far as to tie up and gag Skybreaker, making it look like she had a hostage. Dark Lance, of course, had seen right through the whole thing, but played along anyway. The charade was lost, though, when Skybreaker started laughing uncontrollably at the cooks, who had shown up brandishing various pots, pans, and cutlery against the perceived enemy. Apparently the guards weren't the only ones in the castle capable of defending themselves.
And as if that weren't enough to make it a good day, he then found out that Dark Lance had gotten the royal armorer to make cutie mark emblems for all of them. Dark Lance's, of course, was a lance pointing straight up. Skybreaker's was a cloud that looked like it had been shattered, Bunker's was simply a tower with a red flag, and Burnout's was a red cross with a small flame pointing outward from each inside corner. Dark Lance already had his on, and Skybreaker had been eager to get his attached. Now the other two sets of cutie marks jingled as they moved around in Twilight's saddlebag.
The two travelers stepped off the train platform just in time to see a familiar rainbow blur come to a screeching halt in front of them. Skybreaker noticed the excitement on her face and grinned.
"I take it by your speed that you finished that course for our race?" he asked.
"Yep. And I made it so tough, you won't have a chance at beating me! I'll be impressed if you even finish. It's that hard." She gave him a challenging smirk at the end, subconsciously trying to throw off his focus. Skybreaker, however, was unfazed.
"Uh-huh. We'll see about that, but not right now. I need to get back to the ship. We got cutie marks for Bunker and Burnout, and I need to go recharge. If I don't get roped into anything, we should be able to race tomorrow." He yawned near the end, punctuating his exhaustion as Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Yeah, your unicorn buddy said you might need some rest first. Don't worry, I understand the need for sleep. One of the best things about being as fast as I am is that I have plenty of time for naps. It's one of the perks of being this awesome."
"Yeah, I'm too tired to come up with a proper comeback to that." He yawned again. "I'll see you tomorrow at some point, Dash. G'night."
"See ya."
He and Twilight continued walking towards the forest as Rainbow Dash took off to take care of other things. As they were about to enter the forest, Skybreaker suddenly thought of something.
"Hey, Twilight. How about I take the bags so you can go home? You probably have other stuff to take care of besides making deliveries, right?"
"Don't worry about it. I don't have any terribly pressing matters to attend to right now, and I still want to see some of Bunker's work anyway. This gives me a good excuse to go look at some of his projects." Skybreaker decided he wasn't going to argue about it, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they finally got to the ship, Skybreaker walked up and transformed, quickly putting in the entry code and going inside to call out his usual greeting.
"Honey, I'm home!" Twilight giggled a little at his outburst as she followed him towards the med-lab. When they got there, they found a very frustrated-looking Burnout typing away furiously at a keyboard. She suddenly smacked a final key before staring intently at the screen. After a couple seconds, the screen flashed red, and she leaned back in her chair as she let out a cry of anger and reached at the screen like she wanted to strangle it. "Having some trouble, there, Burnout?" She snapped toward him in surprise, before realizing who it was and letting her head slump forward into her hands as her elbows leaned on the console in front of her.
"I've been trying to get this nano-shell working for over twelve hours, now." Skybreaker whistled. "I still can't get it to work in such a way that we can install it on ourselves without having to rebuild our bodies entirely. It's starting to get to me." Skybreaker scratched at his neck in thought for a moment, realigning a servo that had come loose again while doing so.
"Well, maybe you need to stop thinking about it for a while. Sometimes you need to get a new perspective on something in order to see it properly, right? Maybe you just need a break so your processor can think differently when you come back to it. And I've got something perfect to take your mind off it for a few microcycles." He reached into the saddlebags Twilight was carrying, and pulled out Burnout's new cutie mark. He handed them to the medic, and she turned them over in her hands to get a good look at them, before turning back to Skybreaker.
"Where did you get these?" she asked, having seen some of the scout's ill-advised acquisitions before.
"Dark Lance had them made while we were at the castle. Bunker got a set too. They're our new cutie marks. See?" He turned so she could see the shattered cloud that now adorned his thigh.
"Interesting. What's Bunker's look like? I'm guessing something really simple, right?" Skybreaker dug out the other two and showed them off, eliciting a small chuckle from the medic. "Well, you should probably get them to him. I can attach these pretty easily, and I'm sure he won't have any trouble either. I take it you're going to go recharge right after?" she asked as he yawned again.
"Yeah, so I'll say good night now. Good night." He waved as he and Twilight left the lab to go down to engineering, where Bunker's lab was. When they got there, they had to pick their way through the various spare parts and scrap metal across the room to where Bunker was sitting, working on what looked like the last of the mini-miners. Skybreaker came up right behind Bunker before saying anything. "HEY BUDDY!" he yelled before he found himself doubled over in pain, then face down on the ground as something else hit him on the back of the head.
Bunker, for his part, had been focused entirely on finishing the last mini-miner before Skybreaker yelled at him in close proximity, causing him to reflexively elbow the scout in the abdomen before rabbit punching him in the back of the head to knock him to the ground. By the time he realized what happened, Skybreaker was already recovering from the attack, groaning in pain. Bunker helped him pick himself up, before reprimanding him. Again.
"How many times have I warned you about startling me like that?" he said as he crossed his arms.
"I don't remember. I think you deleted that file just now. Jeez. For an old bot, you still pack one heck of a wallop. Ow." Bunker shook his head and rolled his optics before getting to the matter at hand.
"I'm not that old. So why are you down here, anyway? You're fully aware that I don't like being disturbed." Before Skybreaker could get himself in more trouble, Twilight decided to step in.
"Actually, we have something for you." Bunker cocked an eyebrow as she levitated the pair of metal, tower-shaped plates out of her saddlebags over to him. He grabbed them out of the air, and looked them over before speaking.
"I assume these are supposed to be my set of those 'cutie marks' you spoke of?" Skybreaker, now recovered from the earlier assault, turned to show off his new plates in answer.
"Yeah! Pretty cool, huh? Dark Lance had the castle's armorer make them. I gotta say, the dude did a good job, too." He yawned again, and turned back to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go recharge. See you guys in the morning." As the door shut behind him, Bunker turned back towards Twilight.
"So, I take it you're here to see some of our tech?" Twilight nodded, and Bunker grinned slightly at her eagerness. "Well then, I guess we'll start with the mini-miners, here..."
The next morning, Skybreaker got out of his bed, stretching a bit before going up to the bridge. When he got there, he found Twilight still sleeping on a small cot that apparently Bunker had scrounged up from somewhere. He knelt down next to her, and shook her lightly until she started moving. As she started to get up, she stretched, yawning slightly as she did so.
"Morning, sunshine. Sleep well?" Twilight blinked at him confusedly, until she looked around and realized she wasn't at home. She yawned again before answering.
"Yes, actually. Once I got to sleep, anyway. I stayed up really late talking to Bunker. You guys have technology I can't even get my head around. It's fascinating! I kept forgetting that you guys weren't ponies, so it wasn't until Bunker showed me some old Cybertronian writing that it occurred to me to ask how you knew our language. That Sky Spy part of Teletraan 6 is neat." She grinned at the thought of everything she still had to learn about them. Skybreaker just cocked an eyebrow, confused as to why anyone would consider something they couldn't understand a good thing. Usually that sort of thing just made his head hurt.
"Anyway. The others should be up and about soon, and then we can go into town. Lance said he'd be back this morning, and after we've talked to him, I can finally go have that race with Dash. That's gonna be awesome."
"By the way, what do you think your chances are of winning? I've never seen Rainbow Dash lose an air race fairly. And if this course is really as difficult as she says, you really might not be able to complete it. Her aerobatic skill is pro level. She may have an ego, but it's mostly well-deserved." Twilight had a very worried look on her face at this point. "And if she wins, you'll have to stay grounded for a week. That would put your team in a bad place, and I don't think you're the kind of guy who would go back on a deal like that. If one of you were to be hurt because of a bet that she came up with, I don't think she could handle it." Skybreaker put away his joking for a moment, seriously thinking over what Twilight had said. He was silent for almost a minute before opening his mouth again.
"You're right. On all counts. If she won, I wouldn't fly for any reason. Not even if I got thrown off a cliff. And yes, that would hamper our tactical ability due to the fact that I'm the fastest. Technically, Dark Lance is just as capable, but he's not as fast, and he has much more important things to take care of. Don't worry, though, I won't lose." He grinned a bit, even as Twilight's face became even more worried.
"But how can you be so sure?"
"Has Bunker told you about jet engines yet?"
"No. Why, what are they?" At this, Skybreaker let out a low, somewhat evil chuckle.
"Ask him. He knows how they work better than I do. That's why mine don't move around too much when I transform. Too complex for me to put them back together every time. I can tell you, though, that as long as I have jets and she doesn't, I'll be faster. Period." She still didn't look convinced, but any further concerns were cut off as Bunker walked in. "Hey! He lives! I was wondering when you'd get up. Usually everyone else is hard at work by the time I get up, let alone still in recharge. So what did you end up getting done last night? You know, since you had 'anyone else in your workspace'?" he said with a slightly mocking tone. Bunker glared at him before answering.
"I said that to you because you are loud and intrusive and don't pay attention. Miss Sparkle here actually understands the need for quiet when delicate work is being done, and actually listens to the answers to her questions. As it turns out, she actually assisted me in making the mini-miners more efficient, and we both made discoveries concerning the other's race. So don't start thinking that she is on your level. She has intellect you will never be able to hope to have, so you would do well to show some respect." Skybreaker's optics widened at this, even as Twilight blushed a bit from the praise. His tirade finished, he started walking towards the door. "I'm going to the station to wait for Dark Lance. I'll see you later." He transformed as the door opened, and then he was gone.
"Wow," Skybreaker commented. "I don't think he's ever talked about anyone other than Dark Lance with that much respect before. You must have really impressed him." He gave a congratulatory grin to the unicorn, causing her to blush further.
"It wasn't that big a deal. All I did was streamline a couple of tangles and modify one of them so it would carry the refined Energon back from the others. It was pretty simple, really." She waved a hoof dismissively, but Skybreaker was undeterred.
"Simple, maybe. But sometimes the simplest solutions are the least obvious. Especially when you've done something the same way for a couple million years. Seriously, though. Bunker doesn't hand out compliments to anyone he doesn't think has thoroughly earned it. Dude respects you. No lie."
A few minutes later, Bunker was sitting on the train platform, watching the locomotive come down the tracks. As it began to slow down, he got up and moved forward a step, scanning for his commander's energy signature. He found it as the train's brakes hissed and the doors opened, and he moved to where Dark Lance would get off. As soon as he did, Bunker threw him a short salute before following him off the platform.
"I take it you finished the mini-miners?" Dark Lance asked as they walked.
"Yes, and I had some help from Twilight. She had an idea to make one of the miners an Energon carrier, instead. Have it move the filled Energon tanks while the others continue mining. Also, she spotted a couple of problems with the design of them that I was able to fix. She's impressively intelligent. Especially for an organic."
"I don't suppose you found out anything about the whole 'magic' thing, did you?"
"Actually, yes. I had her do some basic spells for me, and I found that the energy she uses for magic is actually Energon radiation." Dark Lance stopped in his tracks, his optics widening in surprise.
"What!?" This was beyond surprising to Dark Lance. He had seen organic beings use raw Energon in various ways before, but to actually be able to harness the radiation itself? That was unheard of.
"Yes, that was my first reaction as well," Bunker said as they continued walking. "I initially thought that my equipment was misreading the data, but that was not the case. The horn of the unicorn and alicorn races apparently acts as a particle accelerator. Their bodies gather and store the radiation, and then they send it through the spiral structure of their horn to create an energy field. The aura that appears around their horn is actually excess radiation leaking from the tip, which then goes back down to the base and is reused, similar in movement to a magnet's electric field. Obviously, the larger the horn and the tighter the spiral, the more powerful the magical ability. Physical size of the pony can also attribute to magical strength, but is typically more indicative of stamina. I find it quite fascinating." The two had reached the library, and they saw Twilight leading Skybreaker and Burnout towards them. As the two groups neared each other, Dark Lance saw a blur of color in his peripheral vision that stopped off to their side and revealed itself to be Rainbow Dash. She had on a big grin and was looking at Skybreaker with excited eyes. He grinned back.
"Impatient as I am to get this under way, huh?"
"You better believe I am! I hardly ever get someone worth racing. You actually have a chance of providing an actual challenge, unlike most of the ponies around here. I just hope you don't disappoint me too much."
"Well then, let's get the rest of the gang together and get started, huh?"
"I already did. Everypony else is at the starting line, waiting for us."
"Then let's get moving, already. I want to see what Rarity's got in mind for you."
"Oh, ha ha. Aren't you just a regular ole mister comedian."
"I try."
"Well, keep practicing. You're not doing very well." The two of them continued to taunt each other all the way to the starting line on the edge of the Everfree Forest, where the other Elements, Spike, and the CMC were waiting next to a pair of poles stuck in the ground. Rainbow trotted up between the poles and turned around to face Skybreaker, while the others joined the crowd that was already there.
"Here's the course: We go to the north end of the forest, then turn west to follow the north side of Ponyville. Then we follow Mane Street south, until we reach the river. We follow the river all the way to Ghastly Gorge, and fly through till we reach the other side. Once we're there, we turn around and trace our way back here along the same route. Whoever makes three laps first, wins. Got all that?" Skybreaker let out a short laugh.
"Yeah, but is this really what you meant when you said it would be difficult? This seems pretty basic to me."
"That's because I haven't gone over the rules yet. The first rule is that you have to stay within three leg-lengths of a mostly flat surface at all times. The second rule is that you have to pick up a flag at each checkpoint, and the third is that you can't interfere with the other racer's flight. The checkpoints are scattered through the track, but they're pretty obvious, so you should be able to get them all. Still think this won't be difficult, tough guy?" She grinned with confidence, but Skybreaker wasn't particularly impressed.
"I think that by the end of today, Rarity will have a new line of dresses just for you. Any other rules you got for me? Or can we get this thing started?" Rainbow nodded, then turned to Pinkie, who grinned before reaching into a nearby tree to pull out her party cannon. The two racers got into position on the starting line, and Pinkie set up to start the race.
The cannon fired, and both pegasi rocketed forward, quickly disappearing from view. Applejack let out a low whistle.
"Wow. I've never seen anypony manage to keep up with Rainbow Dash before. Ya'll think he can keep that speed for the entire race?" She looked to Dark Lance for an answer. He was sitting, and thought for a moment before answering.
"That depends on whether or not he takes it seriously. He has a tendency to get over-confident when he does well, but if he doesn't start getting lax in his flying, he should be able to win. I guess we'll find out when they get back." The other members of the group made their own predictions, and Burnout started up a conversation with Bunker.
"So you found out how magic on this planet works, right?" Bunker nodded.
"Yes. The bodies of these ponies are capable of absorbing Energon radiation. The horns of unicorns and alicorns allow them to directly harness it." He was about to continue before Applejack interrupted.
"Now hold on a second. Ya'll are sayin' that the same thing that makes you guys work, gives us magic? Yer kiddin', right?"
"No. In fact, I'll even prove it to you." He opened his head and pulled out his tool bag, causing Fluttershy to faint as Spike nearly vomited, and the others gave him looks of revulsion, except Pinkie Pie, who cocked her head, wondering why he didn't just use the dimension holes that were everywhere.(Surely a transforming robot from space could see them, right?) He rolled his eyes in response. "Is everyone going to do that every time I need to carry something around?" Without missing a beat, they all answered together.
"Yes." Bunker sighed and shook his head, before returning to the task at hand.
"Anyway.... Applejack, come here for a moment." She stepped up to him as he pulled a rather plain-looking device out of the bag. "I'm curious as to whether the Energon absorption is unique to unicorns. I would actually like to get readings from all of you, if that's alright." The present ponies debated for a moment, but none of them were able to come up with any reason not to. While they were talking, Fluttershy recovered from unconsciousness. They finally turned back toward Bunker, and nodded in agreement. He activated the device, and it emitted a small whine. The end lit up green for a moment, and the device beeped once. He then turned to Burnout, and the same thing happened. Once it finished, he turned it around so the others could see. On the screen was a small image of Burnout, with different colors in various areas.
"Alright. So, this is Burnout's reading. The different colors are as follows: Green is insignificant, blue is unthreatening, yellow is low-speed buildup, and red is high-speed buildup. This also only measures the radiation, not the Energon itself. You can see that the highest radiation level is in the center of her body, near her spark. Even there, though, it only reaches yellow, and except for the parts directly adjacent to her spark chamber, it's all green." There were nods of understanding, and Bunker turned the device back to face himself. As he did so, they were momentarily distracted by Rainbow Dash, then Skybreaker taking short stops right next to them to deposit their collected flags after the first lap. "Well, that was fast. Anyway," he pushed a couple of buttons. "Here's the scan from Applejack." He turned the device towards them again, and there was a collective gasp.
The entire image was yellow and red. Most of the red was in her legs, but there was quite a bit through the rest of her body as well. Applejack blinked a couple times, then looked at Bunker.
"Yer tellin' me I have more of this Energon in me than she does?" Her face at this point was a mix of amazement and fear, and her voice was the same.
"No. If this were pure Energon, you would probably be dead. This is just the radiation given off by the raw material. As expected, though, you have less than Twilight does. The fact that most of it is in your legs is what I find intriguing. I would guess that you subconsciously direct the radiation into your hooves and leg muscles, giving you greater strength and endurance. I'll have to test it at some point to be sure, though. Anyway, let's move on. Rarity?" She walked up to him, and he repeated the procedure. Again, the entire image was yellow and red. This time, however, most of the radiation was near her horn and hooves.
"So what does this picture mean?" She asked.
"The same thing as Twilight's. Most of the radiation is centered around your horn, due to your magical capabilities. Most of the radiation is used there, so your horn has natural buildup. I have a hypothesis about why your hooves also turn up red, but I'd like to get a scan of Fluttershy first, if she doesn't mind." They looked to her, and she squeaked a little as she hid behind her mane.
"Um, no... That would be alright, I guess... As long as it doesn't hurt, anyway." Bunker nodded his assurance, and she stepped forward. He once again repeated the procedure, but when his scanner beeped this time, he raised an eyebrow.
"Well that's interesting. I honestly don't know what to make of this." The others gave him curious looks, and he turned the screen to face them. "First, though: As I thought, your hooves appear to be made of similar material as a unicorn horn, so they have some amount of radiation control as well. I would guess that this allows you to use your hooves in ways that shouldn't be possible, such as grabbing and picking up objects. Also, your wings have radiation control capabilities, which probably make up a large part of your flight capacity. The part I don't understand is this." He pointed to the head of the diagram, which had red where the eyes were. "For some reason, your eyes have a high concentration of radiation. I don't suppose any of you know what this could be?" The others thought for a second, before Rarity perked up and started speaking.
"I'd care to bet it's the Stare." She said matter-of-factly. The other ponies gave sounds of agreement, but Bunker raised an eyebrow as Burnout and Dark Lance tilted their heads in curiosity.
"Care to explain that?" the white Autobot asked. Rarity turned to Twilight, knowing that she would be better suited to explaining it. Before she started, Skybreaker came to a screeching halt to drop off his flags. Just as the group was about to start wondering where Rainbow Dash was, she also came skidding to a stop in front of them before taking off in a blur from where she came.
"Huh. Skybreaker is actually winning. I honestly didn't expect that. Anyway, the Stare is something Fluttershy can do to influence other creatures. She actually used it on a cockatrice once to save the Crusaders and myself. She's able to make just about anything listen to her when she uses it." Bunker rubbed his chin in thought, and then nodded.
"That would probably explain it, then. If it's alright, though, I'd like to get a scan of it in use. Burnout, would you be willing to test this for me?" The medic nodded and stepped forward, but Fluttershy didn't seem too sure of this plan.
"A-are you sure about this? I mean, I don't think it will even work on you, and I don't want to hurt you if it does." Burnout smiled reassuringly at the pegasus.
"Don't worry. I'm sure this will work just fine. Besides, if you do manage to do anything to me, it probably won't be enough to put me in any real danger. I promise." This seemed to calm Fluttershy a bit and she nodded in agreement. Bunker pulled a new instrument out of his bag, this one with a larger screen and control surface and a larger scanner area. He fidgeted with it for a second before returning his attention to Fluttershy.
"Alright, whenever you're ready, Fluttershy. Go ahead." She nodded her understanding, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she suddenly snapped them all the way open, leaning forward slightly as she stared at Burnout. Bunker's scanner started beeping as Burnout froze, a slightly concerned expression on her face. As Bunker busied himself with the readout, Dark Lance came to Burnout's side, still unconvinced there was no danger.
"You alright, Burnout? You look worried." The medic's throat emitted a short whirring, followed by a single click. Dark Lance tilted his head as he realized what it was. "Cybertronian? We only use that when we can't use our vocal components. Bunker, what's going on? How is it possible for Fluttershy to disable Burnout's vocals?" The white Autobot pressed a couple of buttons, then studied the screen for a moment before answering.
"It would appear that Fluttershy is capable of focusing the radiation in her body through her eyes. It's a very thin ray, but it has the same effect as a stasis beam. The only difference is that the energy fluctuates slightly, allowing a certain level of control over the affected individual. This is fascinating, though. If we could figure out how to replicate this ability, we could make a nonlethal weapon capable of incapacitating almost any Decepticon we come across. This could actually end the war!" Bunker was excited now, and Dark Lance was almost reeling with the idea of seeing the war's end. Bunker nodded to Fluttershy, and she ended the Stare. Burnout blinked a few times, and wobbled slightly back and forth before finding her balance again as the pegasus turned back to Bunker.
"So, um, do you need me anymore? It's alright if you do, I'm just wondering." The scientist didn't even look up as he shook his head.
"No, I've got all the data I need. You're fine." Fluttershy visibly relaxed at this, before returning to her spot behind her friends as Pinkie Pie bounced up to Bunker.
"Ooh! Ooh! Me next! Me next!" Bunker rolled his optics, but picked up the original scanner anyway to check the pink mare's radiation. When he scanned her, though, instead of the usual high-pitched beep that was emitted for the others, the device let out a honking sound, not unlike an alarm. Bunker stared in confusion for a moment before shaking his head.
"That can't be right. Hold on a moment." He pushed a couple of buttons, then did another scan. Just like before, the device let out a low honking. Bunker made a disapproving sound, and Dark Lance came up behind him to see the screen. When he did, his optics went wide.
"What in the name of Primus?" he whispered incredulously. This got the attention of the others, who moved forward a step as Twilight asked the obvious question.
"Is something wrong?" In response, Bunker turned the screen around, receiving gasps from the ponies. Unlike the previous diagrams, this one was neither red nor yellow. It was black. Twilight was shocked to the point of stuttering. "Wh-what... What does this mean? You didn't even say it could GO black! Is she in danger? Will she be alright? What's going on?" Dark Lance stepped forward as Bunker turned the screen back around so he could study it further.
"She'll be fine. These readings are only showing what's already there. If it were dangerous to her, the effects would already be apparent. A more likely outcome is that she can do things that don't appear to make sense. Would that seem logical?" At this point, every pony there, as well as Spike, went wide-eyed before turning to Pinkie, who looked at them quizzically. Suddenly, Twilight jumped to her hooves and starting gesticulating wildly.
"That explains everything! The Pinkie Sense, the sudden appearances, the strange abilities, EVERYTHING! It finally all makes sense!" She gave a cry of joy and stood up on her hind legs before falling onto her back with a happy sound. Dark Lance waited a moment to make sure she was done before continuing.
"Anyway, what the diagram means is that she has enough Energon radiation in her body to put a full-size Autobot or Decepticon into stasis lock." Twilight got back up at this point to look at him with a curious expression.
"What do you mean, 'full-size'? You make it sound like you're smaller than normal or something." Dark Lance then remembered that he had never explained his size difference.
"Ah, yes. Twilight, do you remember when I said that we normally have vehicle-based alt-modes?" She nodded. "Well, how useful would that be in my current size?" She thought for a moment before answering.
"Well, probably not much, considering that you couldn't carry very much more than you could normally. And, you wouldn't be able to carry any of your teammates because your propulsion wouldn't have enough torque or surface area because it's too small. So, not at all, really."
"Correct. Now, with all of that in mind, why would we have evolved to be able to transform if it would only allow the individual to move faster without carrying anything else?" She put a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment, before her eyes widened and she snapped her head back up to look at the Autobot, who raised an eyebrow. "Figured it out?" She nodded.
"You aren't the same size as the rest of your species, are you?"
"No. In fact, Burnout, Bunker, and I aren't even the same size we used to be. When we first came online, we were approximately twenty times our current size." The ponies stared at him with slack jaws at that, before looking up, trying to imagine a being that large. Dark Lance chuckled at their reactions before continuing. "Obviously, we were extremely large. When we were chosen to be deep space explorers, we had to get new, smaller bodies built so that we wouldn't terrify any life forms we came across. Our original bodies are in storage underneath the spaceport, back on Cybertron. Until we find a new world to inhabit, though, they'll stay there." Twilight appeared to be about to say something before she cocked her head to the side and looked past Dark Lance.
"Is that Rainbow?" Everyone else in the group turned to look in the same direction, and they all recognized the multi-colored blur coming closer. "Why is she coming from the wrong way?" Dark Lance suddenly became uneasy as he zoomed in his optics and noticed that she was injured. He did a systems check of himself, and prepared himself for fast movement. As the pegasus neared, the others could see her ragged state, and it became apparent she was breathing heavily. They all moved towards her, and as she came within speaking distance, she landed, panting. When they were close enough, she finally caught her breath and spoke.
The instant he heard one of his subordinates was in danger, Dark Lance's entire demeanor changed.
"Bunker, Burnout. Go back to the ship and prepare the med-lab. And be ready for an attack from Bloodwing. Rainbow, can you take me to where Skybreaker is?" The pegasus panted a few more times before speaking again.
"Yeah, it's not too far. Just give me a second." She started taking deeper, more deliberate breaths to get herself under control as Bunker and Burnout disappeared into the forest. She took one more breath and let it out before jumping back to her hooves and flaring her wings. "Alright, let's go!" Dark Lance nodded, and they both took off towards the captive Autobot.
Rainbow took the Autobot commander back the way she had come, turning farther south when they reached the river. It eventually ended in a waterfall that poured down into a large canyon. Looking down as he flew, Dark Lance could see two dots at the very bottom. One was black, the other green. He called Rainbow to stop, and hovered over to her.
"Wait here. The rest of your friends will probably have followed us, and they'll most likely want to give you a once-over before you get yourself into anything else. I should be able to handle this on my own, but I'll let you know if I need backup." He then started moving again, gliding in a slow circle as the pegasus above called a warning to him.
"Be careful! He's a lot stronger than any Changeling I've fought before!" Dark Lance hummed to himself in thought at that.
^Why would this Changeling be stronger? She didn't say it was any larger, so it's probably safe to assume it isn't, but then what could cause the difference? It may have something to do with the Energon it's consumed. Or it could simply be a recessive gene. Maybe a drug of some kind? I guess I'll find out when I talk to it.^ As he finished his internal list of questions, he landed a few yards from the Changeling. He found it to be a strange creature, at the very least. It had the body structure and was slightly larger than a pony, but instead of fur it had glossy black chitin, and light blue eyes with white pupils. It's horn was sharp and curved, unlike the blunt spirals of a unicorn, and it sported a pair of translucent insectile wings. Easily the strangest feature, though, were the holes in its hooves. Skybreaker was several feet farther back, unconscious and encased in a translucent green cocoon filled with goop that prevented him from moving. Dark Lance did a short scan of his subordinate, but focused his attention back on the Changeling when he found no major injuries.
"You obviously know who I am and why I'm here, since you were waiting, so let's get right to it. What do you want?" He gave the strange bug-like creature his best glare, but it only huffed before speaking with a strange, buzzing voice.
"Simple, really. I want to leave." This simply confused the Autobot leader.
"What do you mean, leave? Leave the canyon? The country?" The Changeling huffed again.
"No. I want to leave the planet." For a microsecond, Dark Lance thought he was being mocked, but the face the Changeling had was one of complete seriousness.
"So why come to me?" he asked, trying to keep up appearances. The Changeling suddenly growled at him.
"Do not take me for a fool!" he barked, anger covering his features. "I know precisely what you are, Dark Lance, Commander of Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team Six! I am fully aware of your capabilities and origins. And I know you have a ship! Do not believe me to be one of the ignorant fools who thinks no other intelligent life exists outside of this planet. I have seen your kind before, and I am fully aware of your conflict." The Changeling growled again as Dark Lance took in the meaning of his words.
^Interesting. He already knew what we are, how we got here, and which team we are. I didn't even bother telling the ponies we've met that there are other teams, so either he has known about all this for a very long time, or he managed to get into the ship without setting off any of our alarms.^
"How do you know all this? I find it hard to believe you got into our ship without alerting us, so how does a creature we've never come across before know what we are? And why would you want to leave, anyway?" The Changeling chuckled a little before speaking again.
"Because you *have* come across the same creatures as my progenitors. You see, I'm actually one of the oldest beings on the planet. Older than even Celestia. The rest of my kind died long ago from arrogance and stupidity, but I have been willing to be patient in getting what I want. In the meantime, however, my species has devolved into near-mindless creatures that require a queen to tell them everything. This idiotic, failed invasion that she attempted recently was the last straw. I am tired of their mindlessness and ineptitude. I want to leave, and I'm willing to do quite a bit to make that happen." Dark Lance stared curiously at the Changeling for a minute, gauging the truth of his words.
"What's your name?"
"I am called Wingshift." This made Dark Lance raise an eyebrow, but he decided to leave it alone for now.
"Are you aware that our ship is currently unable to leave?" he asked calmly.
"Yes, and I'm perfectly willing to both help you fix it, and defeat the Decepticons to allow us to leave without worry. I have finally found a way to remove myself from the asinine lifestyle of a bug in the ground, and I'm not going to simply let it pass because of some misplaced loyalty that I never cared about to begin with." Now Dark Lance was curious.
"What do you mean 'misplaced loyalty'?" he asked suspiciously. Wingshift grinned a little.
"Oh, please. I already said I'm not a Changeling. And I know you recognize the style of my name." Dark Lance's suspicions of what kind of creature he was actually talking to were suddenly confirmed with this statement.
"You *are* an Insecticon..." he muttered, just loud enough to be heard.
"Not quite," Wingshift replied. Then he transformed. His hind legs folded, then extended so his hooves were now knee guards. His back plate fell away, allowing his whole upper body to turn around, then split so that his head became his shoulders, while his neck and forelegs compressed into a pair of powerful arms and his hooves split into a pair of claws with three large pincers making up each one. His wings then returned to their position behind his neck after his head was revealed, giving Dark Lance a good look at him. It was obvious from his face alone he was not a normal transformer. There was plenty of circuitry and metal, but it was interspersed with flesh and other organic structures. His mouth had a pair of mandibles, and his eyes were compound. Whatever Wingshift was, Dark Lance didn't have a name for it. Then something even more unexpected happened: Wingshift was suddenly cloaked in green flame. By the time it had registered in Dark Lance's processor, it was gone, but instead of Wingshift's robot mode, he was now looking at a perfect copy of his own robot mode. Even his thrusters and lance had been copied. He stepped back in shock, before finally understanding what had happened.
"You're a Shifter, too?" The clone shook his head before another flash of green fire enveloped him, leaving the correct robot mode behind.
"No. I have no relation to the Shifters. My spark was contaminated during the reproduction sequence, causing me to grow with a much smaller, partially organic body, and the ability to disguise myself as any creature of approximately the same size using the Energon radiation around me. I am actually the creation of the Insecticons who originally crashed here. When they exposed their sparks to do so, however, they were subjected to massive amounts of radiation. The same happened to the others of my generation. All members of both groups died by the time the fifth generation reached maturity. Since then, all apparent connections to our Insecticon progenitors has disappeared from the Changeling race. They are weak, mindless, and completely incompetent in combat. They rely utterly on their queen and are only capable of defeating even the weakest of foes in large numbers. Even then, though, victory is not assured!" The anger in his voice became more and more apparent as he spoke, until he was practically yelling at the end. He paused for a moment to collect himself, then continued. "I wish to sever all ties to these pathetic beings, but to do that I must remove myself entirely from all contact with them. I have to go off-world. So, if you are willing to do this for me, I am willing to help you fight the Decepticons."
Dark Lance stared hard at the mutant Insecticon, trying to determine the likelihood of him being a threat. So far, the only hostile act had been capturing Skybreaker, but he could quite easily decide to become loyal to the Decepticons again. Dark Lance studied the Insecticon's body for signs of ill intention, but instead he found indicators that Wingshift was likening the current situation to a trial in which he was innocent. Weighing his options and the risks and rewards thereof, Dark Lance made his decision. Before he could give his answer, though, he heard hoofbeats coming from behind. Wingshift apparently heard them as well, because he changed back to his Changeling mode. Dark Lance turned around just in time to see all six Element Bearers round a corner and head straight for them. When they got close, they slowed down to stop next to him, glaring at Wingshift. Twilight was first to speak.
"Dark Lance, are you alright? We tried to keep up, but you're pretty fast, yourself." He nodded calmly, and gestured to the Changeling before them.
"I'm fine. I would like to introduce you all to Wingshift. Apparently, he doesn't like living with the hive, and wishes to leave the planet entirely to get away from it." This was met with surprised stares from all but Pinkie Pie, who bounced right up to the disguised Insecticon.
"Ooooh! So does that mean you'll be our friend? I should throw a party! I didn't get to throw a party for Lancey and his friends, so I need a really good party to make up for it. Do you like cupcakes? What kind of games do Changelings play? I'll bet they're really interesting, since you can change forms and all. Can it be a surprise party? Those are the best!" Wingshift simply stared in shock at the pink mare as she bounced around him, constantly bombarding him with questions and suggestions. Eventually, he looked to Dark Lance with a terrified expression.
"Is she always like this? Please say 'no'. I don't think I can take this for an extended period of time." The Autobot commander chuckled at the expected reaction to Pinkie's typical antics.
"She is, but you won't be staying with them." At this, all six mares looked at him with confused expressions, Pinkie Pie having stopped in midair to do so. "You'll be staying on the ship. I don't think you're lying to me about all this, but I didn't get promoted to a position of leadership for taking stupid risks. I think you'll be more comfortable with us, anyway. Before that, though, show them why you want to leave. I don't want them being scared unnecessarily later if I can help it." The others gave Dark Lance curious looks before returning their attention back to Wingshift expectantly. He sighed before changing into his robot mode again, earning gasps of surprise from all six mares.
"Changelings are Cybertronians?" Twilight said as she sat down in shock.
"Not quite." The purple unicorn's attention returned to Wingshift as he repeated his tale of the evolution of the Changelings. When he finished, all six of the ponies were reeling from the new revelation. Suddenly, something occurred to Applejack.
"Wait a sec. If Dark Lance used to be huge, how big were the Insecticons?" The Autobot commander answered before Wingshift could open his mouth.
"Typically, a standard Insecticon would have been close to twice my original size. Some of them were even bigger than that, though. Don't worry, they rarely left Cybertron, and all of the ones that came here are dead, apparently. Now, would you mind releasing my subordinate, please, Wingshift?" Wingshift nodded, then went about taking apart the cocoon Skybreaker was still encased in. When he was fully freed, Dark Lance picked him up and deposited him on his back. "Now then, let's get back to the ship and figure out our next move. I want to be back by nightfall. Come on."
An hour later, Burnout was checking Skybreaker's systems as he sat in the med-lab, fuming at his defeat from Wingshift.
"Y'know, if I had known he wasn't a regular Changeling, I would've won! He tricked me into thinking he was a local, and I held back because of it. Stupid freaking mutant Insecticon creep...." He continued grumbling and griping as Burnout did her job, silently amused at his frustration at being defeated.
Meanwhile, in the bridge of the Star Runner, Dark Lance was discussing the current situation with Bunker.
"I still think this was a bad idea, Lance. For all we know, he's already allied himself with Bloodwing, and the first chance he gets, he'll stab us in the back and take off with them instead. I'm willing to give him a chance, but I'm not willing to totally trust him yet, either."
"I am fully aware of the risks I'm taking, Bunker. That's why I told him to stay in the room I gave him as much as possible, and he doesn't have clearance to any important areas. I even put a command in to rescind clearance for any of us if multiple or conflicting energy signatures are detected. I don't want him running around all over the place just yet, and if he is planning something, he'll have a much harder time of it. Just try not to go ballistic on him unless you're absolutely sure he's doing something on purpose, alright?" Bunker gave him a begrudging look, but made an affirmative sound after a moment. "Thank you. By the way, how are the repairs on the main engines coming?" Bunker leaned back slightly in his seat, recalling the necessary information.
"Well, we've finished clearing out the rest of the dirt that will prevent ignition, but most of the internal components are severely damaged. It will probably be another week, at least, before we can fly. What about that meteor shower you were talking about before?"
"Luna said she wasn't able to completely redirect the shower, but with my help, she was able to change the paths of the meteors so that only one protoform would be hit, and it would land not too far from here. Also, she managed to give us another day to prepare for it, so we have two days to get everything in order for the protoform's arrival. For now, I want you to look after Wingshift. I'll have him help you as needed, but I need someone to keep an optic on him, and you're the best choice for that." Bunker shot him another glare, but acquiesced anyway before heading off to his room to recharge.
Daybreak found Fireburst flying low over a mountain range east of Ponyville. The previous two days had been rather frustrating for him, having been chosen to be last to use the mixture they made. Somehow, they had done something different from what the zebra had done originally, resulting in a diluted version of the mixture that was only able to cure one of them at a time. Bloodwing, obviously, had gone first. When he was back in robot mode, he had decided that Sharpedge would be next, as she was most useful for regaining the ground they had lost while they were indisposed. Crosswire had been chosen to go before him so he would be able to analyze the plant that had caused the whole ordeal to begin with. And to top it all off, they ran out of one of the most important ingredients and had to go searching for more. By the time his batch was finished, he needed to recharge and wait for morning. Now, though, he was fully operational again, and fully capable of destroying anything foolish enough to incite his anger.
However, death and destruction were not his current priorities. Right now, all he wanted to do was fly with impunity. He was a rarity among Decepticons, in that he did not choose flight-capable alt-modes purely for tactical reasons. He thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of flying, and made a point of using any excuse he could to go out and stretch his wings. It was also very calming for him, and he went out to fly any time he was feeling particularly frustrated. And this was most certainly one of those times.
As he flew over a ravine, his sensors suddenly jumped for a moment, and he turned back to see what had caused the spike. Looking down into the crack, he saw that it was filled with Energon crystals. He came closer, and realized something profound: this Energon was stable. It still gave off radiation, but it was extremely low. He landed, and began moving among the towers of crystal with awe. As he turned a corner, he found something else that was completely unexpected. There were two huge pillars of Energon, one on either side of a short, wide platform, and the whole area looked like it had been cleared of excess structures. He climbed a few steps onto the platform, and looked around. On the edges of the platform were a series of small crystal spikes, spaced evenly from each other, like they had been purposefully carved out with the platform. In the center was a small bowl-shaped indentation, only a foot or so deep at the center. Curious, he moved into it. When nothing seemed to happen, he made to move away, but found that his feet had become immobile. As he tried to determine what was holding him, he heard a sound from either side. He looked to see the two towers sparking, and glowing with energy. Thinking they were about to explode, he tried to free himself from whatever was holding him, but found it to be a futile effort. He watched with fear as the towers glowed brighter and brighter, to the point of being near-blinding, and when he believed they were about to detonate, all their energy suddenly came coursing out, and into his body, in great bolts. Pain arced through him, so intense he couldn't even scream, then it all ceased, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
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"Where is he? It's been over a megacycle since he left, he should have been back by now. What could he possibly be doing that would require this much time?" Bloodwing paced the Darksword's bridge yet again as he fumed over his subordinate's absence. His ranting was cut short, however, when a low *boom* resounded through the ship. "What was that?" he wondered aloud.
"Do you think the Autobots are attacking?" Sharpedge suggested. Bloodwing shook his head.
"No, Dark Lance is too obsessed with peace to try something like that. It sounded like a sonic boom, but I don't think the creatures of this planet have that level of technology yet. Perhaps Fireburst finally decided to come back." He went over to the door and opened it, grimacing at having to return to his beast mode. He stepped out and took off so he could see further. As he looked towards the east, he saw a small dot in the distance. He zoomed in, and saw that the dot was red, and had large wings that were pumping hard at the air. He quickly realized that it must be Fireburst, and went back to the ground to await his arrival. After a few more seconds, Fireburst landed nearby, skidding to a halt and kicking up dirt and debris everywhere.
"That was fast. Especially for you, Fireburst. Care to tell me how you came upon such power?" Bloodwing asked his usually slow-flying lieutenant.
"Sir, I have found something profound. An entire canyon filled with stable Energon crystals! There was some sort of structure in it that somehow increased my power, but the canyon itself is massive. We would be able to overpower and outlast the Autobots with near-invincibility were we to use it effectively." Bloodwing rubbed his chin with a hoof in thought.
"Don't be so quick to estimate yourself. We'll have Crosswire run some tests, then you can show me the canyon and give me a field demonstration. I don't want to start jumping to conclusions until I know where I'm landing. Come on, we have work to do." He trotted back inside, and his subordinate followed.
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"Heave!" Wingshift put his weight behind the large hunk of metal, straining all his limbs as he pushed against it. Beside him, Bunker did the same against another blade of the turbine fan they were trying to remove. It had gotten mangled beyond use, and was now lodged in the turbine's inner wall. They needed to put in a new one entirely, but first this one had to be removed so the damage could be fixed. The screech of metal moving against metal sounded, then stopped a few seconds later after only a couple of inches. They strained for a few seconds, then relaxed as the stubborn piece of metal refused to go further.
"Scrap." Bunker muttered. "At this rate, it'll be a week before we get it out. Any bright ideas, Wingshift?" The Insecticon looked closely at the ends of the fan blades, then shook his head.
"No. The only method I can think of to get it out faster is to cut it. As you've already stated, though, we don't have the materials for another spare. So I've got nothing." Bunker sighed, cooling off his overworked servos, and inspected the holes in the wall again.
The interior of the turbine had been rather thoroughly shredded by the high-speed fan, so replacing the wall wouldn't be terribly difficult. He would have to replace the entire section, but in some ways that was easier than fixing just one or two holes with patches. The blades of the fan had dug themselves deep into the wall, and had bent into strange angles afterward, effectively wedging the entire thing in place. Only after a couple of hours of prying, pulling, pushing, and bashing the edges of the holes were they able to get the few inches they had just moved. It was exhausting, tedious, and most of all, frustrating. Bunker knew how to lose himself in work he didn't particularly enjoy, but this task was wearing, even on him. He couldn't remove the wall section until the fan was out, but the fan had several parts lodged in the wall itself, preventing adequate access to the outer edges of the blades for readjustment. The whole thing was discouraging, to say the least.
"Hey," Wingshift said, breaking Bunker out of his reverie. "What if we cut the holes open further? The whole piece needs to be replaced anyway, so if we open the holes wider, we should be able to get enough clearance to bend the blade ends back, and get them through." Bunker thought about it for a moment and, finding no readily apparent reason not to, nodded.
"Yeah, that should work. Let's give it a shot. Not sure how we didn't come up with that sooner, to be honest." They crouched on either side of one of the holes, but before they could start working, a huge shockwave rippled through the area, knocking both of them off their feet. When they had regained their senses, Bunker motioned for Wingshift to stay hidden, and quietly moved towards the front of the turbine to try and ascertain the origin of the wave. Looking out, he saw Fireburst and Bloodwing standing a small distance away. Fireburst was in his robot mode with his beast mode legs over his head, but transformed into an energy cannon.
"Oh, Dark Laaance!" Bloodwing hollered at the ship, "Come out and plaaay-aaaay!" Bunker transformed back into his beast mode, hoping that what little Energon buildup had accumulated in his system would wear off before he was needed to fight. Wingshift crept up behind him, ready to leap into action the moment his superior gave the order. It had already been decided that Wingshift was more than worth the effort of keeping him around as a fighter. His mutations had given him a natural immunity to Energon radiation, allowing him the ability to stay in his robot mode for indefinite periods of time without concern. 'Techno-organic', Burnout had referred to him as. A hybrid of flesh and technology, capable of the same transformational abilities as his Insecticon forebears, but with the carbon-based natural structures capable of removing the radiation from his body without any special conditions having to be met. As the two of them watched, Bloodwing gave his subordinate a gesture, after which Fireburst charged up his cannon again and fired at the main hatch. The shields absorbed the explosion, but the shockwave knocked Bunker and Wingshift onto their backs again. Apparently, Bloodwing heard this as he called out again.
"Ah, fixing the engines, are we? Well come on out, then. It's not like you can beat us now." Bunker motioned for Wingshift to stay put, then revealed himself to the Decepticons outside. Bloodwing sneered at the Autobot, and took a few steps forward. "So, helmsman, where is your precious leader? Out galavanting in the woods, saving the little creatures from the big, bad predators, hmmmm? Or is he hiding inside like a coward, hoping I'll just go away?" Bunker narrowed his optics at the disguised Decepticon before answering.
"He's not here. But if you're looking for a fight, I'm more than happy to oblige." He took up a defensive stance, but Bloodwing merely laughed at him.
"Honestly, you're almost as bad as your delusional leader. When he gets back tell him we'll be waiting at the ravine three megamiles northeast of here. If he doesn't make an appearance by the end of the day, though, who knows what could happen?" He gave a final bout of laughter before taking off, with Fireburst transforming to follow him into the distance right after. Bunker quickly went inside, and activated the comm system. Dark Lance's face appeared on the viewscreen not long after, and Bunker relayed the events that had transpired as quickly as he could.
"Yeah, that's not good. I'll be down as soon as I can. Get Burnout back to base, and tell Wingshift and Skybreaker to prep for combat. I just need to wrap up final preparations for the protoform's arrival with the Princess, and I'll be finished. Also, make sure the defense systems are fully charged. I've got a bad feeling in my Spark about this, and I don't want to be proven right without being ready." Bunker snapped a salute, then switched the channel over to Burnout as Wingshift came in.
"Get yourself combat ready. Dark Lance will be coming back in not too long, and he wants you and Skybreaker ready to go." Wingshift gave a short nod, then headed for the defrag pods in the med-bay. Burnout's face then showed on the screen, and Bunker informed her of the situation as well before copying the procedure with Skybreaker. Less than fifteen minutes later, they were all assembled and ready to go, albeit with the addition of Twilight and her friends. The door opened, and everyone looked up to see Dark Lance come in.
"Alright. Everyone ready?" He was met with nods, and Twilight stepped forward.
"We're coming with you." Her face was set with determination, but Datk Lance shook his head.
"No. It's far too dangerous for you to come as well. From what Bunker told me, they've found some sort of new weapon. I can't risk your safety on this." In response, Applejack took a spot next to her purple friend.
"Yeah, but we have the Elements of Harmony, and these guys are obviously evil! If we can hit them, we might be able to take 'em out fer good!" Dark Lance raised an eyebrow at this.
"How do you mean? I didn't think you had technology capable of damaging us yet, but I suppose it would be possible." Twilight shook her head at this.
"The Elements don't work like that. They are the physical manifestations of the six qualities that embody friendship: Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic. Each of us was chosen by the Elements to be their bearers, and when we use them together, they're capable of stopping almost anything that threatens Equestria." Before Dark Lance could think about it, Skybreaker spoke up.
"Y'know, boss, that sounds suspiciously similar to our own ideals. Not quite exact, but definitely close. And you guys told me that their magic is actually Energon radiation, so maybe these things can do something about the 'cons. It might not work at all, but it's worth a shot, right?" Lance stared at his subordinate for a moment, surprised by the level of insight the scout had just displayed. Most of the time, Skybreaker was a goofball, at best, but times like this did occasionally happen, and they always threw the commander off his stride for a cycle or two. Even with the system shock, though, Dark Lance couldn't fault the yellow Autobot's logic. Their own motto of 'Till All are One' meshed almost perfectly with the idea of 'Friendship is Magic'. Combined with the looks of determination on the ponies' faces, and the possibility of finally ending the conflict once and for all, the Autobot commander knew he didn't have a sufficient argument not to let them go. He sighed, and nodded his head.
"Fine. But first, we need to come up with a plan."
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Two hours later, Bloodwing and Fireburst were standing on the edge of the ravine, waiting for Dark Lance and his team to arrive. Crosswire had calculated that the supercharge effect of the pillars would last approximately one hour, so they had alternated charges at half an hour each to ensure they wouldn't expire during the fight. Just as Bloodwing was beginning to really get impatient, Sharpedge's voice came over the comm.
"Sir, Dark Lance, Skybreaker, and some of the locals are heading towards you. It looks like the natives decided they wanted to try and help stop us." Bloodwing grinned maliciously.
"That suits me just fine. They won't be able to do anything, and they'll be a liability for Dark Lance. Commence assault. This will finally be the end of our Autobot annoyances." A few minutes later, the two Decepticons saw Dark Lance and the others emerge from the trees. "Well, Lance, I can't say I'm surprised you actually showed up. I am surprised you decided to bring guests, though. Wanted to make sure they wouldn't try to fight me and get themselves hurt after I terminate you?" Twilight and the others jumped forward before the commander could respond.
"We're here to stop you ourselves! You aren't the only one with power! Ready, girls?" The other five nodded to her as Bloodwing gave them a confused look. That look quickly changed to one of shock and caution as they all started floating in the air and Twilight's eyes began shining with a pure white light. As they did, the sensors of the Cybertronians present all maxed out, proving to them just how much power was currently being harnessed by the floating ponies. Before any of them could react, the energy was released upwards in a spiraling rainbow, which then turned downwards at the shocked Decepticons. The beam contacted the disguised Cybertronians, and the cries of fear Dark Lance heard gave him a sudden bout of hope. A hope that was just as suddenly crushed when the cries of fear gave way to laughter. He looked back to Twilight, and saw that she and her friends now had looks of worry on their faces.
"What's going on? What did they do?!" Twilight shook her head in confusion.
"I don't know! We can't stop the spell! It feels like something is pulling the energy out by force!" Dark Lance slowly turned back to where the Decepticons stood, and his optics widened in horror as he saw their outlines standing up in the maelstrom of colors. The Elements quickly gave out as their power was drained dry, and the six ponies fell to the ground as the artifacts themselves seemed to lose their color. This went unnoticed, though, as the Autobot leader stared at the slowly revealed forms of Bloodwing and Fireburst, standing in their robot modes and shining with stolen energy.
"Well now," Bloodwing said after looking himself over. "This is interesting."
Dark Lance groaned in pain as he slammed through another tree and finally stopped against the next. Through the path of broken trees, he could see Bloodwing's shining form moving toward him. He stood up, and transformed into his robot mode.
"BAHAHAHAHA! Really, Lance? You really believe you have any chance of stopping me now? Those idiotic organics you love so much just gave me a power boost to rival Megatron, and you think you have a single flicker of hope against me?" Dark Lance stood, and flicked away a strand of Energon that had leaked from his arm.
"You still don't understand the difference between power and strength, Bloodwing. Even after all this time, you're still just an ignorant protoform." The Decepticon commander's expression quickly changed from one of mirth to one of fury.
"PROTOFORM!? COULD A PROTOFORM DO THIS!?" His shield spun around, and the twin spikes that now pointed forward arced with electricity for a moment before a blast of energy rocketed out from the revealed railgun. Dark Lance simply leaned to one side, allowing the ball of instant death to impact the tree behind him, snapping it in half and causing it to fall forward. Bloodwing glared up at the approaching cluster of branches, and swung his sword in a single arc, cutting them off and letting them fall to the ground around him. He returned his gaze to his actual target, and jumped back in surprise as he was nearly impaled by an upward thrust. Dark Lance allowed gravity to turn his weapon downward as he danced his fingers around it, shifting to a backhanded position. He kept up his forward momentum, and used it as he began spinning, making a near-constant assault against his foe with both shield and lance. He continued slowly pushing Bloodwing back until he could feel himself becoming dizzy. As soon as he stopped, the startled Decepticon took to the air, hoping for a chance to prepare another attack. As soon as he stopped to find Dark Lance again, though, he was shaken further to see his target following his path. Startled out of his confidence, he took off again
^What is he thinking? He must know there's no way to beat me as we are. But if he thought that, he wouldn't be following me. I need to end this. Now, before the supercharge wears off. And everyone knows the best way to do that...^ His confidence renewed, Bloodwing spun around and came to a stop, just barely reacting fast enough to block the thrust that had been aimed for his neck. Dark Lance pushed with all his might, shoving his face as close to their entwined weapons as he dared.
"You haven't learned a thing. You will never beat me, Megatron will never beat Optimus, the Decepticons will never beat the Autobots, and evil will never triumph over good. There have been dark days before, and there will be more in the future. But every storm ends, and every night gives way to dawn. You will never be powerful enough to truly win." Bloodwing sneered as he finally regained his balance and stopped moving backward.
"There's that speech I was looking for. And here I thought you didn't have any more in you." He suddenly stopped laughing as Dark Lance activated his mask. The thick metal moved downward, then in, as it sealed against the rest of his helmet. The lights in his optics shone through, giving him an almost demonic appearance as he spoke again, his voice taking on a far more mechanical cadence than normal, and giving him an eerie, uncaring sound as all emotion disappeared from the Autobot's words and face.
"I have a lot more than speeches." Suddenly, Bloodwing felt very, very afraid.
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Back on the ground, Skybreaker flew low to the ground, zig-zagging in circles around Fireburst as he tried to blast the speedy little pest into atoms. After missing yet again, he roared in frustration.
"That does it! No more holding back!" He spread both his hands wide, and his arms began separating and re-layering themselves until they had reformed into a set of twin electro-blasters. Energy gathered in the barrel of one, then fired as the other charged. Skybreaker dodged the first blast, and rolled to avoid the next. The third, though, sent him flying across the small arena that had been blasted out of the forest from Fireburst's unyielding assault. The draconian warrior slowly strode forward as the downed scout rose to his hooves. "What's the matter? None of your usual idiotic quips? Don't want to fight anymore? Come on, show me what you've got." Skybreaker smirked, and then something unexpected happened. A second Skybreaker removed himself from the original, and took up a place to Fireburst's right. Then a third moved to his left. Then a fourth, and a fifth.... Soon, a whole platoon had surrounded a very confused Fireburst. He looked around again, then grinned as he realized what was happening. "Cute holograms. Didn't take you for the cowardly type, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Most scouts can't take it when they find themselves up against a superior fighter. Too bad I can see right through them, though." He switched his vision to only pick up Cybertronians, and spun around, once more confused as he failed to find his quarry. He returned to his normal vision mode as he heard the tell-tale sound of a t-cog, and turned to see Skybreaker in his robot mode just before he was given a punch that was stronger than anything he remembered ever receiving from the relatively weak scout. Strong enough to knock him down. He looked up at the advancing Autobot, and switched once more to his other vision mode to ensure himself of what he was seeing. Sure enough, he couldn't detect anything. He switched back, and rolled back to his feet as his arms returned to normal. He leapt up, transforming in midair to land squarely on Skybreaker's chest. He opened his mouth to bite down on his opponent's faceplate, but was stopped as his target put his hands against the base of his head.
"You should just give up, Autobot. It'll be faster that way. It's not like you're strong enough to keep this up. And since you don't have any auto-weapons, you can't get away." Fireburst sneered and snapped at the pinned Autobot, anticipating the imminent victory. Then Skybreaker finally spoke for the first time that day. In a voice that was most certainly not his.
"You talk too much." The voice was buzzing and stoic, but Fireburst didn't have time to question it as a green flash forced him to look away for moment. When he could see again, he was no longer looking down at Skybreaker. Instead, a glossy black, bug-like face looked back up at him. Before he could even process this information, though, he was distracted by the much more immediate problem of this unknown entity's shoulders sliding upward to reveal three long barrels each, which moved forward to their firing positions before unleashing a storm of bullets into his face and neck. He roared in pain, confusion, and anger as he tried to shield himself with his wings and get away from the three-clawed pincers which now held him in place, rather than push him away. Even through the intense pain and his attempts at protecting himself, though, he felt something leaving his body. As if the power he had been charged with was being drained from him. He finally managed to free himself from the grip that had been holding him in place, took several steps away and looked back at this new, much more powerful, foe. What he saw stunned him.
The being that had beaten him was now shining with power. Fireburst looked down at himself, and realized he was no longer glowing as he had been after the blast from the natives. He looked back up, and saw his foe moving towards him. He drew in a deep breath, and threw his head forward, releasing a long stream of fire. The mystery fighter dodged, rushing forward to plant a left hook across Fireburst's jaw. He recoiled, shaking himself through the haze that only came from a well-aimed shot to a pressure point. When he could see again, he turned toward his opponent, only to receive another punch to the snout. He reared back in pain, and suddenly found himself sailing backwards as another hit contacted his chest. He landed hard on his side, and picked himself up as a long, dark blue object stuck in the ground between them. A few seconds later, Bloodwing and Dark Lance appeared, the first moving next to the lance that was now buried halfway to the grip. Fireburst moved up next to his leader, who regarded him curiously.
"Care to explain what happened, Lieutenant?" He asked as Energon dripped from a wound in his side. Fireburst transformed, and activated his blasters and cannon once more.
"Skybreaker was never here. It was actually a Shifter in disguise. He's capable of somehow stealing power from others, as well. I was too focused on figuring out his arsenal to notice how, though. I advise we finish this now." Bloodwing nodded, and readied his railgun.
"Any last words, Lance?" He taunted.
"You really should pay more attention." Bloodwing raised an eyebrow as his rival pointed his right arm directly at them and spread his hand. And then kept spreading it. The fingers disconnected from each other and turned backwards as Dark Lance's forearm extended forward between them and twisted, showing itself to be six individual barrels. Bloodwing was surprised, to say the least, when the minigun that used to be Lance's arm unleashed a wall of bullets at the two Decepticons. They both deactivated their charge sequences, and dropped into defensive positions against the wall of high-speed Energon pellets.
"Wingshift," Dark Lance's voice sounded over the comm. "Look around and see if you can figure out where they hid their weapon. Once you do, save some images and then destroy it. If it doesn't blow up into slag, salvage anything that looks important, then let me know. I'll hold them here." Wingshift raised an eyebrow at his new leader.
"Are you certain? I could hold them with my powerup, and you'll know what to look for better in terms of salvage." Dark Lance paused to eject the spent energy pack, and put in a new one.
"No time to argue. GO!" He resumed firing as Wingshift took off, heading back to the ravine. On his way, he found the ponies recovering from the drain of their spell. Twilight groaned as she got up.
"Oooh. What happened? I feel like I just got run over by a herd of stampeding buffalo." Wingshift offered a claw, and she took it, finally managing to get to her hooves, though she was still very off-balance. He put his other claw out to stop her falling over.
"Bloodwing and Fireburst somehow managed to absorb the power from your artifacts. I managed to steal what Fireburst had, but I can feel it wearing off. We need to figure out what Bloodwing's trump card is, and destroy it." An explosion sounded through the trees, and Wingshift made a split-second decision. "The search will go faster with your help. Come on."
"Uh, dude? I don't think it will be too difficult." Wingshift looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was hovering over the ravine and pointing down. The others walked over, and gasped at the Energon-filled canyon. Wingshift activated his comm.
"Sir, I found what Bloodwing was hiding, but you'll never believe what it is. This ravine is practically covered in Energon crystals. Stable, too, by the looks of it. Are you sure you want me to follow through with this?" The sound of combat came through before Dark Lance answered.
"Make sure it won't start a chain reaction first. If you can't take it out without destroying the entire forest, leave it be. Otherwise, grab what you can, then send it up in smoke." There was a crash, and Wingshift winced at the painful sound before sending confirmation and turning to the rest.
"Alright. We need to make sure destroying this canyon won't start a reaction in any other veins nearby. You all look for nearby Energon deposits, and I'll determine whether or not they're likely to cause problems. We have to move fast, so let's get going!" Rainbow grinned confidently and took off in a blur as the rest nodded their understanding and split up to cover ground faster. They all searched the entire length of the canyon as fast as possible, and after deciding there was nothing dangerously close, Wingshift started cutting off chunks for them to actually use. He grabbed as much as he could carry, then flew up, readying a grenade as he did so. He landed near the ponies, and hurled the explosive over the edge of the cliff. They all got down behind the largest trees they could find, but were still deafened slightly by the massive explosion that followed the grenade's detonation. After the daze wore off, they looked out to see massive pillars of smoke billowing from the ravine.
"Wing....shift....." Dark Lance's voice weakly came over the comm again, and Wingshift started running towards the signal's origin, the ponies quick to follow him as they all sensed the apparent danger to the Autobot leader.
"Sir, what happened? Are you alright?" He transformed, taking to the air to move faster over the trees.
"Radiation wave.... Stasis lock...setting in." He doubled his wingbeats, homing in on his commander's signal. When he got there, he was surprised to see that Bloodwing and Fireburst were in significantly worse shape than Dark Lance. Both were laying some distance away, covered in cuts and holes, while Lance only had a couple of major injuries on his entire body. At present, though, the only thing Wingshift could process was the bolts of Energon arcing across all of their bodies. The final symptom that preceded stasis lock. The mutant Cybertronian returned to his robot mode, and unsuccessfully attempted to move him, finding that the commander's joints were already stiffening from radiation buildup as the ponies finally caught up to him.
"Over here! Help me lift him!" They trotted over, as Rainbow Dash eyed the fallen Decepticons warily.
"Are you sure we shouldn't do something about these guys first? They could wake up and attack us any time!"
"Don't worry." Wingshift grunted as he hefted Dark Lance's upper body. "Stasis lock isn't something you just wake up from, like when you all got knocked unconscious. You have to have the buildup purged from your systems, then get rebooted. It takes a while, and they can't even get to their ship right now, so we'll be fine." She seemed to accept this answer, and proceeded to help out by picking up the lance which had fallen from the Autobot commander's grip. Or at least, she tried to.
"Oof! This thing is heavy! What is it made of, lead?" She flapped her wings harder, but the stubborn piece of metal refused to part entirely with the ground.
"My first guess would be Cybertanium. It's a very powerful alloy only found on Cybertron. It's also one of the few metals capable of hurting us at low speed without assistance. But it's not easy to make, so most melee weapons have high-frequency or Energon-powered edges. Here, give it to me, and lift his leg." She hauled the weapon over, and Wingshift hefted it up, much to their collective disbelief. "You weren't kidding. He must have had it made to be heavier so anyone else would have trouble using it effectively against him. Interesting." He locked it on his back, and returned to lifting the fallen commander. After several minutes of collective strain, the six ponies and techno-organic managed to get him back to the ship. Inside, they found Skybreaker trying-with only one hand and a surprising amount of success-to get Bunker and Burnout into the purifiers. He turned toward the sound of the doors opening, and gave them all a half-sparked wave before resuming his work. They made their way around him, and put Dark Lance in the first purifier before Wingshift noticed something. "You're injured." He pointed to the Energon-covered hand Skybreaker was holding against his side. The young bot shook his head as the others moved to pick up Burnout.
"Don't worry, just a-ngh-scratch. I'll be fine." Wingshift stopped him, and pulled his hand away, revealing a long, deep gash that was practically pouring Energon.
"This is *not* 'just a scratch'. You need to get in the auto-repair bay. Now." Skybreaker attempted to push past, but he was weakened, and Wingshift was having none of it. "No. The natives and I will take care of Bunker and the others. You go get repaired. We still have plenty to do tomorrow, and if something goes wrong, we may need your speed." Skybreaker glared up at him.
"Who died and put you in charge, huh? Last time I checked, you weren't even enlisted, which means I outrank you. And as your active commanding officer, I order you to stand aside!" He craned his neck up to try and look threatening, but the day's events had taken their toll. He over-extended, and fell forward as Wingshift caught him.
"You may outrank me, but my kind do not answer to rank. We answer to power. Something you have very little of right now." He lifted the weakly struggling, but much lighter flier onto his shoulder, and carried him to the auto-repair pods. "Now rest. I will help take care of the others." Skybreaker made one last attempt to go against the larger bot's intention, but was stopped and softly pushed back into the pod by a single claw against his chest. "Enough. You can barely stand, and if I was going to do something, I would have already. Now repair and recharge. No doubt our commander will have orders for us in the morning." Skybreaker finally conceded, and allowed his systems to power down as the pod shut, filling with nano-fluid as he went into sleep mode.
As Skybreaker reawakened, he quickly became aware of two things: first, he was waking up, which meant no one had terminated him in his sleep. Second, there were voices outside. Loud voices. He ran a self-diagnostic, found that he was back to full operational capacity, and hit the shutoff switch on the pod's interior. The nano-fluid drained out, and the door opened to reveal the others running out the door. Dark Lance noticed the pod open, and stopped to look at him.
"You back to full functions?" He barked it out like an order, and Skybreaker knew now was not the time for games. He jogged towards the door as he answered.
"Yes, sir! What's going on? The 'cons figure out how to get out of stasis lock?" The corner of his mouth turned up at his little joke, but quickly went back down at the answer.
"Apparently. They're all gone from where they were, and we can't figure out where they went. Worse is that we lost contact with Teletraan-1 during the night. If we don't stop Bloodwing and his crew here, the war may very well be as good as over. Now let's move!" He jumped out and transformed as he took off, with Skybreaker right behind. He directed the scout to head off with Wingshift before turning towards Ponyville to speak with the locals about what happened the previous day and what the current situation was. As they flew, Skybreaker decided to find out the full situation.
"So what happened during the night? And what did Lance mean when he said we lost contact with Optimus? Did the connection break, or what?" Wingshift moved closer as they flew to make sure he was heard.
"I don't know what happened to the Decepticons, only that I took the natives back to town, and returned to find them gone. As for Teletraan-1, the transmission ceased during an alert status, and there were multiple Ground Bridge activations just before the signal was lost. I believe the facility they were using was destroyed, but that they managed to escape beforehand. If they didn't, we may be fighting a war of attrition at this point. I wouldn't think about it too much. We don't know anything for sure yet, and we can't afford to believe that we have already lost. For now, let's focus on finding our enemies."
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Bloodwing awoke to the sensation of something being drained from his body. It was surprisingly pleasant, like a colony of parasites were being removed from him one-by-one. He allowed it to continue for a moment, before making his awakening known with a stretch of his body, arching his back and flexing his joints. He sat up, and looked around to see himself in a large cave, surrounded by several dozen black, quadrupedal animals, each with large, solid eyes ranging from sky blue to toxic green and a single curved horn jutting from each of their foreheads. Their horns were currently all glowing a sickly green, and most of them had looks of pleasure to one degree or another on their face. As he looked around, one of them flew over on a pair of translucent green, insectile wings. It inspected him for a moment, then flew off down one of the many tunnels leading out of the cave. Bloodwing considered his options, then followed after the creature. None of the others moved to stop him, but most of them did follow along as well, with the rest disappearing down other tunnels. After a minute of walking, he came to a crossroads. The creature from before was hovering in the left-hand path, apparently waiting for him. He continued following, and soon came to a large cavern. There was a loud buzzing here, as the sound of the wings of hundreds of the bug-like creatures flying echoed off the walls. When he entered, even more of them moved towards him and started following along, their horns lighting up as they did. Ignoring them for the moment, he moved towards the central area, which had a tower of stone reaching from the ground, all the way up to the ceiling. He entered, and went up the stairs after his guide. As soon as he did, though, he noticed the feeling of being drained leave him, and he figured out what had been happening.
^They were removing the radiation buildup. But how? And more importantly; why?^ He considered various possibilities, but decided that he would have a definitive answer when he got to wherever this creature was leading him. After an exasperatingly long climb, he was finally stopped outside a door. The creature knocked three times, and Bloodwing heard a powerful, decidedly female voice tell them to enter. The creature that had guided him here opened the door, and beckoned him in before exiting again and closing the door behind him. The Decepticon commander looked around to find himself in a large room. On his right was a door that led to a balcony, the back wall had a massive throne and the left wall had another door, which was closed, while the center of the room had a massive carpet made up of three different shades of green leading from the door to the stairs at the foot of the throne. On the throne itself sat a much larger version of the creatures he had seen. She had a long, jagged horn, seaweed-green hair, and her eyes, unlike the others, had deathly green irises, with slitted pupils. When she spoke, her voice had a buzzing undercurrent he had never heard before.
"You awoke quickly. The others aren't expected to awake for at least another few hours. I would guess you're the leader of your little party, correct?" Bloodwing nodded. "And I suppose you're wondering why we brought you here, yes?" He nodded again. "Well, to start off, I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. And as for why you're here, one of my subjects has turned traitor. He has abandoned the Hive, and I do not take kindly to those who shirk their responsibilities. He has also allied himself with the ones you fight, so my proposition is this: you help me capture him for trial and punishment, and I help you defeat his new friends. How does that sound to you?" Bloodwing thought for a moment before finally speaking.
"You haven't openly assaulted me yet, so you're not doing too badly so far, but I want to see the rest of my squad first." Chrysalis smirked a bit, then nodded and dismounted her throne, leading him back out the way he came. As they exited the tower, the other Changelings once again started following him, their horns lighting up as they drew close. He could feel them somehow removing the radiation again, and he rolled his shoulders as they loosened up, along with the rest of his body. The Queen led him down more tunnels, until they came to a room with Fireburst laying in the center, surrounded by Changelings just as Bloodwing was.
"This one was particularly full." Bloodwing turned to regard the Queen as she spoke. "We brought him back first, and he's had more of my drones draining him than any of the rest of you. Based on your recovery time, I'd say he won't be waking up until nightfall, at best. But honestly, I don't know much about any of you, so I could be completely wrong in that estimation. I'm fairly certain I'm not, but you never know." Bloodwing moved to his lieutenant's side and inspected him. The various wounds Dark Lance had inflicted were covered in some sort of pulsing, green gel-like substance, and a cursory scan indicated that Fireburst's self-repair subroutines were functioning properly. Satisfied the draconian Decepticon would still be functioning by the time they were ready to leave, he turned around and nodded for Chrysalis to take him to the next chamber. They went through several more tunnels to a third chamber with Sharpedge, and Bloodwing repeated the procedure. Finding her to be in acceptable condition, they moved once more. Crosswire, however, was already awake when they got there. He turned as his commander entered the room.
"Sir, I've been studying these creatures for a few microcycles now, and I believe they are capable of absorbing Energon radiation! I don't know how, yet, but I am working on an answer." Bloodwing nodded his agreement.
"I came to the same conclusion. At the moment, though," he turned to face Chrysalis, "I would like to know the real reason you decided to help us. I've seen your forces, and I can take a fairly good guess at your power, so why would you need us to help you? Surely you could take care of this traitor yourself?" He raised a questioning eyebrow, and the Queen gave him with a somewhat impressed look.
"Not bad. Yes, we could catch him ourselves if we wanted to. However, there are two things stopping me. The first is that he is incredibly powerful for a Changeling, and is capable of defeating a massive number of my drones by himself. Defeating him would require time, power, and resources we simply cannot spare at present. The second item is his new allies. If they are anywhere near as powerful as he is, -and I'm sure they are- then we would have no chance of winning, even with the entire hive. So, I ask again: are you willing to work with us?" She put out her hoof, and Bloodwing considered his options.
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Bunker galloped through the trees, Burnout right behind him, as they both scanned the forest with their full array of sensors active. They had been searching for two hours, with no sign of the Decepticons anywhere. The Darksword was empty, the ravine that was previously filled with Energon was abandoned, and both Canterlot and Ponyville were quiet and peaceful. As Bunker moved into a slightly swampy area, populated by copses of mangrove trees, he slowed down, looking around for any sign of the missing Cybertronians. Not finding anything with any of his sensors, he turned back to Burnout.
"I don't think we're going to get anything like this. Let's head back for now, see if any of the others found anything. Hopefully this hasn't just been one huge wild goose chase." They both turned around, and started moving back through the forest to the ship. When they got back, Dark Lance was standing at the holo-table with Wingshift, while Skybreaker was going through another simulation. They both returned to robot mode, and Bunker moved to an unoccupied section of the table to look at the map their commander had been studying. Lance spoke without taking his optics off the projection.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, sir. We went as far as the swamp, but there wasn't even a stray trail of Energon. Wherever they went, they covered their tracks, and they aren't nearby." Dark Lance suddenly slammed both fists down on the console in front of him with a shout.
"Slag it all to the Inferno! We had them, literally incapable of doing anything, and they just disappear while we're sleeping. Blast it! If only another one of us had been able to keep watch, this wouldn't have happened." He slumped over, propping himself up on his arms. "If only Torque was here...." Bunker took a step towards him, but the commander held up a hand. "I know, Bunker. I know. And right now, we don't have time for anything other than finding Bloodwing and his crew. For now, we wait. Burnout, you stay here and call the rest of us if something happens. See if you can figure out where that radiation wave came from, as well. A detonation of the magnitude that ravine made shouldn't have put us all in stasis lock like that. Bunker and I will go into town to make sure it isn't targeted, and to see if Twilight or her friends can help us at all. Wingshift and Skybreaker, keep watch over the Darksword. I don't want them getting back on their feet if we can help it." There were sounds of affirmation from the three in front of him, but he heard nothing from his scout. Turning around, he saw Skybreaker still sitting in his seat, going through the simulation. "Skybreaker, are you listening?" Without vocal response, the younger Autobot leaped over his seat as the word 'completed' flashed across the screen. He flipped, twisting in midair to land face-to-face with his commander.
"Yeah, I heard you. Now hear me. There is no way I'm staying anywhere near that freak! I *know* he's the one behind this, and there is no way I'm gonna put myself where he can reach me." He pointed a finger at Wingshift for emphasis.
"Skybreaker-"
"No! I usually trust you, no questions asked, but this time, I can't. This guy is obviously trying to pull something, and the moment we start trusting him is the moment he scraps us all. I'm not putting myself anywhere near that freaky, mutated pile of sc-"
"SKYBREAKER!" The scout started, along with everyone else, and turned his gaze back to his commander. The look he got in return was one of anger. "That's enough. You have no proof of any kind to support your accusation, and until you do, you have no right to speak like that about anyone. I know you, and I know you're still sore about losing that fight to him, but you'll have to settle that some other time. Right now, there are far more pressing matters to attend to. Not only that, but has it occurred to you that perhaps he has his own enemies that have seen a chance to finally get rid of him by helping his new foes to kill us?" Skybreaker opened his mouth to make an argument, but soon found none to be had. Again. He hung his head, giving a shake in the negative as he sighed. "I didn't think so. And if that is the case, we need to figure out where they are and what they're planning. Any more problems?" Skybreaker shook his head again, and Dark Lance turned back around. "Any other concerns anyone wants to voice before we get going?" The others looked at each other for a moment, and silently came to the conclusion that there was nothing more to be said. With no more complaints to be brought to his attention, the commander turned back to Skybreaker. "I'm fully aware of what you're thinking, and I know this seems like a recurring nightmare, but it's not. Now come on. There's work to be done, and you're best suited for this job. I need you at top performance if we're going to be ready for whatever the 'Cons have planned." He put a reassuring hand on the scout's shoulder, and opened a private comm channel. "Besides, if he is planning something, you'll be most likely to notice it before he actually does anything." Skybreaker looked back up in slight confusion, and Dark Lance smiled, giving him some renewed confidence. "Now let's go." He moved towards the door, and opened it before transforming. The others followed, transforming as they got near. "There's more than enough work to be done. And we need to be ready for the protoform's arrival tonight."
"Is that why you've been so vehement lately, Lance?" The Autobot commander snapped into a fighting stance as Bloodwing stepped out from the brush. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to get ready for it myself, won't I? First, though, I'd like you to meet some new friends of mine." He gestured to the forest behind him, and several dozen pairs of eyes appeared, looking at them from the darkness. The eyes moved forward, revealing themselves to be Changelings, hissing and growling as they came closer. "Normally, I absolutely detest organic life forms, but these ones made a particularly good first impression. They even drained the Energon radiation from us. Thoughtful, aren't they? And quite obedient. Especially since they want your new recruit in a dungeon almost as much as I want you dead. So now what, commander? You won't risk hurting them, so you might as well surrender now." He grinned triumphantly, but Dark Lance quickly found a hole in his opponent's plan.
"You forget, Bloodwing. Wingshift technically isn't under my command until he goes through enlistment, which he hasn't. And since he's a native as well, I have no right to interfere with his vendettas." Wingshift took this as his cue, and leaped forward, tackling the nearest Changeling and throwing him into a tree to knock him out. He transformed, and the rest of the Changelings suddenly flinched, looking at each other and chittering in their own language. Bloodwing watched as the small group he had brought with him slowly started backing away.
"What are you doing, cowards?! He's right there! Fight back!" The bug-like creatures ignored him, continuing their withdrawal. Bloodwing was about to try again, but stopped when a shadow fell over him. He turned to find Wingshift standing uncomfortably close.
"As I told Dark Lance when we first met, these creatures are stupid and fearful. They will not fight for you." Bloodwing growled, but started backing off when he noticed the other Autobots moving to flank him. He jumped up and started flapping his wings to hover in place.
"Fine. You get to live for today, but I will find a way to beat you all yet. Mark my words!" With that, he turned and flew off. Wingshift returned to his alt-mode as Skybreaker came up next to him.
"I guess I owe you an apology, huh?" The mutant Insecticon turned with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry for pointing fingers like that. It wasn't my place to accuse you, and it turned out you were innocent anyway. So I'm sorry." Wingshift nodded, then stuck out a hoof. Skybreaker looked at it for a moment, before realizing his intent. Smiling, he clapped Wingshift's hoof with his own before they all turned and went back inside.
When they had returned inside, Dark Lance grouped everyone around the holo-table. He turned it on, and a map of the area came up.
"Alright, now that we know the situation with Bloodwing and his team, we can concentrate on the protoform. Here's where we are," he pointed to a spot near the south-east edge of the forest, "here's where the Decepticons are," he pointed to the side of a mountain to their north, "and here's where the protoform will be landing." He pointed to an area on the west side of the forest, near town. "We need to get over there, and secure the landing site as soon as the pod comes down. The locals are going to see, and they are going to investigate, but the princesses have already said that they will be coming down to keep them out, although Celestia wants the pod for study. She is the ruler here, and we don't particularly need the pod itself once the protoform is out, so I'm inclined to hand it over. There aren't any systems on it that I can think of that would cause any sort of conflict or catastrophe, so unless anyone here has a proper concern or complaint to do otherwise, I can't see any reason not to let them have it." None of the others brought up any ideas, so he continued. "Alright. The next problem is, as usual, the Decepticons. They'll be watching for the pod, and they'll come running as soon as they have a bead on it. Burnout, you'll be on activation duty. Chances are the princesses will have guards with them, so we shouldn't have to worry about the Changelings too much. That said, Bloodwing will be even more violent because of that. I'll try to keep him as far away as possible, but the rest of you will have to ensure that Burnout is undisturbed while she works. Sharpedge will probably be the biggest threat in that regard. As long as Fireburst is concentrating elsewhere, he's not a problem, but Sharpedge is focused. Skybreaker, you'll need to keep up with her step for step, or she'll use even the smallest opportunity to blow past you. Wingshift, you'll be fighting Fireburst. He knows most of your moves now, but I need Bunker to stay near Burnout and the protoform. If Crosswire gets to that pod, it's all over. And if Sharpedge does somehow manage to slip past Skybreaker, he'll need the extra firepower to help push her back again. Everyone got all that?" He was met with confident nods all around. "Good. Now, let's figure out our placement."
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"What do you mean you didn't know!?!" Bloodwing roared at the Queen as Fireburst and Sharpedge flanked her, all three in their robot forms. She was truly afraid at this point, as they were all taller than her, and obviously unconcerned with her power or station. Normally, she would also have her army to call upon as well, but Crosswire had already proven his effectiveness at keeping the drones out of her throne room, as evidenced by the corpse up against the wall next to her bedroom door, laying in a growing pool of green blood. She shuddered, both at the sight of her dead minion as well as the thoughts of what the three angry Cybertronians in front of her were planning to do. Bloodwing suddenly grabbed her by the horn, pulling her face close to his. "How could you have possibly been unaware of his abilities? He's been here for millennia, surely you must have needed his power at some point!" Chrysalis took a breath to steel her nerves, and regained some semblance of a confident posture.
"The Hive has not operated with power as a priority for generations. We focus our efforts on stealth and deception, not combat and killing. The need for a truly powerful warrior has not arisen since my great grandmother's rule, when one of her drones was captured and interrogated. He revealed the location of the Hive, and they were forced to defend themselves. I am not such an incompetent leader as to repeat that sort of mistake." She glared at him, and he threw her back with a growl.
"Well, then what good are you? You don't have any powerful warriors, you don't have the resources to train one, and you can't spare enough troops to make any real difference in a fight." He paused, trying to think of some way he could use the Changelings. He glanced out the balcony door to the cavern beyond, and something he found rather creative occurred to him. "Ah. I know. You can dig up Energon for us." Chrysalis's jaw fell. "What? Too good to be miners? You've already shown that your species is fully capable of digging tunnels. Now you'll just be looking for something while you do it. And keeping us active means that you'll never starve. That seems fair, doesn't it?" The Queen bit her tongue lightly, thinking of what could happen to her hive if she didn't find a way out of this situation. Not finding any other ways to save her subjects, she bowed her head and nodded. "I knew you'd see it my way. Don't worry, with the amount of Energon crystals your horde will be able to dig up, and after some... recruiting, we should be able to provide ample sustenance for you from the way our bodies change the radiation. All you have to do is not let them explode." With that, he beckoned to the others and strode to the balcony. They all returned to their beast modes, and flew out.
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Two hours later, Ponyville Outskirts
Dark Lance looked around at the guards Luna and Celestia had brought with them. All were on full alert, and the Princesses themselves were overseeing the operation. With the combined threat of the Decepticons and the Changelings, Equestria's rulers obviously weren't taking any chances. Celestia had even brought her pet pheonix, and the town had already been warned to stay away, so all they had to do was make sure Burnout had time to activate the protoform's systems without being interrupted. Lance brought up his internal map, making sure everyone was in position. Satisfied they were ready, he turned his attention skyward, and activated his long-range sensors to detect the stasis pod when it entered the atmosphere. A few short minutes later, and the first flashes of the meteor shower began to appear. Before long, the sky was streaked with light, and Dark Lance opened his comm link to the others.
"Alright, everyone, get ready. The pod will be coming down soon, and Bloodwing will be right behind it. Stick to the plan, and stay on your target. Ready?" A chorus of affirmation came back through his link, and he turned to nod to Luna. She lit her horn, and searched for the meteor that she had marked as the collider. She found it in short time, and started a countdown to contact. At zero, everyone looked up, and searched the streaking lights for the one that stayed lit. It was noticed quickly, and all present followed its descent as it turned and started heading towards them. The Autobots all activated their internal targeting systems, estimating further trajectory of the falling pod. When they had it, they started running and flying towards the landing zone, with the ponies following close behind. The pod's impact made a large opening through the forest's canopy, and dug a long furrow in the ground below. Burnout was next to it almost immediately, using a spare coolant tank she had brought to allow her to activate it sooner. Skybreaker, Wingshift, and Dark Lance hovered above, watching in all directions for the imminent threat of the Decepticons. Bunker, meanwhile, took up a defensive position near Burnout, with the guards that had followed them fanning out to provide extra protection from Changeling attacks. Several unicorns, including Shining Armor himself, erected a magical barrier around the pod, ensuring that no one would be able to access the pod with any semblance of ease. Moments later, Wingshift spotted a rapidly-approaching dot above the treeline.
"There! It's not a pony, it's too large! It looks like Sharpedge!" Skybreaker grinned.
"Well then that's my cue!" He took off toward the Decepticon as Dark Lance tried to stop him.
"Skybreaker, wait! There's something wrong!" The overeager scout was already out of hearing range, though. "Blast it! Wingshift, go after him! I have a bad feeling about this. Celestia! Keep back for now. We can handle the 'cons, so don't get involved unless the Changelings show up." Wingshift nodded, and took off after the younger 'bot as Celestia ordered her troops appropriately. Sure enough, Skybreaker was just getting within attack range when the forest below erupted with fire, nearly engulfing him as he was thrown off-balance, and had to swerve to one side to avoid Sharpedge's opportunistic swipe at him as she passed. He managed to dodge quickly enough, but she didn't stop to try again. Instead, she simply kept flying as Fireburst revealed himself from the burnt area of foliage that used to be tree branches. Wingshift intercepted the Decepticon scout soon enough, though, and used his larger bulk and better maneuverability to prevent her from advancing further. Dark Lance looked around, waiting for the impending attack he knew would come.
"Come on, where are you?" He turned all of his sensors up to maximum sensitivity, turning quickly in midair to watch as much of his surroundings as possible. As he turned again, he heard branches crack behind him, and spun around just in time to dodge Bloodwing's horn as he flew up out of the canopy. The two leaders circled each other in midair, Lance with a look of determination, Bloodwing with one of confidence.
Down on the ground, Burnout worked furiously at the pod's control panel to try and liberate the protoform inside before Crosswire showed up. The unicorns holding the shield up stood stoically around the pod, watching for movement as Bunker paced around the outside. He could hear the fights that had already broken out, and waiting for his opponent to show up was sending his circuits into a frenzy of signals in anticipation of the combat that was soon to come. He heard a rustle in the brush, and spun to face where it came from. After some more rustling, a squirrel jumped into view, then looked at him before running off. He watched it scurry away, then returned his attention to the area it had come from. He switched his vision to detect Cybertronians, and saw a large signal through the bushes. He dropped into a defensive stance just in time to counter the lunge Crosswire made through the bushes. He spun around and onto his back, catching the Decepticon with all four hooves before launching him to one side and into a tree. He returned to a standing position as Crosswire recovered. The scientist glanced to Burnout, weighing his options. He knew that as long as Bunker was still able to fight, he wouldn't be able to reach the pod and complete his task without being intercepted. So obviously, there was only one option for solving the problem.
His back, tail, and head all rose up and away from his body, twisting as he transformed to reveal his robot mode. The guards watching were startled by his grotesque appearance, but held their shield. They had already been told of the Autobots abilities, and been sworn to silence by both the princesses and their captain, but this was not something they had been prepared for. As he finished his transformation, the segments of Crosswire's tail started clicking. The entire appendage split lengthwise down the middle, allowing the halves of each section to switch places with its neighbor. The pieces clicked faster and faster, and he grinned maliciously.
"Round and round the pieces go, where will they stop? Do you know? Well, Bunker?" Bunker, for his part, had been tracking the movements of the sections, and already figured out the pattern. He didn't like where it was going. Forgoing his own disguise, he kicked his rear legs off the ground, turning on his front legs as he, too, shifted to his natural form. He grabbed what was once his horn as it lengthened and compressed into its spear form, twirling it into position. The tail sections suddenly froze and reconnected themselves as Crosswire grinned maniacally. The Decepticon pointed his weapon straight at his foe, and Bunker barely managed to move out of the way before the extender frame buried its stinger into his body. The contraption folded again, returning to its original place and appearance before once more catapulting itself forward. This time, though, Bunker was ready. He leaned left, and jammed his spear between the sections. The spring-loaded weapon retracted automatically, and Bunker jumped off the ground, allowing himself to be pulled along at speed before slamming his feet into Crosswire's surprised face. The Decepticon was knocked onto his back in a daze, and Bunker extracted his spear from his opponent. He spun the weapon until it pointed straight down, but paused when he heard a war cry from his left. Charging him through the trees was Sharpedge, with Wingshift close behind. Bunker crouched, then launched himself into the air, backflipping away from the attack that sliced through the air where he was not a second before. As he landed, Wingshift came up next to him.
"Sorry. She managed to feint past me, and my wings aren't made for high-speed long distances." He fluttered them in example, and Bunker nodded.
"It's fine. Burnout should be almost-"
"BURNOUT! Double-time! Fireburst managed to get a clean shot on Skybreaker, and Bloodwing got past me while I was distracted. You need to finish. NOW!" The two Autobots looked at each other, then to Burnout, who had transformed to finish faster, before returning their attention to the problem at hand.
"Wingshift, stall for time. Keep Bloodwing and Fireburst as far away as long as possible. I'll deal with these two." He received an unsure glance from the mutant, but after a confident stare, Wingshift relented and took off. Returning his attention to the Decepticons in front of him, he considered his options while they recovered. ^My spear won't be enough to take on both of them, and my cannon isn't fast enough. I guess that only leaves one option.^ He widened his stance, and planted the butt of his spear in the ground so he could focus on his targeting system. He calculated every possible move his opponents could make, and locked onto where they would be in each case. By the time he finished, Sharpedge and Crosswire had finally managed to collect themselves enough to be on guard for what they expected to be singular attacks. Instead, a large panel on each of his shoulders flipped open, revealing two batteries of mini-missiles. A series of small *pop*s came from him as the missiles launched from their protective cases, and the Decepticons had no time to react properly. The area around them was engulfed with detonations, and both of them were knocked out by the collective force. Bunker turned around to find Burnout stepping away from the pod's console as the alt-mode scanner extended from it. Just as it began, Wingshift came sailing over the trees, landing in a heap near the base of the shield. Looking up, the white Autobot saw Bloodwing and Fireburst come to a sudden halt over the trees. Bloodwing saw the scanner, now fully extended from the pod, as it swept the area. His rage was immediately apparent.
"Crosswire, you fool! I told you to ignore the others! I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. No point in trying to reprogram the protoform now, though." They both landed and transformed, and Bunker immediately put himself between them and the pod, which had retracted the scanner and started the formatting process. "Ha! You think you can stop both of us? Fine, let's see if you can still take as much as I remember, shall we?" Bunker responded by repositioning himself, adopting a close-legged stance, with his spear held vertically in front of him. Bloodwing laughed again as he charged his railgun, and Fireburst charged his cannon. As they were about to fire, though, Bunker's shoulder capes suddenly began to float, right before he was completely obscured by the combined blasts of energy. Bloodwing sneered at what he thought would be nothing more than a mound of slag, while the princesses and their soldiers stared in horror at the wanton destruction they had witnessed. Just as Celestia was about to order her soldiers forward, something rocketed up and out from the cloud of dust, drawing the attention of all present. Just as suddenly, a beam of energy shot out towards Bloodwing, hitting him square in the chest and doing significant damage to him, visible even at a distance. Surprised by his commander's sudden incapacitation, Fireburst had to force himself to turn back to face the apparently functional Autobots. Sure enough, Bunker and Burnout were standing there, unharmed, in a brightening glow. Fireburst blinked a couple times, doing a minor reboot of his optics in the process.
^Wait a second. It was after dark just a few microcycles ago.^ He looked up, and reflexively took a defensive stance as a flaming object dived at him, leveling out enough after impact to shove him along the ground. His sensors maxed out, his joints locked up, and he could quickly feel himself weakening. His guard broke, and the flames flew past his fallen form before pulling up and letting out a high-pitched scream of triumph. Fireburst rose to one knee, attempting to make his body work again as the object landed in front of him and the flames dissipated, revealing what appeared to be a very large pheonix. But the downed Decepticon already knew what he was really looking at.
As he expected, the chest pulled down and twisted, splitting into legs while the talons moved away from each other and rose to shoulder positions. The wings moved further toward the spine to make room, and the mouth opened, the bottom falling into place on the chest while the rest of the beast mode's cranium turned into a protective hood. The new Autobot's head had three ridges, sweeping backwards and flaring out in the rear while the cheek guards curved into points on either side of the chin. Taking in the whole form, Fireburst could tell right away that this new enemy had a female personality. He never did understand why the Autobots had such a fascination with such a pointless distinction, but it wasn't like it mattered now. He had already been taken off guard too many times, and he didn't have the energy to fight this new opponent and the other Autobots by himself. He decided to cut his losses before anything else could go wrong. He transformed and blew a stream of flame at the new Autobot. He already assumed she wouldn't be damaged by it, but it gave him the distraction he needed to escape. The protoform, for her part, was sufficiently taken by surprise that she reflexively guarded against the fire as it harmlessly blew past her. She recovered quickly, though, and started to give chase before a loud voice called out behind her.
"Stand down, protoform!" She quickly regained her lost balance, and spun to face the voice's owner, who turned out to be Dark Lance. "Let him go, we have more important things to take care of." The protoform took a cursory glance of his body, before crossing her arms and tilting her whole body to one side.
"And why should I listen to you, huh? Who are you, even?" Dark Lance strode forward to stand face-to-face, easily a head and a half taller than the newly-activated femme.
"I am Dark Lance, and I am the commander of this team. As a new protoform, you are under my jurisdiction, and my command due to wartime laws." The other Autobot looked him over a bit more carefully, and narrowed her optics as they met his.
"Either you're stupid, or you seriously underestimate me. You expect me to believe you have command of anything when you don't even have the insignia?" She pointed to the one on her forehead to emphasize her point. "And what kind of leader lets his team fight without him?"
"Whether or not you believe me is your choice, but right now I have more pressing matters to attend to than forcing you to follow orders." This piqued her curiosity as he turned to walk away. "And I needed to keep Skybreaker and Wingshift from getting any more damaged before I felt comfortable leaving them alone. Bunker is a more than capable fighter, anyway. I didn't really need to be concerned." Now she was really interested. She followed him back, and was stunned to see Skybreaker leaning against a tree , his left arm hanging limply at his side with only half his shoulder attached. On the ground, Wingshift was lying on his back while Burnout mended several stab wounds in his abdomen. Bunker, meanwhile, was busy putting stasis cuffs on the Decepticons. She followed Dark Lance as he walked over to Skybreaker and stared at the wounds he had while they talked.
"How are your Energon levels?"
"High enough that I can wait my turn. Thanks for the catch back there, by the way."
"None needed. Can you transform? Maybe your alt-mode will help keep your parts inside you." Skybreaker shrugged slightly before standing up straight. His t-cog sounded, but a loud grinding noise, accompanied by a cry of pain, confirmed his inability to change forms as he fell forward, forcing Lance to help him stay standing.
"Guess that's a 'no', then. Sorry, boss, looks like we get to do this the old-fashioned way. By the way, is this our latest recruit?" He nodded to the protoform.
"Yes, although she's having trouble accepting that I'm the commanding officer here." Skybreaker let out a weak laugh as he resumed leaning against his tree.
"That's not hard to believe. You don't exactly look the part, and you certainly aren't the most strict Autobot ever. But anyway, what's your name, newbie?" The protoform started, having not expected to be addressed so suddenly.
"My name is Firefall. I was designed for stunt flying originally, although that doesn't seem to be what I'll be spending most of my time doing now." Skybreaker laughed again as Dark Lance stepped aside, allowing Burnout to access the wounded scout.
"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of that, no problem. And yes, Dark Lance is our commander. Just so you know." Firefall looked back to Lance, and bowed her head slightly.
"Sorry, then. I wasn't quite sure what to make of anything when I first came online. And immediately having to fight like that set me on edge a bit." Dark Lance waved it off.
"It's fine. I've had to deal with worse, and you'll learn as you go. For now, let's just get everyone back to the Star Runner, and put our new prisoners in holding cells."
Dark Lance trudged through the snow, the ponies he had brought with him huddling behind him to try and keep warm. It worked somewhat, as Lance had increased his heater components, and flared his wings out to block some of the unrelenting wind that buffeted them with all the storm's might. From the back of the group, where it was coldest, he heard Shining Armor call out.
"Lance! How much further is it? I don't think we can keep this up much longer!" The Autobot checked his map, and pointed to a mound of snow in front of them.
"We should be able to see it from the top of that hill! Come on, we need to find out what's going on over there!" He continued on, shoving the snow out of the way so the others would have an easier time. The rest of his team had stayed behind, partially to teach Firefall the basics and partially to keep an optic on the Decepticons, but the discovery that the Energon wave which had put them all into stasis lock had come from so far north needed investigation. After informing the princesses, Celestia had agreed and sent Shining Armor, as well as several others, with him to find out what had caused the surge. As they neared the hill that would show them their destination, Dark Lance began detecting spikes in Energon readings, and the sky was lit from below by an uncharacteristic, undulating glow. He pushed on anyway, and when he got to the top, he couldn't believe what he saw. Sitting in the middle of the storm, completely free of snow, was a huge, sparkling city. The buildings at the edge were fairly low, but they built up as they went inward, toward a massive, crystalline tower in the center. The rest of the group gathered around him, and various exclamations were made pertaining to the incredible sight. Lance was distracted from the view, however, when his sensors picked up a large reading to his left. Looking over, he saw a massive cloud of black smoke rising and swirling, giving no heed to the howling wind that blew past it ineffectually.
"Guys, we have a problem." He pointed a hoof at the cloud, and everyone in the group jumped back in surprise. The cloud grew large, shadowy tendrils that began moving toward them, and the reading in Lance's vision started increasing. "We need to move. Now."
"Where are we gonna go?" One of the others asked fearfully. He was instead answered by Shining.
"There." He pointed a hoof at the city, and the rest quickly followed him as he ran down the hill. Lance flew above them, occasionally glancing back to see the cloud moving towards them, though it now had a new feature: two evil-looking eyes peered out at them from the gloom, and that was all the evidence the Autobot needed to confirm there was ill intent behind this shadowy mass. As he came closer towards the town, though, he realized that it wasn't just decorated heavily, but the entire thing was actually made completely of crystals! He double-checked his readings, and found that these crystals were, in fact, stable Energon, just like the ravine Fireburst had discovered. He landed in front of the group, and called out to the captain.
"Shining! These are stable Energon crystals! You should be able to use them like a battery to supercharge your barrier!"
"Good idea! Everyone, get onto the crystal!" The white unicorn charged his horn, and as soon as the rest of the group was over the threshold, he sent his spell through the ground, using the huge stores of energy therein to create a massive, pink bubble over the entire city. The cloud of shadows hurled itself at the translucent barrier, and smashed against it, though it wasn't able to enter. The cloud thrashed at the shield for a few seconds before pulling back and coalescing once more. The eyes appeared again, but this time a voice came with them.
"Cccrrrryyysssssssstaaaallllsssssss." The hissing sound sent chills down the spines of all present, and even Lance shivered involuntarily a little. Without warning, the cloud sped away, snaking through the blizzard and disappearing behind a snow mound.
"What the hay was THAT!?" One of the ponies shouted.
"I don't know..." Shining admitted with a note of fear.
"But I do." The whole group turned towards Dark Lance for an explanation, and most of them couldn't help but worry at the grim expression he wore. "It was Dark Energon. Something that shouldn't be here. And something that certainly isn't capable of conscious thought. It must have something to do with the way your species processes Energon radiation. Maybe darker emotions. Or-"
"Hold on!" The Autobot snapped out of his musing at Shining Armor's voice. "What are you talking about? Dark Energon? What does that even mean?"
"Ah, right, sorry. I've explained how Energon works several times before, so I sometimes forget when I haven't explained it yet. You already know that the crystals of this world are raw, naturally occurring Energon, which emits radiation capable of putting me and my crew into our version of a coma, yes?" Nods came from the ponies present. "And you know that refined Energon is what we use to power ourselves, and our equipment, right?" More nods. "Well, Dark Energon is the antithesis of regular Energon. It surrounds, destroys, and consumes anything it comes into contact with like a virus. Back on Cybertron, there was a secret orbital research facility capable of manufacturing it for research purposes, but the origin of Dark Energon is far more sinister. It is the blood of Unicron, the Devourer of Worlds." Looks of fear showed on the faces of the ponies, and Dark Lance waved a hoof. "Don't worry, he's safely slumbering in the core of another planet, sealed there by our creator, Primus, and returned to stasis lock by our leader, Optimus Prime. Which is why I'm worried that there's Dark Energon here. We need to find out more about this place." He turned around and stood still a moment. "Like why there isn't anyone walking around outside."
As the group wandered through the streets, Dark Lance could hear sounds coming from the buildings as they passed. Hushed whispers and quiet murmurs. Some of them sounded hopeful, but most sounded afraid. After a few minutes, and a couple of tries at getting answers from the hidden inhabitants, they all decided that the tower in the center was their best chance to find information. Inside, the place was deserted. It looked like it had been cleaned recently, but at the same time like no one had been there for some time. Eventually they found themselves in a small study-like room, and after checking several of the books on the shelves, found one that seemed more personal. It turned out to be a diary, and reading the last entry gave them insight as to what had happened.
*I like to think of myself as a good ruler. I like to think of myself as kind, and fair. But perhaps I have become complacent therein. Sombra's dark, twisted creations have overtaken everything else I worked so hard for, and even now I can hear the fighting outside. This last bastion of light will soon fall to his evil, and even I am powerless to stop him. My only hope is that my daughter might carry on, and one day my descendants shall retake and rebuild this place. But for now, Celestia and her sister can do no more than come here, and seal us away along with Sombra himself. To think that such a bright mind as his could turn so wicked, I would have never believed. But such shall be my undoing, I suppose. To any who find this, and have heart, I implore you; save my subjects, though it is too late for me. They deserve happy lives, and are free of the evil deeds I once knew. Rebuild what you can, and let them revel in life. I can do no more for them now.
King Crystal Spark*
"That's rather illuminating." Dark Lance commented as he rubbed his chin in thought. The youngest of their group looked at him like he had gone crazy.
"What?! That didn't tell us anything! How does this help us at all?!" Dark Lance grinned knowingly.
"Actually, it told us a good deal. We know that we don't have anything to fear from the inhabitants, we know that Celestia and Luna came here before and probably know what happened in greater detail, but most importantly, this journal tells us two things. The first is that the cloud of Dark Energon we encountered earlier was probably created by this 'Sombra', though how he created it has yet to be determined. The second is that there is most likely a living heir to the throne, which means the government should be able to be reinstated once we get rid of the Dark Energon influence. We need to contact the princesses about this. Now."
They had returned to the city's border fast enough, and on the way Dark Lance had come up with a plan he found satisfactory.
"Alright, here's what we're going to do: First, we lure it over. It's attracted to the crystals, which means it's attracted to Energon, so I'll lead it away once I've got its attention. When it gets far enough from the rest of you, one of you will go out, and run back to the train station. Then get back to the Princesses, and find out what's going on. Everyone clear on this?" They all nodded. "Good. Now, we just need a volunteer. Any takers?" There was some unsure shuffling, before a pegasus stepped forward.
"I'll go. I'm the fastest one here, and I'm better suited to the cold than an earth pony or unicorn. I'll have a better chance of getting away than anypony else." Dark Lance nodded, then turned back to look out at the tundra.
"Alright, that's settled, then. Now we just need to get that thing to show up so I can make sure it's occupied." They started spreading out along the perimeter, and soon the shadowy mass was one more attempting to gain entrance. Dark Lance and a couple of the others tried to get it to follow them, but unsuccessfully. After regrouping, he decided to go with a somewhat riskier option. "Shining, open the barrier a little. Not much, just enough for me to step out for a moment." Shining Armor gave him a worried look, but the hard stare he received in return convinced him to do as was requested. He closed his eyes in concentration for a few seconds, before a small hole opened in the pink wall of energy. The Autobot commander stepped out, and set his sensors to maximum sensitivity. He wasn't waiting long, though, before his sensors spiked, and he saw the cloud once more rise from the snow nearby.
"Keep the hole open! As soon as I leave your sightline, head for the train station. I'll do a lap around the city, then come back in. That should give you more than enough time to get away." He took off as he spoke, and flew away when he finished, dodging the black tendrils as the cloud chased him. The pegasus waited for him to get around the edge of the barrier, where he couldn't be seen, then took off, madly flapping his wings as he dashed for the train station. A minute or two later, the rest of them saw Dark Lance come around the opposite side of the city, with the shadowy cloud following closely along the ground. Lance put on a final burst of speed, and flew through the opening in the shield, allowing Shining armor to close it once more and deny the cloud entrance. It hissed at them as it searched fruitlessly against the shield for a weakness, but gave up after a few seconds and returned to hiding underneath the snow. Dark Lance looked out at the frozen wasteland beyond the shield, considering the possibilities of what could happen here, and abruptly turned back to the city itself.
"Okay. Let's see what else we can find in that tower. There may be more that can help fight whatever that thing is."
Shining Armor looked out from a balcony on the tower, down at the city spread out below him. The ponies that had been hiding were now out and about, revealing themselves to be as crystalline as the city they lived in. Unlike the city, though, they were dulled and flat-toned in color, accentuating their collective depressed, gloomy mood. It had been several hours since the pegasus messenger had left, and he had found it nearly impossible to help with research while keeping his spell up. His thoughts drifted across various subjects, and he was so absorbed in his own mind he didn't hear Dark Lance trot up behind him.
"Shining." The white unicorn nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden, close sound. Lance smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I'm used to everyone being minutely aware of their surroundings. Didn't mean to surprise you like that." Shining nodded his acceptance of the apology and took a few breaths to steady himself. "Anyway, Bunker managed to get a message to me through the snowstorm. Princess Cadence is on her way here, and Skybreaker is escorting her. Apparently, when she heard about what we found, she insisted on coming personally. They should be here soon." Shining immediately perked up. Cadence was coming here, which meant he wouldn't have to wait as long to see her again, and if anypony could make the other ponies happy again, it was her. Then something occurred to him.
"What about the Dark Energon cloud?" Dark Lance grinned confidently.
"I already have a plan."
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Skybreaker flew just in front of Cadence through the snow, blocking some of the rougher gusts of wind, and giving her a slipstream to ride and make the flight easier. He glanced worriedly behind him. Cadence had insisted that they fly to make better time from the train station, but she was already showing the signs of low body temperature. Her legs were pulled up close to her body, with her tail held against her belly with her rear ones, her coat had dulled slightly, both from the frost coalescing on her fur and her blood flow to the skin lowering, and her wings were beating hard and slow to provide maximum thrust for minimal movement. Returning his gaze forward, Skybreaker checked his map. The gps wasn't working, due to both the storm and Energon interference, but he was sure they were close. He closed the map, and switched his optics to Energon detection. The reading he was looking for was slightly to his right, but for the distance he had travelled without any guidance other than his own sense of direction, he was satisfied with that. He altered his course, then slowed down a bit to talk to Cadence as he returned to his normal spectrum view.
"Princess! We're almost there! Are you sure you don't want to land and walk the rest of the way? My heating system will work better if we're moving more slowly!" The alicorn behind him shook her head.
"If we're that close, it doesn't matter anymore! Let's just go!" Skybreaker nodded, and turned forward again. Within minutes, they could see the city sparkling in the distance. He zoomed his optics, and spotted Dark Lance and Shining Armor waiting near the edge of the shield wall with the rest of their party. He zoomed back out, and began his landing run, with Cadence right behind him. When they neared the ground, Skybreaker noticed a large patch of black fog rise out of the ground to his right.
^Must be the Dark Energon that Lance was talking about.^ He banked left slightly, giving the cloud a wide berth as he came close enough for Shining to open a hole for them, which the Autobot commander used to step out. Skybreaker was confused enough at this action, and even more so when the older explorer transformed to robot mode. Lance changed his arm to its minigun form, and immediately opened fire on the cloud as Skybreaker and the Princess landed. The bullets tore through the shadowy mass, forcing it to expend its energy on putting itself back together, rather than being able to continue its advance. As soon as the others were in, he followed them, transforming back into his alicorn mode once he was safely inside the barrier. Shining Armor was holding Cadence with both forelegs, trying to warm her up again as he glared at Skybreaker.
"Are you crazy? What made you think flying was a good idea?" He was silenced as a pink hoof laid itself over his muzzle. He looked down to see Cadence shaking her head.
"It was my idea, and I insisted. He offered multiple times to land, so he could use his heaters more effectively. I made the decision to rush here, but right now, I just want to get warm." The guard captain nodded as he wrapped his hooves back around her and Skybreaker trotted over, having cleaned himself of frost.
"Speaking of which..." He transformed, and knelt down with his back to them. He raised himself and dropped down several times, like he was panting, and they could all hear something whirring beneath his outer plates. He spun his turbines, and a large gust of warm air blew over the couple, making Cadence shiver happily.
"Ooh! That feels good. Thanks, Skybreaker, that's much better." The scout grinned and returned to his alt-mode.
"The walking fireplace, that's me!" They all chuckled at him, and Dark Lance stepped forward.
"Alright, now that we're all safe, I do have one question for you Princess." She tilted her head at him.
"What's that?"
"You said you insisted on getting here faster, and I doubt that it was just for the sake of seeing your husband again. So why did you want to get here so quickly?" Shining gave him a glare, but Cadence smiled and sighed.
"It's pretty difficult to hide something from you, isn't it?" He smirked.
"I've been alive for a very long time." She openly laughed at that.
"You sound just like Aunt Celestia. But as for your inquiry, I'd like to look around before answering. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think I may know what's going on around here." Dark Lance considered for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. If you think you can figure out what this place is, then I'll leave you to it. Skybreaker, with me. We have a little more investigating to do elsewhere." The scout tilted his head in confusion for a second as his commander walked away, but quickly shrugged and followed along. Dark Lance led his subordinate into the tower, then down a dark narrow staircase that had been hidden in a back room, where anyone that came through the main entrance wouldn't normally find it. The passage was dimly lit, and both of them could tell that they were descending into a dungeon, simply from how unclean the place was. When they got to the bottom, Lance checked his Energon readings, and found that there was no radiation here.
"I thought so. Something about these stones makes them powerful insulators against Energon radiation. Skybreaker, transform. We'll need our lights, and we may need our weapons against anyone that they kept down here." They both shifted to their robot modes, and turned on their light systems. The hallway was flooded with illumination, and the shadows danced and shifted as they walked.
"So," Skybreaker began, "why aren't we using our night vision?"
"Simple; anything down here that could be a threat will be accustomed to the darkness. They'll hear us coming easily from the way sound echoes down here, and they know the area better, giving them an advantage. However, if we have our lights on, they won't be able to see and move freely because their eyes won't be used to it. Besides, if we really need to, we can just switch to our night vision as soon as necessary." Skybreaker simply nodded, satisfied with the explanation.
"So how big is this place, anyway?"
"I don't know. I tried to use a ping to get an echo, but it never came back." Skybreaker whistled.
"That's a big hole we're in, then."
"Yes. Which is why I wanted you down here with me. If something happens, you should be able to get out and tell the others before I'm really in trouble."
"And if I can't?" He didn't like to admit it, but Skybreaker knew he wasn't infallible, and the possibility of him being trapped in here was higher than most places, due to the tight corridors and lack of lighting. There were a lot of places for an ambush, and they both knew it.
"If you can't, well, it's a good thing those wings are good for more than flight." They continued through the labyrinth, both of them building a map in their memory banks as they went, until Dark Lance suddenly stopped. He turned his head left and right, maximizing his audio sensitivity simultaneously. Skybreaker took a quiet step forward, knowing from experience what his superior was doing, and asking a silent question by entering his field of vision.
"I hear breathing." Skybreaker began copying the head motions, and similarly maxed out his audio. Sure enough, he could just barely detect the echo of a wheeze, quieter than a whisper. They both readied their weapons, Dark Lance opting to use his sickles in the tight passageways, rather than his lance. Moving forward, they carefully rounded each corner, the light wheeze getting louder with every step. After a few more minutes, they came to a door made of iron bars, laced with chains and padlocks, with five deadbolts on one side. However, the entire thing was rusted, the stone around it was old, covered in moss and ivy, and it had not been built to withstand a fully-armed Cybertronian in good health. Lance motioned for Skybreaker to stand back, then made a flurry of slashes at a speed that downright frightened the younger 'bot. The door groaned in protest, before the entire frame fell apart, covering him with a cloud of dust as it fell to the ground in a cacophony of metal and rock. He stepped inside and looked around, Skybreaker following him to bathe the room beyond with light. It was a tiny cell, with a single, shivering unicorn huddled in the far corner. He looked at them with fear as Dark Lance knelt down to him.
"Who are you?"
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Back on the surface, Cadence was looking through yet another of the books in the private study they had discovered previously. Shining Armor walked in just in time to see her toss it to the side onto an increasingly large pile. He walked over to her, and laid a hoof on her shoulder worriedly.
"Cadence, are you alright? You've been in here for a while." She lowered the hoof that had been on its way to grab another book off the nearly-empty shelf, and sighed.
"No, not really. I had come in here hoping that this place wasn't what I thought it was, but everything I've found so far says that it is. And to be honest, I'm not ready for what that means." He looked at her in confusion, and she sighed again. "It has to do with my family, and I'd rather everypony was here to hear it. Gather the others, and see if we can find Dark Lance and Skybreaker. You all need to hear this, and what it means for the rest of Equestria."
Fifteen minutes later, all of them were assembled in the tower's throne room, sans the Autobots. Cadence looked around at the ponies present.
"Does anypony know where Dark Lance and Skybreaker are?" Most of them shook their heads, but one earth pony spoke up.
"I think I saw them go down into the dungeon, but that was a while ago, and I haven't seen them since." Cadence sighed and shook her head.
"Well, we'll just have to start without them. As you all are already aware, this place was not here until recently. Also, as you know, this place was sealed by Celestia and Luna. However, there is more. This place was once the capital of the Crystal Empire, which covered almost the entire northern half of this continent." There were surprised mutters from all of the soldiers present, until she put up a hoof for silence. "It fell to an evil unicorn named Sombra, who overthrew the king and took the crown and throne for himself. He then enslaved the crystal ponies who lived here, and forced them to mine the crystals for him. This act, though, was immediately noticed by the rest of Equestria. The Crystal Empire's power extends over the whole continent, and Sombra's evil infected that power. It caused Discord, who had originally been nothing more than a prankster, to turn evil, and made the jealousy and sorrow Luna felt grow more rapidly than normal, until she became Nightmare Moon. The only reason Sombra was unable to actively cause destruction was because Celestia and Luna were able to use the Elements of Harmony to seal him away. Unfortunately, that also meant sealing away what was left of the Empire due to its connection to Sombra. Now, we need to figure out some way of stopping the remainder of Sombra's forces. Otherwise, the Empire might fall again, and this time we may not be able to save Equestria from him." The faces of the ponies before her were awestruck. They had been prepared for many scenarios, but nothing like this. One of them suddenly snapped out of his stupor, and turned toward the pink alicorn quizzically.
"But, there's one thing I don't understand. If this happened before Nightmare Moon existed, how do you know about it?" Cadence sighed again. She knew this question would come up, but that didn't mean she wanted to answer it.
"The crystal ponies have a much longer lifespan than normal ponies, and alicorns are practically immortal. The short answer, though, is that the previous king, Crystal Spark, was my grandfather." They all looked at her with wide, surprised eyes, even Shining Armor. "Among other things, he was an extremely accomplished spellcaster, and had apparently found some way of extending his own life, which he had taught to my mother. My mother escaped, and several years later settled in what would become Fillydelphia, but I wasn't born until four hundred years afterward. My own lifespan was already extremely long even without the life extension spell, and it got the attention of Celestia. After she found out who I was, she almost immediately started training me to be an alicorn. I passed the final test, and she cast the ascension spell on me when I was a little over one hundred years old, although I still looked incredibly young even then." By this point, almost all of their jaws had dropped, including Shining Armor's. He knew she was older than him, and would most certainly outlive him, but he never would have thought she was that much older. "In any case, we have to find out more about this palace. My mother never really told me about it, so we'll need to find out as much as possible." They all suddenly heard the door open, and looked over to see Dark Lance and Skybreaker walk in with an unconscious unicorn on the latter's back, supported by his wings.
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing we found this guy downstairs, huh?"
"We found him down in one of the cells. The door was covered in chains, and had about ten locks on it. Whoever he is, he was important, and someone didn't want him going anywhere for a long time. He fainted as soon as I started trying to ask him anything." Cadence and Shining Armor studied the unicorn Dark Lance and Skybreaker had found. They had deposited him on a couch from one of the other rooms, and he now slumbered in relative peace. He was obviously old, with a graying reddish coat and gray mane and tail. His fetlocks were long and slightly matted, and his hooves were a solid white, but his cutie mark seemed strange; it was of a crystal trapped inside what appeared to be a metal ring. But the most surprising part about him was that he appeared to be a crystal pony, even though he had a horn. He was as dulled as the rest, but since the rest of the city had come out from hiding, they hadn't seen a single one with a horn or wings. Cadence took a step forward, and lifted one of his forelegs, peering underneath as the others looked on curiously. Shining came up next to her to try and see what she was looking for.
"What is it, Cadence? Do you know who he could be?" She put down the old pony's hoof and nodded.
"It's him. It's my grandfather, Crystal Spark." The others gasped, except for Dark Lance, who found something about the name bothering him. He couldn't quite place what it was, though. Any further thoughts from those present were interrupted by a groan from the unicorn. They all turned to see him moving slightly, coughing as he struggled to get up. Cadence quickly set a gentle hoof on his shoulders, and pushed him back down as she spoke in a soothing tone.
"Easy, easy. You were in the dungeon for a very long time. You need to rest, still. We'll get you some food and water, just stay put." The unicorn grumbled something that sounded like affirmation, and returned to sleep as Dark Lance walked over.
"So how do you know that this is Crystal Spark? The pieces fit, but there were probably plenty of others that could warrant this kind of treatment."
"My mother's favorite story was of how he once defended the capital from a great dragon, leading his troops from the front line. He eventually had to fight the dragon himself, and although he drove it off, he suffered a great wound across his chest. This unicorn has the same scar my mother described to me; a large, three-pointed mark on the left side. He can't be anyone else." Dark Lance nodded, and turned back to Skybreaker.
"If you need us, we'll be down in the dungeon again. There's still plenty of space down there we haven't gone through yet, and there may be others still trapped in their cells. Oh, and here." He extracted a communicator from behind his ear and turned back to them. "If you need us, just go down to the entrance and use this. Even if we can't hear everything you say, we'll still pick up the signal." He gave it to Shining, and then left with Skybreaker. As the door closed behind them, the guard captain turned to his wife.
"So, what do we do now? I can't hold up this shield spell much longer, and we don't even know how to get rid of that cloud outside. Should we contact Celestia?" Cadence sighed again. There had been a lot of sighing today.
"I suppose so. But first, let's exhaust our other options, and I'll take over powering the shield spell." Shining shook his head at the thought of putting that kind of strain on her.
"No. I'm the guard captain, it's my job to keep everypony safe. You should go try to get the ponies outside to talk. You're better at that than I am, and technically, you're their leader, so they would probably be more receptive to anything you say than whatever I could talk to them about." He was making stuff up as he went, and he knew it had almost zero chance of working, but he tried to make it sound convincing anyway. Judging by the unamused stare he was getting from his wife, though, it wasn't convincing enough.
"First of all, the primary job of any leader is to keep their subjects safe. Secondly, there are still plenty of other places in the palace to check for information, so we don't even have to leave. Lastly, you're my husband, which means you are just as much these ponies' leader as I am. Now stop being stubborn. I have much larger power reserves than you do, so I'll be able to keep the shield up for much longer." Shining Armor bowed his head in defeat.
"Yes, ma'am."
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Meanwhile, far to the south, above the Changeling hive....
"Tell me again, Chrysalis, why such a simple task is taking so long?" Fireburst paced back and forth across the throne room in his beast mode, waiting for the construction teams to finally finish what would have normally taken half the time they had already spent to get three quarters of the way through the project. Chrysalis swallowed the fear-induced lump in her throat.
"Because, they are not builders. We have never built anything larger than two stories, and never more than three nests in any direction from the center. The only reason the throne room exists is because the column itself was made of harder rock than the rest of the cavern. And the sheer size of this thing is making it difficult to keep it standing." She heard him come up next to her as they both regarded the tower that her hive was building.
It was a massive thing, easily larger than Canterlot Castle, or any other pony-made structure. With Fireburst's technology, they had used metal ore deposits that the Changelings had previously thought worthless and made massive beams, then used their magic to weld them together, and kept them upright by leaning them against the side of the mountain they were on. It was rickety and unstable by any standard, but it didn't need to last long. Fireburst had already brought and prepared everything he needed from the Darksword in order to send out the two signals that would set in motion the defeat of the Autobots. All this tower had to do was stay up long enough to get the signals out.
"Well then," he growled, making the Changeling Queen shiver with the fear of knowing that you are not at the top of the food chain, "maybe your workers should try a little harder to keep it stable, hmm?"
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Beneath the Crystal Palace
"So, how big do you think this place is, boss?" Skybreaker looked around at the tunnel walls, noting the differences in design from the previous tunnels they had gone through. Ahead of him, Dark Lance shone a light into each cell, swiftly checking for any signs of life.
"I don't know, but this area was obviously designed by someone different from the designer of the area we found Crystal Spark in. These edges are much more curved. For all we know, these dungeons are as big as the city above us. Possibly even bigger." Skybreaker's response was cut off by a signal from the communicator they had left behind. The voice of Shining Armor came through, distant and full of static, but still sufficiently audible for them to understand him.
"Dark Lance, the king woke up. He started asking where you went, and as soon as he found out you were down there, he took off, saying something about tracking and darkness. He already went into the tunnels themselves, and I'm not willing to risk getting lost down here." Dark Lance turned around, intending to wait for the unicorn who seemed to have been desperate to find them.
"Good call. This place is a labyrinth, and I'm not sure we could find you down here if you did lose your way. We'll stay put, and see what our new friend has to say when he gets here." The channel went quiet, and not long after, the two Autobots could hear hoofbeats echoing through the tunnels. The sounds got louder, and the crystal unicorn's appearance was briefly preceded by a dull white glow on the walls. He came sliding around the corner, and immediately lunged at Dark Lance, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground.
"Go no further! Go no further! The Dark is there, waiting for you!" Dark Lance stayed still, deciding that the unicorn on top of him had no true ill intent.
"What do you mean? What 'Dark'?" The unicorn brought his face close to Lance's, almost until his nose was against the Autobot's faceplate.
"The Dark! The one that took Sombra, the one that eats all, the Dark that searches for us now!" Dark Lance thought over the words for a moment before it clicked.
^The one that eats all... Unicron.^
"You're talking about Dark Energon, aren't you?" The king's eyes widened.
"How you know Energon?" He suddenly looked down at Lance's body, as if seeing it for the first time, before looking up again with his eyes much more focused than before. "You Autobot?" Skybreaker looked down to try and gauge his commander's reaction, but Lance seemed unfazed.
"Yes, we are Autobots. How do you know of us?" The king backed off of Dark Lance, and shook his head a bit. He suddenly turned towards the wall, and vomited a black bile that grew dark crystals where it touched. Lance stood up, and scanned the puddle to find that it was mostly comprised of low-density Dark Energon. He turned his attention back to the king, who now stood much more strongly, and seemed far more aware of his surroundings. When he spoke, it was now with the regal air one would expect of a king.
"My apologies. While Sombra was in power, he frequently used me to experiment on, and it infected me with that infernal substance to the point of madness. My name is Crystal Spark, former king of what was once the Crystal Empire, and guardian of what lies below." He gave a small bow to the Autobots, which they returned.
"And just what does lie below, if you don't mind me asking?" The king shook his head.
"I do not, but you should know beforehand that you might not like what you hear." Dark Lance nodded, and Crystal Spark sighed. "Very well, then. Come, I will speak as we go, and you may see for yourselves." He started down the hall at a brisk trot, with Dark Lance and Skybreaker transforming to follow him evenly.
"I was the last in a trio of kings to guard this place. It is an old, dangerous site, and it has been hidden away from the rest of the world since before Luna and Celestia. Even they do not know of its presence." Dark Lance decided to get him to skip to the important part.
"What is it?"
"A ship. Specifically, an Autobot ship." Both Cybertronians halted in their tracks. Skybreaker managed to put his sentence together first.
"But- but how is that possible?! We were the first exploration team to come here, how did we not know about this?"
"Simple. It was not an exploration vessel that crashed here. Before Megatron started his war, he sent various agents to places all over Cybertron. Including the research station that manufactured Dark Energon. While they were there, they managed to steal a ship before the Autobots managed to shoot out their thrusters. They returned fire, and both ships were lost to our world. They crashed here, and the Autobots were able to drive off the Decepticons. They rebuilt their ship into the tower that now serves as a palace, and although a few went to pursue the still-functional Decepticons, most rebuilt themselves to blend in and make this their home. The Dark Energon, however, still remains, locked away in the ship the Decepticons stole. I believe that Sombra, who at one point was my greatest ally, somehow found this place and was exposed to the corrupting influence of the Dark Energon. Whether or not I am right, though, we will find out soon enough. We are here." He stopped in front of what appeared to be a dead end. He pushed a single hoof against one of the bricks on the left wall, and the stones in front of them began moving, shifting and turning as they revealed a metal door behind the stone. "Also, you should know of one other thing, although I must have a vow of secrecy from both of you first." Skybreaker glanced uncertainly at his leader, but Dark Lance stepped forward with an outstretched hoof. The younger scout copied his motion, and the king tapped each of their hooves with his own. "Very well. Step back a bit, I haven't done this in ages." They both put some distance between themselves and the old unicorn, and he strained for a moment before standing up on his hind legs.
His head split down the middle, and folded onto either side as his forelegs bent back to form a collar. His unicorn head refolded itself into arms, and the horn into blades, while his robot head tilted forward into position, the six points above his eyes spreading into a perceptible crown. His hind hooves then opened, allowing the rest of each leg to extend into a pair of powerful bipedal legs. Skybreaker's jaw fell as Dark Lance hummed in thought.
"How-but-you-I mean... WHAT?!" As he stared incredulously at the robot before him.
"Calm yourself, Skybreaker, it's not that big a deal." He looked at Dark Lance like he was crazy. "If he had wanted to harm us, he could have done so some time ago. And either way,there were enough clues to this for me to figure it out before we even got here. His name, first of all, is blatantly obvious; second, from what Shining Armor heard, I guessed that he was tracking us, and I very highly doubt he would have been able to do that as quickly as he did without being able to detect Energon; finally, as soon as I heard him talking about Dark Energon, there was no other logical explanation. Now then," He returned his attention to the king. "I assume this is the Decepticon ship?"
"Yes, and I must once again warn you of the danger here." Dark Lance transformed once more to stand level with Crystal Spark, and nodded.
"I know. But our ship still needs some repairs, and it may be possible for us to salvage parts here." Skybreaker transformed as well, and their guide nodded before opening the door. Another Cybertronian, this one grey and purple with only one arm, began stumbling forward at them as soon as he saw them. He groaned, and the hissing, grinding sound that came with it alerted Dark Lance to the fact that this Decepticon could no longer process reason. He grabbed his sickles, and cut the mindless being into pieces before it could react. The other two took a step back as Dark Lance looked into the dark corridor it had come from.
"It may also be possible we'll have to deal with Dark Energon-infected Decepticons."
Firefall stood in her beast mode, staring silently at Bunker as Wingshift sat next to her, also watching the disguised superior officer. She shifted her weight to one leg, and Bunker pushed a button on one of the two black boxes next to him, making the second red 'X' light up. She immediately froze again, until she felt a tingling on her leg. Looking down, she saw a large spider beginning to make its way up her talon.
"YAAAH!"
She jumped back and transformed, flinging the creature off into the brush. Wingshift watched it disappear from view, then turned back as Bunker sighed.
"As large as that particular specimen was, it was still completely harmless to you, and in no way warranted that kind of reaction. Therefore," he pressed the button on the black box again, and the third 'X' lit up before all three started flashing and the device gave off a series of loud honks before shutting back off. "Now, let's try it again." Firefall transformed back, and sighed in exasperation.
"Why are we even doing this, again?"
"Because as a scout, you will sometimes need to be completely still for long periods of time." Firefall pointed a feather at Wingshift.
"So why is he here, then? How come he isn't helping Dark Lance and Skybreaker?" Wingshift rolled his eyes as Bunker rubbed his face with a hoof.
"Because Wingshift was only just qualified as an Autobot, and doesn't have any recent formal combat training, so he counts as a scout class as well. That means he needs to go through the same routine you do. Except so far he has done much better." Firefall ruffled her feathers as Bunker gave her a pointed stare. "Now, let's do it again." They all got back into position, and Bunker was about to reset the timer when Burnout's voice came over the comm link.
"Bunker, I need you back at the ship. The sensors just picked up a signal transmission, and I don't recognize it."
"Alright, we're on our way. Let's go, you two." He packed up his equipment, and they all headed back to the ship. Once there, he went straight to the communications room, where he found Burnout sitting at one of the control panels, adjusting the settings almost constantly. She turned when she heard him, and immediately sighed in relief.
"Finally. Maybe you can make some sense of this." She handed him the headphones she was wearing as Firefall and Wingshift came in. Bunker held the side to one of his audio receptors, and muted the other. After listening to the garbled mess of sounds that made up the signal for a few seconds, his optics widened. Without a word, he dropped the headphones, turned, and sprinted out past the others. They quickly followed him, and found themselves in the cell bay. Bunker slapped the shield controls on the cell that held Bloodwing, and stormed in, unceremoniously grabbing the Decepticon by the neck and pinning him to the wall.
"HOW THE SCRAP DID YOU SEND A MESSAGE?!" The other three Autobots froze outside the cell at sound. None of them had ever seen Bunker lose control before, and they were all suddenly very aware of how much ordinance he carried around. "ANSWER ME!" Bloodwing stared at the enraged warrior in confusion and fear.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I haven't sent anything to anyone since I got here, and I don't have any idea what's got you so worked up!" Bunker lowered his captive, and shoved his helmet close to look into Bloodwing's optics point-blank. Satisfied he wasn't being lied to, he huffed and threw Bloodwing to the ground. Stepping out, he reactivated the shield and moved to the end of the hall. He punched a code into the master control panel at the entrance, and a small lever revealed itself from the wall. He pulled it, and heavy blast doors slid out of the ceiling into place to reinforce the energy shields on the cells. He returned to the communications room with the others following him, and started working at the controls. After several seconds, Burnout stepped forward.
"Bunker, what happened? What's going on?" He answered without stopping his work.
"The signal you found wasn't just one message. There were two different signals being carried on the same frequency. One of them was a Decepticon distress signal, calling for help from anyone else nearby. The other was a virus program."
"What?! What was it designed for?"
"To disrupt the thruster programming of the protoform stasis pods, and make them fall out of orbit. And it's already going into effect."
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The clanging of metal echoed through the passageway as Dark Lance cut the last infected Decepticon to pieces and let it fall to the floor. Behind him, Crystal Spark and Skybreaker were cleaning their blades of Energon. He stepped forward, and opened the door. The room inside was dark, but he could see enough to tell that he was now on the ship's bridge. He turned on his lights, and looked around. The entire area was damaged to some extent or another,with the helm and command controls the most heavily damaged. The security station, however, was still in good condition. He turned it on, and searched through the camera files. He quickly found the data he was looking for, and played the footage. The entrance camera showed the door opening, and a rather plain-looking grey unicorn walk in. Crystal Spark came up behind Lance, and confirmed what he was seeing.
"As I thought, Sombra did come here. Now if we can just find out what he was trying to do." Dark Lance switched the camera feed as needed, following Sombra's journey through the ship while Skybreaker joined them. They watched as the unicorn on screen made his way through the ship, and into the cargo hold. "That's where we kept the Dark Energon. Why would he want to have anything to do with that? He always talked about how much it disgusted him whenever someone brought it up." Dark Lance rubbed his chin in thought.
"What about the date? Does it mean anything to you?" Crystal Spark leaned in to get a better look, and nodded.
"Yes. This is about a month after... Oh, no." His optics went wide, and Lance looked at him curiously. "This is a month after the battle with Blazeclaw! It all makes sense now. You see, Sombra and I were two of a very small number of individuals who could still transform, unlike most of the Crystal Ponies. Because of that, most of them didn't want to get too close, emotionally speaking. A pegasus had come here two years before Blazeclaw appeared-"
"The dragon you defeated?"
"Yes, though I'll get to that. Anyway, her name was Bright Blue. She had come for a position in the army we had, and passed spectacularly. Sombra was quite taken with her from their first meeting, especially since she was a pegasus, and he had always wanted to experience flying. He was almost obsessed with it, and had developed several different prototype machines. Anyway, the two of them started seeing each other, and they were married just four months before the attack. In the meantime, Blue had risen through the ranks, and was next in line to be my primary commander. Eager to prove herself, she was first on the battlefield against Blazeclaw, and insisted I stand back to see her skills. She flew like I had never seen anyone fly before, and had it been a normal dragon, she may have been victorious. But Blazeclaw was a Great Dragon, and had six legs to attack with. He grazed her once, and before I or anyone else could do anything, she crashed, and he killed her with his flame. When that happened, I rushed out, intent on destroying the beast, but he was still too strong. All I could do was drive him off, while Sombra brought his wife's burned body back to be buried. He was in mourning for some time, and I could not bear to look him in the eye, ashamed that I had let it happen. It seems that he could not cope, though. Check the camera feed for the laboratory." Dark Lance switched the feed as requested, and before long, they saw Sombra in his robot form enter, carrying several containers of Dark Energon and what appeared to be a body bag. Skybreaker leaned forward trying to make out the image as Sombra cleared off a table, and started laying out his tools before opening the bag.
"What is he- PRIMUS, IS THAT A PONY?!" He reeled back, doing his best to contain his gag reflex. "That is sick and twisted!" Dark Lance nodded in agreement.
"Looks like he was trying to figure out how to bring back the dead."
"I never would have imagined him capable of such evil. He was truly made mad by his wife's death, to be willing to make such experiments." The screen showed Sombra turn slightly, then seem to notice the camera. He walked below the field of view, and then his hand appeared, and the feed cut out before the words 'End of File' appeared on the screen. Crystal Spark stumbled slightly, leaning against the wall with one hand as Dark Lance pieced together what had happened.
"So, Sombra went insane from the death of his wife, started experimenting with Dark Energon to try and bring her back, and probably wound up infecting himself with it. I'd care to bet that the Decepticons we went through on the way here were his work, too. So the question is, why did he take over the Crystal Empire? What would he have to gain by conquering this place? Unless..." He suddenly realized the implications of Sombra's actions, and Crystal Spark's expression said he had come to the same conclusion. "He figured out how to manufacture more Dark Energon."
"By all that is holy... He needs to be stopped! We must get back to the others! They need to know how dire the situation truly is!" They all turned for the door, but stopped in their tracks before they could reach it.
"Crrryyyyssssstaaaalllllssss..." Crystal Spark seemed to slump further at the sound.
"I know that voice. He's here, most likely for revenge. I will lure him in, and keep him occupied. You two need to escape." Skybreaker stared at him incredulously.
"What!? You just woke up! And besides, you're the king! Your people need you!" The older Transformer sighed in response.
"No. They do not need a leader who cannot save his own subjects, and allows his closest friends to fall into darkness. You said that my granddaughter is here, yes?" Dark Lance nodded.
"Then she shall be the new ruler. My time is done, and you may not make it if Sombra's phantoms pursue you. Before you leave, though, I have a gift for you, young one." Skybreaker cocked his head in confusion as the back of Crystal Spark's head opened slightly, allowing him to extract a small chip. "Your weapons are similar enough to my own that my experience in battle can benefit you. Take this, and use it well." He handed the chip to Skybreaker, and the scout plugged it into his own processor. Information flooded his battle matrices, and he briefly wondered how he had survived as many fights as he had. He quickly shook his head to clear it, and nodded his thanks. Crystal Spark nodded in return, and they brought their attention back to the problem at hand; the wisps of black smoke that could now be seen in the hallway. Lance turned to the former ruler of the country.
"So what do we tell them when we get back?"
"Tell them why Sombra needs to be stopped, and when you feel it is right, tell them the rest."
"And what about what happens to you?"
"I shall make my own peace with my mistakes. Simply tell them that I fell against his evil, so that you could return to warn them. I do not want them demoralized by my foolishness in a time when it will matter most." Dark Lance considered for a moment before speaking.
"It's only foolish if you never accept you were wrong." Crystal Spark sighed, and gave a small smile.
"Thank you. Now hide yourselves! The phantom approaches!" Dark Lance and Skybreaker placed themselves behind consoles on either side of the door, using the shadows to their advantage. Soon, a cloud of what looked like liquid darkness came in, shaped like a pony without features. Crystal Spark stood at the other end of the room, and it slowly moved towards him as the two Autobots quietly made their way out.
The sounds of fighting chased them all the way to the exit.
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"SLAG!" Bunker pounded the control panel with a fist, furious at his inability to stop the virus code that had infected the protoforms' stasis pods. He had managed to prevent it from interfering with any more, but five of the pods had already been derailed sufficiently for them to fall. He stared at the screen, working out how he would fix this. "I can't. Not without much better equipment." He didn't like admitting it when he wasn't good enough to do something, but he knew he wasn't the best programmer there was, and he knew his own limits. He activated the long-range communicator array, and once it was ready, prepared a repetitive signal that he hoped would be enough to get Dark Lance's attention.
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Back in the south, Fireburst grinned in satisfaction. His designs for the communicator tower had been sufficient for even the primitive bugs to fulfill his needs, and his virus had successfully compromised enough of the stasis pods for him to have good chances of liberating his other comrades. All he had to do was 'recruit' these new ones. He turned to his other equipment, opening a large map of the area between where they were and the mountain range north of Canterlot. There were precisely five pins placed on the map, and he beckoned Chrysalis over with a claw.
"These are the five positions where the protoforms will land. I will be personally taking care of this one," he tapped the southern-most pin, near the edge of the Everfree forest, "but the others need to be taken as well. I already have the corrupter chips ready, so all your drones have to do is put them in. The plug matches the port exactly, and there is only one of this size, so even they shouldn't have much difficulty. Any questions?" He raised an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head.
"I'll have them get ready." She knew she would probably be sending them to their deaths, but it was better than getting the entire hive killed.
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Wingshift flexed his claws and ran a systems check as Firefall danced in place slightly, obviously eager to get going. Bunker walked in, back to his usual stoic self in the face of emergency.
"Alright, you two, pay attention. We have to assume that Fireburst is behind the signal transmission, which means he'll have planned out most of this already. Therefore, we can't afford to make mistakes. Wingshift, you'll go south. Tracking shows that's where the first crash site will occur. Firefall, you and I will be going west, into Diamond Dog territory. Technically, we shouldn't be, since relations between them and our pony hosts aren't great, but this is a rescue mission, and we can't afford to let one of our own run around unsupervised. You both ready?" Firefall transformed and got into a takeoff pose.
"Let's get going, already!" Wingshift gave a single nod before transforming as well, and Bunker moved toward the door.
"Burnout is staying here to oversee communications, so if anything happens, radio her immediately. Let's rock!" He opened the door and transformed, breaking into a gallop as the other two took to the air.
Burnout, meanwhile, was watching the comm systems for any sign of Dark Lance responding. She didn't have to wait long. It was audio only, but it was there.
"Bunker, this is Dark Lance. I got your message. What's the situation?"
"Bunker just left, sir. We think Fireburst planned this out, so we could really use your help back here. I have the cells in lockdown mode, but if Fireburst comes here while Bunker is gone, I'm not sure I can keep him away long enough. You need to hurry."
"We're on our way."
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"Cadence, Shining. You can take care of things here, right?" They both nodded.
"Yeah, and even if we can't fix it ourselves, we can still ask Celestia to send Twiley and her friends to help. You go and deal with your thing." The Autobot commander nodded his gratitude, and galloped toward the door, Skybreaker following him. Once they got to the city's edge, the shield opened to let them out, and they both took off, not even bothering to check for the smoke cloud, instead simply speeding away before it could appear.
Bunker's hooves pounded against the ground in steady rhythm as he followed the dot on his internal map that marked the landing point. Above him, Firefall was watching all around them, making sure they would not be ambushed by anyone or anything hiding in the sparse plant life that dotted the area. They came over a hill, and they could both see in the distance a large dust cloud. The landing point. Bunker pushed his body to go even faster as Firefall took the lead and moved ahead of him. On top of the next rise, Bunker could see the pod itself as Firefall worked the controls in her robot mode. Her body was originally designed to handle the higher temperatures that came with pushing her body's limits for extended periods of time, so the still-hot surface barely bothered her. Bunker came up behind her, and watched for a moment to make sure she was proceeding smoothly. Satisfied that she was, he turned around and started pacing around the pod to make sure they wouldn't be attacked without warning. As he scanned the surroundings, Firefall spoke.
"Hey, what if there aren't any usable beast modes close enough for the protoform to use? Will it just turn into a tree, or something?" Bunker grinned a little at the idea of having a tree alt-mode.
"No, there will be something. The scanner goes through the ground as well, so worst-case scenario, it turns him into a diamond dog." Firefall nodded, then something occurred to her.
"Wait. So, if that phoenix hadn't been there when I woke up, what would I have turned into?" Bunker gave his best imitation of a shrug as he looked over a particularly large patch of shrubbery.
"I don't know. If there hadn't been any other animals nearby appropriate for your function, it might have even turned you into a bug." Firefall shuddered at the idea.
"Yeah, well, I'm glad it didn't."
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In the southern part of the Everfree forest, Wingshift stood guard over the stasis pod that held the protoform. Although he had gotten there some time ago, he had found his claws too large for use with the small space the keyboard was in. Deciding that it was probably better to wait for one of the others to arrive, he had hidden himself, and now watched the small clearing with perfect stillness, waiting for any Decepticon to appear. The sound of movement coming from a ways off in the brush set his nerves on edge. He readied himself to strike, but relaxed when a manticore walked out into the clearing. With Crosswire safely held in the Star Runner, he didn't need to worry about this one being a Decepticon. The creature took a few steps in, looking around as it approached the pod. As Wingshift watched, the beast suddenly snapped its attention to another part of the forest, backing away as a dragon revealed itself from the foliage.
^Fireburst. Seems he didn't trust the Hive to get the job done themselves. Smart move, but not helpful to me.^ The manticore snarled at Fireburst as he approached, but a single jet of flame was enough to send it running. Fireburst walked calmly towards the pod, but stopped when he heard the buzzing of wings. He turned just in time to get a mouthful of hoof, and stumbled slightly from the hit. He spun back around to face the new threat.
"Well, well, well. Looks like I'm not the only one out hunting." He sneered.
"I'm not hunting, I'm guarding. From you." The mutant transformed, spreading his claws wide in a combat stance. The Decpticon grinned at the challenge, and followed suit.
"Then let's see how well you play the part of a shield." Fireburst lunged forward, locking his claws with Wingshift, and shoving him back a few feet in the dirt. "Not bad, freak. But I'm just getting warmed up!" He dropped one knee, allowing the Autobot to throw himself off-balance, and then flung his foe across the clearing, quickly giving chase and following up with a solid kick to Wingshift's side, making him gasp as his organic internal parts were suddenly slammed together with his metallic ones. Fireburst rolled his neck and shoulders, stretching himself back out as his opponent got up. Wingshift wiped some stray Energon away from his faceplate, and reset his stance.
"If you're just getting started, then how about I kick it up a notch?" With a flourish, several copies of himself spread out to either side. Fireburst rolled his eyes.
"Again? I already figured out how to keep track of you, you know. It's just like that stupid cup game that every species seems to come up with. You can't fool me." One of the copies charged him, and he brought up his guard. A clang rang out at the point of impact, and Fireburst turned as Wingshift blew past him. "You see? Now that I know which one is the real you, I have nothing to worry ab-AGH!" He stumbled forward from a strike from behind, and turned in bewilderment to see another Wingshift, grinning confidently. "What in the Inferno!?"
"Hard-light holograms. It doesn't really matter if you can tell which one is me. All of them can hurt you. What's more, you can't single me out with your Cybertronian detectors, thanks to my partially-organic body." The rest of the copies spread further out, surrounding the Decepticon. "Now might be a good time to surrender."
"Not a chance." Fireburst whipped his swords out, and dashed toward the Wingshift that had first attacked him. The first strike was blocked by his arm, but the follow-up stab pierced his chest, disassembling the illusion. The twin blades spun again as their wielder turned back to the rest. "Show me what you've got."
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In the west of the forest, two Changelings shuffled forward out of the trees, into the area that had been cleared of foliage by the stasis pod. Seeing and hearing nothing else in the vicinity, they galloped down the landing trench to the pod.
"C'mon, Carapace, move it! This place gives me the creeps, and it won't be long before the predators decide to investigate!" Carapace wheezed as he ran, short on energy and unused to traveling such long distances by hoof.
"You have the chip, Glasswing! Just go ahead of me, and I'll catch up." The first one glared at her companion.
"And let you slink off while my back is turned? Not a chance. Now hurry up!" A minute later, they reached the end of the path, and were standing next to the pod. Glasswing pulled the chip she had acquired from Fireburst out from her wing-cover, and after a few moments of fumbling with the control panel, had managed to insert it. She stepped back as the scanner started, but her good mood at having completed the task was spoiled by a hoof tapping her shoulder.
"What, Carapace?" She turned to glare at him, noting how quickly he looked around them, as though he saw beasts in the shadows.
"Didn't you hear that? I think we have company, and I think it's hungry." He was visibly shaking, now, but the female Changeling just rolled her eyes as she turned back to the pod.
"Your imagination is running away with you. It's probably just the machine mak-"
"Hssssssssssssssss..." She froze, only moving her eyes to look at her companion again.
"Did that just come from behind us?" Carapace nodded. Glasswing shuddered, then swallowed the lump in her throat in preparation to turn around and face whatever monster had snuck up on them. When she did, Carapace turned with her.
Their screams of terror were cut off as quickly as they started.
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To the south, Chrysalis felt the disappearance of the two from the hive mind, and growled in frustration. Reaching out to a pair of Changelings still in the tunnels, she called them to her. Within minutes, they were standing in the throne room, awaiting her orders.
"Frill, Buzz, I have something very important for you to do." They both saluted, and she quickly briefed them on their mission. Soon, they were flying out of the caves, on their way north.
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Dark Lance had put his mask down to protect his optics as he flew, Skybreaker right behind him. They were mere minutes away from the nearest stasis pod, but Dark Lance knew that if Fireburst had planned out his operation as thoroughly as he seemed to have, they wouldn't make it. He transformed mid-flight as his sensors alerted him to the building radiation in his circuits.
"Skybreaker! At my pace, we aren't going to get there in time! Go as fast as you can, and try to keep the protoform safe until I get there. We can't take any further risks. Get going, and I'll catch up." The scout saluted, and beat his wings harder, quickly pulling ahead of his superior.
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Back in the gem fields, Firefall had finished going through the pod's scanner sequence. All that was left was to wait for the protoform to wake up. She stepped away, and transformed as Bunker came up.
"Looks like we're in the clear. I'm going to head for the next pod, stay here and get the new protoform briefed, then follow. I'll probably need help to keep any Changelings that Fireburst sent away from the site." Firefall nodded, and he galloped off. She turned back, watching as the scanner refolded and the sounds of the protoform formatting began to emanate from the pod.
"C'mon you hunk of scrap! We need him out here *now*!"
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Fireburst growled as another flurry of Energon pellets sped past the tree he had taken cover behind. He knew he was close to victory, but he didn't have the speed necessary to get close enough to his opponent to finish the fight. He peeked out again from his shelter.
Wingshift was panting, covered in cuts and lacerations. None were particularly serious on their own, but the collective toll was being taken. Fireburst's own arms had blocked most of the mutant's attacks, but now they had been scratched and shot enough to be almost useless, although his main cannon was still functional. All he needed was a chance to charge it. His opponent, however, was aware of this single weak point, and the machine guns were doing a grand job of keeping the Decepticon on the defensive.
"You know," Fireburst called, "You aren't going to win this. Your wounds are much more severe than mine. You'll fall first."
"Irrelevant. All I have to do is keep you away from the pod long enough for the others to get here, and you lose." Fireburst laughed.
"Maybe, but what if my associates get here first?" Wingshift's optics widened, and he spun around. Sure enough, there were two Changelings next to the pod. He took one step, and his knee buckled, sending him to the ground. He tried to rise to a sitting position, but was immediately pressed back into the dirt.
"You see?" Fireburst sneered as he pressed his foot harder into his foe's back, "I planned this out far more than you thought. What made you think I would come here alone? You and Bunker are both able to match me. Had I arrived by myself, I obviously wouldn't have succeeded." He returned his attention to the Changelings. "Finish it up. I want to see the birth of this new Decepticon myself." He grinned in anticipation, until he felt a grip on his leg. Wingshift had grabbed him, and he could feel the same draining sensation as before. He snatched his foot away, and Wingshift took the opportunity to transform and fly back to the Star Runner. Fireburst watched him go, then turned back to the pod. "No matter. He won't be online much longer, anyway."
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To the northeast of the forest, two more Changelings snuck out of their latest hiding place, moving quickly toward their target. Once they were next to the pod, they turned toward each other, speaking simultaneously.
"Put the chip in." Their eyes widened in unison. "I thought you had it!" They covered their faces with their hooves. "Now what? We're dead meat!" They started panicking, until one suddenly grabbed the other by the shoulders.
"Aqua! We have to run! Chrysalis will know, and then she'll tell the dragon, and then he'll kill us! We need to leave!" The other nodded vigorously.
"I agree, Marine, but where can we go? We'd have to go across the ocean to get far enough from the hive mind." Marine took a step back, and put his hoof to his chin in thought. He perked up, and opened his mouth to speak, but Aqua suddenly found himself looking at a yellow fist where his twin used to be. He had enough time to wonder "What is that?" before he was similarly launched across the clearing by a pain in his stomach. He slammed into a nearby tree, and fell to the ground unconscious.
Skybreaker spun off the momentum from his kick, and zoomed his optics to make sure his victims weren't dead. Satisfied that was not the case, he turned back to the pod.
"That was too close. Now, let's get you up and about." He started typing in commands. "Ooh, you're a triple-changer. Let's see.... Designed for hazardous area operations, huh? In that case, I'm going straight to the databanks for you. The Star Runner's cannon should be a good alt-mode, but you still need a beast mode. Let's see what the scanner picks up." He finished putting in the commands, and scooted back in his crouch to let the scanner unfold. "And now we wait." He started settling in, when he heard a gasp behind him. He spun around, ready to fight, but became horrified by what was in front of him.
A green unicorn with a huge, ecstatic smile on her face.
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In the easternmost part of the forest, another pair of Changelings were busy shuffling around as the pod they had been sent to finished. Around them, they could see, hear, and smell the timberwolves that had found them, and they were debating whether or not they should leave the pod's inhabitant to fend for itself. One of the wolves finally showed itself, stepping out from the trees and signaling the others to do so as well. The two Changelings flared their wings in preparation for takeoff, but before anything could make another move, the pod emitted a loud hiss as the lid opened. The timberwolves growled as the Changelings stared in anticipation. Through the cloud of pressurized, super-cooled gas that billowed from the vessel, they could all see a large form, and two yellow eyes, which growled right back at the predators.
Fireburst grinned in satisfaction as the pod before him opened. He had tried so many times to outdo the Autobots, and now, in a state of desperation, he had finally succeeded. They had opened themselves wide for a power strike, and he had taken the opportunity to its fullest. Some intimidation and a pair of well-formed programs, and he had single-handedly brought multiple protoforms under Decepticon control and incapacitated one of their most powerful allies. He returned his attention to the pod as the protoform revealed itself from the coolant cloud, his spark filled with confidence. The creature that stepped out, though, surprised him.
"Another manticore, hm? Well, nobody said they all have to be different," he muttered to himself. He stepped forward as the two Changelings hid behind him, and introduced himself. "Hello, sparkling. I am Fireburst. I'm not sure how much you're aware of yet, though, so why don't you tell me how much you already know about yourself." The manticore looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded. It stood up on its hind legs as its tail and spine lifted up. Its front legs closed together, and then swung to the right as the tail moved to the left. The new Decepticon's beast head then rotated down onto its chest, and its robot head - a simple, crested dome taking up the top while a faceplate covered his mouth - rose up, allowing the beast head to recess into the torso. His legs folded, and he turned his lower body around as what used to be his beast mode's knees moved up, and the paws separated into large, stabilizing feet. His right hand rotated out from his beast mode forelegs, and his tail laid flat against what was his back as it spun around, revealing his left hand beneath that.
"My name is Harvester. I was designed for Energon extraction and relocation." He opened a panel on his right arm, revealing an Energon storage tank. "I would guess that you'll be using that to full effect, yes?" Fireburst grinned again.
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"Heehee! It tickles!" Skybreaker's optics widened further as the scanner passed over the unicorn, then stopped and folded back up. He knew he was in trouble. There was a reason for them to be disguised, after all. Unfortunately, the unicorn didn't seem to be aware of that, as she trotted right up to him and started looking him over. "So what are you, anyway? Ooh! Are you an alien? I've always wanted to meet an alien! But you're made of metal. Are you one of the alien's robot workers!? Ooh, this is so exciting!" Skybreaker decided he needed to do something about this, and fast, so he clamped her mouth shut so he could speak. "Mm mmm hmmm HHNNSS!"
"Listen, I don't have time for this right now. There's too much going on, and this place is way too dangerous for you to be here. But since I know you aren't going to leave me alone without answers, here's the deal; you leave right now, go home, keep everything you saw here a secret, and I'll tell you whatever you want later. Alright?" The unicorn suddenly went stiff in his hands, and she looked at him with huge eyes. He cringed away slightly at how big they were, and how unnatural her lack of blinking was, letting go of her muzzle just enough for her to speak.
"Promise?" She said it so fast, Skybreaker jolted in surprise. He collected himself quickly, and nodded. He got another huge smile out of her for this. "Eeeeee! I'm gonna meet an al-i-en, I'm gonna meet an al-i-en." She continued singing to herself as she bounced away.
"Ok, I'll deal with that later."
"Deal with what later?"
"GAH!" Skybreaker spun back around to see a blue unicorn with a floppy red mane and tail standing on the open stasis pod. "Primus, that scared me. Look, we don't really have time to chat right now. So let's do the short introductions, and we can get to the in-depth stuff when we aren't in mortal danger. Sound good?" The unicorn shrugged.
"I guess. The name's Crackshot. I was designed more for combat. Long-range guard duty, overwatch, that sort of thing."
"That's perfect, actually. We need some more firepower. I'm Skybreaker. High-speed reconnaissance. Dark Lance is the commander. He should be here soon, but for now we need to get back to the Star Runner. Everyone else will be headed there as well, so let's go." Crackshot nodded, and followed Skybreaker as he transformed and flew deeper into the forest.
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"Wheeee!"
"Gah! Will you stop squirming, already?!"
"Sorry, it's just so much fun!"
"Look, Detpack, I know you just came online, and I know this is all very exciting, - trust me on that one, I haven't been here for very long myself - but we need to focus. It's just like Bunker said; always watch the goal, or else it will be gone when you look again. Right now, there are four other protoforms out there, and Fireburst could have already gotten to one of them." The blue-furred diamond dog looked up from where he dangled by Firefall's talons.
"Who's Fireburst, again?" Firefall sighed.
"He's the Decepticon who dragged you and four other protoforms out of orbit to try and reprogram you to join his side." Detpack nodded.
"And just so we're on the same page, remind me; what's a Decepticon?" Firefall nearly dropped out of the sky in shock.
"How can you be this absent-minded?! Did your processor get damaged on impact, or did you fry your circuits somewhere? I mean, really! The Decepticons are warmongers and conquerors. They have no mercy, and no compassion. They destroyed our homeworld, and if they aren't stopped, they'll destroy every other world they come across, too. Now do you understand why we need to move quickly?" Detpack nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, yeah! Don't want anyone like that running around by themselves. Just one more question, though."
"What?" Firefall grunted.
"Where are we going?" She briefly considered simply dropping him and retrieving him later.
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Dark Lance began descending as he closed in on the stasis pod's location. There was a relatively short clearing, and he followed it to find a small area littered with bits of wood. On the far side, two Changelings were cowering as a wolf made of wood circled them. Both of them were grounded, sporting several tears in their wings, and numerous injuries on the rest of their bodies. The wolf snarled, a low, stuttering sound that seemed almost like laughter.
"Protoform!" The wolf snapped around at the sound of Dark Lance's voice. "While it is obvious from the damage you have caused here that your programming has been overwritten by Fireburst's corrupter chip, I'll still give you a chance to stop now. I'd rather not end yet another life, if possible." The wolf laughed again.
"And what makes you so sure you'll win? I was designed for battle. I'm a soldier. How do you expect to win against an opponent who was built for fighting, hmmm?" Dark Lance glared.
"Call it a hunch."
"Very well, then. Let's see how long you survive!" He stood up on his hind legs, and his feet slid back, allowing the back half to fold forward, creating a pair of thick, clawed feet. His torso spun around, and his forearms turned outward, switching the positions of his paws and elbows to reveal his hands. His head tilted away from Dark Lance, then split and refolded into its robot form. His tail unfolded, and extended onto his back, allowing him to reach over his shoulder and pull it out as it reformed itself into a rifle. He shifted it into a firing position, and grinned maliciously. "Prepare to be annihilated at the hands of Fangcrusher!"
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Fireburst walked out into the next clearing, and quickly took stock of the situation. Two statues of Changelings frozen in terror, one open stasis pod with a corrupter chip attached, and the bloody remains of what appeared to be a giant snake. Not what he was expecting to find. He moved into the clearing, inspecting the ground for clues as to what happened, while Harvester checked the pod and the Changelings that were with him looked over their stony brethren. He switched to his sonic vision, using the compressed dirt trails to find movement patterns.
^Hmmm. They came in, but something followed them. Looks like it was this snake, here. But how did they turn to stone? Whatever. That's not important now. Let's see... Looks like the protoform woke up without incident, then transformed... into another snake? Well, that could be interesting. But where did you go, little sparkling?^ He followed the trail to the edge of the trees, turning his head back and forth as he switched to detect Cybertronians. He noticed the signature immediately, apparently looking right at him from a high tree branch, but he continued sweeping his head back and forth, like he didn't know where his target was. After another second of making a show of searching, he turned back around with a grin. As he expected, a hiss emanated from the trees. He immediately transformed, smacking the disguised Cybertronian with his rear legs as they swung upward. Turning around, he regarded his newest acquisition with a condescending smile.
"Did you actually think you would take me off-guard? Come now, no need for that. We're on the same side. In fact, I'm your commander. Now why don't you let me see your true form?" The snake stared up at him, sizing him up. It hissed again, then broke apart as the sound of a t-cog filled the clearing. The lower jaw split to the sides, and the neck twisted, pulling each half to the side into a pair of slender arms. The rest of the snake body twisted, allowing the midsection to push back slightly, while the tail split into equally slender legs, the sides splitting into various armor flaps. The snake head then turned down into a chest plate, revealing a smooth, slicked head. Once again, Fireburst found himself looking at a femme. ^Utterly pointless.^
"So," the new Decepticon interrupted his thoughts before he could lose track, "if you're my leader, then what's your name?" She folded her arms, apparently not impressed.
"My name is Fireburst," he stated, bringing himself to his full height, "and you are now under Decepticon command." She seemed to consider the idea for a moment.
"How about... no?" She jumped away and transformed, laughing as she disappeared into the brush. Fireburst took an instinctive step forward to try and stop her, but she was gone. He recomposed himself, then returned his attention to the others as he transformed again.
"Unimportant. We have better things to do than run off and try to find fools who can't take orders. You two!" The Changelings snapped to attention, anticipating the Decepticon's order. "Contact the rest of your agents. It's time to start phase two."
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In the Star Runner, Burnout worked furiously at the auto-turret control board. She wasn't trained for this, but Skybreaker wasn't around, Bunker was still heading back, and with Wingshift in a recovery pod and Dark Lance Primus-knows-where, no one else was available to take care of it. So she did the best she could, setting the weapons systems to simply fire at anything that didn't respond with an Autobot code, or leave at the first warning shot. Hopefully no ponies would need them for anything. She returned to her lab, having nothing particularly useful to do other than work on her usual projects, since she didn't have any usable combat gear available to her. Sure, there were a couple of heavy blasters in the cargo bay, but that didn't mean she knew how to use them. The eyes of her beast mode head slid open, revealing a pair of canisters hidden in her tool gauntlet. She looked at them for a few seconds, then sighed and shook her head as the eyes returned to their original position.
^No. Even if I could use that here, it wouldn't affect Fireburst, which means it would be pretty much useless, anyway.^ She sighed again, and flipped her blade into ready position, studying it for a moment. ^I need to get another weapon.^ Her musings were cut off by the rumbling of blaster fire. She rushed back to the bridge, entering just as the door was ripped open with the sound of shrieking metal. She readied her blade as a red claw stepped into view, followed by the rest of the body of Fireburst. ^Well, scrap.^
"Ah, Burnout, so nice to see you again. What, no welcome party? And no Wingshift, either? My, my, you Autobots really have lost your knack for entertaining guests, haven't you?" His teeth bared in a wide smile as Harvester followed him in, trailed by several Changelings. "I'll tell you what: you show me where Bloodwing and the others are, and I won't kill you right now. How's that sound?" He transformed, towering over the Autobot medic, even from across the room. "Or, you could try to fight me, and I'll just cut you a little, then let you rust. Either way, I'm going to get what I want." Burnout glanced at the door to the cell area to make sure it was locked. It was, but Fireburst noticed the movement of her optics and started moving for the portal anyway.
"No way!" Burnout rushed him, attempting to stab him in the chest, but he easily parried the strike with one of his own blades, then used his claw to stab through her gauntlet. He ripped out several bits and pieces upon removal of his limb, and Burnout fell to the floor, clutching her injured arm in agony.
"Let's be honest here; we both knew that wasn't going to work." He strode to the door, and drew his other blade. He drove both swords into the thick metal, then twisted, cutting a large hole in the barrier. He tossed the scrap metal aside, and stepped through. Down the hall, the blast doors were still shut, but the panel on the wall was easy enough for him to find. He yanked the entire protective cover off, but instead of simply trying to hack into it, he decided to try something else. "Harvester, come here." The other Decpticon came up and transformed, readying his tools. "See if you can simply drain the power from the door mechanism, unlock it that way. The rest of you, search the ship for the others' weapons. They'll want them soon enough." The Changelings scattered, and Harvester stepped up, jamming his stinger into the control console and beginning the syphoning process. A few seconds later, a dull *thunk* sounded as the magnetic locks disengaged, and Fireburst stood in front of the first door. He squatted down, hooked his claws under the door, and heaved upward. The door itself was heavy, and designed with almost no room to move, making it a tight fit into its storage space. Inside, Sharpedge looked up as Fireburst grunted a little from exertion. He jerked his head outside, and she quickly gathered her wits and scrambled out. Fireburst stepped back and let go, letting the door fall loudly back into place. He moved to the next, and lifted it to find Crosswire, ready to exit as soon as the door cleared his shoulders. Letting that door fall back into place as well, he moved to the third door, and Sharpedge stood on the other side. They both lifted, revealing Bloodwing standing tall, waiting for the barrier to lift high enough that he could walk out unhindered.
"I'm impressed, Fireburst. You managed to bring low the Autobots with nothing but fleshlings, scrap, and some ingenuity. That's going to make all of us look good." Fireburst smiled.
"Yes, sir." The door slammed back down, and Bloodwing walked over to the individual he didn't recognize.
"You must be one of the protoforms Fireburst brought down from orbit. And you've already proven your usefulness. What's your name?"
"Harvester. Sir." Bloodwing grinned in satisfaction at having another subordinate.
"Well, then, Harvester, welcome to the Decepticon cause. We'll give you a full briefing later, right now I wish to retrieve my property." Fireburst stepped forward.
"I've already sent the Changelings to find it, sir. They shouldn't be too long."
"Excellent. In that case, let's find out what our dear Autobot friends have left for us to play with." He strolled down the hall toward the bridge, and casually ducked through the impromptu opening Fireburst had made. On the other side, Bloodwing saw Burnout stumbling against the wall, obviously heading for the communications room. He walked up next to her.
"Burnout, what's gotten into you?!" He said with as much mock-concern as possible. "With wounds like these, you shouldn't be wandering around the ship!" He grabbed her bad arm, and began not-so-gently pulling her toward the med-lab. "We need to get you in a recovery pod right now! Come on, you're a doctor! You should know better!" His false concern fell with every step, quickly fading into a cruel smile. He hauled her into the med-lab, and shoved her into one of the pods, closing it and setting it to the maximum settings before she could get back out. The pod filled, and she began hitting the glass, futilely attempting to break it and escape. Bloodwing watched her gleefully for a moment before addressing his subordinates.
"You know, I asked her once why we never used the highest settings on these things. She told me they were only for the most grievous of wounds, and that putting in a mostly-healthy Cybertronian would cause the nanobots in the tank to 'repair' too much, interfering with motor functions, Energon flow, and lots of other things, effectively putting whoever is inside into a state of immobilization. A waking death." He grinned maliciously as a Changeling appeared from one of the hallways. He looked to see what it had, and his optics lit up at seeing his sword and shield. "Ah! More good news. This is a fine day, indeed." He went over and recovered his weapons,immediately putting his shield on and drawing his sword to give it a few experimental swings. "Just like I remember it. Now-"
*KABOOM*
Bloodwing spun around to see Burnout collapse out of the destroyed recovery pod, coughing and sputtering as Crosswire picked himself up off the floor across the room, where he impacted the wall. He looked up, and gaped at the sight of Dark Lance standing in the door, his left arm changed into a cannon and his right arm carrying what appeared to be an unconscious Cybertronian.
Dark Lance flung Sharpedge out through the main hatch, finally clearing his ship of Decepticons after throwing Harvester and Crosswire out through the roof portal, and having Fireburst and Bloodwing follow them on their own. Bloodwing had just gotten out of his holding cell, and he had no intention of giving his long-time rival a chance to put him back in. After Sharpedge impacted a tree and fell to the ground, Dark Lance flew out, turning over and bringing up his shield to defend against the sneak attack he had predicted from Fireburst, standing on top of the vessel. The force of the blast pushed him back, down into the ground, so he flipped back over, skidding to a halt several meters away. He stood up, and looked around at the assembled Decepticons surrounding him as he readied his lance. Bloodwing scoffed.
"Oh, please, Dark Lance. Do you honestly think that you have any hope of beating all of us by yourself?"
"Who said he was alone?" Bloodwing turned toward the new voice, and saw a flurry of small missiles headed toward them. He took off, quickly followed by Fireburst and Sharpedge. Harvester and Crosswire were not as fast, however, and were blown back as the missiles detonated. Bunker stepped out of the brush in his robot mode, and looked up at the Decepticon leader. "You still think you'll win this fight?" Bloodwing's optics narrowed.
"I still think I have a good enough chance!"
"Well, then, how about we make that chance zero?" He once more turned, up this time, as another voice sounded, and saw Firefall diving towards them with another Autobot in her talons, who was clutching what appeared to be a bomb in either hand. He flung the explosives down at Fireburst and Sharpedge, and the orbs exploded before they could clear themselves of the blast radius. Firefall released Detpack from her grip, and he landed heavily, but unharmed, next to Dark Lance. She then activated her flames, and aimed right for Bloodwing himself. He put up his shield, but the force of the impact sent him careening back to the ground. He clambered back out of the hole, looking around at his team. In mere moments, his greatest victory had already turned sour. He huffed.
"Fine, Lance, looks like you won't be terminated today."
"His medic might be, though." All heads turned toward the ship, to see Burnout, with Fangcrusher holding her up and his rifle at her throat. "Don't move, Autobots, or I send her to the slag heap." They all froze, unwilling to risk her safety. They didn't have to, however, as a shot rang out, hitting Fangcrusher on his hand and causing him to drop his weapon.
"Or maybe we'll just send you packing!" Skybreaker called as he swooped down, giving a swift kick to the Decepticon's face and knocking him away from the ship. Bloodwing growled as Fangcrusher picked himself up, and another Autobot revealed himself from the trees. He was white, with what looked like a unicorn horn on his right arm, and his pony head making up his upper left. His forelegs were folded against his back, pointing straight up, and his rear legs were split three ways down the middle, layered over each other to form wide, stable feet.
We don't have enough time or power left to win this fight.
"Decepticons... Fall back. We'll finish this later." He transformed, and took off as his subordinates did the same, the whole group disappearing into the forest after him. Once they were sure the Decepticons were out of sensor range, the Autobots all slumped in exhaustion, except for Detpack and Crackshot. Dark Lance looked around, and decided that Burnout's injury was highest priority. The others didn't have any immediate problems, and the new sparklings could be introduced later. He transformed, and trotted over as Burnout slowly slid down the doorframe, obviously low on Energon.
"Come on, Burnout, let's get you fixed up." She nodded weakly, and let him carry her over to the auto-repair tanks. He gently put her in one of the ones that didn't have a gaping hole in it, and turned it on, leaving it to do its job. Returning to the ship's bridge, he surveyed the assembled Autobots before he transformed. The area was much more crowded, now. "Alright, so now that we have a moment, let's do some planning. First, you two. What are your names and functions?" The two newly-activated sparklings looked at each other before Crackshot swept a hand forward, inviting Detpack to go first. The blue Autobot shrugged, and turned back to his new commander.
"The name's Detpack. I was designed for demolitions and explosives mining. I can use my environmental absorbers to make bombs anywhere, anytime." Dark Lance nodded, and turned his attention to the other new arrival.
"I'm Crackshot. Designed for long-range combat scenarios, overwatch, and guard stations. I actually only have one weapon, but I can switch out the core with other cores to have different effects." Dark Lance nodded.
"Yes, I remember. An experimental weapons system designed to outmatch every other. You were equipped with it as a last resort option, should a situation involving a planet's natives become violent."
"Hold on a nanoclick!" Firefall shouted as she stepped forward. "You mean to tell me that you knew he was on the ship? You knew that he had a purpose-built weapon, and you never activated him? Why not?! You could have scrapped the Decepticons by now if he had been with you!"
"Put simply, because I didn't want to risk any of you falling into their hands as well. I didn't want your first experiences in life to be war."
"Yeah, well, you sure accomplished that, didn't you?" She turned and stormed toward the exit. "I'm going on patrol." She opened the door, and took off once she was back in her beast mode.
"Skybreaker." The now-senior scout snapped to attention. "Go with her. Just keep her out of trouble, though, alright?" He nodded, then jumped out the main hatch and transformed, taking to the sky as he did. "You two, familiarize yourselves with the ship. Bunker, give them the tour. I need to think." Dark Lance walked away as Bunker began his lecture of the ship's systems. He headed down to his room, and locked the door behind him. He opened a concealed panel on the wall, revealing a board filled with pictures and news clippings from Cybertron, and from his time in command of the Star Runner. He focused in on one in particular; an image taken just before their departure, when the Decepticons hadn't even been formed yet. There were six total members of his crew, then. He was standing in the middle of the group, an obviously excited young 'Bot who was doing his best to look professional. To his left, Bunker was standing with his arms crossed, his face unreadable due to his helmet. To his right, Burnout was standing with her hands folded in front of her, just out of medical school. On the other side of Burnout, the team's original scout, Torque, was striking a pose for the camera. He was fairly large for a scout, one of the effects of having a three-wheeled alt-mode. The two front wheels were embedded in his forearms, while the third sat vertically on his back. He had on the same confident smirk that Dark Lance remembered. On Bunker's left, the team's senior medic was standing with his arms behind him, and his legs close together. The spitting image of professionalism. And probably the only professional the original team had. Weld had been tasked to be the team's chaperone, consultant, teacher, and head medic when things went awry. Finally, hovering behind Lance and just to his right, was a red Cybertronian, with a jet cockpit making up his left shoulder. He had his arms up in a flexing pose, and a huge, confident smile as he kept himself floating above the rest, having been the only way to be seen due to his short stature. Dark Lance stared at the picture for a long while, wondering how he had ever thought himself capable of leading this team, and how he had never been able to keep Bloodwing from turning traitor, all those years ago. He closed the panel, and returned to the med-lab. Upon entrance, he found Wingshift sitting on one of the examination tables, watching the repair pod Burnout was still in. The mutant looked up, and nodded in greeting.
"How's she coming along, Wingshift?"
"Adequately. The repair pod is doing its job, and she seems to still be conscious, so she should be fine." Dark Lance nodded limply. ".... Sir, if I may, I might not be able to fix your problem, but I might be able to give you insight that will help."
"What makes you think I have a problem?"
"Your actions are slow, dragging, and unenthusiastic. I was living as a Changeling for some time, and I learned how to read body language quite well during that time. You'd be surprised how similar the body language of different species is." Dark Lance sighed, considering if he should divulge the information to possibly the only ally he had who might be willing to try and take his position. Eventually, he relented.
"You remember, of course, how paranoid Skybreaker was of you when you first joined us, correct?"
"Of course."
"He was like that due to an incident that took place just a couple weeks after he came online. He was doing a basic training routine, which I had ordered, with our original scout, Torque. While they were out, they found Sharpedge, the Decepticon scout, wandering around. She told them that she had decided to defect. We hadn't really had much time to learn about her or the others at that point, so of course we all welcomed her right away, happy that at least one of them had been willing to make an attempt at peace. The next morning, both she and Torque were gone. We checked the security cameras, and discovered that she had allowed the other Decepticons into the ship, and they had taken Torque hostage. We mobilized immediately, unaware of what they had done to him by then. Skybreaker and I went to search by air, while Bunker and Burnout searched on the ground. We found out where they had him first, though I sometimes wish we hadn't. Crosswire had given away his position with a power spike, and we homed in on it. When we arrived, the Decepticons had already fled, leaving Torque behind. He was strung up against a wall, with his parts hanging from various stands around him." Wingshift's optics widened in horror. "He was still alive, but just barely. Crosswire had removed every single major organ from his body without disassembling him, and without actually taking him apart. Everything was still attached. Only problem was, his Energon levels were critically low, and we didn't have any to give him right away. Skybreaker wasn't as fast as he is now, and he was still faster than me, but not fast enough to be able to get back to the ship and return with the Energon needed to keep Torque alive. Neither of us had the medical expertise to put him back together, and he wouldn't last long enough for Burnout to get there."
"So you had to pull the plug." Dark Lance nodded.
"Yes. Skybreaker was in no mental state to do it, so I had to. His last words were, 'See you around, boss.' I shot him point-blank, right in the spark. He died instantly. Painlessly. But neither Skybreaker nor myself have been able to totally get over it. As you found out." Wingshift nodded.
"That does explain his attitude towards me. And I suppose this is also why you weren't willing to activate the other protoforms yourself, correct?"
"Yeah."
"Certainly a reasonable precaution. However, you can't protect them all, certainly not from the Decepticons. I would recommend not worrying about it at this point. What's done is done, and you can't change that." Dark Lance shook his head.
"Maybe, but it's not just that. I've made a lot of mistakes, as commander of this ship. And honestly, I don't think I'm cut out for this job." Wingshift stood up, setting a hand on Dark Lance's shoulder for a moment as he passed.
"If you're not capable, then none of us are. And no one's tried to usurp you yet, right? So you must be dong something correctly." He removed his hand, and left the med-lab. Dark Lance considered his words for a moment, then sighed again.
As Skybreaker flew along behind Firefall, he thought back to Dark Lance's reaction to what she had said. The commander had concealed it well, and Skybreaker wasn't sure that even Bunker had noticed it, but Firefall's comment had made Dark Lance slump ever so slightly. Skybreaker already knew what the problem was, but orders were orders, and he wasn't going to make the situation worse by leaving Firefall by herself when the Decepticons could very well show up at any time. It was already getting dark, and an ambush now would be lethal. He accelerated a bit, catching up to his teammate.
"Firefall! We need to get back soon! We can't be out here at night, it's too dangerous! There's too many things that can go wrong!" Firefall stopped and turned to face him, both of them hovering in place.
"Oh really? Did Dark Lance teach you all about that? Or did he just tell you once not to do it and you never questioned him?" Her optics narrowed, obviously still upset by Lance's apparent lapse in judgement. Skybreaker's narrowed to match, and he moved forward a bit to emphasize his point.
"I learned it the hard way." Firefall obviously wasn't expecting that, but quickly regained her posture. Before she could open her mouth, though, Skybreaker cut her off again. "I learned it by almost losing my arm to an organic alien life form that only hunted at night. The only reason I didn't lose it entirely is because Lance and Torque were there to get me back to the ship. In fact, that's probably the only reason I'm still online. Now will you please just come back? For all we know, one of the Decepticons could already be getting an ambush ready." Firefall glared a moment longer, then sighed.
"Fine. But don't think for even a nanoclick that I'm apologizing. I meant every word of what I said, and I'm not taking it back." Skybreaker gave his best impression of a shrug as he turned around to head back.
"No one said you had to. Lance prefers that everyone be honest about their opinions, anyway. Keeps everyone from getting ignored." The two continued flying back over the forest for a few moment, before Skybreaker picked up a small sound coming from the trees below. He quickly halted himself, and turned to find Firefall do the same. "You heard that, too?" A simple nod was all the confirmation he needed.
"It sounded like a cry for help, almost. But who would be out in the forest this late?" Skybreaker scoured his memory banks for anyone he knew that might risk such an expedition, and could only come up with three possibilities.
"Oh, no." He quickly backtracked to where he heard the cry, and dashed below the trees. He zipped around, his sensors maxed out and his head turning constantly to find the source of the noise. He quickly heard the distinct sound of crying, and homed in on it faster than a heat-seeking missile. As he feared, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were sitting next to a fallen tree, with the latter openly sobbing. Applebloom was pinned underneath the mighty trunk, a small dip in the ground the only cause of survival.
"Girls, ya have ta get out of here! If ya don't-"
"No one is getting left behind today." They all turned their attention to Skybreaker as he landed next to them. "What happened? And what are you three doing this far into the forest this late?" Scootaloo sniffled slightly to try and look like she wasn't crying, and turned to face him properly.
"We were trying to get back to the place we found those gems we had when we met you, but when we couldn't find them, we got lost, and we were walking back when this tree fell. Applebloom pushed us out of the way, but now she's stuck, and we can't get her out!" The filly was obviously at her wit's end, as Firefall landed next to Skybreaker.
"You hear all of that?" She nodded. "Then let's get them home. Help me lift this." They both transformed, and Skybreaker vaulted over the trunk so it wouldn't roll when they moved it. "On three. Ready? One, two, THREE!" The two Autobots heaved at the fallen timber, while Scootaloo and Sweetie helped their friend get out from under it. Once they were clear, the trunk was unceremoniously dropped with a heavy thunk. Skybreaker was about to vault back over, when something caught his eye at the base of the tree, and Firefall did a quick check on the fillies as he moved to investigate. As he approached, he quickly realized what was wrong with it. It had been chopped. It was haphazard, almost lazy, chopping, which made it look like a natural break, but Skybreaker could see the small chunks of wood that had been cut out. Only a blade could leave that kind of mark. Looking back at the rest of the tree, he also noticed that it was healthy. It wasn't twisted and gnarled, didn't have any holes in it, and the leaves on the branches were still bright green.
This tree was purposefully weakened. Possibly to do just this. He quickly made his way back to the others
"We need to leave. Now." Firefall looked up and shook her head.
"We won't be going very fast, then. She's got multiple fractures, though they look to be fairly minor, considering she can stand up. There's no way the two of us will be able to carry them back, though."
"Did you try contacting the ship?"
"Yes, but I couldn't get through. I don't know why." Confused, Skybreaker activated his own comm link, attempting to establish a link with the Star Runner. After several seconds of getting nothing but static, he gave up.
"I just hope it's Energon interference doing this. I do not want to be here right now if it's Decepticons." He glanced at the Crusaders for a moment, then back to Firefall, before returning his gaze to his feet. He quickly formulated a plan, and although he didn't like it, he didn't have a choice right now. "Alright. Firefall, get back to base as fast as possible. If the 'Cons are out here, I want some more firepower. I'll start moving back to town with these three, try to get them back sooner, if possible. I'l see you then." Firefall quickly opened her mouth to argue. "No. You don't have enough combat experience yet, and your weapons aren't made for close combat like we would have here. Just get back as fast as you can. Bring, um..." Skybreaker once more searched his memory to see who would be best suited as he transformed. "Well, might as well bring Wingshift, if he isn't already doing anything. Move fast, I don't want to be out here any longer than necessary." Firefall snorted in exasperation, but nodded and transformed before taking off and disappearing over the trees. Skybreaker watched her go, then returned his attention to the three fillies. It was already dark out, and he had no intention of keeping them out here. He crouched down next to Applebloom, and motioned for her to climb up. She did so with some help from her friends, and they all set off towards Ponyville.
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At the Star Runner, Bunker had just completed his tour of the ship, and returned to the bridge, where Wingshift was going through one of the simulations on the gun controls. The screen suddenly went red, and the word 'FAILED' appeared. Wingshift let out a growl of frustration.
"How can someone who isn't even equipped with a blaster be so good at these?"
"Simple," Bunker answered, prompting the mutant to turn around with a questioning look. "Lots and lots of practice." Any rebuttal Wingshift had was cut off as the door opened, allowing Firefall to rush inside.
"Guys, we have a problem! Skybreaker and I just found three fillies out in the forest. One of them is hurt. He said to bring you, Wingshift." The other two Autobots shared a quick glance before Wingshift moved to the door, transforming as he did. Bunker, meanwhile, turned to go back into the ship's interior.
"I'll inform Lance. He'll want to know." And with that, the two fliers took off towards Skybreaker and his three charges. They found them quickly, thankfully unharmed, and landed nearby. Skybreaker looked up at the sound of their approaching wings, and waved as they came down.
"Finally. This place is creepy as all get-out, and the other two are just about falling asleep on their feet. You two mind carrying them? Applebloom already fell asleep on me." His two comrades nodded, and Wingshift crouched down next to Scootaloo while Firefall lowered herself next to Sweetie Belle, allowing the fillies to clamber onto their backs. With all three securely in place, they resumed walking to the town. For several minutes, there was nothing but silence between them. Firefall hadn't been around long enough to really understand how to start a conversation, Skybreaker was too nervous to try and start one, and Wingshift was comfortable enough in the dark forest that he didn't feel the need to stave off any feelings of discomfort or anxiety. Suddenly, Skybreaker's comm link beeped, making both him and Firefall jump in surprise, while Wingshift snapped his head towards the unexpected noise. Fumbling with his hooves a moment, he quickly turned it on, eager to hear a friendly voice. Unsurprisingly, Dark Lance was on the other end.
"Skybreaker, -*zzzkt*- s your position? Barel -*zzzzzt*- ix on your signal. *zzzkt*- do you read?" The lead scout quickly keyed the transmitter.
"Yeah, I read you, Lance. It's patchy, though. Something's screwing with the signal. We're heading towards town now, no problems yet. What did you need?"
"Firefall, unfort -*zzzzkt*- just picked up the last stasi -*zzzkt*- er to go check it out. You copy?" Skybreaker grimaced. Yeah, the stasis pod was high priority, and it was entirely possible that it hadn't been corrupted by the Decepticons yet, but he was loathe to have her go alone, especially since that meant he would be one 'Bot shorter than he already was.
"Sir, are you certain she should go by herself? And what about the fillies?"
"Bunker, Crackshot and Det -*zzzkt*- ready en route. Decep -*zzzzkt*- ouldn't be a problem right now, after just escap -*zzzzkt*- As long as you don't anger any wildlife, you'll be fine." Once more, Skybreaker found himself without a logical argument.
"Understood, sir. Wingshift and I will take care of these three. Skybreaker out." He waited for confirmation, and cut the feed before turning to Firefall. "Looks like you're needed elsewhere. Wingshift, think you can carry two at once?" Wingshift scoffed.
"Of course." Firefall frowned again as she relinquished the unicorn sleeping on her back.
"What does he need me for? He's already got three others, right?"
"Yeah," Skybreaker answered as he helped adjust Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to lay on Wingshift's back, "but none of them can fly. And since he needs to be at the comms to coordinate everyone, he can't go himself. Just try not to worry about it too much. We should be fine." Firefall didn't seem entirely convinced, but she nodded and took off, anyway. Skybreaker and Wingshift resumed their walking, and soon found themselves walking along the bottom of a cliff wall, pockmarked with caves. After a few more minutes of walking, Skybreaker slowly began to notice a fearful sensation in his spark. He came to a stop, and whispered to Wingshift.
"Do you feel that?" The larger 'Bot nodded.
"Yes. We are being hunted." Skybreaker turned to face the forest, and cycled through his vision modes, although he didn't pick up anything.
"Any idea by what?" Wingshift shook his head, also staring out into the foliage. As they stared, they became aware of a shifting sound, moving slowly through the brush.
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhsssssssssssssssssssss
Both fighters took defensive stances as they backed up, heading into one of the lower caves. Wingshift stopped, allowing Skybreaker to rouse the ponies sleeping on his back. He quickly shushed them, setting them back a bit so Wingshift could transform without them getting in the way. Once he was in his robot mode, they waited for another sign of their hunter. Silence reigned for several tense seconds, before Wingshift relaxed his combat stance. He took a few steps back, and half-turned to face the others, obviously still on guard.
"Looks like whatever it was left."
"Don't be sssso sssssure." All attention was instantly focused on the cave opening once more at the sound of a feminine voice. "I don't mind ssssstaying up all night. I've got nothing better to do." Wingshift moved back to the mouth of the cave, and flipped through his secondary vision modes. Once again, he saw nothing but brush.
"Come out and fight, coward!" A hissing laugh replied to his challenge.
"And why ssshould I do that? Esssspeccially when I can do... THIS!" A green arm suddenly swung down from above the cave entrance, plunging the knife it held deep into Wingshift's right shoulder. He cried out in pain, and stumbled back a few steps. He risked a glance back, and saw that the cave continued downward, into the ground. And possibly led out to another exit somewhere else. He turned back just in time to see a green form drop down from the wall above the cave. It was obviously a Cybertronian, and obviously a femme. She had a smooth head, with a small flare on either side, reminiscent of a hood of some sort. The knife she was holding slipped back into her forearm, and she smiled confidently at the injured mutant. "What now, tough guy?" Wingshift matched her grin as his shoulder plates flipped up, his machine guns moving into position.
"This." He opened fire, and the femme dove behind the edge of the opening. He stopped just long enough to turn back to Skybreaker. "RUN!" Skybreaker decided to take his advice, and quickly got the other Crusaders moving down the tunnel, away from the unknown Cybertronian. Once he was satisfied they had gone a large enough distance, Wingshift shot a portion of the ceiling to seal the entrance, then ceased his attack and followed them at a brisk jog. He turned on what weak lights he had when he caught up, allowing the fillies to see him and Skybreaker more easily. They didn't illuminate much else, though, having not been a particularly important part of regular Insecticon anatomy, and not being needed or used for centuries. His joints began feeling stiff, but he ignored it, chalking the feeling up to fatigue. As the group moved further down the tunnel, it twisted and turned, sometimes going up, sometimes going down, and occasionally forking off into other tunnels. Eventually, though, they came to a slightly nicer-made fork, with what appeared to be a very old cave-in just a few dozen meters past it.
"Well," Skybreaker said, "looks like we have to turn here. Not going any further this way."
"Not going any further at all." They all spun around at the voice echoing down the tunnel as it laughed at them. "Looksssss like I get to feassssssst tonight." Skybreaker motioned towards the fork next to them, and followed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as Wingshift watched the passage. They only went a few meters, though, before they came across an opening that led to several other tunnels. Wingshift looked around, and made a decision, checking his internal compass to make sure the others would be able to make it out again. Pointing at one of the tunnels on the left, he took charge.
"Go that way. It should take you back toward Ponyville." Skybreaker looked at him worriedly.
"What are you doing?"
"My duty. I'll keep her from following you, just get them to safety." He then reactivated his guns, systematically blasting the entrances to the other tunnels to prevent any other exit from being used. Skybreaker already knew where this was going, and knew there wasn't anything he could say to change Wingshift's mind. That didn't mean he wouldn't try, though.
"Wingshift. What are you talking about? Just take out the entrance once we go through. Problem solved." Wingshift shook his head after collapsing another tunnel.
"No. She'll just find another way around, and she doesn't have any hurt allies to carry around. You need a distraction, and I'm a more powerful combatant. Now go, before she gets here." The mutated Insecticon shooed them all into the tunnel, and waited for them to get in far enough that they couldn't get back out before collapsing that tunnel, as well. He turned around, and saw a huge snake slither into the room. The snake reared up, and transformed into the femme that had attacked him.
"Oh, how very noble of you, letting your friends get away while you sacrifice yourself." She drew her first knife, then a second, from her forearms, and assumed a fighting stance. Wingshift spread his claws wide, and assumed his own combat stance.
"I'm not sacrificing anything. I just don't want the young ones to see what I'm about to do to you."
The femme laughed at Wingshift once more as she slithered out of the way of another burst of machine gun fire. Another small pile of rubble fell from the wall, adding to the clutter in the small cave. Without the night vision abilities of the other Autobots, Wingshift had been forced to use his lights to see his foe, though they seemed to do more harm than good, considering his currently dismal accuracy. She had managed to strike several more times while his back was turned, and the stiff feeling had increased, decreasing his reaction time significantly. Once more, he felt the sting of sharp metal enter his back, tearing yet again through his wings before retreating as he stumbled forward. His knee gave out, and he fell with a grunt. Turning back around, he caught a glimpse of his guns. The barrels were red with heat, and starting to bend under their own weight. They obviously wouldn't be of any use after this. Returning his attention to the problem at hand, he noticed that the femme was not returning to the shadows as she had been. Instead, she stood in plain view, knife in hand and a smirk on her lips.
"Well, looks like you didn't have to worry about them seeing what you had planned anyway. Although, they probably won't want to see this, either." Wingshift tried to counter her sudden charge, but the stiff feeling prevented him from using the speed he needed. She barreled into him, and his lights went out for a moment as he lost focus. When they came back on, he was on his front, the femme kneeling on his back as his struggles to move became more futile every second. She let out a hiss of satisfaction.
"You feel that? That's my weapon's little secret. You see, I was designed to subdue cybernetic beings like us for capture, containment, and, in some cases, study, without killing them. My knives create a special, living virus that increases in strength with more strikes. Right now, you can barely move. Let's change that." She brought her knife up, and plunged it back down into Wingshift's arm. She raised it again, and brought it back down, higher this time. She continued working her way up, until she reached the guns in his shoulder. "You aren't going to need these anymore. They're far too damaged. How about we just remove the dead weight, hmm?" She jammed the weapon under the lowest gun barrel, and twisted back and forth, prying out all three at once. The femme grinned maniacally. "And now for the other." She repeated the procedure on Wingshift's other shoulder, and then worked her way down that arm, as well. Once she was finally finished, she stood up and looked over her work. "Now, that should be enough to hold you still until I get back. Oh, and just in case you thought your little cave-ins would stop me..." Her shin guards suddenly moved to either side, revealed treads underneath. Her legs folded up under her, and her arms moved down onto her back to get out of the way as her chest plate returned to its position covering her head. "I have no trouble getting a little dirty. Ta!" The snake-head then began spinning at high speed as she rolled forward, effortlessly boring through the rocks blocking the path that Skybreaker and the Crusaders had taken. Wingshift tried once more to move, but his left arm was barely attached, and the rest of his body refused to help him in any way. As his lights faded, he activated his distress beacon.
I just hope they got out in time.
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Down the tunnel, Skybreaker strode with purpose. He was now in his robot mode, using his lights to guide the way as he carried Applebloom in his arms. The other two fillies trotted alongside him, looking back into the darkness behind them, fearing that something, or someone, would appear at any moment. When a new sound startled them, however, it was from the front. Skybreaker stopped as a scratching sound came from the right wall a few yards ahead of them. The began to push outward as the sound got louder, and Skybreaker put Applebloom down behind him before getting into a fighting stance. The bulge in the wall quickly grew, and fell away to reveal a pair of blue, furry paws. Skybreaker dropped his stance as Detpack came into view, followed soon after by Bunker.
"Oh, man, am I glad to see you guys. Wingshift is back a ways, fighting a femme that ambushed us topside. I don't know how well he's doing, though. We need to get back there as soon as we can." Bunker nodded, but paused in giving any orders when he noticed Detpack glaring down the tunnel, his ears laid back and a low growl emanating from his throat.
"What is it?"
"Something slimy. And it's getting closer."
"Alright, then." Bunker transformed, and motioned to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Skybreaker, let's get these ones above ground. Detpack, guard the entrance for now. Make sure that nothing follows us up. Let's go." He re-entered the tunnel they came from, while Detpack transformed to keep them covered. The bottoms of his rear legs split in threes,exposing the matter collectors in each, and the sections of his head pushed outward, allowing his beast mode face to rotate to the back and his robot face to rotate forward. He had a flat visor where his optics were, and a thick faceplate to prevent damage from flying debris. The rest of his head staying extended, small plates underneath the main portions filling the gaps between them. Next, his wrists turned 180 degrees, and the backs of his front paws opened out into five distinct fingers, the claws of his beast mode adorning the back of each of the main knuckles. Finally, small restrainer plates along the remainder of each arm moved away, and slid aside to allow the ventilation ports within to move fresh air into the bomb builders, necessary if he needed to generate many bombs in a short time. While he waited, Crackshot joined him, having finally dislodged himself from the wall he had gotten his horn stuck in a few minutes ago. Bunker had prioritized getting to Skybreaker, and had simply left instructions to follow them when he was freed. The two kept their optics trained on the darkness where the smell Detpack noticed was coming from. It wasn't long before they heard a slithering sound, like wet clothes being dragged over a washboard without purpose. Detpack glanced back at Crackshot.
"You want me to check it out, and you provide cover?" Crackshot nodded.
"Sure. Just don't go too far. I can't shoot around corners." The other Autobot nodded his understanding, and started moving down the tunnel cautiously, watching the shadows of the cave's formations for his quarry. After several seconds of not seeing or hearing anything, he finally relaxed, and started backing up to return to where Crackshot was. He didn't get far, though, as he suddenly found himself knocked to the ground. Rolling onto his back, he saw the glint of a knife in an upraised hand, and barely managed to block the strike aimed at his chest. The tip grazed his fur, and he grunted in exertion as he tried to push it away. Looking up at his assailant, he noticed that it was a femme. She grinned down at him evilly, and gave a low hiss.
"Ssso, looks like there are plenty of you to choose from. Now just lie still, so I can - GYAH!" Detpack scrambled away from the femme as she was sent careening off of him. He looked up as he dashed, seeing Crackshot standing with his firing arm leveled at the mysterious Cybertronian, the end of his cannon smoking from the residual particles of the shot he fired to get her off.
"You alright, Detpack?"
"Yeah, thanks. Where'd she go?"
"I don't know."
"Looks like you could use some help, then." Both of them looked back to the tunnel Detpack had dug, to see Bunker climbing back out. "Let me handle this." He walked out in front of them, addressing the tunnel as a whole since he couldn't see the femme herself. "Attention rogue sparkling! This is Bunker, second in command of Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team number six. In accordance with wartime laws, you are under the supervision and command of both myself and Dark Lance, our leader. Come with us, and I can guarantee that no harm will come to you." There were a few moments of silence before the reply came, echoing wildly around the tunnel.
"And what if I don't care? What if I don't come with you, hmm? What then?" Bunker's optics narrowed dangerously.
"Then you will be treated as a Decepticon, and dealt with accordingly." A genuinely amused cackle sounded through the tunnel.
"Heee, hee hee hyaa haha ha! Please. I just scrapped your buddy back there, and I'm obviously better equipped than you down here. I don't have any reason to fear you. So I think I'll just be on my merry way, since I can't get rid of all three of you now. Don't worry, though, I'm nowhere near done with you." Bunker's attention focused on the right wall as he heard the activation of a t-cog, and he ran forward as the sound of a drill going through rock reached his audio receptors. He turned the corner just in time to see the back end of the femme's drill form disappear into a newly-dug tunnel, which collapsed behind her, preventing anyone from giving chase. Bunker ignored the now-sealed exit, and called his two new subordinates to follow him. All three returned to their beast modes, and sped down the tunnel towards where the femme had said she left Wingshift. As they continued, they soon picked up the faint signal coming from his distress beacon, and increased their speed further at how weakly the signal was transmitting. When they finally found him, Bunker's jaw went slack as Detpack and Crackshot turned away, feeling sick.
Wingshift was lying on his front, both arms eviscerated to the point of uselessness, and various parts scattered around him. Bunker transformed again, and knelt down next to the fallen warrior, doing a simple scan to find out if the size of the pool of Energon he was lying in was a lethal amount to lose. As it turned out, the answer was 'no', but it wouldn't take much more. Wingshift needed to get to the med-lab. Now.
"Crackshot! Over here, now. We need to carry him out, there's no time to wait for any of the others. Detpack, get him secure on our backs, then start digging a tunnel wide enough for us to walk through side-by-side. We need to move fast, here." Detpack gave him a curious look as the senior Autobot got into position next to Wingshift's head, while Crackshot stood next to his feet.
"So why don't we just take one of the other tunnels, then, instead of having me dig a whole new one?" Bunker grunted from the extra weight as Detpack put Wingshift's upper body on his back.
"Because all the other tunnels have too many twists and turns, and too many steep inclines. We need a smooth, straight tunnel if we're going to carry him properly. Otherwise, he's liable to fall off, and in his condition even a small drop could end it. So get digging, already. We don't have any more time." Detpack gave a salute as he finished making sure Wingshift wouldn't fall off, then started tearing into the wall, slanting his path upward slightly and pulling great swathes of dirt away to give the others a comfortable space to move through. After several minutes of digging from Detpack, and encouragement towards Wingshift from Bunker, they could once again see moonlight,and Bunker immediately figured out which way they needed to go to get back to the ship. He called Dark Lance as well, ensuring that the repair pods would be ready by the time they got there. After a few more minutes, the Star Runner was in sight, and they picked up the pace a little when they could see Skybreaker standing in the doorway. He came down the steps in his robot mode, and lifted Wingshift's upper half, allowing Bunker to get out from under the unconscious mutant, transform, and pick up his lower half. They carried him the rest of the way into the ship, and Burnout directed them over to one of the tables. They did as they were told, and backed away quickly as the medic went to work. She immediately started hooking up various instruments to her patient, inputting settings and checking readouts for unexpected problems. There were none, and she continued speeding around the table as she attached more implements to try and keep Wingshift alive. Once all of the various instruments were plugged into him, she stopped moving around, and took a step back, panting as her vents cooled her frenzied circuits. Bunker let her catch her breath, then asked the question the rest of them were wondering as well.
"Well? He going to make it?" Burnout shook her head.
"I honestly don't know. There are too many variables at this point, and he's lost a massive amount of Energon. Not only that, but the damage to his arms is beyond my abilities. I can do a lot, but the wounds he has would require a complete rebuild. I'm fairly certain that the best outcome we can hope for right now is that we only have to reformat him." Bunker leaned back slightly in shock.
"It's that bad? Unbelievable. I don't think he'd appreciate waking up in a new body without his consent, though." Burnout nodded.
"Yes. We'll have to find a way to ask him about it. I may need to use the holo-table's consciousness projection functions, though. He's probably not going to survive at all if we try to wake him up." They were interrupted by a soft groan. Turning toward the sound, they saw Wingshift's optics flicker back to life as he turned his head toward them. Burnout strode back to his side, pushing him back into position as he tried to move. "Have you lost your processor?! You shouldn't even be in sleep mode, let alone trying to move. You need to shut down your major functions right now, and save your power. You are far too low on Energon for this." Wingshift shook his head.
"Is fine.... Heard everything.... *Haaahh* *Haaahhh* Do the reformat. I will deal with the consequences myself, in my way." Burnout glanced back and shared an uncertain look with Bunker.
"Are you sure? You won't be able to regain this form again, and you may not like your new body." Wingshift nodded once, weakly.
"I don't need this form. And I have learned to hate those who hold it now. Besides, laying on a table while there are battles to be fought and allies to defend is unacceptable for a warrior of my caliber." He summoned what little strength he had left, and used it to level a pointed stare at the medic. "Do the reformat." She got the message, and nodded.
"Fine. Shut down, so I can get started." He laid his head back against the table, and his operating lights turned off one by one as he shut down. Burnout shooed the others away, and began her work once they were gone.
Chapter Thirty: Lone Sparks Published March 2nd, 2014
Another mistake.
Dark Lance slowly walked through the Everfree, lost in his thoughts.
Another failure.
Behind him, Ponyville quickly disappeared behind the brush, the Cutie Mark Crusaders having been returned home.
Another teammate in critical condition. Because of me. If I hadn't called Firefall to investigate that last pod, Wingshift wouldn't have been beaten like that. He would have had assistance. Another set of eyes to keep his opponent's position known, if nothing else. But no. I insisted on her presence at an empty pod, and now Wingshift is paying for it.
He suddenly transformed, and punched a nearby tree in frustration.
Slag it all! What kind of leader am I!? What kind of leader allows this sort of thing to happen to his subordinates on such a regular basis?! He leaned against the tree as a quiet, sinister voice answered him from the back of his mind.
The kind that doesn't need a team.
He immediately snapped back to attention, instantly trying to push the voice back into the dark recesses it came from.
That's not very nice. After all, if not for me, you'd have rusted away on some random planet long ago. And you know it. Dark Lance scowled, already in a bad mood and not needing another problem.
Go away. You're the last thing I need right now.
On the contrary. I'm exactly what you need right now. I can solve all your problems in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is let me out. Dark Lance snarled.
Not a chance. I'm not about to let you run amok on this world, and amongst my team, just to make my life a little easier. The voice sighed, the disappointment readily apparent inside Dark Lance's consciousness.
Why are you always so hostile towards me? I try my best to help, and you always refuse so rudely. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be where you are today!
Maybe that's not such a bad thing.
... Fine. Have it your way. But sooner or later, you're going to need me enough to let me out. And we both know it. The voice faded back into Dark Lance's subconscious, and he returned to his beast mode and headed back to the Star Runner.
When he returned, he immediately went to the med-lab to check on Wingshift's status. Burnout had locked herself inside to prevent anyone from distracting her, forcing Bunker to remain outside while he watched. Dark Lance joined him, watching as the medic worked at one of the remote control stations to modify Wingshift's arm without removing him from the stasis field that currently kept him alive.
"How bad is he?" Bunker sighed.
"He was too damaged for her to repair normally. She's already started the reformat process, but by her estimate, it'll be at least a couple days before he's ready to reactivate, assuming that everything goes well. Which it probably won't, all things considered."
"So how long will it actually be?"
"At least a week. I've already told her that I'm not going to let her skip her recharge cycles."
"Good. What about the rest?"
"I sent Skybreaker and Detpack to start repairs on the port engines, and Firefall went with Crackshot to take care of the starboard ones. They should be done with the major components within two or three days."
"Energon reserves?"
"I managed to get the mini-miners up and running before Fireburst's little stunt, so we should be fine there."
"What about the defense systems?"
"Undamaged, calibrated, and active. I reprogrammed them to only begin firing if a Decepticon energy signature is detected, though. Otherwise, they just set off the alarms."
"What about the main control systems?"
"The nano-repair system took care of all that days ago. I checked it all myself. No discrepancies."
"Prison block damage?"
"Mostly to the entrance. The cell doors themselves are still functional, but the control panel is fried. I'll need to work on it myself, too. It's too advanced for the nano-repair."
"Anyone said anything about this yet?"
"No, but Firefall can't hide her emotions for scrap, and the other two aren't confident enough yet to go against your orders."
"I kind of wish they were...." Bunker tore his gaze away from the work being performed beyond the glass, and turned to Dark Lance.
"Sir." Dark Lance gave him a curious look. "No one here is questioning your skill. I talked to Firefall earlier about what she said to you."
"Oh?"
"She wasn't expressly trying to insult you. She's just more... blunt, I suppose, than you typically are. She prefers the direct approach to a given situation. The fact that you didn't activate Crackshot earlier simply surprised her, and given her personality, it isn't entirely surprising she didn't think about her wording before she said something about it." Dark Lance straightened, and moved past Bunker as he answered.
"Thank you for trying, but you know that isn't the problem." Bunker nearly followed Dark Lance down the hall to try and console him more effectively, but he remained where he was, knowing that following his commander wouldn't do any good at this point. He needed someone else's assurance if he was to regain his confidence.
The dawn came quietly, all the members of the Autobot team having been awake all night, and no major disasters seeming to have occurred by the Decepticons' actions. Dark Lance remained in the comms room, attempting to reestablish contact with Teletraan-1, or find out what happened from one of the other units, until midday, when the proximity alert sounded. He quickly made his way to the bridge, and activated the holo-table to see the outside of the ship. Outside, there were two ponies he didn't recognize: a green unicorn, who was bouncing in place with obvious excitement, and a pale earth pony with a pink-and-blue mane, who was gaping in shock.
"SKYBREAKER!" He didn't need to ask to know who had brought them here. This would be the fourth time Skybreaker had revealed himself, on purpose or by accident, to natives of a planet. Said scout was in the room in short order, and stared at the screen for a moment before slapping himself in the face.
"Oh. Right. That." Dark Lance raised an eyebrow at him. "I may have not been paying enough attention when I activated Crackshot, and I may have been seen by a really curious unicorn. And then promised to tell her all about us as long as she didn't tell anyone else about us and left right then so she didn't get hurt." Dark Lance considered reprimanding the scout, but decided it wasn't worth it.
"Just deal with it." Skybreaker nodded, transformed, and quickly left as Lance shut off the holo-table and returned to his work.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Bloodwing stood on the bridge of the Darksword, having just finished listening to his latest subordinates introduce themselves.
"So, an actual soldier and an Energon carrier. Excellent. Before we start making any more plans, though, there are still a few things we need to know more about. Fireburst, you, Crosswire, and Harvester will head north. The Autobots probably already know what caused that Energon wave, and I don't like it when they have information that we don't."
"Yes, sir."
"Sharpedge, you will stay here and guard the ship. Fangcrusher will be coming with me to pay a visit to our changeling friends."
"Yes, sir."
And with that, they left the ship. Fireburst, Harvester, and Crosswire went north while Bloodwing took Fangcrusher south, into the badlands. Undetected by the Decepticons, however, were Frill and Buzz, having just arrived in the Everfree, and now safe from sight in the thick brush. The two changelings quickly moved through the forest, following the smell of the artificial love that the Decepticons could make simply by being exposed to crystals. It wasn't the Decepticons they were looking for, though. Instead, when they reached their destination they came upon a large white ship, half-buried in the ground. They waited a few moments, and the main hatch opened, revealing Dark Lance with his left arm transformed and ready to fire, and his lance ready to strike in his right hand.
"State your business." Frill stepped forward, and cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Our leader, Queen Chrysalis, would like to make an alliance with you. It has become apparent to her that our current alliance with your foes was a mistake, and will cost us much more than we believe is worth losing for what little we need them for. Additionally, we have lost more members of our hive to their actions, directly, than to any other source since their arrival. The Queen initially believed that aiding them would be beneficial to us as well, and once our mutual goals were achieved, our hive would return to its previous autonomy. It has become obvious since then that this will not be the case." Dark Lance gave a derisive snort.
"Really? I can't imagine why." Frill swallowed his pride at the sarcastic remark, and continued.
"In any case, we now wish to assist you, instead. We have already collected a small stockpile of the crystals you use, at Bloodwing 's order, and we are capable of extracting the cause of 'stasis lock', as you call it, from your bodies. In return, we ask that you protect us from Decepticon retribution, should they find out about our betrayal before we are ready, and perhaps assist us in repairing relations with the ponies in the future."
"Why would you need to repair relations with them?" The changeling fidgeted in place slightly.
"Our queen has been... unwell, in recent years. Our agents began having more trouble bringing back love for the hive, and so she started cutting down her own shares for the rest of us. But we continued having difficulty, and our stores began to thin. And after Discord's escape, fear and unease became regular appearances in the emotions of the ponies, and our hive began to starve. A few months ago, our queen's mental health began to deteriorate. It came to a head a few weeks ago, when she attempted to overthrow Celestia and take over. We mounted a full-scale invasion of Canterlot in an attempt to capture several ponies and use artificial means of extracting love from them, but it failed. And now, with the ponies alerted to our presence, we have nothing left but starvation. Unless you help us." Dark Lance narrowed his optics in concentration. On one hand, what they had attempted to do was atrocious, to use another living thing as a battery. On the other, they seemed to be genuinely regretful of the action, and had no intention of trying again. And to simply condemn them to die would go against everything the Autobots stood for.
"Fine, we'll help you relocate to a safer position, but only on two conditions." Frill straightened himself in anticipation.
"Yes? What do you require?"
"First, Celestia and Luna will be informed, and you will do as they require for you to stay."
"I believe we can work that out with them sufficiently."