Beast Wars: Friendship is Magic

Nobody moved as the pod lid was pushed open and the specimen that it contained erected itself to full height. Not one Equestrian native present--not even Celestia or Luna--could find words to properly respond to this. They only stared at the figure standing before them, just as incredulous as the rest. It was equine in appearance, towering over most, only barely matching Celestia in height. The equine-like alien sported a red shaded fur coat, a dark blue mane and tail, and golden eyes. On its flank was the same insignia Blitz Streak sported on his own. Its most distinguishable attribute, however, was the horn on its head.

"Rise and shine, boss pony. Nap time's over." Paragon said, shattering the awe-induced silence. The red unicorn opened their mouth to speak, but a sudden sneeze came out instead, causing a pair of large, fluffy wings to snap outward. As it turned out, this "unicorn" was really an alicorn.

This revelation threw the attending ponies into a fresh state of shock, though Luna's expression was quick to devolve into one of mild irritation.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me, she thought; it took every fiber in her divine being to not facehoof at that very moment.

While most were left staring, wide-eyed, and speechless, Paragon only pointed and laughed.

"Paragon!" Blitz snapped.

"What?" Paragon choked out in between fits of laughter. "It's kinda hard to take him seriously when he looks like a butterfly on stilts!"

Blitz hovered close to Paragon's face, giving a glare. "You might as well be calling me that, too! We share similar forms, you mutt!"

"Ease up there, Blitz Streak," said Stronghold as he interjected himself between the two Maximals.

"Yeah, listen to the big guy before I have to get rough on ya!" Paragon shook his fist at the pegasus.

The ponies' eyes pitched back and forth as Blitz and Paragon traded threats and insults until an outside voice brought them back to the alicorn.

"Moderate your conflict circuits, Maximals.  Now is not the time to be fighting among ourselves, especially in front of them." The Maximal leader made a gesture to the spectating Equestrians.

"I agree," said Stronghold. "We have them to thank for our reunion, Optimus.”

"Yeah, they helped us out a lot." Blitz nodded.

"And as much as I hate to admit it, if the kid and his rainbow-haired friend not found me, I'd probably be digestin' in the stomach of a multi-headed lizard right about now." Paragon crossed his arms.

"Did they now?" Optimus looked to the ponies, then back at his crew. "Then we have much to thank them for. Come on."

Heading his crew, Optimus approached the waiting ponies and, recognizing Celestia, Luna, and Cadance as royalty, bowed. The rest of the crew, save Paragon, followed their leader's example. Paragon merely huffed as he glared at Luna, who returned it in kind.

"If you think I'm gonna bow to the pony who stuck me with Pinks over there, you've got another thin' comin', lady."

A rock struck Paragon in the back of the head.

“Ow!  Who threw that?!”

Blitz whistled, innocently, averting his eyes.

“Paragon, that’s enough.” Optimus ordered.  “Show some form of respect.  With that attitude, it’s no wonder she doesn’t like you.”

“You haven’t even been around that long,” growled the diamond dog.

“I can tell just by that one glare she gave you.  Now do it.”

Paragon grumbled and sank to one knee.  “That’s as far as you’re gettin’ me.”

“You must be Optimus Primal.  It’s very nice to make your acquaintance; your team has spoken very highly of you.” Cadance said.

“You would be correct.  I am captain of the Axalon, and head of my crew.  It is wonderful to meet you, Ms…?”

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you may call me Cadance.”

“It is an honor, Princess Cadance.” Optimus nodded, then turned to Celestia and Luna.  “And may I ask your names?”

“Princess Celestia,” the white alicorn nodded.

“Princess Luna,” the darker alicorn was even toned and to the point.

“Charmed, your majesties,” Optimus smiled.  Tilting his head, he could see the throng of equines and the single dragon standing behind them. Of all of them, he locked eyes with Twilight the longest.  “Hello there.”

Twilight swallowed. “Hello?”

“What’s your name?”

“Twilight.  Twilight Sparkle,” she replied.  She felt the pressure within her chest begin to alleviate, her heart rate returning to normal.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle,” Optimus smiled.  His voice washed over her like a calming wave that carried away her anxiety.  The soft benevolence behind it only garnered a sense of trust.

The unicorn cleared her throat.  “Likewise.  These are my friends, Rainbow Dash,”

“What’s up?”

“Applejack,”

“Howdy,”

“Rarity,”

“Charmed, darling,”

“Pinkie Pie,”

“Hello!”

“Fluttershy,”

“Um… h-hi,”

“My assistant Spike,”

“Wow, you’re tall--oh, um, I mean, nice to meet you!”

“Zecora,”

The zebra nodded her head.

“And my older brother, Shining Armor,”

“Hey there,”

“Hello there, everyone.” Optimus said.  “Pleased to meet you all.”

“Enough pleasantries,” Princess Luna brought Optimus’ attention away from the ponies and back to the matriarchs.  “It is time to move on to more pressing matters.”

“Luna is right.  There will be time to get properly acquainted later.  For now, we must figure out our next course of action on the matter of the Predacons we have been told of.” Celestia added.

“So you know of them.” Optimus sighed.

“And Ms. Zecora here has even encountered one of them, face-to-face, albeit a small one.” Celestia said.

“Small?  Perhaps you were referring to a Mini-Con?”

“A Mini-Con?”

“There are multiple variants of Transformers.  There’s Flyers, Combiners, Deployers, Mini-Cons, and several others.  A Mini-Con is a smaller type of Transformer that bonds with a Deployer, who acts as their master.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed.  “So you mean to tell us that there may be more of these Mini-Cons?”

“On Cybertron, yes. Hundreds, thousands.  Their primary purpose is labor, but some have been utilized as auxiliaries in combat.  It’s not an uncommon occurrence in war times.”

“Do you Maximals have any of these Mini-Cons at your disposal?” the lunar Princesses pressed on.

Optimus shook his head.  “No, not my crew.  My crew, along with those in stasis, were meant to be explorers and scientists.  We had to eject our dormant comrades and save them from possible destruction in the crash.  They should be safe from the Energon fields.”

There are other crew members?  How many of them are there? Luna’s mind drifted, but she knew she had to stay on task.  “Do the Predacons have more than one Mini-Con?  Is there anything else that we should be aware of?”

“We had a few dozen offline protoforms on our ship.  They were to be activated when we found new planets with suitable alternate modes, such as these.” He gestured to himself.  “So far, we aren’t sure what we’re up against, but the report we acquired when we were ordered to pursue the fugitives was that there were six Predacons and at least one Mini-Con.  As of now, we aren’t sure of how many survived the crash.”

Princess Celestia, although curious, felt the need to interrupt.  “Before we continue, I believe that we should take this subject to a more private location.  The castle back at Canterlot would be more suitable.  If you would please follow us?”

“Of course.”

As all of this went on, Stronghold tilted his head to the side to see the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, remain withdrawn from the conversation, preferring to hide behind her friends.  Stronghold had then realized that Fluttershy had never made any attempt to approach the newcomers, instead keeping her distance.  But now that the ponies had begun to gather around Celestia and Optimus, Stronghold seized the opportunity to make a more friendly first impression.  He cautiously approached her, but immediately seized in his tracks when Fluttershy uttered a whimper and retracted into a ball on the ground.

Stronghold lowered his voice, speaking low and soft.  “Don’t be afraid, I have no intention to harm you.  You’re the one they called Fluttershy?”

The pegasus peeked her eyes out from behind her mane and tail, her reply coming in a quiet, almost hushed whisper that barely reached Stronghold’s audio receptors..  “U-Um… yes…”

Stronghold smiled.  “That’s a very nice name.”

“Oh… th-thank you…” Fluttershy’s face burned up, her tail barely concealing the red blush now painting her cheeks.  “Stronghold is a nice name, too.”

“Thank you.  I know that you may be afraid of me for what I am and I hold you blameless for it.  It’s something you may not understand at first, but know that I won’t hurt you or your friends.  I can promise that you have nothing to fear in regards to my team and I.” Stronghold assured, his smile never leaving his face.

Fluttershy’s slowly lifted her head as she listened.  The way Stronghold spoke pulsed with an aura of trust and benevolence that she couldn’t help but believe.  Her trusting side eroded away her fear and she smiled back.  Stronghold extended his hoof towards her.

“It’s rather filthy down there.  Why don’t we go to the Canterlot castle instead?”

The Element of Kindness took it, and Stronghold, with great care, guided her back to a standing position.  “Thank you.”

Stronghold and Fluttershy rejoined the others shortly thereafter.

“This is the place?” Megatron and his forces were a few mere miles away from Ponyville, its citizens sleeping peacefully under the star-decorated coat of night.  The dragon held out his claws, making a square out of his fingers as if mimicking a portrait.  “What a lovely, if primitive, civilization, yes.  But I envision a more optic appealing inferno in its place.  Move out, Predacons.  Raze this town to the last stone!”

Dementia transformed into robot mode, allowing Cyberbee to detach from his back, perching himself on his master’s shoulder.  The Predacon scientist gave a low, twisted chuckle.  “Cyberbee, go play.”

The Mini-Con buzzed happily, “Finally, a chance to stretch my legs!” He launched himself into the air, making a straight line for the town.  The rest of the Predacons followed Dementia into robot mode in short order.  Steeljaws fired a barrage of missiles into the streets of Ponyville, coating it with a carpet of explosions.  Fires and embers engaged in a natural dance number as they swayed and whipped about, licking the air and leaving behind smoke, the night now glowing a bright orange.  Razorwing and Roosternator swooped over the town, guns drawn.

Mayor Mare rubbed her temples with a yawn as she stared down at the documents on her desk.  She would have been in bed by now, had it not been for her political duties catching up with her.  Taxes, files, all of it in droves that never ceased to assault her time with their nagging ferocity.  It wasn’t easy work, but they were tasks that had to be accomplished for the betterment of her citizens.  She adjusted her glasses and reached for a feather quill when she felt the room around her shake abruptly.

*Boom!*

Mayor Mare froze in place as books fell from their shelves, her lamp flickering, her glass of water rippling violently.  At first, she thought that this may have been an earthquake, but then an orange flicker came from outside her window.

What in the heavens?!

Leaping out of her chair, Mayor Mare shoved open her windows that lead to the balcony, only to find the street below her covered in suffocating fires.  Scanning the area, she looked upward, straight across from Ponyville, and her eyes widened as she witnessed the scene before her.  Large, hulking, mechanical monstrosities were stomping through her town, firing lasers of excruciating heat from unknown cylindrical devices, mounted on some sort of stick with a trigger.  To add to the chaos, a small band of dragons appeared to be among them, swarming the skies with two more of these terrors.  With the denizens of Ponyville already in panic, Mayor Mare backed away from the balcony and retreated into her office, dashing towards a red button, concealed within a glass box, which came with the appropriate label of, “In Case of Catastrophe, Break Glass.”

Smashing the glass casing with a mini-hammer, she slammed her hoof onto the button, which propelled a bright flare into the sky.  For a moment, it outshined even the growing bonfire of Ponyville.  Due to the multiple encounters Ponyville had been through with wild creatures, a recent emergency system was put in place to immediately alert Princess Celestia and the Royal Guard.  Only problem was that the flare didn’t always work, as it would occasionally die out before it hit the required height to be seen all the way from Canterlot, and such a flare would require a great deal of magic to create and properly sustain such a  powerful glow.  But at a time like this, Mayor Mare was only able to hope for the best.  Because right now, they needed it to fulfill its function more than ever.

Please work, please work, please work!

Mayor Mare heard the side of her office being blown to pieces, then the force of the blast threw her across the room, her body slamming into the wall.  She looked up to see the largest machine of them all glaring in at her, the biggest, most malevolent grin plastered on their face.

Megatron stared at the pony, breathing in the aroma of destruction before he let out a sigh of satisfaction.  “Fancy night for a little mayhem, yes?”