Beast Wars: Friendship is Magic

“And thus, our ships crashed as a result of the battle.  We were forced to abandon ship in our escape pods, to prevent the risk of destruction in the crash.” Optimus concluded his retelling of the fateful battle the Maximals and Predacons waged in orbit.  The ponies all listened intently, hanging on to every word he spoke.

“This would explain the falling stars Twilight spoke of,” Celestia said.  “But these protoforms you spoke of, what will become of them?”

Optimus shook his head.  “At this time, I don’t know.  If we’re lucky, the Axalon wasn’t destroyed in the crash and may have a chance at space worthy again.  From there, we could return to orbit and recollect our comrades.  Until we do, it means that Megatron has us outnumbered.”

Luna scoffed. “That’s reassuring.”

Optimus frowned.  For someone who doesn’t take kindly to Paragon’s attitude, Luna’s own behavior wasn’t doing her any favors in his book.

Paragon nudged Primal’s side.  “This your first time talkin’ with royalty or what?”

“Shut up, Paragon.”

“Oh, yes, sir!” the diamond dog straightened his posture, complete with a mock salute to boot.

“I think we could do with less of the attitude, Paragon.” Stronghold scolded the diamond dog with a look of disapproval.  Paragon threw his arms up in the air and sighed audibly.  He turned away from the group, but his snout almost found itself touching the muzzle of a bouncing Pinkie Pie.

“GAH!” Paragon held a paw to his chest, as if recovering from a spark attack.  “Would ya quit doin’ that, Pinks?!”

“Doing what?”

“Sneakin’ up on me like you have some kind of teleporter or somethin’!”

“Aw, cheer up, Parry!  I’m sure things will get better soon!”

An intense, bright light suddenly painted the sky outside in a blinding white.  The ponies and Maximals all had to shield their eyes as it burned for several seconds.  Even with the windows, the light still bled through and painted the room in a heavenly glow, then dimmed enough to allow sight.

“What in the jumping gyros was that?!” Blitz yelled.

“It’s the danger alarm,” Celestia said, dread dripping from her voice.  “It’s a recent warning system to alert neighboring communities of a possible attack and give Royal Guard detachments the location to respond to.”

Paragon glared at Pinkie.  “You just had to jinx it, didn’t ya, Pinks?”

Pinkie smiled sheepishly, but rubbed the back of her mane with an uncomfortable chuckle.

The ponies and Maximals dashed to the balcony of the castle, looking to see the last of the flare burn out.

“Where’s it coming from?” Optimus asked.

“It looks to be coming from…” Twilight’s eyes widened as her face paled.  “Ponyville.”

Twilight’s friends collectively gasped in horror.

Blitz zoomed in his optical sensors on the location of the flare, magnifying it multiple times to barely capture an image.  His jaw dropped at the sight of the malevolent Cybertronians demolishing the town’s infrastructure.  “Big Bot, it’s them!  It’s the Preds!”

“Then we need to get there as quickly as possible,” Optimus turned to Celestia.  “Let us help, Princess.  We know Megatron and the Predacons and we will deal with them after we brought them to your world.”

“If only they didn’t confiscate our weapons.” Paragon openly mocked.

Paragon then felt a heavy object land on his head, forcing him to the ground. “Ow… again.”  Pulling himself out, he turned to see a large chest had been what hit him.  It opened to reveal their confiscated weapons.

“To be fair, you had it coming.” Blitz shrugged.

Paragon’s eye twitched as he glared at Luna for what was presumably the millionth time.  “You could have killed me!”

“As the old saying goes, suck it up,” Luna spat.  “And Optimus, do not make us regret this or I’ll make sure you live long enough to do so yourself, understand?”

Primal nodded.  “Wholeheartedly.  There’s nothing we have to hide and we will not harm your subjects.”

“But how would we get there?!” Twilight’s voice leaked with desperation.  “Even the fastest train wouldn’t get us there in time!”

Rainbow hovered off the ground.  “Blitz and I could fly ahead and--”

“Forget it, Dash,” Applejack objected.  “There ain’t no way we’re lettin’ you two take all of them on by yourselves!  You’d be flying into a slaughter!”

“What other option do we have?!  If we don’t do something, they’ll turn what’s left of Ponyville into rubble!”

“Fear not, my little ponies,” Celestia interjected.  “Cadance, Luna, and I will focus our magic together to teleport you all back to Ponyville.”

“I’m coming, too,” Shining said.  “If you can get them out of Ponyville, I can put up a magic barrier to keep them out and prevent further damage.”

“I, as well, will join this band to help ensure Ponyville will continue to stand.” Zecora added, taking her side with the Maximals and ponies.

“Then we’re in agreement,” Celestia said.  “We may not be able to join you right away.  Teleporting you all requires a great deal of magic, but we will follow as soon as possible.”

“We’ll try to contain the situation before that happens,” Optimus turned to address his crew. “Maximals, Maximize!”

The crew all took their robot modes within seconds.  Optimus’ hindlegs spun around, a pair of feet extending from the base of the hooves, the joints of the hindlegs becoming kneecaps.  The legs extended, creating thighs while the head fastened itself on Optimus’ back, allowing his chest to expand into a torso.  His forelegs contorted into the proper position, to function as arms, five digits popping out from the hooves.  Optimus’ true head emerge from the top of the torso, his yellow optics flashing as his mouthplate gleamed with the moonlight.  With the other Maximals at his side, Optimus spoke with great determination.

“Let’s roll.”

Mayor Mare’s jaw fell at the sight of the monster before her, but no words could be made.  Megatron just smiled back at her.  She backed against the wall, her chest heaving as she took deep breaths to compensate for her fear-induced state.  She had managed to compose enough of herself to speak.  “W-Who are you and what do you want?”

“Who am I?” Megatron placed his hand over his chest, feigning despair as Dementia had done to him before.  “Why, I am Megatron, supreme leader of the Predacons, good madame!  Who might you be?”

“M-Mayor Mare,” she almost whimpered.

Someone acquired their name from the redundancy department, Megatron thought.  “I believe it’s time for a change in management, yes.  Seeing as how you’re the mayor of this town, you’ll be quite out of a job when there is no town to be mayor of, don’t you think?”

The mayor’s eyes skimmed over the damage of her home.  Flames infested buildings, streets were pulsing with panicked ponies as they were tailed by the Predacons; Steeljaws would continue to pummel the streets with missile fire, the Flyers would swoop in to lay down a wave of fire, Dementia seemed to only appear every so often to snatch a pony or two before retreating to the shadows.  All of this while Megatron watched with a smug, proud grin on his face.  Mayor Mare’s spite took the driver’s seat and she unconsciously spoke, “You cowards.”

“What was that?” Megatron’s head turned, his eyes locked on her once again.  Mayor Mare almost immediately regretted those words.  Saying that to a massive being such as him while her town was in shambles was definitely not the smartest move in all her years in office.  But, be it out of pride or anger, she only sought to continue.  For if this were to truly be her final moments, she wanted to go out with some sense of dignity over cowering to this monstrosity.

“You attacked our town, a small community with no means of defending itself.  We’re of no threat to you!  You attacked us without cause!  This isn’t a show of strength or how mighty you are, it’s just plain megalomania!  Why don’t you look for trouble with someone your own size?!”

Megatron stood there, absorbing her words like a sponge.  He absorbed it all, and contemplated them for a good, long while.  But like any sponge, he wrung out her accusations quite easily with a laugh.  “If I wanted to, I could.  Where I come from, I have to deal with beings of similar height, sometimes even bigger than I.  I chose to attack you, not to caress my own ego, but because I can.  And I like to turn ‘I can’ into ‘I will’.  No race is too small to conquer, I always say.  I seek to rule this galaxy with an iron fist.”  Megatron raised his hand, balling it into a fist.  His grin widened when Mayor Mare’s fear overpowered her forced sense of bravery. “And now, it’s your turn to feel its might!”

Before the fist came down, a bright flare shined to Megatron’s left flank.  He grunted, shielding his optics from the oppressive rays.  When the light faded, he lowered his hands; his optics widened in shock.

“Megatron,” Optimus declared, standing in front of the coalition of Maximals and ponies.  “This ends now!”

“I beg to differ, Primal,” Megatron raised his hand, the Predacons and teen dragons rallying to his side.  “This is just beginning, yes!”

Optimus’ optics shifted to Twilight.  “Stay out of the crossfire and help your people.  We’ll handle this.”

Similar to Optimus, Megatron said to Garble, “Continue the destruction of the city.  The Maximals are ours.”

Twilight nodded, allowing Optimus to focus on the task at hand.  Optimus unsheathed two curved blades, which he twirled before resting into a fighting stance.  Blitz Streak’s wings hovered off the ground, flapping steadily.  Stronghold stood firm, face hardened with a renowned focus.  Paragon tossed a grenade in his hand, up and down.

Megatron flicked out a wrist blade, the flames reflected in it like a mirror.  Steeljaws pounded his fist into his open palm.  Tentacles lashed out from Dementia’s waist while Cyberbee landed on his shoulder, eager for a firefight.  Razorwing and Roosternator hovered above the grounded Predacons, the former’s saw blades spinning, and the latter’s blaster primed.

Then both sides began to advance on one another.  It started as a walk, neither side showing signs of slowing down.

“Big Bot, they’re not stopping,” Blitz pointed out.

“Neither are we.”

The factions transitioned into running, heading straight for one another at full speed.  The Flyers’ wings sprouted, going airborne.  Both sides crashed into each other, Blitz taking on Razorwing and Roosternator, Stronghold grappling with Steeljaws, Paragon evading Dementia, and Optimus connecting blades with Megatron.

Not wasting any time, Twilight addressed her group.  “We need to help as many ponies out of Ponyville as possible!  Applejack, take Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to help the civilians; Shining Armor, Spike, Zecora, Rainbow Dash, and I will retrieve the elements.”

“You look after yourself,” Applejack nodded and split from the group with her own.

“Be careful,” Twilight stressed, moving out with her team.

Garble and his mob watched the battle unfolding before them with intrigue; two groups of giant robots beating the daylights out of each other brought a sensation of entertainment, in the twisted sort of way.

“Should we help these guys?” Fume asked.  “I’d rather enjoy the show.”

“Megatron said not to get involved in the fight and to destroy the town, so…” Garble’s voice trailed off as his eyes fell upon a set of ponies splitting up.  Most of the ponies darted off in one direction while a single pony went off in another.  On her back was the same purple dragon Garble recognized from so long ago.

“I think we can have a little fun on our own.”

Stronghold and Steeljaws traded blows, but no matter how many times they struck one another, neither showed any signs of injury.  Cragadiles and buffaloes naturally had thick hides, which provided useful armor, to absorb damage, in a close-quarters fight like this.  Steeljaws swung his fist at Stronghold, but the Maximal collided his fist with Steeljaws’s chest, knocking the Predacon off balance.  Stronghold quickly followed up with a blow to the abdomen, but it didn’t seem to deter Steeljaws, who merely snarled and drove his fist into Stronghold’s face, sparks flying on impact.  Steeljaws whipped his forearm back, striking Stronghold once more.  The executive officer clenched his teeth, balling his hand into a fist.  He threw his next punch at Steeljaws’ chin, landing a vicious uppercut that sent him flying down the street.  Stronghold relaxed for a moment, breathing deeply.  Steeljaws sat up, nursing his mouthplate.  He glared at the Maximal, pushing himself to his feet.  Letting out a roar, Steeljaws fired a volley of missiles at Stronghold.  Showing no fear, Stronghold reached behind his back, swinging out a pair of rotary chainguns.  He gave the weapons a loud, audible cock and unleashed his own barrage of bullet fire at the incoming rockets.  Every round was hit and exploded on impact before they could even touch the Maximal or any nearby houses.  Stronghold tilted his head, giving a semi-cocky smirk at the Predacon.  Lowering his chainguns, he took aim and fired upon Steeljaws.  Steeljaws raised his arms as the bullets pelted his body.  He growled and started to push himself forward, one step at a time.

Blitz Streak shifted to the left, narrowly avoiding Razorwing’s deadly blades as he swooped by.  Blitz fired at the Predacon Flyer, but none of the blasts could land their mark.  Roosternator seized Blitz from behind, pulling him into a headlock.  Blitz kicked and thrashed, but Roosternator wasn’t budging.  Razorwing laughed, floating in front of Blitz, raising his weapon over his head.  “Hold him still,” his razor blades spun rapidly.  “I’m going to enjoy this!”

Blitz’s optics widened.  In desperation, he elbowed Roosternator in the abdomen.  This got a grunt out of the Predacon and his grip faltered.  Blitz repeated the process until he was released, which was around the same time Razorwing brought the saw down.  Blitz parried just in time for the blade to cut into Roosternator instead, carving right into his head.  Roosternator let out a yell while Razorwing’s jaw dropped. He ripped his weapon free from his comrade’s head.

“Roosternator have splitting processor ace…” groaned Roosternator, who then fell like a bag of bricks to the ground below.

Razorwing just stared, optics wide.  “Oops.”

Blitz’s laughter brought the Predacon’s attention back to him. “Oh, that looked like it had to hurt!  Looks like it’s just you and me.”

Razorwing frowned, churning out his shoulder cannons, blaster pistol, and rifle.  He took aim at the Maximal.  “Works for me.”

Paragon fired his machine gun at Dementia, but the bullets were blocked off by the latter’s tentacles, which shielded him from any of the incoming damage Paragon attempted to inflict on him.  The Predacon scientist leapt onto the roof of a pony’s house, his nimble form allowing the roof to support his weight, and lashed out his tendrils.  Paragon rolled to the side, the tentacles burying themselves into the dirt a few feet beside him, and raised his gun to retaliate, but Dementia was too fast.  He had leapt from the roof and was now lunging toward him.  Paragon had to focus on evading again, which caused Dementia to slam into the ground.  Paragon raised his gun to fire, but his head was suddenly tackled from behind by Cyberbee, the Mini-Con clawing and shredding at the demolition expert’s face.  Dementia let out a dark chuckle, one of his insidious tendrils gripping Paragon’s leg.  Cyberbee dislodged himself from the Maximal’s face, just as Dementia swung his smaller foe into the side of a house, his head smashing straight through the wall.

Paragon groaned and opened his eyes to see a family cowering in the corner, staring back at him awkwardly.

“Uh… hi?”

Then the screaming started and Paragon felt their fear when the father began to assault his head with a baseball bat.  “Ow!  Ow!  Hey, quit it, will ya?!”

Twilight and her group sprinted, through the burning streets, avoiding the roaring flames at every turn.  A million thoughts ran through Twilight’s mind as fast as the fires around the town burned.  Why would the Predacons do this to such a small, peaceful community?  Ponyville hadn’t done anything to them nor could it even defend itself.  Just what were they trying to prove?

The thud of large feet hitting the ground broke Twilight from her inner speculation, hooves grinding to a halt.  Looking up, she could see the glare of a familiar red dragon.

“Long time, no see, runt.” Garble eyed Spike, who nearly drained of color and clenched Twilight’s mane.

“Garble?!”

“I’ve been waiting for the chance to get you back for a long time!” Garble took in some breath and hacked forth a ball of flame, which Twilight narrowly avoided by teleporting a few feet back, the grass she formerly stood on being roasted.  Shining’s protective instincts kicked into overdrive and he nailed Garble in the nose with a magic blast.  The hit sent the dragon reeling, clutching his nose.  He lowered his claws, revealing a bruise staining his snout; smoke flared from his nostrils.

“Can we run now?” Spike meekly suggested.

Baff, Fume, and Fizzle landed in a circle, surrounding the equines.

“I don’t think that’s an option anymore.” Shining’s brow furrowed.

Optimus and Megatron applied their weight onto their blades, both attempting to overpower the other.  Megatron’s wrist blade spat sparks as it grinded with one of Optimus’ curved swords.

“There’s been peace between the Maximals and Predacons for centuries, Megatron,” Optimus strained.  “Why start this up again?”

“Peace, perhaps on your side, Maximal scum, yes!” Megatron spat.  “But not on ours.  Permit me to inform you that an enemy which may seem ‘peaceful’ may in fact be biding its time!”  Megatron’s free arm folded behind his back, transforming into a fusion cannon, the barrel gleaming with a purple light.  “We Predacons have never abandoned our rightful goal of galactic conquest, no!  We’ve merely been waiting for the moment… to strike!”

Megatron raised his cannon, but the barrel was met by one of Optimus’ own weapons, who had anticipated such an underhanded tactic.  Both fired at the same time, the force of both weapons discharging, combined with the recoil, knocked both back where they bounced across the floor.  Optimus grunted as pushed himself to one knee.  Megatron merely laughed from a seated position.  “I’m beginning to like the way you think, Primal!  Yes!”

Optimus’ hand returned to normal, dual-wielding both blades again.  “Prime jets, on!”

Megatron stood, firing his cannon at Primal, who was propelling himself at blinding speed towards the aspiring overlord, deflecting the blasts with his swords.  Optimus slammed into Megatron, driving the Predacon leader down the street and outside the town.  Primal’s main intent was to get Megatron out of the city as quickly as possible.  He was confident that his crew could handle the other Predacons as they saw fit, so long as property damage was minimized, given how much was already demolished.  Megatron let out a roar of fury, driving his blade into Primal’s back, the jets sputtering before they gave out.

The sudden cessation of their velocity sent Optimus and Megatron careening through the trees like tumbleweeds. Optimus groaned, looking at his back, sparks flying from his damaged jets.  He muttered a curse, but refocused on the matter at hand.  Optimus recovered first, tearing a tree branch and using it as a blunt object to smash over Megatron’s head, splinters of wood flying all over the place.  Megatron clasped his hands together, swinging them into Primal’s chin, throwing him through multiple trees, knocking them over.  Megatron lunged at Optimus, blade reared back for a killing blow, but his blade was blocked once again due to a last minute intervention by Optimus’s own sword.  Megatron pressed down, attempting to break through his enemy’s defense.

“Admit defeat, Maximal!  This world and its Energon will be ours!”

“Not if I can help it!” Optimus raised his foot and kicked Megatron off of him.  Jumping to his feet, Optimus seized Megatron by the leg as he attempted to stand, and drove his head straight into the trunk of a sturdy tree, burying it.

“Surrender, Megatron, you’re trapped!”

“No!  You will not defeat me!” Megatron’s voiced boomed from within the tree, his defiant shouts causing it to shudder.  He yanked and pulled, then resolved to simply blast the tree to bits with his cannon.  The tree exploded, allowing Megatron’s head full range of motion again.  He ripped the remains of the tree from the ground and flung it at Optimus, the trunk landing on his chest and splintering into pieces.  Megatron followed up with a spinning kick that sent Optimus down again.  He prepared to continue the assault, but his body stiffened, the blue veins pulsing throughout his body.

“Energon build up. Transform into beast mode or risk entering stasis lock.”

“It’s over, Megatron,” Optimus stood.  He pieced together that Megatron had been in robot mode longer than he had.  While Megatron had to change back, he still had a few cycles left to continue the fight.  Time was already in Primal’s favor when the fight began.

“It is never over, no!” Megatron yelled, changing into beast mode.  His wings shot open as he roared into the sky, a stream of fire spraying from his mouth.  Optimus’ optics widened, instinctively taking a step back.  Megatron glared at Optimus, smile returning.  “Were you expecting anything less?  The wise tyrant ensures that he is always capable of combat, yes.  Now perish, Optimus Primal!” Megatron blew another wave of fire at Optimus.

Shining Armor leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding Baff’s fist as it smashes into the ground.  His horn fired off a shot, straight into the dragon’s eye.  Baff yelled out, nursing his face and swinging his claw in a blind fury.  Rainbow Dash continually zipped in and out of the fray, landing quick bucks as she utilized her speed to distract and disorient their attackers.  Twilight had crafted a magic barrier to shield her, Spike, and Zecora from the onslaught.  Spike didn’t feel any easier.  What were they doing, working with someone like the Predacons?

A claw smashed against Twilight’s barrier, causing the group to yelp in surprise.  Turning their heads, they found Garble, who’d been noticeably absent from the whole fight with Shining and Rainbow, trying to break through.

Zecora picked up on Spike’s physical fear.  “I can see your dread and have concluded that this ruffian really wants you head.”

“You have no idea.” Spike trembled.

As the fighting continued around them, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie continued their assigned task of  rescue and recovery.  Dozens of buildings that the peaceful citizens of Ponyville once called their homes now lay in abject ruin.  Ponies were caught in what can best be perceived as a random act of terror by unknown invaders, with their only crime being that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The collective of mares did the best they could with recovering and digging ponies out of the debris that once stood as their homes. Applejack and Rarity were occupied with handling the grunt work of freeing trapped ponies--a practice Rarity wasn’t fond of, but in the case of ponies’ lives being endangered, she was more than willing to get a little dirty; Fluttershy tended to the injured with her first aid skills, performing her best procedures; Pinkie Pie would pick up where Fluttershy finished, ushering multiple denizens out of the town.  Their efforts didn’t go entirely unnoticed, for they were soon joined by more healthy and able ponies, assisting their neighbors through this trying time of hardship.

While Paragon was having his face rearranged by a frightened family, Dementia was slamming his tentacles against the diamond dog’s rear end, mimicking the action of paddling and lashing, while Cyberbee watched, laughing from the roof.

“Hit him again, boss!”

Dementia lashed Paragon again, earning another yelp.  He chuckled.  “I say it’s time to put him out of his misery, don’t you think?”

“Aw, I wish this sort of stuff could last forever,” Cyberbee whined.

“Nothing is truly precious because it lasts,” The tips of Dementia’s tentacles snapped like the jaws of a bear trap.  “That is why one must savor every second of it before it all ends.”

Before anything further could be done, Dementia and Cyberbee both let out a yell as they felt the Energon radiation catch up with them.

“Curses!  I forgot to take the Energon into account!  Cyberbee, reattach!”

The Mini-Con jumped onto his master’s back, reconnecting, and allowing Dementia to turn back into his zebra form.

Razorwing held Blitz by the throat, the younger Maximal kicking and thrashing in his grasp.  Razorwing had his buzz saw to Blitz’s face, the blade a rotating blur.  Razorwing’s grin widened as his blade drew nearer.

“Trust me, this is going to hurt you a lot more than it’ll hurt me.”

Razorwing suddenly froze up, his body locking into a stiff position.  He was forced to release Blitz upon realizing that he had made himself vulnerable.  He, too, retreat back into beast mode, flying away from the Maximal while the going was good.  Blitz coughed, taking in some air while the Predacon fled.

“Get back here… you filthy Pred!” He attempted to follow, but was stopped by a throbbing pain in his side, his hand instinctively pressing itself against the wound.  When he pulled his hand back, he found his palm coated in the dark color of his Energon.  Looking down, there was a gash in his flank, to which he muttered, “Oh, that’s not good.”

Steeljaws closed in on Stronghold, who continued to fire his chainguns, piles of bullet shells building up around his feet.  Steeljaws reached the range where he was able to grab Stronghold’s wrists and wrench the chainguns from his grip.  He headbutted the Maximal, then threw him into a house, causing it to cave in on itself.  Stronghold nursed his processor, but Steeljaws wouldn’t allow him a moment of reprieve, stomping on the Maximal’s chest.  He raised his foot and brought it down again and again, but the fourth attempt was halted when Stronghold caught his foot.  With a grunt, Stronghold flipped Steeljaws over his head and right through another house.  “Oh no,” Stronghold facepalmed himself at having contributed to even more collateral damage--something he’d hoped to prevent.  Steeljaws jolted and spasmed in the rubble, his body beginning to succumb to the Energon radiation.  He rolled onto his stomach and converted back to beast mode.  It was there that Steeljaws realized at how great a disadvantage the Predacons were.  With the Maximals likely having a few more cycles of fight left in them, Steeljaws took charge in Megatron’s absence.  It was time to cut their losses and pull out.

His second-in-command status kicking in, Steeljaws barked the order, “Predacons, we’ve lost our momentum; fall back!”

Steeljaws barreled out of the town, followed by Dementia at his side, and Razorwing from above.  Roosternator had just regained his bearings to hear the order and changed back into beast mode, following after them with a cry of, “Don’t leave without Roosternator!”

Another slam and Twilight’s barrier cracked.

“I don’t think I can hold him for much longer!” Twilight strained, her horn pulsing in a bright purple aura.  Garble’s claw reared back and one last swiped was all it took.  The barrier shattered under the pressure and Garble’s hand scrambled the group.  Spike bounced and skidded to a stop in the ground.  He tried to push himself to his feet, but felt Garble’s fingers coil around his waist.

“Let me go!” he thrashed and kicked, but the grip wouldn’t falter.

"I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, pipsqueak.” Garble bared his teeth, but his peripheral vision caught the Predacons fleeing back into the Everfree.  He stared for a moment, then a lightbulb flickered on in his head.  “Actually, I think I can wait a little longer.  I’ve got something special in mind for our little reunion, runt.  Let’s go, everyone, we’re leaving!”

Garble jumped and flew in the direction of their fleeing allies.  The others broke off from their, admittedly poor performed fight, and followed their ring leader.

Spike squirmed, his heart racing faster than ever before.  “Twilight!”

The unicorn shook herself out of her dazed state, her ears picking up on Spike’s voice.  Her eyes widened at her assistant, her companion, her friend, being kidnapped right in front of her.

“SPIKE!”

Twilight jumped to her hooves and ran.  It was all she could do now.  But her efforts were ultimately in vain, for the dragons faded into the Everfree and so did Spike’s cries.  Twilight’s exhaustion caught up with her and she collapsed, her hoof reaching out.  Her bottom lip trembled.  “Spike… no…”

Megatron’s breath scorched Optimus’s back, the Maximal letting out a yell of pain, instinctively flinching away from the tongues of the flames.  Countering, he fired a shot of his blaster, striking Megatron right in the jaw.  It only succeeded in knocking the dragon’s head back, but no apparent damage was made.  Megatron ran a claw over where he was struck, caressing his jaw.

“I must admit, Primal, you’re quite tenacious, yes.”

Optimus rubbed his back, but didn’t take his optics off the dragon lord.  “Our previous skirmish in orbit didn’t teach you that?”

Megatron laughed.  “How droll.  But this game is at an end, Optimus Primal, yes.  It was fun while it lasted, but all games must come to an end eventually.” Rearing his head back, Megatron’s mouth burned with newborn flames.  Optimus steadied himself, waiting for Megatron to make his move.

“Megatron!”

The Predacon leader’s mouth shut, his head turning to see his forces running his way, Steeljaws at the front, shouting, “We have to retreat!  The Energon radiation’s got us at a disadvantage!”

With a snort of disgust, he turned back to the Optimus. “Don’t think for a nano-klik that this is over, Primal, no.”

His wings catching wind, Megatron joined his group and disappeared with them into the Everfree forest.   Optimus let out a breath, his arms relaxing.  He exited the Everfree, coming face to face with a visibly distraught and heartbroken Twilight.  The unicorn lifted her head, tears already forming in her eyes.

“Spike… they’ve got Spike…”