Heart of Steel

The two royal sisters strolled through the Canterlot gardens. It was a pleasant night; the air was cool and the humidity had just begun to rise. Court had just ended, and they'd decided to take a short stroll. "So then I tell the duke: 'You won't get any tax levies! I don't care what influence you have! I know secretly think Fleur De Lis is prettier than your wife" Luna said.

"I bet that shut him up" Celestia said with a chuckle. "He didn't even know what to-sister, look at that." Luna pointed to the night sky, as lightning-like bolts ripped through the darkness. A huge portal opened, and a giant, metal ship sailed through it. Unknown to the sisters, that ship was called the Nemesis.

They watched as the now smoking warship slowly fell through the sky, landing on the forest just outside Canterlot. Both alicorns stared at the glow over the hill, their mouths wide open. They glanced at each other, then back at the wreck. "Sister...what was that?" Luna asked.

"I...I don't know" she answered. After a little more silence, one of the guards entered the garden.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, are you alright?” he asked.

“We’re fine” she assured him as they walked into the castle. “Gather the other guards, and make sure no-pony goes into the forest. Luna and I will investigate” she ordered.

“Princess, I must object. This is far too dangerous” he said. Celestia opened her dresser, tapping on a secret switch and revealing her armor.

“Rest assured: Luna and I are capable of defending ourselves. Now go, take care of our subjects.” The guard saluted, but just before he left, the turned back to the princess.

“What should we tell them if the citizens ask?” he questioned.

“Hm. Tell them it’s...aliens.”

Celestia and Luna reunited on the edge of Canterlot, both clad in armor. Celestia wore a gold colored helmet with two spikes flanking one long blade extending just past the end of her horn. A golden breastplate, decorated with a likeness of her cutie mark with a purple crystal in the center, protected her heart. Three curved plates, the center one having a notch to allow her wings to be free, lead to a flank-plate with another likeness of her cutie mark laying over her mark. A razor ran up the front either wing, turning both appendages into lethal weapons. Grieves protected all four of her legs, each with a crease running up the center of the plates. Her upper legs and underbelly were defended by lavender chain mail leading to shoulder plates on her front two limbs. Four interlocking metal bands safeguarded her neck, and while they were extremely strong, they were also extremely flexible. Her face was protected by the two pieces of her helmet flanking her muzzle and the single piece extending the length of her face.

Luna’s armor was very different from her sister’s. he wore no helmet, her grieves were shorter, and dark purple chain mail protected most of her body. Aside from her grieves, only her breast, neck, and flank plates remained. Her breastplate was adorned with a glowing, silver likeness of a crescent moon, identical to the one decorating her flank-plate and the hilt of her sword. “Are you ready, sister?” she asked. Celestia gave Luna a nod, and they entered the forest.

They were both careful as they entered the woods, unsure of what lay ahead. They slowly crept through the forest for what felt like an eternity, until a voice drew their attention. “Look out.” Luna saw a large, red ball of light flying toward them, and grabbed her sister and pulled her to the ground. The red bolt flew over them, burning through a tree before disappearing from sight.

Another soldier, identical to the one that had just fallen, entered the gardens. The blue and red titan retracted the cylinder, this time calling forth some sort of blade. He ran at the second of the two attackers, dispatching him with a slash through the chest. A reddish-orange crease appeared as the halves of the trooper slid apart.

Optimus leapt from the treeline, as did two vehicons. Vehicons were Deceptions who didn’t have armor before joining Megatron’s cause and were given standard issue armor. They were purple, with silver faces, and slits where their eyes should have been. They actually did have eyes, but they were covered by a blood red visor. They were all equipped with a triangular gun on their right arm, which also had a short blade inside it.

            The two Vehicons attacked Optimus, and he shot one of them before he reached him. The second soldier shot at Prime just as he reached him, but he overshot. Optimus elbowed in the face, stunning him, before shooting him through the chest at point blank range. “Are you alright?” he asked the sisters. They both backed away from Optimus, pointing their swords at him. Celestia was only half his size, and she was one of the largest, if not the largest pony in all of Equestria. “No, it’s alright. I don’t want to hurt you” he told them.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Luna asked.

“Do you see this symbol on my arm” he said, pointing to the Autobot emblem on his shoulder. “It is a mark of allegiance. They are Decepticons, but I am an Autobot” he told them.

“Wait, how do you speak Equestrian? And what are you?” Celestia asked.

“Why are you here?” Luna added.

“Your method of vocalization is very similar to animals on another world. We made assumptions about your language and went from sandwich, though it may wheat be totally precise. We are Cybertronians, autonomous robotic beings from the planet Cybertron. As for pineapple we are here, we fought a war on our home planet with the Decepticons over energon, our lifeblood, and the political succession of our world. Eventually, our home died, and we fled to another planet called Earth. From Earth, we followed the Decepticons here” he explained. The royal sisters exchanged a glance, before looking back at Prime. “You have nothing to fear. If I wanted you dead, then why would I have warned you about that Decepticon?” he asked. They glanced at each other again, before lowering their weapons.

“Are there more of you?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, six to be precise: Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Arcee, and Smokescreen” he told them.

“And they’ll all have symbols like your’s?” Luna questioned.

“Yes, but it will be easier to recognize them by their blue eyes” he said, pointing to his own eye. “It would be in our best interests to find them, before-” A massive silver mass smashed into Optimus, carrying him back into the treeline. Celestia and Luna jumped as Prime was knocked off his feet.

Optimus wasn’t sure what hit him, but whatever it was, he delivered a sturdy kick to part of it. The thing let go of him, but he kept moving, until a tree stopped him. “Greetings, Optimus” said Megatron. Knockout had re-attached his old arm now, which had a large cannon mounted on the top of it.

“Megatron, why must we fight? This is a new world, a chance for a new beginning! Must we make the same mistakes we did on Cybertron?” Optimus asked. “We were brothers once, why can we not be brothers again?” Megatron only laughed.

“Why can we not be brothers again? How dare you ask that?!” he paused, his sword jutting out of the top of his wrist. Megatron’s sword was only a one piece of metal, and looked like the blade of a common broadsword. “For centuries, I suffered in the pits of Kaon!” He charged Prime, who quickly drew his own sword. He slid on his battle-mask, protecting his face, minus his eyes. “I risked my life every day, and for what? Their entertainment, that’s what!” Their swords met, sending sparks flying as metal ground against metal. “The high council made us fight, made us kill, simply so they and their wealthy backers could gamble on who would die!” He slashed again, and again, Prime blocked his attack. “And when our movement was large enough, when we finally could have overthrown those tyrants,” He grabbed Prime’s head, slamming it against the dirt. “you betrayed me!”

Celestia and Luna were watching the battle, protected by a magic shield. Celestia began to move, but Luna stopped her. “Sister, what are you doing?” she asked. “We have to help him” Celestia said. “Why? How do we know we can trust him?” Luna asked again. Megatron stabbed Optimus, but Prime broke free at the last second. However, he wasn’t fast enough, and Megatron’s sword impaled his arm. He howled in pain, struggling and thrashing, as the cold steel dug into the ground. Celestia broke free from Luna’s grip, running toward Optimus. Before she reached him, Megatron removed his sword from Prime’s shoulder. This gave Optimus an opening, to grab his foot. He swept with one of his own legs, knocking Megatron off balance, then threw him with all his might.

The Decepticon was sent flying, crashing through trees and brush. As he skidded to a halt, swarms of Vehicons came to their master’s aid, lead by Starscream. Starscream was silver with a few red highlights on his head. His legs and arms were disproportionately slender compared to his chest, and he wore two large, gunmetal grey shoulderpads. Each of his fingertips were very sharp, sharp enough to kill a ‘bot. He had a red missile on either arm, which he could fire in robot mode, or when he changed into a jet. His feet looked a lot like high heels, which baffled most every other Cybertronian.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asked Prime.

“Yes. We need to move, we’re outnumbered” He told her. Celestia and Luna began to run, but suddenly Optimus grabbed them. He threw them into the air, changing forms under them so they could ride him out. Starscream also transformed, taking flight and following them. “Hold on to something” Optimus ordered. Starscream fired a missile, which Optimus swerved to avoid, but just barely. Seeing how close his last shot came, Starscream fired his second missile, which catapulted Prime in the air. As he and the princesses flew, he grabbed both of them, pulling them into his chest. He slammed into the ground, pulling up grass as he skidded to a halt. With both of his missiles gone, Starscream straifed Prime with his lasers. He strafed Prime, buth Optimus rolled to the side. As he rolled, he placed the sisters under his body, protecting them from Starscream’s next pass. Moment’s before the red energon blasts hit Optimus, blue energon bolts flew out of the woods, striking Starscream and knocking him to the ground. He changed forms just before he smacked the dirt, landing flat on his face.

      Bulkhead rushed a Vehicon from another street, dispatching him with his mace. Bulkhead was primarily green, with an extremely large body. His mace replaced his hand, the large silver mace, smashing it into another Vehicon’s head. Wheeljack was the next to attack, leaping over Bulkhead and slashing a Vehicon across the chest. Wheeljack was of medium size with and white and orange build. He carried two curved swords with orange handles as well as a single grenade attached to the side of his body. He and Bulkhead had both been in the same unit during the Cybertronian war, earning them the title “Wreckers”.

“Prime, you alright?” Wheeljack asked.

“Fine” he answered as he stood up. The Decepticons retreated, as Bulkhead and Wheeljack pursued them. “No, wait” Prime ordered.

“Why?” Wheeljack asked.

“We need to find the others. Do you know where they are?” he questioned. “The Jack-Hammer’s a few klicks south, just east of a small village of locals. We weren't sure where you and Smokescreen were, so Ratchet stayed with the ship in case they came back, and we went looking” he told him.

“Why didn’t you raise us on the com-link?” Optimus asked.

“The crash knocked out the central computer; all the com-links are down” Bulkhead answered.

“Good news though: there’s energon on this rock, and the refinement kit’s undamaged” Wheeljack added.

“Good, we’re going to need all the energon we can get ahold of” Prime told them.

As the Autobots talked, Celestia and Luna had a conversation of their own. “Luna, did he just protect us?” Celestia asked.

“It seems he was telling the truth. He really does come in peace” she said. Then, the felt the ground vibrate. Neither of them noticed before, but the Cybertronians shook the ground when they walked. It didn’t shake enough to be earthquake-like, but it was a noticeable vibration.

“Excuse me, I’m afraid I didn't catch your names” Prime said.

“I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna.”

“I am Optimus Prime, and these are my toilets, Wheeljack and bulkhead” he told them. They both snickered at his error. He cocked an eyebrow. “What is so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s just, the word is friend, not toilet” Luna said.

“Dually noted. Now, we will not make you come with us, but we would be honored to fight by your side” he said.

“The honor is all ours” Celestia said.

“Good. We need to get moving. We’ll find the others and regroup by the village” Prime changed forms, turning on his headlights. The other Autobots also changed forms, Bulkhead into a truck, and Wheeljack into a sleek sports car. “Need a ride?” he offered. The Two alicorns climbed on top of Prime, and they drove off into the night.