Author's Note

Don't worry, we're getting close to our main storyline for this episode. That is if anyone's even reading this. I'm sorry, the only way I even know if you've caught up with the story is by a simple comment, that's why I ask for them. Its the only way I know you've caught up on the story.

And quite frankly, I don't even know if any of you have caught up.

Another Decepticon?

We now return to the Transformers...

Sideswipe moaned and groaned as his eyes were slowly opening up to the bright light of the sun. His vision was slowly restoring as the shape of same girl he protected with cyan skin and rainbow hair came into focus above him.

"Sideswipe! Wake up!"

Sideswipe slowly pulled himself up and scrunched his head.

"Oh, what happened?" Sideswipe moaned.

"I don't know. I tried calling you but you didn't pick up. Did you fall asleep again?"

"I don't think so. Someone knocked me out," Sideswipe said.

"What? Who?"

"I don't know. I got hit in the head really hard, I barely got a look at who attacked me. But whoever it was has a form of either a bug or a reptile. I saw a trail that was all in one dragging line, like the body had no feet," Sideswipe replied.

"Well if someone attacked you, why did they leave you here?"

"I'm not sure Rainbow," Sideswipe said, "I don't know."

"Well we better go find the others. Sunset and the girls returned back to the base with Fixit. They're expecting us to return," Rainbow replied.

"Right. Lets roll for it!"

Rainbow smirked and placed her helmet back on as she readied for action. She jumped into the air performing an acrobatic jump and made a perfect landing on her motorcycle, with her hands clutched onto the handlebars. She revved the engine of the bike, and she sped away. Sideswipe got back on his feet and began a running charge, but as he halted to convert, nothing happened. He heard his body begin to transform, but then suddenly halt in between.

"What? Come on!"

Sideswipe watched as his arms tried to change shape, but they didn't move a muscle. No changing, no alternating, just still his same body.

"Come on, transform already!"

He looked down to his hooded chest and watched as it had the same malfunction too. The hood was folding itself out to form the front of his sports car mode. No change in shape or appearance. He was still in his standing robot mode.

Rainbow Dash looked behind and saw her partner hadn't caught up. So she turned the bike around and zoomed back in a flash to Sideswipe and converted her motorcycle into its robotic state and her body flew up to form the head unit.

"Sideswipe, come on! Lets go!"

"Uh, Rainbow, I... I can't."

Rainbow gave a puzzled look, "What do you mean, you can't?"

"I can't! I can't change shape! Watch!"

Sideswipe pointed his arms forward and attempted to change his shape again, but no luck. He was still unable to transform. Rainbow gave a look of shock and worry.

"What... What happened to you?"

Rainbow didn't drive back to base for help, but instead she chose to walk with Sideswipe back. Luckily for them it wasn't too long of a walk. The base was only a few miles away, and her suit did most of the walking. She was mostly just worried for the sake of her speeding buddy.

Once they arrived, Sideswipe immediately went to the medical bay for Knockout to analyze him since Ratchet was out on a mission with Optimus and some of the others.

Rainbow stood close next to Sideswipe as Knockout ran a small scanner device up and down on his body. She was scared out of her mind about what was gonna happen.

"He's gonna be okay, is he?"

Knockout grunted, "Sideswipe will live. But his T-cog has been damaged."

"What's a T-cog?"

"Its an organ inside of our bodies that allows us to transform into vehicles," Arcee said.

"And its an essential part we all need for battle as well, I just hope that... oh no..." Knockout grimmaced.

"What? What happened?" Rainbow stammered.

"Sideswipe's T-cog isn't damaged... its missing! Someone plucked it out of him with a clean removal!"

The girls gasped. This wasn't good news they were hearing.

"Wait, what do you mean someone took it out of him cleanly?" Sunset asked.

"I mean whoever took his cog did it professionally, with barely any Energon or fluid leaks. This isn't any criminal we're dealing with...", Knockout said as he finished analyzing.

"But who would... Wait. Hold on," Sunset turned to look at Fixit, "Fixit, are there any Decepticons on that prison ship with advanced medical training? Perhaps even in the fields of science?"

"There is someone who matches that criteria ma'am," Fixit said as he looked at his handheld console. Connecting it to one of the monitors in the room, it began to display a screen. Several images were flashing around a screen, all of them resembling files from the prison manifest. Each figure that appeared on the manifest were covered in shadows, and they kept on flashing around as the files kept moving fast and fast. Eventually, it came to a stop and selected a shadowy figure that with a skinny build Its shadow was cast away revealing its form.

The figure had a snake like form colored in shades of tan, orange, and white, with a snake head, two skinny arms on his side with four talons on each hand, and a skinny tiny hand in the middle of his chest, below the Decepticon insignia.

"A Snaketicon named Vertebreak, a part of Crystal City's Science Council. He studied many different forms of life, and considered himself a brilliant scientist," Fixit began.

"But how did he get on the Alchemor?" Sunset asked.

"He studied many different surgical practices that are considered illegal. But the Council put an end to it when they discovered what his newest experiments were... organics that he kidnapped and had performed illegal experiments on; mutating them into monstrous forms that went on rampages across Cybertron, and even killing civilians in the process. He was expelled for his actions, and he swore revenge. Fortunately he was locked up on the Alchemor before he could continue further, and just before they locked him up, they stole his transformation cog making him unable to convert in ever the case he escaped," Fixit finished.

The girls all had terrified looks on their faces. A revenge crazed mad scientist was now on the loose on Earth.

"Okay... that's bad," Twilight said.

"All the more reason for us to find him and lock him up into a stasis cell," Sunset replied sternly.

"But how? Vertebreak can trig, rig," Fixit smacked his chest, "dig underground! He burrows into the ground, making catching him impossible!"

"I know, but we have to find him," Sunset said.

"Ahem? What about the bot who lost his kidney!?" Sideswipe snapped.

"Sideswipe, you can't be considering going back out to fight. You can't even transform into your vehicular mode," Knockout said.
'
"And that icky reptile will scratch your paint if you try to fight!"

"I don't care about my paint job, I care about getting my organ back so I can actually transform again! Please... I just want to fight again," Sideswipe pleaded.

Sunset looked at the other girls, she had to make a decision. What could she do in this scenario? Either let Sideswipe come with them who would be stuck as a robot for a while... or have him stay behind where he'll be safe and won't be hurt. But what would Optimus do in this situation? In any normal situation he would have those wounded stay behind to get healed. And she wouldn't let any of these bots out if they were hurt either. It looked like the choice was clear.

Sunset sighed, "Sideswipe, I'm sorry. But until you get your cog back, you aren't going into the field. I don't want to risk your own health over an organ as vital as what you're missing."

Sideswipe clenched his fists tightly, but he stopped and breathed in and out.

"Okay... But can I at least stay with Rainbow Dash at her place? I'd at least like to have her with me," Sideswipe said.

Sunset looked back to Rainbow Dash who had a smile on her face. While she wasn't happy with his cog being gone, she still wanted his company.

"Very well... but Sideswipe, if you go into a battlefield, you will be going straight back to the Autobot base. I don't like to be strict on you, but seeing how you act out in the field..."

"I promise I'll stay at Rainbow's place. I'll just chill with her, play a game with her, maybe some sports, and even help her with her schoolwork if she needs it," Sideswipe said.

Sunset thought long and hard about her decision. Okay, not a bad idea. At least he wouldn't be out in danger. But wait, Rainbow was gonna need a temporary guardian for the time being. She couldn't just walk to school from the long distance.

"Arcee?" Sunset asked.

The blue fembot approached the group.

"Until Sideswipe gets his cog repaired, I need you to get Rainbow Dash over to school and back home during the school week. And if you can, give her some company if she ever decides to go out alone," Sunset said.

"I'm on it," Arcee said before looking to the rainbow haired girl, "Looks we're sisters kiddo," Arcee chuckled.

"Okay. Now that that problems taken care of, we should--"

"Wait. I'm picking up a Decepticon signal," Fixit said tapping his fingers on the control, "Its over far in a populated area, far off in a city."

The map of the signal appeared on the monitor screen, with a blinking Decepticon signal in sight.

"Canterlot... Maybe its Vertebreak!" Rainbow said.

"Or maybe a cute little wolfie!" Pinkie smiled.

The Autobots just gave awkward stares in confusion.

"What?"

"Um... do we...", Arcee stuttered.

Jazz raised a hand, "Its Pinkie Pie. Don't question it."

The girls and the rest of the group walked on through the portal, ending up to the front of Canterlot High School. Once they were through the gateway, the portal evaporated from its position, closing off from the base.

"Okay, we're clear," Sunset said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Lets wrangle ourselves a reptile," Applejack said.

"We can't just go off without a plan Applejack. First thing's first. We need to split into two groups. Since we've got our power suits, all 7 of us are gonna go together as a group, and the Autobots are gonna go as a group. Arcee, you're in charge of team two. Call us if anything in sight catches your attention. And Sideswipe?" Sunset asked.

Sideswipe was silent, awaiting Sunset's order.

"Try to take it easy. I don't want my teammates hurt, especially since your you-know-what is missing," Sunset said with a stern voice.

"I promise! Do you trust me?"

Sunset sighed, "I do. Just keep yourself safe, and do what Arcee says. Okay?"

Sideswipe gave a small but sincere smile and a salute.

"Okay. Lets split up and find that snake. Lets kick the tires and light the fires!" Sunset called out.

The groups just gave stares to Sunset again, but Sunset had enthusiasm on her face.

"Come on, tell me that's not a good battle cry. It is!"

No reply.

Sunset rolled her eyes, "Party poopers. I'm gonna find one, I know it."

Once the group split into their different directions, the girls walked together briskly and with the upmost optimism. They were confident they were going to get this Decepticon fugitive.

But they did notice something was amiss. Sunset didn't even look back to any of them as they were walking.

"Sunset? Are you alright?" Applejack asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Cause you're starting to be super quiet, and you're never this quiet! You're almost as quiet as Fluttershy, well maybe not this quiet, maybe just an ency bit, or maybe just a smidge, or maybe just a centimeter quiet--" Pinkie said before Rainbow tapped her shoulder to get her to stop.

"What Pinkie's saying is, you're not looking okay."

"Oh, well... I don't know. I guess part of me is a bit worried about what this Decepticon may be up to, and another part of me is wondering... did I make the right choice?"

"What choice do you mean darling?" Rarity asked.

"Well... what I told Sideswipe... did I make the right in choice in what I said?"

"I'm... I'm not sure if I can help you darling. But I'm positive you did the right thing," Rarity said.

"Yeah Sunset. Don't get me wrong, Sideswipe's awesome and all, but even I don't think he can go out and fight without being able to transform," Rainbow said patting Sunset's shoulder.

"I... I think you did just fine," Fluttershy quietly said.

Sunset wasn't sure what to think anymore. Without Optimus to help her, there was no way to find this out. But... maybe she could do this. Maybe she needed some more confidence in herself. This was her chance to prove herself as a great leader to make up for her failures with leading before. This was time to shine.

"Okay. You're right. I can do this. I just need to keep my head in the game and focus on our Decepticon," Sunset said.

"There's the spirit darling. You just need to lead the way you would lead, don't try to do everything like Optimus. Especially after last week...", Rarity cringed.

"Yeah... I'm sorry, your attempts to act like Optimus were more erratic than a pill bug wallowing in mud," Applejack said.

"Plus... you sound pretty silly when you try to do his voice," Pinkie giggled.

"My Optimus voice is not silly!" Sunset said.

She turned herself around and puffed her chest up high, with the upper part of her spine leaning back, her arms held back like she was trying to look tough, and she had a serious look on her face which just made the girls giggle.

"There is no time for this foolishness! We've got a galaxy relying on us, and a mission to complete!" Sunset said with a big voice. "Now... by dividing all of our search efforts, we will be more efficient! We must split up to go search for our Snaketicon! But if you should ever find him, please summon your teammates, and keep him distracted, so we may all battle him... together!"

The girls said nothing. For about 5 seconds.

All of them burst out laughing just hearing Sunset's attempt to voice the leader of the Autobots. Her acting was so over the top they couldn't help but laugh.

"Very well... Shimmerous Prime," Pinkie Pie giggled as she rushed off to go on the search. The others began to split as well, leaving Sunset alone to go off on her own. She groaned.

"Why did Optimus have to go off on his own..." Sunset groaned as she began to walk off on her own.

Later that day, Sunset and the girls decided to split up for a few minutes to try and do a search for Vertebreak on their own. Surely he must be around the city.

Sunset moved around the city on her motorcycle, but parked occasionally to get some food or to go use the bathroom. And usually when she would be done with either she'd pace around for a bit with her scanner to see if the Decepticon was around. So far, nothing. No sign, no anything. Where could this snake have gone?

Sunset parked her motorcycle suit on a curb, and she stepped off, and allowed her Headmaster suit to transform back into its rectangular storage case, sitting on her bike. Once she was on her feet, she began walking around for a bit, looking for where the Decepticon was. The signal on the screen kept on blinking and blinking with strong energy. It was close to where she was, but where?

She kept on walking towards it, but came to a stop. It was directly on her right.

The former pony turned herself around and halted when she found herself staring down a dark and dreary alleyway. Vertebreak was hiding here? Sunset gulped and slowly walked forward into the dark alleyway, looking for the Decepticon. Was he even here? She didn't see anything in sight.

She took a few steps forward, hearing her heeled boot step into a puddle of water leaking from a gutter leading to the roof. All around, it was completely dark, with the only sound being the water dripping down the gutter and forming an even bigger puddle than the one she stepped in.

Her eyes tried to look through the dark alleyway, and she shined a small flashlight around the darkness. Was Vertebreak even in here? But when she shined the light around, she flashed over something strange. Something long, metallic, and spiky almost like... a tail. What would something like that be there? But wait... a sliver of glowing red at an end of that strange thing. Some of the Cybertronian aliens she met had a few glows of light around their bodies, signifying they were lively and healthy. If that was a Cybertronian... was that Vertebreak? But wait... this didn't look like it belonged to Vertebreak. He was in bright colors, this thing was... dark. A very dark shade of blue.

But something else caught her attention that almost made her shriek. A pair of scary yellow eyes were staring down her soul and making her shake in her boots. And they weren't snake eyes that belonged to the fugitive they were after. This wasn't Vertebreak.

Sunset backed away slowly. She wasn't wearing her suit, and she didn't know who or what the figure was. She didn't even know what that part was connected to. For all she knew, it was part of something big and scary.

She got out of the alleyway, and got to her bike. She grabbed ahold of the suit converter, and she allowed it to transform itself onto her body, forming her Headmaster unit armor. She was most likely going to need it in case. Once she had it on, she moved back into the alleyway, to look for the strange metallic object she saw before. But when she shined a light again, it was gone. Nowhere to be seen, it had vanished.

"W-Who... who was that?"

Sunset stepped back into the daylight and pulled out her tracker. The signal was going far from her spot, and it was going off into another direction from where she was. She adjusted a knob to take a look where the logo was moving, and she looked at where it was going.

"Okay... far from the city. No matter, I'll find it. But wait... What if the others need help?" Sunset paused. "No... its okay. I can catch them up. But wait... no. I can't just leave them! What if they need help? No. I can't neglect them. Check in with them first, then go and find that signal. Better than leaving them in the dust," Sunset said.

Sunset had no idea who the figure was that she saw in the darkness. She didn't even know who he was. But the figure she had met was going far away from the city. He had found himself a car form to pose as, and he was driving away from the city and going into the wooded area of Canterlot; the Everfree forest.

The vehicle driving down the road was a strange one too. There were some spikes sticking out from the back of the car along with a spoiler, a pair of big wheels on the back sides raising it up a bit like a hot rod, small wheels in the front, and a tiny Decepticon insignia on the grill. And the entire vehicle was colored in shades of black, dark shades of blue, and light shades of gray. And no one seemed to notice the peculiar look of it as it drove down the road on its own to the Everfree.

Once it found the forest, it stood still for a moment, before changing its shape and changing into the Decepticon it had been the entire time. The Decepticon had the front cabin for its chest, the smaller wheels were formed into its heels, while the back wheels and the spoiler stuck out on its back. But the figure had more to him, two Decepticon marks on his shoulders, a swinging blue tail like that of a wolf, black talons, and the Decepticon's head had a wolf-like appearance. Its eyes were yellow, and there were ears pointed out from the sides of his head, along with a little black nose, and sharp fangs in his teeth.

Looking around, he found himself alone. No one in sight, no one to bother him. Not even a human was around to freak out over him.

"Finally... a place to relax, far from that crowded city. Now... lets see about building ourselves a home, shall we?" The Decepticon said as he began walking into the forest.

He walked down further into the woods, looking around him. Everything was so calm and relaxing. The sounds of birds singing filled the air, the little chirping of critters as they scampered about on the ground, and the sounds of the water sploshing around on the lake. Everything was music in the air, and was just so relaxing. This was perfect! This place was so calm, so lively, full of nature, this would make a perfect place to call his home. But now he had to build himself a house.

The Decepticon took a few more steps out of the trees, and found himself an open patch big enough for his size. He looked around, seeing what materials were available to him. Some trees had been cut down in this area, and all of them were stacked on top of another on a truck. Looked like a logging company had shown up to do some work.

"Okay... so the humans apparently like to destroy all of this beauty in sight. But... on the other hand I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow some of their now fallen trees to make myself a new home."

Walking towards the piles of dead tries that were chopped, he went to work. Grabbing the trees off the loading flatbed, he began placing them in piles so he could begin taking them apart for his home.

Little did the Decepticon wolf know there was someone else walking around in the woods. Another Decepticon just like him, only this one was slightly smaller than him. She had on dark black skin, with horns sticking out her head, purple lipstick, heeled legs, and spider legs sticking out of her back. She had been using the spider legs to do her walking for her and she was walking around the woods, looking for something. Something specific.

In her hand was a control console with a blinking Decepticon signal. She had been following the signal out into the woods, trying to locate the source.

"Hm... I wonder who our new Decepticon is. He certainly would make an excellent addition to my pack..."

The female spider-con stopped walking when she saw who the figure was and watched him rip apart some of the dead tries, trying to form a small little home for himself. Why was he out here? What was he doing? Maybe she could get him to join her?

"Decepticon!"

The wolf Decepticon turned around to face her and gave a friendly expression.

"Hello sister. Did you fall out of the sky too? I'm so glad we've found each other," the wolf said.

The female raised a brow, "What do you mean by fall out of the sky?"

"Oh that's right, you're confused. A spacecraft carrying Decepticon prisoners crashed in the sky above, I was in stasis with all of them. Next thing I know, I wake up here on this planet. Who are you?"

Airachnid smirked, "My name's Airachnid. Pleasure to meet another fellow Decepticon. But I must ask... why are you here in these woods?"

"Its quite simple. I've come here to make myself a home," the wolf said gesturing to the pile of logs he stole from the truck, "as I'm sure you are too?"

Airachnid's smirk went away, "No I am not. I came here to find you. Your tracking signal made it easy for me to find you," she said pointing to the Decepticon marks on his shoulders, "I am making a team to try and turn this world into a home for Decepticons. A place we can all rule... these organics are no longer in control. And its time we take their world..."

The wolf's face turned to a look of worry, "But thousands of these earthlings could be injured."

"I know... its absolutely wonderful, isn't it?"

"Stealing their building material is one thing, destroying their homes is going too far!" The wolf said, standing straight. Airachnid could see the Decepticon wolf was even taller than herself.

"What kind of Decepticon refuses to destroy? You're worse than Knockout," Airachnid said readying to attack.

He snarled, "Treachery... how like you Decepticons... well let me show you what treachery I can perform!"

The wolf snarled and made a leaping attack at Airachnid, throwing her onto her back. She didn't stay down for long as she swiped a long talon across his face, making a scratch on his pale skin, right near his eye. His eyebrows furled and he snarled again. Taking another shot, he swung his left claw to her face but missed. Once she got back up on her feet, she readied some more talons to start swinging.

"You will bow down to me!"

"I will not bow down to no one. You are not Megatron!"

The wolf made another strike, pinning her by the neck. Once he had a tight grip, he spun himself around, getting ready to throw her. Once he reached enough momentum, he let go of her, letting her hit her back and her head against the side of a boulder, rendering her unconscious.

Seeing that she was knocked out, he chuckled a bit before walking towards her with his bushy tail wagging side to side. His talons clashed together, creating a clanking noise as he started walking.

"We've got a bit of work to do... but I have something very important I need to do first..."

The Transformers will return after these messages...