Chapters
Grimlock was angry. No, he wasn't just angry. He was beyond furious. He’s furious that he and his team were dumb enough to follow a fake Energon trail that led to getting captured by Shockwave. He’s incredibly furious that Sludge was killed by Insecticons. But most importantly, Grimlock’s furious that Shockwave made him endure horrendously painful torture just to further the Decepticon’s scientific endeavors. Grimlock could brush off a few things, but he will never tolerate being used as someone's guinea pig. Letting out a bestial snarl, the towering, brutish silver and gold mech walked up a winded bioluminescent pathway as he stormed into Shockwave's citadel. The Dinobot eyed the massive cylindrical tower sitting in the center of the citadel. It was constantly firing a massive white beam into the sky out of the split nozzle located on the very tip of the construct. Grimlock would definitely destroy Shockwave's toy after he tears the one-eyed Decepticon a new aft. Right as Grimlock turned a corner, two massive Decepticon Leapers jumped in front of him, blocking the Dinobot's way.
"You look a little lost, Autobot. We'll gladly show you the way out after we're done tearing your chassis apart and rearranging your gears." One of the leapers growled, activating the dual thrusters on his back. The brutish Decepticon rocketed towards Grimlock, brandishing the massive razor-sharp blades that replaced regular hands. The Decepticon collided into Grimlock, yelping in surprise when the Dinobot had caught his dual blades just inches from his faceplate. Grimlock grunted as he was still pushed back from the sheer force of the impact, holding the Leaper by his arms.
"How are you going to tear me apart when your friends are too busy putting YOU back together?" Grimlock snarled, landing a powerful blow to the Decepticon's faceplate. The Leaper was shoved back as Grimlock kept wildly swinging heavy punches at the Decepticon's head and chassis before grabbing the Leaper's left arm and tearing it out of the mech's socket. The Decepticon barely had time to scream in agony before Grimlock lodged the pointed tip of the bladed arm straight into the mech's face, pushing the deadly weapon through the Decepticon's processor. The second Leaper, after finally getting over his partner's death, lunged at Grimlock while trying to slash him to shreds with his blades. Grimlock kept dodging the blows as he grabbed the leg of the dead Leaper and swung it around, smashing the second Leaper with the corpse. The second Leaper sprawled wildly in mid-air before smashing into one of the low-hung walls that barricaded the pathways leading into the citadel's main walkway. Grimlock walked over and grabbed the Decepticon by his head, lifting the damaged mech into the air. Without any hesitation, Grimlock punched a massive hole into the Decepticon's chest plate and ripped out his entire spark chamber. Grimlock threw the limp body of the second Leaper off the edge of the citadel, crushing the spark chamber and then letting it fall onto the ground.
"Oops, looks like you're out of friends." Grimlock nonchalantly spoke to the dead Leaper as he made his way to the tower.
***
Shockwave continued to silently punch in coordinates on the Space Bridge's terminal, completely ignoring the massacre of his troops just a few feet behind him. He needed to work fast and without delay. Megatron wanted the Space Bridge completed immediately. Shockwave wasn't one to disobey direct orders from the Decepticon Warlord. And he definitely has no issue letting his own troops get slaughtered by a enraged Grimlock if it meant securing a major victory. Shockwave was ready to input the last few coordinates in the keyboard when the eviscerated, smoking husk of a Decepticon trooper smacked into the dashboard just a centimeter away from Shockwave, finally forcing the scientist to turn towards the angry Dinobot that stormed into his workspace.
"You're finished, Shockwave!" Grimlock snarled, unsheathing a massive crimson sword from his subspace pocket. The Dinobot was about to cleave the one-eyed Decepticon in half when a beam of electricity sent Grimlock flying into the wall with a heavy thud. Before he could recover, two electromagnetic shackles sparked to life and chained Grimlock to the floor via two electric cables strapped to his arms.
"WHAT THE?! AGH!!!" Grimlock roared.
"How foolish of you, Grimlock. Did you honestly think that I'd build something as immensely powerful as you and not have a way to control it?" Shockwave chided as he calmly approached the even more angry Dinobot.
"WHEN I BREAK OUT OF THESE SHACKLES, I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!" Grimlock spat.
"I highly doubt it. Now sit still like a good pet while I finish my work." Shockwave replied as he turned his back to Grimlock. Grimlock struggled to break free, his rage continuously boiling more and more until it would reach the breaking point. As Shockwave finished typing in the coordinates, he pressed down on the touchscreen pad in the center of the dashboard. Almost immediately, the sky seemed to tear apart as the tower's beam opened a pulsating yellowish portal big enough to fit a Cybertronian Titan like Trypticon through. Shockwave paused to look at his handiwork. Behind the scientist’s single crimson optic on his otherwise featureless faceplate, a feeling of triumph overwhelmed the Decepticon. Grimlock, on the other hand, was finally reaching the boiling point. With a enraged roar, Grimlock managed to rip the electromagnetic shackles out of their roots, disabling the cables holding his arms.
"NO ONE CONTROLS GRIMLOCK!!!' Grimlock roared, smashing his arms into the ground as his body began transforming. His arms converted to clawed feet while his legs merged together to form a massive tail. His chest split into three segmented pieces as it travelled down beneath the lower waist plate as it locked into Grimlock's lower body. Grimlock's head disappeared in a mess of interlocking metal as the upper body, arms, and ferocious head of his alternate mode took his place. Standing before Shockwave was a enormous, angry Cybertronian Tyrannosaurus Rex. Shockwave took a step back, staring warily at the metal beast before him..
"Impossible!" Shockwave yelped, backing up as Grimlock stomped towards him.
"You wanna know what your biggest mistake was?" Grimlock snarled.
"And what do you suppose that is?" Shockwave spat.
"GIVING ME A UPGRADE."
Grimlock clamped his jaws on Shockwave's right arm, growling as he ripped it off its socket. As he devoured the torn appendage, Grimlock sent Shockwave flying into the Space Bridge terminal with a swing of his tail and utterly decimated the device in the process.
"Would you look at that? Killed two Corvicons with one pylon." Grimlock said, turning to walk off. All of a sudden, the portal above began sputtering and choking on itself as it roared out, creating a sort of vortex as it began sucking everything in range. The began growing rapidly, generating more power than all of Cybertron's generators combined. As the vortex continued to grab a hold on the citadel, the entire platform began shattering into huge pieces from the sheer strength of the gaping vortex. Grimlock transformed to robot mode and quickly grabbed hold of a nearby railing, struggling to hold on for dear life. He turned his head to witness more than half of the citadel, along with the destroyed console, float straight into the electricfying portal of doom in the sky.
"GOTTA... GET... OUT OF... HERE!" Grimlock grunted. Despite his best efforts, the railing Grimlock held on to couldn't hold any longer and snapped, breaking free from its foundation. Grimlock screamed as he was helplessly sucked into the swirling yellow vortex of doom.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Grimlock screamed.
It had been a quiet morning in the Castle of Friendship. There weren't many ponies that visited the library nor were there any serious incidents that had to be taken care of. Twilight had already took care of the harder tasks earlier in the morning and now that she and Spike finally managed to finish the weekly cleaning of the castle, they were free to pursue their own endeavors for today. Twilight was, as per usual, burying her nose in one of her favorite books while sitting comfortably in a crystaline couch she recently purchased for her library. Spike was sitting right next to the purple alicorn, too entertained by a especially exciting issue of the Power Ponies comic series. Twilight put down her book, glancing at the little dragon enthusiastically reading his comic book.
"Isn't that the same issue you read last Tuesday, Spike?" Twilight asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"No way. It's a brand new issue that came out yesterday! The Power Ponies team up with The Spectacular Webbed Colt and face off against the most diabolical villain yet: The terrible and elusive Mysteri-Mare!" Spike replied, flipping over the book to show Twilight. One of the ponies, most likely the Webbed Colt, was draped in a red and blue suit decorated with black markings that resembled spider webs. The Webbed Colt's eyes were completely white, showing no pupils at all. His foe, Mysteri-Mare, was wearing a high-tech green and purple suit of armor while her head was encased in a transparent bowl-like helmet.
"Wow, that's very exciting." Twilight said with a smile.
"You bet, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, how about we both take a break from reading for a while? We can go eat lunch at the Ponyville Café. And maybe even visit Rarity for a bit?” Twilight suggested. Spike nodded and closed the comic, jumping off the couch and following his big sister out of the library.
***
It felt like it has been hours since Grimlock was sucked into the vortex. He had no idea where the vortex was taking him. Grimlock aimlessly floated inside the vortex, smacking into the walls several times before noticing he was heading for a bright light at the end of the "tunnel".
"What the?" Grimlock blurted as he shielded his visor with his right servo in a effort to block out the light. In a instant, The light was gone, replaced by blue skies and sunlight. Before he knew it, Grimlock found himself plummeting towards the ground at high speed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" The Dinobot screamed, finally smashing into a grassy hill with the force of a torpedo striking a submarine. Grimlock shouted painfully as he tumbled downhill like a tumbleweed. It wasn't long until Grimlock finally smacked into something hard that had halted his rough descent. Grimlock was on his back while lying on the rough, soil-rich ground. However, something didn't feel right to the Cybertronian. The object he crashed into felt sturdy and solid enough to stop him from tumbling but at the same time, it felt like the Dinobot destroyed it with his weight. Just by shuffling his body, he could hear crunching underneath him.
"The hell did I crash into...?" Grimlock mumbled to himself as he stood up. He looked around, immediately realizing what happened: he smashed headlong into a building of sorts. From what he saw, the building exterior was made of some oddly rough material and it was painted red. Grimlock picked up a chunk of the material that while bearing the red color, had remnants of white stripes and what appeared to be the remains of a handle of sorts.
This must have been a door of some kind. Grimlock thought to himself. Wait a minute... If this is a door and this structure is a building, then that means I'm....
"WHAT IN TARNATION?!"
Grimlock was immediately ripped away from his thoughts when he turned his sights to the source of the angered voice: A small orange pony with a blonde mane and a brown hat on top of her head was angrily staring at the metal giant in front of her. Grimlock slowly stood up as he eyed the equine, still baffled at her appearance.
"Where am I?" Grimlock growled.
"You're in mah barn! You just punched a hole in MAH BARN!" The pony angrily yelled.
"You need to calm down, lady. It's not my fault, I fell from the sky!" Grimlock protested, accidentally smacking his head into the roof and breaking a hole in it.
"OW, SON OF A..." Grimlock shouted painfully.
"CAN YA STOP MOVING AROUND, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!!!' The pony yelled.
"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Grimlock yelled back, trying to regain his footing. Instead of regaining his balance, the towering Autobot tripped on a pile of haystacks and fell through the left wall, completely demolishing the left side of the barn. Grimlock yelped as he once again tumbled on the floor, knocking himself into a especially large apple tree. The sheer force of the impact knocked the tree right out of its roots, sending it crashing into the ground with a resounding thud. The bulky red stallion walking out of the house next to the now barely standing barn just stared at Grimlock and the tree with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Grimlock snarled in frustration as he stood up, wiping clouds of dust from his rotator cuffs.
"Look at th' mess you made! Now Ah gotta clean all this up!"
"Don't care. Not my problem."
"Not yer problem?! IT VERY MUCH IS YER PROBLEM, YOU BIG METAL MONSTER!"
"You're calling me a monster now because I accidentally wrecked that pile of junk over there? You should be thanking me, I did you a favor."
The orange mare stomped her hoof angrily into the dirt. How dare that metal.... thing say something so insensitive?! With a angry snort, the orange mare jumped in front of the Dinobot with a scowl on her face. Of course, it didn't phase Grimlock in the slightest. He only chuckled at her scrunched-up face.
"Now, you listen here, ya pesky, loud-mouthed pile of bolts! Ah'm not happy that you think all of this is just one big game and Ah'm definitely not happy that you destroyed my family's barn! So, you need to apologize this instant or else things will get ugly around here!"
Grimlock looked at the orange mare, bursting out in a small bout of laughter.
"HAHAHAH! That's the funniest joke I've heard in a long time! Listen, short-stack, look at me then look at you. You are tiny, and I am giant. You are weak, and I am strong. You are in no place to issue a threat at me, so buzz off." Grimlock said, walking off.
The orange mare growled in annoyance, her patience flying out of the window. She grabbed a decently sized metal bucket and lifted her hind legs, bucking the bucket straight into Grimlock's faceplate with the force of a charging bison.
"AGH!" Grimlock yelped as the bucket smashed into his face hard enough to send him toppling over on his back. The orange mare scoffed at the Dinobot while re-positioning her hat, a smug grin plastered on her face.
"How's that for being "weak", sugarcube?" The mare mockingly retorted. Grimlock growled as he stood up, wiping trails of dirt from his chassis while rubbing his head. He casted a hard glare on the smug mare before walking off in a pout.
***
Grimlock grumbled to himelf as he shoved past yet another tree. It has only been five minutes and he already hated this planet. If all the inhabitants were as annoying as the orange pony back at the farm, then he would be in a world of trouble. It was now that Grimlock was starting to wish he had listened to Optimus and returned to Autobot HQ to regroup and think of a solid plan to attack Shockwave's citadel. If he had just listened to the Autobot commander, maybe he wouldn't have gotten himself into this mess. As the hulking mech made his way through the forest, he finally stumbled upon the very thing he was looking for: a town. Standing just a few inches from the treeline, Grimlock could make out the small but busy town that was locally known as Ponyville. He watched the townspeople, or more appropriately, "townsponies" walking in and out of the small town as they went about their business.
"Somebody in there has to know how to get off this Primus-forsaken world." Grimlock said to himself as he started walking towards the town.
Author's Note
You guys probably would immediately notice, but The Webbed Colt and Mysteri-Mare are parodies of Spider-Man and Mysterio respectively. Also, I couldn't come up with anything better than Webbed Colt so yeah :/
Grimlock walked into the town, ignoring the fact he knocked over the "Welcome to Ponyville" sign right in front of the entrance. As he made his way into the town, he didn't care about the fact that everyone was gawking at him. A unicorn pushing a cart of cabbages nearly toppled the cart over on himself as he stared at the Dinobot passing by. Ponies walking in the streets quickly jumped away from Grimlock’s peds, staring at the mech with fright. Grimlock looked around the town, watching as ponies around him began running inside several buildings and closing their doors and windows in a effort to hide from his line of sight.
“What is wrong with these things? I haven’t done scrap since I came here.” Grimlock grumbled to himself.
"LOOK OUT!"
All of a sudden, Grimlock could see nothing but cyan fur as a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane had smacked into his visor. Grimlock backed up, nearly flattening a stand selling apples and other fruits, along with the Earth pony commandeering the stand. Grimlock growled in annoyance as he pulled the pegasus off his visor and tossed her on the floor.
"Watch where you're going, idiot!" Grimlock chided. The pegasus, apparently offended by the insult, growled to herself as she turned around to face the Dinobot.
"Why don't YOU watch where you're standing, you big metal..... Woah..." The pegasus retorted before suddenly stopping to gawk at Grimlock.
"What the heck are you, some kind of... metal monster?" The Pegasus asked, hovering all around a visibly annoyed Grimlock.
"What's with everyone and calling me a monster?! Grrr, get out of my faceplate already!" Grimlock snarled, shoving past the Pegasus. The winged pegasus followed the Cybertronian, floating next to his head.
"So, uh, what's a big ugly metal thing like you doing here anyway?" She asked, looking at Grimlock.
"I'm here to talk with whoever runs this place on behalf of the town of Nunya." Grimlock replied.
"What the heck is "Nunya"?" The pegasus asked.
"Nunya damn business, now get the hell out of my way!" Grimlock growled, shoving past the pegasus. It seemed the winged equine didn't possess the concept of "go away" as she continued following Grimlock around town.
"I can help ya find what you're looking for. I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony alive!"
"That's nice, I don't care."
"Well, you should. 'Cuz I know a princess who can help you out."
Grimlock immediately stopped walking and stood still for a moment before turning to Rainbow.
"You have a what ?"
"A princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle, to be exact. Maybe she can help you?" Rainbow suggested. Grimlock narrowed his visor as he just stood still and stared at the cyan Pegasus for what seemed like eternity.
“A princess? You mean like those pathetically weak women that keep getting themselves into trouble and constantly needs somebody to save them?” Grimlock asked.
“Weak? Our princesses aren’t weak!” Rainbow angrily spat.
“Really? Fairy tales say otherwise. I know that if you are a princess, that means you're friends with a bunch of cutesy forest creatures, you're constantly held hostage in some fragging tower, you can't defend yourself from any threat even if your life depended on it, and you need a man to do all the fighting for you. In other words, princesses are weak. Like yours." Grimlock retorted. Rainbow growled as she got in the Dinobot's faceplate, glaring into his visor.
"You got some gall to talk smack about Equestria's leaders!"
"You got gall for getting in my faceplate."
Grimlock and Rainbow glared at each other for a solid seven minutes, standing so still you'd think they were turned to stone by each other's cold stares. Grimlock growled as he pushed Rainbow away and walked off.
"I don't need help from stupid princesses. I can find my way home myself!" Grimlock said in a beyond annoyed tone. Rainbow watched as the hulking Dinobot angrily stormed off. The cyan pegasus grinned smugly, an idea immediately popping into her head.
"Alright, fine. You don't have to talk to any princesses. It's a real shame you won't be able to go back home ever again, though. But I'm sure you'll eventually find Equestria to your liking." Rainbow said. Grimlock stopped walking and turned around again to look at Rainbow.
"What?" Grimlock harshly asked.
"Don't ya get it, bolt-brain? The princesses are your only ticket back to wherever it is you came from. If you don't want their help, then you're stuck in Equestria, pal." Rainbow stated, a grin on her face. Grimlock stared at the cyan pegasus for a few moments before angrily pacing back and forth in a pout of sorts. After a few moments of stomping the ground and throwing out audible swearing, Grimlock finally approached Rainbow while coldly glaring at her.
"Fine, I'll talk to one of your stupid princesses." Grimlock growled.
"Perfect. Follow me!" Rainbow said, leading Grimlock towards the Castle of Friendship.
"How does this look on me, darling? Is this dress a little too flashy or is it not flashy enough?" A white, purple-maned unicorn draped in a elegant turquoise dress decorated with yellow highlights and a dazzling display of rubies and sapphires sewn together in a perfect blend of blue and red.
"Well, I think it's beautiful. You did a wonderful job bringing out the dress' colors without overdoing it. Though I think the tip of the skirt is a tad bit too long." Twilight replied.
"Ah, yes, I just noticed that too. It would be quite frustrating to have everypony constantly stepping on the skirt during a party, wouldn't it?" Rarity replied with a smile. "You have an eye for fashion, my dear. You should take a part-time job as a fashionista whenever you're not doing princess duties."
"Hahaha, I just might." Twilight said, laughing along with her white-coated friend. Their bout of laughter was interrupted when Twilight heard a knock on Rarity's door.
"I'll get it, dear." Rarity said, walking towards the door.
"Why, hello, Rainb- WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA IS THAT?!" Rarity shouted the very second she laid eyes on Grimlock. Twilight and Spike rushed to the unicorn's side, looking up and gawking at the Dinobot.
"This guy is a newcomer to Equestria, apparently. He needs some help and I thought Twilight could help him out." Rainbow said. Twilight stared at Grimlock for a few moments before snapping out of her bewilderment and clearing her throat.
"U-Uh, y-yeah. Um, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville. M-May I kn-kn-know y-your name, sir?" Twilight stammered.
"Grimlock." Grimlock gruffly replied.
"Ah, of course. Well, welcome Grimlock. We're happy to-"
"I just want a way off this stupid planet and your friend told me you are a princess and you can help me with my problem. So can you help me find a way off this rock or what?"
Twilight tilted her head at the very rude tone in Grimlock's voice. From what she could tell, the metal being in front of her must have little respect for authority or royalty. Despite this, she wasn't actually bothered by Grimlock’s mannerism in the slightest.
"Well, I am a princess but I'm afraid I'm not in charge of.... foreign visitors from distant lands or even worlds. Princess Celestia would be the one to help you." Twilight replied. Grimlock uttered a disgruntled growl as he peered down and glared at Rainbow Dash as if she just tossed an insult at him.
"You told me that this princess could help me." Grimlock growled.
"I said she could help you, I never said how." Rainbow retorted, crossing her arms. Grimlock just grumbled in disgust as he began walking off.
"Unbelievable. Everybody here is totally useless!" Grimlock said, storming towards the exit of the town.
"Where are you going?!" Twilight asked.
"I'm going to find the other princess. I hope she's more useful than you ." Grimlock replied. Twilight rolled her eyes at the blatant insult before stepping out of the castle's doorframes.
"You don't even know where Canterlot is!"
"I'll find it eventually."
Grimlock stormed out of Ponyville, whacking a tree aside as he disappeared into the Everfree forest. Twilight, Rarity, Spike, and Rainbow Dash stopped in their tracks right at the mouth of the forest.
"Grimlock just walked into the Everfree forest! We gotta go after him!" Rainbow shouted.
"You're expecting us to go in there, with all the filth and horrifying creatures in that forest?!" Rarity exclaimed.
"But what if Grimlock gets hurt in that forest, or worse? He has no idea where he's even going." Spike said.
"Spike's right. We need to make sure Grimlock doesn't get himself into trouble." Twilight said.
"HIYA!"
"AHHH!"
Everyone screamed and spun around quickly, now facing a smiling pink pony with a poofy, brilliant raspberry-colored mane that was standing before them.
"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Sorry, girls, I guess I should've given ya a warning! Whatcha all doing on the outskirts of the Everfree? Are ya hunting for bug bears?! Are ya, are ya, are ya, are ya, are ya, are ya?!" Pinkie excitedly droned, bouncing around the group.
"We're going to look for a big metal creature called Grimlock." Twilight explained as she began walking into the forest.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?! OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY, I TOTALLY WANNA COME! WHAT ARE WE WAIITNG FOR?! LET'S GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" Pinkie shouted, running into the Everfree with the rest of the group.
***
"Stupid quadrupedal fleshies and their stupid town. Why did I even bother asking for help?" Grimlock bemoaned to himself as he stomped down the beaten dirt road. Animals of all kinds scurried out of the way as the metal goliath walked past them. As Grimlock turned a corner, he growled to himself at the sight of more huge, twisted trees lining the pathway.
"How many more trees does this stupid forest have?!" Grimlock yelled.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Grimlock immediately whipped around at the sound of the high-pitched shrieked. It wasn't long before several deep growls and snarls followed the shriek, the growls travelling far into the forest. Without hesitation, Grimlock charged through the trees, following the growls. After a little bit, Grimlock finally found the source of the noise: Three dragons had been aggressively harassing something small and clearly unable to defend itself against the reptilian assailants. The dragons had managed to corner the creature into a large tree during the prolonged chase. Grimlock quietly got closer, immediately discovering the "creature" was a yellowish-beige pegasus sporting a pink mane. She was shuddering violently in terror while tears streamed down her cheeks. She had been holding what appeared to be a equally terrified snow-white rabbit in her arms.
"G-Go away! Y-Y-You c-c-can't have Angel...!" The beyond terrified pegasus stammered. The supposed leader of the dragon trio, a crimson-scaled dragon with large leathery wings, a golden underbelly, a vivid gambodge-colored webbed crest that lined his head and upper neck, and spines lining down from his lower neck all the way to his tail just laughed as he walked closer to the pegasus with a sinister grin on his face.
“Tough break, pony! You stumbled on dragon territory and we don't like ponies on our turf! Besides, I’m hungry and you just so happen to be carrying around a little snack with you. I am Garble, and I always get what I want, and I want your little fuzzball, so fork it over!" Garble demanded. The pegasus just shrunk back even more into the tree.
"I said n-no! Leave us a-alone!" The pegasus shot back in a slightly firmer tone. Garble simply snarled as he signaled his two cronies to block off any possible chance of escape for the pegasus.
"Did you just deny me? Did you DENY ME, GARBLE?! NOBODY SAYS NO TO ME!!!” Garble roared, grabbing the now loudly weeping pegasus by her mane. “Looks like I’m gonna add torched pony on the menu!”
“HEY!”
Everyone stopped what they were doing as they turn their sights to a angered Grimlock. Garble stepped back while his cronies backed up towards the trees, nervously glancing at the metal giant before them.
“You heard the lady. Drop the bird-horse and beat it before I decide to use all three of you as punching bags.” Grimlock threatened, casting a dark glare on Garble. After a moment, Garble regained his arrogance and dropped the pegasus on the ground, sneering at Grimlock.
“I don’t know what you are, but you’re incredibly stupid if you think you can take on me, Clump, and Fume all at once. If you wanna protect this pony, then you’re just as weak as her!” Garble growled.
"Clump, Fume, let's teach this joker what happens when you mess with a dragon."
Grimlock simply chuckled, cracking his knuckles in preparation for the inevitable fight. He approached Garble with a confidence that had unnerved the cocky dragon.
"You know what I hate more than annoying fleshlings? Observing someone like you using your strength to abuse others. That makes me sick to my core. Now, I don’t care about any of the inhabitants here, but I sure as hell won’t tolerate you aftholes harassing somebody weaker than you." Grimlock growled. Garble finally shook off the sudden feeling of anxiousness that briefly overwhelmed his body, growling as his jaws began fuming with smoke.
"Don't worry, I won't stop with the pony. Once I'm done tearing you apart, I'm gonna head down to Ponyville and scorch it until it's nothing but ashes!" Garble roared, swinging his fist straight towards Grimlock. Grimlock immediately caught the dragon's fist just before it could reach his faceplate, his visor narrowing as he glanced down on the surprised dragon.
"What was that you said? You wanted to "tear me apart"? That's cute. I'm going to enjoy kicking your aft into next week." Grimlock chided, winding his free arm all the way back. With the force of a bullet train, Grimlock propelled his fist forward and punched Garble in the gut, knocking the wind out of the dragon and sending him flying through several thick trees. Clump and Fume gawked at the area where their incapacitated leader lay with their jaws agape.
“He just punched Garble into the trees like it was nothing...” Clump gasped.
“We can’t let this joker get away with punching Garble!” Fume exclaimed angrily.
“Yeah! Let’s tear him apart!” Clump snarled. The two dragons roared as they charged at the Dinobot. Grimlock snarled as he pounded his fists together, roaring out a reverberating war cry as he charged at the two drakes as well.
"BRING IT ON!!!!!!" Grimlock roared.
***
Twilight and the others ran down the beaten path, trying desperately to look for the foul-mouthed Dinobot. The trees rose high into the sky, keeping the grounded equines (except for Rainbow and Twilight) from getting a better view. But even they were having a hard time keeping a good lookout while dodging the abnormally long branches of the constantly twisting trees.
“We can’t see anything in this stupid forest! The trees are too high, even for me!” Rainbow complained. As if on cue, a tree smashed into the ground next to the ponies, startling them. Well, except for Pinkie.
“Over there!” Twilight shouted. The four ponies and dragon ran behind a large rock, peeking from behind to witness the massive fight before them. Grimlock grabbed Clump in a headlock, punching the brown and beige dragon in the gut several times. Clump roared as he began shoving the Dinobot back, smashing him into a wall of trees. Clump opened his jaws, feeling immense heat rising in his throat before wafts of orange-red flame licked the corners of his jaws. Grimlock took hold of Clump by his jaws and upper-cutted him hard, causing the mud-colored dragon to shoot a blast of fire into the air. Grimlock lifted Clump in the air and smashed the large dragon into the ground before Garble and Fume rammed him. Grimlock snarled as he grappled with the two dragons, his peds digging into the ground as he was pushed back. Garble and Fume opened their jaws and shot out blasts of fire at the Dinobot, sending him flying into the ground. Garble snarled as he cracked his neck, glaring at Grimlock.
“Serves him right to mess with us.” Garble muttered. To his surprise, Grimlock stood up without bearing any significant damage whatsoever.
“Nice try, but it takes more than a little bit of fire to take me down.” Grimlock said, lifting a tree from its roots and swinging it at a full 360 degree angle, knocking Garble and Fume into the ground hard. Clump had recovered from his daze, snarling angrily as he charged Grimlock on all fours. Grimlock caught the dragon by his thick, almost rounded horns, lifting the winged reptile into the air.
"AAAAGGHHH!!" Clump exclaimed painfully as Grimlock began violently knee-kicked the dragon in the face several times. Grimlock once again smashed Clump on the ground, lifting his foot as he stomped on the dragon's left arm with all his might. Clump uttered a wail of agony as he felt every single bone in his arm shatter at the weight of the Dinobot's pedes. Garble and Fume tackled Grimlock from behind, both dragons violently clawing and biting at the Cybertronian. Clump had finally managed to stand up, joining in on the dogpile as he jumped on Grimlock and began wildling landing punches on the Dinobot's faceplate.
"Grimlock's getting the lights beaten out of him! We gotta do something now!" Rainbow exclaimed, jumping to aid Grimlock. Twilight's horn ignited in a brilliant raspberry glow as the colorful aura entangled itself around Rainbow's tail.
"Rainbow, are you crazy?! You're going to get yourself killed!" Twilight exclaimed. In the corner of their eyes, Twilight, Rainbow, and the others immediately recognized the terrified pink-maned pegasus silently watching the fight while clutching Angel.
"FLUTTERSHY?!" The ponies exclaimed. Upon hearing her friends' voices, Fluttershy snapped out of her shock and turned to look at the group hiding nearby.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed, flying towards her friends in a hurry.
"What the heck are you doing out here?! You're terrified of the Everfree forest!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Well, I was on my way home from buying supplies from Zecora when Garble and his posse attacked me and Angel. And then that big scary metal monster just came out of nowhere and... he actually saved me...." Fluttershy replied.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!"
Everypony immediately whipped around to watch as Grimlock rose up from the pile of angry dragons, forcing himself to stand up as he carried the still attacking dragons on his arms.
"NOBODY'S STRONGER THAN GRIMLOCK!!!! " He roared. Grimlock grabbed Fume by the neck and threw him aside before disorienting Garble with a hard punch. Grimlock then roared out angrily, kicking Clump off his leg as he smashed his fists into the ground and converting into his T-Rex mode.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!"
"WHAT... IN THE NAME... OF CELESTIA....?!" Rarity gasped as her pupils shrank and her eyes widened to the size of extraterrestrial saucers. Twilight and the other ponies wore equally baffled and terrified expressions as they witnessed the hulking Cybertronian Tyrannosaurus before them storming towards the three dragons. Garble, being the over-confident idiot he is, made the fatal mistake of charging at Grimlock.
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU TURN INTO, I'M STILL GONNA TEAR YOU TO PIECES!!" Garble roared. Right as he lunged at the T-Rex, Grimlock opened his jaws and clamped them down on Garble's right arm. With Grimlock's razor-sharp teeth sinking into Garble's scaly skin, the dragon began screaming in excruciating pain as he felt like sixty massive swords were constantly stabbing into his arm. Grimlock swung Garble around before smashing him into a large boulder, a animalistic snarl escaping his jaws. Grimlock lifted a clawed foot and stomped right on Garble's back, forcing the dragon to howl in pain as the Dinobot kept stomping on his back. Clump and Fume managed to tackle Grimlock and throw him on the ground, the two dragons bombarding the T-Rex with a relentless barrage of punches. Grimlock bit down on Clump's left arm and swung the brown dragon at Fume, sending them sprawling into the ground. Grimlock stood up and lifted his tail, burying Fume three feet into the ground after landing a powerful downward blow with it.
"I gotta get outta here, this ain't worth dying!" Clump exclaimed, unfolding his wings and taking off into the sky.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!" Grimlock roared. He opened his jaws and managed to bite down on Clump's tail before he could get clear, earning a terrified shriek from the plump dragon as he smashed Clump into the ground before swinging him into a few trees. Before Clump could recover, Grimlock bit down on the dragon's neck and began dragging him through the soil before throwing him into a large boulder. Clump stood up, charging towards Grimlock once more. With another roar, Grimlock rammed into Clump's gut as he sank his teeth into the dragon's arm. With a impressive display of strength, Grimlock lifted up the three-ton dragon and began smashing Clump on the ground before tossing him into another boulder. Grimlock glared at the broken, loudly weeping brown dragon before turning his sights to Garble, whom had very weakly managed to stand up. His body was mangled and torn, his left arm dangling lifelessly. It was clearly broken.
"I'm... going to... melt you down... AGH.... for that...!" Garble wheezed, holding onto the branch of a nearby tree to keep himself from falling over. Grimlock snarled, his optics gleaming with anger.
"Not if I do it first." Grimlock growled, feeling steam rising out of his jaws as overwhelming heat began wafting inside of his throat cables. Wisps of fiery-hot plasma licked the corners of the Dinobot's jaws as he opened his maw and fired a massive, super-charged beam of fiery plasma at Garble. The poor dragon was violently thrown back into a wad of trees as the flaming beam scorched through his rock-like scales, burning through the dragon's chest like it was butter. Grimlock prematurely cut off the plasma beam, letting out a snarl. Garble groaned in pain as he was lying on the ground while his chest sustained a serious burning wound. The plasma had burned through his flesh easily, but Grimlock made sure it didn't burn straight through Garble and kill him. It was no use killing a arrogant weakling like Garble. Garble groaned once more before going unconscious, his body completely going limp. Clump grabbed Garble and dragged him away with a equally broken Fume, disappearing into the depths of the forest as quickly as possible.
"That... was... AWESOME!!!"
Grimlock whipped around, spotting the five ponies and dragon approaching him. If his dino mode's arms were bigger, he'd facepalm himself.
"You totally wrecked Garble and his crew so hard! I knew you were big and tough, but I never thought you could throw down with a pack of adult dragons and beat all of them into a pulp!" Rainbow excitedly exclaimed. "And who knew you could turn into a dragon yourself!"
"My alternate mode? This isn't a dragon."
"But you shot fire out of your mouth like a dragon." Spike commented.
"It's not a dragon!" Grimlock growled frustratingly, stomping his feet. The multi-colored group in front of him backed up a little, looking at the Dinobot with a bit of fear. Grimlock sighed as he transformed to robot mode and stretched out his arms.
"I already wasted too much time fighting, I need to find that princess and fast." Grimlock said.
"WAIT!"
Grimlock turned around, looking at the purple alicorn approaching him with a slightly uneasy look on her face.
"You won't be able to get to Princess Celestia through the Everfree forest. You'll just get lost. We can definitely take you to her, if you'll come with us." Twilight said, looking at the colossal mech in front of her. Grimlock shook his head as he facepalmed himself, uttering a prolonged groan.
"Fine, I'll come with you. I don't see how the hell that would do any good, though." Grimlock grumbled, following the group out of the forest. Pinkie somehow managed to climb on top of Grimlock's rotator cup and began looking at him weird, much to the Dinobot's disgust.
"What the hell are you doing?" Grimlock asked as he jerked his head back to avoid the pink pony from poking his visor.
"Oooh! You must be a giant robot. Who built you? Does he live nearby? How are you so big? Can you shoot fire out of your face? What color do you like? MINE'S PURPLE! What was the biggest thing you killed? Are you a alien from another planet? Why do you look so mad all the time? Are you a boy or a girl? How big are you exactly? Do you carry weapons around? Do you like music? I know I do! Do you like to eat cupcakes? What's your favorite flavor? Can you turn into a tank-"
Grimlock grabbed Pinkie by her mane, holding her before his visor as he darkly glared at the pink equine.
"I have two very simple words for you: SHUT. UP." Grimlock growled, dropping Pinkie on the ground. He continued to follow Twilight and her group, looking to the side to see Pinkie staring at his face with a big smile.
"GAH!"
"I never told you my name, did I? I'm Pinkie Pie! Twilight told me your name was Grimlock. That's a really cool name! I bet there's a bunch of big robots with your name! How many Grimlocks do you know? Are you a party person or do you like to stay home and binge-watch movies all night? Ooh, ooh, ooh! I bet you're one of those robot warriors that go around fighting evil alien monsters or something! How do you eat? Do even eat at all? You don't have a mouth. Can you do a handstand?"
Grimlock couldn't take the excessively obnoxious ramblings of the pink equine anymore, transforming into beast mode with a angry roar.
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" Grimlock roared. While Twilight and the other ponies jumped back in surprise, Pinkie was not fazed even in the slightest. To Grimlock's dismay, Pinkie just laughed and hopped along.
"Hey, how about trying not to wake up the entire forest with your roaring?!" Rainbow retorted, earning a glare from the Dinobot. Grimlock transformed into robot mode as he grumbled to himself in frustration.
"Let's just get to the stupid city already." Grimlock growled.
Grimlock and his band of small multi-colored escorts had approached the train station right as a large burgundy-red freight train slowed to a halt in front of the docking bay. Everypony turned their attention to the hulking metal titan passing by, the crowd gawking at him with a wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression on their faces. Some ponies ran off back into town while others hid inside the building in a feeble attempt to hide from the Dinobot. Twilight bought tickets for the group before walking to the train.
"Okay, we have a bit of a problem here. Trains are built to accompany ponies, but not a being of your size, Grimlock. Maybe if I can..." Twilight's sentence was cut off when the ear-splitting shriek of metal being torn apart directed everypony's attention to Grimlock, who had torn the roof off the rear cab of the train and squatted inside the cab. Grimlock nearly crushed the cab just by sitting inside of it.
"My, what a brute! There are other ways to board a train without ripping the roof off like a savage..." Rarity scoffed, earning a confused look from the Dinobot.
"Grimlock, what the heck are you doing?! You can't just sit inside the train! You're too big!" Twilight exclaimed.
"What do you want me to do? Grab a spellbook and shrink myself down to your size? Let me pull my nonexistent magical wand out of my aft and cast a shrinking spell on myself." Grimlock sarcastically retorted.
"If I had my spellbook, I could use a spell to shrink you down to pony size. But I'm sure you don't have much time to delay so let's just go." Twilight said. She and her friends were about to board the train when a familiar clopping of hooves caught their attention.
"Hol' up, gals! Ah’m comin' along with ya!" Applejack exclaimed, boarding the train with the rest of the Main 6.
"Oh great, it's the orange one." Grimlock grumbled with an annoyed tone in his voice.
"Applejack! How did you even know we were here?" Twilight asked.
"A pony told me y'all were heading into the Everfree forest to chase after this here metal giant. When Ah arrived, Ah found the big feller's footsteps and just followed him straight to the train station. Wherever you girls are going, Ah’m coming too." Applejack replied. After everyone got on the train, the locomotive trudged off at a slower speed since it had to drag along Grimlock's weight with the rest of the other cabs. Twilight walked towards Grimlock's cab, sitting on one of the few chairs that weren't crushed by the Dinobot's rear end.
"We have quite a ride ahead of us. At this speed, we'll reach Canterlot in about a day give or take. I... I've been meaning to ask you... Why did you save Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Grimlock leaned back on the wall, glancing at the alicorn sitting next to him.
"I didn't save your friend. I... I was... I was just bored and wanted to fight something. I needed to vent my frustration on something." Grimlock replied. Twilight raised her eyebrow at his answer, stealing a glance at her friends before turning her gaze back to the metal titan.
"That's a lie and you know it."
"Alright, so I saved a little bird-horse, so what? She screamed and I decided to...."
"..... Help her?"
Grimlock glared at Twilight, grumbling to himself as he decided to turn his back to the lavender alicorn. Twilight walked up to the Dinobot, lifting her head to get a good view of him.
"You're rude, arrogant, and in need of anger management. But you're not a bad person, I can clearly see that. You went out of your way to help someone smaller than yourself. I, we, appreciate that. I think you are simply a misunderstood giant who needs a friend, and so as the Princess of Friendship, I will gladly be your first friend on Equestria." Twilight said, smiling. Grimlock simply growled while remaining in position.
"No thanks, I don't need any friends. Now leave me alone, already." Grimlock coldly replied. Sighing in slight frustration, Twilight stood up and turned to leave Grimlock's cab, looking back at the Dinobot.
"Alright then. I'll check up on you later, I guess..." Twilight said, dejectedly walking back to the others.
***
"Log 719-B: I have awoken on a strange and uncharted planet. It is unclear whether this planet is inhabited or not, though I have found some evidence that indicates this world does support life. It appears that I had been knocked into stasis and was inadvertently sent here during a likely malfunction of the Space Bridge. My scanners are picking up faint trails of Energon, which only tells me that this planet has Energon caches hidden beneath the surface. I will conduct further research on the planet and its structure, but only after I tend to my wounds. Shockwave out."
Shockwave activated a holographic map that popped out of his right arm, staring at it intently as he punched in some new coordinates. He was on the trail of an unknown yet familiar signal, and he needed to find the source quickly. The one-eyed Decepticon had enough delays as it is. The destruction of his Space Bridge was a minor setback to the scientist, but he will not risk delaying his mission any further. Walking down a naturally formed pathway of rocks, Shockwave closely examined his new surroundings. He could see nothing but rocks and stones and a couple of mountains in the distance.
"I must have landed in a desert of some kind." Shockwave spoke to himself. After a while, the Decepticon came across a sloping hill, overlooking the landscape. After a moment, Shockwave spotted something in the distance, an object he thought would never appear anywhere on this planet: A intact Space Bridge terminal complete with the huge tower and a launchpad.
"Fascinating. It seems I am not the first Cybertronian to visit this planet." Shockwave said, heading towards the terminal. When he finally arrived, Shockwave began turning on the terminal's dashboard and setting up the workspace.
"How fortunate that the Space Bridge remains operational. This is good, I can resume my work. But now, I need medical supplies and some materials for reconstruction." Shockwave spoke as he activated the Space Bridge.
"And, I require some assistance as well."
Princess Celestia sat on her throne, enjoying a piping-hot cup of tea as she levitated a newspaper in the air with her magic. She had just finished raising the sun into the sky, using her magic to chase away the night sky. Luna had previously retired to the royal bedroom, exhausted from her shift of keeping watch over the night. Celestia flipped a page in the newspaper, intently reading the sports section as she took another sip from her cup. It wasn't until the two large doors leading to the courtroom opened that the rainbow-maned alicorn turned her attention away from the paper.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her consort has arrived and requests an audience with you." A stallion guard said as he walked inside the courtroom.
"Oh, yes. Please, let them in." Celestia replied with a casual smile. Twilight and her friends walked into the courtroom, giving Celestia a respectful bow before Twilight and the Solar Diarch embraced each other in a hug.
"Hello, Twilight. This is quite a surprise. If I knew you were coming, I would've tidied up the castle." Celestia said with a chuckle.
"I would have wrote to you first. However, we have a bit of a situation that requires your assistance." Twilight said with a slightly nervous chuckle. Celestia gave the lavender alicorn a confused look before turning to the courtroom doors after she picked up very audible rumbling coming from the hallway.
"Hey, Twilight, I don't think this castle can-"
CRASH!!
Grimlock grunted in annoyance as he accidentally knocked down the two large doors while trying to open them, chipping off a chunk of the doorframe in the process. While trying to fit through the comparatively tiny doorframe, Grimlock managed to get himself stuck halfway through.
"Ah... ugh, dammit! I'm stuck.... Why are these doors so damn small?!" Grimlock exclaimed as he tried to slip through the doorframe.
"Oy vey..." Rarity groaned, planting a hoof on her face.
"Twilight, who is this stranger?" Celestia asked with a eyebrow raised.
"That would be Grimlock. He was sent to Equestria by unknown means and needs a way back to his homeland." Twilight explained. Grimlock grunted loudly as he thrusted himself, knocking the rest of the doorframe and the wall (and himself) onto the floor. The Dinobot stood up, taking notice of all the destruction he unintentionally caused.
"Uh, my bad. I'm pretty sure you have royal insurance or something for this mess." Grimlock said, wiping some dust off his rotator cups. Celestia blinked a couple of times as if she looked visibly confused before quickly regaining a stoic demeanor as she looked up at Grimlock.
"Ahem.... Greetings, sir Grimlock. I am Princess Celestia. It is a pleasure meeting a... mighty being such as yourself." Celestia said.
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I need your help to get off this world. I spent twenty-four hours cramped up a tiny train while listening to this pink horse thing ramble about cupcakes during the entire ride. I don't even know what the frag cupcakes are! Please, tell me you can send me home!" Grimlock exclaimed, earning a questionable look from the white alicorn. Celestia looked at Twilight for a moment before glancing at Grimlock.
"Of course I can send you home, Grimlock."
"Yes! Well, girls, it has been a pleasure but looks like I'm-"
"However, you won't be departing from Equestria any time soon."
Grimlock immediately stopped his premature celebration, turning to face Celestia once again.
"What?!" He exclaimed.
"The spell that is required to teleport anypony off-world requires a lot of energy and time to prepare. And with a being of your size, it will likely take a couple of days to charge up, at least." Celestia calmly replied.
"Come on! Can't you just make the process go faster?!" Grimlock asked.
"Grimlock, magic can be dangerous if one doesn't properly prepare to use it. If I were to hasten the process, the spell could malfunction and there's a chance you may end up in the wrong location, or even end up outside a dimensional rift. And I highly doubt you want to take such a risk." Celestia said. After thinking it over, Grimlock finally relented while groaning in frustration as Pinkie jumped on his rotator cup with glee.
"Yippee! That means we get to spend more time having fun with you!" Pinkie excitedly exclaimed.
"Yay, how FUN ." Grimlock bemoaned.
"Twilight, while I "prepare" the spell, I ask that you and your friends make Grimlock at home here in Equestria. This could be a nice friendship exercise for you to practice on. Faust knows you need it." Celestia spoke to Twilight with a grin and a wink. Twilight nodded as she and her friends started for the doors.
"Alright, girls. We got a job to do and that's making sure Grimlock learns the magic of friendship!" Twilight said with a proud tone in her voice. Grimlock just groaned even louder as he followed the Main Six out of the castle.
"I hate my life."
The ride back to Ponyville was, for a lack of better words, excruciatingly exhausting. Grimlock had to sit through yet another twenty four-hour long lecture about the strenuous amount of work it takes to precisely layer a cupcake with frosting while utilizing the utmost focus and care. At the break of moonlight, the train had finally slowed down to a halt in front of the Ponyville train station.
"..... And then you have to make sure the amount of frosting is juuuuuuuust right, or you'll have an overdose of frosting! You don't want to have too much frosting on your cupcake, do you? And then we move on to the sprin- Oh, look! We're home." Pinkie said, getting Grimlock's attention.
"Finally!" Grimlock said, almost leaping out of the train cabin as he stepped onto the wooden platform. Twilight and the others followed suit as they departed from the train with haste. Grimlock had taken a couple of steps into the town when he noticed a small shiny object on the dirt ground just behind a couple of houses. Grimlock walked over to inspect the object, kneeling and picking it up in his digits. The object in question was metallic in nature, sporting a lime green color. Grimlock glanced at the ground, noticing a trail of tire tracks leading away from the town. Twilight and the others approached Grimlock, taking notice of the green piece of metal in his servo.
"My, what a strange mineral that is. If I'm not mistaken, that must be a foreign metal composite of sorts. It could use a little less of that lime-green coloring, don't you think?" Rarity stated. Grimlock narrowed his visor as he just stared at the horizon.
"Stay here." Grimlock suddenly growled, walking away from Ponyville as he began following the tracks.
"Where are you going? Grimlock, come back! You can't just walk off!" Twilight exclaimed, running after the Dinobot. Grimlock turned to face the alicorn with a glare.
"Are you deaf? I said stay here!"
"Why? What's gotten you so worried all of a sudden? Is there something out there that you don't want us to see?" Twilight asked.
"Ah reckon Grimlock's spooked by something." Applejack said, looking at Twilight before approaching the Dinobot.
"What? No! I don't get spooked !" Grimlock yelled.
"You're acting strange, Grimlock. It's okay to admit if you're scared. You can tell us." Fluttershy said in a sweet tone.
"Son of a... Grrr, fine! You wanna know? You and, by extension, your town is in danger right now. This chunk of metal belongs to another guy that's like me. I am what you call a Cybertronian, and as it turns out, I wasn't the only Cybertronian to crash land on your world. These Cybertronians are called Decepticons and they're evil aftholes who like hurting people and destroying stuff for no reason. I have to go and make sure they don't set their sights on your stupid little town. Listen to me, this isn't your problem to deal with so stay here until I come back! I MEAN IT!" Grimlock said, running off as he began to follow the trail.
"Wait, did he just say we're in danger?!" Rarity gasped.
"W-What if those m-m-mean r-r-robots Grimlock t-t-talked about l-l-look r-really s-s-s-scary...?" Fluttershy stammered, cowering underneath her mane.
"Whether it's our problem or not, we're not going to stand idle and wait for any metal things to come to attack Ponyville! Come on, girls!" Twilight said, running after Grimlock along with the rest of the Main Six.
"Hey, wait for me!" Spike exclaimed, running after the six ponies in a hurry.
***
Grimlock unsheathed his massive sword and a large orange shield, taking cover behind a large boulder after hearing the ominous sound of drills burrowing into the ground. The trail he had been following led to an open plateau, where only a few trees and little grass can be found. Grimlock took a peek from his cover, narrowing his visor. Two Decepticons, both sharing a green and purple color scheme, stood tall and watched as a squadron of miner-class Vehicons worked hard to dig deep into the rocky ground. The left-hand Decepticon sported a boxy charcoal-grey head, a red visor that replaced standard optics, and a silver mouth-guard that covered most of his faceplate. Two halves of a front-mounted blade that formed the upper section of the Decepticon's vehicle mode formed the upper portion of his rotator cups, while two sets of rough-edged tires jutted out from the back of the Decepticon's arms and legs. His partner was slightly taller than he is, bearing two normal red optics and a standard faceplate. The majority of his arms and legs consisted of conveyor tracks intertwining with a metal outer frame. The Decepticon sported a large elongated pole with a curved hook at the end that jutted out of his backside, earning the name "Hook".
"Move it, you worthless hunks of scrap! Shockwave wants three cartloads of Energon back to his lab by sunrise! Unless you wanna be taken offline and used for spare parts, I highly suggest you dig faster!" The shorter Decepticon, Scrapper, yelled as he supervised the motley crew of miners. Grimlock slinked back behind cover, his mind racing faster than a speeding train.
"Shockwave is here...?! If he's here and Scrapper's here then that means that one-eyed glitch-head has another Space Bridge running somewhere on this planet...!" Grimlock spoke to himself, standing up. Grimlock tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword as he charged forward, exploding in a terrifying burst of speed as he rushed the two Decepticons from behind. Right as Scrapper and Hook turned around, Grimlock bashed the two Constructicons with his shield, knocking them off their pedes and sending them crashing into the ground.
"AGH!" Hook and Scrapper yelled out as they crashed into the rocky floor. Groaning with pain, the two Decepticons groggily sat up before gazing at their assaulter.
"What the...? Grimlock?!" Scrapper exclaimed, whipping out a laser pistol.
"You're supposed to be offline!" Hook yelled with an almost fearful tone in his voice.
"Does this look offline to you, glitch-head?" Grimlock retorted, raising his sword to strike down the two Constructicons.
"VEHICONS, OPEN FIRE!" Scrapper yelled. Almost immediately, the squadron of Vehicons accompanying Scrapper and Hook unsheathed their plasma cannons and turned towards Grimlock, opening fire on him with a barrage of neon-red bullets. Grimlock backed up as he was forced to block the bullets with his shield, growling in frustration as his anger began to rise. Grimlock charged at a squadron of Vehicons, bashing them with his shield before impaling a couple of the miners in the chest plates with his sword. Grimlock grabbed another Vehicon by its legs and swung him around like a bat, bludgeoning several more Vehicons with his makeshift weapon. A neon red Energon-empowered bullet striking Grimlock in the backside got his attention, forcing the Dinobot to turn around and face the two Constructicons.
"Where's the rest of your squad, Scrapper? I thought they follow you everywhere." Grimlock asked with a snarl.
"Funny, I was thinkin' of asking you the same thing." Scrapper spat before unsheathing a sword from his transistor segment and charging at Grimlock.
***
"Twilight, Ah'm not sure gettin' ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a big ol' robot fight is the brightest idea n' all. We're not exactly big like Grimlock." Applejack said.
"O-Or p-p-physically v-very s-strong...." Fluttershy nervously added.
"You both are right, but we can't afford to sit around and do nothing if one of those robots Grimlock mentioned decide to target Ponyville. Besides, I will make sure none of us get h-"
Right before Twilight could finish her statement, a chunk of broken metal flew right over the mares, forcing them to duck while putting the mares in a collective state of panic. After a moment, the sound of angry yelling and the screech of twisting metal quickly caught the Main 6's attention.
"RAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!!!!" Grimlock roared as he furiously bludgeoned Scrapper with one of the Vehicons, bashing the Constructicon with the Vehicon several times before knocking him over with a hard uppercut. Hook fired his Energon pistol at Grimlock while charging at the Dinobot, yelping in surprise as Grimlock simply grabbed the Decepticon by the arm and smashing him into the ground before stomping on his faceplate with his ped. Scrapper leaped into the air, landing a powerful flying kick on the Dinobot's faceplate and knocking him down.
"I honestly expected better from you, Grimlock. You're supposed to be the most dangerous Autobot ever forged on Cybertron. Where's the bloodthirsty Decepticon-killing monster everyone's always talking about?" Scrapper taunted.
"He's right here!" Grimlock yelled, leaping off the ground and tackling Scrapper. Grimlock began punching Scrapper in the faceplate and chest before hoisting Scrapper in the air and throwing him into a rather large tree. Grimlock charged at Scrapper yet again, only to have the Constructicon weave out of the way and punch the tree instead. The sheer force of Grimlock's punch shattered the base of the tree, causing it to topple over right on the Dinobot and pin him on the ground.
"You've gone soft, Grimlock. I'm definitely gonna miss our fun little reunions. Regardless, I'm gonna enjoy bringing your head to Shockwave." Scrapper said, aiming his pistol right at Grimlock's faceplate. A bright magenta beam consisting of pure magic struck Scrapper in the back of his head, throwing the Decepticon off balance for a moment.
"OW! WHAT THE FRAG WAS THAT?!" Scrapper yelled as he turned around to witness Twilight swooping in and firing a much larger magic beam at the Constructicon. Scrapper yelled out in pain as he was sent flying into the ground.
"Applejack, Rarity, get that tree off Grimlock!" Twilight ordered. Applejack grabbed a large rope from a satchel she was carrying, wrapping it around the base of the tree while Rarity enveloped the upper half with her magic.
"What the hell are you doing here?! I told you to stay in the town!" Grimlock yelled.
"How rude! We're trying to save you! It wouldn't kill you to practice some gratitude for once!" Rarity scolded.
"We can just leave ya here to rust if yer so keen on fightin' these here overgrown varmints alone." Applejack retorted. "Quit yer yappin' and start pushing."
Grimlock just grumbled to himself as he grabbed hold of the tree, using all of his strength to lift the tree with Applejack's and Rarity's help. After a moment, Grimlock finally shoved the tree off his body and threw it aside. At that moment, Hook lifted his ped off the ground in an attempt to crush the two equines underfoot.
"MOVE IT!!" Grimlock yelled, grabbing Applejack and Rarity in his servos and rolling to the side right as Hook stomped on the ground. With an angry snarl, Grimlock stood up with both ponies still in his left servo. Hook charged at Grimlock once more, unsheathing a large steel sword from a holster attached to his waistline.
"HE HAS A SWORD!" Rarity yelled.
"So do I!" Grimlock retorted as he unsheathed his crimson blade and countered Hook's downward blow with a perfectly timed vertically-aligned parry. Grimlock growled, kicking Hook in the codpiece with so much force, the Constructicon screamed in a hilariously high-pitched voice before clutching his groin area and doubling over in pain. Using the opportunity, Grimlock knee'd Hook in the faceplate with enough strength to propel him backward before punching the Constructicon in the faceplate with his free right hand, knocking a very dazed Hook onto the ground. Grimlock placed Applejack and Rarity on the ground before charging towards Scrapper with a loud roar. Grimlock grabbed hold of Scrapper by his left arm, twisting it backward before elbowing Scrapper in the faceplate with immense force. Scrapper yelled in pain before unholstering his own blaster, aiming it point-blank at Grimlock's faceplate. Grimlock grabbed hold of Scrapper's blaster and forcibly wrenched it from his grasp before opening fire right at the Constructicon's face. Scrapper screamed with immense pain as most of the right-side of his faceplate was completely blown away by the explosive force of the bullet.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!! M... MY... AAAAUUUGH...! YOU SON OF A... AUGH!" Scrapper blurted out as he clutched his horrifically mangled face. Bits of metal, wire, and part of his visor fell out the side of Scrapper's face while Energon spilled out of the massive wound. Hook jumped up and rushed over to his wounded commander, taking the Constructicon by the arm and running off.
"You'll regret that, Autobot! You all will!" Hook yelled as he ran off with the wounded Scrapper in tow. Grimlock just growled to himself as he watched the two Constructicons flee for their sparks.
"That was awesome! You really messed that guy up!" Rainbow exclaimed with a grin. Grimlock turned to look at the cyan pegasus with a almost satisfied expression on his faceplate.
"You're damn right I did. Alright, we're done here." Grimlock said as he headed towards Ponyville with the Main Six following close behind.
