Cybertron Girls

Chapters

Robots in Disguise
Truth
Worth
Fashion
Geode-Shift
Study
Full Combat
War-Plan
Siege
Diplomacy
I Spy...
New Recruits
Way of the Blade
Great Minds
Glitter and Gleam
The Search
Lightning Speed
Contact
Assets
Robbery
Shadows
Bedside
Maximize!
The Hunt Begins
Mind Games
The Wild Side
Yo Joe!
Serpent's Bite
Endangered Species
Allies and Recruits
Wreck 'n' Rule!
Blowing the Dig
Harvest Time
Lost Souls
Reunions
Goin' Mesozoic
Busting the Zoo
Shake the Skies
The Best Offense
Aw Rats!
All Powerful
War and Peace
Metal to the Pedal
Cathedral of Speed
Rules of the Road
Stories
Planet Cup First Leg
Planet Cup Second Leg
Planet Cup Third Leg
Planet Cup Finals
Perfect Harmony
Combiner Wars
Primal Lords
Pest Control
Beast Wars
Rumors
Training
Shadows Return
Love in War
Build Up Speed

Robots in Disguise

Twilight’s lab was a fairly simple one, built off the side of her house. But it had more scientific tech than major government labs, and it was all DIY from Twilight herself. Granted, she wasn’t sure any of her tech would cooperate with whatever this technology in the meteorite was.

As the girls’ cavalcade approached Twilight’s house, the first thing on their minds was to analyze the device in Twilight’s pocket. They were just making their way toward past the park when Rainbow saw something behind them; the same Camaro as from the school, following about a car length behind AJ’s truck. “Okay, this is just getting creepy,” she remarked, looking at the car. “I mean we all know that there’s no one in that car, right?”

“Aliens don’t need to be seen when they’re driving.” Pinkie reminded.

“Maybe we should try and communicate with it,” suggested Sunset. “Ask it what it wants.”

“Well, we don’t have any better ideas.” Twilight shrugged, prompting the cars to stop. Once everyone was out, Twilight jumped off the truck and started walking over toward the Camaro. But as she approached, the car suddenly revved its engine almost like it was preparing to drive away. “Whoa-whoa-whoa, hey. Calm down. We just wanna talk.”

Then Rainbow saw something; a small green dot on Twilight’s shirt. “Uh, Twilight? I think you might wanna stand back. I think this thing’s targeting you.”

Twilight looked and watched as the dot moved down to her left pocket, which held the meteorite. “This isn’t a weapon. I think it’s some sort of scanner.” Slowly she raised her right hand in surrender and dropped her left hand toward her pocket… only to suddenly prompt a large laser blast to shoot nearby and impact the ground, knocking Twilight off her feet.

“Twilight!” Spike dashed out to her side, followed by Sunset and Rainbow, all more than concerned for her safety.

“What was that?” Sunset’s question was swiftly answered by a 2015 Dodge Charger police car, with a large cannon sticking out of the right door.

Suddenly it screeched over and bashed the Camaro in the back, sending it screeching down the street before stopping next to Twilight, barely even scratched. It was then that Twilight saw the frightening writing on the back of the car; ‘To Punish and Enslave’. And at the end of that writing was an almost triangular purple face-decal that looked fairly frightening.

No sooner had she read it then something really crazy happened to the police car; plates shifted, servos whirred, and when it had ended, the car had become a massive black robot with the same purple triangular face-decal on his chest and it looked down at the girls with burning red eyes in his gold face. “Where is it?” the machine asked in a deep voice.

The girls thought they knew what he was talking about, but were too terrified to say anything for a few seconds. “Where’s what?” Sunset asked, trying to throw him off.

Unfortunately, this only made the bot smirk. “Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play it, huh? Alright then.” A mouthplate and visor almost like a tactical mask locked onto his face, only serving to make him look even more intimidating. “Let’s play.”

“Me first!” That voice surprised the girls, as did the revving engine behind them. When they looked, they saw the Camaro roaring down the street behind them before it transformed as well, revealing it to be a large yellow robot with a silver faceplate, bright blue eyes, and a blockier red face-decal on his chest.

The new bot quickly jumped and kicked the police-bot in the face, sending him screeching down the street. The gold bot quickly turns to the girls with a concerned yet still stern look on his face. “Run. Now.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Fluttershy noted swiftly, diving to hide under AJ’s truck. The others however were entranced by these large machines as the first one slowly stood up.

“Bumblebee. It’s been a long time.” he snarled.

“Not long enough, Barricade.” This Bumblebee obviously wasn’t friends with this Barricade-bot. “Y’know Prowl’s still pretty sore about you two-timing him back in Praxis.”

“Prowl’s an idiot, and so are you,” Barricade smirked. “You Autobots defend the remnants of a broken system; a system that elevates those you deem worthy of it and leaves the rest of us for roadkill.”

“You know that’s not true.” Bumblebee scowled. “The Autobots wanted equality; all you ‘Cons ever wanted was power. And you didn’t care how you got it.”

Barricade just smirked, apparently seeing something. “Maybe. But at least we remember to watch our backs.” Bumblebee looked behind him in fear at that prompt, only for Barricade to shoot him in the back the second he turned his back, knocking the yellow bot to the ground right next to the truck.

He looked under the vehicle and saw Fluttershy huddled in fear. “What’re you still doing here? I said run!” It was then that Barricade planted his foot on Bumblebee’s back, making him groan in pain.

“What’d I tell ya? Idiot.” Barricade smirked, leveling the large blaster he had in his hand toward Bumblebee’s head. “I was at least hoping for a little more of a fight.”

Applejack smirked as she stepped forward. “You want a fight, partner? Well, I’ll give ya one.”

Barricade glanced over at her and just chuckled condescendingly. “Wow. Now I know you Autobots are pathetic. I know you chose this planet to hide on, but do you really let organics fight all your battles for you?”

Applejack just stepped forward. “This ‘organic’ is about to give you the whuppin’ of a lifetime.” She spit on his foot as if trying to taunt him… before she activated her power and delivered a powerful punch right to his shin, making him bunk over in pain.

“Gah!” he growled as he fell to his knees, seeing a deep punch-mark in his armor from Applejack’s fist. “What…?”

“And there’s more where that came from, pardner. So I suggest you hightail it outta here before I stop holdin’ back.” Applejack threatened, cracking her knuckles.

Bumblebee was amazed as well, but Barricade just scowled. “You’ve got spark, ya little gnat; I’ll give you that.” Then he aimed his blaster at her, smirking at the fear that crossed her face. “I enjoy killing lifeforms with spark.”

“Then you’ll love me.” That voice sounded almost female, and sure enough, a bright pink and white 1967 Jaguar E-Type roared in and suddenly transformed into a large female bot with a round white helmet and a large Glock-like blaster-pistol in her hand which she used to blast Barricade and send him stumbling back, allowing Bumblebee to find his feet.
(this but bright pink with white trim)

Looking closely, the girls saw the same emblem on her belt as was on Bumblebee’s chest. “We really need to stop meeting like this, Bumblebee. You know how much of a gossip Bluestreak is.”

“I’m not really in the mood for small talk, Arcee. Just help me take care of this bucket of bolts so the organics can outta here.” Bumblebee ordered, raising a small handgun.

“Wait, organics?” Arcee looked and saw the girls, still shocked at her presence. “Bee, you idiot! What was our first order when we woke up?”

“Yeah, let’s circle back to who’s an idiot after we discuss what that one’s carrying.” Bumblebee remarked, indicating at Twilight with his head.

“What, this?” Twilight reached into her pocket and retrieved the small meteorite.

Arcee’s eyes seemed to grow in awe as she saw the item. “By Primus…”

“So you do have it.” Barricade snarled.

Bumblebee turned back to Arcee. “And what the ‘Cons will be capable of if this guy gets his greasy servos on it.”

“Point taken. Let’s rumble.” Arcee smirked, both Autobots now firing on the police-bot to push him back.

“Everyone in, now!” Sunset ordered, climbing into the truck with several of the others as those remaining jumped into Rarity’s car before they both peeled out toward Twilight’s house.

“What was that?” asked Twilight.

“I think we already know.” Sunset shrugged. “Pinkie was right; aliens.”

“She said aliens, she never said anything about alien-robots!” Rainbow specified.

And these alien robots were still brawling with Barricade when a large honk roared through the area. When the bots looked, they saw a red 2015 Ford Explorer roar in and transform into a larger red bot with a fairly grizzled face.

“Alright, who’s ready to die?” he smirked with a southern drawl.

Barricade appeared frightened, but quietly smirked as he looked at something on his wrist. “Some other time, Ironhide.” With that, the cop-bot transformed and drove away, leaving the Autobots behind.

“Whew. Man, that was way too close.” Arcee sighed.

“What took you so long, old-timer?” Bumblebee asked Ironhide, smacking the large bot on the chestplate.

The red ‘bot just shrugged. “Traffic,” he said simply. “Cmon, Prime wants us back at base.”

“Alright, let’s roll.” Bumblebee shrugged and they all transformed, roaring away through the quiet streets. The future was about to get even crazier than anyone could expect.

Truth

It had been a day since the incident at the park and the girls had resolved to keep the details of what happened between them, and to try to avoid those machines to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, the girls found it difficult to focus on their studies since their minds were so preoccupied by what had happened the day before. Not to mention the others’ concern for Pinkie and AJ to blow the whistle on what had happened.

At the end of the day, the girls simply stepped out of the school, having decided to forgo band practice for now. Sunset had finally gotten rid of her broken motorcycle and was forced to carpool with her friends until she got a new car. Unfortunately, as they were making their way to their vehicles, Applejack saw something unusual. “What in tarnation?” The jet-fighters from yesterday were flying over the area, apparently circling over the school. “What’s goin’ on here?”

Rainbow glanced off to one side and was surprised. “I think I might have an idea.” And sure enough, there were the two Autobots they had seen earlier, rumbling up in their vehicle-modes. She looked at them dead-on and pointed upward. “Friends of yours?”

Bumblebee just rumbled closer, opening his doors. “Get in.” Arcee did something similar, simply collapsing her convertible roof.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Sunset shrugged.

“Well, Rarity and I still need to drop our rides off at home.” Applejack brought up.

“Alright. We’ll ride with you on the way.” Unfortunately, the girls knew that comment from Arcee was the best they were ever going to get.

With little else in the way of argument, Pinkie and Fluttershy climbed into Arcee as Sunset, Twilight and Spike, and Rainbow boarded Bumblebee, the two driving to escort Applejack and Rarity. Once they had both dropped off their vehicles, the two climbed into Bumblebee’s back-seat. Once all aboard, the two bots roared across town out to the hills, all while followed by the jet-fighters. “Now what?” Arcee asked. “We can’t risk leading them back to base.”

“I got this.” Bumblebee smirked, apparently turning on some sort of communication device. “Bumblebee to Jetfire, we’re almost at the base and Starscream’s still on our tail. Mind dealing with it?”

“I’m on it, Bee.” That voice was suddenly met by a large white and red jet-fighter flying from the hills, firing on the three fighters following the other two Autobots which evidentially scared them off, prompting the bigger fighter to turn around and fly back towards the hills. “Alright, Starscream’s heading home. And so am I.”

“Think they found us?” asked Arcee.

“No way to know for sure. But I doubt it.” Bumblebee noted. “Hang on, we’re almost home.” Though to the girls, it didn’t really look much like a home.

It looked more like the foot of the volcano outside town known as Rockfoot Mountain, extinct since it was discovered in the 19th Century. “You guys live in a volcano?” asked Sunset.

“Close.” Bumblebee smirked. “Red Alert, drop the gangway.” With that order given, a large patch of rock in the mountain shifted and a ramp dropped from it, allowing Bumblebee and Arcee to drive aboard as Jetfire flew in through the top of the mountain, allowing the girls to really see that which the Bots called home; a massive starcraft embedded in the volcano’s wall with almost orange walls and large blue computer terminals.

“Whoa…” Twilight was in nerd heaven right now, surrounded by highly advanced technology and – evidentially – giant alien robots, including a large white and red one with what looked like a fire chief’s car as his alternate-mode, along with what looked like a large missile-launcher on his shoulder.

And he looked twitchy, especially when he saw the girls disembark their rides. “You brought organics onto my ship?!” he asked angrily.

Bumblebee and Arcee just transformed, Bee rolling his eyes at the bot. “Relax Red Alert, we’ll keep them away from your station. Most of the time.”

“And anyway, we didn’t have a choice.” Arcee shrugged. “We have our orders. If Optimus wants to talk to them, we bring them to the ship.”

“Alright fine, I’ll- I’ll add them to the security system.” Red Alert relented… only to get more worried when he looked at the girls. “Wait. Wasn’t there one more here earlier?”

The girls looked and saw he was right; somehow Pinkie Pie had disappeared. Looking up, they saw her near Red Alert’s console. “What’s this button do?”

“Don’t touch that!” Red Alert growled, trying to swat her away only to miss as she dashed over to another console.

“What’s this button do?”

“Don’t touch that either.” Arcee warned.

Then Pinkie’s eyes locked onto something terrifying; a big red button. “Ooh, shiny! What’s this button do?”

“You really don’t wanna touch that one.” Too late, Bumblebee; Pinkie had already pushed the button, triggering an almost deafening klaxon alarm which blared through the entire ship with red lights flashing through all the rooms, apparently startling several other bots into action.

Finally, Bumblebee tromped over and pushed the button, disabling the alarm. Once it was off, he simply glanced down at Pinkie and smirked. “Toldja not to touch it.”

With the alarm off, Red Alert sighed and turned on a p.a. system on his console. “False alarm, everyone; one of Prime’s guests got excited. We’re not in any danger; return to your posts.” Practically every bot in the base went back to their positions grumbling.

“Sorry!” Pinkie called down the hall.

“Don’t worry; it happens to the best of us.” Bumblebee assured. “Anyway, introductions. Girls, this is Red Alert; our chief of security. You’ll have to get used to him; he’s a little… skittish.”

Arcee scoffed. “Don’t sugarcoat it, Bee; he’s totally paranoid.”

“What?! Says who?! Gah, it’s that Swerve again, isn’t it? I swear, this time-!”

His rant continued in the background as Arcee turned down to the girls. “Point proven.”

“And taken.” Sunset remarked as Bumblebee lowered his hands, allowing the girls to climb into his palms before he lifted them up to stand on the console. “Now lemme see if I have this right; Bumblebee and… uh…”

“Arcee.” the fem-bot nodded. “It’s okay; I understand that you’re probably not used to bots’ names yet.”

“Not used to how we like to keep things clean either, I suppose.” a crabby voice down the hall grumbled, revealing a bright white ‘bot with a silver brow and what looked like red crosses on his shoulders as the source, swiftly moving to clean the consoles Pinkie Pie was standing on earlier. “Honestly, your organic oils get everywhere.”

Bumblebee rolled his eyes as he turned back to the girls. “And that’s our medic Ratchet. You can just ignore most of what he says; he’s practically got one servo in the scrapheap anyway.” It was exactly then that Ratchet smacked Bumblebee in the back of the head with a loud clang. "OW!"

“I may be old, but I can still hear just fine.” Ratchet reminded.

“Yeah-yeah, whatever old-timer.” Bumblebee rolled his eyes.

“This is incredible.” Twilight remarked, looking around. “Robots with personalities that can turn into vehicles? What are you?”

“Specifically speaking, we’re a species of autonomous robotic organisms from planet Cybertron.” Ratchet explained, having finished his cleaning.

“Uh-huh. And now in non-nerd speak, please?” asked Rainbow.

“It means that biologically speaking, they’re practically identical to us.” Twilight explained, in awe of her own words. “They can grow, reproduce, everything humans can do.”

Ratchet seemed interested as he stood up. “You’re a sharp one.”

“Star pupil at our school.” Twilight smiled proudly.

“Pfft. Teacher’s pet, more like.” Rainbow muttered.

“I heard that.” Twilight remarked.

“Ten-hut!” That voice echoed through the room, prompting all bots in the room to stand at attention as the voice was revealed to come from a large black-and-white bot who appeared to transform into a police interceptor.

And behind him, a massive red bot with a blue head, hands, and legs who appeared to transform into a big-rig of some sort.

“You’ve heard of our drill sergeant Prowl.” Bumblebee noted, pointing at the police-bot before shifting his hand up to the larger one. “And this is our leader; Optimus Prime.”

Optimus was rather imposing, especially given the girls’ small size relative to him. As predicted, Fluttershy was especially frightened – obviously – as Spike huddled behind Twilight’s legs when Optimus’ bright eyes glided over them. “Are these the lifeforms you told me about, Bumblebee?”

“That’s them, Optimus.” Bee nodded. “Only got a few names though.”

“Well then, I guess it’s our turn for introductions.” Sunset smiled. “My name is Sunset Shimmer, and these are my closest friends; Twilight Sparkle, her dog Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy.”

“Welcome to the Ark.” Optimus nodded.

“‘Ark’?” asked Sunset. “You’re refugees?”

“That’s a polite way of putting it.” Arcee shrugged.

“In truth, we Autobots are here because we are embroiled in a brutal war with our adversaries; the Decepticons.” Optimus explained.

“Like that Barricade fella yesterday?” asked Applejack.

“That’s the guy.” Prowl nodded. “He was my partner… before he betrayed me to the ‘Cons.”

“So why are you fighting? What’s this war about?” asked Sunset.

“A fair question Sunset Shimmer.” Optimus nodded. “Though the answer is a long one.”

“As long as there isn’t a test at the end, I’m happy.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Don’t worry, this is a simple lecture; no test.” Bumblebee assured. With that, he led the girls across to another terminal where Optimus brought up a video-collection of a massive metallic planet.

“Eons ago, our homeworld of Cybertron was once a peaceful empire; a world whose greatest contributions were of science and culture.” Optimus explained. “But in time, our ruling body; the High Council, became corrupt and imposed a strict system of social castes, elevating themselves while only forcing others lower down. In time, a system of rebellion began… in the form of Megatron.”

The image on the screen displayed a massive gray robot with a giant cannon mounted to his right arm, and burning red eyes, frightening the girls with his very visage.

“Megatron swore to unite all of Cybertron in equality, doing away with the old guard. As he entered the political arena, I worked with him and considered him a brother. But it was in the Council chambers that he began to show his true colors as he proclaimed the need to overthrow the Council with force and demanded he be named ruler of all of Cybertron.

“I thought otherwise and for that, I was struck down as Megatron rallied his followers to conquer Cybertron and exploit its rich veins of Energon; the fuel and lifeblood of all Cybertronians. In time, our world itself died and we Autobots were forced to flee. This Ark was merely the last Autobot ship to leave the planet, though Megatron chased us here, intent on ending the war the only way he knows how. By ending me.”

With that, the video ended, leaving the girls in awe. “After we left Cybertron, the Ark ended up getting caught in your planet’s gravity-well and we crash-landed here. We’ve been here ever since.” Bumblebee finished. “The Decepticons followed us here, and the war has been ongoing ever since.”

The girls were still amazed, but equally sad for the ‘Bots having to leave their homes. “And since Bumblebee and Arcee defended us yesterday, Megatron must think we’re on your side.” Sunset rationalized.

“Precisely why we must protect you.” Optimus nodded. “Though that is not the only reason.”

“I was wondering when we were going to get to this.” Twilight nodded, pulling the small meteorite from her pocket. “Bumblebee and Barricade both seemed pretty interested in it.”

“And for good reason.” That voice belonged to a bright white Autobot with green and orange stripes along his body, metal fins on the sides of his helmet and a strange bug-eyed expression on his face.

Bumblebee chuckled as he walked in. “Girls, this is Wheeljack; the Autobots’ resident tech-inventor and mad scientist.”

“Ha! Funny.” Wheeljack snickered humorlessly. “Anyway, there’s a very good reason we’re all so interested in that item. That is a special system of Autobot weapons tech created by Solus Prime called the Spark-Shift Armor system. There are seven original components – not counting any knockoffs the Decepticons may have built – and each of them have to link with a certain Spark before they can be activated.”

“What do you mean Spark?” asked Sunset.

“This.” Ratchet explained, pressing a button on the console to reveal what looked like a Cybertronian anatomy model, highlighting a blue glowing object in the model’s chest. “A Spark is the raw essence of Cybertronian life. Destroy the Spark, destroy the bot."

“So what makes these Armors so special?” asked Twilight.

“They contain fragments of a map of this planet, which will allow us to locate the wellspring from which all Cybertronian life is born and ultimately returns to; the AllSpark.” Optimus explained. “Megatron wished to use the power of the AllSpark as a weapon to use against the Autobots, so in a bid to keep it from his hands, my mentor Alpha Trion elected to send it off-world to this planet. Unfortunately, that proved to be a mistake as once the AllSpark left, Cybertron truly died. Now, I wish only to correct my mentor's mistake and restore Cybertron.”

“So we just need to get this map?” asked Rainbow. “Piece of cake. Who wants a suit of armor?”

“Sorry, doesn’t work like that.” Wheeljack brought up. “Solus Prime infused the original armor-units with the energy of one of Cybertron’s most sacred relics; only they can decide who’s worthy of their power.”

“And when will that happen?” asked Twilight.

Wheeljack just snickered. “Are you kidding? Solus cobbled those things together from scrap metal and magic reliquary energy; how the frag am I supposed to know when they’ll turn on?”

“Language, Wheeljack.” Prowl ordered.

“Whatever. I gotta get back to my maintenance run.” Wheeljack shrugged, locking a banded mouthplate onto his face.

“You need a hand?” asked Bumblebee.

“Nah, I got it.” Wheeljack assured, the fins in the sides of his head flashing blue with every syllable.

“So wait, this thing is supposed to be armor?” Rainbow asked, grabbing at the meteorite… accidentally pulling a small ring of metal off. “Oops. I think I broke it.”

“No you didn’t.” Twilight noted, pulling off a disk for herself. “Wheeljack said these things are all individual units. Maybe we should all take one.” The girls couldn’t argue with that and all took one unit of metal from the meteorite, revealing them to be small metal disks.

But something surprised them as they were divvying up the units. “There’s one left.” Twilight was right: she had two units in her hands; one she had chosen and one from the last of the meteorite itself.

“That must be the prototype.” Bumblebee noted. “Solus always made them, to test the feasibility of her inventions.”

“Hm. Maybe you should hold onto it, Spike.” Twilight noted, kneeling down to her dog. “It looks like it’ll fit on your collar.”

“Not to mention it looks cool.” Spike smirked as Twilight linked the small metal ring onto his collar. As for the other units, the girls quickly slipped them into their pockets.

“So now what?” asked Sunset. “We can’t be seen outside with these or the Decepticons will go after us.”

“Yeah, but our families will worry if we’re not back before dark.” Twilight pointed out.

“Shoot, you’re right; it’s almost curfew.” Rainbow noted, looking at her stopwatch.

“Human customs.” Optimus noted. “I had not considered. Though you are correct, Sunset; your safety and that of the Spark-Shift Armor remains. Thus you may each select an Autobot accompaniment.”

“Dibs on Arcee!” Pinkie smiled, jumping to the pink convertible. “Pink sisters!”

“Not to mention her vehicle-mode is rather stylish.” Rarity noted.

“You want stylish, dear?” That pompous voice made Bumblebee roll his eyes as a large blue Autobot with a red face and white helmet walked over, his large white wings drawing attention. “You obviously haven’t ridden in true luxury before.”

“Spare us the routine, Tracks.” Bumblebee smirked. “We all know you think you’re the hottest bot on this ship.”

“Aren’t I?” With that, he swiftly transformed and revealed his alt-mode; a blue 2019 Corvette Stingray with a yellow and red wing design on the hood.

Rarity seemed impressed. “Well, this is fashionable.” she smiled. “Very well then, uh… Tracks, was it? I will be riding with you.”

“As expected.” Tracks smirked, opening his driver-side door. “Shall we?”

“Let’s. Don’t wait up, girls.” Rarity smiled as she carefully climbed down from the console and moved to board Tracks.

“Wait a sec there partner.” Applejack pointed out. “What if you fellers have work when we’re busy? Ya can’t just go drivin’ round town with no one behind the wheel.”

“Well, we can’t bring you with us into the field either.” Prowl pointed out. “You’d be liabilities.”

“‘Liabilities’? Prowl, Applejack’s the one I told you about; the one who punched a dent into Barricade’s leg without even trying.” Bumblebee pointed out.

Prowl seemed impressed. “Is she now? Well then, I’d say you’ve got offense down. You just need someone to help with defense. Trailbreaker!”

On that prompt, a large sheer black Autobot with a blue visor and several red and yellow slashes on his lower extremities emerged. “What’s up Prowl?”

“You’re on curbside duty, guarding Applejack here.” Prowl ordered, pointing at the country girl.

“Ah man, curbside duty? Really? Alright.” Trailbreaker rolled his eyes and transformed into a black 2016 Toyota Hilux truck.

“Not bad. I always liked trucks.” AJ smiled as she climbed down from the console. “But I don’t exactly see how this feller’s gonna be in charge of defense.”

“I can generate energy shields, and my Magnawheels let me drive on any surface, even upside-down.” Trailbreaker said simply.

“Well, that’s kinda awesome.” Rainbow remarked.

“I agree. But I ain’t talkin’ about you bringin’ us with you into a fight.” Applejack assured.

Twilight smiled. “I think I see where you’re going with this.” She turned to Ratchet. “Can you generate holograms?”

“Sure; holomatter generators are a must for Cybertronian explorers.” Ratchet shrugged.

Optimus smiled. “I believe I understand what you are implying, Twilight. We will remodulate our holomatter avatars to allow us to blend in easier with this world.”

“First thing tomorrow.” Twilight smiled. “We don’t have school so we’ll be here straight away.”

Suddenly something exploded down the hallway. “OW!” That was definitely Wheeljack, blowing something up by accident.

With that occurrence fresh in her mind, Twilight simply turned up to Optimus. “Can I not be partnered with Wheeljack?”

Optimus simply smiled. “I believe that can be arranged.”

Eventually it was decided that, instead of Wheeljack, Twilight and Spike would be joined by Bluestreak; an ironically silver Nissan Fairlady 280Z and Rainbow would be joined Cliffjumper; a red 1970 Dodge Challenger with a hood-ornament shaped like two silver horns.

Finally, Sunset and Fluttershy were left, though Fluttershy was a bit nervous. “Can we get someone small and non-threatening for Fluttershy?” Sunset asked.

“Hey, I think I got that handled.” That voice sounded almost like a hippy, and when the source of it made itself known, everyone actually thought he was a hippy, given his simply blue paint and silver visor over his optics. “Name’s Beachcomber. I’m all about takin’ it slow and easy.”

“I- I don’t know; I think I can handle myself.” Fluttershy muttered, recoiling in fear.

“Ey, I’m not forcin’ anything.” Beachcomber assured. “I just wanted to have someone else to talk to besides the bots and local animal life.”

That seemed to pique Fluttershy’s interest as she looked up at Beachcomber. “You can speak to animals?”

“I’m still learnin’ bird, but yeah.” Beachcomber shrugged. “So Whaddaya say? Up for a drive?” As if not even waiting for his answer, Beachcomber swiftly transformed into a Polaris RZP XP 1000 dune buggy. Fluttershy was still a bit nervous about him not having any doors, but still climbed aboard and strapped in.

Sunset looked around and didn’t actually see anyone else around, aside from Bumblebee. “What do you say, Bee? Up for being my ride?”

Bumblebee smirked. “Why not? You need one, dontcha?” He simply transformed and allowed Sunset to climb into the driver’s seat. “All set, Optimus.”

“Very well.” Optimus nodded, prompting Red Alert to open the gangway. “Autobots, Roll Out.” With that order, the seven selected Autobots revved out of the ship back toward town. They may not have known what the future held for them, but they were ready for it either way.

Author's Note

If anyone wants to make a "Little Blue Dune Buggy" joke about Beachcomber, I will absolutely support it.

Worth

The Decepticons’ warship hung low in orbit around Earth, its sloped prow cutting through the air undetected by human surveillance systems by advanced cloaking technologies.

And right now, most of the crew was gathered on the bridge of the craft to watch their lord and master tear three winged officers (one gray, one blue, and one black) all new tailpipes.

“Tell me Starscream… considering your monumental failure to do that which Barricade could not… and your even more colossal failure to locate the Autobots’ base… why I should not kill you and your imbecilic brothers where you stand!” Megatron charged his massive cannon and leveled it at his soldiers.

Starscream was instantly frightened as he and his brothers swiftly dropped to their knees. “Lord Megatron, we offer no excuse,” he assured. “We drew close to what we believe was the Autobots’ base, but Jetfire blocked our path, and you know better than any how powerful he is.”

Megatron snarled but lowered his cannon. “Yes. Jetfire is a powerful warrior.” he nodded, turning his back to the flyers. “Had he not betrayed me; you would still be taking orders from him.”

“Of course, Lord Megatron.” Starscream nodded; he still remembered when Jetfire was his commanding officer on Cybertron.

“Though that still does not answer my first question.” Megatron reminded. “Since you lost the map to the AllSpark, why should I not kill you?”

“Because, Lord Megatron, we haven’t lost the map yet.” the black fighter reminded.

Megatron seemed intrigued. “Explain, Skywarp. Quickly.”

“I would. But why not allow Soundwave that particular honor?” Skywarp smirked, glancing over at a blue boxy con with a silver mouthplate, a red visor, and an almost glass panel on his chest.

“Well, Soundwave?” Megatron asked.

“Affirmative, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded, speaking in an almost computerized monotone voice as he brought up a computer feed. “Tracking systems are still locked onto the signature of the AllSpark map, though it is fragmented.”

“The Autobots must have split the components up to keep them out of our hands.” the blue flyer suggested.

“I doubt it, Thundercracker.” Barricade reminded, limping a bit with his still damaged leg. “If the Autobots got their hands on the map, why not just use it? It must be the organics Bumblebee was protecting.”

“You mean the ones you claim damaged you?” Starscream smirked.

“That was no ordinary organic, Starscream.” Barricade scowled. “She had the strength of an Insecticon.”

“Please. If organics have this sort of power, why have they not used it before?” Starscream reminded.

“A valid point Starscream. Nevertheless, for an organic to damage a Decepticon so severely is no easy task.” Megatron agreed. “We must remain vigilant. Starscream, assemble our best ground-warriors; order them to track the signatures of each map fragment and bring them to me.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Starscream bowed as he and his brothers left the bridge. “Fool. One simple incident of being chased off by an enemy and he does not trust us to handle this mission ourselves.”

“His logic is hardly unfounded, brother.” Thundercracker reminded. “Flyers would draw too much attention from the organics.”

“Were I the leader of the Decepticons, I would raze the entire city to the ground and pick the map from the ashes.” Starscream snarled.

“Well, until that time comes, we’d best return to our objective,” Skywarp advised, turning to a console. “All hands, this is Air Subcommander Skywarp. Requesting seven elite ground soldiers report to the GroundBridge-deck for a field mission.” Soon enough, when the brothers arrived on a deck of the ship occupied by a large circular system, they found seven soldiers there waiting for them, all with wheels.

“Excellent.” Starscream smiled, bringing up the tracking data on the nearby computer. “You will all be GroundBridged to the same area of this city. Once you leave the ship, you will separate and go to your assigned positions.”

“It appears as though each fragment of the map has been given to a certain organic lifeform, who is accompanied by one of the Autobots, who you’ll have to go through in order to get the map fragment,” Thundercracker explained. “Dead End, you’ll go after Trailbreaker.”

“If you insist.” the red and black con sighed. Two others rolled their eyes; they knew Dead End was always a fatalist among allies, but in battle, he was vicious.

“Wildrider, you take Cliffjumper.” Thundercracker continued. “Breakdown, you get Bluestreak. Offroad, you take Beachcomber; and Swindle, you take Tracks.”

“I suppose I’ll be taking Bumblebee then.” a red con with what looked like a yellow-metal pompadour smirked.

“Actually Knock Out, we were planning on sending you after Arcee and simply sending Crankcase after-” It was just then that Skywarp noticed something. “Uh… where’s Crankcase?” And sure enough, the ‘Con they were planning on sending was nowhere to be found…

Until he fell from the ceiling, his chestplate ripped open and dripping liquid Energon, swiftly followed by his assailant; a black and red female Decepticon with flames on her breastplate, a bow in her hands, and a psychotic look in her eye. “No one touches Arcee but me!” she snarled madly. “I have much to share with my beloved sister!”

Thundercracker and Skywarp glanced to Starscream, who simply sighed as he knew what they were about to say. “Very well, Flamewar. Arcee is yours to destroy while Knock Out will go after Bumblebee.” he relented. “Now, let us proceed. Blast Off, open the GroundBridge.”

“Roger. Opening now.” a brown flyer nodded, pulling a large lever that activated a massive green vortex within the circular rig in the room.

“Decepticons, to battle!” Starscream ordered, prompting all the Decepticons to transform and race through the vortex. The Autobots didn’t know it yet, but they would be in serious need of the map soon.

Fashion

The Ark was quiet with the girls and their companions out of the ship, which gave Ratchet a chance to clear up his area of the ship. “Thank Primus for peace and quiet. Doubt I’ll have much while those humans are running around the ship.” he muttered. “Lifeline, I wanna get that diagnostic on the CR Chambers started before we’re called to the bridge.” He was expecting an answer from his nurse almost immediately, but nothing. “Lifeline?” He looked up and saw that his nurse wasn’t even there. He sighed as he started the system diagnostic himself. “Kids.” Once he was done, he left the medical bay and walked up toward the ship’s hangar, only to suddenly be cut-off by Bluestreak roaring in. “Whoa! Watch it!”

“Sorry!” Twilight called as Bluestreak stopped, allowing Twilight and Spike to climb out so the Bot could transform. All the other girls were there as well, along with several other Autobots.

“So is this everyone?” asked Sunset.

“Everyone available.” Bumblebee shrugged. “Everyone else was too badly damaged in the crash, so we had to put them in stasis until we had the resources to repair them.”

Cliffjumper looked around, and was confused. “It’s not everyone yet. Hey Ratchet, where’s Lifeline?”

“Guess.” Ratchet said simply.

Prowl rolled his eyes; he’d seen someone else was missing as well. “With Smokescreen.”

Ratchet sighed as he sat down. “Going through my own adolescence was difficult enough. Surviving my nurse’s is going to take a miracle.”

“You’re not the only one who thinks like that, old man.” Arcee nodded in annoyance.

“I’ll get them.” Red Alert groaned, turning on the p.a. system. “Lifeline and Smokescreen, please report to the main hangar. Like you were ordered to ten minutes ago.” The team could hear the irritability in his voice as he said that.

Soon enough, the girls heard the roars of engines down the corridor as a mint-green 1997 Porsche Boxster S and a blue and red Nissan 350Z with black 38s in white rectangles on the doors roared in and transformed into large bots. “Sorry! Sorry we’re late. We were just, uh… checking weapons inventory.” the Nissan (obviously Smokescreen) said quickly, and rather glibly.

Prowl just raised his eyebrow. “If you’re going to keep your position as diversionary tactician, brother, at least make sure your lies aren’t so transparent.”

Smokescreen scoffed and shoved Prowl in the chest goadingly. “Shut up Prowl.”

Rainbow seemed surprised as he looked at the two. “You guys are brothers?”

“All three of us. Wouldn’t guess it just by lookin’, would ya?” asked Bluestreak.

“Well, I mean… your body-kits look similar.” Twilight shrugged.

“Yeah, but that’s where the similarities end.” Prowl assured. “I’m by-the-books, Bluestreak’s a chatterbox, and Smokescreen… well, you be the judge with Smokescreen.”

“Dude cmon, seriously?” Smokescreen sounded offended.

“Hey, how many times did I bust you for betting on illegal street-racing in Praxis?” Prowl reminded. “Mother was disappointed enough after the first time.”

“Pfft. Oh yeah sure, I was the one who disappointed Mom the most.” Smokescreen scoffed.

“Don’t even go there.” Prowl warned, apparently knowing what his brother was going to say next.

Pinkie however was more concerned with Lifeline, particularly her design. “You look a lot like Arcee.”

“Not surprising.” Arcee shrugged. “We are cousins.”

“Well I must say this is very interesting, but what say we get to the point of why we’re here, eh?” Rarity suggested.

“I’m with ya there, kid.” Wheeljack replied, closing up the computer console. “We should be all set. Teletraan, introduce yourself.”

The girls were confused who Wheeljack was talking about until the main computer screen came on, showing the Autobots’ symbol in blue, which started moving as it spoke. “Welcome. I am Teletraan-1; an artificial interactive consciousness designed to operate the Ark’s essential systems and aid the Autobots in their mission to end this war.”

“This is so cool.” Twilight remarked, looking up at the screen.

Wheeljack stood up from his workstation and collapsed his mouthplate. “I just finished modifying the ship’s systems to be compatible with human technology. Teletraan, run a diagnostic to make sure the mods will hold up.”

“Commencing diagnostic.” Teletraan beeped quietly for a few moments before finally the face on the screen flashed green. “Diagnostic complete. Modifications accepted.”

“Alright then.” Wheeljack smiled, looking at the girls. “All you have to do is connect your computer and we’ll see how we can do this.”

“I’ve got a character creation program on my computer.” Twilight noted, connecting her laptop to a port in the ship’s computer and opening the program. “What do you think, Teletraan?”

“Analyzing program…” Teletraan noted, looking over the program. “Analysis complete. This program is primitive, but viable.”

“I will take that as a complement.” Twilight shrugged, turning to the Autobots. “Okay, here’s my idea; you guys show us what avatars you have now, Teletraan scans them into the computer and I’ll use my program to build suitable human forms. From there, Rarity will work fashion and we’re in business.”

“Fine by me.” Ironhide shrugged. “Let’s do it.”

“Agreed. Autobots, Transform and Project.” With that order, all the Autobots in the hangar transformed with Optimus becoming a Freightliner FLT and Wheeljack becoming a 2018 Lancia Stratos.

The girls were confused by their actions until suddenly a hologram formed on the console behind Fluttershy, which exactly looked like Optimus’ bot-mode.

Naturally, she was spooked and hid behind Rainbow Dash, who was simply looking at him and the other holograms in confusion. “Your basic holograms are your bot-modes?” she asked.

“Cybertronians haven’t exactly had very positive relations with organic lifeforms until now.” Prowl shrugged.

“Why did you transform?” asked Sunset.

“The avatars are easier to project in alt-mode.” Wheeljack shrugged.

“Alright well, let’s get started, shall we?” Twilight asked. “Who’s first?”

“Well since they got here last, I say Lifeline and Smokescreen go first.” Ratchet suggested.

“Seconded.” Prowl and Arcee nodded as they raised their hands.

“Alright then, cmon over Smokey.” Applejack goaded, pulling Smokescreen out to the front by the wrist. Once in place, she let him go.

“Commencing scan.” Teletraan reported, running a beam of blue light from the ceiling over Smokescreen’s avatar, sending the data into the computer.

Twilight looked at it and smiled. “Alright yeah, I think we can work with this.” she noted, quickly beginning. “Teletraan, scan the others while I work. Starting with Lifeline.”

“Cmon guys, this isn’t fair.” Lifeline protested, despite being pushed forward by Cliffjumper. “Just because we were a few minutes late today-”

“Today, yesterday, and the day before.” Ratchet reminded. “Not to mention skipping out on your assignments. Now get up there.”

Lifeline didn’t have much else in the way of a chance to protest as she was swiftly scanned by Teletraan before he moved on to Cliffjumper and the others.

“So I’m thinking I’ll deal with everyone’s physical appearance, and you deal with their clothes.” Twilight said to Rarity. “If you have any artistic input for makeup and things like that, I’d be happy to hear them.”

“Sounds lovely, darling.” Rarity agreed. “Though if it’s okay, I prefer to work on live canvases when I make new clothing.”

“Fine by me.” Twilight shrugged. “Wheeljack, is there some way we can wirelessly link my system to your holomatter projectors?”

“Sure; we can just connect Teletraan to our internal systems through our com-units.” Wheeljack shrugged as Optimus was getting scanned.

“Perfect. Well, there’s your canvas set, Rarity.” Twilight smiled. Finally, the preliminary scans were finished and Twilight had finished the bots’ human forms, all censored with simple white underwear and all sharing the same bright blue eyes.

“Excellent.” Rarity smiled. “Now, if you would please connect to the system, it’s time for the fashionista to go to work.”

“Back on Cybertron, we just called ‘em paint specialists.” one guy smirked; he had deep tan skin and shaggy black hair.

“Thank you for volunteering to go first… Sideswipe, is it?” Rarity smirked.

Sideswipe was a bit surprised by this. “What? Whoa wait, I never said-”

“Too late.” Ironhide smirked, shoving Sideswipe forward with his muscular though scarred fair arms, buzzcut red hair truly driving home that he was a veteran. “Get in there, kid.”

Once he was in place, Rarity cracked her fingers and turned to the computer, bringing up a selection of outfits in Sideswipe’s preferred color-scheme of red and black. She waved her hands past Sideswipe, pleased Teletraan had mapped her motions to the computer so that with every wave, a new ensemble shot onto his body. “No. No. No.” Though she went through a few. “No. Oh, goodness no. No. No. No.”

Finally… “Whoa-whoa, wait. Go back to that last one.” Sideswipe insisted. Rarity wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but did as he asked. And she was glad he did; she’d heard Sideswipe was a punk and this outfit fit that aesthetic perfectly; a black t-shirt, red jeans, black boots, a red and black leather jacket and black fingerless gloves. Sideswipe smirked as he tugged on the collar of his jacket. “Yeah-ha-ha, this is what I’m talkin’ about.”

"I like that.” Rainbow smiled. “It works for him.”

“It truly does.” Rarity nodded in agreement. “Alright then Sideswipe, you have laid claim to your ensemble. Who’s next?”

“Might as well be me, eh bro?” This guy looked almost exactly like Sideswipe, except his hair was shaved on the sides to show faint gold.

“Very well, Sunstreaker.” Rarity smiled and waved her hand through the wheel, letting Sunstreaker look at all the possible outfits. Finally, he raised his hand to stop her right on an awesome outfit; gleaming gold pants and leather jacket over a black t-shirt and black flat shoes.

“Oh yeah baby; a perfect outfit for a perfect bot.” Sunstreaker smirked.

The girls just rolled their eyes; Sideswipe had warned them his brother was a narcissist. “Next.” Applejack called.

That honor went to Prowl, whose tan skin and black hair with red streaks in the front framed a very serious face. Rarity looked at him closely and smiled as she had an idea. “I have something perfect in mind for you.” And as it turned out, that idea was a simple Canterlot City Police officer’s uniform; black suit with a red tie and white pants.

Next up was a lieutenant named Jazz, instantly recognizable from his dark skin and black dreadlocks and goatee. Rarity was confused about what to do for him, so he just stepped forward. “Lemme take this, hun.” Jazz smirked as he stepped forward and waved his hand until he hit something perfect for him; an almost disco-like outfit of a white jacket and pants, a button-up shirt that was mainly black with blue near the middle and red dead-center, a silver 4 charm on a chain and a pair of blue visor-style sunglasses.

“He-he-hey, lookin’ good Jazz.” Sideswipe smirked, patting his friend on the back.

After him came Optimus who actually appeared fairly handsome with his square-jawed fair face and short blue hair and beard. Rarity smiled. “I planned this for you in advance, darling.” With that, she simply moved her hand to the side once and gave the Prime his human garb; a simple white t-shirt under a red jacket with black chest-piping, blue driving gloves, jeans and black boots with deep blue laces.

Optimus smiled; he seemed impressed by his garb. “Most impressive.” he nodded. “Thank you.”

That was enough as he stepped aside and allowed Ratchet to take his place, showing him as a rather rotund old man with gray hair, brown stubble and fair skin. Rarity however isn’t one to judge a person by their body and simply switched him to his outfit; a red polo shirt, white cargo pants, red and white sneakers, and a doctor’s coat with a red-cross armband on the left arm. Ratchet wasn’t sure what to say, because he had a bad feeling he might say something offending, simply walking to the side.

After him came Wheeljack, whose tan skin and scraggly gray hair and apparently singed facial hair certainly made him look like a mad scientist, and unfortunately, Rarity’s chosen outfit for him only accentuated that; a white, green and orange t-shirt, deep gray pants, green boots, a toolkit, a gray medical facemask he could easily shift and a lab-coat. Still, Wheeljack appeared happy with his outfit as he dashed to hug Rarity before he moved away.

Ironhide stepped forward after him, and Rarity instantly knew what to do for him; a red t-shirt and red camo pants with combat boots. She may not have liked the ensemble herself, but Ironhide certainly liked it as he swung a few punches. “Now that’s nice. Good n’ mobile.”

Bumblebee zipped over after him, smiling with his scruffy blonde hair and fair skin. Rarity smiled, easily devising him an outfit consisting of black pants, yellow shoes and a yellow and black hoodie over a black t-shirt. “Yeah, this is what I’m talkin’ about.”

Next up was Cliffjumper, who looked like a really nice guy with his fair skin and short red hair. Rarity wasn’t sure what to go with for him, so she just scrolled through outfits until Cliff stopped her hand right on something he liked; a black t-shirt under what looked like a red pilot’s jacket, black driving gloves, black jeans and red boots, not to mention the prominent red helmet with silver horns he held in his hand. “It’s like I always say; ‘Mess with Cliffjumper, and ya get the horns’.”

Applejack chuckled at that. “Not bad. Y’know, we say that same sorta thing ‘bout bulls. And that’s just cause they’re ornery.”

“You obviously haven’t met Cliffjumper. ‘side from Ironhide over there, he’s the orneriest of us all.” Smokescreen smirked, his fair skin and blue hair with bleached blonde fringes in the front gleaming as he stepped up.

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment and not punch you in the face.” Ironhide assured.

“I appreciate that.” Smokescreen nodded. Rarity just smiled as she went to work, choosing his outfit. Finally, she found something perfect for him; a red t-shirt with his black 38 in a white rectangle on the chest under a blue jacket, blue jeans and black shoes.

Lifeline slipped in after him, her fair skin and short curly orange hair catching Smokescreen’s eye the moment it was mapped onto her avatar. Rarity had an idea for her almost immediately, simply giving her a mint-green nurse’s outfit with a red-cross armband like Ratchet’s. “Ho-ho yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Lookin’ good babe.” Smokescreen smiled.

“Save the interfacing for your quarters, Smokescreen. And when you’re both off the clock.” That was Inferno; a fair-skinned fellow with black hair who certainly spoke the truth.

Rarity had seen that his vehicle mode was a large fire truck so she simply swiped to the side and gave him a set of black and red fireman’s gear from the Canterlot Fire Department. “Nice. I can definitely work with this.”

“Stand aside, dear Inferno.” Tracks smiled, pushing him aside carefully with his tan skin and white hair gleaming. “Let’s do what we can do now, dear.”

“Oh don’t worry darling. I already have something perfect in mind for you.” Rarity smiled, swiping only once which gave Tracks his outfit; a deep blue turtleneck, black pants, blue boots, a black dress-jacket, red shades and a charm shaped like his hood decal.

Tracks smiled as he looked himself over. “Stunning, dear.” he smiled, strutting to the side.

After him was Red Alert, pale skin and short red mullet accentuating his eyes jerking left and right faster than anyone could track. Rarity just smiled and waved her hand, giving him a simple red and white suit with a red tie and a white tactical visor on the right side of his face. He smiled as he looked through the visor, finding it to his liking as he stepped to the side.

Next was Bluestreak, whose silver hair with red fringe in the front and fair skin made him look very similar to Prowl and Smokescreen. “Alright, so here’s what I’m thinkin’.”

“Ah-ah. Don’t even say anything, darling.” Rarity assured. “I already have something for you.” And indeed she did; as it turned out, her idea was a simple gray suit, red pants and gray boots.

“He-hey, nice.” Bluestreak smiled as he walked off to the side.

After him was Mirage; dark skin and slicked back black and blue hair indicating him instantly.

Rarity had heard that Mirage was once upper-class on Cybertron, but she’d also seen his alt-mode was an Indianapolis F1 racecar so she wanted to try and indicate both. Finally, she was forced to have Twilight give him a small data-chip that could allow him to switch between a racer’s suit and her second choice; a suit composed of a blue-sleeved white dress-shirt, a blue ascot held by a red pin, a white dress-vest and pants, and white loafers. Mirage smiled as he adjusted the ascot. “Nice. I can definitely make this work.”

Next was Trailbreaker whose dark skin and black hair made him stand out. Rarity smiled as she instantly knew what to do for him, giving him a straight black outfit with white pants and black boots as well as a pair of blue visor sunglasses. “Nice. Yeah, this works.” he nodded.

After him was Arcee, whose fair skin and short curly blonde hair made her look adorable. Rarity knew she had to do something to frame that well, so she swiftly devised a custom outfit; a white crop-top t-shirt under a pink jacket, pink jeans and deep pink shoes. Arcee smiled as she looked herself over. “This is so cute. I love it.” She smiled as she hopped over to the others.

Next was Beachcomber whose dark skin with wheel-like tattoos on his shoulders and blue hair and beard made him look very chill. Rarity decided to keep that aesthetic and gave him blue bands on his biceps, below his elbows and on his wrists, a blue tank-top, jeans, and blue sandals, as well as a silver amulet that looked like his bot-mode’s chestpiece and a blue set of visor shades. He seemed happy with it and slipped back over to the others.

Last but not least was Jetfire, whose fair skin and white hair with a red flip in the front made him look very friendly. Rarity had seen his bot-mode and smiled as she composed a red and white pilot’s uniform, including a white pilot’s helmet with a blue visor and white oxygen mask which he held in his hand. “Very nice. Very nice indeed.” Jetfire smiled as he moved over to the others.

The girls looked over all their handiwork and were impressed. Smiling, they all high-fived and cheered for their victory. Apparently, these actions confused Ironhide and Optimus as they raised their eyebrows. “What’s with that?” Ironhide asked.

“What’s with what?” asked Rainbow.

“You strike each other, yet you find enjoyment in it,” Optimus noted. “Why?”

“What, you don’t have high-fives on Cybertron?” Evidently not as Rainbow’s question only made the bots more confused. “Alright-alright, it’s sort of a sign of celebration and friendship, y’know?”

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper looked at each other for a second before they both smirked and high-fived each other, hard. “Ooh, kinda stings.” Cliff remarked, shaking his hand in pain.

“Well, you’re not supposed to do it that hard.” Applejack remarked.

“Still, feels pretty cool.” Bumblebee smirked. “I think I’m gonna like this planet.”

“I hear that.” Wheeljack smiled as his avatar disappeared and he transformed back into bot-mode. The others quickly followed suit, until the room was once again filled with full-sized Autobots.

It was just then that something started beeping on Ratchet’s belt. “What in the AllSpark?” He grabbed the small scanner off his belt and pointed it at the girls, growing even more confused as he saw the readings. “Well now, this just doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t?” asked Twilight.

“I think my scanner’s on the fritz, because it says you girls have Sparks.” Ratchet explained, surprising the others as well.

“Wait, seriously?” Lifeline checked her scanner as well, surprised when she saw the same results from the girls and Spike. “You’re right; this doesn’t make any sense.”

“Can I see those readings?” asked Twilight.

“Of course. Teletraan, link my scanner to the main screen.” Ratchet’s order was swiftly followed, allowing the girls to see bright blue glows coming from their collarbones.

Sunset looked and knew exactly what they were. “Those aren’t Sparks. They’re our Geodes.” And she was right; the energy on the screen was emanating from their Geode pendants.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Wheeljack remarked. “How can crystalline geodes from an organic planet like Earth emanate the same energy as a Cybertronian Spark?”

Sunset smiled; she’d been waiting for someone to ask something like that and she had the perfect answer. “Do you believe in magic?”

Author's Note

I couldn't find any images of my idealized designs for the Autobots' holo-avatars online, so you're just going to have to use your imagination. Sorry.

Anyway, the time has come for the Autobots to learn of what has happened in this world before they met the girls. How do you think they'll react?

Geode-Shift

Out on the open road outside town in a convoy with your friends. That was something Sunset had wanted to do with her friends. Of course, if she’d known they’d all be driving in alien robots that turned into cars when she first pitched them the idea so many months ago, she never would’ve believed it. And yet, here she was with her hands on Bumblebee’s wheel as they rolled through the flatlands outside town.

They had just left the Ark after explaining to the Autobots all the magical madness that had recently occurred in Canterlot and where the magic had come from, which blew all their minds. In fact, Trailbreaker was still having trouble wrapping his head around it. “I- I just- Wow. That is more insane than I can say in any meaningful way.”

“What, you mean you guys have magic on Cybertron?” asked Rainbow.

“I mean, we have some magic-like things but we’ve never really had anything concrete about how they really work.” Cliffjumper shrugged. “Just legends and conjecture.”

“What about the AllSpark? That sounds fairly magical.” asked Sunset.

“We Autobots have existed on your planet as Robots in Disguise for ages before you girls found us.” Bumblebee reminded. “Not everything is as it seems.”

It was just then that Tracks caught something in his rear-view mirror, seeing a large tan military Humvee roaring up behind them with a large cannon on the roof.

“Though that is most certainly what it seems.” he remarked. Suddenly the front of the cannon’s barrel telescoped back and revealed a massive gatling gun that started firing large purple energy bolts at the convoy. “Trailbreaker!”

“Yeah, I got it.” the large truck suddenly fell back to the rear of the pack and projected a large energy field, intercepting the gunfire.

“What the heck is going on?! Who’s shooting at us?!” Spike yelled in fear.

“Swindle.” Bluestreak recognized. “He and his gang are Decepticon weapons dealers.”

“I doubt he’s working alone.” Arcee noted. “Tracks, go do some recon; we’ll keep him distracted.”

“If you insist. You may want to hang onto something, Rarity.” Rarity wasn’t completely sure what Tracks meant by that until it happened. Suddenly he seemed to bound into the air on a large booster-pulse, then things got really crazy; his dashboards flipped around into aircraft consoles, large gray blocks flipped from his sides, his front license-plate flipped to reveal a small minigun and the large silver wings from his bot-mode finally made sense as they flipped out to the sides, allowing him to take flight with rocket engines on the rears of the gray blocks.

“Tracks is a spy-car? That’s awesome!” Rainbow was right; it was awesome, especially as Tracks flew around to try and get a better angle on the Decepticons.

Arcee saw Swindle getting something ready to shoot him down so she came to a resolution. “Trailbreaker, take Pinkie for a second; I’ll help cover Tracks.” With that and little else said, she quickly transformed, catching Pinkie in her hand before slipping her into Trailbreaker’s cab and jumping onto his roof, drawing her pistols. Which came in very handy when she saw Swindle fire several small rockets which locked onto and followed Tracks, but were easily disposed of with a few well-placed plasma bullets.

“Thank you Arcee.” Tracks smiled as he looked down toward Swindle, who was soon joined by several other vehicles; a bright red Bugatti Veyron, a maroon Porsche 911, a black Ferrari Portofino, a blue and white Lamborghini Gallardo, and a gray Jeep Gladiator.

And one thing that particularly caught Rarity’s attention. “Is that… Is that Sunset’s motorcycle?”

“Wait, what?” And sure enough, when Sunset looked out Bumblebee’s rear window, she saw her motorcycle roaring up alongside Swindle. With no one driving.

Arcee scowled as she saw the motorcycle roaring toward Trailbreaker’s shield with no sign of stopping. Aimed directly toward her. “That’s not your motorcycle, Sunset. That’s Flamewar.”

“Oh great. She’s still around?” Bumblebee scowled.

“And still wants Arcee dead, from the looks of things.” Trailbreaker noticed. “Any ideas?”

“We can’t lead them back to town; we’d risk bringing innocents into the crossfire.” Twilight pointed out.

“Then our only choice is to stand and fight.” Bluestreak agreed.

“Yes, but I doubt the Decepticons are going to let us stop to let our passengers overboard without trying to take a few pot-shots.” Tracks pointed out.

“Agreed. Any ideas?” Cliffjumper asked.

Applejack thought for a moment, but simply smirked when she had an idea. “Gals, get ready to jump.”

“What?! Did you crack your crankcase?” Trailbreaker asked seriously.

“Relax; we’ll be fine.” Applejack smirked, easily unstrapping herself.

“I don’t like it, but it sounds like she’s made up her mind, boys.” Arcee shrugged. “Eject your passengers and transform!”

The other Autobots weren’t sure, but Arcee was right; they didn’t have a choice. Tracks quickly winged over to the others and shifted back to standard car-mode before his roof opened and Rarity was launched from it while the other girls simply opened their doors and jumped straight out. Once they were overboard, the girls started their real plan; Applejack grabbed Pinkie and used her boosted strength to skid to a stop on the concrete. Twilight surrounded herself, Spike, and Fluttershy in her telekinetic aura and hovered them to safety as Rainbow used her speed to catch Sunset falling from Bumblebee and Rarity caught herself on a gem-shield, surfing it to a stop near the others.

Once they were all clear, the Autobots transformed and stopped right next to them, surprised by the girls’ abilities. “See? Toldja we’d be fine.” But that was when something weird happened; her geode started glowing even brighter than before.

The Decepticons saw it too, and quickly transformed to bot-mode to get a better look at the situation. “What in the name of Maximo…?” Breakdown asked in confusion.

The girls and Autobots were confused too, but that confusion devolved into awe when they saw Applejack’s Spark-Shift Armor unit hovered from her pocket and latched around her geode, which started pulsing with energy. “By the AllSpark…” Arcee remarked.

Suddenly, the Armor rig gave a loud ring and metal plating shifted from it across Applejack’s body. “Wha- What’s happenin’?!” she asked in fear; she had no idea what was going on, but she and the others soon found out.

The metal spread until it encompassed her entire body, even her hair and her Stetson hat. At first, it was plain silver but it suddenly took on the coloration of her body and clothes; her face and arms turned bright orange, while her shoulder-plates and upper torso changed to emulate the green and white of her shirt with a bright red apple on her collarbone where her geode once sat, her waist turned the same brown as her belt and her thighs turned denim-blue while her shins and feet turned brown like her boots. Her hair resembled steel cable which swiftly turned blonde as her now metallic hat turned to brown steel.

Then something really strange happened; Applejack’s now metallic muscles tensed and her body started to grow until she was the same size as Trailbreaker. Then and only then did her optics open, revealing blue orbs with green centers glancing around in confusion, especially when she saw her eyes were on the same level as Trailbreaker’s. “What in tarnation?” Then she looked at her hands and was amazed; she was a bot. And she felt even stronger than before.

(Cut it)

Swindle just smirked and raised his now arm-mounted cannon. “An organic in Spark-Shift Armor isn’t gonna make any difference.” he smirked. “Get ‘em.” His team quickly charged toward the Autobots weapons ready.

Applejack smirked as she dashed into the way and reared back for a punch, and when she swung it into Breakdown’s chestplate, it caved the metal in at least two feet and sent him flying back, coughing up liquid Energon as he tumbled into the others behind him, knocking them all down.

Applejack was in awe of her own strength as she looked at her fist, smirking as she looked at the Decepticons trying to pull themselves up. “An’ there’s more where that came from, pardner.” she smirked.

Swindle just shook his head. “I don’t get paid enough for this slag. Decepticons, we’re leaving.” he ordered and turned on his com-unit. “Swindle to Nemesis; Blast Off, the Autobots have a secret weapon we weren’t briefed on. Send the GroundBridge, now! And tell Flatline to get sick bay ready; Breakdown’s dangerously wounded!” On that order, the same green vortex that sent the Decepticons out opened behind them.

“No! I will not leave without Arcee’s head!” Flamewar snarled, raising a large bow-like construct.

“Oh, so you wanna go next, huh? Well, if ya insist.” Applejack smirked at her. She glanced up at her hat and saw an edge-like shine. Knowing exactly what to do, she grabbed her hat off her head and tossed it into a powerful spin, sending it slashing clean through the shaft of Flamewar’s bow, splitting one arm off as the hat flew right back to Applejack’s hand, at which point she slapped it back onto her head.

At this display, Flamewar simply glanced between her broken bow and the human-bot who had just broken it. “On second thought…” She swiftly grabbed up her broken bow, transformed back to bike-mode and peeled through the vortex faster than anyone could react.

The other Decepticons carefully carried Breakdown through as Swindle aimed his cannon at the Autobots to try and threaten them. “This isn’t over! Not by a long shot!” he assured as he disappeared through the vortex before it closed.

Once they were gone, Applejack relaxed and simply looked down at her robotic hands. “This… this is crazy.” she remarked.

“You can say that again.” Bumblebee nodded. “Who knew faith in your survival after a crazy stunt like that would be enough to activate your Spark-Shift Armor?”

“Not faith. Honesty.” Sunset realized, only drawing confused looks from the Autobots. “We’ll explain at the Ark; I think the crew is going to want to see this.”

“Agreed.” Trailbreaker nodded and transformed. “AJ, can you change back to human form?”

“I don’t even know how I changed into this form.” Applejack brought up, gesturing to her metallic body.

“Hm. Alright, plan B.” Trailbreaker shrugged. “Hope you’re okay with ridin’ on my roof.”

“Sure. Let’s go.” Applejack shrugged as she mounted the large truck, which the other girls found kinda funny. Still, they all saddled up with their partners and started the drive back to the Ark.

“Curbside team to Ark; we’re heading home with something of a surprise.” Bumblebee reported over the coms. “Have Ratchet and Wheeljack meet us in the medical bay.” They were going to need the help.

But not as much as the Decepticons when they reached the medical bay on the Nemesis, where Breakdown was quickly attended to by Knock Out and Flatline; a dark Decepticon with an arsenal of almost medieval medical instruments and a nearly crazed look in his optics.

The two were just setting to work when Starscream, Barricade, and Megatron entered the medical bay. “How is our patient, doctor?” Starscream smirked.

“He would’ve been much nearer the scrapyard had he not been returned here in time.” Flatline assured. “Massive internal hemorrhaging, near-total skeletal failure, and a massive concussion. He’ll have to stay here for at least the next five days while we conduct repairs.”

“The Autobots did this?!” Megatron asked in anger.

“Not the Autobots themselves, Lord Megatron.” Knock Out assured. “It was one of their organic pets, in Spark-Shift Armor.”

“What?! That’s impossible! Organics cannot use Spark-Shift Armor; they have no Sparks!” Starscream reminded.

“Yeah? Tell that to Breakdown.” Wildrider brought up, pointing at the bot on the medical bed. “I’d almost believe Devastator stepped on him if I hadn’t seen it with my own optics.”

Barricade was curious when he heard that. “Swindle, did you capture an image of this organic?”

“Got one right here, Barricade.” Swindle showed a small hologram of Applejack’s new Cyber-form just before she punched Breakdown.

“That’s her, Lord Megatron.” Barricade brought up. “That’s the organic that damaged me.”

“And now she wears Cybertronian metal.” Megatron’s optics narrowed as he realized what else this meant. “And has access to part of the map to the AllSpark.”

Swindle smirked as he deactivated the hologram. “Well, either way, I’m sure Onslaught will agree with me when I say that going after ‘Bots with the power to do this…” he pointed at Breakdown. “Is gonna cost extra. I’ll tell the boss to put it on your tab.” With that, he stepped out toward the door.

But Megatron had an idea. “Hold.” That order made Swindle stop for a second as he looked back at the large Decepticon warlord. “You said there was only one organic in this armor?”

“Yeah, why?” asked Swindle. The smirk on Megatron’s face said it all as Swindle smirked right back, knowing exactly what he was getting at. “I’ll talk to Onslaught, but you’re still gonna have to talk to him about increasing our pay.” The girls had no idea what was coming.

Author's Note

As soon as someone informs me of how to successfully upload pictures to these stories from computer storage, I'll edit in Applejack's bot-form. Until then, I will simply add pictures of bot-forms down here when they're presented.

Study

The crew still on the Ark was a bit surprised to hear that the team was returning so suddenly, but still obliged Bumblebee’s request and made the ship ready. When the team arrived, Red Alert and Sideswipe were the first to see what it was all about and be awed by Applejack’s bot-mode… and the seated Sideswipe was the first to burst out laughing at Trailbreaker and Applejack’s expense. “Yeah-yeah-yeah, yuck it up.” Everyone could tell that Trailbreaker was rolling his eyes at this, even in vehicle mode.

Sideswipe was obviously following his instructions as he just kept right-on laughing as Applejack climbed off Trailbreaker and let him transform. “You might wanna quiet down now, sugarcube. ‘Less you want a first-hand taste of what Ah gave that blue fella.”

“‘Blue’?” Red Alert asked in confusion.

The other Autobots transformed and walked over as their passengers had already disembarked. “Breakdown.” Bumblebee explained quickly. “Honestly, if she’d hit him any harder, I think she might’ve knocked his Spark-chamber out through his back.”

Sideswipe gave an impressed whistle and stood up with his hands raised in surrender. “Okay, point taken.” he relented. “Cmon, Ratchet and Wheeljack are waiting for you in sickbay with Optimus. They’re gonna wanna see this.” With that, Sideswipe led the girls down the ship’s corridors toward sickbay. All the way there, Applejack’s bot-mode drew awed glances from the other Autobots, all obviously amazed to see Applejack in a Cybertronian form.

When they reached sickbay, they saw similar expressions on the faces of Wheeljack and Ratchet, while Optimus appeared to show a sort of stoic awe, almost typical of him. “By the AllSpark…” he remarked.

“Ah don’t entirely understand it either.” Applejack shrugged. “It just happened fer no reason.”

“There’s a reason for everything, Applejack,” Sunset argued. “And this is no different; the Armor didn’t activate until after you were true to your word. Then it locked onto your Geode, and the Geodes are basically this world’s equivalent of the Elements of Harmony. And yours is the Element of Honesty.”

Optimus nodded; he remembered Sunset’s explanation of how the Elements operated when she told the Autobots exactly what had happened in Canterlot City recently. “And Honesty is one of the essential attributes of a great leader.”

That just confused the girls as they looked at Optimus. “Wait, does that mean that when we find the guys to wear the other Armor, AJ’s gonna be their leader?” Rainbow asked, almost in irritation.

“No, it means you girls are gonna be the ones to wear the Armor,” Wheeljack assured, only confusing the girls more.

“How do you know that?” asked Sunset.

Optimus stepped forward to answer this question. “Because when Solus Prime created the Armor, she utilized the energy of one of Cybertron’s most sacred relics. Specifically, this one.” He reached up to his chestplate and parted the two glass panes that formed his vehicle-mode’s windshield, revealing a large gold and silver construct in his chest, glowing blue.

“The Matrix of Leadership; a reliquary handed down from our creator Primus to determine those worthy of the mantle of Prime; leader of the Cybertronian people.”

“Whoa.” Twilight and Sunset were more than awed by the sight of the Matrix, and the explanation of its origin.

“And the Elements of Harmony are all aspects of someone worthy of the Matrix?” Sunset asked finally.

“Indeed, Sunset.” Optimus nodded, looking at each of the girls in turn. “A true Prime must be one who is kind, charitable, loyal, sympathetic, mindful of emotion, brings others together, and of course honest.”

Applejack smiled as he finished on her before she looked at Wheeljack. “Well, guess now’s the time to ask; how do I turn this thing off?”

“I’m not really sure.” Wheeljack shrugged. “I would say tell some sort of lie, but I don’t think that’d work.”

“Maybe there’s some sort of obvious button we’re missing or something,” Rainbow suggested.

Applejack looked over her armor and her eyes locked onto the apple emblem on her collarbone. “Huh. Now, what do ya bet…?”

“Probably.” Ratchet shrugged. “But before you try it, I want to run a bio-scan. See if I can find out what happens to your human body inside this thing; how you can control it and things like that.”

Applejack shrugged. “Guess that’s fair. Let’s do it, Doc.” She simply hopped up onto a surgical table nearby and laid down.

Once she was in position, Ratchet activated a small scanning device on the side of the table, analyzing her complete physical construction. Wheeljack looked over the analysis and was surprised by something. “Huh. Didn’t expect to see that.”

“See what?” Ratchet asked as he looked at the analysis himself, his eyes popping when he saw what Wheeljack was talking about. “Huh. You’re right; that is a surprise. How’s this even possible?”

“What’re you two talkin’ about?” Applejack asked.

“Well, we figured your bot-form wouldn’t have a Cybertronian digestive system, or at the very least, a very rudimentary one. And we were right about that; at a guess, I’d say the only thing your bot-form would be able to safely ingest would be Energon.” Ratchet shrugged. “What we weren’t expecting was this.” He turned the monitor to Applejack and the girls showing what looked like a Cybertronian anatomy model created from Applejack, focused in on her hips.

And highlighted on the screen was a very specific and familiar structure. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Sunset said in genuine concern.

“Looks like it.” Ratchet nodded. “That’s a Cybertronian reproductive system.”

Applejack couldn’t help but blush at that, her faceplate suddenly turning blue from the Energon. Twilight however was very intrigued. “How’s this even possible?”

“Best guess?” Wheeljack shrugged. “The Armor scanned Applejack’s genetic makeup and created cyber-ova with Cyber-Nucleic Acid coded to approximate the original composition. I’d say it did well, all things considered.”

“Well, long as no one tries anythin’ funny while I’m with ya fellers, I’m happy,” Applejack assured.

“Don’t worry, kid; I think you’re safe on that front.” Ratchet assured. “But while we’re on this topic, I just wanna pan up for a second and…” The image stopped at Applejack’s breasts and Ratchet nodded, his hunch confirmed. “Yup. Look at that; Energo-mammary synthesizers.”

“Huh. This armor doesn’t miss a trick.” Wheeljack nodded. But then he noticed something behind the breast area. “Wait, what’s that in the Spark-Chamber?”

Ratchet saw it too and was intrigued. Quickly, he enhanced the feed and was rather surprised by what he saw. “Huh. Well, that explains a lot.” It appeared to be Applejack’s human body held in a strange set of restraints and life-support tech with a strange cable-like device latched to the back of her head, reaching up her bot-form’s neck to her head. “Looks like your human body’s in the Spark-Chamber, and your nervous systems are linked.”

“What’s that mean?” asked Rainbow.

“It means that any sensory feeling sustained in her bot-form is transitioned to her organic body,” Wheeljack explained. “Pain, pleasure, that sort of thing. If she got shot or stabbed in bot-mode, her human body would feel that same pain.”

“Well, that sounds thoroughly unpleasant.” Rarity shrugged.

“War is always unpleasant, Rarity.” Optimus brought up. “And it is that unpleasantness that has brought the Autobots great medics like Ratchet.”

Ratchet smiled, simply deactivating the display and allowing Applejack to stand up. “You always were a flatterer, Optimus,” he smirked. “I guess that’s one of the things-” He stopped there, as if he knew what he said next might not be appropriate, and quickly cleared his throat. “Sorry Optimus.”

“It is fine, Ratchet,” Optimus assured, simply walking out of sickbay.

“Yeah, looks fine,” Wheeljack muttered under his breath.

“What was that all about?” asked Sunset.

“It’s a long complicated story, Sunset.” Ratchet assured. “And not ours to tell. If you wanna know the details, I’d suggest you ask Optimus. Later, of course.”

Applejack simply nodded and reached up to the apple button on her chest… before she noticed something on her wrist. “What’n tarnation? What’s this doohickey?”

“‘Doohickey’?” Wheeljack seemed intrigued as he looked at her wrist and was amazed by the silver band he saw. “This is no ordinary doohickey; this is a wearable Cybertronian data drive. There’s only one person who could’ve built this kind of tech into the Armor.”

“Alpha Trion.” Twilight realized. “It must contain part of the map to the AllSpark.”

“Only thing it could be. Ratchet, get me a computer-interface cable.” Wheeljack’s order was quickly followed and the cable was linked between the drive on Applejack’s wrist and the ship’s computer. “Teletraan-1, copy all data on this drive to the Ark’s navigational computer bank.” Teletraan quickly obliged as the system beeped and flickered for a good few seconds. Once done, Wheeljack unplugged Applejack’s drive from the system and opened up the navigational database. But what he saw confused him. “Hmm. Maybe you should take a look, Twilight; it may just be because I don’t know this planet all that well, but I can’t headlight or tailpipe of this data.”

Twilight climbed up to the computer screen and looked at the data, finding that it displayed a fragmented 3D model of the Earth. “It must take all seven components of the map to get a precise read.” she theorized.

“Then we have to figure out how you girls can activate the rest of the Armor units. Fast.” Ratchet was more than right; if they were to beat the Decepticons in the race to the AllSpark, they would have to act fast.

Full Combat

Much like the Autobots themselves, the girls had agreed to keep Applejack’s new Armor and abilities secret, leaving her to ride with Trailbreaker to keep up appearances. Wheeljack had been working feverishly to try and figure out how to unlock the rest of the map without relying on the other Armor units, but predictably he wasn’t having much luck.

At the end of the day, Sunset was just heading out of the school as she looked over her own Armor unit, flipping it like a coin. She knew she was right about the Geodes representing the Elements of Harmony in this world, but one thing didn’t make any sense; in all her readings, she’d only ever heard of six Elements, so the question on her mind was how could her Element – which she’d always considered to be the Element of Empathy – exist in either world? And if it did, how could it possibly activate her Armor?

She ran out of time to contemplate that as she left the school, where she found the other girls and their bots waiting. With little trouble, she jumped into Bumblebee and he revved up, rather quickly from Sunset’s perspective. “Whoa. What’s the matter, Bee?”

“I just heard from Jetfire; he’s been observing some pretty strange Decepticon movements since that ‘brawl’ outside town the other day.” Bumblebee explained. “He thinks he might’ve found a Decepticon Energon mine.”

“Energon? On Earth?” Sunset was reasonably surprised to hear this as the girls all drove off toward the Ark.

It was then that Wheeljack came in over the coms. “Ratchet and I have run studies, and they’ve shown that Energon is a naturally occurring phenomenon across the universe, unlike in the old days when we thought Energon could only be found on planets similar to Cybertron. The Decepticons have set up several mining operations across Earth to extract as much Energon as they can. We Autobots, on the other hand – given our limited workforce and no access to any mines – have been forced to make do with the bare minimum of Energon reserves.”

“So we’re raiding a mine? Awesome.” Rainbow grinned.

“No, we’re raiding the mine; you’re staying on the Ark.” Cliffjumper corrected. “Prowl’s orders.”

“Ah, what Prowl doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Rainbow was swiftly corrected when she heard a police siren blare behind Cliffjumper. When she looked out the window, she saw a very familiar black and white 2010 Ford Taurus police interceptor roar up alongside… with a familiar red symbol on the hood and a very familiar person behind the wheel. Who then reached down to his CB.

Which connected to Cliffjumper’s com-unit. “You’d have to get up early in the morning to even try and pull a fast one on me, kid. And even then, you wouldn’t succeed.” With that, Prowl drove on ahead of the group, leaving a stunned Rainbow in her Challenger.

And she wasn’t the only one surprised. “How did he do that?” Sunset asked genuinely, pointing behind the convoy.

“He’s a cop-car; he has patrols.” Bumblebee shrugged. And that was the last thing stated before the Autobots arrived back on the Ark, once again welcomed by Red Alert’s jitters and Ratchet’s pleasant bedside manner.

The girls were relieved when they saw Optimus arrive in the hangar. “Autobots, Jetfire has uncovered the possible location of a Decepticon Energon mine.” he briefed. “We cannot allow this chance to bolster our holdings to slip from our grasp. Ironhide, you will lead the assault.”

“I hear ya, Prime.” Ironhide nodded as he stepped forward. “Alright Autobots, let’s go to work. Jazz, Cliffjumper, Trailbreaker, and Smokescreen, let’s roll.”

“You got it.” Jazz smirked, looking over at Smokescreen. “Hey Smokey, you wanna bring your bumper-buddy?”

Bumblebee and Bluestreak laughed like crazy when Jazz said that, while Smokescreen and Lifeline just looked embarrassed. “Wha- Dude! I told you not to say that in front of Optimus!”

“I doubt bringin’ a distraction on this mission would be a good idea.” Ironhide scowled.

“How about a field medic?” Lifeline brought up, raising her eyebrow as well as her medkit.

“Ya never know when one of us might get hurt.” Jazz brought that up.

Ironhide glanced at Ratchet, who just shrugged in response, leaving the old bucket to sigh as he looked back to Lifeline. “Alright, alright. Just make sure you’re focused on medicine…” He smirked here. “And not your ‘bumper-buddy’.”

Now Wheeljack and Cliffjumper were laughing along with the others, leaving the bots in question embarrassed and the girls confused. “I don’t get it; what does ‘bumper-buddy’ mean?” Sunset asked seriously.

“I think I have a hunch.” Rainbow smirked, wiggling her eyebrows knowingly.

“Ohhhh…!- I still don’t get it.” Pinkie remarked, only resulting in Rainbow facepalming.

Trailbreaker smirked as he looked at the girls. “That reminds me; why not bring along our ‘secret weapon’?” He pointed at Applejack, letting the others know exactly who he was talking about.

“Thoroughly out of the question.” Prowl countered instantly. “We’re trying to keep Megatron away from the AllSpark, remember? If she’s taken prisoner, the Decepticons will have access to her fragment of the map.”

“Ah can take care of myself just fine, sheriff.” Applejack proved this by swiftly activating her Armor with a simple click, as it was now locked around her Geode. Once clicked, the Armor formed around her via simple shifting of plates, allowing her to step off the console to the ground as she switched to bot-mode. “Especially with this.”

Tracks smiled. “I’d suggest not arguing with her, Prowl. You heard what she did to Barricade without that Armor.”

Prowl sighed. “Alright, fine. Just make sure the Decepticons don’t see your data-drive.”

“Piece of cake.” Applejack smirked, though she wasn’t expecting a small, armored cuff to form around the drive. But it wasn’t unwelcome either. “See? Outta sight, outta mind.”

“Very well. Applejack will accompany the away-team to the mine.” Optimus nodded.

“Seriously? AJ gets to raid a mine, but we don’t?” Rainbow asked indignantly.

Ironhide ignored her and turned to Applejack. “I suppose we could use the extra hands to carry any Energon we get away with.” He turned up to Optimus. “But she’s gonna need an alt-mode before she goes anywhere with us.”

“Agreed. Applejack, you have your choice of any vehicle in Teletraan’s database. Prepare to scan.” On Optimus’ order, Teletraan brought up a large variety of human vehicles on the screen.

Applejack cycled through various vehicles until her optics locked onto a 2016 Dodge Power Wagon with raised suspension and decided that she would take it… as soon as she figured out how.

She tried to focus on the image of herself as that truck, and as it turned out, that was what it took as two strange green beams shot from her optics and scanned the vehicle data on the screen, loading it into her system.

Then things started getting really crazy as her bot-mode’s armor suddenly took on the appearance of various parts of the truck, including halves of the grille shifting into her breastplate and headlights on her shoulder-plates. “Whoa nelly.”

Trailbreaker raised an eyebrow as he looked her over, giving a low whistle at her new appearance. “Not bad. Heavy-duty; I like it.”

“Keep it under the armor, Trailbreaker.” Ironhide ordered. “Wheeljack, open the GroundBridge.”

“Comin’ up.” Wheeljack noted, pressing a specific button on the console. On the order, a large panel in the ceiling opened and allowed a large ring-like construct to slowly swing down until it was right in front of the team.

“Whoa. What is that thing?” asked Rainbow in awe.

“That, my dear, is a GroundBridge.” Wheeljack smiled. “Basically a scaled-down form of Cybertronian SpaceBridge transportation technology, granting the capability for us to move from here to anywhere else on the face of the planet.”

“And now, we’re gonna use it to get to that mine in time.” Ironhide assured. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” On that order, his entire team switched to their vehicle-modes, including Applejack, which surprised her since this was the first time she’d ever done this.

It surprised her even more when she found she was in the driver’s seat of a fairly normal-seeming truck. Still, she quickly followed the white Porsche Panamera with blue and red racing stripes down the middle in front of her that transformed from Jazz in driving through the GroundBridge.

And to say it shook her up was an understatement; it felt as if her entire skeleton had been fitted with miniature vibrational motors, which seriously hurt for a few seconds before they calmed down and she was able to transform back to bot-mode, letting her hat jump up from her truck-bed onto her head. And around her was an impressive display; massive blue crystals jutting from the earthy walls of the cavern. “Whoa, nelly.”

“You said it, kid.” Ironhide remarked. “Looks like the ‘Cons have been drillin’ here for a while.”

“Man, are they gonna be ticked when we take this place for ourselves.” Trailbreaker smirked.

“You want my Energon, Autobots? You’re more than welcome to take it. If you can.” The team looked up and saw the source of that voice was none other than Starscream himself on a higher level of the cavern.

“Well, if it ain’t Ol’ Screamer.” Ironhide smirked, raising a blaster that resembled a sawed-off double-barrel. “What’d ya do to piss off Megatron this time?”

“Silence, you old fool!” Starscream snarled. “Lord Megatron positioned me here to oversee your deaths because he trusts me so.”

“Whatever helps you recharge at night, Starscream.” Smokescreen smirked, suddenly flipping a large cannon-like weapon out of his back and onto his shoulders, aimed right at the Decepticon before two rockets fired from it and flew toward him… before they were suddenly exploded in the air just short of Starscream, letting out a small cloud of smoke. “Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Yes it was.” That voice came from behind a rock nearby, revealed to be a very familiar Humvee-bot.

Trailbreaker scowled. “Swindle.” And not just him; Blast Off was there as well, and a large green bot with a tank barrel on his back, a gray bot with helicopter blades, and a large blue bot with two huge cannons on his back.

Jazz addressed the largest of them, clearly the commander. “What’re you doin’ here, Onslaught? I thought you and your team were paid too well to guard mines.”

“We’re not here on sentry duty, Autobot.” Onslaught countered. “We’re here to crush you. Combaticons, obliterate!” On that order, all of Onslaught’s men raised large blasters and opened fire, only hitting the large blue barrier Trailbreaker emitted from his hands as the Autobots dove for cover.

“Alright, two can play at this game.” Ironhide snarled from behind cover. “Return fire!” On that order, all the Autobots but Applejack and Lifeline started shooting back at the Combaticons, most of their blasts only missing or reflecting off small overshields.

Applejack just smirked. “Alright, time to have some fun.” She cracked her large metallic knuckles and dashed toward them, her hair suddenly condensing into a battle-helmet under her hat as she charged.

“Oh scrap. Onslaught, that’s her!” Swindle called in concern, pointing at her.

“Then it’s time to stop holding back.” Onslaught smirked, causing his back-mounted cannons to lock next to his head, firing large blasts at Applejack, swiftly knocking her back a few yards. “I’ll admit I was impressed by what you did to Breakdown. Wildrider said it was like a Combiner stepped on him.”

“Well?” Applejack asked seriously.

“Well, if you’re supposedly as strong as a Combiner, then why not test yourself against one?” Onslaught smirked. “Combaticons, Combine!”

On that order, Onslaught’s soldiers all put away their weapons. Swindle and the tank-bot charged forward, jumping before transforming mid-air and deploying large constructs from their rear ends which they landed on, confusing Applejack. “Are those… feet?”

It only got weirder when Onslaught jumped up onto his soldiers, folding his arms and head away in favor of a large tan chestplate, allowing Blast Off and the copter-bot to jump, transform and lock into the large bot’s shoulders, before a large silver head deployed out of the top of the whole construct. “Bruticus, armed for battle!” this new bot roared as it attacked.

“Aw scrap, we weren’t countin’ on this!” Jazz remarked.

“No, we were not.” Ironhide nodded. “Grab as much Energon as you can and get ready to run. Wheeljack, we need a GroundBridge. AJ, fall back; we’re outta here!”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Applejack nodded and dashed around Bruticus, dodging massive punches and blasts into the ground… until she had an idea. “Hey fellas, over here!” She leaped into the air, surprised by the altitude she got from her new leg-servos. But her plan worked perfectly; Bruticus’ cannons locked onto Applejack and fired, but she started falling just as the blasts approached… and flew toward Starscream.

“What?! No!” he yelled and ran for his life, only to be blown into a wall by the blast, cracking the stone with his face.

Applejack laughed happily as she tossed her hat over to a large crystal, slashing a large chunk of Energon off and sending it falling to the ground. As soon as she grabbed her hat, she picked up the large crystal in her hands and ran toward the GroundBridge vortex, delivering a quick backhand to Swindle on her way past, knocking Bruticus apart before she transformed to truck-mode. “All set; let’s roll!”

“Not just yet.” Smokescreen smirked, holding a large detonator. “If we can’t have this Energon, then neither can the Decepticons. Fire in the hole!” Pressing the button on the detonator, several small red lights appeared on numerous Energon crystals around the cavern, beeping loudly… which in-turn revealed them to be bombs.

“Good call, Smokey. Autobots, return to base!” Ironhide ordered and everyone quickly transformed, driving through the vortex.

Starscream was naturally terrified at the sight of the bombs all around him. “Soundwave, get me a GroundBridge!” he ordered onto his com. “Combaticons, retreat!” Onslaught and his team separated and did as they were ordered, racing through their own vortex back to the Nemesis, just as the bombs went off, triggering a massive blue explosion out the top of the mine, like a huge volcanic explosion.

Thankfully, the team was spared this madness as they returned to the Ark and closed the GroundBridge behind them just in time. “Yee-hoo! Man, that was fun!” Applejack laughed as she transformed, grabbing her crystal under her arm.

“Ho-ho! And you brought back quite the score, I see.” Wheeljack smirked, looking at the Energon the team had brought with great interest. “Blue, Bee, help me get it to the refinery. This stuff oughtta keep us running for months.” Bluestreak and Bumblebee quickly did as they were told, grabbing the crystals from the team and walking down the ship’s hallway with Wheeljack.

“I gotta hand it to ya Trailbreaker, you really made a good call bringin’ this kid in on the mission.” Ironhide smirked, patting his dark-armored friend on the back.

“I am inclined to agree, Ironhide.” Optimus nodded. “Applejack, while your safety and that of your friends will always be our first priority, we would welcome any aid you may provide.” Applejack smiled at that as Optimus turned to the other girls. “And I extend that same offer to all of you, present and future. Any aid you may make to our cause, we will gladly accept.”

“Thank you, Optimus.” Twilight nodded happily. “We’d be glad to help in any way we can.”

“Why not start in town? We can introduce you around the school.” Pinkie smiled jovially.

Prowl just raised an eyebrow. “Exactly what part of ‘Robots in Disguise’ do you not understand?” he reminded.

Rainbow rolled her eyes in response as Applejack reverted to human-form and climbed onto the console. “Buddy, we’ve dealt with mind-controlling Sirens, a ridiculously competitive rival school, a forest camp-monster, a thief turned fame-hungry giant with a magic mirror, a memory-erasing rock, getting trapped by a crazy social media mogul, a time-loop caused by two perfection-obsessed pop stars – apparently-”

“I swear that did actually happen.” Sunset assured; she still remembered the insanity that was the PostCrush reunion concert.

“Hey, I believe you; I’m still allowed to rag on stuff I believe, right?” Rainbow countered, turning back up to the apparently disturbed Prowl. “And as if all that wasn’t already enough, these two turned into full-on magic she-demons!” She pointed over at Twilight and Sunset, before realizing her words. “Uh, no offense.”

The two simply smirked. “None taken.” they jinxed.

Prowl just blinked in shock, as did several of the other Autobots. “Yeah, and if the entire town can see stuff like that and be cool, I don’t think you guys have anything to worry about.” Rainbow finished.

Prowl was still a bit awed and cleared his metallic throat. “Well uh, you present a… very strong argument.” He resumed his composure as he looked at her. “But I stand by my decision; the rest of humanity isn’t ready to know about us yet.”

“I am afraid I must agree with Prowl.” Optimus nodded. “While I welcome the aid of humanity, I know they are not yet prepared to know of our existence.”

“Understood, Optimus.” Twilight nodded. “We’ll keep your existence secret until you think you’re ready.” Optimus nodded in response as the girls left with their partners, blissfully unaware of what would happen soon.

War-Plan

“So you mean to tell me… that in addition to failing to destroy the Autobots’ human Pretender pet… we lost one of our most prosperous Energon mines?!” Megatron’s rage was palpable from his soldiers assembled on the bridge.

“We beg forgiveness, Lord Megatron.” Onslaught knelt before his master, followed by his soldiers. “We were obviously underprepared to deal with this human.”

“Obviously.” Megatron nodded, turning to Starscream who recoiled in fear at the attention. “And I believe it was your assignment to ensure that the Combaticons were prepared, was it not, Starscream?”

“I- I too beg forgiveness, Master.” Starscream knelt in terror, cringing from his injuries. “I was unaware the Autobots would locate the mine, nor that they would send their newest weapon.”

“Hardly an excuse, Starscream.” Megatron reminded. “Now we are yet further from the AllSpark with nothing to show for our efforts.”

The copter-bot smirked at this. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that Lord Megatron.”

“Oh? And what exactly makes you say that Vortex?”

Vortex stood with a twisted smile as he pulled up a holographic data display. “I ran a scan of the mine’s environment and found something rather interesting; a data frequency, consistent with ancient Cybertronian technology.”

“Such as that forged by Solus Prime.” Megatron understood. “The child’s Armor.”

“And the map within it, no doubt.” Vortex smiled madly.

“Then all is not yet lost, my liege.” Starscream nodded. “We need simply locate the source of this frequency and launch a calculated assault to claim what is ours.”

“An inspired plan, Starscream. But one you will not enact.” This frightened Starscream more than a bit. “I feel you have failed me enough over these last several solar cycles. I will lead this assault myself, with you at my side so I can keep an eye on you.”

“As you wish, Master.” Starscream bowed, silently disliking this plan very much.

Megatron could see that, but thought little of it, simply turning instead to his communications chief. “Soundwave, isolate any available sources of this frequency.”

Soundwave did exactly that, swiftly finding success. “Seven sources isolated.” he reported. “Each one emanates identical frequency.”

“Good. Give us the location, and we will lay waste to them at once.” Megatron smiled.

“Negative. Frequency hubs scattered.” Soundwave reported. “Suggest they be allowed to converge before attack.”

Megatron didn’t seem overly enthusiastic at this idea but sighed. “Very well. Send your Mini-Cons to maintain surveillance and inform us of their convergence.”

“Affirmative. Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, eject.” He pressed a button on his shoulder and his chest opened, revealing a small compartment filled with large objects that looked like data-drives; one red, one gold. They both launched from his chest and transformed; the red into a robotic falcon, and the gold into a robotic vulture, both of which hovered in front of him. “Operation: Observation.” Both bird-bots nodded at this and flew away, to do their duties.

“Starscream, prepare your Seekers for the attack.” Megatron ordered.

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Starscream nodded and left the bridge, met by his brothers.

“I suppose our lord wished to remind you of your failures?” Skywarp smirked.

“Shut up and walk, fool.” Starscream ordered. “Our master has located the Armors containing the map, and we are to be ready to claim them. Ready the Seekers for battle.” Skywarp and Thundercracker saluted as they left their brother, who simply chuckled to himself. “Once I possess the power of the AllSpark, Megatron will fall before me and the Decepticons will be mine to rule.” Lofty aspirations from such a small Con, but he intended to make good on them, by hook or by crook.

Siege

Friday; the favorite day of the week for high school students, especially those with giant alien robots as babysitters. That was at the forefront of her thinking as Sunset pulled up to the front of the school in Bumblebee. She smiled as she climbed out and saw the other girls there waiting for her. “Hey, SunShim!” Rainbow grinned.

“Hey Dash, whassup?” Sunset smiled, high-fiving her friends as they all walked up toward the door. Call her crazy, but since meeting the Autobots, she thought this might’ve been the simplest new day in a while.

Of course, if she’d looked up and seen the giant robotic birds circling above the school too high for their Autobot chaperones to see, she might’ve thought differently. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had been circling the town to keep watch of the girls since the previous day, and transmitting their feed straight to Soundwave. “Lord Megatron, all Spark-Shift Armor units have converged. Transmitting coordinates.”

“Excellent, Soundwave.” the dark lord nodded as he turned to Starscream and his squadron of similarly built air-fighters. “Decepticons, today we come one step closer to claiming the AllSpark and remaking our homeworld! Now, Take Flight and Conquer!” On that order, Megatron quickly took to the air with large rocket boosters on his feet, followed by Starscream and his entire air-wing of soldiers, each and every one transforming into an F-15 Eagle as they flew from the warship toward the school.

Sunset and the girls had just walked into their first class of the day when her phone started ringing. When she checked it, she was confused to see Jetfire’s name on her Caller ID. “Since when could the ‘Bots access our phones?” she asked.

“Since Wheeljack and I secretly patched the com system to them,” Twilight smirked.

Sunset smirked right back; she should’ve known Twilight would do something like that. Quickly, she answered her phone. “What’s up, Jetfire?”

“We’re detecting a large collection of Decepticon bio-signatures heading toward your position.” the jet answered. “Where are you right now?”

“At school. Why are they heading toward us?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They want the map, and they’ll blow up the city to get it.” The girls went silent when they heard that. “I’m advising Optimus that we scramble all available units as a precaution and try to cut them off, but just in case we aren’t enough, Bumblebee and the others are your school’s last line of defense, so stay close to them. Till All Are One. Jetfire out.” With that, he disconnected which prompted Sunset to put her phone away and check the classroom’s clock.

“We’ve got a few minutes before class starts. Cmon, let’s go see what’s going on.” The others all agreed and dashed to the school’s front door… where they saw their partners now parked closer to the front of the building.

“What’s goin’ on, Cliff?” asked Rainbow.

“Not sure, but if I were you, I’d stay down,” Cliffjumper advised.

All the girls quickly followed their instructions as they saw the large silhouette of the Decepticon armada approaching the city. Except for Pinkie; she was standing up trying to get a good angle with her phone. “Ooh! Who’s that guy?”

Sunset was confused as to who she meant… until Tracks opened a small spy-cam from his wing-mirror and focused in on the shape Pinkie was looking at, projecting what he saw on the mirror itself. And what he showed the girls terrified them. “Is that… Megatron?” Rarity was terrified by how correct she was; it was indeed the Decepticon warlord.

And when Twilight accounted for his distance, her next statement was filled with fear. “You never said he was so big.”

“You never said he could fly,” Rainbow added in fear.

Bumblebee smirked when he saw something flying toward the enemy armada. “There’s the cavalry.”

And sure enough, it was Jetfire; flying high over the city in his jet mode. “Bumblebee, listen close; you and your team are the last lines of defense. Optimus is leading most of us as an assault team against Megatron; we’ll do what we can, but it’s up to you to make sure the kids are safe just in case. The others will work human evac in case they break our line, but the safety of the map is your priority.”

“Roger that, Jetfire.” Bee replied. “Till All Are One.”

“Till All Are One.” Jetfire nodded as he swooped down outside the city to meet the other Autobots – Optimus, Ironhide, Prowl, Jetfire, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, and Mirage – as they continued to approach the large armada.

Once in place, they all transformed to bot-mode as Optimus looked to the sky. “Megatron! I wish to have a word!”

Megatron was simply flying above when he heard Optimus call to him. “No doubt the Prime wishes to speak of peace again,” Starscream smirked as he transformed and hovered next to his master on his own foot-boosters. “Shall I dispatch him for you, Lord Megatron?”

Megatron simply scowled down at Optimus. “I shall hear you out; three from each party!” Starscream was more than stunned by his master’s decision. “I prefer to keep you where I can see you.” He then turned to the remaining Seekers. “Skywarp!”

The black fighter quickly transformed and saluted. “Sire!”

“When I give the order, take the Seekers forth into the city,” Megatron ordered. “Destroy all that crosses your path. Starscream and I will deal with the Autobots.”

“Yes, my lord!” Skywarp nodded.

“Alone, my liege?” Starscream asked in concern. “I am sure you could easily kill Prime single-handed, but the rest would surely seek vengeance and try to kill us both. We would be horribly outmatched.”

“Which is exactly why Soundwave is standing by with a contingent of my most loyal ground forces, ready to deploy them on my orders,” Megatron smirked. “Now, let us not keep the Prime waiting. Thundercracker, with me.” With that in mind, he, Starscream, and Thundercracker eased down toward the ground, landing a few yards away from the Autobots.

“Prowl, Jetfire, you will join me as I speak to Megatron,” Optimus ordered.

“Yes sir.” Prowl nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the others. “No one fires unless Optimus gives the word.” The other Autobots were already readying their guns, prepared to take the Seekers down.

Optimus, Prowl, and Jetfire stepped forward until they were a few steps apart from Megatron, Starscream, and Thundercracker. “Megatron, I know you seek the map to the AllSpark. But before you declare an attack, know that this city is heavily populated.”

“By organic insects, my old friend.” Megatron countered. “Hardly worth losing recharge time over the loss of a few irrelevant lifeforms such as them.”

“No life in this universe is irrelevant, Megatron.” Optimus countered. “You should know that better than anyone.”

Megatron scowled; he knew exactly what Optimus was talking about. “I advise you cut straight to your point, Optimus. Lest I will be forced to cut straight to mine.”

“Humanity is a young race, with no quarrels with either of us,” Optimus explained simply. “Allow them this chance to live, and we may restore the AllSpark to our homeworld together.”

“A promising offer, Optimus Prime.” Megatron smiled. “Though I do have a counterproposal; surrender the war and the map to the AllSpark to me peacefully, and no Autobots will be harmed.”

“As they live enslaved under your boot. I will not allow that, Megatron,” Optimus assured.

“Then I am afraid you have forced my hand.” Megatron scowled, raising his hand. “Seekers, bring me the map!”

“You heard our master! Charge!” Skywarp yelled, prompting all the Seekers to fly toward the school.

Optimus scowled as a large metal guard-plate locked into place over his mouth and an orange visor locked in front of his optics. “Autobots, open fire!” His order was swiftly followed as a massive barrage of plasma-fire shot from the ground up to the Seekers, while Optimus and Prowl began firing on Megatron and Starscream.

“Soundwave, send the ground forces!” Megatron ordered into his coms, only moments before the vortex opened and a massive fleet of ground-based vehicles charged toward the Autobots, all transforming into Decepticons as they opened fire. “Starscream, let us join your squadron!”

“Gladly, my liege!” Starscream and his brother quickly transformed and took to the air with their master following them on his foot-boosters.

“Jetfire, hold them back!” Optimus ordered, causing Jetfire to swiftly take to the air and try his best to shoot some of the Seekers down, but it wasn’t going well for anyone, especially with the lack of true cover for the ground team. “Prowl, I fear that if the map to the AllSpark is to remain in our grasp, it has become absolutely necessary for us to reveal ourselves to the human populous.”

Prowl scowled; he hated how right that was, but he knew there was no arguing with Optimus. “Understood, sir.” Quickly, he turned on his com-unit. “Defense Team, Evac Team, this is Prowl. Megatron has broken our lines, so Optimus has made the call; drop the disguise and defend the humans.”

The girls had overheard that on Bumblebee’s com and were more than surprised. “You heard him. Autobots, Transform!” With that order, the bots swiftly shifted to bot-mode and readied their weapons, not even bothered by the presence of the other students, who were more than awed by their presence.

“Here they come.” Arcee pointed, indicating the massive armada flying toward them, with Megatron at the head once again.

“Trailbreaker, gimme a shield!” Bumblebee ordered as he flipped out his battle mask.

“Comin’ up!” The large black bot smirked and raised his left hand, emitting a massive blue energy field in front of the school just as Megatron fell to the ground before them.

He smirked cruelly at the shield and the humans and Autobots behind it. “You must be joking.” he smiled, raising his cannon. “No shield in the universe can hold back the mighty Megatron!” One shot from the cannon and the shield cracked like glass, forcing Trailbreaker to his knees.

Cliffjumper saw this and was terrified. “Optimus, Megatron just got here; we could really use some back-up.”

Suddenly a siren blared through the area, and when the girls looked, they saw a large fire truck roaring up. Once a few yards away, the vehicle swiftly transformed into Inferno now with a large nozzle in place of his left hand and a large blaster rifle in his right. “Who needs a Prime when you’ve got an ex-Wrecker?” With that in mind, he leveled his nozzle and blasted a massive stream of some sort of white material up at the Seekers still in the air, freezing their wings and sending them falling out of the sky as they missed the school.

“Nano-frost. Impressive, Wrecker.” Megatron smirked, simply firing at him. Inferno quickly rolled to dodge the blasts as he returned fire. “But you are hardly a Prime.”

Bumblebee smirked as he saw something behind Megatron. “Then you’re in luck.” The dark lord quickly understood what that meant as he drew a massive executioner-style sword and purple energy flail off his back before he turned, indeed seeing Optimus barreling down the street toward him.

“Decepticons, destroy him!” Megatron’s orders were swiftly followed by several of the Seekers with him, all opening fire on Optimus only to be countered by Jetfire’s blasts from above.

“Megatron’s all yours, Prime! I’ve got a score to settle with Starscream!” Jetfire smirked.

Optimus simply charged through the hail of gunfire before he transformed and leaped at Megatron, armed with a massive orange energy battleax and grand longsword. As he landed, the two leaders clashed weapons in a massive crash that resounded around the area, building to a massive duel between the two as Jetfire transformed in midair and started firing on Starscream, who started to fall back as he was swiftly cornered by Jetfire and Inferno.

The other Seekers tried to cover their leaders in the battle but it was then that one of them – with bright green armor – spotted something on the horizon. “Commander, we’ve got incoming!”

Starscream looked and saw the Decepticon ground forces on the retreat from Prowl and the other Autobots, including Ratchet and the rest of the crew from the Ark. “Lord Megatron, we’re losing ground!” Starscream yelled… just before he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he looked, he came faceplate-to-faceplate with Applejack who quickly punched him away, knocking him into the arms of his brothers.

Megatron snarled as he saw this, just barely parrying a swipe from Optimus’ ax that knocked him to the ground. “Soundwave, send the GroundBridge!” His orders were quickly followed by the large vortex forming not far away from him. “Decepticons, retreat!” The Decepticons quickly broke off from battle as they raced through the vortex, Megatron firing at Optimus to keep him back. “This is far from over, Optimus Prime! The AllSpark will be mine and when it is, all upon this world shall bow to me!” With that, he disappeared through the vortex before it vanished.

The Autobots cheered at this victory as Applejack dropped back to human-form, though Prowl seemed less than enthusiastic. And the girls quickly saw why; the students all seemed amazed by their appearance. “This isn’t good, Prime. They seem talkative.”

Optimus simply smiled as he collapsed his mouth-plate and visor. “Prowl, the people of this city have kept the exploits of our human friends secret this long. What makes you believe they cannot continue to do so?”

Prowl scowled; he really didn’t like this plan, but it was too late now. Sunset smiled as she looked up at Bumblebee. “Looks like we’re gonna introduce you around after all.” Bee just smiled back; he’d admit later that he’d been hoping to get more personable with humanity outside of just his holoform.

Then Rainbow looked around and noticed something. “Hey, wait a sec. Where’s Mirage?”

“Carrying out my part of the plan,” Wheeljack smirked.

And sure enough, just as he’d planned, another GroundBridge opened and Mirage stepped out through it before it disappeared.

“Transponder’s in place on a computer terminal; we have the location of the Nemesis,” he reported. “Nice call on the remote-control GroundBridge, Wheeljack.”

“Well, I do have my moments.” the engineer smirked. “How’d the cloak do?”

“Worked like a dream,” Mirage responded with a smile.

Unfortunately, it was at just that moment that a familiar black car rumbled over and someone stepped out. It was the Mayor, and she did not look happy. “What in the name of heaven happened here?”

Prowl glanced over at Optimus as if to tell him ‘I warned you.’ Optimus ignored him and looked down at the mayor. “That is a long story. And one I insist on telling at eye-level.” With that, Optimus quickly transformed and projected his holoform in front of the mayor, who was more than a bit surprised as the avatar extended his hand. What Optimus said next would shape the future of the city for ages to come. “We come in peace.”

Diplomacy

After Megatron’s recent invasion of Canterlot City, Optimus had officially opened diplomatic relations with the mayor, who was none too happy at the destruction from the battle. “So you’re alien soldiers engaged in a war.” So far, things weren’t going very well. “I suppose you’re here to invade.”

“You see any Decepticon logos on our bot-bods?” Ironhide was at the table for the negotiations, and he wasn’t doing a very good job of breaking the ice like that.

Optimus simply raised a hand to his warrior, to quiet him down. “Madame Mayor, if our intention were domination, would we not have allowed Megatron to destroy this city?”

“Maybe you’re just playing the long game.” That was the local police chief Knight Watch, not very trusting of the mayor’s mechanical guests; humanoid holomatter avatars or not. “Trying to lull us into a false sense of security before-”

“Did you not see what Megatron tried to do?!” Prowl yelled in rage, surprising everyone. “A school filled with innocent lives, his first target in this entire town! Not government, not law enforcement, children!”

“Stand down, Prowl!” Ironhide’s firm order forced the sergeant back to his seat, still seething in rage at the now silent room.

Optimus scowled as he looked back at the mayor. “While I disapprove of Prowl’s outburst, I must say that he has thoroughly made his point.” he began simply. “Megatron feels no emotion for those lifeforms he considers beneath him or those who stand against him. All he wishes for now is dominion over the universe.”

“And what is it that you want, Optimus Prime?” the mayor asked seriously.

“Only to correct a mistake, and restore our homeworld Cybertron to its former glory,” Optimus replied simply.

“And for that, you need soldiers?” asked Knight Watch.

“Times of war breed warriors, Knight Watch,” Optimus explained simply. “The Autobots fight for the day we no longer have to.”

The mayor was seemingly moved by this, as she glanced around the table before focusing on Optimus. “I assume you’ll want something from us?”

“Somewhere to stay that ain’t a shipwreck in the hills would be nice.” Ironhide shrugged.

Optimus smiled before regaining seriousness. “The Autobots will do their part to defend your city if the people do their part to allow us to maintain our secrecy from the outside world. And if any other reports of Cybertronian life in this area come up – Autobot or Decepticon – we will attend to it.”

The mayor mulled it over in her head and smiled. “Well, I suppose that sounds fair. But what exactly did you have in mind for defense?”

“Don’t worry; I’m sure Wheeljack has some ideas.” Ironhide smiled.

“Why shouldn’t they be worried by that?” Prowl smirked back at the old bot.

Optimus just shot a telling glare over to them, telling them to quiet down before he returned to the discussion. “While the Autobots will live among your people, I would appreciate it if they would be treated as equals and as dignified lifeforms.”

“Of course.” the mayor nodded and shook Optimus’ hand. “I’ll make an announcement in two days.” That was all the Autobots had to hear as they left the office, soon disappearing once outside and driving away in their bot-modes.

Soon enough, the three of them arrived at the site of the battle near the school, where they found the rest of the Autobots working with human repair crews to fix all the damage to the road and surroundings their battle had caused. “Everything’s ahead of schedule, Optimus,” Cliffjumper reported as the commander transformed. “I’ve gotta tell ya, having the humans know about us is a serious help.”

“How’d it go with the mayor?” asked Twilight.

“Very well, Twilight.” Optimus nodded. “She will make an announcement soon, ensuring that the Autobots will have a safe haven in this town for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s great!” Pinkie smiled. “Then I can get started on your ‘Welcome to Canterlot’ party early!”

“You might wanna hold off on that, kid.” Prowl brought up. “I still feel like this was all a mistake.” That statement appeared to draw some attention from Optimus. “Now that the humans know about Cybertron, how long will it be until one of them slips up and tells the rest of the world about us?”

“Give us some credit, Prowl.” Rainbow shrugged. “Earlier today, the people here didn’t even know you guys existed.”

“And I would’ve preferred we keep it that way.” Prowl scowled. “Even ignoring the possibility that someone might give away our existence, our presence just gives the Decepticons another target to attack.” He glanced over at Optimus, who was helping move rubble from the street. “And I think Megatron made it pretty clear in our ‘negotiations’ earlier that he doesn’t care how many humans he has to go through if it means getting his hands on the AllSpark.”

“Yeah well, it’s our job to make sure he doesn’t have to count,” Sideswipe smirked.

“Bout time you got a job outside the military.” Sunstreaker rolled his eyes, seeming to offend his brother.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cmon Sideswipe; before the war, you only ever raced around on Velocitron.” Sunstreaker reminded. “I was the one bringin’ in the money.”

“Hey, I brought some cash home too.” Sideswipe reminded. “Remember that big-league race I won? That prize was huge.”

“Whatever.” Sunstreaker and his brother continued to argue all day.

And Rainbow? Well, she just smirked over at Prowl. “I’m tellin’ ya, you bots are gonna fit in around here just fine.” Prowl still wasn’t completely sure, but he didn’t deny; it certainly seemed like they would fit in well around this town.

I Spy...

With the Autobots now welcomed to Canterlot City, their hunt for the AllSpark resumed, but now they had the aid of everyone in town. Wheeljack and Twilight were calculating possible ways for how the other girls could activate their Armors as they showed some of the other bots around town.

In fact, at the moment; Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Sunset had just escorted their partners to Sugarcube Corner, which they were able to enter through the use of their avatars. “Nice place.” Bumblebee smiled as he looked around, pleased by the simple décor and friendly atmosphere. “Not exactly Maccadam’s, but still pretty good.”

“Easy for you to say; Maccadam’s doorman carded me every time I went in. He knew how old I was after the first time; cmon man.” Arcee rolled her eyes.

“Wait, what is this Maccadam’s place?” Sunset was right to ask; they didn’t know a lot about Cybertron.

Bumblebee just smirked. “Only the greatest bar ever to grace the face of Cybertron. Owner’s a bit eccentric; always says these weird things out of the blue that never really make any sense.”

“Except in retrospect; remember that skirmish at the Hydrax Plateau? I’m pretty certain he predicted that like three weeks before it happened.” Cliffjumper reminded.

“In the early days of the war, the bar was considered neutral ground thanks to Maccadam’s strict ‘no fighting’ policy. Nowadays… I dunno.” Arcee shrugged, glancing to the others. “You guys think he’s still there?”

“We can only hope,” Cliffjumper smirked. “After all, it’d be a shame to lose the bot with the best Engex in the universe, am I right fellas?” The others laughed in agreement at that.

“A no barfight rule in a warzone? Yeah, that doesn’t sound pointless at all.” Rainbow rolled her eyes sarcastically.

“Lemme put it to you this way; when that rule was almost broken once, even Megatron soiled his armor.” That was all Cliffjumper had to say to make sure Rainbow stayed quiet.

“Hey cmon bots, let’s not dwell on the past,” Beachcomber assured.

“Beachcomber’s right; we’ve gotta live life in the moment,” Bee smirked. “And right now, the moment calls for something to get the ol’ fluids pumpin’.”

“I hear ya.” Sunset smiled before she whistled over to the counter. “Hey Mr. Cake, can me and the girls get our usuals and four shots of espresso for our friends here please?”

“Comin’ right up.” Mr. Cake smiled back. It didn’t take long before the drinks were brought out.

Cliffjumper smirked as the bots picked up their shots. “Bottoms up, Autobots.” They clinked their glasses and knocked them back in a single move.

With Bumblebee reacting first. “Whoo! Tastes like bitter nitrous.”

“You guys drink nitrous? That’s awesome!” That seriously got Rainbow interested.

“What else is gonna get a bot awake in the morning?” Cliffjumper smirked before he noticed Arcee appeared a bit distracted. “You okay, Cee? You look kinda jumpy.”

“Sorry. Just kinda worried some ‘Con’s gonna see us parked out front and try to blow us up.” Arcee shrugged. “I’m gonna slip out, recalibrate my eyes.”

“Bathroom’s in the back; use the one with the skirt on the door.” Rainbow instructed as Arcee left. “Is she really okay?”

“She should be.” Bumblebee shrugged. “She’s ex-military intelligence; used to work with Prowl before the Ark took off. Got kinda paranoid after one assignment; won’t say what though. And I’m not about to pry.”

“I’m pretty sure Bluestreak knows somehow,” Cliffjumper smirked as he put up his feet. He was just getting ready to relax and unzip his jacket when he noticed something outside; a black Nissan Silvia S15 with red-tinted glass and brass hubcaps on the street outside. “Ah, scrap; Con, Con!” Quickly his avatar disappeared and his engine revved outside, prompting the black car to peel out down the street.

Naturally, the girls were more than a bit confused when they saw Cliffjumper take off after the car, as were the other bots as Beachcomber quickly turned on his com-unit. “Cliff, what’s going on?”

“It’s Deadlock; he was watchin’ us, and I’m goin’ after him.”

“Deadlock?! You can’t take him on alone! I’m on my way!” Bumblebee quickly deactivated his avatar and drove off after them at top speed. “Bumblebee to Prowl; Cliffjumper and I are pursuing Deadlock south down Fifth. We need backup.”

“Roger that, Bumblebee; Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are en route,” Prowl reported.

“Arcee, we’re gonna need some assistance just in case. Arcee?” The lack of an answer was scaring Bumblebee more than a bit. “Arcee, do you copy? Beachcomber, Arcee isn’t responding; find her.”

“Girls are already on it.” Beachcomber was right; Sunset and Rainbow had dashed to the restroom and kicked open the door to find Arcee on the floor, bound and gagged.

“Arcee, what happened?” Sunset asked seriously, ripping the duct tape off her mouth.

“Gah! Ow, now I know how you feel when you wax.” Arcee growled as she sat up. “It’s Flamewar; she knocked me out and I think she’s rigging my body to blow.” Beachcomber heard that and quickly deactivated his hologram, transforming into his bot-mode just in time to see Flamewar come around the corner behind the building holding a small block-like structure.

Quickly, Beachcomber raised a small pistol to the fem-bot to hold her back. “Whoa there, spark-sister. I’m gonna need you to put that down.”

“I’m not your sister, Autobot.” Flamewar snarled in derangement. “But Arcee… Oh Arcee, my beloved… we have so much catching up to do.”

She was about to attack but was interrupted by Arcee suddenly transforming and drawing two large Energon swords from her backpack. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll pass.”

“What? How? The inhibitor claw-”

“Ya mean this thing?” Rainbow yelled, tossing a small metal device at Flamewar, which latched right on to her breastplate, locking her bow – which she was in the process of drawing – on her back.

Flamewar snarled but laughed inanely at Arcee. “I don’t need weapons to defeat you, Arcee.” And she started to prove it as the two entered a powerful hand-to-hand battle, with Flamewar matching and parrying every one of Arcee’s strikes and eventually knocking her straight to the ground. “I’ve trained for countless cycles to destroy you in every way I know you hate. A pity he couldn’t be here to see you die.” That statement alone seemed to awaken something in Arcee as a bright red visor flipped in front of her optics. “You know who I mean, don’t you? Poor Ch-”

She almost dropped the name before Arcee spun around and backhanded her. Hard. The force of her attack even sent her spinning around in a daze before she faced Arcee again, who grabbed her by the shoulder plate. “I’ve tried to hold back. But just know, if you ever even think his name again, I will personally scrap you.”

“Not when I scrap you first.” Flamewar smirked… before Arcee felt a stabbing pain in her midsection, caused by the knife her rival had just stabbed into her right waist. “And I will scrap you.”

She nearly made good on her word when she ripped the inhibitor claw off her breastplate and drew her bow, aiming a plasma arrow straight at Arcee’s head… only to be reminded that they weren’t alone at the sound of Beachcomber’s pistol cocking behind her head. “I may not like this war, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight for my friends.”

Flamewar scowled over her shoulder at the dune buggy but smirked back down at Arcee as she lowered her bow. “Some other time then, my beloved. But first, a souvenir.” She swung her bow and bashed Arcee across the chest, knocking a small shard of her upper breastplate to the ground… which Flamewar dove to grab into her hands. She breathed in deeply and gave an almost aroused sigh before she transformed and roared away.

“You okay, Cee?” Beachcomber asked, extending a hand to help her up.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be fine.” Arcee nodded as she stood, a bit concerned about the fairly massive gash in the top of her left breastplate, exposing her metallic flesh.

“What was that all about?” asked Rainbow.

“Flamewar’s been obsessed with trying to kill me since my days with Intelligence.” Arcee shrugged. “I’ve tried talking her down, but nothing I’ve said has ever worked.”

“I just hope the others are okay.” A reasonable concern from Sunset, especially since she didn’t know what this Deadlock bot was capable of.

Though the two muscle cars would know soon enough as they roared after him, soon joined by a red Lamborghini Huracan and a gold Lamborghini Gallardo – Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in reality.

“What took you guys so long?” Bumblebee asked seriously.

“Out on patrol; had to haul chassis to make it,” Sunstreaker assured.

“Some humans wanted autographs; Sunstreaker obliged.” Sideswipe corrected.

“Well, I hope you didn’t work your finger servos too hard Sunny, cause we’ve got work to do,” Cliffjumper smirked. “I’m thinkin’ we go for a Crystal City gambit.”

“Let’s do it. Sideswipe, get ready.” Bumblebee ordered as he and Sunstreaker pulled up along Deadlock’s sides as Cliffjumper swung around front.

“Brake-check!” Cliff laughed as he slammed on his brakes, prompting Deadlock to quickly transform to bot-mode and jump over Cliffjumper… only to suddenly be shot in the back by Sideswipe, who had also transformed and brought a really big gun, knocking Deadlock into a skid down the road.

Sideswipe smirked as he walked over, pinning Deadlock to the ground with his foot. “I love the Crystal City gambit. Never fails.”

“I’ll be ready for it next time.” Deadlock smirked back at the Autobots as they surrounded him.

“You don’t tell us what we wanna know, there won’t be a next time, Butcher of Vos,” Bumblebee assured, flipping a large electrically charged stinger out from his wrist and aiming it at his face. “Now why were you watching us?”

“Megatron ordered me to run recon. And keep an eye on Flamewar.” Deadlock shrugged.

“Flamewar?!” That was more than enough reason for Bumblebee to turn on the coms. “Arcee, you okay?”

“I’m fine, Bee.” The team was surprised to see her and Beachcomber roaring up with the girls on board before transforming, with Bee seeing the break in Arcee’s armor. “Flamewar just got a few lucky hits in, took part of my breastplate as a souvenir before she left.”

“Knowing her, she’s probably gonna self-polish while smelling it.” Sideswipe shrugged, shuddering at that image. “She is seriously messed up.”

“You don’t know the half of it. And unfortunately, neither do I.” Arcee shrugged as she walked over. “And who have we here; the Butcher of Vos.”

The girls were surprised to hear that title, but Fluttershy was even more surprised to see a strange almost pained look on Deadlock’s face when he heard it. “Watching Flamewar, I can understand but why did you feel the need to run recon on the girls?” asked Cliffjumper.

“To determine the best way to take their Armor from them.” Deadlock shrugged as best he could against the ground.

“And if you just happened to add four more notches to your Autobot kill-count, that would’ve been just fine too.” Sunstreaker shrugged.

“I’m trying to change my ways.” Deadlock scowled. “Though that’s a conversation I’d prefer to have upright.”

Bumblebee scowled but stepped back a bit. “Sideswipe, let him up. Everyone keep your guns on him.” They followed their orders as Deadlock carefully stood, only for Cliffjumper to reach over and gingerly remove two blaster pistols from his belt and a massive sniper rifle from his back. “Alright, now talk.”

Deadlock sighed as he raised his hands. “The Vos Massacre wasn’t of my design. I was under orders to carry it out… by my commander at the time; General Turmoil.”

That name seemed to shake the Autobots, but not nearly as much as Arcee. “Alright, you have our attention.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Keep talkin’.”

“That attack was what really opened my optics to how far the Decepticons had fallen.” Deadlock explained. “Turmoil told me that it was an Autobot stronghold, and instead… we found it full of neutrals. Innocent civilians.” That astounded the girls as to the cruelty of the Decepticons. “When Megatron ordered our siege of this city – another innocent civilization – I found myself unable to truly do my duty.”

“So what, you wanna defect?” asked Sideswipe.

“I may as well. Megatron already suspects my spark of weakening.” Deadlock shrugged. “Plus, if you let me join, I may be able to help in more ways than one. If I may?” He indicated to his belt, to which Bumblebee nodded, allowing Deadlock to pull a large data-drive. “This is data I pulled from the computers of the Nemesis before I left. It contains the ship’s exact specifications, including how to track it.”

Sideswipe just chuckled. “Hate to cut your lifeline short Deadlock, but we’ve already got a transponder in the Nemesis’ computer system.”

Rainbow just rolled her eyes. “Three, two, one.”

Sure enough, it was exactly then that Mirage came in on the coms. “Guys, I’ve got some bad news; the transponder I placed on the Nemesis just went offline.”

“What? How’s that possible? I thought you said you hid it really well.” Arcee brought up.

“Nothing can hide on that ship for long, especially not from Soundwave.” Deadlock reminded.

Bumblebee smirked as he collapsed his stinger back into his arm. “Guess we’re gonna need that drive of yours after all, Deadlock.” He moved to claim the drive from the warrior, scowling as he laid his hand on it. “But don’t think for a nano-cycle that this means we trust you.”

“I don’t expect you to.” Deadlock nodded. “I expect to have to earn your trust. I hope this will be a good way for me to start.” He promptly reached to his chest and pulled off the Decepticon insignia, crushing it in his hand before he dropped it into a nearby trash can, which raised an eyebrow from Sideswipe. “What? I’m an ex-killer, not a monster.”

“Um, that’s good enough for me,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“I guess the rest of us still need some convincing.” Sunstreaker shrugged, locking a large pair of handcuffs onto Deadlock's wrists. “Sideswipe and I will take him back to the Ark if you guys want to stay here.”

“Unacceptable.” That computerized voice frightened everyone, especially when they saw its source; Soundwave. “Deadlock, you are deserting your post and abandoning Lord Megatron. Punishment for desertion: Annihilation.”

“Scrap.” The Autobots all jinxed. This day was about to get a lot more difficult.

New Recruits

“Soundwave. What a coincidence; we were just talking about you.” Sideswipe smirked, leveling his blaster.

Soundwave simply ignored him and focused on Deadlock. “Objective: Deadlock. Stand aside or be terminated.”

“You can have him if you want.” That statement from Arcee scared the defector, but the smirk put him back at ease. “But if you want him, you’re gonna have to go through us.”

“Terms accepted. Prepare for termination.” Soundwave scowled, the large rotary cannon on his shoulder spinning and firing bolts of red plasma at the Autobots, who were quickly forced to roll to cover and return fire as the girls retreated to cover.

“I can help; just release me.” Deadlock offered, struggling against his cuffs.

“You really wanna help? You can still shoot with cuffs on, can’t you?” Cliffjumper smirked, sliding him his sniper rifle.

Deadlock scowled but shrugged. “Good enough, I guess.” Quickly, he dashed out toward Soundwave, holding his rifle almost like a club.

“What the frag are you doing?!” Bumblebee was right to ask; he seemed suicidal.

“Ravage, eject.” Soundwave quickly deployed a black data drive which suddenly transformed into a large robotic panther.

“Operation: Eradication.” Ravage quickly charged and pounced at Deadlock, who swiftly used his cuffs to block the Mini-Con’s attack, which in turn shattered them.

“Thanks.” Deadlock smirked before he punched Ravage away and dropped his gun, quickly charging Soundwave again to deliver a hand-to-hand combo, only for each blow to be parried.

“I gave you the gun for a reason, dude!” Cliffjumper reminded as he swiftly moved to support Deadlock.

“I never liked guns anyway.” Deadlock shrugged, bashing Soundwave in the face. “After Vos, I swore never to use one again, except to keep up appearances.”

“You sure you wanna defect?” Sideswipe smirked as he kicked Ravage away from his foot. “You sure seem like a Decepticon.”

“Don’t even joke like that.” Deadlock scowled… only to end up shot in the back by a large round blaster Soundwave now held in his right hand, swiftly blasting all the other Autobots as well, knocking them down in pain.

The girls were terrified to see their bots go down, especially when they saw Soundwave produce a large boxy unit which he placed between them and activated, starting a low beeping as Ravage transformed and returned to his chest cavity. “Termination successful,” Soundwave said darkly before a GroundBridge opened behind him. He calmly walked through before it disappeared.

Rainbow easily recognized the device near the other bots without even needing to understand Cybertronian tech. “Bomb!” Quickly she dashed over and smacked Cliffjumper in the face over and over until he roused from his forced slumber. “Cliff, bomb!”

Cliffjumper quickly glanced to the side and his optics popped at the sight of the bomb on the street. “I got it.” Quickly he rolled over to the bomb and tossed it into the air with a single powerful throw where it promptly exploded, the blast waking all the others in shock. “Everyone okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re good.” Bumblebee groaned as they stood.

“Man, I hate those concussion blasters,” Arcee grumbled.

“You’re telling me.” Deadlock groaned, suddenly doubling over as he grasped his midsection.

Fluttershy looked and saw something that seriously concerned her; liquid Energon bleeding from his metallic flesh. “You’re hurt.”

The others looked and were fairly surprised when they saw several parallel slash-marks on his midsection. “Guess Ravage got in a lucky hit.” Cliffjumper rationalized.

“Well, I guess we should take him to the Ark. And get him locked up,” Sideswipe growled, cuffing the ex-Con again. “Lifeline can treat him in his cell.”

Fluttershy seemed to ignore him as she stepped forward and examined the wound. “I think I can fix it here.”

Rainbow seemed surprised. “Since when can you fix bots?”

“Since I saw her talking to Ratchet in Sick Bay recently,” Sunset smirked as Fluttershy pulled a small kit out of her backpack. “He’s teaching you to be a medic, isn’t he?” Fluttershy blushed as she remembered when she approached the Autobots’ medic.

“Ratchet? That crotchety old bucket?” Sideswipe smirked. “Why would he agree to teach you anything?”

“It doesn’t matter if someone’s an enemy or not. Everyone deserves a little kindness.” It was that statement that prompted Fluttershy to Pony-Up, her low wings spreading behind her back before her Geode glowed brighter, just like Applejack’s. “Wha- What’s going on?!” Fluttershy whimpered in abject terror.

“We’re getting another fragment of the map.” Bumblebee was right; Fluttershy’s Spark-Shift Armor unit hovered from her pocket and locked onto her geode, which started pulsing with energy.

The Armor gave a loud ring and a massive swarm of small energy butterflies shot from the geode, surrounding Fluttershy’s body and hovering her into the air before they suddenly became solid, taking on the exact colors of her body and clothes; her arms and face turned pale yellow while white shoulder-rings formed below the joint as her torso and thighs turned bright blue to emulate her dress with a bright pink butterfly-button appearing on her collarbone. Her waist turned bright pink with another butterfly appearing on the front as her shins and feet turned pale pink and yellow.

Her head was surrounded by a blue helmet-style construct with pink trim and pale pink steel-cable hair flowing from it with a white butterfly-barrette as her bright blue optics opened, revealing a deeper blue in the centers from her natural eyes. But then something surprising happened; four large pale yellow helicopter-blades protruded from her back, flipping out small feather-like pieces of metal before energy fields were emitted from each of them, making them appear to be some sort of blend between Fluttershy’s Pegasus wings and butterfly wings.

(Cut it)

The others were in awe of this new form, especially the blades from her back. “Whoa. Looks like we’ve got a copter-bot, guys.” Bumblebee smirked as Fluttershy carefully helped Deadlock to his feet. He turned on his coms and tuned them to the Ark. “Wheeljack, send the GroundBridge and tell everyone else to meet us at the ship. Get Teletraan ready and tell Ratchet to prep a CR Chamber; we’re bringing more of the map and a patient.”

“Ratchet’s not gonna be happy about this.” Sideswipe reminded.

“Is he ever happy about anything these days?” Sunstreaker countered.

“Eh, touché.” his brother shrugged.

It didn’t take long for the GroundBridge to open as the team made their way through to find Wheeljack and Red Alert waiting… both of whom appeared shocked when they saw Deadlock. “What in the name of the Fallen is he doing here?” Red Alert growled.

“He’s Ratchet’s patient.” Bumblebee replied with a strong look on his face. “Sideswipe, get Deadlock to sickbay. Wheeljack, Teletraan, map-data.”

“Got it.” Sideswipe nodded as he took Deadlock from Fluttershy and started walking him down the hall and turned to the right.

“I said sickbay, Sideswipe; not the brig!” Bumblebee yelled down the hallway after him.

“Alright-alright, I heard you! Sheesh.” Sideswipe groaned as he went down the left hallway.

Bumblebee just groaned as he looked at Sunstreaker, the others arriving in the hangar right then. “How the hell do you put up with him?”

“It’s actually easier than you might think.” the gold bot shrugged.

“Easy or not, the silver lining is we’ve got another part of the map, and another bot.” Wheeljack smiled as he plugged a cable into the data drive on Fluttershy’s wrist, pulling the data and overlaying it with the data from Applejack’s drive, bringing up a more complete globe on the computer. “Two down, five to go Optimus.”

“Excellent news, Wheeljack.” Optimus nodded.

“Tell that to whatever genius brought a Decepticon war criminal aboard this ship and sent him to my sickbay!” Ratchet yelled as he marched out angrily.

“That would be me.” Bumblebee brought up.

“And exactly why did you do that?” asked Red Alert.

“Because he wants to defect.” Sunset explained quickly.

“Deadlock? An Autobot? He was responsible for the murder of 200 innocent Cybertronian civilians in the Vos Massacre.” Red Alert reminded.

“Turmoil was responsible for those murders.” Arcee corrected, stunning everyone. “Deadlock thought he was attacking Autobots, not civilians.”

Optimus appeared deeply disturbed by this news. “If Deadlock was truly unaware of this fact, then it would stand to reason that his defection was an act of providence,” he assured. “With such an honorable spark, I have no doubt that he would make an excellent Autobot.”

“Nice work, Fluttershy. Looks like we’ve got two new bots now.” Rainbow smiled at her friend as she dropped back down to human-form. “You and Deadlock.”

“About that… maybe we should recommend he change his name,” Sunset suggested. “I mean… ‘Deadlock’ doesn’t exactly sound like an Autobot name.”

“She’s got a point.” Wheeljack shrugged.

“That will be his decision to make,” Optimus assured. “But I am first to admit; one spark across the line in the sand is hardly a difference in this war. We must prepare for future clashes, and complete the map to the AllSpark as soon as possible.” Those orders would be followed soon, tipping the scale in the war.

Way of the Blade

“Okay, the first step for a road trip; planning exactly where we’re going.” Twilight instructed. “So where to?”

Deadlock looked over the map of the planet, definitely intrigued as he looked it over. “How about here?”

Sunset seemed surprised by his choice. “Japan? Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just… something in my spark says that’s the place to go.” Deadlock shrugged.

“Well, far be it for me to argue with a bot’s spark.” Wheeljack shrugged as he lowered the GroundBridge. “Looks like you’re goin’ to Japan.”

“Not alone.” Prowl insisted. “Two rookies, an unarmed defector, and half a dozen liabilities aren’t exactly something Megatron would be afraid of.”

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded, turning to his officers. “Smokescreen, Bumblebee, accompany the team as a contingency unit.”

“You got it, big bot.” Smokescreen nodded, before wrapping his arm around Lifeline’s waist and pulling her to his chest. “Wish me luck, babe.” Lifeline gave a coy giggle but kissed him before he transformed and revved over to the others, seriously annoying Bumblebee.

Bluestreak just rolled his optics as he glanced over at Prowl. “I don’t know what our brother sees in her.”

“What do you think? An interesting study-case.” Prowl shrugged.

“You’re only sayin’ that because you don’t have femmes like her on your arms.” Smokescreen revved as the girls boarded him, Bumblebee, and Deadlock, who was now sporting a new holo-avatar in the form of a young man with dark hair, clothes, and red eyes, at least for the interim.

“Whatever, Smokey. Let’s just roll out.” Bumblebee ordered as the GroundBridge opened, prompting the team to roar through the vortex.

When they left the GroundBridge, they found themselves out in the streets of a Japanese city. “We don’t know much about this part of Earth; where exactly are we?” Bumblebee asked.

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re in Matsumoto.” Twilight glanced around out through the window. “Wheeljack has good taste in destinations.”

“Isn’t there a Samurai castle in this area?” asked Sunset.

“‘Samurai’?” Deadlock seemed confused by the word.

“Honorable warriors from the ancient days of this country.” Twilight explained. “And yeah, there’s a castle just up this way.” And sure enough, upon driving out of the main city, the team found themselves out at the gates of the great black Matsumoto Castle.

Once there, the girls and holo-avatars left the vehicles and walked through the gates. After paying their admittance in Japanese cash – which Twilight happened to have on hand for just such a purpose for some reason – they wandered around through the collection in the castle’s halls, admiring the halls filled with ancient Japanese relics; art, armor, and weapons. “Magnificent.” Deadlock remarked.

Rainbow smirked as she looked between him and the rest of the team. “Looks like we found our new guy his new lease on life.”

“That right, partner?” Applejack smirked.

Deadlock smiled right back at her and nodded. “Absolutely. I’ll study the samurai’s ways until I truly earn the Autobots’ trust.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you’re gonna need some blades.” Bumblebee brought up, looking at the beautiful swords around the hall.

“I’ll make some in the armory. Assuming Red Alert and Prowl are willing to let me in-” He stopped midsentence and seemed to focus on something.

“What is it?” asked Rarity.

“I feel something. Almost like something’s calling out to my spark.” Deadlock remarked, looking over at Bumblebee and Smokescreen. “Do you guys feel it too?”

“Not really.” Bumblebee shrugged.

“I can feel it. Cmon, let’s check it out.” To keep up appearances, Deadlock led the team out through the main door before they all saddled up and drove out of Matsumoto.

It was a long drive – almost three hours straight along the long and winding roads through Japan’s countryside until at last, they arrived on the slopes of Japan’s most recognizable landmark; Mt. Fuji, which was fairly abandoned. “I don’t get it.” Rainbow shrugged as the bots transformed. “What are we looking for here?”

“I’m not sure yet myself.” Deadlock shrugged. “But I’ve been feeling something in my spark coming from this country for ages.”

“Well, we might as well start digging. See what we can- Gah!” Smokescreen was suddenly knocked off his feet and onto his chest by that sudden blast to his back, scaring the others.

“Smokescreen!” Bumblebee reacted with fear and moved to his side, immediately seeing what had shot him; a massive green and orange Type 90 tank which suddenly transformed into a large robot with a gold skull-shaped chestplate and a skeletal face in a red helmet.

“Bludgeon.” Deadlock recognized. “I suppose Megatron sent you to kill me?”

“Correct, Deadlock.” Bludgeon snarled, his skeletal mouth perfectly pronouncing every syllable as he drew a large silver katana-like blade from the tank barrel on his back and a tantō from his missile launcher. “And now, it is time you were scrapped.”

“I beg to differ,” Bumblebee smirked, flipping out his stinger and battle mask, firing to keep Bludgeon at bay. “Fluttershy, tend to Smokescreen. Applejack, with me; we’ll keep Bludgeon busy. Deadlock, get digging. Everyone else take cover.” Everyone quickly did as they were told, with Applejack and Fluttershy shifting to bot-mode and moving to their assignments as the other girls dove for cover under some rocks as Deadlock dug.

Bumblebee and Applejack were able to hold Bludgeon back for a good long while, but not long enough as the Decepticon warrior managed two strong blows on each, knocking them both away. Fluttershy had managed to patch Smokescreen enough to move him out of harm’s way, only to see her friends go down and fear the worst. “Now for you, traitor.”

Deadlock seemed to simply smirk as he stood from his kneeling position and slowly turned to face the skeletal warrior. “You really want me, Bludgeon? Come and get me.” He turned and showed the team what he had dug up; a massive ōdachi-style sword.

Sunset was amazed, even moreso when she saw he had also found two smaller katana-like swords which he sheathed in the places he had once carried his blaster-pistols. “So you wish for a duel? Very well.” Bludgeon scowled, sheathing his knife and raising his sword to his opponent.

Everyone moved back as the two circled each other for a few moments, before Bludgeon swiftly charged, clashing blades with the new warrior. Deadlock strained to hold him back but was slowly forced into the side of the mountain. “You are strong Deadlock, but the only one to ever equal me in a duel is Lord Megatron, and you are nowhere near his level.”

Deadlock scowled as he felt the stone against his back until he managed to let Bludgeon’s sword slip off his own and bash the skeletal warrior into the wall face-first. “Deadlock is no more, Bludgeon.” As if to prove it, he glanced off in the direction of the road where he saw a car just like him but with a white paintjob and red decals.

Quickly, he scanned the vehicle and his black paint faded, replaced with gleaming white and red. “That was a mere title Megatron gave to me.” His sword seemed to gleam with bright blue light as he opened his optics, now glowing blue as his blade. “From now on, as I once was known, I am Drift.”

“Awesome,” Rainbow remarked quietly as she looked at the new bot, who swiftly charged Bludgeon. The skeletal warrior was surprised by Drift’s eagerness to attack and quickly raised his blade in defense, only for the blade to break with a single slash, the end flying far away.

If he had a real faceplate, it was clear it would be showing worry as Drift swung again, only to hit air as Bludgeon slipped out of the way and aimed one of his shoulder-mounted rocket packs at the ground, creating a large cloud of smoke which allowed him to vanish. “Until next time…” That cryptic threat was the last thing anyone heard from Bludgeon after he disappeared into thin air.

Drift sighed as his ōdachi powered down and he sheathed it onto his back. “That was awesome! How the heck did you do that?” asked Rainbow.

“Wait a sec, that sword… that’s a spark-blade.” Bumblebee recognized. “It draws power directly from your spark to energize it.”

Smokescreen smirked as he trudged over, still weak from the blast earlier even with all of Fluttershy’s aid. “Oughtta be careful with that thing; I hear they can cause a bot’s spark to completely burn out.”

“Guess that means I’ll only have to use it as a last resort.” Drift smirked as he stood. “Good thing I have these too.” He swiftly drew both his katana and swung them around, as if getting a feel for their weight before he sheathed them.

“Cool. But I kinda feel like you’re missing something.” Twilight remarked.

Drift smirked as he crossed his arms. “You mean this?” With that, a red structure flipped up onto his face from under his chin, covering everything under his optics – revealed to be a samurai-style battle-mask. “I added this in when I changed my paint.”

“Now we’re talking.” Twilight smiled.

“Yeah, you look awesome!” Rainbow agreed, before looking at the broken rocks from the duel. “But aren’t you worried Bludgeon might be back to finish things?”

“If he does, I’ll be able to find out if his face is his real skull.” Drift assured, disconcerting the others as he collapsed his mask. “But to do that, I’ll need some intense training.”

“Maybe it’s a mask too, and he actually looks like…” Pinkie smiled, making ridiculous faces and accompanying noises, which couldn’t help but make the others crack up.

“Looks like we’re getting another piece of the map early.” Applejack smirked, and sure enough; with all the laughter, Pinkie Ponied-Up and her Geode glowed brighter, as her Armor unit hovered from her pocket before it locked onto her geode and started pulsing.

The Armor gave a loud ring before a cloud of pink crystalline dust started forming from her geode surrounding her entire body. “Uh-oh.” Applejack realized as the mass grew to bot-size.

“Why ‘uh-oh’?” asked Bumblebee.

“That’s probably sugar, and since Pinkie’s power lets her explode sugar when she touches it, we’re looking at a really big boom.” Twilight explained.

“Oh scrap, she’s right. Take cover!” Smokescreen yelled as everyone dove for cover as the sugar exploded in a massive cloud of pink smoke, with the smoke suddenly condensing into large metal plates which flew back to the hovering Pinkie, forming a bot-sized suit of armor; her feet were bright pink with blue soles, her shins and lower thighs were sheer white, her upper thighs and hips were three separate shades of pink, her torso turned bright white with blue trim and a bright pink balloon-shaped button on her collarbone.

Her arms and face turned the same pink as her skin as a white helmet construct with gold trim like Fluttershy’s formed on her head as her puffy pink hair shot out as curled steel cables, her optics opening to reveal her brighter blue in the centers. “Ooh! Shiny!” She was right; her bodywork was very shiny.

(Cut it)

“Looks like we’ve almost won this race,” Bumblebee smirked, turning on his com-unit. “Wheeljack, send the GroundBridge and get ready for another download.” Bumblebee was right about one thing; with Drift on-hand and three Spark-Shifters, the Autobots had nearly achieved victory.

Elsewhere, the Nemesis hung in the air as Bludgeon made his way to the bridge. “I see a substantial lack of Energon on your blade, Bludgeon,” Starscream noted. “Why have you not brought our master Deadlock’s head?”

“Because, Commander Starscream, Drift has managed to match me in combat.” Bludgeon explained in shame. “But make no mistake; the next time we meet, I will destroy him.”

“I have no doubt. But I’m afraid that ‘next time’ will not come for a while.” Megatron scowled. “I’ve consulted a professional to handle this traitor. And the Autobots’ human pets.”

Bludgeon and Starscream were both confused by what he meant by that until they heard a lighter click behind them. They glanced behind them and saw a familiar-looking black and green Decepticon with a tattered tarp poncho – barely hiding a black skull-like insignia on his chest – and a metal-brimmed hat. And a massive hook for a right hand with a large revolver on his left hip. “Lockdown? We’re resorting to bounty hunters, Lord Megatron?” Starscream seemed disappointed by this decision as Lockdown approached, a puff of smoke leaving his mouth from a metallic cigar as the wheel-spurs in his shins spun with every step.

“You want folk dead and caught, dontcha? Well then, I’m just about the best ‘bot in the universe to bring ‘em to ya.” Lockdown scowled, glancing up at Megatron. “Course, my services ain’t free.”

“Skywarp.” Megatron’s order was swiftly followed as the Seeker stepped forward with a large cube of Energon in his hands. “Five tons of Energon, as we agreed.”

“We agreed on ten tons.” Lockdown corrected.

“I know all about you Mercenaries; if I pay you in full upfront, you’ll just disappear.” Megatron scowled.

“Megatron lemme tell ya somethin’ bout me; I ain’t good with names or faces, but when I take a contract, I either see it through or I die tryin’.” Lockdown scowled, lifting his hat to glare at the warlord under the brim. “And I ain’t dead yet.”

Megatron simply scowled down at the bounty hunter but gestured for Thundercracker to bring another cube forward, the same size as the one Skywarp was holding. “Satisfied?”

Lockdown smirked as he let out a puff of smoke and tapped the cubes with his hook. “Very much so,” he assured, glancing at the two Seekers. “Go put that on my ship.” Skywarp and Thundercracker nodded as they left for the hangar, allowing him to redirect his gaze up to Megatron. “Give me two solar cycles and you’ll have either a trophy on your mantle or a loaded brig.” With that, he raised his hook and tipped his hat. “Pleasure doin’ business with ya.” With that, he walked off the bridge to the GroundBridge, knowing that the Autobots had no idea what was coming.

Author's Note

As promised, now that they're both available, I can now show you an image of Pinkie and AJ's bot-modes. These are their initial forms though, so you'll have to fill in the alt-mode kibble yourselves.

Art by elioo

Also Lockdown's file is by CyRaptor (just ignore the hand on his right arm)

Great Minds

With Pinkie’s piece, the map to the AllSpark was ever closer to completion and for his outstanding work in defending his comrades, Drift was officially welcomed into the ranks of the Autobots… though Prowl and Red Alert still didn’t completely trust him.

But at least they had an easier time than Wheeljack; he was stuck with Pinkie as she tried to pick her alt-mode. “Ooh, this looks good! Ooh, or how about this? Or this? Oh, this looks awesome!”

“For Quintus’ sake, just pick something.” Wheeljack groaned. “I swear sometimes I wonder why I volunteered for alt-mode orientation.”

“Okay Jackie, okay; sheesh, don’t need to be sour about it.” Pinkie smiled, flipping through the collection until she found something that struck her; a convertible 2010 Pontiac Solstice.

“Ooh! Yes please.” It took her less than a second to scan the vehicle and load its data into her internal drives, as her body took on aspects of the vehicle; wheels on her shoulders and heels, and the front end upside-down to form her breastplate.

“Alright, I admit it; that looks good on you.” Wheeljack shrugged, glancing back at the computer. “Teletraan, how’s it goin’ on that map decrypt?”

“Slowly. So far, I haven’t found anywhere that might be the AllSpark.” Teletraan reported, bringing up the still incomplete map. “At this point, I believe the only way we will be able to find it is if we have a complete map.”

“We don’t have that kinda time,” Wheeljack grumbled. “The Decepticons have mining ops all over this planet, drilling for Energon and other minerals to try and help them win the war. What’s gonna happen if somehow, one of those mining ops just stumbles onto the AllSpark? I’ll tell ya what happens; we lose the war.”

“I don’t understand that.” Rainbow pointed out as she walked across the console. “Both sides want to restore Cybertron, so what does it matter which side brings the AllSpark back?”

“It matters for the fate of our race.” Optimus brought up as he stepped forward. “If Megatron is allowed to use the AllSpark to revive Cybertron, he will no doubt use it to his political advantage.”

“Uh… you lost me.” Rainbow shrugged.

“In all likelihood, Megatron will make himself out to be Cybertron’s savior and brand the Autobots as war-criminals.” Twilight nodded in understanding.

“The Grand Deception continues.” Wheeljack rolled his optics. “And that so-called ‘achievement’ could influence Cybertronian history for millennia, maybe even poisoning the sparks and minds of everyone else out there when they head home. Not exactly how I’d want a new age to begin.”

“But there is still hope so long as we hold even a fraction of the map,” Optimus assured.

“We still need the rest of it before it’s of any real use.” Wheeljack reminded.

“Then we’d better find a way to activate the last four Armors, and fast.” Twilight agreed.

“Hey, ‘fast’ is what I do,” Rainbow smirked.

“Well, before you go tearing off into Megatron’s hands at top speed, let’s head to the stasis bay,” Wheeljack advised, picking her and Twilight up off the console. “Ratchet said he had something to show us.” No one could argue with that, so they all made their way down further into the halls of the Ark.

The stasis bay was a large, retrofitted cargo bay in the back of the Ark, lined with bot-sized canisters, each one containing an Autobot critically injured in the Ark’s Crash all those ages ago and frozen in time until the Autobots had the capabilities to revive them. And now, Ratchet had assembled the available crew in front of a certain pod where he’d set up a small assembly of medical equipment. “Alright Ratchet, we’re here. Now, what’s goin’ on?” Ironhide asked seriously as all the girls made sure they were in their human forms.

“What’s going on is that we’re getting another set of hands in the war here on Earth.” Ratchet smiled. “Thanks to our efforts, we’ve managed to get our hands on enough Energon to wake one of our old friends up.” The crew was outrageously happy at this news and started high-fiving each other.

Optimus was particularly happy as he stepped forward. “Excellent work, old friend. We will require all the aid we can get.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Ratchet nodded. “Now, unfortunately, I only have enough Energon and equipment to bring one Autobot out of stasis, so… who’s our lucky winner?”

“I’m thinkin’ someone with a sharp mind, but still a decent shot,” Wheeljack smirked.

Ratchet smiled right back. “I figured you might say that. Lifeline?”

“All set for the wake-up call, Ratchet.” the nurse reported, plugging a canister of silvery liquid into the stasis chamber’s systems.

“Alright then; commencing reactivation sequence… now.” Ratchet pressed a button on the console nearby and the silvery liquid flowed into the pod, surrounding the bot inside in a silvery mist which appeared to heal some fairly grievous wounds across his body.

Finally, all the repairs appeared to be finished and the pod opened, a cold fog flowing out as the large red and blue Autobot stepped out, revealing his clear glass-like chestplate, blue tactical lens over his right optic, and massive left shoulder cannon. “Welcome to Earth, Perceptor.”

“Thank you, Optimus Prime. It is good to see you.” Perceptor nodded, looking around the ship with a discerning optic as if scanning the environment with his tactical lens. “An organic world. Fascinating.”

“Who is this guy?” asked Applejack.

“This is Perceptor; one of the best scientists on the face of Cybertron,” Wheeljack explained. “Not to mention a hell of a sniper; he can pop the ailerons off a Seeker goin’ Mach 5 from 300 kliks.”

“Strictly a matter of physical mechanics, Wheeljack,” Perceptor assured. “All one has to do to make such a shot is to calculate the exact course and velocity of the Seeker, account for wind velocity, determine the structural location of ailerons, and set rifle thusly.”

“Oh great; another egghead.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Perceptor seemed confused as he glanced down at her before returning his gaze to Wheeljack. “‘Egghead’, Wheeljack?”

“A derogatory term for guys with our smarts,” Wheeljack explained. “Rainbow’s a real ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kinda girl.”

“Disappointing.” Perceptor pointed out. “Still, I suppose you had a reason for awakening me other than insulting my intelligence.”

“As a matter of fact, we do.” Wheeljack nodded. “We’ve got Megatron and his main court here tryin’ to beat us to the AllSpark and just short of half of the map to lead us there, but there are still some gaps in what we have. I’ve been tryin’ to clear them up but-”

“Say no more, Wheeljack.” Perceptor nodded, stepping past him to a console nearby. “I will gladly take over. Teletraan, display available map data. Authorization; Perceptor 1-7-Alpha.”

“Authorization confirmed,” Teletraan reported, displaying the map data which Perceptor quickly set to work on.

“Hm. Unfortunate.” Perceptor noted. “With so little of the map available, it will be difficult to determine exactly where on this planet the AllSpark lies. I will require more of the map if I am to locate our objective.”

“Well, we’re workin’ on that.” Wheeljack shrugged.

Suddenly Prowl’s com-unit toned and he quickly answered. “This is Prowl; go ahead.” He listened for a few moments before he nodded. “Understood; we’re on our way.” He terminated communications and moved to his leader’s side. “Optimus, police reconnaissance choppers have ID’d the Constructicons outside city limits; they’re headed for town now.”

“Then it would seem completing the map will have to wait for now.” Optimus rationalized as he stepped forward. “Perceptor, Wheeljack, report to the hangar and provide tactical support with Red Alert. Ratchet, Lifeline, prepare sickbay in the event it is required. Everyone else, with me.” Quickly, the girls assumed bot-mode, which amazed Perceptor – though not enough to prevent him from following orders as he left with Wheeljack. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” His orders were swiftly followed as everyone swiftly transformed and revved toward the hangar door… though Applejack was surprised to feel her truck’s rear suspension bounce a bit.

When she looked, she saw the other girls had jumped into the truck-bed. “You didn’t honestly think we were gonna let you have this sort of fun without us, did you?” asked Rainbow.

Applejack just smirked and adjusted her hat. “Alright, hang on tight back there.” With that, she shifted into gear and the truck roared out of the base, following the other ground vehicles as Fluttershy did her best to keep up with Jetfire.

All the while the Autobots were driving through town, they had no idea they were being watched from the shadows, and they wouldn’t until it was too late.

Glitter and Gleam

“I’ve got eyes on the Constructicons, Optimus; five kliks straight ahead.” Jetfire’s report was correct, of course; six massive green and purple construction vehicles were on the road ahead of the Autobot team.

“Autobots, keep a tight formation. And prepare for combat.” Optimus’ orders were swiftly followed as the Autobots rallied around him.

“Goin’ invisible,” Mirage reported before disappearing, his engine now practically silent. The Constructicons ahead of them quickly transformed and raised their weapons, quickly opening fire on the Autobots.

“Yow! Watch it!” Sideswipe yelled, quickly swerving to avoid several missiles fired at the Autobots. “We should’ve brought the big stuff, Optimus! No way we’re getting anywhere close to them with what we have right now.”

“We will simply have to make do.” Optimus nodded. “Applejack, drop the girls behind cover. All units, prepare for combat.” Applejack quickly did as she was told and dropped the team behind a large tree before she drove in and transformed to help the others, who had all transformed and were now returning fire. Pinkie smiled almost madly as she fired specially modified arm-mounted guns that fired sugar-paste synthesized in her bot-mode’s internal systems, flooding the battlefield with explosives. Unfortunately, it barely seemed to bother the Constructicons as they kept firing on her and the others.

“Hook, Scavenger, keep your optics peeled for the Cloaker; I don’t want him getting the drop on us.” the front-end loader yelled to the crane and excavator, before turning to a bulldozer and cement truck, and finally the dump truck with the rocket launchers. “Bonecrusher, Mixmaster, concentrate on the smaller soldiers. Long Haul, keep those missiles coming; I don’t wanna give them a chance to breathe.”

“You’re already too late on one of those, Scrapper.” That was Mirage’s voice, coming from right behind them. But when Scrapper looked, he didn’t see anything… except a large bomb behind his team, which was counting down.

“Oh, scrap, fire in the hole!” Quickly, he grabbed up the bomb and tossed it out toward the Autobots, only for it to detonate in midair and blast shrapnel everywhere, a small amount even damaging the now recloaked Mirage, forcing him to drop his disguise and find cover near the girls.

“We’re getting hammered here!” Sunstreaker noted angrily. “We need a better plan!”

“Well, unless you’re carryin’ a few barrier emitters or a couple of tons of armor, we’re scrap!” Ironhide reminded.

“Perhaps a wardrobe change would be in order.” Rarity suggested and activated her powers, quickly surrounding the Autobots with massive crystals, which reflected nearly all the blasts from the Constructicons’ weapons.

“Huh. Not bad. Blue really is my color.” Mirage smirked as he jumped out and returned fire, his new gem armor holding against every shot. “Thanks, Rarity.”

Rarity simply nodded… before she Ponied-Up and her Geode glowed brighter, with her Armor unit hovering from her pocket and locking to it as it pulsed and gave a loud ring. Scrapper saw this and instantly decided to take advantage of it. “Quickly, the Armor! Grab it!”

Bonecrusher swiftly transformed into a large bulldozer and charged toward Rarity, Autobot blasts bouncing off his shovel as he charged… only to be swiftly blasted away by a large wave of diamonds radiating out from Rarity, swirling around her in a large globe. Quickly, they each flew toward her body, with each and every gem interlocking around her before they started growing uniformly to raise her to bot-size.

Then the gems turned to metal and started changing color; her shins, lower thighs, forearms, and face turned alabaster-white while her upper thighs turned bright blue at her waist and purple below. Her torso turned bright blue with ornate white dapples around her neck and a bright purple diamond-shaped button on her collarbone. Her wrists turned the same gold as her bracelets as her hands turned sheer white, but her upper arms became more strange; two large diamond-shaped armor structures formed there in the form of massive pauldrons, as her white feet gained bright purple armor-wrappings and diamond-like high heels.

Her gleaming curly purple hair flowed from her head as steel cable held by a large blue three diamond-barrette, as a bright blue diamond-shaped light bordered by purple formed on her forehead turned on, swiftly followed by her bright blue optics with a much deeper blue in the centers. When she looked at herself, she was in awe. “This Armor is divine!” she remarked, almost giddy from her appearance.

(Cut it)

“I obviously made a good decision in partnering myself with you, my dear.” Tracks smiled as he slid over, firing the missiles from his backpack-mounted launchers. “Now let’s see what you can do with this Armor.”

Rarity smiled, glancing at her pauldrons. She saw small gaps between them and her arms, indicating removability. Quickly she grabbed the one on her right arm – which was in-turn instantly replaced by another – and tossed it off like a frisbee, sending it flying toward the Constructicons where it slashed through Hook and Scavenger’s blasters, causing them to explode in their hands.

“Oh, I like this,” she smirked as her hair condensed into a helmet before she grabbed the diamond off her left arm, intent on throwing it as well. But instead, it swiftly disintegrated and reformed into a large ornate basket-hilt rapier. She only smiled more at this and charged into the battlefield, easily diverting Long Haul’s missiles by slashing off their directional fins, sending them crashing to the ground around her.

The Autobots were more than impressed at how easily she managed to divert their attention and quickly opened fire… until they heard a loud scream from the other three girls. Applejack recognized it easily as she glanced over to them. “Rainbow Dash!” Sure enough; Rainbow dashed from the cover-area toward the battlefield with Twilight, Sunset, and Spike in her arms as they were being chased by a black and green 2020 Harley-Davidson SuperLow 1200T with a sidecar… with what looked like a revolver sticking out the front, and a large hook with a tattered tarp on the back.

“It’s Lockdown! I’ll get him!” Drift called and transformed, roaring after the bike. Quickly swerving into his way, Drift smirked as he saw Lockdown transform and try to jump over him, only for the samurai to transform as well, bashing the bounty hunter out of the air, prompting Rainbow to stop and place her friends back on the ground right in the middle of everything, halting the firefight. “Sending a Mercenary to pick on organics, Lockdown? I knew Megatron was a coward, but this is low even for him.”

Scrapper heard this and snarled. “You dare insult Lord Megatron, Deadlock?!”

“The name’s Drift, Scrapper, and I’ll thank you to remember it.” the samurai snarled, locking his mask as he glared back at the hook-handed bounty hunter.

“You served with Megatron yourself, pal. You know how he feels about organics.” Lockdown smirked.

“We all do.” Rarity assured, pointing her blade at the bounty hunter’s neck. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to allow him to harm any of our friends.”

Lockdown smirked and placed his hook on the blade, lowering it a bit as he looked at Rarity. “Good to know.” He pulled the blade down and easily decked Rarity in the face, knocking her back to grip her face in pain. Once she was back, Lockdown spun around and whacked Drift in the face with the sword still held in his hook before pulling his revolver with his left hand and shooting him in the gut, knocking him to his knees. “Cover me!” The Constructicons quickly did as they were ordered, firing on the Autobots and forcing them back as Lockdown grabbed Rainbow and locked his hook under Drift’s shoulder, dragging them both behind the Constructicons. “Lockdown to Nemesis; I’ve got the traitor and an organic prisoner. Send the GroundBridge.” The order was swiftly followed as the vortex opened nearby, allowing the Decepticons to pass through before it disappeared just as Cliffjumper tried to grab the last Constructicon to pass through, forcing him to growl in anger.

He looked behind him as Optimus walked forward. “I’m sorry Optimus. I tried to get her.”

“I know, Cliffjumper,” Optimus assured. “But it would seem we have a new objective; rescue our allies.”

“I think I have an idea as to how we can do that,” Sunset smirked as she slid from cover. “Rainbow told me and Twilight her plan before she was taken. Recognize this?” she pulled something out of her pocket, which turned several heads.

“That’s Rainbow’s Armor.” Bumblebee recognized. “Why did she give you that?”

“Because whenever one of us has activated their Armor, it flies straight to their Geode.” Twilight pointed out, glancing up at the other girls. “So when Rainbow activates hers…”

“It’ll fly straight to the Nemesis and we can track it there and save her and Drift,” Jetfire smirked. “Huh. Nice plan, Rainbow.”

“It is still unknown whether or not the Spark-Shift Armor can activate at such a range.” Optimus reminded. “We will prepare for this plan, but in the event it fails, we should prepare a contingency plan.” They would definitely need it, especially given where their friends ended up.

Author's Note

And here's Rarity's bot-form (just disregard Sonata)

Once again, art by eiloo

The Search

After her parents and the school had been informed, the team set to work searching for the missing Rainbow Dash, starting with determining exactly how to locate the Nemesis. “Wheeljack and I have examined all available factors to determine the location of the Nemesis to rescue Rainbow Dash and Drift,” Perceptor explained.

“Here’s the bad news; the Decepticons are basically the masters of GroundBridge engineering, so for all we know, the Nemesis could be in high orbit on the other side of the planet and that GroundBridge still would’ve hit the mark,” Wheeljack explained simply.

“Well, that doesn’t make sense. I mean, it’s a GroundBridge, isn’t it?” asked Pinkie.

Ratchet just sighed and facepalmed. “That just defines its transport range, not its actual physical location.”

“Besides, what sense would it make for the Decepticons to have their GroundBridge separate from their troops on the Nemesis?” asked Prowl.

“Oh yeah. That does make sense.” Pinkie smiled, only prompting a facepalm from Rarity, only exacerbating the pain she experienced when Lockdown nearly broke her bot-mode’s nose.

“You mentioned something about good news?” asked Sunset.

“We did not, however you are correct.” Perceptor nodded, bringing up a display on Teletraan’s computer screen. “When the Nemesis first launched from Kaon, the chief Decepticon scientist Shockwave equipped the ship with powerful cloaking shields that render it invisible to all known scanner systems. Throughout the War for Cybertron, I have been attempting to devise a way to penetrate the shields to locate the ship, and I believe I am growing close to that goal.”

“How much longer will it take?” asked Ironhide.

“Accounting for possible shield rotations, approximately two solar cycles.” Perceptor calculated.

“Too long, Perceptor,” Cliffjumper assured. “By now, Rainbow and Drift will be in Vortex’s personal care, and we all know how sadistic he can be.”

“You don’t have to tell me; I’m the guy who found his ‘interrogation’ den in K’th Kinsere.” Sideswipe brought up, shuddering at the memory. “Not pleasant.”

“Perceptor, do all you can to accelerate your efforts,” Optimus ordered. “Prowl, dispatch scouting parties on the ground. Jetfire, search from the air.”

“We’ll help too.” Applejack assured as she and the other girls stepped forward. “Dash may be a pain in the neck sometimes, but she’s still our friend.”

“We would welcome your assistance,” Optimus assured, as all the available bots – as well as the girls with Armor-access – moved to leave the base. “Autobots, T-” Optimus didn’t have a chance to finish his order when he saw a faint blue glow emanating from Sunset’s vest pocket, caused by Rainbow’s Armor unit hovering out.

“Looks like we’re going with Plan A, Optimus; track the Armor,” Jetfire smirked, glancing at Fluttershy. “Try to keep up; I was one of the fastest flyers on Cybertron.” As if to evidence that, he locked a mouthplate and blue visor with small black antennae on the sides of his head.

Though clearly, he wasn’t fast enough to keep pace with the Armor as it shot out the open hatch like a bullet. Jetfire smirked under his mask. “Guess we’re gonna have to do this the hard way.” Quickly he transformed to jet-mode but swept his wings back as his tail-fins flapped down and two large red afterburners flipped up onto his back. Once in place, the afterburners fired and sent Jetfire flying out of the ship after the Armor.

“W-Wait for me!” Fluttershy said in concern and quickly transformed, buzzing after him as best she could with her limited piloting experience. It took her a while to catch up to Jetfire, and she was certainly nervous when she finally did, as they were a good long way away from the base. “Sh-shouldn’t we wait for help?”

“Not sure if you noticed kid, but right now, you and I are the only flyers available to keep pace with this thing.” Jetfire reminded. “I mean, besides Tracks, but he was built more for tactical flight than speed.” Suddenly his sensors toned as they picked something up. “Wait, hang on; I’ve got something. Whatever it is, it’s big and it’s straight ahead of us.” It soon became clear as to exactly what it was when he and Fluttershy looked ahead. “The Nemesis.”

“Oh, um… maybe we should, um… come back later? I-It doesn’t look like anyone’s home.” Fluttershy didn’t care if she was lying or not; this ship looked terrifying.

“Yeah sure, kid. You wanna swing back to base and pick up some cookies? Help yourself.” Jetfire smirked, admittedly surprised to see Fluttershy actually turn around and fly back toward the Ark. Quickly, he swung around and swooped into her path, switching to VTOL jets on his undercarriage. “So I’m genuinely curious about something; does your entire species not understand sarcasm, or is it just you?” Quickly, he realized exactly what he said and sighed. “Okay sorry, that was mean. Look, relax okay? I used to serve on this ship; I know how to get aboard alive.”

This surprised Fluttershy beyond words. “You were a Decepticon?”

“Sure; I used to be the commander of the Seekers before I saw just how far from grace Megatron fell,” Jetfire explained as he hovered around to Fluttershy’s side prompting her to turn around again. “And now, I’m gonna lead us onto that ship alive. Stay close!” Quickly he fired his engines at full power and shot to the upper deck of the ship with Fluttershy quickly following him, both transforming in midair and landing right on the deck, at which point Jetfire flipped up his mask, and raised his afterburners – now in the form of twin massive back-mounted cannons – as well as smaller blasters flipping out of his forearms and shins, and raised a massive blaster rifle.

Starscream was on the upper deck and recoiled in apparent terror when he saw the massive jet and the copter-girl. Jetfire just smirked at his former lieutenant, more than happy he had a chance to use this one-liner as he raised his rifle. “Permission to come aboard, Commander?”

Lightning Speed

“Okay, kidnapped by a motorcycle robot and locked up on an alien spaceship to be tortured. Hm. Well, I guess I have had weirder days.” Rainbow shrugged as best she could against her restraints.

“Really? I’ve been in Vortex’s care three times before today.” Drift shrugged. “Heck, I think these are even my same restraints. They are, aren’t they Vortex?”

“What can I say, Deadlock? I’m nothing if not sentimental.” Vortex smiled madly as he looked over almost medieval tools on his table.

“What were you doing here before?” Rainbow was right to ask; she didn’t know much about Drift’s time with the ‘Cons.

“Capital punishment. Dereliction of duty; 20 minutes with this nutcase.” Drift shrugged, indicating over to Vortex as he prepared a massive electroshock staff with an expression of pure insane glee.

“Whew. Man, Megatron must really take loyalty seriously.” Rainbow shook her head.

“Oh, I do.” As if on cue, the great warlord strode in with a scowl on his face. “Which is why I take such exception at one of my greatest soldiers betraying me.”

“Well, you really should’ve thought about that before you had Turmoil order me to slaughter those innocents.” Drift scowled.

“Yes, the Vos Massacre was a mistake. But it communicated resolve; any who stand in my way will be shown no mercy.” Megatron scowled.

“So then, what? Does that mean you’re gonna kill us both?” asked Rainbow.

Megatron simply glared down at her in disdain, almost disgusted by the presence of an organic lifeform on his ship. “Perhaps later. For now, I simply wish to offer my great soldier one chance; denounce the Autobots and join me again, and we can forget all about your recent transgressions.” he offered to Drift.

“I’d rather be melted down for spare parts than ever work for you again, Megatron.” the samurai scowled.

“I can easily arrange that.” Vortex smiled madly. “And what about the human, Lord Megatron? Shall I hand her mangled frame off to Flatline once done?”

“Perhaps in a moment,” Megatron noted, glancing at Rainbow. “She still has something I want.”

“If you’re gonna ask me to give you my piece of the map, you can forget it bucket-brain,” Rainbow assured. “I never leave my friends hangin’.”

Megatron scowled at the organic girl. “The Autobots are hardly your ‘friends’. Surrender the map and your world will be spared.”

“Nice offer, but how do I know you won’t just blow up the planet the minute you’re done with Cybertron? Simple; I don’t.” Rainbow brought up. “So if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just wait for my friends to come to save me.”

“And what makes you think they won’t just leave you to die?” asked Vortex.

“I wouldn’t. And they know that.” Rainbow assured, before she suddenly Ponied-Up, provoking some serious confusion from the Decepticons.

Vortex seemed particularly interested as he scanned her. “Incredible. It’s as if her ornament is acting as a spark.”

“That’s why you can use Spark-Shift Armor.” Megatron realized, quickly grabbing Rainbow from her restraints and holding her up to his face. “Where did you get this item? Speak!”

“Sure, just as soon as you answer me something; when was the last time you brushed your teeth?” Rainbow taunted, gagging. “Smells like I’m breathing exhaust fumes.” Drift laughed at that while Megatron only snarled… before his com-unit activated.

“Lord Megatron, we’re detecting something off the starboard bow.” a soldier reported. “Whatever it is, it’s small, fast, and headed straight for us.”

“The Autobots.” Megatron scowled. “Blast it out of the-!” He couldn’t finish that thought as the ship suddenly lurched to the side, knocking Megatron off-balance as he dropped Rainbow, who quickly stopped her fall with her wings.

“Told you my friends would be here,” she smirked… only to start eating her words when her Armor shot through the wall and locked around her Geode, pulsing with light. “Not what I was expecting, but this works too.”

The Armor gave a loud ring as Megatron tried to reach for her, only to be suddenly blasted into the wall by a massive gust of wind that shot from Rainbow’s Geode, before it formed around her into a tornado as it drew metal in toward her – including Drift’s restraints, freeing the samurai – all forming around her into a suit of armor as lightning coursed around the suit, changing its color. Her hands and arms turned sky blue, while her wrists took on the red, yellow, and blue colors of her wristbands as her shoulder-plates turned darker blue with bright yellow lightning bolts along them, with her breastplate turning the same blue with white down the middle as her Geode formed into a blue lightning bolt-shaped button on her collarbone.

Her legs turned a deep midnight blue with fading rainbow-colored lightning bolts moving up the sides as her feet turned bright blue and white with red soles. Her wings were suddenly contained in metal, her ailerons flipping out into feathers as her steel-cable hair turned the colors of the rainbow, flowing down her back as her blue optics opened to reveal the dark pink centers from her own eyes. Rainbow smiled at her new armor as she looked at Megatron as he stood up to face her. “Y’know something? You’re even uglier from this angle.”

(Cut it)

Megatron simply scowled as he tried to grab at Rainbow, only to miss his strike as Rainbow dashed away from him to Drift’s side. “Missed me.” she taunted as she grabbed the samurai and his swords before they dashed out the door.

“Decepticons, our prisoners are fleeing!” Megatron roared over the coms. “Do not let them escape this ship alive!” Suddenly the ship shook again, surprising him again. "Oh for the love of- Now what?!"

It surprised the escapees too. “What’s going on?” asked Rainbow.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Jetfire just showed up and is cleaning house.” Drift exclaimed happily. “That’s our ticket outta here. Can you transform?”

“I don’t think so. I might need an alt-mode.” Rainbow shrugged as they heard running footsteps down the hall.

“There’s a terminal over there.” Drift pointed to the wall-mounted computer. “Flip through the database and see what you like; I’ll cover you.” Quickly he drew his swords and dashed down the hall to meet the guards as Rainbow quickly turned on the computer and browsed through the options.

“Nope, nuh-uh, nah, no.” she shook her head as she flipped through several options, still worried about Drift… until she saw him deflecting laser blasts with his swords and slashing plain-looking Decepticon foot-soldiers apart like nothing. “Yeah, he’ll be fine.” she rationalized as she went back to browsing, her optics finally locked onto something that made her stop; an F-22 Raptor.

“Don’t mind if I do.” With that, she quickly scanned the jet, and its data was loaded into her drives, her wings shifting into the shape of the original, the engines formed in her feet, and a cockpit formed in her midriff. “Nice. Drift, I’m good; let’s go!”

“Our back-up’s on the top-deck; follow me!” Drift quickly ordered and transformed, flooring it down the hall as Rainbow quickly followed with remarkable speed, boosted by her new rocket feet. Since they weren’t sure exactly how to fight – with Drift unarmed in vehicle mode and Rainbow unsure as to what weapons she had in her bot-mode – they were forced to simply ram their way through whatever Decepticons got in their way.

Finally, they made it through one last door to the main deck… just in time to see something fly toward them. “Incoming!” Drift quickly transformed and pushed Rainbow to the deck just before the entity – revealed to be a seriously damaged Starscream – flew through the door and crashed onto the ground. Looking exactly where it came from, they saw Jetfire apparently having the time of his life blasting Decepticon soldiers all around him as Fluttershy basically hid on his back spinning her blades to act as a shield.

Jetfire nearly pointed his guns back at the door until he saw his teammates there and smirked. “I figured that plan would work.”

Rainbow quickly zipped over with a smirk. “You wouldn’t happen to have an escape plan, would you?”

“I do. But I don’t think you’re gonna like it.” Jetfire was right; they didn’t like his plan. Especially since it basically consisted of tossing everyone overboard, with all of them screaming on the way down as he turned on his comlink. “Jetfire to base; now would be an exceedingly good time for a GroundBridge. Preferably right below us.”

“Comin’ up,” Wheeljack reported and opened the vortex right below them.

“Alright, now when we exit the GroundBridge, we’re gonna be moving at exactly the same speed as when we entered it, so be ready to catch yourselves!” Jetfire ordered, but only he, Rainbow, and Drift really managed it; Fluttershy had huddled into a fetal position once she fell and ended up having to be caught once she left the vortex.

“That was awesome!” Rainbow yelled happily, hugging Jetfire in victory.

“You are crazy, Jetfire,” Wheeljack remarked as the deactivated GroundBridge flipped back up into the ceiling.

“Well, as a great bot once said; ‘Sometimes crazy works'.” Jetfire reminded as he switched out of his battle mode.

“But we can discuss the great risk-takers of Cybertron's past another time. Until then, Rainbow’s spread her wings and she needs to know how to use them correctly.”

“Does that mean-?” Rainbow asked, knowing what it meant even without having to be told.

“Yep. Starting tomorrow, it’s time for flying lessons.” Jetfire smiled. “For now, go home and power down for the night. After the day you’ve had, I’d say you earned it.” Rainbow knew he was right and shifted back to human-form before Cliffjumper rumbled up and gave her a lift back to her house, extremely eager to learn how to fly for real.

Author's Note

And now it's time to put up the bot forms for the past Fluttershy and the current Rainbow Dash.

Once again, art by eiloo

Contact

After Jetfire’s insane liberation of Drift and Rainbow Dash, Wheeljack managed to extract the data from her drive and Rarity’s, adding it to the map data in Teletraan’s systems, though there was still not enough data for the Autobots to truly identify the location of the AllSpark.

And Rainbow had more “important” things to deal with, namely learning how to fly with Jetfire. “Alright, let’s do this! I’m all revved up and ready to fly!” Rainbow smiled to Jetfire… who was using one of his wrist-mounted cannons as a blowtorch to work on the GroundBridge with Wheeljack modifying something else on the ring with what looked like a massive pipe-wrench as Perceptor went over calculations on the computer.

“Yeah, yeah gimme a second okay Rainbow?” Jetfire insisted. “We’ve gotta get this finished. How’re we doing, Perceptor?”

“Systems appear nominal. Though I am concerned as to how we intend to test the system.” Perceptor noted.

“Don’t worry about that, Perceptor,” Wheeljack assured with a strain in his voice as he adjusted a large component on the ring with his wrench. “I’ve already got Twilight on the way with our subject.” Just then, the hatch opened and allowed Bluestreak to roar in. “Speak of the Fallen.”

Twilight and Spike quickly jumped out with something in Twilight’s hands; a small RC car. “Got that test subject right here, Wheeljack.”

“‘Test subject’?” Rainbow asked in confusion. “Okay, what the heck are you guys doing here?”

“We are attempting to upgrade the spatial distortion matrix in the GroundBridge to allow for interstellar travel,” Perceptor explained briefly.

“Okay, now in non-nerd speak?” Rainbow raised her eyebrow.

Wheeljack rolled his optics as he dropped his wrench into his tool kit. “We’re trying to turn the GroundBridge into a SpaceBridge.”

“Why? We don’t even have the AllSpark yet.” Applejack reminded.

“A fact which we are all acutely aware of,” Perceptor assured, sounding fairly irritated… which was fairly surprising given his usual monotone speech patterns. “But when the time comes that we do possess the AllSpark, we will require a means of transporting it to Cybertron.”

“Uh, we’re standing in a giant spaceship? Hello?” Rainbow reminded, raising her hands around the area.

“Yeah, a giant spaceship trapped in a volcano under millions of years of rock.” Jetfire reminded. “Even if we overclocked the Ark’s thrusters, the ship wouldn’t budge.”

“Even if we could dislodge and launch the Ark, there is still the matter of distance,” Optimus added as he, Ironhide, and Inferno walked in. “Cybertron is many thousands of lightyears from Earth. If we attempt to make the voyage without a SpaceBridge, we will undoubtedly face opposition.”

“What, like pirates?” asked Rainbow.

“Megatron’s no slouch; he arranged massive armadas of privateers in the sectors surrounding Cybertron in the latter days of the war.” Drift informed. “If an Autobot ship so much as drifts toward one of the fleets, they’re scrap metal.”

“And if that ship just so happens to be carrying the AllSpark, that’s a win-win.” Wheeljack reminded. “Okay, I think we’re good; let’s test it out.”

“Understood.” Perceptor nodded, starting a recording. “Commencing SpaceBridge Test 1.”

“Exit-vector coordinates are set for Iacon,” Jetfire reported.

“Activating SpaceBridge now.” Wheeljack nodded, pulling the lever. The SpaceBridge revved online slowly with strange green electric arcs shooting out from the frame as the vortex generated.

“Is this supposed to happen?!” asked Rainbow.

“Not unless the generation matrix is unstable!” Perceptor remarked. “The vortex can only remain safely open for a few moments!”

“Then there’s no time for the car; we’re gonna have to huck the transponder through and pray it doesn’t get destroyed!” Wheeljack rationalized.

“Allow me!” Rainbow smiled as she quickly assumed her bot-form, grabbed the transponder from the counter nearby, and tossed it through the vortex before she dropped back to her human form.

“Let’s hope this works!” Wheeljack shrugged as he dashed to his console. “Coms set to Autobot Frequency Tychron-9-9. Transponder interfaced.” Quickly he turned on the coms. “To any Autobots remaining on Cybertron, this is the Ark; we’ve found the planet where the AllSpark is hidden.” The lack of an answer concerned him. “Autobots, this is Team Prime; please respond.” Still nothing. “Anyone, this is Wheeljack; do you copy?”

Finally, the line opened on the other end. “Hello?” Though it was interspersed with static. “Who- *kzzt* this is- *kzzt* on Cyber- *kzzt* please res- *kzzt*.”

“Yes! Yes, we’re here!” Wheeljack noted. “We can barely read you! Perceptor, boost the gain on the transponder!” Perceptor quickly did so and Wheeljack called back. “Cybertron, this is the Ark; please repeat last transmission, over!”

“This is- *kzzt* the Vira- *kzzt*. can barely- *kzzt*”

“The SpaceBridge is about to fail!” Jetfire noted.

“Cybertron, we’re about to lose you! Please say again; who’s speaking?” Wheeljack insisted.

Perceptor kept trying to clear the interference from the com-lines, but it was still somewhat muffled by the static. “This is G- *kzzt* of the Vira- *kzzt*.”

“She’s gonna blow!” Jetfire yelled and quickly jumped out of the way of the SpaceBridge, only for part of it to suddenly explode… though no one actually felt the blast.

The girls were all confused by this until they saw the Bridge’s broken component surrounded by a blue forcefield… emitted from Trailbreaker’s hand. “Whew. That was way too close.” he sighed as he lowered the shield, exposing a very badly damaged GroundBridge with part of it still on fire.

“Thank you Trailbreaker.” Optimus nodded, placing his hand on the shield officer’s shoulder. “Wheeljack, can the GroundBridge be repaired?”

“Maybe.” Wheeljack shrugged as he examined the damage while Inferno put out the fire. “But we’re low on parts and Energon; it’s gonna take me a while to round up everything I need.”

“In the meantime, maybe we can figure out who was on the other line,” Sunset noted. “Anyone got any ideas?”

“I think I heard them say they were with the ‘Vira’-something,” Spike remarked.

Inferno’s optics popped at the sound of that as he turned to Optimus and Ironhide. “That can’t be possible, can it?”

“It shouldn’t be. We all saw it.” Ironhide noted, glancing up at Optimus.

“What are you guys talkin’ about?” asked Applejack.

“A special branch of the Autobot forces; the Virago,” Optimus explained, still maintaining his stoic expression. “A female unit, led by my counterpart; Elita-1.”

“‘Counterpart’?” Twilight asked in confusion. Optimus’ face fell, explaining everything. “Ah, I see.”

“I don’t.” Rainbow shrugged.

“You and Elita… you were a thing, weren’t you Optimus?” The Prime only sighed at Sunset’s question, knowing what she was asking.

“Oh, now I get it.” Rainbow nodded. “So what happened to her?”

Optimus couldn’t bring himself to explain, so Ratchet stepped forward to explain. “When the Ark was preparing to launch, Megatron launched a final raid on Iacon. Elita's team tried to get aboard, but they were caught in an explosion near the gangplank.”

“Ever since, we have believed them gone. But if the one who answered our transmission claims to be a member, then perhaps Elita still lives.” Optimus theorized hopefully.

“I believe I have narrowed down exactly who it was that answered us, sir,” Perceptor noted. “Given the knowledge and technological capability needed to answer a transmission through that interference, and the acquired first initial, it could only logically be one Autobot.” He brought up a display of this bot on his screen; a bright green bot with smaller lighter green highlights in certain places on the white components of her armor.

“Greenlight.” Wheeljack nodded as he looked at her profile. “I met her once in Iacon. She had some good ideas. Apparently managing to contact us was one of ‘em.”

“We have to re-establish contact with them.” Prowl suggested. “Having a team on Cybertron would be instrumental in our future operations.”

“Agreed, Prowl. But if we wanna do that, we’ve gotta boost our com-signal.” Wheeljack noted. “We only managed to make contact this time because the channel was carried through the SpaceBridge.”

“Then we’ll have to upgrade the com system somehow,” Jetfire assured, looking at Wheeljack. “Micro-relay satellites?”

“Too obvious; the Seekers will destroy them before we ever have a chance to get a message out.” Perceptor countered.

“Is there any way we can upgrade the com system in the ship itself?” asked Twilight.

“Not without a lot more components that we don’t have.” Wheeljack shrugged. “And even then, it’s like Optimus said; Cybertron is thousands of lightyears away from Earth. If we want a signal to reach it, the tech would have to be eons ahead of anything Earth has to offer.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do.” Inferno seemed anxious to hear that there was, but Wheeljack shaking his head said it all.

“Nothing I can think of.” the engineer shrugged. “Unless someone would be willing to infiltrate a Decepticon outpost and steal their com-system.”

Applejack glanced over at Rainbow, who was simply smirking. “Don’t even think it, Dash.”

“Too late; I’m already thinkin’ it,” Rainbow smirked and shifted back to Bot-mode before she moved over to Wheeljack. “Which way to the nearest ‘Con outpost?”

“Uh-uh, no way; bad idea,” Wheeljack assured. “You’d be overrun before you got anywhere close to the com system.”

“Which is why I’m not going alone. I’m taking someone who can stay under the radar.” Rainbow smirked, glancing off in one direction… her optics locking onto Mirage.

“Hm. That’s actually not a bad plan; Rainbow distracts the guards as I sneak in and steal the com system.” Mirage smiled. “Then we fly back here under cloak and no one the wiser. Yeah, I like it; that could work.”

“Very well.” Optimus nodded. “But exercise caution; at the first sign of danger, I will send reinforcements.”

“Relax Optimus, we can handle this,” Rainbow assured as Mirage walked over to her. “Just have the others look for what Wheeljack needs; something tells me we’re gonna need that GroundBridge soon.”

“Alright, let’s roll out,” Mirage smirked and swiftly transformed before peeling out the door with Rainbow running after him.

Drift smiled as he called her over the com system. “The Decepticons have an Energon mine in the mountains a few miles east of town. The communications system should be at the top of the main pit.”

“Thanks, Drift,” Rainbow smirked, changing the channel to Jetfire’s com-unit. “Guess you’re gonna have to make that flying lesson quick, Jetfire.”

“Fire the engines and grab the steering column,” Jetfire explained quickly. “The pedals let you bank into turns.”

“That simple? Cool.” Rainbow smiled and swiftly transformed into jet-mode, concerned as she was falling slowly but quickly started the engines spinning and quickly fired them, carefully pulling up as she made sure her breathing mask was in place and her feet were on the pedals correctly. “Awesome! Cmon Mirage, let’s rock!”

Mirage quickly transformed to bot-mode and jumped onto Rainbow, grabbing onto her wings as she swiftly shot across the hills. Soon enough, they reached the hills where the mine was located but Rainbow remained in the air, circling to locate the main pit. “There.” Mirage pointed down at the massive hole in the ground out of sight from prying human eyes. “Take us down; I’ll conceal our approach.”

Quickly Rainbow transformed and slowly jetted down toward the main pit with Mirage holding her in a fairly pleasant hug, swiftly cloaking them both as they dropped to the ground behind some rocks near the pit. Once there, they got a good look at who was here; Onslaught. “Guess Megatron expects trouble if he assigned his best mercenary general here,” Mirage remarked.

“Eh, either that or he’s just pissed at Starscream for letting us get away from the ship so easily and wants to let off some steam.” Rainbow shrugged, prompting a small chuckle from Mirage.

Unfortunately, that chuckle seemed to draw Onslaught’s attention as he glanced over toward their position. “Who’s there?”

Rainbow just smirked. “Guess that’s my cue.” With that, she jumped from her cover, allowing the cloak to fade and reveal herself to the Decepticons. “Come and get me, boys! AllSpark map-data ripe for the taking! All you’ve gotta do is catch me!” Once the soldiers heard that, they all charged toward her only for Rainbow to swiftly take to the air on her foot-jets and fly circles around them all.

She also decided now was as good a time as any to see what weapons she had to offer, and found her answer in the form of two deployable Gatling guns mounted to her waist, and rocket launchers mounted within her forearms, both of which she used to devastating effect against the Cons, even as Onslaught tried to shoot her down with his massive back-mounted guns.

All the while, they were ignoring the shadowy form of the still cloaked Mirage slipping toward the large console near the top of the pit. Once he was certain no one was watching, he decloaked and grabbed the com system out of the console before swiftly cloaking again and retreating up a high cliff. “Rainbow, I’ve got the com system. Let’s get out of here,” he reported over his comlink.

“You got it!” Rainbow smiled and flew over, swooping to grab the now decloaked Mirage again, surprising the Decepticons.

“Don’t just stand there, you idiots; get them!” Onslaught ordered as the Seekers on position took off after them… only to suddenly lose them once Rainbow looped around a cliff and apparently disappeared.

In truth, the only reason they disappeared was that Mirage had cloaked them again and they didn’t stop moving until they made it back to Canterlot City where Rainbow landed and shifted out of bot-mode, standing next to Mirage with a smirk before the two broke out into peals of laughter. “Oh man, that was awesome!”

“Seriously! I can’t believe that worked!” Mirage laughed, leaning against the com system. “Oh, that was just like that turbofox incident, except neither of us had to dig any holes.”

“Wait, what’re you talkin’ about?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“Ah, never mind; you wouldn’t get the joke.” Mirage shrugged. “Anyway, if I’m right, Trailbreaker should be here to pick up the com system right about… now.” And sure enough, there was the Autobots’ black pickup truck down the road. “Prompt. I like that.”

“Let’s get this op finished. Load up.” Trailbreaker smirked, prompting Mirage to load the com system into his truck-bed and allow him to drive away.

“Wanna ride?” Mirage smirked, quickly transforming and opening his cabin.

Rainbow smirked and quickly jumped in, prompting Mirage to floor it down the street toward the base. When they arrived, they found Wheeljack dismantling the stolen com system. “How’re we doing, guys?” Mirage smiled as he allowed Rainbow to jump out and transformed.

“Not great, I’m afraid.” Wheeljack shrugged. “I can’t wrap my head around half this stuff. Stupid Decepticon engineering. I know one thing for sure; it’s not compatible with the Ark’s systems.”

“What?! I had to distract an entire team of Decepticons for nothing?” Rainbow asked in anger. “Ugh! That was like an hour of awesomeness that I’m never gonna get back.”

“Actually, it was only like twenty minutes.” Mirage shrugged.

“Not helping, Mirage,” Rainbow growled.

“Sorry.” Mirage quickly apologized.

Optimus seemed especially beaten up by this news, as if he was especially looking forward to hearing from the Virago. Sunset could see it clear as day, and so did Ironhide, as the old bot placed his hand on the Prime’s shoulder. “We know that at least Greenlight is still online. And she’s gotta be taking orders from someone,” he assured. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll see Elita-1 again one of these days.”

“I sincerely hope so, Ironhide,” Optimus assured. The Decepticon com-system would be scrapped for spare parts soon enough, leaving a serious dent in Rainbow’s ego, but still bringing the Autobots closer to a victory in the war, and hopeful for good news to come.

Assets

“Another mine raided, and a com-system stolen?” Onslaught just scowled at the condescending smirk on Starscream’s face as Megatron heard this report of idiocy. “I’m honestly disappointed, Onslaught; what does our master pay you for anyway?”

“A valid question, Starscream.” Megatron nodded, as he turned to the mercenary general. “One which I am extremely eager to hear the answer to; what do I pay you for, Onslaught?”

“You pay me and my team to kill Autobots, Lord Megatron, not guard Energon mines.” Onslaught reminded. “And let’s not forget, I’m not the only gun-for-hire who failed you recently.” He glanced tellingly across the bridge at Lockdown, puffing on a metallic cigar-like item.

“I didn’t fail anything, Onslaught.” Lockdown reminded, tipping up the brim of his hat with his hook. “Megatron wanted Drift, I brought him Drift. Ain’t my fault he escaped.”

“Indeed not.” Megatron nodded. “I believe that dishonor is yours, Starscream.”

“You remember full-well, Lord Megatron, that I have never been able to defeat Jetfire in combat.” Starscream reminded.

“Lord Megatron, if I may speak?” asked Knock Out. “I believe the question we should be asking is, why did the Autobots steal only a communications system and nothing else? It was a prosperous Energon mine, yet not a single crystal was missing. Why?”

“Hmm. A wise question indeed, Knock Out.” Megatron nodded. “Soundwave, possibilities?”

“Autobots may be attempting to contact reinforcements.” the monotone Decepticon suggested.

“A waste of time; Prime will already be dead before they arrive.” Starscream brought up.

“Indeed. But not by your hand, Starscream.” Megatron assured.

Starscream was somewhat confused by this update. “Uh, Master?”

“Optimus Prime and I have been bound in a dance of arms and wits ever since this war began.” Megatron reminded. “And by the time this war ends, I will possess the AllSpark, the greatest relics of the Primes, and the Matrix of Leadership. And when I return home, our people will acknowledge that I am the true savior of Cybertron and the Decepticon Empire will live for eons!” Practically the entire bridge roared with encouragement and loyalty in their voices.

“Minimal risk regardless of Autobot goals, Lord Megatron,” Soundwave assured. “Decepticons superior, Autobots inferior.”

“Wise words indeed, Soundwave.” Megatron nodded, knowing exactly what he meant and what Wheeljack discovered when the team returned; the advanced technology of the stolen com-system was incompatible with the Ark’s outdated systems. “The Autobots will fall soon and we will have the power we need to destroy any further resistance.”

Starscream simply left the bridge as Megatron basked in the adulation of his followers. Outside, he found his brothers waiting for him. “Assemble all Seekers on the flight deck and prepare for launch,” he ordered.

“Lord Megatron wants us to go on patrol?” asked Thundercracker.

“Megatron is a fool.” Starscream scowled. “An idealistic slothful lump who would rather save his strength for his beloved rival Optimus Prime than do what’s needed… and what I will do; burn my way across the planet until the AllSpark is in my hands. And with it, the Decepticons will be mine to lead on a crusade of conquest across this pathetic universe.”

“If you’re not careful, brother, that ambition is going to get you killed someday,” Skywarp smirked.

“Most likely by Megatron.” Thundercracker agreed. “Don’t forget what happened to the last Decepticon who betrayed him.”

“Who, Deadlock?” Starscream smirked. “Megatron allowed him to live long enough to escape. We all know I would never have been so merciful.”

A familiarly dark laugh echoed down the corridor as a trio of flyers with nosecones on their heads and various different wing designs. “Megatron’s been called a lot of things, Starscream.” It was the red and black one with vented VTOL fans in his wings speaking. “But I think we all know ‘merciful’ has never been one of them.”

“I suppose so, Thrust.” Starscream shrugged. “But you must admit, Megatron has somewhat lost his… edge over the millennia. He is not as ruthless as he once was.”

“He’d be hurt to hear you say that.” Thrust remarked.

“Well, the truth hurts.” Starscream shrugged. “And either way, am I wrong? If we do not claim the AllSpark before the Autobots, then this entire war will have been for nothing. Therefore, I say we leave the ship and take the AllSpark for ourselves. And with it, I will take command of the Decepticons, and together, we will obliterate the Autobots!”

The assembled flyers seemed interested in this plan, but before they could put it into action, the ship’s intercom toned. “All officers to the bridge, by order of Lord Megatron.” Soundwave’s order irritated the ambitious Seeker commander, but he knew he had to follow the order.

“Have the Seekers remain on alert; we fly for the AllSpark on my order,” Starscream ordered Thundercracker before he left for the bridge. When he arrived, he found several other Decepticon officers on the bridge. “You requested my presence, Lord Megatron?”

“Indeed, Starscream.” Megatron smiled, looking at something on a monitor. “I believe I have just found something to help tip the scales back in our favor.”

Robbery

“Alright, I think we’re about done.” For the last few weeks after the failed com-system theft, Wheeljack and Red Alert had been working on something else. Something which substantially irritated the others when they apparently got in the way of their work.

“Great. You wanna tell us exactly what it is now?” Rainbow was right to ask; the two had kept this project secret from pretty much the entire crew.

“This; our newly upgraded security system.” Red Alert smiled, activating something on the computer. “Say an unauthorized being enters the ship; bot, human, whatever…” As if to emphasize that, he tossed something at Rainbow’s wing, which magnetized to the metal and was indicated to be a Decepticon badge, which suddenly began quietly beeping.

No sooner did that start than an alarm went off and several small guns flipped down from the roof, suddenly blasting large coils at Rainbow and binding her limbs. “Wha- Hey!”

“Tangler guns bind enemies with plastine coils, giving the stun-blasters and cyclone fields time to set up for the knock-out blow.” Wheeljack smiled as the ceiling guns suddenly changed barrels and started blasting small energy pulses at Rainbow, only for her to quickly dodge out of the way of each of them with her speed… before she was suddenly caught in a small cyclone, spinning her silly and sending the Decepticon badge flying off her wing into Wheeljack’s hand, at which point it stopped beeping.

“You okay, Rainbow?” asked Lifeline.

“Yeah, just gimme a second.” Rainbow quickly collapsed her armor and ran off to the side, holding her mouth… only to throw up as soon as she disembarked from the ship.

The other girls cringed at the sight but were still fairly impressed by what had brought her to this. “Impressive. How does the system find unauthorized beings?” asked Sunset.

“Through the sensor network we installed around the ship.” Wheeljack smiled, as he walked out the door, reactivating the Decepticon badge in his hand. “If a ‘Con so much as coasts through these doors…” He moved the badge through the door and the alarm quickly started up again, only to suddenly turn back off once the badge was deactivated. “Not bad, huh?”

“Excellent work, Wheeljack.” Optimus nodded. “With this system in place, the Decepticons will never gain access to the map to the AllSpark.”

Twilight smiled at this news. Suddenly, her phone buzzed, indicating a text message. She looked and saw it was from her mother. “Hmm. Hey Teletraan, can you access the local TV network? My mom says there’s something on Channel 23 we have to see.”

“Accessing now.” Teletraan reported, bringing up a news channel.

“And now, returning to our top story; Dr. Hamada Fujiyama is coming to New York today to publicly debut his latest advancement in the field of robotics; an advancement which, according to Dr. Fujiyama himself, will change the world.” Ratchet muted the feed as the image of the Japanese doctor himself came up.

“What’s this have to do with us?” the medic asked, grumpy as ever.

“Hamada Fujiyama is Earth’s leading expert in the field of robotics.” Twilight explained. “For the last few months, he’s been promising something fairly interesting; a giant robotic ninja.”

“Wait, ‘giant’ as in…?” Bumblebee was almost afraid to say finish that sentence.

“Bot-sized, yeah.” Twilight nodded. “So if you’ll indulge me, imagine what might happen if Megatron got his hands on that robot.”

“Ninjas are masters of stealth.” Drift remembered from his research into Japanese history. “If Megatron can reprogram that machine to fight for him, it might be able to get into who knows where.”

“And if Megatron has indeed heard this same news, I have no doubt he will attempt to acquire the robot by any means necessary, even if it means inflicting human casualties,” Optimus concluded. “And that is something I will not allow. Jetfire, remain with Red Alert to improve the security system. I have doubts even the most recent upgrades will hold against this capability.”

“Understood, Optimus.” Jetfire nodded. “We’ll also see about waking up more Autobots; we might need all the help we can get.”

“A wise precaution.” Optimus nodded. “Wheeljack and Perceptor, you come with us; we may require your expertise.”

“You got it, Prime.” Wheeljack nodded and transformed, prompting Perceptor to also transform, also apparently disappearing.

“Whoa! Where’d Smarty go?” asked Pinkie, swiftly glancing around the room but finding no sign of him.

“I have not left.” Perceptor’s voice came from near Wheeljack’s rear left wheel. The girls looked and saw a small red and blue microscope on the ground, small blue lights flashing with every syllable. “This is simply the alternate mode I have selected while I am on your planet.”

“But it’s so small!” Pinkie remarked, picking Perceptor up. “And you were so big!”

“Subspace mass compression,” Wheeljack explained. “Special Cybertronian exploration tech. Comes in real handy in situations like this.”

“Indeed,” Perceptor noted, suddenly projecting his holomatter avatar; a dark-skinned man with brown hair wearing a red dress shirt, a blue necktie, black vest with blue pinstripes, dark gray pants, and shoes, and a single blue monocle-like lens over his right eye, all wrapped in a white lab-coat. “Now if you will excuse me.” With that, he simply took the microscope from Pinkie and climbed aboard Wheeljack, seated behind the engineer’s avatar in the driver’s seat.

“You’re gonna need more than human looks, Optimus.” Rainbow brought up, having cleaned herself up. “You’re gonna need cover names, so no one suspects you.”

“We’ll workshop that on the way.” Bluestreak shrugged as he transformed and allowed Twilight and Spike to climb aboard.

“Alright, let’s groove.” Jazz smirked.

Red Alert lowered the GroundBridge ring and set the coordinates for outside New York City as the vortex opened. “Good hunting, Optimus.” he saluted.

“Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus’ order was swiftly followed as all the bots transformed and roared through the vortex, their partners riding along as passengers.

It was a fairly quick drive from the GroundBridge to New York City, the sight of which substantially impressed the Autobots. “Nice place. Kinda reminds me of Iacon.” Cliffjumper smiled.

“Remember team, we’re here to stop Megatron from abusing Earthling tech.” Ironhide reminded. “So where to?”

Twilight checked her phone for the answer. “Well, according to the news, Dr. Fujiyama’s presentation will be in… whoa, Madison Square Garden. That’s awesome.”

“You direct, we’ll drive,” Bluestreak smirked. And that was just what they did as the cavalcade rumbled through the streets of New York – devising their cover story as they drove, all the way to the massive stadium where the demonstration was being held.

“Alright, let’s hope this cover story works.” Rainbow shrugged as everyone disembarked, avatars included.

“Only one way to know for sure,” Ironhide noted as he stepped over to the security guard.

“Who are you supposed to be?” he asked brusquely.

“Pax Industries security and scientific team,” Perceptor noted, flashing a falsified badge – a fleet of which the team created on the drive. “We are here to observe Dr. Fujiyama’s work.”

“I don’t see your company on the guest list.” the guard noted, looking at his clipboard.

“Well, I’m sure there’s some way we can look past that, hmm?” Rarity asked, almost flirtatiously.

The guard wasn’t convinced. “Nice try, kid. You’re not gettin’ in if you’re not on the list.”

“You sure we’re not on it? Here, lemme see.” Rainbow insisted, snagging the clipboard from the guard’s hands.

“Wha- Hey!” he noted in anger.

“Sorry about her; you know how interns are.” Wheeljack shrugged, clearly hiding the fact that Rainbow had given the list to Perceptor, who was using the now miniaturized plasma cannon hidden in his alt mode's scope to burn text on the paper.

Once done, Rainbow smiled. “I think you need to get your eyes checked dude; we’re clearly on the list.” She handed him back the clipboard and smirked.

The guard was confused but shrugged. “Whatever. You guys can go on in.”

“Thank you.” Optimus nodded as the team all ventured into the arena, finding seats very close to the central floor of the building, which held a large tarp-covered form and an array of unusual devices, all surrounded by a large impact shield around the arena.

“The doctor’s machine is undoubtedly there,” Perceptor noted, indicating the tarp.

“If it walks, it probably needs a long extension cord.” Wheeljack joked.

Ratchet chuckled. “I wonder if batteries are included.”

“It’s probably gonna blow the lights the second they turn it on,” Rainbow smirked, prompting a low range of chuckles from the others…

Until Twilight glanced back at them. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’re here to protect the robot; not make jokes at its expense.”

“Oh cmon Twilight, what could the ‘Cons possibly want with a machine like this?” asked Wheeljack. “No offense, but human robotics tech is lightyears behind Cybertronian biotech.”

“No R&D process more efficient than evolution.” Ratchet agreed.

“Nevertheless, we must remain vigilant.” Optimus encouraged as the lights dimmed and focused on the main floor, welcoming a Japanese man in a smart suit stepping in front of the tarp-covered object.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming.” he welcomed. “What you are about to see today is state-of-the-art robotics technology, which will change the face of mankind’s technological development for all of history. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Fujiyama Technologies NXR-263 Stealth-Assault Robot.” With that order, the tarp was winched up into the ceiling, revealing the robot in its entirety; it resembled a female Cybertronian with sheer gunmetal armor, a purple midriff with a bright gold star in the center, a purple mask almost similar to Wheeljack’s, and gold optics.

“By the AllSpark…” Wheeljack was amazed, as were the other Autobots, and most of the rest of the audience.

“This robot is the greatest feat of robotics combat engineering I have ever designed. She is programmed with dozens of different fighting styles and built with the capabilities to use them to their fullest potential, especially when combined with her weapons.” As if by perfect timing, he produced a small remote control and began fiddling with the controls as he stepped to the side, prompting the robot to move forward to the array of devices around the arena. Once in place, the robot drew a large pair of nunchucks and began bashing several targets apart, before several small machine-gun turrets started firing at her, only for her to dodge each and every shot, flipping over them and smashing the turrets apart. This continued until the arena was littered with broken targets, as the machine returned to its static standing position.

The press around the arena started roaring in awe at this development, cameras flashing and questions roaring. “Dr. Fujiyama! Dale Grant; New York Times.” one reporter called as he stood up. “Your company has been nearly entirely devoted to technologies that benefit mankind; why diversify into weapons manufacturing?”

“This robot is hardly a weapon, Mr. Grant.” Dr. Fujiyama rebuked. “Think of her more as… the ultimate robotic bodyguard. She has been built as the ultimate symbol of the limitless capabilities of technology. And with this technology, humanity will soon be able to truly grow out of its infancy and perhaps come together, ignoring borders or race. With this technology, humanity will truly return to its status as one.”

Optimus smiled. “An admirable motive, Doctor.” he nodded as he stepped forward.

“Whoa Optimus, what’re you doing?” Sunset asked in concern.

Dr. Fujiyama was surprised as well, but for different reasons. “Well, thank you, sir. Do I know you?”

“No, though that is my fault.” Optimus nodded as he moved to the doctor’s side. “My name is Orion. I operate my own company known as Pax Industries, which also works to advance the boundaries of this race through technology. My company’s code is ‘Till All Are One'.”

“Ah, wise words, Mr. Pax.” the doctor nodded and bowed respectfully. “And what do you think of my machine?”

“Most intriguing. Though I am concerned;” The other Autobots knew exactly what he was concerned about. “What would happen if our enemies gained access to this technology?”

“Not to worry, Mr. Pax. This demonstration is only a one-day event, after which she will be transferred home to my laboratory in Osaka.” the doctor assured.

And sure enough, after answering a few more questions, the robot was left in a loading bay on the north side of the arena… which Rainbow Dash easily managed to infiltrate with her speed, unlocking the doors to the bay. Wheeljack opened it and allowed the other girls in, as well as the other Autobots. “Let’s get to it,” Rainbow smirked.

“Wheeljack, Perceptor, analyze this machine,” Optimus ordered. “Try to find some way to make sure the Decepticons will not be able to use it.”

“What Decepticons?” Applejack smirked. “They were a no-show all day. Kinda insulted.”

“Seriously. I hoped they would attack just so we’d have an excuse to crack some skulls.” Rainbow smirked.

“I’m all for a good skull-crackin’, but we’ve gotta remember Rule Number 1: ‘Keep a low profile’.” Ironhide reminded.

“Yeah, and nothing says low profile like giant robot war in a crowded arena.” Twilight reminded… before she saw Spike running around chasing something on the ground. “Spike, what’s that?”

“Some sort of bug,” Spike remarked, and he was right; he was chasing a small purple insect, which seemed to be trying to fly over to the robot.

Twilight was surprised when she saw it. “That’s strange.”

“What is?” asked Bluestreak.

“Well, that’s a rhinoceros beetle. They’re not native to New York,” she explained before she noticed something; the beetle’s shell was almost metallic… with a familiar symbol on it. “Decepticon!”

The Autobots all quickly reacted and readied their weapons, only for the beetle to suddenly transform into a large purple Decepticon with an almost knight-like mouthplate. “Bombshell,” Ironhide growled.

“If you Autobots don’t mind, I’ll be taking this little beauty with me.” the Decepticon laughed inanely as it started firing, almost indiscriminately on the Autobots, who were forced to take cover as Bombshell grabbed the robot’s body and dragged it away out the door… only to suddenly be tackled to the ground by something.

When the team looked to see what it was, they saw a dark green H2 Hummer with a bright yellow bumper, which swiftly transformed into an Autobot with a yellow chest and gray domed head. “Brawn. Good to see ya, buddy.” Ironhide smirked.

“You too, ya ol’ bucket,” Brawn smirked, cracking his large knuckles. “Now how bout I crush this bug?”

“Feel free to try.” a voice suddenly came from behind Brawn, coming from a black Kenworth K1000 truck with a heavy trailer that roared up and charged the new bot. Brawn just smirked and raised his hands, easily catching the truck as his feet ripped up the pavement.

“Nice timing, Motormaster.” Bombshell laughed, suddenly blasting Brawn in the back and sending him to the ground. “Now let’s burn rubber!” Quickly, the bug jumped onto the back of Motormaster as they both roared away, through a GroundBridge.

“Well, that was disappointing.” Brawn groaned as he tried to stand up. “First time outta stasis in millions of cycles and I let a couple Decepticons get away with a… uh… what was that thing exactly?”

“It’s a long story uh… Brawn, was it?” asked Twilight. “I just hope that target’s okay.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as it had been brought straight to an Energon mine where Megatron was awaiting with several other officers. “Excellent work, Bombshell. Now begin your work.”

“Gladly, my liege.” the beetle-bot smiled as he laid his prize on a surgical table, quickly opening it up.

Knock Out scoffed. “Lord Megatron, you expect this thing to be able to bring us the map to the AllSpark? It’s barely even at turbofox levels of intelligence.”

“I must agree, my lord.” Bombshell nodded. “This will be far too simple.”

“Spare me your meaningless critiques,” Megatron ordered. “Just do as you’re ordered. Is she capable?”

“Certainly, my liege.” Bombshell smiled, throwing away several parts and replacing them with larger ones. “Just needs a bit of rewiring, a bulkier Energon-based power source, and of course, my personal favorite invention of mine;” He produced a small unit from his belt. “A Cerebro-shell.” He glanced his shoulder at the coms officer at the computer. “Soundwave, optic interface?”

“87% complete,” Soundwave reported.

“Excellent. Now let us complete warping her mind.” Bombshell smiled, locking the Cerebro-shell into the machine’s head with a mad chuckle.

Once it was locked in, the machine stood up from the table and stood at attention. Starscream was unimpressed. “Please. She looks like an earthling puppet.”

“Until I worked my magic, she was.” Bombshell smiled. “But now, she’s something more. State your designation and master.”

“Designation: Nightbird. Decepticon infiltration agent.” the robot spoke in an almost mechanical feminine voice. “I serve only one master; Megatron.”

“Excellent.” Megatron smiled. “And what is your mission?”

“Locate map to AllSpark and present it to Megatron.” Nightbird nodded simply.

“And if you encounter any Autobots?” asked Megatron.

“All Autobots are enemy. All Autobots must be exterminated.” she nodded.

“Excellent. Then go; complete your mission.” Megatron ordered, allowing Nightbird to walk from the mine… passing the still unimpressed Starscream. Still, the Autobots would soon come to fear this new machine, whether they knew it or not.

Shadows

When Dr. Fujiyama heard his robot had been hijacked by terrorists (as Prowl falsely informed him) he was greatly disappointed. “I must apologize, Dr. Fujiyama,” Optimus assured. “We attempted to defend your invention, but we were unprepared.”

“It could not have been foreseen, Mr. Pax.” the doctor shrugged.

“Nonetheless, I assure you that my team will do all in their power to return your invention to you as quickly as possible,” Optimus assured.

“Thank you, Mr. Pax. I only ask that you bring her back unharmed.” the doctor asked. “Her components are irreplaceable, and needed for further research.”

“Don’t you worry, Doc.” Jazz assured. “We’ll bring the little lady back in mint condition… I hope.” He muttered that last part.

“Thank you very much.” Dr. Fujiyama nodded as he left the arena where they met… allowing Optimus and Jazz’s avatars to disappear, returning to the team hiding in the loading bay.

“How ya doin’, Brawn?” Jazz asked.

“I’m fine.” the new bot assured.

“I beg to differ.” Ratchet argued. “That blast from Bombshell did a number on you. I’ll need to get you back to the base for more advanced treatment.”

“Please. I can’t transform right now, but I can still fight.” As if to emphasize this, he delivered a quick combo… only to suddenly stop and groan as he grabbed his right shoulder.

“If you allow your T-Cog to remain damaged, you’ll lose all motor control within a matter of days.” Ratchet reminded. “You’re going to Sick Bay and that is final.”

Optimus made his decision right then and there. “Red Alert, activate the GroundBridge. Ratchet, attend to Brawn’s wounds. Ironhide, take the humans back as well.”

“All due respect Optimus, but we’re not leaving,” Twilight assured. “We’ve got an entire planet to search for a single robot, so you’re going to need all the help you can get to find her.” She turned to her friends and smiled. “Who’s in?” The other girls roared in agreement, suddenly prompting Twilight to Pony-Up, as her Geode glowed brighter.

Wheeljack smiled. “Looks like we’re getting more help either way, Prime.” And sure enough, Twilight’s Armor unit hovered from her pocket and locked around her Geode, which started pulsing with energy. But then she noticed something; the Armor unit hooked to Spike’s collar started pulsing as well.

Both Armors gave a loud ring as Twilight was suddenly surrounded by her telekinetic aura, and Spike suddenly burst into flames, both of which suddenly grew to massive sizes before becoming solid.

Twilight’s face and limbs turned the same lavender as her skin, her torso turned a bright blue with a purple six-pointed star button on her collarbone, as her hips and upper thighs turned dark purple and her feet turned deep navy blue. Her steel cable hair flowed from her hair in the usual ponytail, partially covering a small purple diamond on her forehead, allowing her blue optics centered with purple to activate before being covered by a translucent rose visor, as bright lavender jet-wings flipped out from her back.

Spike’s transformation was somewhat similar; once the fire died, it showed that Spike was not only unburned but also encased in light purple metal with a bright green ridge on his head over his green-centered blue optics, his purple collar and gold tags still present around his neck, though they were somewhat overshadowed by the smallish tires in his shoulders and haunches. And those were even more overshadowed by the large dragon-like purple wings protruding from his back, amazing everyone.

(Cut it)

The team was amazed by their two new allies, though Twilight was especially surprised. “Whoa. Okay, this is incredible,” she remarked, looking at herself and her now winged dog-bot. “Why did we both activate?”

“I’m not sure.” Wheeljack shrugged. “Your Armor’s activation sequence must’ve been linked to the prototype’s. That means you two are binary-bonded.”

“Forget that; check out these wings,” Spike remarked, suddenly taking to the air on them. “This is awesome!”

“However, it does not make much sense,” Perceptor remarked. “Your organic form had no wings.”

“It must be some sort of link to his Equestrian counterpart; that Spike is a dragon.” Perceptor raised his eyebrow at Sunset’s remark as if asking for context. “Giant fire-breathing lizard with wings.”

“Hm. Intriguing.” Perceptor noted.

“Let’s see what alt-modes you’ve got.” Wheeljack smiled, prompting Spike to swiftly jump and transform, his legs folding in and his tail flipping down into a trigger as his mouth opened wide, landing in Twilight’s hand.

“Whoa! I’m a gun?!” Spike said in surprise, before realizing something. “Wait; how can I still talk?”

“Bots don’t need mouths to talk in their alt-modes.” Wheeljack shrugged. “And if I’m not mistaken, you’re not just any kinda gun; you’re a thermo rocket cannon.”

“My dog turns into a rocket launcher? Cool.” Twilight remarked with a smirk.

“Guess that makes you a Targetmaster, Twi.” Twilight seemed confused by the term Bluestreak used. “Bots binary-bonded to smaller bots who act as a weapon. Oughtta come in handy.”

“No doubt. But how do the wheels fit in?” Rainbow was right; Spike’s weapon mode still had wheels, which confused the others.

“Well now, this is surprising.” Ratchet remarked. “A Mini-Con Triple-Changer. Huh. Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Well, let’s see what it is,” Twilight smirked at Spike’s idea, and tossed him into the air, allowing him to transform again; this time into a small vehicle with almost pillar-like front bumpers.

“Cybertronian ATV. Nice.” Wheeljack smiled, as Spike familiarized himself with the unusual controls, even by the standards of a dog-driven vehicle.

Then Sunset realized something as he transformed back to beast-mode. “Wait a sec; if Spike’s a Triple-Changer, and he’s bonded to Twilight…”

“Then that must mean I’m a Triple-Changer too.” Twilight smiled in understanding. “I’m gonna need two alt-modes.”

“Well, that’s just greedy,” Rainbow remarked.

“But it may be most useful in battles to come.” Optimus nodded. “Wheeljack, accompany Twilight and Spike back to base so they may acquire more suitable vehicle modes. Ratchet-”

“Tend to Brawn; I gotcha.” Ratchet nodded as the GroundBridge opened, allowing the five through, as well as Sunset who was staying behind until her own armor activated.

“And everyone else?” Rainbow smirked.

Optimus nodded as he locked his face-plate. “Transform and Roll Out!” The order was quickly followed, with Rarity finally revealing her new alt-mode as a white 2012 Rolls Royce Ghost, before she and all the others roared out the door, across the planet.

Back at base, Twilight was looking through available alt-modes in Teletraan’s database, having downloaded her’s and Spike’s portions of the map into Teletraan’s system… and totally forgotten that they had left the door open, giving Nightbird an entrance. Though the security systems at the door made it far too dangerous, so she carefully began climbing up the ridge to the top of the volcano.

“There’s one thing I don’t get, Wheeljack.” Spike shrugged. “Why does Megatron want that robot anyway? He’s already got an army.”

“I stopped trying to understand what goes on in Megatron’s head megacycles ago.” Wheeljack shrugged. “And either way, I doubt she’s just gonna come here.”

Suddenly Twilight’s optics locked onto something; an F-16 Fighting Falcon and a 2021 Honda Odyssey. “Alright, I think I’ve got my alt-modes picked out.”

“Nice choices,” Jetfire noted. “Guess you’re gonna be joining Rainbow in flight training. Let’s get ‘em scanned.” Twilight quickly did so and was almost immediately welcomed by attributes from both her vehicle modes; cockpit in her midriff, grills on her waist, tires on her shoulders and thighs, and an air intake on her back under her wings.

“Huh. Not bad. I think I can work with this.” Twilight smiled.

Red Alert almost seemed to be getting used to the girls being around… until Teletraan’s security database brought something to his attention, which confused him as he opened a com line. “Red Alert to Rainbow Dash; are you or Fluttershy coming back to base?”

“No, we’re flying over Alaska,” Rainbow answered. “Why?”

“Then why is the flyer entrance at the top of the volcano opening?” That single statement worried everyone present, forcing them to dash to the flyer entrance, where they took up tactical positions on either side of the door.

Twilight counted down on her fingers from three, at which point the door was opened and everyone jumped into position, Twilight even flipping blasters out of her forearms like Jetfire. But they didn’t see anything. “Huh. That’s weird.” Spike remarked.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with the door’s systems.” Twilight suggested.

“Well, couldn’t hurt to give it a quick debug.” Red Alert agreed as they returned to the hangar… unaware of something scanning something from Twilight’s internal computers. As it turned out, that scan came from Nightbird, who had scanned Twilight’s security code and started sneaking around the ship until she arrived outside sickbay, where Lifeline was working on Brawn.

“Easy there, Brawn. Your T-Cog is almost back to peak condition,” she assured.

“I think I know what Smokescreen likes about you, kid; you’ve got a gentle touch.” Lifeline blushed at Brawn’s compliment and continued her work… which totally distracted her, allowing Nightbird to sneak all the way to the ship’s bridge, where she deployed a drive from her wrist and plugged it into the system, downloading information from the computer directly to the Cerebro-shell in her head… resulting in an alarm going off.

“Intruder on the bridge. Intruder on the bridge.” Teletraan blared.

Faced with the alarm, Nightbird was forced to retreat… only to run straight into Red Alert on her way out. “Surprise!” he smirked and fired his shoulder-cannon at her, only for her to dodge and deliver a devastating combo to the security officer… but he got in a lucky grab at her head, somehow automatically deleting her stolen security code, and causing the alarm to go off.

The tangler guns quickly flipped out and began firing, but Nightbird dodged every blast and ran out, pursued by the others. “Red, are you okay?” Spike asked.

“Down there!” Red ordered, pointing down the hall.

Jetfire quickly saw what he was pointing at and fired a blast at the ground near the robot, hidden in the shadows which stopped. “That was a warning shot; identify yourself or my aim improves.”

Nightbird simply turned back to the bots, which seriously surprised Twilight. “Wait, that’s Dr. Fujiyama’s robot,” Twilight ordered, grabbing Jetfire’s rifle and forcing him to lower it. “Optimus ordered us not to harm her.”

“Designation; Nightbird. All Autobots will be eradicated.” Nightbird said in her same monotone voice, before throwing a barrage of shuriken at the bots, who quickly took cover around corners.

“Guess Megatron didn’t tell her not to harm us.” Jetfire scowled.

Then something else was tossed out toward them; something Red Alert recognized immediately. “Grenade!” And not just grenade; a flashbang, which disoriented everyone allowing Nightbird to race out of the ship.

Once the ringing in the team’s ears and glare in their optics faded, the team looked around angrily at what had happened. “Contact Optimus,” Jetfire ordered.

It didn’t take long before the whole rest of the team arrived on the ship, looking over what happened. “I’d say you guys are lucky this ‘Nightbird’ didn’t do any permanent damage.” Ratchet shrugged as he looked Spike over.

“Yeah, my ears feel really lucky,” Spike remarked.

“Don’t worry Optimus; we’ll bring her in and stop her before she really causes trouble,” Rainbow assured.

“I believe it is too late for that, Rainbow Dash,” Perceptor noted. “The infiltrator accessed the map to the AllSpark.”

The gravity of the situation began to sink in after that. “With me and Spike’s parts, the map is almost complete; just a few gaps. All the Decepticons would have to do is go by process of elimination.”

“If Megatron gets the map, the war is lost.” Optimus scowled.

“We’ve still got some time, Optimus.” Red Alert assured, holding something up. “Bombshell fitted her with a com-unit, but I managed to disable it. Without coms, she’ll have to find another way to signal for a GroundBridge.”

“Then we’ve gotta move, fast,” Twilight noted.

“Agreed. Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Everyone quickly did so and left the base.

Ratchet quickly called Optimus once they were gone. “Red Alert, Perceptor, Wheeljack, Lifeline, and I will have everything back online in no time,” he assured. “Good luck.”

“Thank you, old friend. We may need it.” Optimus noted.

As the bots drove into town, Cliffjumper pulled over near Sandalwood and glanced his avatar’s head out the window. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a big black-” He didn’t even have to finish; Sandalwood just pointed down the street leading out of town. “Huh. Thanks.” That was all he needed to know as the team quickly rolled out.

Twilight was still getting used to her new wings, and carrying Spike on her lap as she and Rainbow flew alongside Jetfire. She was just getting the hang of it when she saw something off to her side. “Contact; on the bluff.” And sure enough, Nightbird was climbing a bluff nearby, allowing the Autobots to see her.

Quickly, they all transformed with Twilight grabbing Spike’s new Mini-Con form out of the air before he fell. “A simple stun-blast oughtta do the trick,” Jetfire smirked as he raised his rifle, firing at Nightbird and knocking her down.

“Nice shot, Jetfire,” Ironhide smirked. “We’ll take it from here.” Bluestreak and Applejack were the first ones to join her on the ridge, only for Nightbird to suddenly kick Bluestreak in the face and knock him down.

“Whoa! Playin’ possum, huh sugar?” Applejack smirked. “Well, let’s see how ya handle someone a little sturdier.” Apparently, she did fairly well as Applejack was easily knocked back to the others.

Optimus was just moving forward when Nightbird began throwing more shuriken. “Incoming!” Bumblebee called. Rarity quickly raised a gemstone barrier in front of the bots to intercept them.

Spike growled as he swooped down on his wings. “Alright, time to turn up the heat!” He could feel a heat welling up in his robot mode's belly and assumed it was because of his dragon-powers, ready to breathe fire.

Optimus raised a hand to his mouth and stopped him. “Stand down, Spike. We promised not to harm her.”

“Well, she didn’t make any promise like that.” Twilight reminded, emphasized by Nightbird drawing a large energy blade from her back.

Optimus lowered his large blaster and slowly approached. “Nightbird, we mean you no harm. We’ve come to help. Do not force my hand.”

“All Autobots will be eradicated,” Nightbird said simply and struck Optimus’ hand, forcing him to drop his blaster before he was conked in the head and knocked to the ground.

“Alright, that’s it!” Smokescreen growled and readied his rocket launchers.

“Stand down; do not damage her!” Optimus ordered.

“Fine. Then at least let me do this!” Applejack smirked and quickly drew a bot-sized revolver, quickly shooting the sword from Nightbird’s hand.

She thought nothing of it and grabbed up Optimus’ blaster and dashed to the other side of the bluff, quickly jumping from the cliff. Rainbow tried to grab her but too late; she vanished. Literally. “No sign of her, Optimus,” Mirage reported. “Maybe she has a cloak.”

“Question is; with all the weapons she has, why would she steal Optimus’ ion rifle?” asked Ironhide.

“I heard that a ninja always takes a part of an enemy with them.” Drift remembered. “We’re just lucky it was just a weapon.”

“Hey, Nightbird! You forgot this!” Pinkie called out into the unknown, waving the sword the ninja apparently abandoned in her hand.

Meanwhile, Megatron had seen the whole thing through Nightbird’s optic feed. “Not only does my Nightbird have the map to the AllSpark, but also my hated enemy’s weapon?” He was more than impressed. “Prime will lose much more before we are finished.”

“We should’ve looked into human roboticists’ toy chests sooner, Lord Megatron.” Knock Out smirked. “Nightbird alone is magnificent; imagine an army of drones like her.”

“Ah, even the brightest stars burn out eventually; some quicker than others,” Starscream remarked. “Especially after Bombshell over-torqued her circuits.”

“Who asked for your opinion, Starscream?” the Insecticon snarled.

“Nightbird will not burn out until she returns with the map,” Soundwave assured. “All has been programmed properly.”

“If she returns, I think you mean.” Starscream scowled. “She’s barely true Decepticon material.”

“Perhaps I should scrap you and give her your post to test that theory, Starscream.” Megatron scowled.

The Autobots had resumed their search for Nightbird, but so far they weren’t having much luck. It wasn’t until they were halfway to Camp Everfree that Rainbow transformed and landed in front of the others. “Hang on; I think I’ve got something. Due north; let’s go!” she ordered and led the team north. “We’re closing in.”

Finally, they found Nightbird in a narrow canyon near the outskirts of town. “Gotcha,” Bumblebee smirked.

“No one attack,” Optimus ordered as they assumed bot-mode. “I wish to capture her unharmed.”

“I don’t think she’s gonna wanna come quietly, Prime.” Ironhide was right; suddenly Nightbird’s sword flew back to her hand from a magnetic charge before she moved to attack Prime who dodged each of her swings before she retreated.

“We’ve got her, Prime,” Jetfire reported as he, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow all flew after Nightbird with the other bots running after them.

Finally, she was boxed in with no hope of escape, so she stood her ground. “Okay, no more Mr. Nice Bot.” Cliffjumper scowled as he and Bumblebee raised their weapons… only for them to be knocked from their hands by shuriken.

Mirage smirked as he cloaked and snuck carefully around Nightbird as Optimus attempted dialogue again. “I swore to your creator that I would not damage you, Nightbird. But you leave me no other option.”

“Maybe this will help!” Mirage yelled and tossed Optimus his rifle, which he caught and aimed at the ninja-bot.

“I truly regret this.” That was all Optimus said before he fired on Nightbird, knocking her down.

“Well, silver lining; at least we know she’s not indestructible.” Twilight shrugged… before Nightbird jumped to her feet and threw another barrage of shuriken.

“This is getting redundant!” Cliffjumper remarked as he and several others took cover. “We’ve gotta do something!”

“I’m open to suggestions, Cliff!” Applejack countered. Everyone tried something – even vehicle-mode attacks – but nothing worked.

Megatron grew more and more pleased with every moment. “Magnificent. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” he smiled. “Starscream is most definitely out of a job.”

Starscream heard that from outside the bridge and scowled. “Replace me? Hmph. We’ll see about that.” Suddenly, he saw his chance when Rarity and Trailbreaker combined their shielding abilities to completely surround and immobilize Nightbird.

“No!” Megatron was rightfully concerned, which Starscream took full advantage of.

“My liege, allow me to lead the strike to liberate dear Nightbird and bring you the AllSpark.” he offered graciously.

Megatron was too concerned to think rationally and raised his hand. “No, I will lead the team alongside you. The map will be mine if I have to obliterate every lifeform on this worthless planet!” With that order, Soundwave opened a GroundBridge.

It opened on the other side just as Cliffjumper saw something fall from Nightbird’s side as she struggled against her bonds. “That drive must have the map.” He couldn’t grab it to find out as the portal opened and he was suddenly blasted back to the others.

“Cliff!” Rainbow called in worry as she caught him, only to see the Decepticons move out from the vortex and scowl at the Autobots.

“Surrender Nightbird and you will live!” Megatron ordered.

“You’ll have to take her from us the hard way!” Rainbow smirked.

“Agreed. Autobots, attack!” Optimus ordered, prompting everyone to open fire, engaging in a massive firefight with the Decepticons… which they slowly started losing.

“We’re gettin’ hammered here!” Applejack remarked.

And she was right; just as Smokescreen almost got the drive, Bombshell buzzed down and grabbed it, blasting him straight through the midsection. “I got him!” Spike barked and ran out, breathing green fire at the Decepticons as he locked his forepaws onto the Autobot and dragged him to cover, the drive wrapped in his tail.

“Twilight to base; we have wounded! Requesting backup and medivac!” she reported.

“Gotcha covered!” Wheeljack assured as another GroundBridge opened not far behind Autobots lines, allowing him, Brawn, and Lifeline to move into the fray.

Lifeline was terrified when she saw Smokescreen so damaged. “Smokey!” Quickly she dropped to his side and dragged him back toward the portal.

“Cover her; our shields are failing!” Trailbreaker reported.

“I got somethin’ better than a shield!” Brawn smirked and drove his hands into the ground, pulling a massive wall of stone up in front of the team, allowing every shot to bounce off it as the team planned their next move. “And that’s why they call me Brawn.”

Unfortunately, as the shield units dropped their powers, Nightbird was free and began to battle the Autobots. Starscream was watching from behind a ridge, more than pleased at the way the battle was going; Autobots caught between Nightbird’s hand-to-hand and Decepticon weapons. “My replacement, eh Megatron? Let’s see how much you like her when she’s offline.”

When no one was looking, he snuck around behind Ironhide and fired one of his arm-mounted blasters over his shoulder right as he fired, hitting Nightbird square in the back. “Nightbird, no!” Megatron yelled in concern.

“Say good night, bucket-head!” Rainbow smirked and let loose a massive barrage of missiles, blasting massive amounts of stone from the walls down toward the enemy.

Starscream quickly moved back to Megatron’s side as the Autobots opened fire. “The battle is lost, my liege. We must retreat if we are to have any hope of winning the war,” he assured.

Megatron snarled; he hated to agree with Starscream, but he made a good point. “Decepticons, return to base!” he ordered as the GroundBridge opened, allowing the Decepticons through amidst a hail of blaster fire.

“Nice shot, Ironhide,” Brawn smirked.

“I didn’t know I actually hit her.” Ironhide shrugged.

“Well, whatever happened, let us take solace in the fact that we have victory once again.” Optimus smiled… before he looked at the trail of Energon Smokescreen had left in the dirt when he was dragged back to the ship.

Soon enough, the Autobots returned to New York and delivered Nightbird back to Dr. Fujiyama (having told him that she was reprogrammed by the terrorists who stole her as a weapon), who was more than happy to see her unloaded from a trailer Optimus brought with him. “Thank you so very much, Mr. Pax. You have my eternal gratitude for returning my machine. And not a scratch on her chassis.”

“We’re just glad she’s back in the right hands, Doctor,” Twilight assured. “Deprogrammed and neutralized, thanks to our science team.”

“And safely locked away, permanently.” The doctor smiled as he sealed his machine into a large pod. “Thank you again, Mr. Pax. Remind me to visit your company someday. I would love to see what you’re working on.”

“Thank you, doctor. Perhaps another time.” Optimus nodded as his team all left the room, returning to their bot-bodies and driving through the GroundBridge back to base.

“Y’know, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Rainbow remembered as she looked at Optimus. “Why did you choose Orion Pax as your cover name?”

“Because that is his name.” Ironhide smiled. “Or it was, anyway. Before he became a Prime.”

“He was an archivist in the Iacon Hall of Records.” Red Alert remembered. “Circumstances just demanded that he take up the mantle of Prime and the Matrix.”

“Cool,” Rainbow remarked, happy to know a bit more about the girls’ large friend, though it easily devolved into concern when they saw the worried look on Lifeline’s face. And even then, what they did not know would soon return to haunt them.

Author's Note

Looks like we've got one extra addition to the team. And here's his artwork.

As usual, art by eiloo

Bedside

For as long as the girls had known, the medical bay on the Ark had usually been fairly quiet – a few dents, the occasional small bullet or blaster wound, things like that. Never had they seen anything as serious as when Smokescreen was brought in after the battle outside town; his midsection had been blown open, fuses and valves were broken, and his Energon was leaking everywhere.

Lifeline was terrified – of course, she was – but still, she helped Ratchet and Fluttershy in doing all they could to help him. The rest of the crew was nervous as well, not least of which were Smokescreen’s brothers. When Ratchet and Fluttershy emerged from the medical bay, Bluestreak was the first to welcome them. “How’s he doin’, Doc?”

“Not great.” Ratchet shrugged. “We’ve managed to stop the leaks and get his body replated, but he’s lost a lot of Energon and the internal damage is too intensive to repair by hand. We’ve put him in the CR Chamber for healing, but with our limited reserves of Energon, it may take too long.”

“You’ve done all you can, old friend,” Optimus assured. “Now the rest is up to Smokescreen.”

“Where’s Lifeline?” asked Arcee.

“She wanted to stay with him while he rests.” Fluttershy nodded. And sure enough, there near the CR Chamber was Lifeline, a hopeful and worried look on her face.

“Will she be okay?” asked Twilight.

“She just needs some time,” Cliffjumper assured. “Let’s see what work we can do in the meantime.”

Suddenly an alert came through on the computer. “Optimus, Dr. Fujiyama is calling; audio channels only.”

“Dr. Fujiyama? What does he want?” asked Twilight.

“There is only one way to find out. Teletraan, patch him through.” Optimus ordered as the communication channel opened. “Dr. Fujiyama, I was not expecting to hear from you so soon.”

“Nor was I expecting to contact you so soon, Mr. Pax.” the doctor assured. “Though it seems I am in need of your assistance again; my robot has escaped.”

This certainly raised some eyebrows among the crew. “Define ‘escaped’,” asked Optimus.

“I’m sending you security footage from the loading bay where we left her.” The footage was soon put up on the main screen, showing the robot formerly known as Nightbird punching her way out of the titanium containment pod she was sealed in before she stood up and punched out the security camera, which cut the footage out. “The next thing anyone knew, the wall was destroyed and the robot was gone.”

“Understood, Doctor.” Optimus nodded. “I will dispatch a team to aid in the investigation.” With that, the connection was terminated as Optimus turned to the others.

“Okay, does someone wanna explain to me how that thing can move around on its own when we wiped what the ‘Cons did to it?” asked Rainbow.

“Must be a contingency program Bombshell installed.” Twilight theorized. “If Nightbird was captured, it probably ordered her to escape and find a way to join the Decepticons.”

“And there is no telling what sensitive data may have been hidden on her internal drives,” Perceptor added.

“Then we’d better go find her,” Rainbow noted.

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded. “Rainbow Dash; you, Prowl, and Cliffjumper will mobilize to investigate the scene and do what you can.”

“In the meantime, maybe the rest of us can find a way to shore up our Energon reserves.” Twilight suggested. “Loot a few Decepticon mines, set up our own, something like that.”

“It’s certainly worth a shot.” Drift shrugged. “I know a few regions the Constructicons suspected of being rich in Energon. Maybe we should check one of them out; see if they were right.”

“Sounds good to me.” Twilight smiled as she and the other girls all shifted to their bot-modes.

They were just about to leave until Bumblebee looked back at the console, seeing his human partner looking a bit concerned. “You wanna come with, Sunset?”

“I’ll stay here. I have a feeling Lifeline’s gonna need someone to talk to.” Sunset nodded.

“I think Arcee and I will stay too; keep an eye on her and Smokescreen,” Bluestreak added.

“Very well, Bluestreak.” Optimus nodded as the Autobots quickly transformed and mobilized, Rainbow’s team disappearing through the GroundBridge to New York.

It was only a short drive to Madison Square Garden, where they indeed found a large portion of the wall from the loading bay broken away from the inside. Rainbow was actually sufficiently impressed as she jumped out of Cliffjumper. “Man, three days since we caught her, and she does this sort of damage. Crazy,” she noted.

“I’m afraid that’s putting it nicely.” It was Dr. Fujiyama, inside examining the rest of the destruction, including several components of the nearby computer banks destroyed and missing. “I built that machine with the most advanced weapons I could get my hands on.”

“Well, it certainly looks like she put them to good use,” Prowl remarked, his avatar examining the damage for itself. “Our science team has determined that her escape was due to an implanted subprogram, ordering her to join back up with the terrorists that stole her.”

“She should be pretty easy to find; a giant robot doesn’t exactly run through downtown New York without someone seeing it.” Rainbow brought up.

“I think you’re forgetting something, Dash; this robot is a ninja.” Cliffjumper reminded. “For all we know, she could’ve gotten out of town without anyone seeing her.”

“Well, if she was trying to leave town, the best direction to go would’ve been north, up the Hudson River,” Prowl noted. “Let’s check out that way first.”

“Fine by me.” Rainbow nodded as they moved back to the cars. “We’ll let ya know what we find, Doc.” With that, they loaded up and drove up north, hopeful for some good luck.

At base, Sunset, Arcee, and Bluestreak were still watching over Lifeline and Smokescreen. “I’ve gotta ask; how did those two meet anyway?” Sunset asked seriously.

“How do ya think? On the battlefield.” Bluestreak shrugged. “It was at the Battle of Protihex. Our battalion was sent to commandeer arms and Energon, and liberate prisoners from a Decepticon outpost. Lifeline was one of the prisoners, and believe me; she earned her keep. We blew the cells and then literally five nano-kliks later, Megatron’s general Obsidian had us surrounded. Smokescreen tried to hold them back with his mag-smoke, but some punk got in a lucky shot so Hoist and I had to drag him to safety. It wasn’t until we made it back to Iacon that we managed to get Smokey the medical attention he needed. Lifeline was in charge of his treatment, and it sorta… spiraled from there.”

Arcee smirked. “Was that before or after Hoist found them making out on Smoke’s medical slab?”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, I figured it was something like that.”

“Personally, I think there’s something greater behind it.” Bluestreak shrugged. “But I’d rather not let Lifeline hear it.”

“Good call. Cmon, over here.” Arcee indicated over to the other end of the control panel, which the two Autobots quickly moved to.

Sunset was just confused as she followed them. “Wait, what’re you talking about?”

Bluestreak glanced around the corridor to make sure no one else was around to hear before he kneeled down to Sunset’s level. “Smokescreen told me and Prowl this in confidence, but he received special orders from Optimus when he was assigned to his post; to get close to the other Autobots and give Prime a sort of ‘on-the-ground' perspective for what we’re thinking.”

“I’ve sort of been worrying that he’s only with Lifeline to get a really in-depth report to give to Optimus,” Arcee remarked.

“Do you really believe that?” Sunset asked seriously.

“She’s not wrong.” Bluestreak shrugged. “I’ve looked over Smoke’s shoulder a few times while he’s working. I’ve seen his file on Lifeline; it’s huge. He probably knows things about her not even she knows.”

Sunset wasn’t sure. “That sounds like one side of the story. If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll try and get the other side from the real source.”

“Yeah, knock yourself out.” Bluestreak shrugged as he and Arcee allowed her to move on to the medical bay, where she found Lifeline sitting next to Smokescreen’s tank.

“Just like after Protihex, huh?” She figured that was as good of an ice-breaker as any.

Clearly, she was right, as Lifeline chuckled. “Yeah, except this time it’s a little harder for me to hold him.” she smiled… before it fell and she looked at Sunset seriously. “If you know about Protihex, I’m guessing that means Bluestreak and Arcee told you the rest.”

“You mean about Smokescreen’s job? Yeah.” Sunset nodded. “Arcee’s worried about you; she thinks Smokescreen’s just taking advantage of you for his work.”

“Arcee was Military Intelligence; work like that makes a ‘Bot paranoid.” Lifeline corrected, looking at the prone Smokescreen. “I found out about Smokescreen’s mission orders when I accessed his medical history during his treatment.” She chuckled a bit as she remembered. “When he woke up, he said my hands were even more gentle than Ratchet’s; like I was wearing silk-steel gloves. At first, I thought he was just trying to charm me for information, but we talked through his recuperation and I found out that he actually did like me, since he actually saw me in training with the Paradron Medic Corps. We’ve been together ever since.”

Sunset smiled as she walked over to Lifeline, placing a hand on her foot. “I know how you feel; I was kind of an abusive jerk when I first got to this universe. And believe me, I paid for it. I’m sure Smokescreen worries about that sometimes too.” Lifeline smiled at her kind words, though her optics popped when she saw Sunset Pony-Up and her Geode glow brighter.

“Perceptor! Prep Teletraan and call Optimus; we’ve got the map!” she called down the hallway. She was right; Sunset’s Armor hovered from her pocket and locked around her Geode, pulsing with energy.

The armor gave a loud ring as Sunset’s eyes suddenly glowed bright white, as if she was using her powers but then the glow spread around the rest of her body, forming a massive avatar of mental energy, which suddenly solidified into metal. Her face and limbs turned the same pale orange as her skin, her breastplate turned a darker orange with her red and gold yin-yang sun emblem forming in an orange button on her collarbone as the back and her sides turned black with gold spikes in the same places as her vest. Her thighs turned deep purple with black bands wrapping around her left leg like her skirt. Her feet turned the same black as her shoes as a bright orange horn-like spike with a red diamond-shaped center formed on her forehead, in front of her red and yellow metallic hair, her optics opening to reveal the brighter blue of her natural eyes in the centers.

But then something more unusual happened; a panel exposed itself in her back, almost indicating something was contained inside. But Sunset was much more interested in what had just happened to her as she looked at her hands.

(Cut it)

“This is awesome!” she remarked, looking over her new metallic bodywork. Her admiration was suddenly interrupted by Perceptor who dashed in and practically instantly began thoroughly looking her over. “Wha- Ow! Perceptor, you bolt-brain; stop it.”

“Ah, there you are.” Clearly, Perceptor had found the data drive in Sunset’s wrist and swiftly plugged the computer cable he brought into her wrist, instantly transferring the data to Teletraan. Once the data was loaded in, Perceptor was beyond happy; the map was complete. Quickly he turned on the com-system. “Optimus, return to base. The hunt for the AllSpark is about to come to a close.”

Author's Note

And that's it, folks; all the armors are online so here are the last two bot-modes:

And how about a full-team lineup just to spice things up?

As usual, art by eiloo

Maximize!

Rainbow really liked the elevator for flyers the Autobots had built into the volcano, leading down to the Ark. And when she arrived in the main area of the ship, she saw exactly why Optimus had called everyone back; there was Sunset in a massive bot-mode. “Whoa, what? We’ve got the map?”

“Yep. We’re on our way to the AllSpark.” Twilight smiled proudly, having also returned with the rest of the team with a massive amount of Energon stolen from a Decepticon mine.

Wheeljack smiled as he moved to the controls. “Alright Autobots, moment of truth.” he smiled. “Teletraan, bring up a full holographic display of the map to the AllSpark.”

Teletraan followed his order and swiftly projected a massive 3D globe composed of all the fragments collected from the girls’ armors. But there was something easily wrong. “Wait a second; that’s not Earth.” Bumblebee was right; the planet displayed by the hologram looked nothing like Earth;

Ratchet seemed remarkably irritated, even moreso than usual. “What? You mean we’ve been on the wrong planet this whole time? This is ridiculous!” The other Autobots apparently agreed as they started arguing over whose fault it was.

Twilight took a closer look at the map herself, further analyzing it with her bot-mode’s inbuilt visor. “Wait a minute, this isn’t the wrong planet. It’s just from the wrong time period.”

Everyone stopped arguing when they heard that, as Perceptor – particularly intrigued – stepped forward. “Explain.”

Twilight did so by looking at Optimus. “When exactly did Alpha Trion launch the AllSpark from Cybertron?”

“Roughly 50 million of your years ago,” Optimus remembered.

“Well, that explains it; back then, this was what Earth looked like.” Twilight explained, drawing several lines on the large supercontinent. “So with these fissures accounted for, as well as the 50 million years of continental drift…”

“Accounting now,” Teletraan reported and did exactly as it was told, spreading the continents out across the holographic globe until it was almost a mirror image of the planet Earth the girls knew and loved, with the coordinates for the AllSpark somewhere on the southeast coast of the North American continent.

“Bingo.” Twilight smiled.

Sunset looked closely at the highlighted position on the globe, almost confused. “Teletraan, zoom in on the coordinates on a standard map of Earth.” The computer quickly did as it was ordered, surprising everyone with the revealed location.

“Wait a minute; that’s Camp Everfree.” Twilight realized.

“Well, if that ain’t sweeter than fresh apple cider.” Applejack smiled, totally ignoring the weird look the Autobots gave her in response to her countryism. “That’s just a couple minutes from here.”

“Then what’re we doin’ standing around here? Let’s go.” Rainbow smiled, revving up her engines.

“Whoa there, Rainbow,” Cliffjumper ordered. “We can’t just drive out to a military camp and start diggin’ the place up for the AllSpark.”

Sunset just snickered. “‘Military’? Camp Everfree’s a kids’ sleepaway camp.” she corrected. “And it’ll be fine; we saved the place once. Plus Twilight’s dating the counselor.” Obviously, Twilight blushed and smacked Sunset upside the head, their metallic flesh clanging together. “Ow, why? It’s the truth.” Suddenly the small red diamond in her horn lit up and she heard something in her mind. And it almost sounded like a voice. “What the…?”

“What is it?” asked Bumblebee.

“I- I dunno, I just… I just hear something.” Sunset wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, but it was definitely present. For another few seconds, but then the voice faded from her hearing and the light in her horn flickered off. “Huh. It’s gone. It sounded… it sounded like a voice.”

“A voice?” Bumblebee was surprised. “Okay, that is… really weird.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what it was.” Sunset shrugged.

Ratchet quickly flipped out a small scanner and went over both her bot-form’s brain module and the brain in her organic body. “Hmm. Well, I’m definitely showing some stimulation in your frontal lobe circuitry. Not sure what could cause it.”

“Well, my geode power lets me read people’s memories when I touch them. Maybe the Armor and this horn made it… I dunno, wireless?” Sunset shrugged.

“Possible, though unlikely. Unfortunately, I have no more cogent theory.” Perceptor shrugged. “I will endeavor to locate one.”

“Alright good; while you do that, we all head out to Camp Everfree.” Rainbow planned, suddenly taking command.

“Hey, whoa-whoa-whoa; who died and made you Prime?” Sunstreaker asked seriously.

“We can’t all go out there.” Wheeljack reminded. “Someone’s gotta stay and defend the ship and town.”

“Is that you volunteering?” asked Rainbow.

Wheeljack was admittedly surprised but shrugged all the same. “I suppose it is,” he said. “We have more than enough Autobots to spare. If I stay here with a smaller team, you guys will be free to go.”

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded. “Wheeljack, Red Alert, Lifeline, Inferno, and Perceptor will remain to watch over Canterlot. The rest of us will journey to the camp.”

“Alright then. Mind if I say it?” Sunset smiled broadly when she saw Optimus nod, as she turned to the opening door. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” With that order, everyone transformed with Sunset transforming into a McLaren 12C and roared out of the ship toward the camp.

What none of them saw was that high above in the clouds, a large black and red jet with familiar VTOL wings was watching them move. “Starscream, this is Thrust. The Autobots are in the midst of a full mobilization, heading into the forest. Shall I pursue?”

Starscream smiled at this news. “With utmost haste, Thrust. I will lead the rest of the Seekers.” The transmission ended and the treacherous flyer moved on to go through with his treasonous plan.

Camp Everfree was fairly quiet with no campers for the week. Still, that didn’t stop Gloriosa and Timber from making sure the place was in tip-top shape if they had visitors. And they soon received an entire convoy of company as the girls rumbled into the glen and swiftly disengaged their Cyber-bodies straight from vehicle-mode, swiftly followed by the massive truck-form of Optimus Prime, which stopped before the gates to the camp. Understandably, Timber and Gloriosa were more than stunned when the convoy arrived, as Optimus somehow collapsed his exhaust pipes and rumbled in, allowing Bumblebee and Beachcomber to join him as the other ground-forces parked outside and Jetfire circled over the lake.

The three bots transformed as gently as they could, doing their best not to damage anything as they looked around. “Man. This place is gorgeous.” Beachcomber smiled; he loved Earth’s natural environment, which was why he and Fluttershy got along so well.

“Whoa. Man Twilight, what’d you bring these guys here for?” The girls were surprised; Timber Spruce had been a joker as long as they’d known him, only really dropping his comedic aspects when he was really serious, like in the Gaia Everfree debacle.

“Long story. Short version; we’re here for a treasure hunt.” Sunset smirked, looking up at Bumblebee. “You getting anything, Bee?”

Bee quickly locked his visor and looked around the camp, scanning the area for energy readings. “Hmm. I’m not reading anything that might be the AllSpark. Probably shielded, to keep the ‘Cons from finding it.”

The holo-avatars of the other Autobots walked forward into the campgrounds and looked around for themselves, with Ratchet locking his eyes onto something high above. “Jetfire, you seeing that lifeform below you?”

The ex-Seeker swiftly locked his scanners onto the entity, fairly surprised by what he saw. “Looks like some sort of bird.” And not just any bird; it was a peregrine falcon, circling over the lake.

Gloriosa smiled. “That’s the old Everfree Falcon. It’s been circling there longer than either of us can remember.” It was just then however that the falcon swooped down toward them.

“Not anymore it’s not,” Rainbow noted.

The team was already confused, but that confusion only deepened as the falcon swooped down toward Optimus. Then it just got crazy; the falcon suddenly grew to bot-size before its wings folded to its back, its legs extended and flipped around, and its beaked head flipped down into the chest, revealing a metallic feminine face and two large arms as it landed right in front of the Prime. “Optimus Prime. I was wondering when you’d get here.” This new bot spoke with a sassy sort of tone, but she did seem genuinely happy to see Optimus.

Bumblebee however was instantly suspicious and flipped out his stingers. “You’ve got about thirty seconds to explain yourself, birdbrain.” he threatened.

The bird-bot simply smirked and placed a hand on her hip. “Buddy, I’ve been here for millennia and seen all sorts of madness. You think you scare me?”

“Who are you?” Optimus ordered.

“Call me Airazor,” she responded. “My team and I were sent to this planet by a mutual friend of ours. Red and purple armor, spiky helmet, long beard; ring any bells?”

Optimus’ optics popped as he indeed realized who Airazor was talking about. “Alpha Trion sent you.”

Airazor nodded knowingly before Rainbow stepped forward with a serious expression on her face. “Uh, I feel like we’re all missing the big point here. How does a bird count as an Autobot?”

Airazor smirked. “Well, technically I’m not an Autobot.” She proved this fact by pointing to her right forearm, showing a green symbol that resembled a stylized wolf-face.

“Matter of fact, my team and I aren’t even originally from Cybertron. We’re from one of her colony worlds; the jungle world of Eukaris. Everyone there has some sort of animal life as an alt-mode and my team is no different; we just assumed modes that would blend in better on this planet. We call ourselves the Maximals.”

“Okay, that’s actually pretty amazing,” Twilight noted.

Airazor seemed almost unsure as she ran a hand over the feathers on her shoulder plates. “Organic alt-modes have some disadvantages, I admit. These feathers are enough of a hassle on their own – and don’t even get me started on molting – but the animal instincts that came with the mode, that’s another debacle entirely.”

“What sorts of instincts?” asked Fluttershy.

“A conversation for another day,” Airazor assured, seemingly embarrassed as her faceplate turned deep blue. “For now, let’s see if I’ve got anything for you guys.”

“Wait, ‘if’?” asked Sunset.

“Alpha Trion gave me and each of the other Maximals a canister, each said to be containing the AllSpark,” Airazor explained. “It was a sort of a shell game in case the Decepticons caught up to us. He was the only one who knew which one of us had the real thing.”

“And no one looked in their container?” asked Twilight.

“Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t.” Airazor shrugged, producing a small icosahedral capsule from her back.

“They’re locked down and according to Alpha Trion, there’s only one thing in the universe that can open them.” Her glance up at Optimus explained exactly what she was talking about.

Optimus nodded in understanding and opened his chest, revealing the Matrix in all its glory. A blue beam shot from the crystalline center to connect to the capsule, apparently opening an advanced system of locking mechanisms between each panel before the beam faded and Optimus’ chest closed. “Alright, moment of truth.” Airazor smiled as she looked at her capsule. “Would you care to do the honors, Optimus?”

“Allow me, I insist!” Everyone was surprised by that voice, especially when they saw its source; Starscream, hovering high above surrounded by his Seeker armada. They swiftly opened fire, but none of their shots connected as Trailbreaker swiftly erected a shield over the camp.

Optimus scowled as he locked his battle mask and raised his blaster. “Return fire.” Bumblebee and Beachcomber both raised their own blasters and quickly opened fire on the Decepticons, but none of their shots connected.

“I got this. Time to stretch my wings.” Rainbow smiled and dashed out to the lake, quickly activating her Armor and taking to the air, readying her weapons. Jetfire flew in on her wing in full battle mode, but the Seekers were remarkably maneuverable.

“We’ve gotta lead them away from the camp.” Sunset rationalized. “Then we can really cut loose.”

“I can take care of that.” Airazor smiled as she raised her wings, taking to the air as she raised the capsule in her hand. She let out a massive screech which swiftly caught Starscream’s attention. “Hey, slag-for-brains! You want this? Come and get it!” Quickly she hid the capsule and transformed back to falcon-mode, divebombing down toward the others.

Starscream simply smirked, breaking away from the main conflict and the other Seekers. “As you wish, freak!” He followed Airazor down toward the ground, where she quickly swooped and flew further away from the camp, leading Starscream away.

Rainbow and Jetfire had themselves succeeded in scaring the remaining Seekers into following their leader. “Follow us, guys. Let’s have some fun!” Rainbow smirked.

“Autobots, roll out!” Optimus ordered, prompting everyone to quickly transform back to vehicle mode and roar after their teammates.

“Sorry we couldn’t stick around longer, Timber! Talk later!” Twilight called back as she drove out. She glanced off to her side and saw Sunset smirking in her car next to her. “Not a word.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything.” Sunset insisted… but she totally was. Later.

Ahead, Airazor was steadily slowing down as Starscream started catching up. “Alright, time to bring out the big guns. Airazor, Maximize!” With a screech, she quickly transformed back to bot-mode and flipped out two forearm-mounted photon-crossbows, which she quickly used to fire on Starscream, blasting massive marks on his armor with every shot.

It was just then that the bird-bot heard a flash of noise behind her. She turned to see what it was but didn’t see anything. It was only until she noticed a certain weight on her belt missing that she figured out what happened. “The capsule!”

“Oh, you mean this?” Skywarp had somehow teleported right behind her and stolen the capsule off her belt, before teleporting next to Starscream. “Cmon brother, let’s get outta here.”

“Not just yet, Skywarp,” Starscream smirked as he took the capsule for himself. “What say we pluck this techno-organic freak of Cybertronian nature and serve her to Lord Megatron for dinner?”

“Go right ahead and try, Starscream,” Jetfire yelled as he and Rainbow corralled the other Seekers to meet with their commander. “You touch a single feather on her Eukarian hide and you’re scrap metal.”

“‘Eukarian’?” Starscream seemed surprised… but not by much.

Airazor smirked. “Now don’t go giving me the wrong idea, big fella.”

“Trust me birdy; sometimes I wish Jetfire had more of a filter between his brain and his mouth.” Applejack smirked from down on the ground, leveling a large revolver up at the Seekers, along with the other Autobots.

“Starscream, surrender the containment unit and leave with your life,” Optimus ordered, leveling his blaster.

“Now why would I surrender something the great Optimus Prime is so interested in?” Starscream smirked.

“Because if you don’t…” Rainbow began before she opened her arms and revealed every missile she had, armed and ready for launch at him. “Your call. Leave the box and run, or we look through the scrap metal until we find it after I blow you apart.”

Starscream snarled, but weighed his options; he knew that even with his entire armada, he wouldn’t be able to handle all the Autobots at once. Plus he was already banged up enough from Airazor’s barrage. “Fine. Take it.” He simply allowed the container to fall from his hands as Twilight caught it with her telekinesis and floated it down to Brawn’s hand. “But know that it will be mine. Seekers, retreat.” With that order, the armada transformed and flew away from the town.

Jetfire and Rainbow swiftly led Airazor back down to the ground, where they all stood easy. “Everyone okay?” asked Ratchet.

“We’re fine, doc,” Rainbow smirked. But apparently, she spoke too soon as Airazor began sparking and seizing.

“Gah! Talk about great timing!” she groaned as she swiftly transformed back to falcon-mode.

“Whoa. Are you okay?” asked Spike as she perched on his back.

“I’ll be fine; this just happens sometimes.” Airazor shrugged. “It’s another of the disadvantages to having a technorganic body. The restructuring when I scanned this bird changed my body outside and in; gave me several unfamiliar organic organ systems while deactivating some technological ones.”

“Like the ones that keep local Energon fields from surging and interfering from your internal systems?” Bumblebee figured.

“Yep. I can really only use my bot-mode for a few hours every day outside a shielded location.” Airazor nodded. “My whole team’s been affected in much the same way. Whatever damage the Energon fields cause, our beast-modes’ auto-repair systems fix.”

“Maybe Ratchet can find a way to fix it permanently. He’s the best medic this side of the galaxy.” Sideswipe smirked.

“Even I have limits, Sideswipe.” Ratchet reminded. “But I suppose I’ll see what I can do.”

“What about the rest of your team? Why didn’t they help out here?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m sure they would’ve if they were here. ‘Cept maybe Rattrap; that guy’s a coward and annoying as all get-out.” Airazor shrugged. “After we landed here and made sure we were all clear on our mission parameters, we went our separate ways.”

“When was the last time you had contact?” asked Prowl.

“Bout fifty years ago.” This astounded the girls.

“Wha- fifty years ago?!” asked Twilight.

“We've been under radio silence since then. To make sure the Decepticons couldn't find us,” Airazor assured. “Relax; the others can handle themselves. And anyway, I think there are more important things to consider right now.”

“Yeah, like ‘why did Alpha Trion’s map point us to you and not your landing point?’” Sunset pointed out.

“Perhaps he knew Airazor was the one carrying the AllSpark.” Rarity suggested.

“Only one way to find out,” Brawn smirked at the capsule in his hand before he looked around. “But let’s save that for safer quarters.”

“Brawn’s right. I have a bad feeling Starscream and his goons aren’t the only ‘Cons out here.” Drift pointed out.

“How do we know for sure?” asked Sunset.

“IS ANYBODY STILL HERE?!?!” Pinkie yelled out into the forest.

“Pinkie!!” the girls all yelled at her.

“WHAT?!” Pinkie quickly realized it. “O- OH SORRY- uh sorry.”

“You bonehead. You’re gonna get us all killed.” Rainbow pointed out… before she moved out in front of her. “IF YOU’RE HERE, JUST IGNORE THAT LAST BIT!”

“Nice save, Dash.” Applejack remarked sarcastically.

“Y’know, maybe heading home isn’t the worst idea.” shrugged Twilight. “I think we could all use the break.”

“Agreed. Autobots, return to base.” Optimus ordered, prompting everyone to transform – with Airazor staying in her falcon-form and finding shelter in Sunset’s cabin – before they all roared back to the Ark. What they would find when they returned would shock them all.

The Hunt Begins

When the Autobots returned to the Ark, they saw Wheeljack waiting for them. “Alright, hail the conquering heroes!” he smiled as the team transformed to robot mode. “Good news, Optimus; thanks to the extra Energon Twilight’s team brought back recently, we’ve got some more friends back online. You guys can make your dramatic entrance now!”

The team was somewhat surprised to find a large deep green Autobot with a large yellow crane-like arm and towbar on his back along with a smaller white and blue Autobot and a red and silver bot with a yellow chest answering that call.

Ratchet seemed happy to see the green one as the two clapped hands. “Nice to see you, Hoist.”

“You too, ya ol’ bucket.” Hoist smirked, looking at the girls. “You must be the organics Wheeljack mentioned. Name’s Hoist; I’m a medic. This here’s Tailgate; scout, and that’s Blaster; coms expert.”

“And this ain’t even all of me.” Blaster smiled, opening his chest. “Cmon out, fellas. Introduce yourselves.” Four different colored blocks launched from his chest and transformed; blue and black turned into humanoid robots, yellow transformed into a robotic lion and red into a robotic rhino.

“Hey there. Name’s Eject.” the blue one smiled, pointing to each of the others in turn. “This is Rewind, Steeljaw, and Ramhorn.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” Sunset smiled. “So how’re Lifeline and Smokescreen doing?”

Wheeljack chuckled and pointed around the corner with his thumb. “See for yourself.”

Rainbow glanced around the corner and sure enough, there were Lifeline and Smokescreen making out like the world was ending. “Oh geez. Get a room, you two!”

“They already have, right next to mine,” Prowl grumbled. “Seriously, would it kill you to turn down the volume now and then, Smokescreen?!"

“Alright-alright, everyone calm down. Save your strength for crushin’ the ‘Cons.” Ironhide ordered as they all clustered around the console, the girls deactivating their armor and climbing onto it as Airazor perched on the screen.

“We’ve got a newcomer of our own.” Twilight smiled up at the bird. “Everyone, meet Airazor.” The bird-bot quickly took off from the console and transformed to bot-mode, the sparking gone and all her systems fully online.

“Nice to meet you all.” she smiled.

The others were surprised, but Optimus drew their attention better when he placed the canister Airazor had given him on the console. “Let us see what Alpha Trion left us.” With that, he pressed a button on the capsule and it opened, revealing… a strange silvery metal drum-like construct.

“That’s the AllSpark?” asked Rainbow.

“Hm. I expected it to be somewhat more… impressive.” Rarity shrugged.

“This isn’t the AllSpark. It’s just junk for Alpha Trion’s shell game.” Sideswipe groaned. “No offense Optimus, but your mentor was kind of a jerk.”

“Wait a sec, it looks like there’s a holo-recording under it.” Bumblebee was right; a small device was under the metal construct in the capsule. Confused, Optimus pulled it from the capsule and pressed a button, projecting a holographic image of a large Autobot in red and purple armor with a horned helmet and a long beard.

“Whoa. That’s Alpha Trion?” Twilight was in awe. “He looks amazing.”

“Greetings, Optimus Prime.” He even spoke like a wise old man. “If you are viewing this prerecorded message, you have discovered my tactical duplicity. I did indeed launch the AllSpark off Cybertron, but in truth, the AllSpark alone is not enough to restore our home to life.”

This severely confused the entire crew, but their eyes stayed glued to the hologram, hoping for more answers. And they received them in the form of holographic images of metal constructs like the one in the canister. “In order for Cybertron to truly be restored, the AllSpark must be contained within a sacred reliquary which has been hidden in the vaults of the Iacon Hall of Records since the Age of the 13; the Omega Lock, which must then be activated by the four Galaxy Keys, each one hidden on one of Cybertron’s different colony worlds. A map of the resting places for all the Keys is contained within the Omega Lock itself, now scattered in pieces – one of which you now hold – across this world along with the AllSpark, in the hands of trusted friends of mine from Eukaris. Airazor, I deeply apologize for lying to you and your friends about what you truly carry, but it was what was necessary to ensure the Autobots achieve victory in the war.”

Airazor nodded in understanding, even though she knew her old friend couldn’t see him. “Optimus, it is imperative that you do not allow even a single component of the Omega Lock or the AllSpark to fall into Megatron’s hands. Without it, Cybertron will remain dead and the war will rage on for all eternity. Cybertron must live again, no matter the cost. Till All Are One, Optimus Prime.”

With that, the hologram faded leaving Optimus standing strong. “Till All Are One, my old mentor.” he echoed.

“So wait, the fate of Cybertron and the entire War is supposed to be decided by a scavenger hunt?” Jetfire asked seriously.

“Ooh, I love scavenger hunts!” Pinkie smiled.

“Me too; my brother used to set them up for me all the time when I was a kid.” Twilight smiled. “There was always a big reward at the end.”

“Yeah, and in this case, that reward is the salvation of the Cybertronian race.” Prowl remarked. “We’ll have to work fast and find the other Maximals. Where are they, Airazor?”

“I don’t know. All I know about them is their beast-forms.” With that, she produced a small drive from her belt and plugged it into the system, bringing up personnel files on several different bots. “Their names are Cheetor, Rhinox, Rattrap, Botanica, and Tigatron.”

Rainbow smiled when she saw Cheetor’s chosen alt-mode; a cheetah.

“Well, that one’s a no-brainer. There’s only one place on Earth a person can find a cheetah.”

“Central Africa.” Twilight nodded. “Looks like that’s where we’re going first.”

Rarity yawned and stretched. “Perhaps tomorrow. I’m somewhat exhausted.” The other girls agreed, all equally tired.

Optimus smiled caringly at his human charges. “Very well. Autobots, see your human partners safely home for the evening. We will begin our search for the Maximals tomorrow after they leave school.”

“Thanks, Optimus.” Sunset smiled as she climbed aboard Bumblebee, who swiftly rumbled off the ship followed by the others, though they quickly went their separate ways.

On the drive, Sunset grew curious about something. “What does ‘Till All Are One’ mean?” she asked.

“It’s the rallying cry of the Autobots.” Bumblebee explained. “We fight for the day we no longer have to; when the Autobots and whatever Decepticons remain after the war can cast off their badges and weapons in peace; when we’re all one faction.”

“Wow. That’s really poetic.” Sunset smiled.

“Well, Optimus didn’t just write inventory lists at Iacon all the time.” Bumblebee smiled. “He used to be Megatron’s speech-writer, and he was pretty damn good at it. And some of those love poems for Elita-1 that Smokescreen found that one time? Wow.”

“Huh. Remind me to ask Smokescreen about those poems some time. I kinda wanna read ‘em.” Sunset remarked. “Guy as stoic as Optimus must have a lot of emotion to get out in his words.” But that would have to be saved for later as they had arrived at her house. Sunset yawned as she climbed out, walking to the door. “Good night, Bee.”

“Night, Sunset.” Bumblebee smiled and turned off his engine as she walked in.

She was just getting ready to take off her vest when she heard someone in the shadows. “Look bud, I don’t know who you are and clearly you don’t know who I am, because otherwise, you would’ve realized I’m the exact opposite of the right girl to rob.”

“This isn’t a robbery. It’s a kidnapping.” Sunset wasn’t sure but for some reason, that voice sounded almost… technological. She didn’t have much of a chance to think about it though; it felt someone was tasing her in the back, sending her to the ground unconscious. This would be fun.

Mind Games

Bumblebee was getting impatient; he’d been doing curbside duty at Sunset’s house for about three months now, but this was the first time he’d known her to take this long to get ready. Finally, his com-unit toned. “Bee, it’s Cliff. Where the heck are you?”

“Waitin’ on Sunset.” Bee replied.

“Well, she’s almost half an hour late.” Cliff reminded. “What’s takin’ her so long?”

“Stand by; I’m gonna go check it out,” Bumblebee reported and activated his avatar, which stepped out of the car and moved to the door, giving a sharp knock. “Sunset? You in there?” No answer, which worried Bumblebee a little, so he quickly placed his hand on the lock, quickly projecting a holomatter key from his palm that unlocked the door, allowing him into the building. “Cmon Sunset, get up; you’re late.” Still nothing; he moved up to her bedroom and found no sign of her.

But he did find something of interest; a strange footprint in the carpet that definitely wasn’t from Sunset. Quickly, he analyzed it and scowled when he got a match. “Frenzy.” His avatar quickly disappeared as he revved his engine and roared out of town. “All units, this is Bumblebee; Frenzy was at Sunset’s house last night. Repeat; Sunset has been captured by the Decepticons.”

Jetfire heard that over the coms and scowled. “Perceptor, you got a read on the Nemesis?”

“I believe so, Jetfire.” the scientist nodded. “Though it is hardly definitive, I believe the warship is currently at these coordinates.” The coordinates were quickly fed to Jetfire’s computer, so he quickly moved to the aircraft elevator.

“Stand by Bumblebee; I’m wingin’ up. Hope Starscream’s ready for another reunion,” he smirked as he transformed and flew out at full speed, toward the coordinates… though he didn’t actually know if they were correct.

Sunset groaned as she awoke, finding her arms bound in heavy chains in a dark room. If she didn’t know any better, she might’ve thought she was locked in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle back home in Equestria. But since she did know better, it didn’t take her long to figure out that she was locked up on the Nemesis… mostly due to the robotic panther circling below her. “Ravage, right? What do you want with me?”

“It’s not up to me. Your fate on this vessel will be dictated by your worth to Lord Megatron.” Sunset was more than amazed to hear this from the beast.

“Wait, you can talk?!” she asked seriously.

“Of course I can talk, organic scum. What do you think I am, a turbofox?” Ravage snarled.

“Look Ravage, whatever it is you want, I don’t have it, okay?” Sunset insisted. “So please just let me go.”

“I sincerely doubt that. Otherwise, Lord Megatron wouldn’t have ordered Frenzy to bring you to him on your knees.” Ravage assured, just in time for the door to open. “Speaking of whom…” And sure enough, into the room strode a small blue Decepticon almost similar in build to Eject and Rewind, but with blasters on his back and a psychotic look in his optics.

“Lord Megatron wants to see you, girly.” He even spoke like a psycho as Sunset was lowered down next to him, where he released her arms from the chains.

“Big mistake,” Sunset assured as she grabbed her Geode and activated her Armor, suddenly switching to bot-mode only to find Frenzy still clinging to her arm. Quickly, she tossed him off with a simple flick of the wrist and kicked Ravage away before she made her escape… only to be suddenly clotheslined on Swindle’s cannon the instant she made it out the door.

She groaned in pain as she looked up and saw him and Dragstrip looking down at her. “You lose.” Swindle smirked.

Dragstrip just snarled as he handed over a few small scraps of metal; what Sunset assumed was Cybertronian currency. “Get her up.” The two Decepticons roughly grabbed her by the arms and swiftly cuffed her hands as they dragged her down the hallway, finally arriving in the ship’s medical bay where she was locked to a slab, where she was watched by Megatron and his officers.

“Look, what do you guys want with me?” Sunset asked seriously.

“Is it not so obvious, organic?” Starscream smirked cruelly. “Our lord merely wishes to know where the AllSpark is.”

“So why kidnap me? You were at the coordinates the map showed, Starscream, and you ran with your tailfins tucked between your legs.” Sunset reminded.

Megatron narrowed his eyes in anger. “Is this true, Starscream?!”

Sunset smirked when she saw Starscream recoil in apparent fear. “My lord, allow me to explain; Thrust spotted the Autobots mobilizing and I ordered a pursuit. How was I supposed to know it would lead us to the AllSpark?”

“That changes nothing!” Megatron snarled. “If the Autobots have the AllSpark, then we have lost the war!”

“Then why have they not sent any sort of message to their forces?” This pertinent question was raised by the one Decepticon officer Sunset hadn’t seen before.

“Oh, you’re a new one,” she smirked.

“Ah yes, you’re not acquainted with Shockwave.” Knock Out smiled. “He’s been maintaining the Decepticon foothold on Cybertron while we’ve been here. Only recently arrived to help with a little science project.”

“I’ve heard of him.” Sunset shrugged, glancing at the cyclops. “Perceptor’s fairly impressed with the cloaking device you gave this ship.”

“As I was saying, Lord Megatron, if the Autobots have truly claimed victory, then why have they not said so to their forces across the galaxy?” Shockwave asked seriously.

Megatron smiled. “A very pertinent question, Shockwave. And perhaps one which will be answered presently.” He directed his attention down to Sunset who simply scowled.

“Forget it, Megatron. I won’t talk.” she insisted.

“You will not have to,” Shockwave assured, plugging a cable into a computer bank nearby and moving the other end toward Sunset’s head.

“Steady Shockwave; we don’t want her brain fried too crispy.” Knock Out reminded.

“Do I want to know what he’s talking about?” Sunset asked in fear.

“Mm… probably not,” Megatron smirked cruelly as Shockwave approached ever-closer to the girl with the cable. Flatline stepped around to her other side and roughly pulled her head to face to the right, allowing Shockwave to plug the cable in at the base of her bot-form’s skull.

It felt like someone was taking a bladed taser hooked up to a car battery to the base of her skull, and she screamed like that was actually happening. This torturous experience finally ended when the cable was detached and Sunset went limp against the slab, breathing heavily in pain. She barely had the strength to glance over to the screen nearby and see what Shockwave had apparently ripped from her mind. “Lord Megatron, the transcript of the subject’s memories is available for your viewing. There appears to be some corruption, however. No doubt due to the subject’s original organic nature.”

The warlord scowled but read as best he could. He chuckled cruelly as he saw it. “So, Alpha Trion gives his greatest student another test,” he smirked as he looked at Sunset. “I would be disappointed if you did not provide such excellent entertainment,” Sunset growled weakly at Megatron and spit coolant in his face, only to receive a slap in the face from the warlord as a reward. “This is one of the reasons I detest you organics; your mind-numbing insistence that acts of defiance like this will grant you any form of mercy is truly laughable.”

“Humans have survived hundreds of tyrants a lot worse than you, Megatron,” Sunset assured.

Megatron scowled. “What you call tyranny, I call liberation.” He turned away and gestured for some privacy, prompting his officers to move to the other side of the room. “I assume my old friend Optimus Prime has told you of how our war began.”

“He said you were a revolutionary who wanted to eliminate the Council’s caste system.” Sunset scowled.

“Ah yes, the Council.” Megatron nodded. “I still remember the day they fell.”

“And that reminds me of something else Optimus told me about you; a megalomaniac who only ever wanted change so he could be in charge and make the rules himself.” Sunset scowled.

Megatron scowled at her as he wiped the coolant from his face. “Do you know what I did before the war?” he asked seriously. “I was an Energon miner. I didn’t even have a name to call my own; I was enslaved by the Council from the day I was built, based simply on my alternate mode; a plasma driller. That was what the caste system of Old Cybertron entailed; functionism. Pure and simple functionism. One’s rights and duties are dictated by one’s alternate mode. In truth, it was what you humans refer to as a… what is the term, Knock Out? It seems to have slipped my mind.”

“‘Dystopia’, Lord Megatron.” the medic reminded.

“Exactly. Dystopia.” Megatron nodded. “And so yes; I shed first blood in the name of my freedom, and the freedom of all Cybertron. All because a Council official visiting the mine I was working in murdered one of my friends for looking at him the wrong way. I took my revenge and for it, I was arrested. Banished to the Gladiatorial Pits of Kaon, to fight and kill for the amusement of those who considered themselves superior… like your friend Mirage.”

Sunset was actually fairly surprised. “Mirage? What’re you talking about?”

“Mirage is from what you humans call ‘old money’.” Swindle explained. “I even saw him and his so-called friends in a box sipping vintage high-grade watching Megatron fight other prisoners to the death a few times.”

“So you see; the Autobots are not what they really seem to be,” Megatron assured. “If Optimus Prime is willing to allow a being like that to join his ranks, then what reason do you have to fight for him?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Is this a sales pitch? Are you trying to get me to join your side?”

“Hardly.” Megatron scoffed. “I could not stand the thought of having organic filth such as you on my ship.”

“Good. Because I’ve been where you are right now, ‘Lord’ Megatron, and believe me; it’s just gonna destroy you.” The Decepticons could feel the sarcastic emphasis she placed on the ‘lord’ there. “I wanted power once too, and I was too eager to get it, so I turned to duplicity. Eventually, I ran away from home and tried to get what I wanted here. But it didn’t work, and the power I searched for almost destroyed me. It would have if it weren’t for my friends; they saved me from ending up even worse than I was before.” Megatron narrowed his optics at her. “You told me you and Optimus were friends before the war. For your friend’s sake, please… end this war. Help save your world through peace, not through more bloodshed. You can still bring Cybertron back if you just put down your cannon.”

Megatron simply turned to the door with a scowl. “Let me tell you something, human; my cannon is a constant reminder of what I fight for in this war; true freedom for those who are oppressed under the illusion of unity. Only when I have truly conquered those worlds who ascribe to this sort of meaninglessness will my cannon finally fall from my arm.” He turned to his scientists. “Do with her as you see fit.”

“With pleasure, Lord Megatron.” Knock Out smiled as he raised a large buzzsaw, revving it as he drew closer.

“And here I thought we were having a moment,” Sunset smirked to Megatron. “Well, I definitely was, anyway.” With that, she pulled her left wrist violently against her restraint, causing a loud crack and a gasp of pain to escape from her.

Knock Out was honestly somewhat disgusted as Sunset pulled her limp, dislocated hand from her restraint, and knocked it back against the table to get it back into place. “Whew. I saw that in a movie once; I’ve kinda always wanted to do it. And then follow it up with this.” She swiftly decked Knock Out in the face, knocking him into a control panel… where, almost by random chance, he landed straight on the button that released her the rest of the way. “Thanks. Later.” Quickly, she transformed and roared out of the medical bay, followed by a blisteringly angry Megatron who chased after her, firing his cannon the entire way.

Quickly, she swerved into a small chamber where she transformed back to bot-mode, quickly locking the door behind her. Looking around, she was surprised by what she saw; a large server room, which appeared to contain classified information. “Hm. This seems important. Which means I probably shouldn’t let Megatron keep it all to himself.” Quickly she grabbed a data drive and began downloading a large amount of data onto it before she transformed back to vehicle mode and roared out of the main ship… only to transform back into robot-mode again when she made it to the main deck and found an entire army of Decepticons aiming blasters at her.

Megatron was at the head of the group, looking at his massive sword. “You were right, you know; we were having a moment. A moment of you begging for mercy.”

“Yeah, for you.” Sunset insisted as the two circled on the deck. “Seriously Megatron, just surrender and we can deal with this like adults.”

“Ah, the optimism of youth.” Megatron smiled… before he suddenly blasted Sunset over the side of the ship, sending her falling off with a scream. “Optimism is by far one of the kindest words for foolishness, don’t you agree Motormaster?”

“Absolutely, Lord Megatron.” Motormaster nodded cruelly.

Jetfire had been having no luck tracking Sunset down as of yet, having ruled out the coordinates Perceptor gave him and instead simply searching the entire lower atmosphere. “Ugh. This is getting annoying,” he grumbled… before his scanners suddenly picked something up. “Whoa, what? Base, this is Jetfire; I found Sunset’s signal, but she’s in freefall. En route now. Ratchet, Hoist, get sick-bay ready to receive, just in case.”

“Roger that.” Ratchet affirmed as Jetfire swooped toward Sunset’s position…

Which was steadily dropping as she fell from the sky, her metallic hair flapping against her face. Suddenly, she heard something from her back like panels opening and shifting. She looked to either side and was amazed to see wings colored the same as her hair. Then she remembered; when she and the girls shot their music video for that song Sunset wrote about her past, she had sprouted wings similar to these… like a phoenix’s wings.

She smirked as she felt the need to rub her survival in Megatron’s face, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she flew back up to the Nemesis, propelled by a massive thruster-pack on her back in front of her wings. Naturally, Megatron was more than stunned to see her alive. “What?!”

“Surprised? That makes two of us.” Sunset shrugged, just as Jetfire swooped over and transformed to battle mode.

“Sunset? Since when did you have a jetpack?” he asked seriously.

“Honestly, I only have one idea that makes any sort of sense. But we’ll have to confirm it later.” Sunset shrugged. “Right now, let’s get outta here.” Quickly, she flew over Jetfire and switched back to her human form, which prompted Jetfire to transform to jet-mode and catch her in his cockpit before he kicked throttle straight back to town amid a hail of blaster fire from the Nemesis.

Megatron snarled as fire terminated and he glared out off his ship. “Search the ship. Ensure nothing sensitive has been tampered with,” he ordered.

Sunset, on the other hand, was more than pleased to hand off the drive she stole from the Decepticons to Wheeljack, who was surprised at its contents. “Hello, Dolly. Looks like we hit the jackpot; this encryption is from the Iacon Hall of Records.” he smiled at Sunset as Hoist tended to her bot-mode’s damaged arm. “Must be the coordinates to some of the other things Alpha Trion launched off Cybertron so the ‘Cons wouldn’t get their hands on it. Optimus can break this encryption easy.”

Hoist smiled as he moved away from Sunset and swapped the blowtorch on his right forearm back out for his hand. “There we go. You’re all fixed up and ready to go, Sunset.”

“Thanks, Hoist.” she smiled as she switched back to her human form. “Y’know, I think I prefer your bedside manner to Ratchet’s.”

Bumblebee laughed as he revved up. “You and every other Autobot on this ship.” His door opened and he smirked. “Now cmon, you’re already late enough as it is.”

Sunset smiled as she climbed in. “Thanks, Bee. Let’s ride.” The two rumbled away from the ship each with a smile.

“By the way, I talked to Smokescreen earlier; he said he could hook me up with those poems Optimus wrote if you’re still interested.” Bumblebee smiled.

Sunset smiled right back, but thought for a while; Optimus wrote speeches for Megatron when he began as a politician, and she had seen how well that turned out. She felt the need to forget about Megatron for at least the day. “Maybe later, Bee. I wanna focus on school for now.”

“Suit yourself. I’m definitely thumbin’ through ‘em,” he assured… unaware of what awaited them.

Megatron scowled as he strode into the medical bay, now repaired after the breakout. “Report.”

“The project continues to go well, my liege.” Flatline assured, gesturing to his team’s new work subject; the prone body of Nightbird, now lacking armor and with mechanical flesh across her body. “The cyber-flesh grafting has been a success, though we are still awaiting the final cloned organ systems before Shockwave can work his own magic.”

“How soon before she is ready to be programmed and dispatched?” asked Megatron.

“Assuming we can maintain our current rate of work, approximately 16 quartexes,” Shockwave reported.

“Good. I look forward to seeing the looks on the Autobots’ faces when they see my beloved Nightbird crush them all and bring me their greatest tactical secrets.” Megatron smiled as he turned to the door. “In the meantime, another situation demands my attention.” He left the medical bay and found Onslaught in the hallway. “Onslaught, take your team to Central Africa; scan for Spark signatures. Whatever you find, destroy it and bring me whatever is left.”

“Yes sir.” Onslaught nodded and left to find his team. The Autobots were about to face their greatest challenge yet; hunting wildlife.

The Wild Side

All day, Sunset found it hard to focus on her schoolwork. She kept thinking about her dialogue with Megatron earlier that day, and she couldn’t help but think; maybe the Decepticons were right to rebel, but that didn’t mean their actions during the war were justified. Even so, she couldn’t deny that in some small way, she felt she was almost having a sort of emotional connection with Megatron… a thought which seriously disturbed her.

Finally, the day was over and the girls made their way out to the parking lot where they found their Autobot partners… and Airazor resting on Bumblebee’s roof. “We ready to go?” Rainbow was eager to get underway with this mission.

“Ready to roll,” Cliffjumper smirked.

“We’ll meet the others at the Ark, then GroundBridge to Africa to track down Cheetor.” Airazor nodded.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Sunset shrugged and climbed aboard Bumblebee, still somewhat disturbed by the events earlier that day. Still, it wasn’t enough to distract her as they arrived at base after a long drive.

Once there, the girls all assumed their bot forms and stood ready as Optimus addressed the team. “Airazor, where was the last point you detected Cheetor’s bio-signal?”

“Here.” Airazor pointed to a location in the middle of Zambia, bringing up a set of coordinates. “This was the last place he called in from before we began radio silence. As far as I know, he should still be somewhere in this general area.”

“We’ll have to set our scanners for a high spark-sensitivity setting.” Wheeljack shrugged. “I think we’re all good to go.”

“Very well. Red Alert, open the GroundBridge.” The security chief quickly did as he was ordered, and lowered the rig to activate the portal. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus transformed and roared through the GroundBridge, swiftly followed by the girls, as well as Ironhide, Brawn, Beachcomber, Jetfire, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Airazor.

When they exited the portal, Rainbow was more than surprised to find it was nearly pitch-black. “Whoa. Where are we?”

Twilight looked around as the team – aside from the bird-bot – transformed to bot-mode. “Looks like we’re outside Mumbwa. It’s just dark out because the time here is about five hours ahead of Canterlot; different time zones and all that.”

“Are we alone out here?” asked Ironhide. “Hate to think the ‘Cons beat us.”

Wheeljack turned on his scanner and narrowed his eyes at what he saw. “I’m only reading one spark signature, about a hundred kliks due east; shows some distortion. Same sort as Airazor’s.”

“That’s gotta be Cheetor.” Airazor nodded and quickly started flapping her wings. “I’ll fly ahead and see if I can catch him. I’ll signal the rest of you when I’m ready.”

“I’m goin’ with you.” Rainbow nodded, firing her foot-boosters. “Wheeljack’s scanner thing might not have picked up any ‘Cons, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out here. You might need backup.”

“Rainbow, wait!” Too late, Sunset; she had already transformed and flown on ahead, with Airazor flying close behind. She sighed and ran a hand through her metallic hair. “We’re probably gonna need Hoist.”

“I figured you would.” the medic’s voice came from near the girls, where they saw a bright green four-axle heavy wrecker with a yellow arm pull out of the GroundBridge, followed by a white 2002 Pontiac Firebird with bright blue hot-rod flames on the hood before the vortex disappeared.

“Nice timing.” Sunset smiled. “Bumblebee, Tailgate, you’re with me; let’s go make sure Rainbow Dash doesn’t do anything stupid. Optimus will lead the others behind us.” She quickly returned to vehicle mode and the three drove out into the flatlands after their flyers, as the rest of the team quickly followed as well.

Rainbow smiled as she flew alongside Airazor; it felt awesome having another flying buddy. She loved flying with Jetfire, Twilight, and Fluttershy, and the revelation of Sunset’s jetpack and phoenix wings was awesome, but it felt nice having another purpose-built flyer on the team. She checked her scanner and was surprised. “We’re getting closer; should be right below us.”

Airazor looked down and smiled as best she could with a beak; a cheetah was indeed right below her, running along the evening grasslands with a powerful spring in its stride. “Yep, there he is. I’ll approach him first. He might get freaked out at the sight of you.” Rainbow nodded as Airazor swooped down until she was eye-to-eye with the big cat. “What’s new, pussycat?”

“Whoa, jumpin’ gyros!” the cat remarked and skidded to a stop, swiftly transforming; his hind legs folded up into robotic humanoid legs, his forelegs and feline torso folded onto the back to reveal metallic blue and gold armor, and his cat-head folded onto his chest in much the same way as Airazor’s, revealing a metallic blue faceplate with gold eyes and two-horned helmet. “Airazor? What’re you doin’ here?”

“Lookin’ for you, Cheetor.” Airazor smiled as she transformed to bot-mode as well. “Optimus Prime found me. His team is on the way now.”

“You mean you didn’t have the AllSpark?” asked Cheetor.

“Neither do you, I’m guessing,” Rainbow assured as she swooped down and transformed to bot-mode. “Alpha Trion’s shell game is definitely working.”

“Cheetor, this is Rainbow Dash; she’s one of the humans who helped Optimus unlock the map to me.” Airazor introduced.

“Humans? Wait, why did we bother with disguises if we were just gonna get help from humans?” asked Cheetor.

“Well, these humans were sort of an accident.” Bumblebee answered as his team roared up and transformed. “But they’ve more than earned their place on the team. Name’s Bumblebee. This is Tailgate and Sunset Shimmer.”

Cheetor smiled, but then appeared to be looking at Rainbow and Sunset fairly critically. “Where are your badges?”

“What badges?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

Bumblebee looked and quickly realized what Cheetor was talking about. “Oh, you mean-” He pointed to his own Autobot emblem, which got him a nod from the cheetah-bot in response. “Yeah, the girls may have bot-forms, but they’re not actually official Autobots yet. At least, we haven’t gone through any ceremony.”

“‘Ceremony’?” Sunset asked in confusion.

“The Rite of Autobrand.” Brawn elaborated as he and the others roared up and transformed to bot-mode. “A special ceremony where an Autobot is given their badge after completing their training.”

“Well, I don’t think any amount of training can prepare a girl to bust out of a Decepticon warship, and we’ve done it twice,” Rainbow smirked, pointing at herself and Sunset. Though the latter was still somewhat disturbed by the circumstances that led to her escape.

“Ya gotta admit; that must be some sort of record somehow.” She still hid it well behind her smirk, but Megatron’s words still weighed heavily on her mind.

“Ya think you’re big just cause you escaped the Nemesis? You should’ve seen the Battle of Hell’s Point; now that ship was a gauntlet.” Ironhide assured.

“Enough banter; let’s get that capsule opened.” Rarity brought up.

“Agreed. Cheetor, your capsule.” Optimus’ orders were quickly followed when the cheetah-bot pulled the small container off his belt and held it up.

“Here ya go, big bot. Let’s do it.” Optimus quickly opened his chest and activated the Matrix.

But just before the beam could fire from it, Spike’s ear twitched at the sound of something approaching. And whatever it was, it was small and fast. “Incoming!”

Quickly everyone moved – with Airazor and Cheetor returning to their beast-modes but retaining their bot-like size – just as a large missile flew in and blew a small crater in the ground. When they looked towards the source, they saw a large blue ASTROS-II MLRS truck rolling in, alongside a brown Harrier jump-jet, a gray Apache helicopter, a dark green M1 Abrams tank, and a familiar tan military Humvee, all of which suddenly transformed into familiar Decepticons. “Been a while, Onslaught,” Rainbow smirked. “You’re not still sore about me jacking that com-system, are you?”

“Course not; wasn’t even compatible with your systems, was it?” Rainbow didn’t say anything, but Onslaught could tell she knew he was right.

“Onslaught, stand down,” Optimus ordered, raising his blaster. “All we want is our homeland back.”

“What a coincidence; we don’t.” Vortex smiled wickedly.

“Why not? If we restore Cybertron, we can finally take the war home and end it on our own soil.” Tailgate brought up.

“You really think we wanna go back there? We were criminals before the war.” Onslaught reminded. “Why else do you think we signed on with Megatron? His enemies never see Cybertron again, and we make bank for every one of 'em we kill; it’s win-win.”

“You’re probably not winning all that big these days.” Rainbow taunted. “You want me to count the number of times we’ve knocked you and your team on your butts?”

“Cute. Now hand over the AllSpark or I take Brawl off his leash.” Onslaught warned pointing to the tank-bot.

“Turn ‘im loose anyway, Onslaught; Megatron might give us a bonus if we bring him Optimus’ head on a plate.” Swindle smirked, revving his gun.

“Oh yeah? You and what army?” Spike smirked as the other Autobots all cocked their weapons.

As if on cue, a GroundBridge opened behind the Combaticons and a massive legion of Decepticon footsoldiers marched from the portal to surround the Autobots, weapons armed. “You just had to ask, didn’t you, Spike?” Rainbow asked in irritation.

“Oh, we’re not done yet.” Onslaught assured. “Combaticons, Combine!” And they did just that, uniting into the same massive Combiner Applejack had fought in the Energon mine.

“Bruticus, armed for battle!” the machine roared as it readied its weapons.

“Okay, so if anyone else wants to reveal some sort of shocking secret power-up they have, now would be an exceedingly good time.” Bumblebee pointed out.

“Well, I think I might have an idea,” Twilight smirked. “You might wanna hit the deck though.” The Autobots quickly did as they were told before Twilight activated her powers, sending out a massive omnidirectional wave of telekinetic energy, blasting the footsoldiers away.

When the dust kicked up by the wave settled, the team smirked… until they saw that Bruticus had barely even been scratched. “Nice warm-up. Now, it’s time to die.” the Combiner smirked.

“Yeah, for you,” Cheetor smirked. “Cheetor, Maximize!” Quickly, he transformed and pulled a hand cannon from his back that seemed to resemble intestines. Still, it was clearly powerful as each blast knocked Bruticus a bit off-center.

“Airazor, Maximize!” The falcon-bot quickly transformed and offered the cat her help, firing with full force at the Combiner. “We’ll cover you; take the capsule and go!” Quickly she tossed the thing to Sunset who hid it on her belt.

“No way, Airazor! No friend left behind! Let’s take ‘em down!” Sunset ordered.

Optimus scowled with strength as he locked his battle mask. “You have your orders, Autobots; return fire!” Quickly, they raised their weapons and all opened fire, jumping to cover as Bruticus marched forward, spinning the blades on the arm formed from Vortex as a sort of razor-blade saw, deflecting blasts and slashing earth and trees.

“We’re gettin’ kinda hammered here, Optimus!” Rainbow pointed out. “Now would be a really good time for backup!”

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded and turned on his coms. “Optimus to base; the Combaticons have intercepted us. Requesting full response.”

“Hang tight, Optimus; we’re on our way,” Sideswipe assured.

No sooner did he sign off than the Autobots suddenly saw a large cloud of dust approaching their position. “Whoa. That was fast.” Pinkie smiled.

“Wait, where’s the GroundBridge?” Rainbow was right; this dust cloud just appeared out of nowhere, with no GroundBridge portal preceding it.

It was just then that the Autobots’ GroundBridge actually did open behind the team, allowing the reinforcements from base out to assist. “Hey guys, nice timing huh?” Bluestreak smirked.

“Yeah, great timing. But I just have one question.” Sunset asked seriously. “If you guys are right here, then who’s that over there?”

The other Autobots looked up and were confused. “I dunno. Local military?” Sideswipe suggested.

“Since when were there Cybertronians in a human military?” Ratchet was right to ask; his scanner said that whatever was approaching, there were two spark signatures and several human heat signatures with them.

“Are they friend or foe?” asked Rarity.

“Well, it’s kinda hard to tell at this range…” Wheeljack shrugged before he saw several stinger missiles fly from the dust cloud toward the Decepticons, blowing most of the footsoldiers to scrap metal. “But I’m guessin’ friend.”

“Push the advantage, Autobots; light ‘em up!” Prowl ordered, prompting all the others to quickly open fire on the remaining Decepticons. The footsoldiers were mowed down like nothing, but Bruticus was barely even scratched.

“Alright, this is getting annoying. Any ideas?” asked Sunset.

“I got one. Ya up fer a double-team, Brawn?” Applejack smirked.

Brawn just smiled and raised a shield formed from his vehicle-mode’s roof. “Let’s do it.” Together, they charged with Brawn’s shield intercepting whatever fire remained until they reached the Combiner, at which point Applejack bounded off the shield right up to Bruticus’ face, which she swiftly punched, knocking the Combiner flat on his back and forcing him to separate.

“Whoo! That was awesome!” Rainbow yelled.

Applejack tipped up her hat as Brawn locked his shield to his back and Prowl approached, the other Autobots covering him against the footsoldiers. “Your call, Onslaught,” Prowl smirked. “Get scrapped trying to win your pay, or leave with your sparks.”

Onslaught snarled at the Autobots but growled as he saw the other Autobots mowing his forces down. He found he was left with only one option. “Soundwave, open a GroundBridge. Combaticons, retreat.” His team was surprised by their leader’s order but listened as they all swiftly transformed. “Before I go…” Onslaught smirked as he raised his blaster and shot Cheetor, taking a sizable chunk out of his shoulder, suddenly causing him to overload from local Energon fields.

“Cheetor!” Airazor dashed to his side to help him, as Onslaught transformed and roared after his team straight through a GroundBridge portal.

“Hoist, get over here!” Arcee ordered.

“No-no, I got it. Beast-mode!” Cheetor growled and swiftly transformed, though he did put much less weight on his left foreleg as the pain was still present. “There. My internal systems should handle it from there.”

“Uh guys, our company’s getting closer and I don’t think the rest of us will have time to switch out of bot-mode.” Sunset pointed out.

“That will not be necessary,” Optimus assured. “If those vehicles are indeed Autobots, then we have no need to conceal ourselves from any of them.” And as it turned out, Optimus was right; when the dust-cloud faded and revealed the vehicles within to be a large dark green Jeep-like vehicle and a cherry-red A-10 Thunderbolt II, each with an Autobot badge… with red, white, and blue stripes coming from the sides as well as a more unfamiliar symbol; a shield with an eagle’s head and a star.

Yo Joe!

The girls weren’t entirely sure what to expect from these unusual new vehicles until they saw the crew climb out of both; a rather unusual-looking mix of people, including someone in a full-black outfit with a katana on his back. Their leader – a young blonde man in tactical armor – stepped forward, keeping the rifle in his hands lowered. “Well, isn’t this a rainbow of interesting?”

“Who’re you supposed to be?” Rainbow asked seriously.

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re the guys who just saved your lives.” he returned. “Now… where’s Optimus Prime?”

That was what really made the girls uneasy, prompting Sunset to step forward. “Who’s asking?”

“What, you guys don’t recognize us?” That voice didn’t come from the guy or any of his men; it came from the truck parked right next to them.

“Course we do, Hound,” Ironhide smirked as he transformed, smiling at the jeep.

Then it and the aircraft transformed as well, revealing them both to also be Autobots; the truck-bot had heavy all-terrain wheels behind his shoulders and on his shins, and was loaded down with several different types of weapons; twin 7.62mm submachine guns on his shoulder, an M61 Vulcan gun on his right arm, a deployable Stinger missile launcher on the left of his backpack, and a surface-to-air rocket launcher on his left arm, as well as two Cybertronian blasters holstered on his belt, while the jet-bot’s head formed from the nosecone, with narrow wings rising from his shoulders and large boosters on his shins.

Jetfire transformed as well and smiled as he clapped hands with the jet-bot. “Good to see you again, Powerglide.”

“Wait-wait-wait, stop! Stop!” Rainbow said seriously. “How did two Autobots end up with these guys? What, was it another ship?”

“No, Hound and Powerglide were on the Ark.” Wheeljack remembered as he transformed. “When we entered Earth’s atmosphere, we got shook up a little too much. Suffered a hull breach in the stasis bay; pulled a fair amount of pods overboard and scattered them across the globe.”

“Powerglide and I landed in North America.” Hound explained. “That’s when our pods were found by Duke’s boss.”

“‘Duke’?” Twilight asked, glancing at the blonde soldier.

“Callsign,” Duke explained quickly. “Real name’s classified. Anyway yeah, we found their pods when we were expanding our headquarters. Took us ages to figure out what they were, and even longer to figure out how to open them up.”

“How’d you get your hands on the Energon you needed?” asked Wheeljack.

“Actually, turns out our pods had enough Energon contained in them from when we were dragged overboard.” Powerglide shrugged. “They just had to punch in the right commands to wake us up. Guess we got lucky.”

“Once we were awake, we explained everything.” Hound rounded out. “They agreed to help us out and keep our secret.”

“And that was around the same time we heard reports of giant robots that could turn into vehicles around Canterlot City.” Duke nodded. “Hound told us it was probably you guys, so we’ve been planning on making contact.”

“Alright, so you know our secret.” Sunset shrugged as the other Autobots transformed, though Cheetor and Airazor stayed in their beast-modes. “Your turn.”

The redheaded girl with the crossbow next to Duke didn’t seem sure as she glanced at him. “Duke?”

“We might as well, Scarlett.” Duke shrugged, looking back at the group. “But I think that’s a conversation best-had at our base.”

“I can put the coordinates into the GroundBridge.” Hound noted.

“Great; more humans on the ship.” Ratchet rolled his optics.

“Nice to see you haven’t changed much, doc.” Hound smirked.

“Cmon Ratchet, I thought you and Fluttershy were connecting?” asked Twilight.

“I taught her the basics on field-triage; that’s it.” Ratchet countered.

“Well, believe me, Ratchet; these humans? A lot more skilled than any of your kids.” Powerglide smirked.

“Resent,” Rainbow noted.

“I will not overlook any opportunity for further alliances in this war,” Optimus assured. “Red Alert, activate the GroundBridge.”

It took only a few moments for the team to return to the Ark. Once there, Hound accessed Teletraan and began entering coordinates. “So how ‘bout some more names?” Applejack smirked.

“Yeah, that’s Ripcord, Breaker, Snake-Eyes, and Heavy Duty.” Duke pointed simply. “We’re Alpha Team.”

“For what?” asked Arcee.

“We’ll show you.” Hound smiled, flipping the main lever for the GroundBridge. “Here’s our ride.” He and Powerglide led the way with Alpha Team following, along with the girls, Optimus, Prowl, Jazz, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Cheetor, and Jetfire.

As they approached the portal, Duke turned on a communicator in his ear. “General Hawk, this is Duke; we’re on our way home. And we’re bringin’ friends.”

When they passed through the vortex, they found themselves at a small military training camp in the Arizona desert, with that same eagle-shield symbol on the Quonset huts as on Hound's hood. "Welcome to the Pit, boys and girls." Duke smiled.

The girls were fairly confused as an older man in a general’s uniform journeyed out of one of the Quonset huts, seemingly unfazed by the appearance of Optimus and the other Autobots. “Nice to see your mission was a success, Duke.”

“Yes sir.” Duke nodded. “General Hawk, Optimus Prime.”

“Hound’s told us a lot about you, Prime,” Hawk noted. “It’s an honor to finally meet you.”

“The honor is mine,” Optimus assured.

“Alright, now that we’ve got the pleasantries out of the way, then maybe my team can tell me why they brought civilians to a black site?” the general asked seriously.

“Because of this,” Rainbow smirked and activated her Armor, shifting straight to bot-mode. This actually seemed to surprise General Hawk… but only a little.

Ripcord, however… “Whoa! Okay, what the hell?!” …Yeah. “That ain’t right, man!”

“Whoa. You managed to activate the Spark-Shift Armors?” Powerglide asked in awe. “You have the Map to the AllSpark?”

“Eh, it’s kind of a long story.” Jazz shrugged.

“To summarize for our new friends? If these girls want to know who you are, you tell them.” Prowl said with a tone of finality as Rainbow returned to normal.

“Well, I suppose you’re owed that much.” Hawk shrugged. “But I prefer to deal with people I can talk to at eye-level. Park it in over there and we’ll talk.”

“Understood.” Optimus nodded as his team transformed, Powerglide and Hound leading the team to a large vehicle bay, from which they projected their avatars as they walked in after the General, Cheetor plodding along after them.

Once inside one of the huts, General Hawk pressed a button that started lowering them down. Once they were below ground level, the team was in awe; the camp was merely a facade for a massive complex, filled with high-tech vehicles and weapons - including the bots' vehicles modes - not to mention at least several dozen soldiers. “Now, about that story; officially we don’t exist. Unofficially, we’re a special operations and tactics division, comprised of the top men and women from the best military units in the United States, dedicated to protecting the interests of the free world all across the planet.” Hawk explained. “We’re called G.I. Joe; when all else fails, we don’t.”

“Impressive,” Prowl remarked, obviously understating things.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Hound remarked, letting the girls get a good look at his avatar; a tan-skinned man in a simple green uniform with a black bandana around his neck. “This place has some surprisingly advanced sensor and communications technology for such a young race.”

“I think I’ll be the judge of that, if you don’t mind.” Wheeljack smiled.

Powerglide’s red-garbed fair-skinned avatar glanced over to Breaker, who nodded allowing the flyer to smile. “Help yourself, Wheeljack.” The engineer smiled as the tour ended in the massive, vaulted control room, at which point he placed his hands on the console and began running an analysis of the code and tech G.I. Joe had developed.

While he was looking through that, someone looked up from their console. “General, Skystriker 2 is coming in toward Pad 6 now.”

“Put it up, Hi-Tech. Tell Ace to taxi into Hangar 2.” Hawk’s orders were followed as a large fighter jet flew in and landed perfectly, taxiing to a hangar.

Jetfire gave an impressed whistle as he saw the jet for himself. “Now there’s a set of wings.”

“Oh, ya like that? Yeah, that’s a Skystriker XP-14F.” Ripcord explained. “Most powerful aircraft the Joes' engineers have ever come up with. Can even go into space with that booster kit.”

“Well, I have been in the market for an upgrade lately.” Jetfire shrugged. “May I?”

“Just let Ace park it first; we know your scanning can short vehicles out.” Scarlett reminded.

“Alright, fine.” Jetfire shrugged. “Hey, when I'm done, can we get a video feed of my body in the main bay? I wanna see the upgrade.”

“Do it,” Hawk ordered, a feed swiftly coming up on Jetfire’s body in the vehicle bay with the others. Once the Skystriker was docked, Jetfire focused and fired the scanning beams from his eyes, running over the jet. Once all the data was loaded, Jetfire’s body began shifting; the booster pack, weapons, and refurbed cockpit shape all formed and locked together into Jetfire's new body, with the G.I. Joe badge on his wings along with his Autobrand, the same badge appearing on his avatar's jacket as well.

“Not bad. Let’s see how I look with it.” Jetfire’s avatar swiftly disappeared as the large jet revved and slowly pulled away from the other Autobots, the base’s cameras and soldiers watching him as he moved. Then he transformed, which really drew some attention; his legs unfolded into the main boosters as the cockpit and attached fins flipped down to the front of his torso, his wings and boosters flipping up into a massive backpack. “Huh. Not bad. I can definitely make this work.”

“Suits ya, Jetfire.” Bumblebee smiled.

Prowl meanwhile was more focused on the mission. “What’s the verdict, Wheeljack?”

“Well, Hound wasn’t kiddin’; this stuff is high-end.” the engineer remarked. “Heck, with a little tinkering, we might be able to piggyback off this system and contact the Virago.”

“Wait, the Virago? You guys made contact with them?” Powerglide asked hopefully.

“If you could call it that.” Bumblebee shrugged. “Greenlight picked up, but we could hardly hear anything from her.”

“Did she at least say anything about Moonracer?” Powerglide asked seriously.

“If she did, we couldn’t make it out.” Jazz told him. “But hey man, I’m sure she’s alright.”

“I intend to find out for sure,” Optimus assured, turning to the leader. “General Hawk, allow us to utilize your systems. We may be able to use them to contact our homeworld and find any other Autobots out among the stars, and locate Cybertronian relics on your world that will win us the war.”

“You’re already locked in; we’ll connect your ship’s systems to ours.” Hawk shrugged. “We’ll also keep our eyes open, see what we find.”

“Many thanks, General.” Optimus nodded as he stepped to the door. “Autobots, return to base.”

Hound wasn’t sure, but when he glanced at Powerglide and saw the same thought in his eyes, so he turned to their commander. “General Hawk, we’d like to request a transfer.” he saluted.

Hawk smiled. “I figured. You’re on-call in case our mutual friends show up, but in the meantime, you’re free to do as you wish.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Powerglide smiled as he and Hound moved to join Optimus. “Room for two more, Prime?”

“Of course, old friends.” Optimus nodded with a smile, leading the team out of the base.

“See ya round, Duke.” Hound smirked as he left. Once back in their bodies, the Autobots rumbled away as the girls roared after them in their vehicle modes.

“So who was Hawk talking about when he said, ‘Mutual friends’?” asked Twilight.

“Well, the Joes actually have a fairly major oppositional force.” Hound explained. “They call themselves Cobra, and believe me; their weapons make some of the Joes’ gear look like cavemen’s tools. And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, they’re actually on fairly friendly terms with some Decepticons.”

“Seriously? Who?” Bumblebee got his answer practically immediately when Rainbow found something on her scanners.

“Uh guys, we’ve got company.” And that company turned out to be a blue Thunderbolt flying alongside, as well as a slender black jet almost similar to the SR-71 Blackbird flew alongside the team’s flyers.

“Great; Viper and Sky Shadow. That’s just what we need right now.” Powerglide grumbled.

“We’ve got more problems than those two; Soundtrack at 12 o’clock!” Hound was right; an unusually shaped tank with two large cannons on the top was rumbling down the road straight toward them.

“Hope you’re in the mood for some fun, Powerglide.” Viper scowled, firing on his red counterpart. Quickly, Powerglide transformed midair – using the thrusters on his shins to stay airborne – as he fired on the blue plane with a large blaster.

“Let’s dance, Soundtrack!” Hound roared as he transformed and lit the tank up, which swiftly transformed into a bot almost similar in body form to Soundwave, but with a distinctly more female look to her.

(Imagine this, but decidedly more feminine)

“Hope you don’t mind if I introduce a few other dance partners, Hound,” she smirked and opened the panel in her chestplate. “Squawktalk, Garboil, let him have it!” Two large data drives shot out and swiftly transformed – light blue into a vulture, and purple into a condor – which swooped around Hound, screeching and scratching.

“Cheetor, how fast can you get back to the Ark from here?” asked Sunset.

“Only one way to find out; cover me!” Cheetor smirked and raced away with a growl, moving at remarkable speed for his beast mode's size.

The firefight lasted for a solid few seconds, Viper and Sky Shadow transforming as well and lighting up the Autobots until Rainbow finally grew irate. “Alright, this is getting dumb.” In a massive burst of speed, she ran in massive circles around the Autobots creating a wall of wind that no one could pierce, eventually resulting in a small tornado. “Red Alert, GroundBridge! Now!” It only took a few seconds for the vortex to open, allowing the Autobots to retreat straight back to base as the tornado swiftly died down.

Sky Shadow swooped down toward the vortex, but it closed just before he could pass through it. “Hmm. Commander’s not gonna be happy about this,” he remarked.

“At least be happy Lord Megatron doesn’t know about any of this; he’d kill us himself if he knew we had allied ourselves with organics.” Viper reminded.

“I think it’s a bit late for that, gentlemen.” Soundtrack remarked as she looked up into the air. “It’s been a long time, Laserbeak.”

Author's Note

Also yes, Soundtrack is an OC; I just wanted to include the Soundwave HISS form without explicitly using Soundwave.

Hero Forge art of G.I. Joe characters are all my own designs.

Serpent's Bite

“I am disappointed, Sky Shadow.” Megatron certainly looked disappointed as he glared at the soldiers he’d recalled. “Joining forces with organics?”

“It wasn’t exactly by choice, Lord Megatron.” the flyer assured, Viper and Soundtrack flanking him on the bridge of the Nemesis. “You remember full-well about the hull-breach we suffered when we entered this planet’s atmosphere all those years ago.”

“Still, it is disappointing.” Starscream countered. “Some of our lord’s greatest soldiers, reduced to mere tools for organic slime.”

“That ‘organic slime’ you’re referring to happen to have remarkably advanced weaponry. Observe.” Soundtrack noted, swiftly transforming back to her tank mode and aiming one of her cannons at a Vehicon near the door. The soldier suddenly stopped and tried to run away, but was suddenly blasted across the bridge by a massive concussion blast, which caved most of the metal from his body. Megatron raised an eyebrow as Soundtrack transformed back to bot-mode. “Impressed yet?”

“I suppose so.” Megatron shrugged. “Though that does not mean this… what were they called; Cobra? Just because they have impressive weapons technology does not mean organic lifeforms are worth acknowledging.”

“Why not?” asked Sky Shadow. “Lord Megatron, I am one of the Decepticons’ greatest and most loyal military tacticians and with all due respect, you seem to be ignoring this opportunity.” Megatron raised an eyebrow again. “The Cobra Commander has his own plans to conquer this planet, so I say we use it to our advantage.”

“Pah! Competition.” Starscream scoffed. “We’ll wipe out them, the Autobots, and anything else that stands in our way.”

Megatron appeared to be ignoring Starscream as he kept his optics locked onto Sky Shadow. “You have my attention.”

Starscream was surprised, but Sky Shadow just smirked. “Here’s my plan; we offer enough aid to Cobra for them to conquer this planet, and in the event they do succeed, then we wipe them out and take this planet for ourselves.”

“And if Cobra’s leader discovers this duplicity?” asked Megatron.

“Then we go with Starscream’s plan and destroy all life on Earth.” Sky Shadow shrugged. “But I doubt it will come to that. Cobra Commander is intelligent; I agree, but…well, we are Decepticons, aren’t we?”

Megatron simply smiled. “Very well, Sky Shadow. Arrange a rendezvous for me with this ‘Commander’; I wish to speak to him myself.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Sky Shadow nodded as he and Viper left the bridge. “As for Soundtrack… well, I think she’s got some catching up to do.”

“Indeed I do.” Soundtrack nodded as she glanced across at Soundwave. “Hello, brother.”

That was all Starscream stuck around to hear as he left the bridge, finding his Seekers outside. “We just heard; Lord Megatron is joining forces with organics?” Thundercracker asked seriously. “It goes against everything he once stood for.”

Starscream scowled as he looked over at Thrust. “Now you see why we must dispose of him, Thrust?”

“Absolutely, commander. Megatron’s mind has been poisoned; we must take control of the Decepticons or he will destroy all we stand for.” Thrust scowled. “Ramjet, Dirge, ask around the crew; see how many of the others are discontented with the present state of affairs.” Two other cone-headed Seekers – one white with more shallow red wings, one blue with yellow delta-wings and front canards – saluted and left to do as they were ordered.

“Thundercracker, Skywarp, rally the Seekers and prepare to raze this planet to ash until we find the AllSpark,” Starscream ordered, his brothers leaving to do so. “Soon, Megatron. Very soon.”

“If you’re trying to reassure me about when the destruction of the Autobots will come, then I can assure you Starscream, I don’t need you to.” Starscream jumped at his master’s voice, growing remarkably terrified by his sudden appearance behind him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed in the medical bay. Take your Seekers and search the planet for the rest of these ‘Maximals’.”

“As you command, o mighty Lord Megatron,” Starscream assured, allowing the warlord to walk past.

Megatron sneered as he walked down the hallway, eventually finding himself in the medical bay. “You wanted to see me, Shockwave?”

“The cloning and grafting procedures were successful, and the spark synthesis generator is fully functional,” Shockwave reported, indicating to the now replated Nightbird. “I assumed you would prefer to be present for her awakening.”

“Proceed.” Megatron scowled. Shockwave stepped to a console and pulled a lever, causing small electrical pylons around the chamber to thrum with electricity, sparks flying everywhere. Knock Out opened Nightbird’s chest cavity to reveal a small chamber, which a short cable was swiftly plugged into. The cable then surged with energy as Nightbird’s optics shot online, prompting a scream from her vocal processor. Finally, the whirring faded as the generator powered down, detaching the cable from Nightbird’s chest and allowing her up with a groan.

“A resounding success, my liege.” Shockwave nodded simply. “Now if you will excuse me, I must return to my post on Cybertron.”

“Of course, Shockwave. I can handle everything from here.” Megatron assured as his scientist left.

“Ugh. Wha- where am I? Who am I?” Nightbird groaned.

Megatron scowled and glanced at Knock Out. “Oversee her indoctrination. I have other matters I must attend to.” The Autobots would soon dread their future in the war.

Endangered Species

Things in Canterlot had been fairly quiet since the girls and the Autobots were welcomed semi-officially into the G.I. Joe program, as their search across the planet continued for Cybertronian artifacts, as well as the components of the Omega Lock. All the while, Twilight was helping Wheeljack and Perceptor to complete the connections between the Ark’s communications systems and the Joes’ in an effort to try and contact Cybertron, as well as trying hard to fit the GroundBridge for interstellar transit.

But so far, things weren’t going very well; they’d managed to overhaul and cross-connect the com systems enough to attempt contact with Cybertron, but the frequency tests were slow-going. “This is Perceptor aboard the Autobot starship Ark on planet Earth broadcasting to Cybertron. Squadron Virago, please come in.” Perceptor called, but to no response. “Frequency Solus-3-9; no response. Now proceeding to Frequency Solus-4-0.”

“I hate to say this Perceptor, but I’m getting really bored.” Twilight shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to have Teletraan do this and notify us of a hit?”

“I would expect you to realize Twilight, that science is rarely an easy endeavor. Especially the science of interstellar communications.” Perceptor countered.

“Eh, I gotta agree with the kid on this one Perceptor.” Wheeljack shrugged. “We’ve been at this for days, and in all that time, we haven’t heard a peep from Cybertron. Maybe that hail we got from Greenlight was a pre-recorded message that the probe just picked up on out of nowhere.”

“Doubtful. Especially regarding the genuine-sounding nature of Greenlight’s response.” Perceptor countered. “The Virago are alive, and I intend to prove it to satisfy our commander.”

“Right; you do that. I’ll check in with our other teams.” Twilight noted as she opened another com-line. “Rainbow Dash, time for your check-in.”

Rainbow was currently flying miles over the jungles of northern India with Jetfire and Powerglide. “If you’re calling about Rhinox, we still haven’t found him yet.” The team had learned from Airazor’s files that Rhinox had taken on the form of an Indian rhino, so they’d been combing the jungles for a good few days to find him.

“How hard is it to find one Eukarian in the form of an endangered rhino?” Twilight asked seriously.

“You wanna switch posts with one of us and find out?” Jetfire smirked.

“Not particularly,” Twilight remarked. “Well, nice to see we’re all equally annoyed at our teams’ lack of progress.”

“We’ll let you know when and if we find something.” Powerglide reported, cutting off the signal. “I hate to say this, but she’s got a point. We’ve been scanning this jungle for four days, and we still haven’t even picked up any Energon readings, let alone a Spark signature.”

“Just because we haven’t found anything yet doesn’t mean we won’t find anything at all, Powerglide.” Jetfire reminded.

“Yeah, say that again tomorrow when we still haven’t found anything.” Rainbow countered.

Jetfire was about to retort when his scanners started toning; he’d found something. “You were saying?” he smirked as he looped and dove to investigate.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she and Powerglide followed him down. “If this turns out to be a trap, I swear I’m gonna tell Prowl.”

“I didn’t think you were on his good side enough to rat other bots out to him yet.” Powerglide remarked.

“Calm down, both of you,” Jetfire assured as he swooped and transformed, landing perfectly on the jungle floor as the other two landed next to him while he checked his scanner. “This definitely isn’t a trap. Last time I checked, Megatron didn’t have any Eukarians on the Nemesis, and this Spark-signature’s distortions are practically identical to the ones we detected from Airazor and Cheetor. It’s Rhinox alright. Question is, where exactly is he?”

“You’re not gonna find out, Autobot.” That voice frightened the team as they all circled up, just in time for three familiarly black and purple Decepticons to emerge from the jungle.

“And the scanners didn’t pick up the Insecticons because?” Rainbow remarked angrily.

“Gimme a break; they were the size of micro-Scraplets. Spark-scanners don’t work all that well on stuff that small.” Jetfire countered, glancing over at the one Insecticon with two large silver mandible-like antennae. “You’re here for Rhinox, aren’t you Shrapnel?”

“If this Omega Lock he’s protecting is powerful enough to revive Cybertron, then who knows what it could do to other planets?” Shrapnel remarked.

“You’re not gonna find out, bugbrain,” Rainbow assured as she readied her hip-guns. “Especially not on this planet.”

The Insecticon with wings on his shoulders chuckled madly. “Autobot madness,” he said. “You honestly still think you can come anywhere close to defeating us?”

“We don’t just think we can beat you, Kickback,” Jetfire assured as he raised his blaster. “I know we can.”

“We’ll see about that.” Shrapnel smirked. “Light ‘em up, Insecticons!” The bugs opened fire on the Autobots, who quickly shot into the air on their boosters to avoid the enemy fire and to return fire themselves.

“Everyone keep those Spark readings on your sensors!” Jetfire ordered. “We have to find Rhinox and get outta here!”

“Assuming the Insecticons haven’t already wounded him too badly for us to move.” Powerglide reminded. “Fairly standard tactic for the enemy to wound an objective target to avoid their acquisition.”

“You’re paranoid, Powerglide,” Rainbow assured.

“No, I’ve just been in the field longer; I know how people think on missions like this.” Powerglide assured… before he heard the loud screaming of engines. He looked to the horizon and saw a large wing of black and red fighters flying toward them, weapons hot. “Night Adders; get down!” The other two flyers quickly dropped into the jungle after Powerglide as the Night Adders fired on the team.

“What the heck are Night Adders?” asked Rainbow.

“Cobra aircraft; they can turn on a dime and pack some serious heat.” Powerglide explained as he turned on his coms. “Pit, this is Powerglide; we got Night Adders and Decepticons in India blocking a rescue mission. I need Skystrikers here now; marking my position.”

“Solid copy, Powerglide. This is Ace; inbound now.” the pilot assured. “ETA; four mikes.”

“Copy. You heard ‘im, guys; hold these buckets off for at least four minutes!” Powerglide ordered as he drew his gun, firing into the jungle after the Insecticons as Rainbow and Jetfire fired into the sky against the Night Adders.

“Ah, this takes me back. Battle of Mithril Forest; remember that Powerglide?” asked Jetfire.

“Hard to forget. Lost a lot of good Autobots that night.” Powerglide remarked. “At least we have better lighting this time.”

“Not sure how much that’s gonna help,” Rainbow remarked.

Powerglide smirked as he heard more engines roaring from above. “Maybe not, but those will.” Right on cue, a massive wing of Skystrikers flew in and opened fire on the Adders and the Insecticons, shooting them back into the jungle. “Glad to have ya here so fast, Ace.”

“Orbital launch, Powerglide.” Ace smirked over the coms. “Moves a pilot faster than anything else on earth.”

“How long can you hold them off?” asked Rainbow.

“Just long enough for you to find your objective and get outta here. We got this. Ace out.”

“Right; let’s move. Rhinox must be around here somewhere.” Jetfire assured as the team moved onward through the jungle on foot, following the readings on Jetfire’s scanners.

Finally, the readings peaked and Rainbow looked behind a tree. “There he is.” Sure enough, there behind a tree was a large Indian rhino who appeared to be leaking Energon from his foreleg.

Quickly Jetfire was the first to approach. “Rhinox?” The rhino growled in anger at the jet-bot approaching. “Whoa-whoa-whoa, easy; we’re friendlies. Airazor and Cheetor sent us.” He tapped his Autobot badge to prove it.

“Nice to see some friendly grilles after so long on this rock.” That voice came not from the rhino on the ground, but from behind the Autobots. They looked and saw an injured Maximal with what looked like a rhino’s jaw on his chest, and Energon dripping from his left wrist.

Rainbow looked closer and saw that the rhino simply had a bruised ankle, and Rhinox had dressed it up with Energon from his own wound to make it look like him. “You’re a clever one, aren’t you?”

“Can’t afford not to be, not with the Decepticons after us Maximals now more than ever,” Rhinox assured, showing the team his capsule. “Must be really interested in getting the AllSpark soon.”

“Yeah, let’s just hope you’re actually carrying it.” Jetfire nodded. “Either way, we’ve gotta get back to base.” Quickly he hopped on the coms to call for their ride. “Jetfire to base; we found Rhinox. Requesting GroundBridge.”

“I am afraid that is impossible, Jetfire; we still have numerous calculations to run to ensure that the SpaceBridge is functional,” Perceptor assured. “These calculations require that we open the SpaceBridge for at least three hours to test the aperture.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, Perceptor! You can run the tests once we’re back, now get us back or so help me-!” Jetfire ordered.

“Alright-alright; don’t burst a valve Jetfire,” Wheeljack assured as the GroundBridge opened nearby. “There. Happy?”

“Remarkably. Tell Ratchet to prep Sick Bay for a patient; Rhinox is wounded. And tell Optimus to prep to open his capsule.” Jetfire ordered as Rainbow slung Rhinox’s good arm over her shoulder.

“We’re done here, Ace; shake the bandits and bug out back to base.” Powerglide ordered the Joes.

“Copy that. You heard the bot, boys; back to base.” Ace ordered, prompting the Skystrikers to all break off and fly away back the way they came as the Night Adders flew after them.

The Insecticons tried to attack the Autobots as they fled into the GroundBridge, but too late as the portal closed behind them. “Megatron’s not gonna like this.” Shrapnel noted.

The base however was glad to have the away team back, as Rhinox was escorted to Sick Bay by Lifeline and Optimus prepared to open his capsule, revealing a pronged blue crystal-like object, bringing the component list up to three – including the silver block from Cheetor’s cubic piece with four small keyholes on the sides. The Autobots knew they still required at least two more pieces and the AllSpark to unlock the map to the Galaxy Keys, but at the rate things were going so far, that was looking remarkably easy.

Allies and Recruits

“Three simple Autobots flyers over a jungle, and they managed to escape you with your objective.” Megatron scowled at the Insecticons. “I assume you have a meaningful explanation for this latest blunder, Shrapnel.”

“Don’t blame us, Lord Megatron; we did our job.” Shrapnel assured. “If you wanna blame anyone, blame Sky Shadow; he’s the one who sent Cobra’s air-strike team to help us, but once the Autobots called in their own backup, they were impotent in helping us.”

“Exactly as I have been assuring you, master,” Starscream assured. “Humans are worthless whelps, nothing more than insects for us to crush.”

Megatron ignored Starscream as usual, looking instead back to Sky Shadow. “Why were the forces of Cobra there in the first place, Sky Shadow? I have yet to solidify any sort of alliance with them.”

“We can easily rectify that now, my lord.” Sky Shadow assured. “Cobra Commander has agreed to meet with you in the northern ice-lands of the North American continent, as soon as possible.”

“Give Soundwave the coordinates for the GroundBridge,” Megatron ordered, prompting Sky Shadow to leave to do just that as Megatron turned to Starscream. “Starscream, have your Seekers reported any further Eukarian Spark signatures?”

“Uh… nothing definitive, Lord Megatron,” Starscream said quickly. “Ramjet believes he may have found something in the north on the eastern hemisphere. I’ve yet to confirm it for myself, but it appears to be genuine.”

“See that it is confirmed, and if there truly is a Maximal there, destroy them and bring me the capsule,” Megatron ordered.

“If I may be so bold, my liege?” asked Knock Out. “You seem to be forgetting that the only thing that can open these capsules is the Matrix, which is still in the clutches of Optimus Prime.”

“I will deal with Prime myself when the time comes,” Megatron assured. “And once the Matrix is in my hands, the Omega Lock and the AllSpark will be ours.” He smirked cruelly as he looked at the medic. “Though you have reminded me; is our latest… recruit prepared for tasking?”

Knock Out smiled. “The indoctrination went off without a hitch, my liege. Flatline and I have convinced Nightbird that her Spark was one of the last Warforged created by the AllSpark before the villainous Autobots cast it away and killed our world. Her Spark had no corporeal form to enter and we did not have any to give her after you singlehandedly saved her from the madman Optimus Prime and his psychotic concubine Elita-1, so we were forced to place her in stasis until we could find one.”

“So thanks to the Autobots, she has never seen her homeworld.” Megatron smiled. “Excellent work, Knock Out. That will do well in swaying her to our side.”

“Oh, it undoubtedly has, my liege. She is incredibly loyal and wishes for nothing more than to serve you and bring about the annihilation of the Autobots.” Knock Out assured.

“Perfect. We will hold a ceremony for her when I have returned from my negotiations.” Megatron smiled, looking at Soundwave. “Soundwave, report.”

“Coordinates locked; activating GroundBridge,” Soundwave reported as the green vortex opened.

“Sky Shadow, you will join me and present me to this Commander,” Megatron ordered.

“I would be more than honored, Lord Megatron.” Sky Shadow assured as he moved to his master’s side, both walking through the vortex.

In the wilds of Canada, a massive group of tanks similar to Soundtrack’s alt-mode was gathered around a small group of people, one of which – wearing a helmet – stood in front of everyone else. He stood with strength as the vortex opened and allowed Sky Shadow and Megatron through. “Sky Shadow.” the helmeted man said simply.

“Wise Cobra Commander, I present my master; Megatron, conqueror of Cybertron and leader of the Decepticons.” Sky Shadow introduced, stepping to the side.

“It is an honor and a privilege.” Cobra Commander said as he stepped forward.

“Yes. It is.” Megatron said simply, looking at the others surrounding the commander; a black-haired woman with thick black glasses, a metal-skinned man, and the most outrageous mad scientist you've ever seen. “Your lieutenants, I presume?”

“High Command staff.” the commander corrected, pointing to each one in turn. “My Second in Command and Chief of Intelligence Baroness Anastasia Cisarovna, our weapons manufacturer Destro, and our chief scientist Dr. Mindbender. I was quite surprised to hear from you; I wasn’t sure what such an advanced mechanical race would want from such a humble organization as Cobra.”

“If Sky Shadow is to be believed, you’re anything but humble, Commander.” Megatron countered. “I understand you have grand aspirations. A global conquest of your own, perhaps?”

“I see Sky Shadow isn’t very good at keeping secrets.” the Baroness remarked, glaring at the Decepticon tactician.

“I merely offered my lord and master a chance for an ally, Baroness. The same chance we now offer you, Commander.” Sky Shadow smiled.

“I believe I know what chance that is,” Commander noted, looking back to Megatron. “I’ll make it quick and simple, Megatron; you help us conquer Earth and recognize our galactic sovereignty once it’s in our hands, we help you with advanced weaponry and manpower. Do we have a deal?”

Megatron scowled. “You will forgive me if I am slow to trust, Commander. Past relations between Cybertron and organic species have been… difficult,” he said simply. “I know of your weapons’ potential, but I will require more. Proof of your men’s usefulness in other areas of my interest.”

“And what areas might those be?” asked the Commander.

“Before Cybertron died, the Autobot agitator known as Alpha Trion sent some of the most powerful and sacred relics of our world out among the stars,” Megatron explained. “I have a list of arrival coordinates, indicating that several among them have landed here on Earth. I assign your soldiers with one simple mission; bring me one of these relics by any means necessary.”

“I don’t suppose you have a target in mind for us?” asked Destro.

Megatron snapped his fingers and Sky Shadow handed him a Cybertronian tablet, which he scrolled through before he found something. “Simply go to the following coordinates and you will find one of them. Bring what you find back here, and I will arrive to retrieve it.” Megatron ordered, listing off coordinates.

“Got ‘em,” Mindbender remarked before he looked at his own tablet’s readings. “Huh. That’s unusual.”

“What is?” asked the Commander.

“My instruments have been detecting some fairly powerful energy disturbances from this area in the last few weeks.” the scientist remarked. “Whatever this thing is, it must have some serious punch.”

“You are more than welcome to find some way to test the device once you have located it… provided that that test is conducted under the watch of one of my own warriors,” Megatron assured.

“As you wish, Megatron.” the Commander nodded. “So… can I take this to mean we’re in business?”

“For now.” Megatron sneered. “But make no mistake; if you fail, you will be among the first to be destroyed when I conquer this world.”

“I assure you, my lord, we will not fail.” the Commander assured, turning to his soldiers. “Return to base, and prep for an archaeological expedition; we’re goin’ diggin’.” The whole platoon quickly mobilized and prepared to move out as the Commander and his staff jumped into a jeep. “I look forward to doing business with the Decepticons in the future, Megatron.” With that, the whole platoon raced away into the forest.

Megatron turned back to Sky Shadow, who smiled at his master. “Your opinion, my lord?” he asked.

“They do appear powerful. But we shall see just how powerful they are when they bring me what it is they find.” Megatron assured.

“That reminds me; what did you send them after, Lord Megatron?” asked Sky Shadow.

“Unfortunately, even I do not know that,” Megatron remarked, looking back at the list. “All we were able to recover from the computers of the Iacon Hall of Records was a list of coordinates, not what lay at each set. We will simply have to wait and see what it is that Cobra brings us.”

“Of course, my lord.” Sky Shadow nodded as the two went back through the GroundBridge to the Nemesis, where they found Starscream waiting for them.

“And how did the meeting with the human scum go, master?” the air-commander asked.

“Their weapons speak for themselves, Starscream. Now we see how well their soldiers take orders.” Megatron answered. “If they prove themselves, then we are in business.”

“And if they attempt to betray us?” asked Starscream.

“Then we accelerate our timetable,” Megatron said simply. “If they do not betray us, we will assist them in conquering this pathetic planet before we destroy them and take it for ourselves. If they do, we destroy them first and conquer second.”

“You have no need to worry about betrayal from Cobra, Lord Megatron.” Sky Shadow assured. “The Commander is most generous and loyal to his benefactors. Why do you think Viper, Soundtrack, and I have survived so long under their watch? We promised them allies unrivaled in their conquest, and we have delivered.”

“Indeed you have, Sky Shadow. Assuming the Commander’s soldiers can locate what I have asked of them.” Megatron agreed, turning to Starscream. “Starscream, is everything in place for Nightbird’s induction?”

“All rites shall be observed, per your discretion, my master,” Starscream assured.

“Good. We will proceed immediately.” Megatron ordered, stepping forward to the controls. “All Decepticons, I bring good news; our ranks will be expanded this day as our latest guest takes the Rite of the Deceptibrand. All those wishing to join in the celebration will report to the flight deck in ten minutes. Flatline, your services will be required as well. Glory to the Decepticons! Glory to Megatron!”

“Glory to the Decepticons! Glory to Megatron!” the bridge crew cheered; their cheers echoed across the ship by the rest of the ever-loyal crew.

Megatron terminated the channel and turned to Knock Out. “Knock Out, you will prepare Nightbird for the ceremony and deliver her to the flight deck. I expect her to be on time.”

“As you wish, Lord Megatron.” Knock Out nodded and bowed before his master, slowly retreating to the elevator.

When the appointed time came, Megatron stood near the aft end of the ship’s flight deck at a makeshift altar as the Nemesis flew through the clouds over Spain, surrounded by Decepticon soldiers holding purple lanterns aloft, weapons shouldered in a line of honor leading all the way to the ship’s main door. “Let the Rite of the Deceptibrand begin!” Megatron decreed, prompting the door to open revealing Nightbird, unarmored and naked aside from a small white Decepticon badge dangling from her neck by a chain, standing next to Knock Out with two Vehicon soldiers holding her armor. Slowly, they approached the altar where Nightbird knelt before Megatron. “Nightbird, as we seek vengeance for our lost homeworld and destroy the heinous Autobots, we offer you a chance to take vengeance personally as we formally welcome you to the ranks of the Decepticon Empire.”

“I wish for nothing more, Lord Megatron. You saved me from destruction when I had only just been born, and so I will gladly repay your generosity and spark by donating mine to our victory.” Nightbird assured.

“Excellent.” Megatron nodded. “Now… recite the Oath of Conquest.” He nodded to Flatline, who moved around behind the new recruit.

Nightbird wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she had been warned by Knock Out to prepare herself for pain. Either way, she looked on the back of her training badge and found the oath written out. “‘I pledge my unquestioning loyalty to Megatron and the Decepticon cause. I shall-’ Ngh!” She cringed as she felt Flatline’s Energon scalpel cutting into her back and opening her up. She tried to ignore the pain and muscle through the rest of the oath. “‘-devote my Spark to achieving our goal of a Decepticon-controlled Cybertron, by any means necessary’.” She stammered a bit as she felt Flatline reaching into her chest from the back, clutching her Spark casing. “‘And annihilate a-all who have d-driven us from our r-rightful homeworld. Surrender is n-not an option’.” At last, Flatline pulled his hand from Nightbird’s back, holding a piece of her Spark casing in his Energon-stained hand.

He handed it to Knock Out as he carefully closed up her back, while Knock Out placed the Spark casing into a small crucible where it was melted down before being poured into a mold which Onslaught slammed shut and flash-finished, presenting a completed Decepticon badge. As this was happening, the Vehicons had taken the training badge from the pained Nightbird and were redressing her in her armor. Once she was redressed, she knelt weakly before her master as one of the guards bent down to her ear. “Fair warning; this next part’s going to hurt a lot worse than the first part,” he whispered.

Nightbird wasn’t sure what that meant until she saw Megatron lock the new badge onto a small staff, where Soundwave coded it with recognition data. Once it was coded, the staff – now recognizable as a branding stick – was brought toward Nightbird as it was electrified. “Welcome, brave Decepticon. Your destiny awaits.” With that and nothing else to say, Megatron violently drove the branding stick into Nightbird’s breastplate, making her scream in agony as the electrified badge burned into her chest. Finally, the pain stopped as Nightbird fell to her knees. “Rise up and serve your new master.”

Nightbird was still overwhelmed by the great pain but did her best to rise to her feet, her head still bowed to her master. “Yes… Lord Megatron,” she said simply.

Megatron smiled cruelly as he looked out over the other Decepticons. “Decepticons, today is a momentous day! For today, we welcome into battle our youngest sister; Nightbird! Rejoice!” The crew roared with cheers as Nightbird looked out at the people who appeared to take enjoyment in the pain she had just endured. “You all remember the pain you went through in your rites! To Nightbird and to all of you, I grant this reminder; draw on this pain, and make it your strength! Let your enemies feel that which you have felt! Show them the true meaning of agony and terror! Bring the glory of the Decepticon Empire across the universe! All Hail the Decepticons! All Hail Megatron!”

“Hail Megatron! Hail Megatron! Hail Megatron!” the soldiers cheered, giving Nightbird the incentive she needed to fight.

Eventually, the ceremony rounded to a close as Megatron made his way back onto the bridge. “Report,” he ordered the interim officers.

“Nothing to report, my lord. All is well.” one of the officers reported… before an alert sounded from his station. “Uh, cancel that; something’s entering the atmosphere.”

“On-screen,” Megatron ordered as the image of an object entering orbit appeared on the main screen. “Soundwave, identify.”

“Identifies as Cybertronian Nova-class combat cruiser.” Soundwave identified.

“A Nova-class? Haven’t seen one of those in ages.” Onslaught remarked. “Calculate projected point of impact.” Soundwave did just that, showing it would land on the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast.

“Starscream, scramble your Seekers’ nearest patrol unit to those coordinates and investigate,” Megatron ordered. “More of our Decepticon brethren may have come to join us.”

“And if it is the Autobots, my liege?” asked Starscream.

“Do you seriously need to ask?” Megatron smirked, making Starscream smirk just as much as he left to contact his Seekers.

Nightbird walked forward, still weak and pained from the ceremony. “And what of me, my lord?”

“You require rest after your rite, my dear,” Megatron assured. “But once you are fully functional, you will adopt a vehicle mode and infiltrate the Autobot base to bring me those components of the Omega Lock currently possessed by the Autobots.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Nightbird nodded, limping off to the barracks.

“Sunstorm and Acid Storm have reported their locations, my lord,” Starscream reported. “They are closest to the point of impact. Please, permit me to join them so that we make certain that those aboard are dealt with.”

“As you wish, Starscream.” Megatron shrugged, waving the Seeker away. This would be a fine day for Starscream to start his plans of usurpation… or so he thought.

Wreck 'n' Rule!

“Optimus, I’m detecting an incursion in the atmosphere,” Teletraan reported, drawing the attention of the crew. “It appears to be a Cybertronian starcraft of some sort.”

“Ours or theirs?” asked Rainbow.

Perceptor quickly went to the computer terminal and saw a strange signal. “There is something coming through a restricted band,” he reported, quickly analyzing it. “An Autobot identification beacon.”

“More ‘Bots?” asked Applejack. “Well, that’s good to hear. Always nice to have some more muscle.”

“Could be a trap. The Decepticons aren’t above baiting traps with false beacons.” Prowl brought up.

“We cannot let the opportunity pass us by if it is not a trap,” Optimus assured, turning on a com-channel. “Unknown vessel, this is the Ark. Identify yourself.” No response. “Unknown vessel, this is Optimus Prime; identify yourself.”

Inferno stepped forward, and his optics went wide when he saw the ship on the screen. “No freakin’ way. That’s no unknown, Optimus; that’s the Xantium; the Wreckers’ old tub.”

“The Wreckers?! Your old spec-ops team? Oh, this is gonna be fun.” Rainbow smiled.

“Yeah, if the Decepticons don’t get to it first.” Twilight reminded.

“Ha! They’d better be sendin’ their toughest Combiners, ‘cause that’s what it’ll take to bring down the boys,” Inferno assured. “Whaddaya say we go give my boys a proper welcome to Earth?”

“That’s if they’re still alive up there.” Wheeljack shrugged. “No response; could be everyone onboard's dead.”

“Or in stasis.” Bumblebee countered. “Either way, how about you and our human friends head over there and check it out?”

“Glad to. Wheeljack, send us over to where the thing’s gonna land.” Inferno ordered, hitting the button to drop the GroundBridge assembly.

“Right, you’re headed out.” Wheeljack smiled as he opened the GroundBridge, prompting Inferno to transform and open all his doors, allowing the girls aboard before the fire truck roared through the vortex.

When they exited the vortex, the team looked around and saw they were on a fairly abandoned section of Mexican beach near the gulf. “Uh… I’m confused; where’s the ship?” Rainbow was right to ask; the ship was nowhere near the group. Not that they could see anyway.

Then Spike made the unfortunate decision to look up. ‘Uh… it’s up there.” he whimpered. Everyone looked and saw the massive ship falling toward Earth… right on top of them.

“Oh scrap! Everyone into V-modes; scatter!” Rainbow ordered, quickly activating her Armor straight to jet-mode so she could fly away. The others followed her lead and burned rubber or jet fuel to get out of the way just before the ship crashed in the surf off the coast, a massive wave of sand and seawater shooting up toward the beach.

Once the massive wave faded, the team all looked out from their various cover and looked out at the impact site. “Whew. Man, that was too close.” Rainbow remarked. “Is everyone okay?” Everyone gave affirmative remarks, though a nasty-sounding scrape from Inferno said otherwise.

“Ugh. Ooh, feels like I might have a sand-wedgie, but other than that; yeah, I’m good,” he remarked, looking out to sea. “Now, let’s go get the guys outta there.”

“Are you sure they’re okay?” asked Fluttershy.

“Xantium’s a Nova-class combat cruiser; they were built to last. And that goes double for her crew; we Wreckers don’t get hurt easily.” Inferno assured. “Even if we did, stasis pods are basically cushioned for all sorts of accidents or impacts. Cmon, lemme introduce you to the ol’ wreckin’ crew.” With that, he led the team into the water and marched toward the ship.

“I hope I’m not generalizing, but… The Wreckers; they aren’t too… uncouth, are they?” asked Rarity.

“Pfft. Furthest thing from.” Inferno assured. “Just a bunch of rough-and-tumble spawns of glitches more than ready to take the fight to the Decepticons. Really, the only ones you need to look out for are Whirl; who’s a total psycho, and Impactor; guy’s disposition makes Prowl look cuddly.”

“I heard that.” Prowl remarked over the coms.

“What the-? What; do you listen in on all our coms chatter?” asked Sunset.

“I like to know what’s being said behind my back.” the cop-bot remarked.

“Hey, you know how sour Impactor is. Am I wrong in saying he’s worse than you?” Inferno smirked. The lack of a response gave the fire-bot all the answer he needed. “Thought so. And as an added bonus, it feels like my wedgie’s gone.” Finally, the crew made it to the main forward airlock. “Hope the impact didn’t break this thing.”

“Lemme try.” Applejack suggested as she waded forward and pressed her hands on the door, easily pushing them apart.

“Show-off,” Rainbow remarked.

“Oh hi Kettle, meet Pot,” Sunset smirked.

“Very funny.”

“I thought so.” Sunset shrugged as the team all slid into the airlock. Thankfully the controls for the inner door were still functional, so Inferno was able to open it himself, seeing a fairly trashed hallway.

“Oh, this bodes poorly,” he remarked, pulling his gun from his back. “Everyone be on guard; I don’t trust this.” The rest of the team quickly prepped their weapons as they slowly walked down the ship’s hallways. “Springer? Broadside? Guzzle, you guys there?”

“I don’t like this, Inferno,” Twilight remarked. “It looks like there was a major battle on this ship.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if Twin Twist and Topspin had another brawl; those two fight like only brothers will,” Inferno remarked. “And if it isn’t them, it was probably someone Springer owes money. The guy was a smuggler before the war; got into a lot of trouble. Only the crew really knows… wherever they are.”

“Found ‘em!” Pinkie called from a certain chamber. The team looked and saw a large room filled with stasis pods containing the Wreckers.

“How’d you find ‘em so fast?” asked Twilight.

“I just read the signs, silly.” Pinkie giggled. And sure enough, there above the door was a sign that read Stasis Room.

“Oh. How’d I forget about this?” Inferno remarked as the team moved in, Twilight checking the status of all the pods.

“Well, their vitals appear nominal, so that’s a good sign,” Twilight remarked. “Let’s see if we can wake them up. Fluttershy, a little medical assistance?”

Fluttershy nodded as she walked over to the console, glad she had been paying attention when Ratchet and Wheeljack taught her how to revive a bot from stasis as she worked the controls.

As she worked, Rainbow glanced over and saw Inferno looked a bit pensive. “Something wrong?”

“Crew’s changed since I left,” Inferno remarked. “Few unfamiliar faces, few guys missing. I mean, the Wreckers were basically a Special Ops suicide squad so the mortality rate was pretty high, but still… I at least thought I’d recognize more of these guys.” He stepped over to one pod and wiped some dust from it, suddenly smirking at the blue-helmeted face inside the pod. “Course, every Autobot in the universe knows this old junker. I can’t believe it; Impactor actually brought Kup onboard.”

“What’s so hard to believe about that?” asked Twilight.

“Kup’s a relic, even by Cybertronian standards,” Inferno remarked. “Last time I saw him, he still fought with a laser musket, and those things were taken out of official service ages before the Great War.”

“Seriously? What’s he even doing on the battlefield? He should be in a museum.” Rainbow remarked.

“Exactly. So why did Impactor bring him on?” Inferno remarked.

“Well, let’s see what we can get out of them when they wake up.” Twilight shrugged. “Maybe then we’ll find out what happened to the guys you’re missing.”

“We’re ready,” Fluttershy reported, earning a nod from Inferno as her signal to press the button. Cold mist flowed from the pods as they each opened one after the other.

The first to leave his pod was a green bot with a yellow chestplate and shoulder plates. “Ugh. Gah, my head-gasket…” he groaned.

“Easy pal, take it slow,” Inferno assured as he helped the bot from his pod, the others all following in short order.

The first bot shook his head a bit and when he opened his optics, he smiled. “Well, bust me down for spare parts. Inferno, you old son of a gun; it’s great to see you.”

“Ha-ha! You too, Springer.” Inferno smiled as he hugged the great bot. “Girls, cmon over; wanna introduce you.” The girls gladly approached the green bot. “Ladies, this is Springer; second-in-command of the Wreckers.”

“Former second-in-command actually, Inferno,” Springer assured. “We lost Impactor on Relva VI.”

Inferno seemed surprised. “Dead?”

“Lost in the field. He was declared MIA and I subbed in for him.” Springer shrugged.

“Speaking of missing, Inferno said there weren’t as many ‘bots he recognized down here.” Twilight brought up.

“Yeah, where is everyone?” Inferno asked seriously.

Springer sighed as he tipped his helmet up a bit. “Sorry to say it buddy, but… Impactor wasn’t the only casualty we suffered on Relva VI. Except most of those ones we confirmed.”

Inferno seemed astounded to hear this. “The twins?” Springer just shook his head. “Guzzle, Roulette? Rack’n’Ruin?”

“Gone; every last one of ‘em. Plus some.” Springer shrugged mournfully before he smirked and looked around. “But we got another batch of fresh Energon here. Say hello to the most recent Wreckin’ crew. You probably remember a lot of ‘em. Still managed to hang onto Sandstorm, Broadside, and Whirl over there.” He pointed in turn to a yellow bot with large tire-like turbines on his back, a gray-and-red bot with what looked like wings on the backs of his arms, and a cyclopic helicopter-bot with chicken-like legs and massive claws.

Then he pointed to a blue helicopter-bot with bright pink blades, a green and brown tank-like bot, and the older-grade blue bot Inferno pointed out. “That’s Rotorstorm and Roadbuster, and you know Kup, obviously.”

“Hard not to know him,” Roadbuster smirked, glancing over at the old bot. “Old junker’s probably older than Alpha Trion himself.”

“Ha-ha, real funny.” Kup rolled his optics as he walked forward. “Old fella like me’s gotta do somethin’ to pass the time, ‘specially in a war.”

“Is that why you joined up? You got bored?” asked Rainbow.

“Nah, he joined up because he saved my life at Tarn.” Sandstorm countered. “Backed against a wall, guns empty and turbines shot. Then what does this old nut do? Roars in outta nowhere, breaks his laser musket across a Vehicon’s face and then lights ‘em up with some SMGs. Then he patched me up and I flew us outta there.”

“I was pretty damn impressed so I signed him up right then and there.” Springer smiled. “But that’s enough about us for now; what’s been goin’ on with you, Inferno? And where’d ya find all these femmes?”

“Yeah man, aren’t you worried about offendin’ Firestar from beyond the grave?” asked Broadside.

“First of all Broadside, Firestar and the Virago are still alive on Cybertron.” Inferno countered, surprising the Wreckers. “Second of all, these girls are a few centuries too young for my tastes. And third, there’s a lot more to ‘em than meets the eye.”

On that signal, the girls all deactivated their Armor and returned to their human forms, astounding the other Wreckers. “Holy Prima! Organics?!” asked Roadbuster.

“Worse; Pretenders,” Whirl remarked, two cannons flipping out from his chest almost like Rainbow’s machine guns. “Everyone get clear; I hear these things splatter worse than organics.”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa; muzzle discipline, Whirl!” Inferno ordered, pushing the guns away from the girls. “They’re not Pretenders; they’re just ordinary organics wearing Spark-Shift Armor.”

“Spark-Shift? But organics ain’t got Sparks.” Kup brought up.

“Long story. Short version; we got the map.” Inferno said simply.

The Wreckers were all astounded by this as Springer grabbed Inferno by his shoulders. “Are you telling me we’ve found the AllSpark?” he asked seriously.

“Well, um…” Rainbow remarked, unsure of what to say. “Yes and no.”

“And what does that mean?” asked Rotorstorm.

“I think that’s a conversation better had back at base,” Inferno assured. “Think the ship’s still good to fly?”

“Sure; why wouldn’t it be?” asked Sandstorm.

“What, did none of you feel the crash?” asked Applejack.

“Crash? What crash?” Springer’s question was answered when he turned on the feed from the ship’s bow-view camera and saw it jammed in the ground. “Oh. That crash.”

“Well, we’d better see about dragging her out.” Rotorstorm shrugged.

“Right. Broadside, get out there and pull for all you’re worth.” Springer ordered.

“Yeah, yeah.” Broadside groaned, almost like he didn’t want to do this. “Yeesh. Why do I always have to do the grunt-work?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she watched him leave, before turning back to the others. “Is he always like that?”

“Unfortunately. Broadside’s been a complainer as long as we’ve known him.” Sandstorm shrugged. “But he’s more than strong enough for this sort of thing.” As if to prove that, the ship shook and suddenly tipped until it splashed into the water, leveling out the deck.

“It certainly seems like it.” Rarity remarked, before Broadside walked back into the main room, dripping wet.

“There. We’re free. Happy? Saline content was way too high out there; gotta wash the salt outta my joints.” Broadside grumbled.

“Well, at least it looks like we can still fly,” Roadbuster remarked.

“Great. All hands to the bridge.” Springer ordered, leading the crew. “Inferno, you give us the coordinates for your new base; we’ll figure it out from there.”

“Gotcha. But let’s make sure the cloaking device still works before we go anywhere; locals don’t exactly take too kindly to giant-sized alien robots trompin’ around their planet.” Inferno ordered.

“Fine. Rotorstorm, check the cloak, and make sure it’s functional.” Springer ordered.

“Check.” Rotorstorm nodded and moved to check the device as the other systems came online.

“So what happened to you guys anyway?” asked Twilight. “Why were you in stasis?”

“Ah, ran into some old friends of mine.” Springer shrugged. “Owed ‘em money I didn’t have, so we had a… disagreement. We took a few good hits, so we had to go into stasis; set the pods for CR mode to help with repairs. Don’t exactly know how long we’ve been in there, or where we landed.”

“We’ll explain everything back at base,” Twilight assured.

“Right. How we doin’, crew?” Springer asked.

“Minor hull damage; nothin’ you wouldn’t expect from reentry and a crash landing.” Sandstorm remarked.

“Cloaking system’s up and running,” Rotorstorm reported.

“Course laid in,” Roadbuster reported from the navicomputer.

“Take ‘er up, Wreckers. Let’s go see who’s in charge here.” With that, the Xantium rose from the Gulf of Mexico and took to the air, turning completely invisible to everyone outside it as the ship flew northeast toward Canterlot, the team explaining everything that had happened recently as they sailed.

Finally, the ship found a place to land near the main base on the side of the volcano, out of the direct line of sight from the outside world. “Nice place,” Springer remarked as he looked around.

“Yeah, if you like dreary and dismal.” Broadside said flatly.

“Then you’ll definitely love it here,” Rotorstorm smirked, bumping the bot on the shoulder. The Wreckers laughed at that as they made their way into the Ark, welcomed by the crew.

Springer was particularly impressed by the layout, but quickly stood at attention when he saw the big-rig commander. “Optimus Prime.” He saluted, prompting the other Wreckers to do so as well. “It’s a privilege, sir.”

“Likewise, soldier.” Optimus saluted. “What have you to report from your voyage?”

“Not much, sir,” Springer remarked. “Cons still have Cybertron locked down. Just heard from Inferno that the Virago’s still kickin’, so that’s good to hear. And we’re more than willing to help in any way we can with the hunt for the Omega Lock and the AllSpark.”

“We have sorely required more assistance,” Optimus assured. “And we would gladly welcome your ship and crew to our ranks.”

“We’d be honored, sir,” Springer assured. It was just then however that they heard a loud barrage of blaster fire outside.

“Looks like we brought some more fun than we expected.” Sandstorm remarked, quickly leading the crew outside… just in time to see Starscream and a large group of Seekers bombarding the volcano.

“Autobots! Surrender the Omega Lock and your prisoners, or you will all be obliterated!” Starscream ordered.

Bumblebee cracked his neck and started out of the ship before Springer held up a hand to stop him. “No. We got this,” he assured, leading the Wreckers forward. “No prisoners here, Starscream! Just a bunch of ‘Bots more than ready to throw down!”

“Then by all means, Autobot fools! Feel free to ‘throw down’ with us!” Starscream smirked, firing at Springer.

But the Wrecker commander just pulled a sword off his back and deflected the blast away into the ground nearby, prompting a chuckle. “Oh, we intend to. Wreck n’ Rule!” he roared, quickly transforming into a heavily armored helicopter as Sandstorm turned into a turbine VTOL and Broadside turned into a large blocky jet, each following their commander into the air and firing on the Seekers.

Starscream was frozen in terror as he remembered that rallying cry. “‘Wreck and’- Retreat! Retreat!” He quickly transformed and flew away as fast as he could, quickly followed by his Seekers.

“I got ‘em!” Rotorstorm smirked as he raised one of his guns, firing a few rockets after the Seekers as the rest of the air team broke off their pursuit… just as the rockets blew right above Starscream, nearly knocking him out of the air as he flew as fast and as far as he possibly could. “That oughtta keep Scare-scream away from here for a good long while.” Pinkie couldn’t help herself; she cracked right up at that as she started laughing. “See, guys? Finally, someone who appreciates good comedy.”

“Hey! What am I; shredded steel?” asked Roadbuster.

“Not exactly a lot of room for joking on the battlefield, Rotorstorm.” Springer reminded as he transformed and landed. “Especially not on Wrecker missions.”

Rainbow smirked as she glanced over at Cliffjumper. “Betcha your week’s Energon rations Pinkie Pie’s gonna change that real quick.”

“Oh, that's not even a bet.” Cliffjumper agreed, and they both knew how right they were. But what they didn’t know was that they would soon be engaged in a full-scale battle for not just their future, but their very lives.

Blowing the Dig

It wasn’t often that the forces of Cobra found themselves so close to civilization in public, but it was of no consequence to Destro; he only wanted to finish the assignment he had received from the Commander and in-turn from Megatron, which was why he had several armored mech-suits from his munitions company out digging in the mountains near Seattle as the Decepticon soldier known as Astrotrain watched.

“How we doin’, Scrap Iron?”

Destro’s lieutenant Scrap Iron looked at his leader, his half-burned face still as off-putting as ever. “Slow-going, sir. We designed these suits for warfare, not mining; not exactly the smoothest transition.”

“I realize that but we need that relic,” Destro ordered. “If nothin’ else, I wanna see what it can do before we ship it off to Megatron.”

“Are you sure you have your men digging in the right place, Destro?” Astrotrain asked as he looked at his scanner. “I’m not picking up anything.”

“Your boss gave us the coordinates, Astrotrain. We’re just followin’ the map.” Destro assured.

It was just then that one of the drills mounted to the mechs started grinding as if it had hit metal. “Destro! We’ve hit something!”

“Ah, wonderful work, boys.” the metal-faced weapons dealer smiled. “Yer boss is about to get his money’s worth, Astrotrain.”

Unfortunately for Destro, his team wasn’t the only one who found something on that dig; Wheeljack and Hound had been working on the computer when they got a loud tone that astounded the engineer. “Optimus, we got somethin’ down here you’re gonna wanna see!” Hound called, drawing the Prime down to the hangar computer, as well as Ironhide, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset.

“What is it, Wheeljack?” Optimus asked.

“We just picked up a Cybertronian tracking signal. From the data signature, it looks like it’s from the Iacon Hall of Records.” Wheeljack remarked.

“Hall of Records? Isn’t that where you worked before the war?” Sunset asked Optimus.

“And the place where some of Cybertron’s most sacred relics and dangerous weapons were placed under lock and key,” Optimus confirmed. “In order to keep them out of Decepticon hands, Alpha Trion launched them from Cybertron, with the hopes that we would find them first.”

“Well, it looks like someone found one of them.” Hound remarked. “Question is who?”

“Let’s find out. Teletraan, give me a satellite visual of the coordinates.” Wheeljack ordered, a visual display easily coming up on the screen.

And once Hound’s optics locked on the mechs, they narrowed in rage. “Cobra. That’s Destro, the Cobra Commander’s top weapons designer.”

“And that’s not the only familiar face. Look; Astrotrain’s there too.” Wheeljack remarked, focusing the feed on the ‘Con. “He’s one of the top Cons on the Nemesis.”

“Megatron has formalized an alliance with Cobra. This cannot go unanswered.” Optimus scowled.

“I’m already on it, Prime.” Hound assured, tuning the coms to a specific channel. “Pit, this is Hound; come in.”

“You got Cover Girl, Hound; go ahead.”

“Priority Ultra, Cover Girl; we need Alpha Team three kliks east of Seattle.” Hound explained. “Cobra’s officially joined up with the Decepticons, and they dug up something they shouldn’t have.”

“Roger that; dispatching Alpha team. And somethin’ tells me you’re gonna need more cavalry than that, so I’m sendin’ Bravo too.” Cover Girl reported. “ETA; two mikes.”

“Copy that. We’ll head over there for rendezvous ASAP.” Hound assured, terminating the link. “Wanna bring the Wreckers, Optimus?”

“I don’t think we should; nothing says ‘covert’ like giant explosions.” Twilight brought up.

“Just ‘cause we’re infamous for trashin’ stuff doesn’t mean we don’t know when to use stealth,” Springer assured as he walked into the hangar. “Besides, the Cons obviously don’t care about people seein’ ‘em.”

“We’re not the Cons.” Applejack countered.

“You wanna get crushed, or do you wanna see how the Wreckers do against an enemy that actually fights back instead of just running off with their tailfins between their legs like Starscream?” Springer remarked, looking out to the Wreckers and other girls who were working on the Xantium. “Hey Kup, Roadbuster, we got a mission! Get in here!”

“Yes sir!” Roadbuster nodded as he tromped in.

“Alright, alright; I’m comin’.” Kup shrugged.

“What are you doing to your ship anyway?” asked Sunset.

“Just some retrofitting.” Springer shrugged. “Ya never know when you might need a Nova-class cruiser to show up and rain fire. And unless the tech team can get that SpaceBridge up and running, a working hyperdrive is gonna be our best bet to get anywhere in the galaxy.”

“Speaking of the SpaceBridge, how’s it coming Wheeljack?” asked Rarity.

“Slow; I think we’re close to having enough Energon, but we can’t seem to nail down the proper calculations on the aperture.” Wheeljack shrugged. “Simulations have all been cataclysmic flops; at this point, the only way to know for sure it will work is with a test run, but I don’t wanna risk that until I have a bit more time to narrow things down.”

“We will ensure you have all the time you need.” Optimus nodded as the GroundBridge lowered into place and activated to the coordinates. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” On that order, the team all switched into their vehicle-modes, allowing the girls to see the Wreckers’ chosen modes; Springer was apparently a Triple-Changer with an armored roadster mode, Roadbuster had chosen an Oshkosh M-ATV truck, and Kup was a 1948 Chevy pickup truck, all of which rumbled through the vortex with the other Autobots, dropping them roughly thirty yards from the dig-site.

Springer quickly dropped to the dirt and looked through a set of large binoculars at the dig site. “Hmm… I think I can see why the beacon went off,” he remarked. “Must’ve been rigged to start signaling when someone dug it up.”

“Question is how did the Decepticons get the coordinates for this one?” asked Sunset.

“The Decepticons acquired a list of the coordinates during the final raid on Iacon,” Optimus remembered. “They have been attempting to decode it ever since. This may simply be the first of who knows how many relics scattered across the world.”

“Then we’d better make sure we get them first,” Ironhide noted.

“My thoughts exactly.” Hound smiled when he heard that voice behind him. And there was Duke, and the rest of the Joes’ Alpha Team, as well as a second team; a Caucasian man in a beret, a titan of an African man with an M2 Browning, a much smaller man with eyes that looked Asian with a bandana, a brunette woman with a heavy reflex crossbow, a woman in a red ninja gi, and a man with a thick blonde mustache and leather cowboy hat.

“Glad you made it, Joes.” Hound smiled, watching what appeared to be a small GroundBridge vortex fading. “Micro-GroundBridge working alright?”

“Like a dream, Hound.” Duke smiled.

“Wait, since when did you guys have a GroundBridge?” asked Sunset.

“Since Breaker and Wheeljack became best tech-buddies,” Duke remarked, turning to the other bots. “Nice to see you guys again. See some new faces.”

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the new underwater crater off the Mexican coast, would it?” asked the man in the beret.

“Fraid so, Flint.” Hound smiled, glancing at the new bots. “Sorry to say you guys aren’t the only Spec Ops we bots have to rely on anymore. Say hello to the Wreckers.”

“Well, we’re some of the best soldiers this country has to offer,” Flint assured. “I’m Flint, that’s Roadblock, Tunnel Rat, Lady Jaye, Jinx, and Wild Bill. We’re G.I. Joe’s Bravo Team.”

“Well, let’s hope you live up to all the stories Hound’s told us,” Kup smirked as he pulled two large plasma SMGs off his back.

“Only one way to find out. Cover Girl gave us the basic rundown, but what exactly have the Cons dug up?” asked Duke.

“Not sure yet.” Hound shrugged.

“I can think of a good way to find out.” Lady Jaye noted as she loaded a special-looking bolt onto her crossbow, quickly firing it into the dig pit where it landed right behind a small tent, where no one would think to look before it quickly collapsed down.

“Nice shot, Lady Jaye.” Duke smiled, turning to Optimus and the other bots. “Microphone bolt; picks up on anything anyone says in its perimeter and transmits it to our coms; channel 15.”

The bots quickly got the message and tuned their coms to the same channel, watching and listening closely as the mechs carefully pulled the strange bronze-like orb out of the ground. “Well, this is an interesting find,” Astrotrain remarked.

“How d’ya mean? What exactly is this thing?” asked Destro.

Astrotrain didn’t answer directly, he just activated his communicator and smiled. “Lord Megatron, we’ve found the relic. It appears to be an ancient Energon Harvester.”

“Excellent work, Astrotrain. Ensure the device is safe to transport and then bring it to the Nemesis as soon as possible.” The Autobots were a bit surprised to hear Megatron’s voice in their coms, but at least now they knew what they were doing.

“Understood, my lord.” Astrotrain nodded, turning off his coms.

“‘Energon Harvester’?” asked Destro.

“An original version, from long before the war began,” Astrotrain noted as he looked at the device. “Principle looks the same as the modern models though; all you do is point it at anything containing Energon, click the trigger, and the device instantly vaporizes, siphons, and redistills the liquid Energon inside. After that, you just flush it out for containment or recrystallization into cube-form and repeat.”

“Anythin’ containin’ Energon, ya say?” asked Destro. “Like, say, some hapless Autobots?”

“Precisely.” the Decepticon nodded menacingly.

“I see. Well, seems a bit dangerous, dontcha think?” asked Destro. “Not to mention time-consumin’.”

“How do you mean?” asked Astrotrain.

“Well, if ya misfire the thing among yer allies, ya risk drainin’ the life outta one of yer own.” Destro brought up. “And if ya have to flush it out after every use, that’s plenty of time wasted that ya could be usin’ to mine or drain more Energon. And I’m sure aimin’ the thing is a hassle in itself.”

“Oh? And I suppose you can do better?” asked Astrotrain.

“I can certainly at least try to bring it up to modern specs.” the weapons designer noted. “Maybe make it cube the stuff on the run.”

“Well, that would certainly be a time-saver,” Astrotrain remarked. “Are you sure you can do it?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Gimme three days, maybe more?” he shrugged in response. “Might need some engineering assistance from your crew.”

“I’ll see who’s available,” Astrotrain noted, getting back on his coms. “Lord Megatron, Destro has assured me that if he can have at least three days and Decepticon technical expertise, he can upgrade the Harvester to meet modern standards.”

“Do not leave the side of the device until the work is finished,” Megatron ordered. “Once it is finished, you and Blast Off are to deliver it straight to me.”

“As you wish, my lord.” Astrotrain nodded, looking down at the metal-faced human. “Your terms are accepted. Load up the device and direct me to your nearest factory.” With that, Astrotrain strode to the nearby train tracks, the presence of which made sense very quickly when he transformed into a Tsubame 800 bullet train engine, creating a passenger carriage, boxcar, and several flat cars behind him out of holomatter.

“All aboard, boys!” Destro ordered as he made his way to the train, climbing into the evil engine’s cabin. The other men quickly broke down the site and moved to pack up their equipment on the train.

“Time’s up, Prime; we need to get in there before they get away with that thing,” Duke ordered.

“Agreed. Autobots, Astrotrain does not leave this valley.” Optimus ordered.

“On it, Prime. Light ‘em up, Roadbuster!” Hound ordered, his stinger missiles arming and locking onto target at the tracks below in front of Astrotrain while Roadbuster aimed his large shoulder-mounted cannon behind the train. With a twitch, a massive grenade fired from the cannon as several stinger missiles shot from Hound’s backpack and both blasted up the tracks around the Decepticons.

Once immobile, the train was quickly surrounded as the Autobots and Joes raced down the ridge, covering the bot and crew with their weapons. “Give it up, Destro; there’s nowhere to go.” Flint barked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” the metal man remarked as he raced back in the train and opened the boxcar, aiming the Energon Harvester at Optimus. “Time fer a test-drive.”

With a simple slam on the large trigger button, the Harvester roared to life and fired a massive blue beam out at the Prime, stunning him as several small trails of vaporized Energon flew from his body along the beam toward the orb itself, weakening the Prime. “Optimus!” Ironhide yelled in concern and quickly raised his blaster, but the shots just bounced off a forcefield Astrotrain erected around his cargo.

“Well, I think that just scored you some good boy points in my book, Destro,” Astrotrain smirked as a GroundBridge suddenly appeared right in front of him. “Excellent timing as always, Soundwave.” With a honk of his train horn, the Decepticon roared through the vortex as the Joes and Autobots tried to fire on him, none of their shots connecting as the vortex closed.

“Gah! Great. We lost ‘em. Now what?” asked Applejack.

“Now we get Optimus back to base,” Ironhide ordered, pulling the horribly weakened Prime to his feet. “Wheeljack, send the GroundBridge. Tell Ratchet to get the medical bay ready; Optimus needs a massive Energon infusion.”

It wasn’t long before the team was back on the Ark, and Optimus was hooked up to what the girls guessed was a Cybertronian IV drip filled with Energon, flowing back into his body. “He’s stable for now, but I don’t know how long our medical Energon supplies will last.” Ratchet reported. “Optimus was a big enough bot before he was named Prime, and now? Well, I’m worried about him.”

“Don’t you bots have any organs that can regenerate Energon? Like some sort of skeletal marrow or something?” asked Twilight.

“Of course we do, but cyber-marrow has its limits.” Ratchet assured. “Even with it and this infusion, he’s going to need at least three days to get back to full power.”

“Alright, so what do we do in the meantime?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“We start hitting MARS facilities until we find that Harvester,” Duke ordered, turning to Lady Jaye. “Lady Jaye, get on the coms and put me through to base; tell Cover Girl and Dial Tone that I need a list of all known MARS facilities on the face of the earth. We’ll blow ‘em all to ashes one by one if we have to.”

“Maybe we won’t have to,” Sunset noted as she looked around.

“What do you mean?” asked Springer.

“Well, I know we brought Spike, but… where is he?” Sunset was right; Spike was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, tell me he didn’t…” Twilight said in great worry.

“If he did, it makes our job way easier.” Tunnel Rat remarked. “You got him chipped?”

“Better than that; he’s wearing a Spark-Shift Armor too,” Sunset remarked.

“Track the armor, we find Spike and the Harvester.” Twilight realized. “That dog is a genius!”

“Might be harder than that.” Hound remarked. “Destro’s a weapons manufacturer, so most of his facilities are shielded from standard sensor arrays. And with the Decepticons overseeing this new project, they’ve probably got all sorts of top-notch Cybertronian shielding tech on top of that. We’ll probably only find them if Spike can get beyond those shields.”

“Don’t worry, Spike’s a smart dog,” Twilight assured. “Once he figures that out for himself, he’ll run for the nearest door like nobody’s business.” She may have said that, but she was secretly praying that was the case.

Thankfully her prayers were in good faith; Spike had indeed hitched a ride on Astrotrain and hidden under a seat near the rear door of the passenger car, and after the round trip to the Nemesis to show Megatron the loot from the dig, Astrotrain had been sent to a MARS manufacturing facility in Missoula where the men disembarked to unload the cargo before the Decepticon transformed. This bustle of activity gave Spike the perfect opportunity to jump off the train and hide elsewhere in the factory. He knew just as well that his best chance of rescue and protecting the others was to make it outside and somehow signal for a ride, but first, he had to find a way out.

Harvest Time

The Autobots and Joes searched feverishly to locate Spike and the Harvester, but for all their efforts, there was no sign of either of them for days. Still, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t deny that riding with the Joes and blowing up MARS facilities all over the west coast was a lot of fun.

In fact, she was just returning to the Ark from one of those raids with Sandstorm and Roadbuster – on top of the world from the glorious destruction – when she found the others gathered around the computer console. “What’s goin’ on?”

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re being taken off-mission,” Ironhide remarked, looking at General Hawk’s face on the screen. “No more blastin’ MARS.”

“What?! General, you can’t be serious!” Rainbow said seriously.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but the industrial accident cover we’ve been feeding the civilian populace is starting to falter.” Hawk explained. “The President has ordered that all raids against MARS Industries must halt, effective immediately.”

“General, the President knows just as well as we do that MARS has been nothing more than a Cobra subsidiary for years.” Duke reminded. “And now Cobra is in bed with the Decepticons, and they’ve got their hands on a Cybertronian weapon of mass destruction, which they are in the process of retrofitting.”

“Actually Duke, need I remind you that as far as the President and the joint-chiefs are concerned, humans are the only sentient life on this planet and in the rest of the universe. As far as everyone outside both our bases is concerned, Cybertron does not exist.” the general countered. “All I’ve told them is that Cobra has somehow gotten their hands on a stash of decommissioned nuclear weapons.”

“Nukes? Hidden outside Seattle? Aw cmon General, how long’s that gonna last?” asked Roadblock.

“It’s the best thing I could come up with, soldier. And anyway, these raids aren’t giving us any results.” the general argued. “As far as I see it, our best choice is to wait until Destro finishes the weapon and hands it off. We find the hand-off site; we find the weapon and your dog. That’s the best I can swing. In the meantime, you’re all under orders to stand down. Hawk out.” With that, the general’s face disappeared from the screen.

“Lucky for us, we’ve got our own chain of command here.” Rainbow smiled as she turned to Ironhide. “What’s our play, Ironhide?”

“Ain’t exactly my place to decide,” Ironhide remarked. “You’re better off askin’ the boss.”

“Speaking of whom, how is Optimus?” Twilight asked, glancing at Ratchet.

“Not great. I had to take him off the medical Energon drip before he exhausted our supply.” Ratchet shrugged. “It’s all up to him now. He’s lucky he’s such a strong bot, because he’s gonna need every ounce of that strength if he wants to survive.”

“Wait… wouldn’t Megatron be angry if he heard some human tried to ice Optimus against his orders?” asked Bumblebee.

“What does that mean?” asked Sunset.

“Remember how we’ve been telling you that Optimus and Megatron were friends before the war?” asked Bumblebee. “Well, when war was officially declared, Megatron made one thing explicit to all Decepticons; they can be as vicious as they like with whatever Autobots they find, but Optimus was his to kill.”

“And if Megatron finds out Destro tried to pull a stunt like that, he’s probably gonna crush Cobra,” Duke remarked, glancing over at Flint. “This looks like a self-solving problem, Flint.”

“So it would seem.” the soldier smirked as he poked his beret up on his brow. “But you heard Hawk; we’re off-mission until we find the weapon.”

“Then let’s hope Spike can come through on his end,” Twilight said seriously.

Thankfully, in the time Spike had been hiding in the plant in Missoula, he hadn’t been idle. After discovering that the plant’s shielding had rendered the comlink on his collar inoperable, he began sneaking around trying to uncover as much about Destro’s plan as possible and developing an escape plan, watching as his men worked with Astrotrain and Blast Off to rebuild the Harvester orb into the heart of a bot-sized gun. “I’ve gotta hand it to your men, Destro; they’ve been impressing me greatly over the last few days.” Blast Off remarked to the metal-faced man. “And it’s not just any weapons engineer that can impress a Combaticon.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Always happy to hear someone appreciates the McCullen touch.” Destro smiled. “Think it’ll fit your needs?”

“I’m certain of it.” Blast Off nodded. “How long until it’s done?”

“Just finished the final calibrations.” Scrap Iron reported.

“Congratulations Blast Off, you are now the proud owner of a MARS Industries-certified weapon of mass destruction.” Destro smiled.

“Nice work.” Blast Off smiled as he picked the weapon up, revealing it to be a large shotgun-like weapon with a cube-shaped tank in the back. “Astrotrain, contact Lord Megatron. Tell him the weapon is ready.”

Spike knew it was now or never, so he quickly put his escape plan into action, activating his Armor and leaping out from his hiding spot, breathing fire all around the base. “It’s the Autobots’ humans’ pet! Take it down!” Astrotrain ordered as he raised a blaster.

Destro’s men all grabbed guns and started firing on Spike, but their bullets barely even tickled the large dog as he shot fire at Astrotrain’s weapon which seemed to fry it, before he leaped at Blast Off and grabbed the Harvester from his hands with his jaws, racing for the door which easily gave way under his strength. Once outside, he quickly took to the sky on his wings, dropping the Harvester into his dexterous paws as he flew high above the city. “Don’t just stand there, ya idiots; get after ‘im!” Destro ordered the two Decepticons, who gladly listened as they raced outside and transformed – Astrotrain turning into a space shuttle – shooting into the sky after Spike.

Thankfully, Spike wouldn’t be alone for long; an alert came through almost immediately at the Joes’ base. “General Hawk, we have satellite confirmation on Spike,” Hi-Tech reported. “He’s over Missoula and he’s got the Harvester; two Decepticon tangos in pursuit.”

“He’s coming through on the lines now.” a redheaded woman – Cover Girl from her voice – reported.

“Put him through, and pipe this through to the Ark,” Hawk ordered.

“Spike to anyone who can hear me, I need help!” he called. “I don’t know where I am and I don’t care as long as I’m anywhere else or at least have help in a few minutes!”

“Spike, this is General Hawk; we’ll have you out of there any second now,” Hawk reported. “Optimus, you copy all that?”

“Word for word, General,” Optimus reported. “Jetfire, Powerglide, take all the Wreckers with a flight-based vehicle-mode and assist him as quickly as possible.”

“We’re on it!” Jetfire reported, quickly leading Springer and his aerial teammates – as well as the girls with flight capabilities – to an area outside Missoula, each quickly launching into the air – showing that Whirl had chosen a Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter and Rotorstorm had chosen an Apache – flying toward Spike and his pursuers. “Spike, this is Jetfire. Hang tough; air support is on the way.”

“Not just you, Jetfire.” Ace reported over the coms, as more Skystrikers flew over the city as well.

“Ace? What’re you doing here?” asked Rainbow.

“Giving the story General Hawk’s planning some weight.” Ace reported. “Just an Air Force training exercise, nothin’ more.”

“Solid copy; let’s get this done.” Rotorstorm smiled, spinning his miniguns to fire on Astrotrain, who quickly rolled to avoid the gunfire and started returning it.

“Astrotrain to Nemesis; the Autobots have stolen the Harvester. Requesting air support,” he called.

“Astrotrain, this is Starscream; I’m leading a Seeker wing to your position as we speak.” the air commander reported, their sudden appearance surprising the Autobots.

“We’re outgunned here, Ace.” Powerglide noted. “Break off; we’ll lead the Cons out of town and engage them in bot-mode.”

“Copy that; shakin’ bandits, buggin’ out. Let’s go, people!” Ace ordered, quickly leading his wing away from the battle as the Autobots led the Decepticons outside the city, where several among them promptly transformed to bot-mode and opened fire with heavier artillery.

“Spike, you still got the Harvester?” asked Powerglide.

“Got it right here.” Spike smiled as he gingerly placed the device next to the red flyer.

“Then why don’t we use it?” Whirl smirked as he grabbed the weapon in his large claws, aiming it out at the Decepticons. “Nobody move! I have no idea how to use this thing, but it feels really dangerous!”

“Oh, I assure you; it is.” Blast Off nodded, carefully lowering his blaster… and drawing something else from behind his back. “Which is why, if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking it.” In the blink of an eye, the Combaticon drew a large magnetic grappling hook and fired it, grabbing the Harvester from Whirl’s claws and whiplashing it away. “All yours, Commander!”

Starscream quickly jumped and grabbed the weapon by the trigger. “Ah, thank you Blast Off. Now…” He flipped the safety off and the weapon revved to life. “Let’s see exactly what this thing can do.” He pulled the trigger and a bolt of blue energy shot out.

“Get down!” Springer yelled and shoved Whirl aside, taking the blast right in the chestplate himself, groaning as he felt his Energon drain.

“Tell me; is Prime still alive?” Starscream taunted. “Astrotrain said Destro drained a good amount of his Energon, but if Lord Megatron were to hear he was dead, I’m sure Cobra wouldn’t like to be on the same planet as him.”

“Buddy… I don’t wanna be on the same planet as you…” Springer groaned as he slowly approached against the beam. “But I’m sure you’ll be more than happy to report that… Megatron’s still gonna get his duel.”

“What?! What’re you doing?!” Starscream asked as more Energon flowed from the Wrecker.

“What I do best…” Springer smirked, drawing one of his swords from his back. “Wreck stuff.” Forcing all his remaining strength into his sword, Springer delivered a single powerful slash through the Harvester, making the barrel burst into flame, as well as whatever Energon was close enough to the barrel. Springer was forced to slash through the other wisps of Energon before they reached his body and caught his body on fire.

“You imbecile!” Astrotrain remarked in fear. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?! The Harvester’s about to go ballistic!”

That made Twilight’s optics pop in fear as she quickly scanned the device. “And with the amount of Energon inside it, the explosion will take out half of Montana.” she calculated. “We have to get it into the upper atmosphere!”

“Way ahead of you!” Jetfire smirked, quickly racing over and punching Starscream in the face before he transformed to jet-mode, grabbed the Harvester with a magnetic hook on his undercarriage, and shot straight into the air as fast as he could, firing his afterburners several times over the safety margins.

“Jetfire, are you crazy?! Just port back to the Ark, load it into a cannon, and shoot it into space!” Rainbow ordered.

“Too risky; the Harvester’s too unstable.” Twilight calculated. “If it detonated inside the GroundBridge, it could rip apart the universe!”

“Which is why I’m being crazy!” Jetfire assured, quickly reaching the ionosphere and transforming back to bot-mode. “Besides, it’s just like a certain great ‘bot once said; ‘Sometimes crazy works’!” With that in mind, he gave the Harvester his heartiest throw higher into the atmosphere, where it exploded in a massive explosion of blue fire… the shockwave from which forced Jetfire back down into the atmosphere, knocking him unconscious as he tumbled down toward the planet.

Even on the surface, the others could see the massive explosion, prompting the Autobots to aim their weapons back at the Decepticons. “Well… looks like someone just lost their trump card.” Rainbow taunted.

“It is of little consequence; you are still vastly outnumbered,” Starscream assured as he and the other Decepticons readied their own weapons.

Twilight hated to say it, but he was right; the Decepticons had them outnumbered at least 3-to-1. Or at least, they did before a GroundBridge opened behind her and the others, allowing all the other Autobots from the base to roar through, even Optimus who looked to be running a bit slower than usual. Empowered by the sight of the Autobots all transforming and leveling their weapons, Twilight smirked. “Count again.”

Everyone could easily see the terror on Starscream’s face as he quickly started to run. “Retreat! Retreat!” he yelled and transformed, soaring away. The other Decepticon flyers didn’t even think about arguing as they all transformed to jet-mode and flew away like bullets, amid a storm of blaster bolts, rockets, and bullets from the Autobots.

Once they were gone, Springer finally allowed himself to pass out. “Oh boy… We’d better have more Energon, Ratchet because I think Springer’s gonna need it.” Sandstorm noted… just before Jetfire swooped in and stumbled into a landing near the others, bleary-eyed but still in one piece as he faceplanted in the dirt. “And uh… Jetfire too.”

“I’ve got enough to get ‘em stable; from there, they’re on their own.” Ratchet shrugged.

“Well, let’s get ‘em hooked up.” Rainbow shrugged, slinging Jetfire’s arm over her shoulders as she marched through the vortex, Sandstorm and Broadside carrying Springer.

It wasn’t long before they were hooked up to the life support and stabilized, though Ratchet was none too pleased. “Three tons of freshly purified medical Energon, all down the drain on two bots.”

“A worthwhile sacrifice, old friend,” Optimus assured, though he didn’t look so good.

“You sure you’re okay to be out here, Optimus?” asked Twilight.

“I will be fine, Twilight,” Optimus assured, a bright blue glow emanating from his chest. “The Matrix will heal what damages remain.” And sure enough, the Prime seemed to look stronger by the second.

“Well, the good news is that the Decepticons are short one superweapon.” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m sure Megatron was happy to hear about that.”

Predictably, Rainbow was right; Megatron’s anger was boiling over, whoever much he tried to keep it hidden. “So you mean to tell me, Starscream… that not only did you lose the weapon to an Autobot Wrecker whom you assured me was dead… but you dared order the humans who found it to ‘test’ it against Optimus Prime?!”

“I- I ordered no such thing!” Starscream assured in terror. “Destro’s decision to turn the Harvester on Prime was his own; I had absolutely nothing to do with it!”

“You will forgive me if I do not believe you, Starscream. You do not have the most truthful reputation.” Megatron scowled. “And either way, I will be having a very long conversation with the Cobra Commander. You assured me he would not attempt to betray us, Sky Shadow.”

“I assure you, Lord Megatron, this act was not in deliberate disregard of your orders.” Sky Shadow assured. “I informed Cobra of your wishes to destroy Optimus Prime yourself, but Destro had never seen Prime before; he did not know it was Prime he was targeting.”

“Ignorance is no excuse.” Megatron reminded. “Inform the Cobra Commander that if he cannot keep his soldiers on a shorter leash, I will wipe them from the face of this planet personally.”

“Understood, my lord.” Sky Shadow bowed honorably, leaving the bridge only to be swiftly replaced by Nightbird.

“My master.” she bowed honorably.

“In a moment, Nightbird,” Megatron assured, turning back to Starscream. “I trust you have something worthwhile to report to me to make up for your latest blunder, Starscream?”

“Thankfully, yes sir.” Starscream nodded. “My Seekers have confirmed the Eukarian Spark-readings in the nation the humans call Russia; they have located the one known as Tigatron. All you need to do is give the order and I can order them to abduct the beast so he may be brought to the Nemesis.”

“Then you live to scheme another day,” Megatron remarked. “Leave in shame, and be grateful for your life.”

“To call you most noble is a severe understatement, Lord Megatron,” Starscream assured as he left, though he actually hated talking like this. “Oh, how far to the reverse that actually is. Soon, Megatron… Soon…” he muttered to himself, finding himself met by Thundercracker and Skywarp. “Any leads on the other Eukarians or the AllSpark?”

“Not as of yet, brother, but we’re working on it,” Thundercracker reported. “If I may, are you planning any more sabotage against Lord Megatron’s more desirable warriors?”

“Keep your voice down, imbecile; Soundwave has eyes and ears all over this forsaken ship.” Starscream reminded. “But no; I have something much more… critical in mind.”

Nightbird had watched Starscream leave, and turned to Megatron. “Why do you keep him around, master? He is not to be trusted.”

“Obviously not, Nightbird.” Megatron agreed. “But there is an old expression I refer to whenever someone asks me that; ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer’. I fully expect Starscream to try to betray me at some point, and I intend to be ready for it. Now, what did you want?”

“I have assumed my vehicle form, master,” Nightbird reported. “I wish to do as you willed, and bring you the Omega Lock.”

“Then do so, without delay,” Megatron ordered.

Nightbird seemed almost underwhelmed by these orders, but bowed and left without delay. “Now… let us see if there cannot be any further delay on my plans.” Thankfully, what would next happen was exactly the sort of thing Megatron had been hoping for.

Lost Souls

Megatron was still outraged by the failure of his soldiers and alliance with Cobra to bring him a functioning weapon built from the Energon Harvester and was thus forced to relegate Soundwave back to his unending duty of decoding the Iacon database to acquire more coordinates. All that was left for him to do now was sit and wait for a new update from one of his lieutenants, or for Nightbird to return from her mission to acquire the Omega Lock components held by the Autobots.

As it turned out, he wouldn’t have to wait long as a terminal started toning. “Lord Megatron, it’s Shockwave, from Kaon HQ. He says it’s urgent.” a Vehicon reported.

“Put him through,” Megatron ordered, sounding almost bored as the cyclopic face of his chief scientist appeared on the screen. “This had better be worthwhile, Shockwave. None of our other projects seem to be bearing any fruit.”

“I assure you, Lord Megatron, you will find this most intriguing.” Shockwave nodded. “You recall the series of raids against our installations on Cybertron I have informed you of.”

“Yes, yes, I remember. I also remember you assuring me it was nothing but Scraplets.” Megatron reminded irritably.

“Scraplets do not steal Energon,” Shockwave assured cryptically.

Megatron’s eyebrow raised in interest as he looked at Shockwave. “You have my undivided attention.” To reward that attention, Shockwave put up security video from a base on Cybertron, just moments before the doors exploded and three forms roared out the door. Shockwave froze the footage just as the forms left the smoke cloud from the blast, revealing their vehicle forms; a red pick-up truck, blue van, and bright green supercar.

“The Virago… I was under the impression they were dead.”

“As was I. I have determined that they have been using the labyrinth of intercity transit tunnels beneath the surface of Cybertron to remain undetected.” Shockwave explained. “I have already ordered Obsidian and Strika to prepare an assault.”

“Ensure they do not begin that assault just yet,” Megatron ordered. “If the Virago are still alive, then I have little doubt that so too is Elita-1. And I want to find that out for myself, and see the look on Optimus Prime’s face when he sees her in my clutches.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron. I will await your arrival.” Shockwave quickly terminated the communication link as Megatron stood up from his throne.

“Soundwave, activate the SpaceBridge, and prepare for transit to Kaon,” Megatron ordered. “I have unfinished business there that I must attend to.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded, easily opening the SpaceBridge vortex on the ship’s bridge.

“Lord Megatron, what if Nightbird should return while you’re still on Cybertron?” asked Breakdown. “What should we tell her as to why you are gone?”

“Simply tell her that I am preparing a special… surprise for our mutual friend Optimus Prime,” Megatron assured. “After all, is that not the truth?”

“As you wish, my liege.” Breakdown nodded as the warlord passed through the vortex, which promptly disappeared. “I just hope that story holds.”

“You worry too much, Breakdown.” Viper assured. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Is it?” Breakdown asked seriously as he and the Cobra-flyer left the bridge. “Look Viper, Lord Megatron told Nightbird that the Autobots were the aggressors in the war and that they drove us off Cybertron. If she finds out the truth that Megatron was the one who started the war, she’ll start to wonder what else we lied to her about.”

“If that happens, we’ll just knock her out and let Bombshell root around in her brain module; rewire some things.” Viper shrugged.

“Bombshell’s a neuroscientist, Viper; not a miracle-worker.” Breakdown reminded. “He can’t hide the truth from anyone forever.”

“Let’s just agree to disagree and hope we don’t have to find out which one of us is right.” Viper assured.

“No argument here.” Breakdown nodded.

Megatron smiled as he stepped out of the SpaceBridge into his main complex on Cybertron, in the middle of what looked like a massive thunderstorm. “More acid rain, Shockwave?” he asked the cyclops.

“It has become far more ever-present in the millennia since you left,” Shockwave noted, looking out at the red clouds. “Cybertron has managed to retain at least some of its regenerative aspects from before the AllSpark was launched, but without it, these storms will remain.”

“I suppose you’ve devised a way for the soldiers to not be harmed by these storms?” asked Megatron.

“A special alkaline coating I formulated after the Nemesis launched, and have since improved tenfold,” Shockwave answered, opening a small pod nearby. “If you would step inside…” Megatron did so and was quickly sprayed down with a clear chemical concoction that made his armor much shinier.

“Excellent work, Shockwave.” Megatron nodded. “Now… where is Obsidian?”

“At your command, Lord Megatron.” a voice remarked as a dark bot stepped from the shadows with wiry orange propellers on his shoulders.

“I was wondering where you were,” Megatron remarked. “And I presume your consort has the search party prepared?”

“Ready and waiting, my lord,” Obsidian assured, leading the warlord to the bottom floor of the complex, where Megatron found a large group of Decepticons waiting inside the door. “Other parties are across the planet awaiting your order.”

“Then they shall have it.” Megatron nodded as he turned on his com. “Decepticons, the Virago must not be allowed to survive any longer. Burn them out of their little hiding places in the tunnels, and no matter what; bring me Elita-1! Now Decepticons, Transform and Rise Up!”

Across Cybertron, Decepticons transformed and raced across the planet into train stations, following the tunnels across the world. In a deep chamber hidden in the tunnels, the female bots from the raid footage looked around in worry as they heard engine noise down the tunnel. “Oh great. Shockwave finally found us.” the blue bot scowled as she faced the door, reaching for a large poleaxe. “Well, might as well go out swingin’.”

“Whoa there, Chromia.” the red bot stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t do anything too crazy.”

“Why not? We’re all about to die anyway.” Chromia assured.

“No one is dying except for them.” That assurance came from the large brick-red and salmon-pink Autobot in the back of the chamber. “But we’re not doing it down here. We’re going up to street-level.”

“Street-level? Are you crazy, Elita?!” asked Chromia incredulously.

And sure enough, this massive fem-bot was Optimus’ female counterpart Elita-1, alive and kicking against the Decepticons just as the others on Earth had hoped and predicted. “I refuse to compromise the location of our base,” she assured, raising her blaster. “We’re the only Autobots left on Cybertron – maybe the universe – and if we lose our headquarters, we officially lose our homeworld and the war.”

It had long been thought by the Virago that Greenlight’s contact with the Ark had simply been her picking up the ship’s final distress beacon, which didn’t fill them with much in the way of hope. “Alright then, what’s the plan?” Chromia asked, grabbing up her ax.

“Chromia, you stay on my fender and watch my six while we head north to draw their fire,” Elita ordered, pointing to each bot in turn. “Firestar, load up whatever Energon we have and take Flareup and Glyph to the east side of Iacon. Moonracer, you’ll get to a vantage point and watch their backs until they’re out of sight; any Cons go after them, you cut them down. Greenlight and Lancer, make sure all our sensitive materials are properly concealed and the booby-traps are set, then head to Iacon West. If all goes well, we’ll all rendezvous at the Hall of Records within the cycle.”

“I’ll contact the Hall and tell them to expect us.” Glyph – a smaller blue bot with green trim – nodded, transmitting a coded message over a computer terminal. Once the message was done, she, Moonracer – a light blue-green bot – and Flareup – a somewhat larger red bot – rallied with the larger red bot and raced out the base’s east door – Firestar becoming the pickup truck while Flareup and Moonracer became motorcycles and Glyph became a compact car – as Elita and Chromia ran out the northern door before they transformed; Chromia into the van from the footage and Elita into a large salmon-pink and red buggy. Once they were gone, Greenlight and Lancer – a bulky bot with purple and orange armor – sealed various data files on their computers before they were all unplugged and powered down, allowing the two bots to set various traps at the other entrances and race out the west door with Greenlight transforming into the supercar from the footage and Lancer into a medium tank.

The Decepticons swiftly burst into the base not moments after they had left, and their commander smiled. “Well, this looks promising. Bring those computer banks back online and let’s see where they were headed.” The other soldiers smirked as they marched into the chamber… only for one of them to trip some sort of pressure plate in the floor, triggering a massive blast of nano-frost and glass gas in one, freezing the soldiers instantly before the base itself exploded in a huge fireball.

Obsidian quickly checked his coms as he flew alongside Megatron in the form of a Cybertronian helicopter similar to an Osprey, as the warlord drove in his Cybertronian tank-mode alongside Strika – a massive female bot with a six-wheeled assault vehicle for her alt-mode.

“Lord Megatron, the team investigating the tunnels near Iacon South just went offline. The last thing I heard was an explosion,” he reported.

“Ah, Elita.” Megatron smiled. “Do we still have working transports? I’m needed in Iacon as quickly as possible.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Strika noted, turning on her coms. “This is General Strika; requesting a dropship at my position for transport to Iacon.”

“Yes, general; dropship on the way.” an officer reported, just before a large drop-pod flew down and allowed the warlords onboard, each transforming back to their bot-modes as they boarded before the ship took off for Iacon.

High in one of the ruined skyscrapers of Iacon, Moonracer kept her optics on Firestar and Flareup miles away down the streets through the scope of her sniper rifle, smirking as she saw Decepticon flyers closing in on them. “You guys picked the wrong day to mess with me,” she smirked and started pulling the trigger, shooting the flyers right in the spark-chambers, sending them tumbling out of the sky. “Pfft. Easy pickings for the best sharpshooter in the universe.”

Unfortunately, it was just then that she saw another large wing flying towards her sniping position. “Oh scrap. Would’ve been nice for you to account for this, Elita,” she remarked, shouldering her rifle and blasting the flyers out of the air just before they got her in their range, though they were sent spinning out into the lower levels of the building, causing it to start to crumble. “Oh great. You’d think we’d build these things to endure this sort of abuse.” With little other choice, Moonracer was forced to leap from her sniper’s post and drive down the side of the building as fast as she could, quickly jumping from the wall and landing perfectly as she roared after Firestar and Flareup… looking around as she drove to see exactly the sort of devastation and ruin brought to Cybertron by these millennia of war and neglect. “Huh. Guess you’d think wrong.” It was then however that she struck something and caused the road under her wheels to explode. “Whoa!” Quickly she transformed and stumbled to a steady stop a few yards from the new crater in the already devastated street. “Alright, who’s the wise guy?” She never found out as she was suddenly hit in the head by a strange projectile that sent a powerful electric current through her body, knocking her out.

Across the city, Flareup noticed the tower falling in her rearview mirror and scowled. “Well, there goes our sniper support,” she remarked as she glanced up at Firestar, her truck-bed loaded down with Energon cubes. “Looks like we’re on our own from here.”

“Think Moonracer’s gonna be okay?” asked Glyph.

“She’s been in tougher spots than this before; she’ll be okay,” Firestar assured. “We’ve gotta worry about ourselves, and keeping this Energon secure.”

“That’s not all we have to worry about.” Glyph noted as she spotted a large wing of Decepticons in pursuit behind them. “We’ve got company!”

“Not for long, we don’t.” Flareup smirked and quickly ramped off a broken piece of the road, transformed in midair, and landed perfectly on top of Firestar’s cargo, firing back at the Decepticons with an SMG.

“Hey, no free rides! Especially not on top of highly combustible material in the middle of a firefight!” Firestar ordered.

“It’s called suppressing fire, Star! You’re welcome!” Flareup countered, and she was right; as she fired on the Decepticons, they were all too busy dodging her shots to try and fire on the Energon in Firestar’s bed.

“I think we’ve got more pressing concerns.” Glyph brought up. Firestar looked and saw another team of Decepticons had blocked the road ahead and were preparing to fire on them.

“Hey Flareup, time for a round of lobbing,” Firestar smirked. Flareup smirked in understanding and grabbed an Energon cube from the truck, tossing it out at the blockade. The guards mistook it for a grenade and quickly fired at it, only to realize too late what it really was… blowing them all to dust and out of the Autobots’ way as they thundered down the road.

“Ha-ha! Booya!” Flareup smirked and leaped back into driving for herself, the fireball from the explosion having knocked the air team out of the sky behind them. “We’re home-free now, ladies!” No sooner had she said that than an unusual projectile shot from the shadows and hit Firestar square on the hood, causing her to spin out and slam into the barrier on the side of the road, scattering Energon cubes around her. “Firestar!”

“We’ve gotta go back for her!” Glyph remarked as she slammed on her brakes and started to turn around, only for Flareup to swerve into her way and push her along.

“No time! We have our orders! Make for the Hall and we’ll regroup with the others!” she ordered, swerving back onto her own line… before she looked back at the crashed Firestar. “I just hope there’ll be someone there for us to regroup with.”

Elsewhere, Elita was putting the pedal as close to the metal as she could while Chromia fired on the Decepticons behind them. “I’m pretty impressed. Didn’t think Shockwave thought we were important enough to sic Obsidian and Strika on us.” the blue bot remarked as she sat on Elita’s back with a large blaster.

“We blew up and raided one of his key Energon storage facilities.” Elita-1 reminded. “What would you do?”

“Still though.” Chromia shrugged, firing back at the copter to try and knock it out of the sky. “You sure about radio silence? I’m kinda worried about the others.”

“So am I, but we can’t worry about them right now,” Elita assured. “Our best hope is to fall back to the Hall of Records and pray to the Thirteen that they’ll meet us there.”

“I hope you’re right.” Chromia shrugged as she fired further… before she saw something that made her pause. “No. Sweet Solus, no.”

“What is it?” Elita asked as she checked her mirror, but didn’t see anything. “I don’t see anything; what’s wrong?”

“Elita! You’ll never believe this, but I think I just saw a ghost! It’s-!” Chromia couldn’t finish that as she was suddenly shot in the back by one of Strika’s cannons and tumbled off Elita’s back.

“Chromia!” Elita yelled and skidded to a stop, swiftly transforming back to bot-mode as she raised her own blaster rifle… though she didn’t get a chance to fire it as she was suddenly rammed to the ground and disarmed.

She looked up at her assailant as they transformed and her optics went wide with fear. “M- Megatron…?” And there he was, towering over her like the conqueror he was. “But- But you’re… you’re supposed to be-”

“Dead?” Megatron smiled. “Well, that’s interesting. I thought the same of you and your meaningless Virago just a few cycles ago.”

Elita’s optics popped again and she quickly turned on her coms. “Virago, this is Elita-1; come in!” No one responded. “Moonracer?! Greenlight, Lancer; do you read!?”

“Don’t bother trying to call them; only two managed to avoid my hunting parties but they won’t be able to stay hidden for long,” Megatron assured. “The rest… well, what say we join them now?”

“You must realize, of course, Megatron… that I’m never going anywhere with you!” Elita yelled and drew a collapsible double-bladed Energon glaive from her back, swinging it at the warlord who deftly dodged her every strike before he clubbed her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground.

“And you must realize, Elita, that just as before, your compliance is not a factor,” Megatron assured as he stood upright. “Bring them all to Kaon. And quadruple all patrols until we find the remnants of the Virago. I don’t care how long it takes as long as they’re our prisoners.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Obsidian nodded, gesturing for some of his drones to do as the warlord ordered, picking Elita-1 up and dragging her away. She didn’t know what fate was in store for her as she blacked out, but she knew it would be one of the craziest days of her life.

Reunions

Ironhide was one of the first ones to return to the Ark, along with Powerglide, Cliffjumper, and the Wreckers – glad to have Inferno among their ranks again. And they were more than a bit confused to see the SpaceBridge open. “Whoa. Okay, who left the GroundBridge open?” asked Ironhide. “It’s just burnin’ Energon we ain’t got.”

“Let’s see where it’s pointing before we turn it off.” Powerglide suggested as he moved to the console… surprised by the coordinates. “By Primus… the modifications worked. This thing’s a full-blown SpaceBridge now.”

“You kiddin’, kid?” asked Inferno.

“No joke, Inferno; the coordinates are set for Cybertron, just outside Kaon.” Powerglide assured.

“Kaon? Why would any Autobots wanna go there?” asked Inferno. “And why without calling the cavalry?”

“Only one way to find out,” Ironhide noted. “Cliff, Powerglide, Inferno; you’re with me. We’re goin’ to the homeworld.” With that, all four red ‘bots transformed ready to roll. “Springer, if anyone comes askin’ for us, tell ‘em the good news and send ‘em through to back us up.”

“You got it, chief.” Springer nodded.

“Alright then. Autobots, Roll Out.” Ironhide ordered as his team rumbled through the vortex to Cybertron, which Springer watched, hoping they would still have enough Energon to bring the team back when they were done on the homeworld.

The first thing Chromia felt when she woke up was a splitting pain in her head. “Ugh. Ow. What the-?” she groaned as she sat up… and found herself in a cell with the other Virago. “Ugh. Solus’ Solvent Heater; the Cons got us, didn’t they?”

“What was your first clue?” asked Firestar.

“Save the sarcasm, Firestar; we’ve gotta get the heck outta here and warn Iacon,” Chromia remarked, moving to the energy bars… which singed her hands when she grabbed them. “OW!”

“Don’t bother; those things could hold a horde of Insecticons at bay,” Lancer assured. “We’ve gotta do something more powerful.”

Moonracer’s optics popped and she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got an idea,” she noted. “All this power must be coming from somewhere, right?”

“Yeah, so?” asked Greenlight.

“So, if we disrupt the power…”

Greenlight understood now and nodded along. “It might be enough to cause some sort of destructive feedback into the system and let us escape.” she nodded. “Good call, Moonie. But where would the power be coming from?”

“Up here; fuel conduit,” Lancer noted at the small pipe at the side of the bars. “Must be linked directly into the central Energon grid.”

“Well, this is easy. All we have to do is cut off the Energon flow, and…” Greenlight smiled as she muscled her arm out to the pipe, gripping it as tightly as she could, but it barely even budged. “Gah, slag it. Darn you, scientist’s hands.”

“One side, ladies; let the old junker with the hardcore actuators handle this one.” Chromia smiled as she stepped forward, slipping her arm out in Greenlight’s place, grabbing the pipe which she crushed closed with a single clench of her fist, halting the flow of Energon immediately and prompting the bars to deactivate. “And that is how ya do it.” With that, she stepped out of the cell… prompting a loud alarm to blare throughout the complex. “Ah scrap.”

“Why didn’t you account for the alarms?” Firestar asked Greenlight indignantly.

“I thought cutting the power to the bars would knock it out,” Greenlight assured. “You know how bad the Cons are at wiring junk like this!”

“We can point digits later; right now we’ve gotta motor,” Chromia ordered as Vehicon guards thundered in.

“Freeze!” one of them ordered as they all leveled their blasters.

“Lancer, you still armed?” Chromia asked.

“Cmon, you know how hard it is to disarm an alt-mode,” Lancer smirked as she started to transform… but only a few plates shifted. “What the-?” She looked around and eventually realized something. “Ugh. Figures. Inhibitor claw under my turret; can someone get that?”

“Yeah, I gotcha.” Moonracer nodded as she reached in and pulled the small claw off of Lancer’s back.

“Ah, that’s better.” Lancer stretched with a smile. “Alright, let’s try this again.” With that, she swiftly transformed into her tank mode and started firing on the Vehicons with her turret, blasting them apart with high-energy bolts.

“Nice work, Lancer. Now let’s grab our gear and get the frag outta this dump.” Chromia smiled as the team followed the tank-bot out, her cannon covering everyone as they moved to prisoner’s storage.

It was a long and hazardous drive through Decepticon territory before finally, Rainbow locked her eyes onto a large glittering building. “Tell me that’s where we’re going,” she asked seriously.

“Yes. The Iacon Hall of Records.” Optimus assured. “Last great Autobot bastion left on Cybertron. And now, the last hope for Elita-1’s life.”

“Speakin’ of which, does anyone have any idea what’s wrong with her?” asked Applejack.

“No time for an analysis while we’re driving, Applejack.” Rarity shrugged. “Our best hope is that someone will be at Iacon when we arrive and can help us figure that out.”

“Speaking of which, I got movement up top,” Rainbow noted, seeing someone at the large double door.

Someone aiming a heavy Energon crossbow out the large door. “Who goes there?!” a female voice roared with an almost Scottish-sounding accent.

Quickly the team stopped and all transformed to bot-mode, Applejack holding Elita as she fell from Optimus’s back-end. “Stand down, Beta. I seek only aide.”

The wielder of the crossbow was surprised as she stepped out of the massive building, showing the girls that she was a large lime-green femme. “Optimus Prime. I believed you were dead,” she remarked.

“Well, unless we get her some help, Elita might be saying the same,” Sunset remarked as she stepped forward.

Beta looked and saw Elita, hanging weakly from Applejack’s arms. “Of course. Bring her inside. And be quick; the others are waitin’.”

“Others?” Twilight asked as they dragged Elita in and closed the door.

Once they were inside and the door was closed, Beta was right back to being suspicious as she pointed her crossbow at the girls. “My questions first. Who are you?”

The girls were a bit worried, but Rainbow just stepped forward with a scowl on her faceplate. “As far as I see it, we’re the only ones in the universe who can help you win your war.” She flicked her wrist and revealed the data drive on her wrist from the armor. “Recognize this?”

“The Spark-Shift Armor…” Beta remarked in awe. “We have the map to the AllSpark?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.” Twilight shrugged.

Beta holstered her crossbow and rolled her optics as she heard that. “Written by my husband, no doubt,” she remarked.

Sunset did a double-take when she heard that. “Whoa-whoa-whoa, husband? You’re Alpha Trion’s wife?!” she asked.

“Widow, unfortunately.” Beta corrected. “But aye, the old Prime was mine. And now, I am the lone stewardess of Iacon Hall. And now, as it seems, the only one with the knowledge needed to save Elita-1.” She quickly indicated down the hall to a small laboratory, which the others all followed her to.

“What’s wrong with her anyway?” asked Applejack.

“After Megatron first tried to kill her all those hundreds of stellar cycles ago, Alpha Trion rebuilt Elita-1 from what was left.” Beta explained, indicating to the small operating table. “In the process, he inadvertently activated her own Outlier ability.”

“‘Outlier’?” asked Twilight.

“A small percentage of Cybertron’s population with special abilities that have no connection to their alternate modes,” Optimus explained simply.

“Like mutating superpowers?” asked Twilight; she’d read the X-Men comics, so she knew this sounded just like the mutants’ abilities.

“I suppose so, in a sense.” Beta shrugged.

“Wait, so… does that mean Trailbreaker’s an Outlier?” Rainbow asked in confusion, remembering perfectly that the pick-up truck could generate forcefields; a power that never really made sense until now.

“Indeed.” Optimus nodded, turning back to Beta as Applejack placed Elita on the operating table. “But what about Elita? She never told me she was an Outlier.”

“Most likely because she didn’t want you thinking any different of her. You remember the Functionist pogroms from before the war; Outliers were feared and hated.” Beta remarked. “As for her ability, that should be obvious; she can stop time around her at the cost of expending her own inner Energon.”

“Wait, so… she risked draining her own power to save Optimus?” asked Sunset in awe. “Wow.”

“Alpha Trion warned her to only use this ability as a last resort,” Beta assured. “Obviously she found it necessary to do so. The only way to save her would be a transfusion. And the only one compatible…”

“Lemme guess; it’s Optimus, isn’t it?” Rainbow smirked.

Beta simply nodded, turning to Fluttershy. “You’re your team’s medic?” she asked, earning a surprised nod from Fluttershy. “I’ll need your help to set up.”

“Of course.” Fluttershy nodded and stepped forward, quickly getting Elita and Optimus set for the transfusion, Optimus’ own Energon bleeding through a tube into Elita’s body.

As the Prime worked to keep his lover alive, the girls wandered around the complex and found a small control room where Glyph and Flareup were waiting, examining the computers. “You must be others from the Virago.” Twilight surmised.

Glyph was a bit surprised to see the girls but nodded. “Y-Yeah. I’m Glyph, this is Flareup. All that’s left of the Virago from the sounds of things.”

“Elita isn’t dead yet. And she said there were others in the Decepticons’ hands.” Rainbow assured. “Soon as she’s back to full strength, we’ll find them.”

“I just wish we could see your planet under better circumstances.” Twilight shrugged.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Beta assured as she walked in. “This world only came about in the dying days of the war on Cybertron.” She looked out the window to the red clouds and sighed. “Time was you could see the Roche Nebula on a clear night from anywhere in Iacon. Brilliant colors streaked across the sky like Primus himself had painted the heavens with enormous brushstrokes. Now… we haven’t even seen our own sun in millennia.”

“It sounds magnificent.” Rarity remarked.

“Yeah, it does.” Glyph smiled.

“Come again?” asked Spike.

“This is the only sky we’ve ever known.” Flareup remarked. “Glyph and I were one of the last ones forged from the AllSpark before Alpha Trion ejected it into space.”

“We have a term for young ones like them; those who were born after war was declared.” Beta remarked. “We call ‘em Warborn; ne’er known a Cybertron that hasn’t been touched by conflict. Some never will.” She looked back out the window and sighed as she saw the red clouds. “Things were plenty rough before, but when we lost the AllSpark, we lost Cybertron’s natural detoxifying ecosystem along with it, and with that came these acid storms and the oil and Energon spilled in the war finally started to rise up around our auditories.”

“We’ll fix it, Beta. I can promise you that.” Sunset assured… before she saw something in the distance. “Whoa, what’s that?”

“Probably just EM lightning from the acid storm.” Beta shrugged, not looking where Sunset was seeing.

“No, that explosion.” This drew the girls’ attention as they looked out the window and saw a large blast cloud in the distance… followed by another, and another, and another.

“Must be a skirmish.” Twilight theorized.

“How can that be? The only Autobots on Cybertron right now are right here in this hall.” Beta reminded.

“Must’ve miscounted,” Rainbow remarked, stepping toward the door. “I’ll fly out and see who it is. Might need some help, so you guys are on stand-by.” Before any of the others could object, Rainbow dashed to the roof and leaped into flight, transforming into jet mode as she flew out over the massive city.

“I like this girl. I’m goin’ with her.” Flareup smiled as she raced out of the control room, transforming to bike mode and roaring after the jet.

“We might as well go now and save Rainbow the call.” Twilight suggested.

“Right. Let’s roll.” Sunset ordered as the girls all raced from Iacon Hall, following Flareup on the ground and Rainbow Dash in the air.

The city streets of Iacon were just as much of a war zone now as they were during the war. Ironhide and his team maintained their fire from the corners as Starscream and a large team of Decepticon scouts kept them pinned down with blaster fire. “All those years on Earth keeping the Cons away from human civilizations, I almost forgot how much I missed urban combat.” Ironhide smiled as he stuck his blaster out around the corner, blasting blindly to try and knock the Decepticons away.

“Last time I was in this city before the war was when I was in the rescue service,” Inferno remembered. “Those days may not have been just, but damn if they didn’t net me a good job.”

“Ah, those were the days.” Powerglide smiled, spinning his own guns on his fingers as he fired at the Decepticons.

“Days you will never get to enjoy again, Autobot filth!” Starscream assured, maintaining fire at the team. “Decepticons, stop at nothing until they are destroyed, and then bring me the head of Optimus Prime!”

“Prime?!” asked Ironhide. “What’s he doin’ on Cybertron?”

“You’ll never find out, idiots!” Astrotrain laughed. “You’re scrap metal!”

“Not on my watch, pal!” Rainbow smiled, quickly firing two incendiary missiles from her jet-mode at the Decepticons, driving them back as the rest of the girls transformed next to the Autobots, firing at the Cons to keep pushing them back.

“What’re you girls doin’ here?” asked Inferno.

“Helping Optimus and Elita; what’s your excuse?” asked Sunset.

“We came to see who used the SpaceBridge,” Ironhide remarked. “I’m guessin’ it was you.”

“Yep. Now how about those ‘Cons?” Flareup smiled as she pulled out her blasters and started firing. The Autobots fired back at the Cons as best they could, but their blasts weren’t doing much damage, while the Decepticons were obliterating the Autobots’ cover.

“We’re getting hammered here!” Sunset remarked from behind the shields Rarity was forced to conjure.

“If there were ever a time for Optimus and Elita to arrive, now would be good.” Rarity remarked. And her wish was granted, though not by who she asked for.

Just up the street behind the Autobots, the rest of the Virago had followed the blaster fire and were amazed. “We seein’ the same thing, Moonracer?” Chromia asked.

“Yes, ma’am I am. More Autobots.” Moonracer smiled. “Our favorite ones too, if I’m not mistaken.”

“And from the looks of things, they could use a hand,” Firestar remarked. “Let’s roll!” Quickly they charged in and transformed, firing beyond the Autobots to the Cons.

Ironhide fired the blaster fire and was pleasantly surprised. “Well, if it ain’t Chromia.” he smiled, watching the blue bot charge forward with a large blaster.

“Well, if this isn’t touching…” Starscream smirked. “The ladies have come to watch their beloveds die.”

“Not tonight, Starscream,” Firestar smirked as she rolled forward and let loose a massive torrent of flame from her flamethrower. “How ya doin, hotshot?”

“Cool as nano-frost now that you’re here, Firestar,” Inferno smirked, letting loose a torrent of the freezing agent.

Powerglide smirked as he went back to back with Moonracer. “Hope you’re still the best sharpshooter in the galaxy, doll,” he smirked.

“The universe, babe; remember?” Moonracer smirked, easily blasting down a tower to crush a large group of Vehicons.

“Glad you guys are okay.” Glyph smiled at Greenlight and Lancer as they moved forward. “What happened?”

“Three guesses.” Lancer smiled, firing massive pulses of plasma from the spear that transformed from her turret.

Seeing the tides turning against him, Starscream tried to make a run for it but was stopped by a gun barrel in his face before he could get too far. “Goin’ somewhere?” Ironhide smirked.

“Whoa there, hun,” Chromia smirked as she moved to his side. “Whatever happened to ladies first?”

“Oh, sorry bout that ma’am. Forgot my manners.” Ironhide smirked as he stepped back.

With a smirk, Chromia holstered her blaster in favor of a large shield formed from her van-mode’s roof and a massive pole-ax, which she pointed at Starscream, who immediately recoiled. “Just as cowardly as ever, Starscream,” she smirked.

“‘He who fights and runs away…’” Starscream reminded, quickly backflipping from the ledge he was on, transforming in midair to flee into the air.

“One down, a whole mess more to go,” Ironhide remarked.

“And another mess incomin’,” Applejack added, watching as Obsidian and Strika roared in with fleets of drones that looked just like them.

“Oh, if ever there were a time for the big ‘bots to show up…” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Pinkie looked behind them and her eyes narrowed with a smile. “Looks like someone’s birthday wish came true.” she smiled.

“What?” asked Rainbow as she looked… seeing Optimus and Elita roaring in at full speed before they both transformed and started firing on the Decepticons, blasting them all back with just a few volleys from their larger weapons.

“Retreat! Retreat!” Starscream ordered in fear as the Decepticons ran, though Obsidian and Strika stood strong.

“Not all Decepticon commanders are as cowardly as Starscream, Optimus Prime!” Obsidian assured.

“Nor are they as foolish, Obsidian. You know Megatron conquered Cybertron and yet you joined him.” Optimus scowled. “Why?”

“Megatron is Cybertron, Prime.” Obsidian assured. “My loyalties are to the world itself; anyone with the power to take it is the one who I will follow.”

“In other words, you saw which way the wind was blowing and switched sides.” Applejack scowled.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time. Still does at that.” Obsidian assured.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Sunset assured. “Join up with us and we can bring Cybertron back.”

“Back? To the age of weakness that only fools refer to as golden?” asked Obsidian. “No, I think I prefer it like this; where only the strong survive.”

“Then you are as lost as Megatron. I only hope you may find the path of light soon.” Optimus scowled.

“Hold onto your hopes, Prime. Soon enough, they will be all you have left.” Obsidian assured. “We’re leaving.”

“What?! But we’re winning!” Strika scowled.

“We were. Then he showed up. Now we’re leaving.” Obsidian assured. “If you wish to settle this later, you know what to do.”

Strika smirked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Very well.” Strika nodded and transformed, roaring away as Obsidian followed her.

“What was that all about?” asked Rainbow.

“Obsidian and Strika are… close,” Lancer said simply.

“Oh,” Rainbow noted… before she slowly realized it. “Oh… Oh!”

“Yeah.” Lancer nodded. “So… who are you anyway?”

“Uh, locals from the planet we crashed on,” Ironhide explained. “They’re helpin’ us track down the AllSpark.”

“And once we have it, our homeworld will know light and life once again,” Optimus assured.

“That is a dream I had long since given up hope on.” Elita nodded.

“In war, Elita, hope is the one thing that can never die,” Optimus assured. “Which is why I ask that you and the Virago join us on Earth so we might end the war with the Decepticons permanently and restore our home.”

The girls were a bit surprised, as was Elita. “Optimus, I… I would love to join you, but… someone must keep some sort of Autobot foothold on Cybertron,” she assured.

“Beta can handle that at Iacon, can’t she?” asked Twilight.

“Face it Elita, our time here is over until we stop the Decepticons.” Chromia reminded, leaning lovingly against Ironhide. “And I think I speak for us all when I say we have some lost time to make up with our spark-mates here.”

Elita rolled her optics; she knew her team wouldn’t let her out of this so she smiled. “Alright then. We would be honored to join you, Optimus.” she smiled.

“Then we better get moving; who knows how much more Energon the SpaceBridge has got left,” Twilight remarked.

“Did someone say SpaceBridge?” Springer’s voice crackled over the coms as the vortex appeared nearby.

“Whoa! Springer? Talk about timing.” Rainbow remarked.

“Purely coincidental, Rainbow; I assure you,” Springer noted. “I was bouncing this thing around Cybertron to avoid the Decepticons taking it back to base and hoping to find you.”

“Well, looks like we all lucked out. Let’s get back to Earth.” Sunset smiled and quickly transformed to vehicle mode, roaring through the portal with the others swiftly following. What they didn’t know was that when they arrived, they would be met with a mission far more dangerous than most before.

Goin' Mesozoic

The Autobots were more than happy to have the Virago on Earth, and Optimus gladly introduced Elita-1 to the Joes as further allies in their war against the alliance between Cobra and the Decepticons. Duke and General Hawk were more than happy to meet the new recruits and they settled into their work on Earth, acquiring new Earth-based vehicle modes for their new home as they fought against their enemies at every turn available.

It was one afternoon several days after the mission on Cybertron when Jetfire returned from a scouting mission to find the whole team in the main hangar. “Welcome back, Jetfire. How’d it go?” asked Twilight.

“Well, I got some good news and bad news,” Jetfire said simply, connecting his drives to the computer to bring up a set of coordinates on the screen, indicating a location in Russia. “Good news is I think I found another Maximal signature in Russia.”

“That’s gotta be Tigatron,” Airazor remembered. “What’s the bad news?”

“This is where I found him,” Jetfire remarked, bringing up satellite video of the location, showing a large estate in the mountains.

Hound’s optics popped at the sight of that location, scowling as he saw it. “Great. The Cisarovna estate.” he snarled

“Cisarovna? I’ve heard that name before.” Twilight remarked. “They’re some sort of powerful Russian family that dates back further than the communist revolution, famous for having too many enemies to count and yet remaining suspiciously untouched by those enemies.”

“What’s that have to do with Tigatron?” asked Airazor.

“Cobra’s Baroness is the current leader of the family. And she has a hobby of keeping rare animals as pets.” Hound scowled.

That cleared things up for everyone; they had seen from the files that Tigatron had assumed the form of a white Siberian tiger; an incredibly rare happening, which would certainly explain the Baroness’ interest in him.

“Wait a minute, so you’re telling me that the Decepticons’ allies have just captured one of the Maximals and his part of the map?” asked Rainbow.

“Not for long! Beast-mode!” Cheetor snarled and transformed, ready to race off the Ark and run straight to Russia.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa; easy Cheetor,” Rhinox ordered, grabbing the cheetah by the haunches. “Robots in Disguise, remember?”

“Yeah, and nothing says ‘low profile’ like a giant cheetah running straight across the country and the Bering Strait before it breaks into a Russian villa.” Twilight reminded.

“She’s right. This is going to take some serious planning.” Sunset agreed.

“Well for starters, why hasn’t the Baroness figured out that Tigatron’s a bot?” asked Bumblebee.

“Not sure; maybe Cobra just hasn’t been scanning for the Eukarian spark-signatures yet,” Wheeljack suggested.

“Even if that is the case, then it is only a matter of time before the Decepticons pick up on his signal,” Perceptor informed.

“Which means we’ve gotta move fast to bust him out,” Rainbow remarked.

“Not gonna be easy.” Powerglide assured. “I’ve done a few fly-overs of Baroness’ place; it’s a freakin’ fortress. It’d be easier to break out than to break in.”

“So we have to get someone inside and close to Tigatron.” Twilight surmised. “Question is who?”

The team all thought for a moment before Sideswipe’s optics popped. “I think I’ve got an idea.” he smiled wickedly.

“Why does that scare me?” asked Arcee with a roll of her optics.

“Hey, if it’s an idea, let’s hear it,” Applejack assured.

“Well… if the Baroness likes rare pets…” Sideswipe smiled.

Prowl apparently knew where this was going and immediately stepped in. “No. No-no-no-no-no-no. Absolutely not.” he said emphatically.

“Cmon Prowl, it’s the best plan we’ve got,” Sideswipe argued.

“Then we’d better come up with a better plan because that one is stupid.” Prowl disagreed. “Besides, we haven’t heard from them in years, so even if we did want to do that stupid plan, we’d have to find them first.”

“We both know who we’re talking about here, Prowl; he’s not exactly the definition of stealth.” Sideswipe reminded. “Even if he’s in stasis, he’ll probably wake up any day now. And when he does, something tells me we’ll be the first to hear about it.”

“What’re you guys talking about?” asked Sunset.

Sideswipe was about to answer when Teletraan toned. “Optimus, General Hawk is hailing us; emergency channel.” the computer reported.

“Put him through,” Optimus ordered, the soldier’s face appearing on the screen.

And he looked angry. “Would someone care to explain to me why we’re getting reports of a group of giant robotic dinosaurs tearing around the Colorado Rockies?!” he yelled.

Sideswipe smirked as he looked over at Prowl. “Toldja.”

“Coincidence.” Prowl countered immediately.

“Whatever helps you recharge at night, Prowl.” Sideswipe shrugged.

“Wait-wait-wait, back up; you know what this is?” asked Rainbow.

“Who doesn’t know Grimlock?” Springer smirked. “We’d better go get him and the others out of there before they draw too much more attention, Prime.”

“Agreed. Springer, you will accompany me, Elita-1 and Wheeljack.” Optimus ordered.

“Hey, we’re going too; I think we’re owed an explanation,” Twilight assured.

“If you insist.” Wheeljack shrugged.

“We will handle it, General Hawk,” Optimus assured the soldier. “Transmit coordinates and ensure we are not interrupted.”

“Understood. Coordinates transmitted.” The coordinates appeared on the main computer screen, which Red Alert quickly proceeded to enter into the GroundBridge. “This had better be settled soon Prime, or you’re gonna have to answer directly to me at eye-level. Hawk out.” With that, the transmission ended.

“Oh please. ‘Eye level’ or not, what could Hawk do to Optimus?” asked Rainbow.

“Trust me kid; you don’t wanna know.” Hound smirked. “To that end, I’d suggest you get a handle on Grimlock and his crew. Fast.”

“Understood.” Optimus nodded as the SpaceBridge opened. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” As ordered, the team all transformed – with Elita-1 showing her chosen alt-mode being a Volkswagon ID Buggy – and all roared through the portal to the mountains of Colorado, far from any major city but well within viewing distance of the highway.
(Imagine this, but salmon-pink with brick-red trim)

“Okay, so what’s the deal with this Grimlock? He’s some sort of dino alt-mode ‘bot?” asked Rainbow. “I mean that’s awesome, but what’s the story?”

“An advance team from the war,” Wheeljack explained. “After we figured out it was this rock that Alpha Trion dropped the AllSpark on, Prime wanted a team to scout ahead and establish a beachhead here. Of course, there wasn’t much in the way of technology here back then so he asked me and Perceptor to come up with some suitable alt-modes for the op.”

“And you chose dinosaurs?” asked Twilight.

“Hundreds of pounds of muscle that ruled this planet for millions of years before your species evolved? You tell me.” Wheeljack argued. “Course, we made some modifications to help make sure the scan held and then Optimus put out the call for volunteers.”

“And that was what brought in the team that wished they were the Wreckers; the Lightning Strike Coalition Force,” Springer smirked.

“What a stupid name.” Rainbow sneered.

“Hey, Grimlock thought it up; not me,” Springer assured. “He wasn’t all there before he and his team scanned their dino-forms, but afterward? Woof.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘woof’?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, dinos don’t woof; that’s puppies!” Pinkie smiled.

Wheeljack disregarded that as he sighed. “There were… complications in their neural nets when they scanned their new forms,” he explained. “Only Slash managed to retain all her intelligence; the others are driven by primal instinct and only a few orders. Hopefully, Grimlock still remembers enough about me to know not to try and munch me.”

“We’re about to find out. I got eyes on ‘em and they look awesome.” Rainbow remarked, and as the others followed her over the rise, they saw just how right she was.

The Dinobots were exactly what Wheeljack and Springer had promised them; giant silver dinosaurs with gold and red trim tromping around the hills. Twilight could easily make them all out as a T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Apatosaurus. “Impressive,” she remarked.

“Wait a sec; we’re missin’ two. Where’s Swoop and Slash?” Wheeljack noted.

“I don’t know about Slash, but I’m willing to bet the dino-bird currently nipping at my tailfins is Swoop!” Rainbow was right of course; there was a massive robotic Pteranodon flying after her with massive boosters mounted on its wings, snapping at her tail with his massive beak.

“Well, that’s Swoop accounted for,” Wheeljack remarked as he and the others on the ground transformed to bot-mode. “That just leaves Slash; who knows where she is.”

Pinkie was inching a bit closer to the larger Dinobots when something small jumped from the cliff and tackled her to the ground, revealed to be a robotic Velociraptor. “Found her!” she called, the raptor-bot snarling in her face.

(Cut it)

“Slash, stand down!” Wheeljack ordered.

Slash looked up and her optics popped. “Wheeljack? Is- Is that you? It’s been so long. Grimlock, guys; over here!” she yelled.

The T. Rex immediately looked and snarled as he saw Wheeljack and Optimus. “Wheeljack and Prime come for Dinobots?” he asked almost irate at the idea.

“Yeah, that’s right buddy; we need your help.” Wheeljack smiled.

“Grimlock don’t wanna help you.” he snarled. “Grimlock work with Autobots enough. Dinobots look out for themselves now.”

“Grimlock, I understand why you may have ill will toward me, but this is about the future of our race,” Optimus assured. “Without you, we have no hope of locating the AllSpark and restoring Cybertron.”

Grimlock seemed intrigued by this and glared at Optimus. “Prime… needs Dinobots?” he asked. “Dinobots only hope?”

“Yes,” Optimus said simply.

“Something tells me he’s gonna regret this,” Sunset whispered as Rainbow – having managed to shake Swoop off her tail – hovered down and transformed.

“Eh, priorities.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Well, as far as I see it, our number one priority right now is getting out of here before General Hawk changes his mind,” Twilight remarked.

“Agreed.” Elita nodded and turned on her coms. “Red Alert, we have the Dinobots; send the GroundBridge.” The vortex opened in short order as the team led the Dinobots through the portal.

“Well, we’ve got the Dinobots.” Prowl remarked as he looked the mechanical beasts over. “Now what are we supposed to do, Sideswipe? They look more than a bit conspicuous for this planet.”

“We’ll just give them some new paint and kibble, and they’ll blend right in,” Sideswipe assured. “At least enough for my plan.”

“I think I know what that plan is,” Twilight remarked. “But I think we should let General Hawk in on it.”

“Good call. Teletraan, contact the general.” Sideswipe ordered.

The general’s face appeared in short order as he looked at the Autobots. “I see you got the dinosaur problem handled on your end,” he remarked.

“That’s the good news,” Jetfire noted. “The bad news is that we’ve just located another Maximal signature, and he’s in the Baroness’ chateau.”

“Damn. That’s a hell of a turn.” the general scowled. “I suppose you have a plan to get him out.”

“You’re lookin’ at ‘em,” Sideswipe remarked, pointing to Grimlock and his team. “Nothing on Earth rarer than a live dinosaur. We paint ‘em up realistically, plant them in Russia a few klicks from the Baroness’ house, she catches ‘em and locks ‘em up, then they find Tigatron and bust out with him in tow.”

“Gonna be hard to explain something like that to the Russian government. I’ll see what I can do.” Hawk remarked. “When do you wanna go through with this?”

“As soon as possible.” Optimus stepped in. “The longer we wait, the more time we give to Cobra and the Decepticons to determine Tigatron’s true nature.”

Unfortunately, Optimus was more than right; Megatron was on the bridge of the Nemesis when Sky Shadow stepped to his side. “Lord Megatron, Cobra’s Baroness wishes to speak with you. She says it’s urgent.”

“Let her speak,” Megatron ordered, prompting a Vehicon officer to bring up the Baroness’s face on the main screen. “Whatever business you have with me had best be brief, Baroness.”

“Oh, I believe you will find this most interesting, Megatron.” the Baroness smiled as she stepped aside revealing a luxuriant white tiger in a cage.

“It seems my latest pet is not what he seems.” With a snap of her fingers, one of her men handed her a small pad which she used to scan the tiger… and reveal to Megatron the findings.

“A Spark… the Eukarian known as Tigatron.” Megatron smiled. “You have located his canister?”

“Indeed we have.” the Baroness nodded, as the camera was pointed to the container which was about shoulder height with the soldiers guarding it.

“Excellent.” Megatron smiled. “I will send a team to retrieve the capsule and dispose of the Maximal presently. Barricade, gather a squadron and deal with this.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Barricade nodded as he left the bridge.

“I hope you don’t mind if I deal with the kitty myself. I’ve been in the market for a new fur coat recently.” the Baroness smirked cruelly.

“By all means.” Megatron smiled as the connection terminated. “This alliance seems to be bearing more fruit than most of our other endeavors, Sky Shadow. I’m glad you convinced me to pursue it.”

“I’m pleased you approve, Lord Megatron. Though I suggest we watch ourselves.” Sky Shadow warned. “The Baroness is a schemer; I believe she may already suspect us of planning to betray them.”

“Well, we can’t have that.” Megatron scowled. “She will have to be convinced of our resolve.”

“I agree, my lord.” Sky Shadow nodded.

Neither of them noticed Starscream and his brothers outside the bridge listening in on this conversation. “We have to attend to this quickly, brothers.” Starscream scowled. “Lord Megatron is spiraling into a sense of reliance on these organics. He must be deposed before he destroys all we stand for.”

“Even with the other disgruntled crewmembers we’ve gathered, it’s nowhere near enough for a full-fledged rebellion,” Skywarp assured. “Perhaps we should consider… other arrangements.”

“Don’t be ludicrous, Skywarp,” Thundercracker argued. “He basically idolizes Lord Megatron; why would he put him on the list?”

“We have to do something.” Skywarp insisted. “Otherwise, Lord Megatron will ruin everything.”

It was just then that a yellow Seeker dashed to the commander’s side. “Commander Starscream, I have good news. Our patrols have located the other two Maximals.”

“And if Tigatron does not, then one of them must have the AllSpark,” Starscream smirked. “Excellent work, Nova Storm. Rally the Seekers to bring them to me.” Nova Storm saluted and left to do just that. “I believe we have our answer, brothers. Once I possess the AllSpark, I will possess the power needed to obliterate Megatron and the Autobots.” If only Starscream knew how much that plan would backfire on him.

Busting the Zoo

“I’ll be honest; even now, this plan is crazy,” Rainbow remarked. The Autobots had finished reformatting the Dinobots to look more realistic, but there were still those in the team who had their doubts.

“Exactly what I’ve been saying.” Prowl pointed out. “Sideswipe, this plan is foolish.”

“No, it’s not,” Sideswipe assured. “We drop them in Russia, Baroness picks ‘em up and takes ‘em home, they bust out with Tigatron and his part of the Omega Lock, and we bridge ‘em all back here. Nothing simpler.”

“Well, when you say it like that…” Prowl remarked. “It sounds even more stupid.”

“I understand your concerns Prowl, but we have no better plans,” Optimus assured, turning to Grimlock. “You understand your role in this plan, correct Grimlock?”

“Sure. Dinobots play savage, snake lady takes Dinobots prisoner, then Dinobots escape.” Grimlock nodded.

“See? Even Grimlock understands the plan, and his neural net is fried.” Sideswipe remarked.

“That doesn’t make it any smarter,” Twilight muttered.

“Agreed. We should at least have some sort of backup on our side.” Hound remarked, quickly turning on his comlink. “Hound to the Pit. Put me through to General Hawk.”

It took a few seconds before the general’s voice came through. “Go ahead, Hound.”

“General, we’re ready for our plan to bust Tigatron out of the Baroness’s mansion, but we may need some assistance from the Joes.” Hound informed. “Requesting the Arctic team to meet us at the following coordinates.” He transmitted them over his comlink immediately.

“Received. I’ll send them out ASAP, and have them rendezvous with the Oktober Guard.”

“Oh great, Red Star.” Hound rolled his optics. “Understood.” He signed off and looked back at the others.

“‘The Oktober Guard’?” asked Sunset.

“The eastern equivalent of G.I. Joe; mostly from ex-Soviet states.” Hound answered. “Their field commander Red Star has had a serious hate-on for Baroness’s family for years, which is why I’m not overly excited to see him again.”

“No choice, looks like.” Red Alert shrugged as he opened the GroundBridge to the coordinates Hound had sent to the Joes.

“Alright, let’s make this quick,” Hound ordered to the Dinobots, leading the beasts through the portal.

“We are not missing this, are we?” Rainbow asked seriously.

“Oh, absolutely not.” Rarity nodded as she led the girls through the vortex after the Dinobots.

They arrived in the frozen north of Russia to find five men in white around a large white artillery half-track. “I figured you girls would follow us.” Hound smirked.

“Like we’re gonna miss this. Giant robot dinosaurs tearing apart a building? Where do we buy tickets?” Rainbow smiled.

“Right here.” one of the humans remarked as he looked up at them. “I’m Sub-Zero; first lieutenant in charge of the Arctic team. That’s Snow Job, Iceberg, Blizzard, and Frostbite. All we need now is the Oktober Guard and we’re ready to go.”

“No need to wait long.” a Ukrainian voice remarked as a large truck rumbled in, allowing several soldiers overboard. “You are our friends for this mission?”

“You know it, Red Star.” Snow Job remarked. “Your guys clear on what to do?”

“Da, we provide cover for Dinos when they escape.” Red Star nodded. “Push the Cisarovnas and Cobra scum back to their castle while you escape.”

“As simple as can be, Star.” Hound nodded, turning to Grimlock. “You guys know what to do. Go be vicious.”

Grimlock nodded and led the Dinobots out into the snow, where they put on a good show; roaring at seemingly nothing and bashing at each other. The girls all whooped and cheered at the display. “Please tell me someone brought popcorn,” Rainbow said seriously.

“Got some right here.” Pinkie smiled as she pulled a bucket out of her hair, which she quickly passed to the others.

At the estate, the Baroness was still reveling in the success of her having captured Tigatron and his component of the Omega Lock when a sentry raced to her side. “Baroness, you’re never going to believe this,” he reported. “There’s a massive group of dinosaurs not two miles from the manor.”

“You’re kidding.” the Baroness said seriously.

“No ma’am, I’m serious.” the sentry reported, bringing up a camera feed from outside, showing the disguised Dinobots rampaging in the frozen wilds.

The Baroness seemed a bit suspicious of this scenario, even as she saw the disguised Swoop soaring around the head of the large Apatosaurus. “Have you run this through the Spark filter?”

“N-No ma’am.” This answer swiftly earned this sentry a bullet in the chest, sending him to the ground in pain.

“I will not have incompetent fools working within my home.” the Baroness said coldly as she set her gun down on the side table, glancing to the two other sentries at the door. “One of you clean that up. The other, overlay a Spark filter on this footage.”

The first of the two guards grabbed the pained guard by the shoulders and dragged him from the room as the other moved to the computer and brought up the special Spark-recognition filter Destro had provided, showing that these dinosaurs were indeed the Dinobots. The Baroness smirked as she saw this. “I’m sure Megatron would have said something if he were to be sending Decepticons in the form of dinosaurs to take collection.”

“Which means it is an Autobot assault.” the sentry understood. “I’ll scramble the HISS team and have them brought in for lockup.”

“Nyet. I want them annihilated.” Baroness ordered. “And have scout teams search the surrounding snow. I doubt these are the only Autobots around.”

“As you wish, Baroness.” the sentry nodded as he left the room.

The Baroness smiled as she sneered at the tiger in the cage. “So much for your rescue, my small friend.” The tiger merely snarled in anger as it swiped at the bars, merely eliciting a curt chuckle from the Baroness.

Outside, Snow Job looked through the scope of his sniper rifle and watched the house as Sub-Zero kept his eye on the Dinobots. “Everything’s green for now.” Sub-Zero remarked to Hound.

“Shouldn’t the Baroness have taken the bait by now?” asked Rainbow.

“Relax Dash, sometimes these things just take time.” Hound assured.

It was then that Snow Job went rigid as he looked through his scope. “Contact.”

“How many?” Sub-Zero asked as he looked through his binoculars.

“I count at least ten HISS tanks.” Frostbite counted. Sunset looked through her own scopes and saw the large tanks racing toward the Dinobots… where they started firing on them.

“Oh great. Looks like they got made.” Blizzard scowled.

“Change of plans; we fight our way into the building and do things the old-fashioned way,” Sub-Zero ordered, grabbing up a large machine gun.

“Fine by me,” Rainbow smirked as she revved her engines. “Try to keep up.” She shot ahead with a massive burst from her thrusters.

“She always like this?” asked Glacier.

“More than any of us care to confess.” Applejack remarked as she transformed to truck mode and roared in after her. “She’s got the right idea though. Let’s rock.”

“Right.” Hound nodded and got on the coms. “Grimlock, change of plans; drop the animal act and munch metal.”

“Me Grimlock think you never ask!” the T-Rex bot smirked and roared at the tanks, charging them as they blasted apart the disguises on all of the Dinobots, revealing their metallic finish. “Dinobots, attack!” The Dinobots all roared in rage as they charged, bashing the tanks aside for the girls and the rest of the team to race toward the fortress.

The Cobra troops fired on the girls, but all their shots just bounced off as they raced for the large garage. “Door!” Twilight ordered.

“All over it!” Frostbite smirked as he jumped to the controls of the team’s half-track, which promptly fired a missile that promptly blew the door to scrap, allowing the team straight in where they transformed and screeched to a stop, weapons at the ready.

Quickly, the girls all dropped their armor and found cover. “Rainbow, you get Fluttershy and Applejack to the Baroness’s room; free Tigatron and get his capsule,” Sunset ordered. “The rest of us will stay here and cover you.”

“Got it.” Rainbow nodded as she quickly grabbed Applejack and Fluttershy by their wrists before the three raced through the halls of the house. Once they were gone, the rest of the girls returned to their bot-forms and started firing out at the Cobra guards.

It was just then that Glacier spotted a GroundBridge opening not far from the group and a familiar police car driving through it. “We got company!” he called.

Hound glanced over and saw the GroundBridge closing in. “Oh scrap,” he remarked and quickly turned on his coms. “We’ve got a problem team; Barricade’s here and from the looks of things, he brought the cavalry.”

Indeed he had, Barricade was racing through the snow with most of the Stunticons and a large team of Vehicon troopers. “Well, this is interesting. The Baroness needs our help.” Barricade smirked. “Let’s do this one by the numbers, boys; Wildrider and Breakdown, take your team down the left flank; Offroad and Dead End; take the right. My guys, with me; we’re goin’ straight down the middle and trashing this whole place until we get that capsule.” The Decepticons split up exactly as they were ordered and started firing on the Autobots and the Joes.

“Optimus, this is Hound; we are desperately outmatched here and we need some serious backup!” the jeep roared into his coms, his guns firing in every direction.

It didn’t take long after that before a GroundBridge opened at the Autobot’s side that let the Wreckers all race through before they transformed and landed in the snow alongside Hound, the Joes, and the Oktober Guard. “Alright guys, let’s wreck n’ rule!” Springer roared as his team’s guns roared to life, blasting away at all the Decepticons.

“Springer, I hate to be that guy-!” Broadside remarked.

“No, you don’t!” Whirl countered.

“But there’s no way we can keep this sort of momentum up forever.” Broadside finished.

“I hate to say it, but you’re right.” Springer scowled. “Sub-Zero, any chance you can get some heavier Joe ordinance out here?”

“In these conditions, the Snow Cat’s the heaviest ground-based ordinance we can manage.” Sub-Zero shrugged as he pointed to the half-track. “How about your guys, Red?”

“Nyet, we have only what is here.” Red Star countered.

“And that ain’t gonna last forever.” Snow Job remarked as he continued popping heads off Cobra soldiers with his rifle. “Hopefully everything’s goin’ alright inside.”

Inside, it was something of a hard search for Rainbow’s team to find where exactly Tigatron was locked up, but they eventually found it when they saw the beast in a cage in a large sitting room near the outer wall. “Huh. Hard to believe we missed this place; feels like we did three laps around the perimeter.”

“Well, long as we get ol’ Fuzzy here back to base, I think we’ll be fine.” Applejack shrugged.

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening.” The girls all froze when they heard the Baroness across the room from them, aiming an Uzi at their heads. “I should shoot you right here for invading my home, but I think… I will make it fun. I’ll let you each watch each other die.”

Rainbow just smirked. “You can try.” With that, she raced over and planted her shoe directly in the Baroness’ midsection, sending her flying back as she accidentally fired her gun into the ceiling. “AJ, cage!”

“On it!” Applejack nodded as she raced to the cage and ripped the door off, throwing it through the window for a quick exit. Then she grabbed the capsule and tossed that through the window as well. “Sandstorm; second-floor window, north side!”

“On my way!” Sandstorm nodded as he quickly transformed into a large armored dune buggy and raced through the snow, catching the capsule in his cabin just as it arced down to him. “Cargo’s secure; buggin’ out.” Quickly, he transformed to his VTOL form and buzzed away.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Wildrider smirked as he opened fire on Sandstorm… only to take fire from the rest of the Wreckers.

“We’ll be takin’ the kitty too, if’n ya don’t mind.” Applejack smirked as she slung Tigatron over her shoulder and leaped out the window, quickly shifting to bot-mode and landing perfectly. Rainbow and Fluttershy followed her lead as they all made it to the ground in the firefight with the others.

“You guys okay?” Rainbow asked Twilight.

“It’s all relative.” Twilight shrugged as she fired a barrage of missiles out of Spike’s weapon-form. “We have Tigatron?”

“Yeah, but he seems a bit shaken up.” Applejack remarked as she set the tiger down in the snow, at which point he recoiled in fear.

“Oh great, a scaredy-cat,” Rainbow remarked. “Fluttershy, see what you can do to mellow him out.”

“Oh uh, okay.” Fluttershy nodded as she shifted back to her human form and knelt next to the tiger. “Sh-sh-sh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Tigatron; we’ll be alright.” The tiger merely growled to her, and what she heard thanks to her geode power surprised her, so she quickly turned back to bot-mode and grabbed Rainbow’s shoulder. “We have a problem.”

“Yeah I know; we’re outgunned here,” Rainbow remarked. “And the Baroness set up coms-jammers after the Wreckers piled in, so we can’t call for any backup.”

“Uh no, another problem,” Fluttershy remarked. “This tiger isn’t Tigatron.”

“What?!” Rainbow asked in surprise. “Cease fire! Cease fire!” Everyone quickly stopped shooting in confusion when they heard this, even the Decepticons.

“What’s this; finally surrendering?” Barricade remarked.

“Not on your life. But why fight over an ordinary tiger?” Rainbow remarked.

“What?” asked Twilight.

“I just spoke to the tiger we saved, and she’s not Tigatron; she says Tigatron named her Snowstalker,” Fluttershy said simply.

“What?” Sandstorm asked incredulously as he held up the capsule. “But she had this.”

“She says he gave that to her for safekeeping,” Fluttershy explained.

“But… if this isn’t the Maximal, then where is he?” asked Breakdown.

A paw crunching the snow behind the Decepticons answered that question, though not nearly as well as the voice that followed; “Right here.” Everyone looked and saw a tiger identical to Snowstalker behind the Decepticon lines. Then came the command; “Tigatron, Maximize!” With a snarl, the tiger transformed in a very similar way as Cheetor, but revealed bright metallic cyan trim and a cat-like faceplate under his white and black crown. He quickly raised a blaster similar to Cheetor’s and started firing, knocking Barricade on his back as the others were stunned by his appearance and moves.

Springer smirked as he saw this and raised his own gun. “We’ve got some breathing room, people! Light ‘em up!” he ordered, prompting a massive wave of gunfire to resound at the Decepticons, leveling the remaining Vehicons and leaving only the specific soldiers.

“Retreat! Retreat!” Barricade ordered as his team transformed back to vehicle mode and roared away through the snow. “Soundwave; GroundBridge, now!” The vortex opened immediately upon that order.

“Oh no ya don’t! You forgot your party favors!” Rainbow smirked and fired two high-explosive missiles from her wrists at the vortex… which went through behind the Decepticons just before it closed. After seeing their heavy guns retreat, most of the Cobra forces scattered to avoid arrest.

“Well, that was fun.” Tigatron smiled as he returned to his beast-mode and plodded over to the other bots.

The girls all reverted from their bot-modes and smiled at the tiger. “Nice entrance.” Sunset smiled. “Gotta admit; we were a bit worried for a second there.”

“Uh, while we’re talking, how did you manage to make it seem like your signature was coming from Snowstalker?” asked Rainbow.

“Signal transference clip.” Tigatron explained simply. “I slipped it onto one of her claws months ago. When you’re on the run in the middle of a war, it’s important to keep your enemy off-balance.”

Fluttershy examined Snowstalker’s paws and found the small ring-like object on her claw that Tigatron was obviously referring to, which she promptly removed and deactivated, making the Spark signature revert to Tigatron himself. “Well, at least everything’s okay now.” Twilight smiled. “Cmon, Optimus and Airazor will be eager to see you.”

“I- I’m sure they are, but… no,” Tigatron said simply.

“‘No’? What do you mean ‘no’?” asked Rainbow, though she was shivering a bit as the cold was finally starting to get to her.

“I have been alone out here for quite some time, so… I feel like I am more tiger than Maximal,” Tigatron said simply. “Until I feel I have full control over my animal instincts and bot capabilities, I feel my place is here, in the wilds with my own kind.” He plodded over to Snowstalker and rubbed against her, which seemed to soothe the tiger. “But you may count on my loyalty; that much I assure you.”

“Sounds like a fair deal to me.” Springer shrugged.

“Arctic field agent never hurts.” Snow Job agreed.

“You would know, Snowy.” Hound smirked.

“Well, in that case… we’ll just tell Airazor you said hi.” Rainbow smiled as they made their way back toward their rendezvous point. “But come down and visit us sometime soon, okay?”

Tigatron nodded with a feline smile. “Let the trails lead where they may. I will follow,” he said simply, which was enough of an agreement for the girls as the GroundBridge opened and the Autobots returned to their base.

When they arrived and explained Tigatron’s decisions, Optimus and Airazor understood well, as Twilight predicted, and Optimus swiftly used the Matrix to unlock Tigatron’s capsule, revealing its contents to be a small metallic post. “What’s this thing?” Rainbow asked as she looked it over.

Twilight examined the thing for herself and raised a metallic eyebrow. “If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it was the central connection axis.” she theorized, though the look of confusion from the others told her she had to be more specific. “Uh, think of it as… I dunno; model glue. Once we have the last piece of the Omega Lock, we connect all the components around this and it’ll link up into one piece.”

“Then we’d better get to work in finding that last piece,” Jetfire remarked. “And the AllSpark.”

“Lucky for us, there are only two more Maximals on Earth so if we pick them both up, we’ll win the search.” Bumblebee smiled.

“Yep; just down to Botanica and Rattrap now.” Rhinox nodded.

“I just hope Rattrap isn’t the one who’s actually carryin’ the AllSpark,” Cheetor remarked. “We’d never hear the end of it.”

“Only one way to find out.” Elita shrugged as she looked at Optimus. “I say we redouble our efforts to locate them.”

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded. “Autobots, until the remaining Maximals have been located, all other projects are on hold save for locating Relics of Iacon.”

“Speaking of which, how’s that been going?” asked Sunset.

“Slowly. The encryption has been difficult for me to crack, but I believe I have now located at least one relic.” Optimus noted.

“We’ll prepare a search party for it tomorrow,” Prowl assured. “In the meantime, I suggest everyone go home and get some rest.”

“Not gonna get any argument from me.” Sunset shrugged as she made her way to the door, patting Grimlock on the snout before she left. “Nice meeting you Grimlock. See ya around.” Grimlock just gave a low growl at the affection as the girls left the base.

“Man, y’know the Baroness is probably tearing into Megatron right now for her house getting trashed,” Rainbow remarked.

“What I’d give to be on the line for that chat.” Rarity agreed with a smirk… no one noticing the black Jaguar E-Type idling at the side of the road as they drove past toward the city.

And sure enough, the Baroness was voicing her tremendous displeasure over the situation to Megatron. “An excellent job, Megatron!” she roared. “Thanks to your men’s incompetence, not only did you lose yet another component of your Omega Lock, but my family home has been blown apart! Do you have any idea how much it is going to cost me to have these damages repaired?!”

“My sincerest apologies, Baroness,” Megatron noted. “I assure you that the Autobots will pay for this affront to your home and organization. I will send the Constructicons to assist in the repairs and refortifications of your home as soon as possible.” He nodded to Scrapper off-screen who bowed and quickly moved to assemble his team. “I trust this will prove my… commitment to our alliance.”

“It proves that you believe you need us if you wish for victory in your little war.” the Baroness scowled. “But make no mistake; if you truly wish to have our assistance, you must assist Cobra in its own projects.”

“As I fully intend to. Though unfortunately, I have my own goals to see to. Until next time.” The transmission terminated with that, and Megatron sighed into his hand as he turned to Sky Shadow. “This alliance is growing more and more tiresome by the cycle, Sky Shadow. Cobra tries my patience evermore with their incessant whining prattle.”

“As I have been attempting to tell you all along, Lord Megatron,” Starscream assured. “Complaining is all humans are truly good for. We should just wipe them all out and be done with it.”

“I believe, Starscream, that Cobra has done its part.” Viper remarked. “They promised to assist the Decepticons and they have.”

“Oh yes, of course, Viper,” Starscream remarked sarcastically. “I completely forgot how they assisted in losing a weaponized Energon Harvester, or how they assisted in losing us another component of the Omega Lock. And let us not forget their most terrible act of assistance; nearly depriving our master of his duel against Optimus Prime!”

“Silence, Starscream!” Megatron roared, bashing him away with his flail. “I am loathe to say it, but you make an excellent point. Cobra has been somewhat lax in their true assistance.”

“You must not expect the same sort of results from them as you do from us, Lord Megatron.” Sky Shadow assured. “After all… they are only human.”

“Which is exactly why they test me so.” Megatron scowled. “I only hope this alliance need not last much longer; I have heard disquieting whispers among the crew. Something about… an attempted mutiny.” Starscream’s optics immediately went wide at the sound of that as he quickly stood up.

“I’m sure these rumors are false, master,” he assured. “Why would any aboard wish to betray the noble cause of the Decepticons?”

“Why indeed.” Megatron scowled.

Starscream wasn’t sure whether or not the warlord was onto him, but he didn’t dare press his luck. “Well… if there is nothing else, I believe my Seekers will be returning from patrol in a moment. I shall be on the upper deck if anyone needs me.” With that, the Seeker commander left the bridge.

“Why would we ever need him?” Sky Shadow asked derisively.

“Better to have him with us than against us.” Megatron scowled, glancing across to his communications experts. “Soundtrack, increase your surveillance on Starscream; I want to know his every move.”

“As you wish, Lord Megatron.” Soundtrack nodded and bowed before she strode from the bridge, leaving her brother to work.

“Soundwave, report,” Megatron ordered.

“Iacon decrypting proceeding slowly,” Soundwave reported. “Only one set of coordinates decoded.”

“Tell Onslaught to assemble a dig team; I want this relic no matter what,” Megatron ordered.

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded.

On the upper deck, Starscream was right about one thing; his brothers and the other Seekers had indeed returned. “Well?” their commander asked.

“We have her, brother,” Thundercracker reported as he and Skywarp stepped aside, allowing two Seekers to toss a rather unusual looking bot on the ground; she looked less like any sort of animal and more like foliage, with root-like feet, a wide green collar around her pale faceplate and claw-like fingers.

“So… you are the one they call Botanica.” Starscream sneered down at her. “As if wildlife weren’t enough; now you Eukarians take flora as alt-modes? Disgusting.” He spat on the bot’s face and stood up.

“If you believe you can hold me, I dare you to try.” Botanica scowled.

“Oh, it’s not me you have to worry about,” Starscream smirked as he turned to Skywarp. “Is everything ready?”

“Just as you wanted, brother. I’ve informed them to prepare for us.” Skywarp nodded. “The calibrations are still a bit confusing, but we should be able to find out the correct frequency to open the capsule. And if nothing else, we can probably extract the information we need from her through… other means.”

“Good. Then let us away. To Cybertron.” Starscream sneered, filling Botanica with dread; she knew exactly who was waiting for her on Cybertron, and what treatment she would face in his hands.

Shake the Skies

If Shockwave still had his emotions, he would have been fairly happy; now that the Virago had abandoned Cybertron with Optimus Prime, the Decepticons were finally able to completely conquer their home planet and Shockwave was able to truly focus on his scientific experiments… which were unfortunately interrupted when a Vehicon called in on the coms. “Sir, we have visitors in the SpaceBridge port. It’s Starscream and his brothers; they’re requesting a meeting.”

Shockwave groaned as he looked up from his experiment. “Send them in.” Starscream and his brothers strode into the lab with simple smiles on their faces.

“Ah, Shockwave. Lovely to see you as always.” Starscream remarked.

“I have no use for pleasantries, Starscream,” Shockwave ordered. “State your business.”

“Pleasant as ever, I see,” Thundercracker smirked as he stepped forward. “Alright, let’s get right to it.” He tossed Botanica to the ground at Shockwave’s feet. “We have a prisoner here for ya.”

Shockwave examined her with an intrigued optic. “A Eukarian… one of the Maximals Lord Megatron has been after?”

“The very same. And I theorize that this is the one who possesses the AllSpark.” Starscream smiled, handing Shockwave the capsule. “Unfortunately, without the Matrix of Leadership, we cannot open it. However…”

“You believe I may be capable of replicating the Matrix’s energy signature to unlock the capsule and access the AllSpark,” Shockwave concluded as he accepted the capsule.

“Indeed. And should you succeed, the power of the AllSpark will be ours and Lord Megatron will reign over the entire universe.” Starscream smirked.

“I will proceed immediately.” Shockwave nodded, placing the capsule on his lab table before he looked at Botanica. “And the prisoner?”

“Do with her as you see fit, I say,” Skywarp smirked.

“Agreed. It isn’t often you have the chance to experiment on a Eukarian.” Thundercracker smiled.

“Well, there’s the vote then.” Starscream smiled. “Contact us when you have succeeded.”

“Lord Megatron will be the first to know when the AllSpark is accessible,” Shockwave assured Starscream as two guards grabbed Botanica by the wrists and dragged her away, scowling at Starscream as she was dragged off.

Starscream was a bit worried about this; if Megatron found out Shockwave was working on the AllSpark for Starscream, he would find himself welded to a wall in front of the business end of Megatron’s cannon. “Eh, Lord Megatron has far too much to deal with now already. Simply contact me when you succeed, and I will ensure Lord Megatron is informed.”

It was incredibly hard to read Shockwave with only his singular unblinking optic on his face, but he seemed to believe Starscream. “Very well. I will notify you.”

Starscream nodded at this and left with his brothers at his sides for the SpaceBridge. “He won’t.”

“We’ll notify you as soon as any communication comes in from him,” Thundercracker assured.

“In the meantime, we’d better get back to the Nemesis before Megatron notices our absence.” Skywarp nodded as the three Seekers quickly returned to the warship.

“Right on time, Starscream.” Blast Off noted. “Lord Megatron just asked that all Seekers go onto heightened alert. Only two Maximals left; we need to find the AllSpark before the Autobots do.”

“Very well.” Starscream rolled his optics as he looked between his brothers. “You heard him; rally the Seekers and begin patrols.”

“Yes, brother.” Skywarp nodded as he and Thundercracker walked off.

Starscream made his way to the bridge, arriving just as Soundwave walked to Megatron’s side. “Lord Megatron, I have isolated the location of the latest set of Iacon coordinates.”

“Very good, Soundwave.” Megatron nodded. “Onslaught, assemble a team to investigate.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Onslaught nodded and moved away.

“And where exactly have you been, Starscream?” Megatron asked in irritation.

“Out on patrol with my brothers,” Starscream said simply. “And what word have we from our dear spy Nightbird?”

“She has found her opening. Soon the Omega Lock will be ours. And the AllSpark.” Starscream did his best to hide his worried twitch from Megatron as he walked off the bridge.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, the Seekers will need my command on patrol,” he said as he left.

Once he was gone, Megatron looked over at Soundwave. “And where was our dear air commander in reality?”

On the Ark, the girls were bored after a long few days of no action from the Decepticons as Optimus worked to decode the Iacon database and the air-teams worked to find the remaining two Maximals for the Autobots.

Rainbow was seriously bored out of her mind when Teletraan finally toned. “I have detected an Iacon homing beacon.”

“Finally! Felt like my Armor was gonna rust off my geode, I was sitting around so long.” Rainbow smiled as she jumped off the console and immediately transformed to bot mode. “Cmon, where is it?”

“Isolating coordinates…” Wheeljack noted, tapping a few keys on the terminal before he pulled up the coordinates to be in the northern Mojave Desert. “Got it. But if we’re getting a locater signal, they must’ve already dug it up.”

“Which means they’ll be moving fast to transport it to the Nemesis.” Twilight rationalized.

“Which means we’ll have to move faster.” Applejack nodded. “Let’s roll.”

“Way ahead of you.” Red Alert nodded as he activated the GroundBridge.

“Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus ordered as he transformed along with Elita, Rainbow, Twilight, Applejack, Sunset, Bumblebee, Arcee, Ironhide, and Chromia – who turned into a 2022 Toyota Sienna – who all followed Optimus through the portal.

They emerged in the desert and easily spotted the Decepticons near a ridge, finishing clean-up of a large amount of rubble from the recent digging. “Right on time; looks like we caught them while they were movin’ out.” Arcee smiled as she looked through her visor at the dig site.

Rainbow scanned the area until she saw another GroundBridge opening nearby… which allowed Megatron through, followed by Knock Out. “Must be here to examine the loot himself.”

“Not surprising; after what happened with the Energon Harvester, I doubt Megatron trusts anyone else with these relics,” Twilight remarked.

Below, Megatron approached his mercenary general with great intent in each step. “I received the locator beacon on the Nemesis; do you have it, Onslaught?” he asked.

“Do we ever.” Onslaught smiled and snapped his fingers, prompting one of the Vehicons to step forward with a large canister. “Behold, My Lord.” Onslaught opened the canister with a flourish and Megatron’s optics went wide.

“Well, isn’t this a fine stroke of irony…” Knock Out smiled as Megatron reached into the canister and produced a large metal shield with blue and orange highlights and three small gun barrels on the bottom.

Chromia’s optics went wide when she saw it. “By the Forge…”

“What is it? What is that thing?” asked Applejack.

“The Skyboom Shield; the weapon of Sentinel, the Prime before Optimus.” Elita recognized. “Said to have the power to shake the heavens when it’s activated.”

“So not the sort of unchecked insane power we want in Megatron’s hands,” Rainbow noted. “Gotcha. Let’s make this quick.” Quickly she jumped over the ridge the team was hiding on and started firing down at the Decepticons.

Megatron immediately raised the shield to defend himself as the gunfire rained down. “Well, there goes subtlety,” Sunset remarked as she and the rest of the team raised their blasters and fired down at the Decepticons.

“I believe that would be our cue to leave, sire.” Knock Out remarked, hiding behind Megatron and the shield from the gunfire.

“So it would seem, Knock Out.” Megatron nodded, barely feeling the impact of the blasts or bullets against the shield. “Decepticons, withdraw!” Onslaught and several Vehicons fired back at the Autobots to cover Megatron as he inched closer to the GroundBridge.

“You’re not getting away that easy!” Rainbow smiled and fired a missile at the warlord, only for it to explode against the Skyboom Shield… which was strangely starting to glow on the seams.

Twilight looked closely at the shield, scanning it as best she could with the systems in her visor. “Wait a second…” And what she saw stunned her. “Cease fire! Cease fire!” The Autobots were confused, but that proved to be enough of a reprieve for Megatron to try for a lucky shot at Elita. Quickly Chromia leaped in front of her and intercepted the blast with her own shield, knocking her into Elita’s arms as Megatron, Onslaught, and Knock Out disappeared into the GroundBridge which deactivated and left the Vehicons behind to fire on the Autobots.

Quickly the Autobots blasted them all down and split up to survey the site. “Why’d you call us off, Twilight?” asked Rainbow.

“Because I know how the Skyboom Shield works,” Twilight explained, earning some surprised looks from the Autobots. “I know how it’s capable of shaking the sky; it absorbs kinetic energy and holds it in place for use as a concussive weapon.”

“However the shield works, what matters now is that it’s in Megatron’s hands.” Elita scowled. “And he will not hesitate to use it however he wishes.”

Unfortunately, the way Megatron saw fit to use the shield right now was as target practice to confirm Twilight’s theory for himself as Shockwave – who had recently been called from Cybertron – watched in intrigue. “As I originally theorized, Lord Megatron, the shield absorbs all incoming kinetic energy for redistribution.”

“Can the technology be replicated, Shockwave?” Megatron asked seriously. “I want one for myself at the very least and enough for the entire Decepticon army at the very most.”

“Theoretically Lord Megatron, I can replicate this technology,” Shockwave noted, scanning the shield. “The alloy is unusual to me, however; rare, but not impossible to replicate. I may only be able to create one shield. I will return to my laboratory on Cybertron and proceed with the work immediately.”

“Notify me as soon as you have it completed,” Megatron ordered as he took up the shield for himself. “In the meantime, I’m certain Optimus Prime will derive no little enjoyment from seeing the weapon of the tyrannical Sentinel Prime on my arm as I destroy him.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Shockwave nodded and left for the SpaceBridge… with Starscream on his tail.

“Whilst we’re on the topic of scientific projects, how goes your other experiment?” the air commander asked.

“Slowly. Locating the correct energy signature has proven more difficult than I originally anticipated.” Shockwave said simply. “Lord Megatron is aware of this project, is he not?”

“Of course he is; he approved it himself,” Starscream assured. “I merely wish to limit the distractions our lord and master must contend with in this war.”

“Your reasoning is logical. I will continue with the project and inform you upon its success.” Shockwave said simply as he left Starscream’s side.

Starscream sneered as he walked toward the flight deck and met his brothers on the way. “The only person he intends to inform of this project’s success is Megatron.” Thundercracker sneered.

“Obviously. Ensure we are informed first of any communication from Cybertron.” Starscream ordered, dedicated to his plan. Come hell or high water, he would possess the power of the AllSpark first and Megatron would pay for all the abuse and slights he had inflicted on the air commander… who would soon become ruler of the Decepticons.

The Best Offense

With Megatron now in possession of the Skyboom Shield, Optimus found it wholly necessary to order the mayor to evacuate the entire city to whatever emergency shelters they had available as the Autobots prepared for a siege. “How are the weapons systems looking, Wheeljack?” asked Ironhide.

“All systems go, chief.” the engineer nodded as he pressed a button on the console, prompting a large array of turrets to rise around the city’s perimeter. “Even with the Skyboom Shield, Megatron’s gonna have a hard time getting past that.”

“And even if he does, we’ll have somethin’ for him.” Springer smiled as he walked in, showing the Autobots a massive assortment of high-powered weapons. “Wrecker arsenal ready for work. Pick your poison.”

“Ooh, Rainbow likes.” Rainbow smiled as she grabbed a large, high-caliber machine gun. “Alright, let’s get ready for war.”

“We may not have to wait long.” Jetfire called over the coms. “I’m detecting Megatron on approach, fast. And he’s got a lot of reinforcements.”

Optimus narrowed his optics as he readied two large truck trailers for himself and Elita. “Then we cannot afford to wait any longer. We must go out and stop him from entering the city. Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Quickly he and Elita were the first to transform and hooked up to their trailers before they roared out of the Ark with every Autobot they had available before the ship was locked down.

“Why’d you do that?” Twilight asked Red Alert – who had transformed into a Lamborghini Countach LP500S fire chief’s car.

“On the off chance we fall out here, I wanted to make sure the Ark and its capabilities didn’t fall into the Decepticons’ hands.” Red Alert answered.

Unfortunately, none of them were aware that just before the ship had locked down, Nightbird had slunk silently in through the side of the hangar door and was sneaking her way through the ship to a small vault, where she found the components of the Omega Lock. “Finally.”

On the outskirts of town, Megatron – who had been roaring toward the city in his massive tank-form – stopped just out of range of the defense grid and transformed back to bot-mode, watching the large turrets tracking him and the other Decepticons as the Autobots approached. Sunset was the first to transform as she, Optimus, and Elita stood forward. “Give up, Megatron. You’re outgunned,” she warned.

“Is that so?” Megatron sneered as he raised the Skyboom Shield. “I suggest you check again, Pretender. Because I think you’ll find that you are the ones outgunned here.”

“Incoming!” Twilight yelled as Megatron pulled something on the shield, sending out a massive shockwave of energy. Everyone quickly tried to dive for cover, but Brawn and several other Autobots were caught in the blast, knocking them back as the wave shattered the turrets to scrap metal.

“Decepticons, destroy them!” Megatron’s order was swiftly followed by a massive wave of weapons fire from the Decepticons, blasting the Autobots from every possible angle.

“Trailbreaker, give us some cover!” Prowl ordered, prompting Trailbreaker to set up a large shield between their lines and the Decepticons, tanking most of the fire. Rarity quickly assisted him with a wall of gem shields, but they both knew it wouldn’t last forever. “Return fire!” The Autobots all quickly raised their blasters and started firing at the Decepticons, but Megatron tanked most of the fire with the Skyboom Shield, allowing it to power up more and more.

“Man, and I thought most of that talk about the shield was just you blowing smoke,” Rainbow remarked to Optimus.

“We cannot allow Megatron to possess the Skyboom Shield any longer,” Optimus ordered.

“Then we take it off his hands. Question is how?” asked Applejack.

“I got an idea. But I’ll need some cover.” Rainbow remarked. “And your guns, Kup.”

Kup was confused but shrugged as he handed Rainbow his large SMGs. “Hope you know what you’re doing, youngster.”

“Me too.” Rainbow shrugged, turning to Pinkie. “Once I have his attention, you know what to do.” Pinkie nodded with a smile before Rainbow vaulted over her cover and started firing at Megatron. “Hey ugly, over here!”

Megatron scowled as he raised the shield, staying behind it as Rainbow raced circles around him, blasting him from every possible angle. The warlord could barely keep track of Rainbow as he tried to return fire both with his own cannon and the gun in the shield, finally succeeding in knocking Rainbow to the ground purely by luck when she accidentally clotheslined herself on his cannon, which he then aimed straight at her. “You will be one organic gnat I will greatly enjoy swatting, human.”

Rainbow just smiled as she looked down the barrel of Megatron’s cannon, glancing off his side. “Lose something?” Megatron glanced in the same direction as her and was stunned; he had no idea how he’d missed it, but somehow the Skyboom Shield had disappeared from his arm, and in its place was a large sugar crystal which promptly exploded in his face, making him cringe in pain.

“Surprise!” Pinkie cheered from the Autobots’ lines. Megatron sneered in that direction as he tried to recalibrate his optics… and saw the Skyboom Shield on Optimus’ arm.

Rainbow smirked as she kicked Megatron right in the midsection before she raced back to the Autobots as Optimus stepped forward. “Megatron…” he scowled, raising the shield. “Begone.” With a single move, another wave of raw energy shot from the shield and blasted all the Decepticons back, knocking the already wounded Megatron back on his heels in the arms of his soldiers.

“Open fire!” Prowl ordered, prompting all the Autobots to fire on the Decepticons at once.

Megatron held an arm in front of his face as the gunfire grew more intense. “Decepticons, retreat! Return to base!” the warlord ordered as a GroundBridge opened behind them. The Decepticons quickly fled through the vortex amid Autobot blaster fire. “This is far from over, Optimus Prime!” Megatron warned before he disappeared through the portal.

The Autobots cheered at this victory as they pulled back toward the city. “Wheeljack, repair all defense systems and ensure the city will be defended,” Optimus ordered.

“Gladly, sir.” Wheeljack saluted as he immediately set to work. The others were still congratulating each other for a well-deserved victory all the way back to the Ark… where they saw the door was open.

“What the heck?” asked Rainbow as she walked cautiously inside. “Teletraan, what happened?”

“There’s been a security breach.” the computer reported. “The Omega Vault has been opened.”

“Omega Vault?” asked Twilight.

“It’s where I secured the portions of the Omega Lock.” Red Alert scowled. “Who accessed it?” That question was answered when the security feed came up… and showed Nightbird running off with the portions of the Omega Lock.

“Jumpin’ Gyros, you’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!” Cheetor snarled.

“Back to Square 1.” Rhinox scowled.

“Worse than that; if the Decepticons get Rattrap and Botanica, then they’ll have all they need to find the keys.” Twilight scowled.

“Then we’ll make sure they don’t get them,” Elita assured. “I’m calling for full mobilization to locate them both.”

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded. “Jetfire, until such time as the remaining two Maximals are here and the Omega Lock is within our possession, no Autobot who leaves this base returns.”

“Understood.” Jetfire nodded, turning to the others. “You heard him; let’s roll out.” Quickly all the Autobots transformed and raced out of the base, ready to do anything to locate the means to restore their home.

Speaking of which, the thief had already returned to the Nemesis carrying the components of the Omega Lock she had just stolen, laying them at the feet of her master as Flatline was tending to his arm. “The Omega Lock, my lord. As promised.”

“Excellent work, Nightbird.” Megatron smiled.

“I would hardly say that, Lord Megatron.” Starscream countered. “It’s nothing more than a pile of junk right now. And need I remind you that we still lack the AllSpark.”

“Only for now, Starscream.” Megatron sneered. “And you will remember your place.”

“In the Decepticon hierarchy or in the battle I should have taken part in?” Starscream scowled. “Because if I had been a part of the latter, then perhaps the loss of the Skyboom Shield would have been averted.”

Megatron scowled at Starscream in anger. “Leave us. No interruptions.” The rest of the crew was clearly who he was addressing, and all left the warlord alone as he rose to his feet.

Starscream recognized this easily as Megatron walked over to him. “M- Master-” Megatron cut him off by grabbing the air commander by the throat.

“Let me make this explicitly clear, Starscream. I will not be questioned.” the warlord scowled. “And certainly not by you, who stood and watched the Decepticons grow from the ranks of the opposition. Were any of your other Seekers up to the task of your rank, I would have ripped you limb from limb millennia ago. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y- Yes, master…” Starscream choked against Megatron’s grip.

It was just then that Blast Off entered the bridge. “Lord Megatron.”

Megatron scowled and tossed Starscream to the deck as he looked at the Combaticon. “Tell me Blast Off; when I said ‘no interruptions’, what did you hear?”

“Forgive me My Lord, but Shockwave has just arrived from Cybertron. With his iteration of the Skyboom Shield for your approval.” Blast Off reported.

Megatron’s optics popped open and he smiled. “Excellent.” He strode after Blast Off to the SpaceBridge deck, with Starscream following close behind… though not so close as to invoke Megatron’s wrath again.

It only took them a moment to reach the SpaceBridge where they found Shockwave waiting with a large triangular shield. “As promised, Lord Megatron,” Shockwave said simply, handing the shield to the warlord.

Megatron smiled and locked the shield onto his arm, finding it to fit perfectly. “Most impressive, Shockwave. And exactly how many more times can you replicate it?”

“Regretfully, Lord Megatron, I was only able to produce enough of the alloy for this single shield,” Shockwave said simply, not actually sounding all that regretful.

“I should think it hardly matters, Lord Megatron,” Starscream said, attempting to make up for his earlier blunder. “After all, if every Decepticon soldier possessed weapons of this caliber, then the war would be over much too quickly. But if you and Prime are the only ones…”

Megatron almost scowled at his air commander, but then smiled at his logic. “Then that would only make my final victory over the Prime all the greater. A wise point for once, Starscream; you impress me sometimes. Not often, mind you.” Starscream sneered at that. “And what of the remaining component of the Omega Lock?”

“My Seekers are out searching for it as we speak, my lord,” Starscream answered.

“Good. Then if that is all, Shockwave, I wish to go prepare my shield for battle with Prime.” Megatron smiled as he walked off the SpaceBridge deck.

Starscream indicated to Blast Off with his head, prompting the Combaticon to leave. Once he was gone, Starscream turned back to Shockwave. “And what of your other project?”

“With no further distractions, it should be finished within the next few solar cycles,” Shockwave reported.

“Then please, do not allow me to keep you.” Starscream smiled, patting the scientist on the shoulder. “Return to your work.”

Shockwave nodded and walked back through the SpaceBridge. Starscream smiled as he deactivated the vortex. “It’s only a matter of time, Megatron.” he sneered to himself, ready to declare his conquest.

Aw Rats!

It didn’t take long for the Autobots to locate Rattrap; aside from Botanica, his were the only coordinates left in Airazor’s files, showing he was hiding out on an uninhabited island off the northwestern beach of Australia. It only took a few moments for Broadside – now in a fitting third form of a massive aircraft carrier – to carry Sunset, Twilight, and the Wreckers’ remaining flyers just off the island’s shore. “Yeah, this is the place alright.” Airazor nodded, sitting on Sunset’s shoulder as they looked out at the island.

“I can see why Rattrap chose this place, not a lot of ground for the Decepticons to cover and try to take his capsule,” Springer remarked in his chopper-form.

“And rats aren’t exactly the most social animals.” Twilight agreed. “Think Rattrap will be glad to see us?”

“Who knows with him?” Airazor shrugged. “We’d better check it out.”

“Right. Broadside, think you can get us any closer?” Sandstorm asked the ship.

“This is as good as it gets; otherwise I might beach myself on the sandbar.” Broadside returned.

“Guess we’re under our own power from here.” Rotorstorm shrugged. “Just hope we don’t get into any trouble out here.”

“I hope we do.” Whirl countered, already spinning his rotors.

“Safeties on, Whirl; that’s a friendly on that island.” Springer reminded as his rotors spun, Twilight and Sunset climbing into his cockpit. “Broadside, prep anti-air weapons and get ready to shoot down anything that gets in our way.”

“Understood.” Broadside grumbled as the rest of his team took off from his deck, flying toward the island.

“Spin those scanners, Wreckers; let’s see what we find,” Springer ordered, prompting all the sensors the Wreckers had to activate.

“I think I got something,” Rotorstorm reported. “Small energy signature; might be a Scraplet.”

“On an organic planet? Unlikely.” Sandstorm countered. “Hang on; I got it too.”

“Us too,” Twilight noted as she looked at her handheld sensor. “From the distortions, I’d say we found our rat.”

“We ain’t the only ones; we got one big momma incoming with a flock,” Whirl remarked as he spun around in the air. The whole team looked and saw Megatron flying toward the island in jet mode with a whole squadron of Seekers on his wing.

“Oh jeez. Broadside, get your aft up here; we’re gonna need more firepower!” Springer ordered. “That goes for you three too.”

“We’re on it.” Twilight nodded as Springer opened his side door, allowing the girls to leap out and transform, taking to the air on their boosters as Airazor soared alongside them.

“Let’s make this quick.” Broadside grumbled as he shrank down to a manageable bot-size and transformed to jet-mode, quickly taking to the air with the rest of his team and firing, but their blasts barely even scratched the Decepticons as they returned fire, knocking several of them off-balance.

“We need some serious support out here!” Springer remarked. “Sandstorm!”

“On it!” the VTOL nodded and turned on his coms. “Sandstorm to G.I. Joe; we need air support at our coordinates. The Cons are here.”

“I figured. Air support is already en route.” General Hawk replied before the line went dead.

“Triple-Changers on the ground; everyone else stay airborne!” Springer ordered as he began descending, Sandstorm and the girls following him down.

“Well, this is gonna be fun.” Broadside grumbled. “Us against Megatron and a Seeker wing.”

“I know; isn’t it great?!” Whirl smiled maniacally, laughing as he fired his guns indiscriminately at the Decepticons. That didn’t seem to do anything so he flew above one of the Seekers and transformed in mid-air, slashing its wing off with his claw before he moved on to do the same with several others.

On the ground, the rest of the team was more than a bit concerned as they saw Whirl do this. “Is he always like this?” asked Twilight.

“You just kinda learn to tune it out and get on with the mission.” Sandstorm shrugged in return. “Speaking of which, where’s our rat?”

Airazor had switched back to beast-mode and was soaring over the island, scanning for Rattrap’s spark with her optics until she locked onto something. “Got him.” Quickly she shot down to a tree branch and swooped up with a rat in her talons.

“Gah! Hey, watch it ya puffed-up chicken!” the rat struggled with an accent that almost sounded like he was from Boston.

“You know I can always drop you.” the falcon countered.

Rattrap seemed surprised to hear the falcon speak. “Airazor? Hey, birdy, it’s been a long time!” he smiled.

“Brought some friends along. And some enemies.” Airazor pointed out to the Decepticons in the air.

“Then how about we show ‘em what we can do?” Rattrap smiled.

“Thought you’d never ask. Airazor, Maximize!” The falcon screeched and transformed, allowing Rattrap to grab onto her foot as she flew.

“Rattrap, Maximize!” Rattrap squeaked loudly as his sides opened and his rodent head flipped onto his chest, revealing an almost bronze-like body wielding a small SMG. Rattrap smiled and fired madly at the Decepticons.

“Still got your capsule?” asked Airazor.

“You know it.” Rattrap smiled.

“Good. Then that’s our cue to leave.” Springer noted. “Soon as we get clear of the Cons.”

“We can handle that, Springer.” Ace remarked over the coms as a wing of Skystrikers flew into the area, an aircraft carrier larger than Broadside soon approaching.

“This is Admiral Keel-Haul; commander of the G.I. Joe ship USS Flagg.” an officer called over the coms. “Autobots, you are clear to evacuate; we’ll keep ya clear back to American shores.”

“Copy that Admiral; thank you.” Sandstorm reported. “Alright, you heard the man Wreckers; we’ve got our exfil. Move, move, move!” The whole squadron flew toward the ship, except for Whirl who was still having the time of his life slashing apart Seekers with his claws.

“Whirl, fall back; that’s an order!” Springer barked.

“Aw cmon, just a little longer!” Whirl asked, wanting more fun.

“Whirl…!” Springer warned.

“Oh alright fine!” Whirl fussed in annoyance, transforming to copter-mode and hovering toward the Flagg. “Just suck the fun out of everything, why don’t ya?”

“Flagg, we’re gonna need some heavy support to keep Megatron off our tail,” Springer remarked as the Skystrikers were blasted away by the warlord.

“I think we got something for that. Let me make a call.” Keel-Haul remarked. It only took a few minutes before the team heard a massive sonic boom and a large projectile hit Megatron square in the back, knocking him off-balance and nearly clear out of the sky.

“Whoa! What was that?!” asked Sunset.

“Unless I missed my guess, that was a railgun,” Whirl remarked, earning some intrigued looks from the organics. “What? I’ve got an ear for weapons.”

“And a good one at that!” Keel-Haul – an older man in an admiral’s uniform with a thin mustache – called to them over the sound of their rotors. “Yeah, that shell was fired from a few hundred leagues away and still hit the mark. That’s solid naval marksmanship for ya.”

“Hope it doesn’t take too long to reload, Admiral; cause we need to go right now.” Sandstorm reported as the Wreckers landed.

“Understood.” Keel-Haul nodded and turned on his commlink. “Shipwreck, get us goin’ north and prep the stealth field; I want as many leagues between us and Megatron as possible.”

“Aye-aye captain.” The ship slowly turned about as the railgun fired at Megatron again, this time blasting him clean out of the sky.

Megatron snarled as he stood up, seething as he saw his shield only intercepted a small amount of kinetic energy from the shells that had just hit him. “Soundwave, track that ship. Wherever it goes, I want to know.”

“Tracking vessel.” Soundwave reported. “Error; vessel has cloaked. Unable to track.”

“GRRAGH!” Megatron roared. “Decepticons, search all possible courses that ship may have taken. And bring me Springer’s head on a pike!”

Thankfully, the Autobots had planned that sort of thing and were swiftly GroundBridged from the deck of the Flagg back to the Ark where Optimus was waiting with the others. “Well done, Autobots.” Optimus nodded. “Now we need only race Megatron for one final capsule.”

“And I’ve got a good bet Botanica’s capsule will be the one holding the AllSpark,” Rainbow smirked as she watched Optimus activate the Matrix, opening the capsule and allowing a small metal ring to drop from it. “Looks like I win.”

“And it looks like we have our next stop set.” Cheetor smiled. “We just need to get the AllSpark and steal the other parts of the Lock back from the Cons, and we’re on easy street.”

“Sometimes that street ain’t as easy as the name makes it sound,” Ironhide warned.

He was right to issue that warning as a SpaceBridge opened through to Shockwave’s lab on Cybertron, and through it stepped Starscream. “I trust you have progress to report, Shockwave?”

The cyclops seemed a tad surprised to see the air commander but nodded. “Through careful trial and error, I have determined a precise energy wavelength required to imitate that of the Matrix of Leadership,” he reported.

“Excellent. Bring the prisoner; I wish for her to see the Decepticons’ great victory.” Starscream smiled. Shockwave relayed that order to his soldiers and two guards stepped into the lab with Botanica, who looked haggard and abused. Starscream couldn’t help but chuckle condescendingly. “My-my-my, whatever have you been inflicting on poor Botanica here, Shockwave?”

“You are as aware as I am that finding Eukarians off their planet has been rare since the war began.” Shockwave reminded. “And since most of them choose animals as their alternate forms, I wished to examine a floral Eukarian; see what made it tick, if you will.”

“Ah, I understand.” Starscream nodded, glancing at the Maximal. “I want you to watch, cyborg scum, as the Decepticons conquer the world. Activate the wavelength.”

“Lord Megatron should be present for this.” Shockwave insisted as he made his way to the SpaceBridge… only to be promptly shot in the back by Starscream.

The guards holding Botanica were surprised by this action, but this surprise gave way to pain as one of them was electrocuted and the other had his neck broken. They fell to the ground and revealed that Skywarp and Thundercracker had been the ones to do the deed. “Lord Megatron will never know about this. We’ll make sure of that.” Thundercracker assured.

“Oh, quite the contrary, brother.” Starscream smiled as he pressed a few buttons. “I fully intend for Lord Megatron to see this. My glorious rise to power as leader of the Decepticons.” With one last pull of a switch, a massive bolt of almost sickly-looking blue energy shot at the capsule and forced it to open, revealing a small orb of raw blue energy.

“At last. The power of the AllSpark is mine!” Starscream smiled and reached out his hands, allowing the AllSpark to fall into his hands, filling him with his power. “YES! YES! ALL HAIL STARSCREAM!” The raw power flowed through his body and he transformed into a silhouette that looked almost cosmic, and he was more than ready to test this power out by any means necessary.

Botanica had already struggled away in fear, through the SpaceBridge to the Nemesis. “Forgive me Alpha Trion; I have failed you.” And she knew that failure – no matter how much it wasn’t really her fault – would return to haunt her momentarily.

All Powerful

The crew of the Nemesis was decidedly surprised to find Botanica stumbling her way down the hallways, prompting two Vehicons to drag her before Megatron. “Lord Megatron, we found this Eukarian stowaway near the SpaceBridge deck.”

“Ah, you are the one called Botanica?” Megatron sneered. “I suppose it would not be too much to ask that you would be here to surrender the AllSpark?”

“Not even if I did have it.” the Maximal countered.

“What do you mean?” Megatron’s question was answered when the ship was suddenly thrown to the side. “Report!”

“Massive hull breach on Deck 7!” one soldier reported. “We’ve lost the port engine!”

“Lord Megatron, we’re under attack by- Gah!” the soldier on the coms suddenly went offline as the ship shook further.

“Decepticons, whatever comes through that door, this ship does not fall!” Megatron scowled as he readied his cannon.

The other soldiers readied their weapons, all aiming for the main door to the bridge which suddenly burst open. And the person they saw in the door shocked the whole bridge. “Hello, Megatron.”

“Starscream?! What is the meaning of this?!” the warlord asked.

“This is for every slight you’ve made against me.” Starscream smiled as he blasted Megatron straight in the arm, forcing him to fall back and clutch his arm in pain. “And this is to ring in my reign as leader of the Decepticons.” Another blast, this one straight to Megatron’s chest… which sent him into the helm controls, sending the Nemesis falling toward the ground. “Now… for my first act…” He shot out of the ship and flew away as the Nemesis tumbled into the mountains.

The Ark had been fairly quiet since Rattrap had joined the Autobots as most of the flyers had been searching the Amazon Jungle for Botanica, but the search hadn’t been going well as Rainbow reported when she returned from her shift at searching. “Still nothing, Optimus,” she reported.

“I suppose it would be too much to ask for results after only three days.” Elita shrugged.

“Frankly I find the whole exercise to be more than somewhat futile,” Perceptor remarked. “With over 2.5 million square miles of jungle to search for a single plant, the chances of successfully locating Botanica – even with a spark signature to trace – are miniscule.”

“Hate to say it, but he’s right.” Applejack nodded. “Tryin’ to find this gal is like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack… in a field of haystacks.”

“Then we’re gonna need a really big magnet,” Rhinox remarked. “I have samples from Botanica’s pollen. If I can program the sensors to track it, we won’t need to worry about the spark signature.”

“Wait-wait-wait, back up; did you say pollen?” asked Rainbow. “As in… y’know?”

“Eh, it’s pretty common among floral Eukarians. Options, y’know?” Rattrap shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna go ahead and add that to the list of things I didn’t need to hear today,” Twilight remarked in disgust.

It was at that moment that Teletraan toned. “Optimus, it’s General Hawk. And he is angry.”

Optimus glanced at Elita before he turned back to the computer. “Patch him through.”

The general’s image came up on the screen immediately. “Prime! I don’t know what you’re doing right now and to be quite frank, I don’t care! But you need to contain this situation right! Now!”

“What situation are you referring to, General?” Optimus asked in confusion.

“I think I know,” Sunset noted as she moved a news broadcast to the screen, showing Starscream hovering in robot-mode over the reflecting pool in Washington DC.

“Citizens of Earth, behold my great power and despair!” he yelled. “I am Starscream; ruler of the planet Cybertron and emperor of destruction! Any who dares stand against me will face complete and total annihilation!”

“Is he… bigger?” asked Pinkie. “And glowier?”

“The AllSpark…” Elita recognized in fear.

“What?! You mean Starscream of all bots beat us to Botanica?” asked Cheetor.

“I think the bigger problem here is how he got access to the AllSpark.” Sunset brought up. “I thought only the energy of the Matrix could open those capsules, so how did he manage it?”

“Not on his own, I bet you that much,” Wheeljack assured.

“Shockwave.” Perceptor scowled.

Optimus narrowed his optics in anger at this. “The Decepticons have once again perverted ancient powers to bring destruction.” he scowled. “We cannot allow this to continue any further.”

“Then we’re dealing with this?” asked Rainbow.

“Absolutely.” Red Alert nodded as he lowered the GroundBridge ring.

“Lock and load,” Ironhide ordered as he prepped his large blaster. Everyone else quickly grabbed an arsenal of high-caliber weapons and loaded themselves down. Once they were ready, the entire Autobot team rallied in front of the GroundBridge which Red Alert quickly activated.

“Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus roared, prompting the whole Autobot team to switch to vehicle mode and race through the portal, which dropped them on Highway 50 next to the reflecting pool where they saw what looked like a large National Guard team surrounding the pool with tanks and aircraft.

“Well, this oughtta be fun,” Rainbow remarked from her cockpit.

Just then, her radio turned on. “Unmarked Raptor, identify yourself or you will be treated as hostile.” an air-team commander ordered.

“Looks like we’re out of options, Optimus,” Rainbow remarked.

“So it would seem. Autobots, it would appear that if either of our species is to survive on this planet, it has become absolutely necessary to drop our cover.” Optimus ordered.

“Fine by me.” Jetfire smiled as he soared toward Starscream and swiftly transformed in midair, immediately going to battle-mode before he swung a hard right hook at Starscream’s face, but the superpowered Seeker barely even flinched and simply batted Jetfire down into the pool.

“Tell me that wasn’t Jetfire’s best Sunday punch,” Applejack asked seriously.

“Fraid so.” Ironhide countered.

“Then I guess we go all-out.” Hound smiled as he roared down to the side of the reflecting pool and transformed, letting loose against Starscream with all the guns he had mounted to his body as the others quickly followed his lead.

“What the hell are you?!” one of the soldiers asked seriously.

It was just then that another VAMP jeep raced up to the perimeter team and Duke stepped out. “They’re with me, sergeant; that’s all you need to know. Now clear the perimeter and leave this to the pros.”

“But-”

“Or I could call General Clayton Abernathy and ask him to give the same order; it’s your call.” That was enough motivation for the sergeant to move the human military away from the area. Duke was the last one to leave as he flashed Optimus a thumbs-up. “All you, Prime.”

“Many thanks, Duke.” Optimus nodded as he looked to Elita, who simply nodded. “Autobots, we are clear to engage at our fullest capabilities.”

“You heard him, ladies; no more holding back. Let him have it!” Elita ordered as the Autobots fired every ounce of munitions they could spare, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything, while every blast Starscream let loose from his supercharged null ray cannons against the Autobots dealt impressive damage.

Optimus barely managed to intercept numerous blasts with the Skyboom Shield, but it wasn’t enough. In fact, it didn’t take long before they were truly beaten; bashed away from Starscream and badly bruised as he flew toward the main city. “Ugh. Well, that was thoroughly humiliating.” Rainbow groaned as she pulled herself from a highway overpass support.

“For once Rainbow Dash, we are in complete agreement.” Rarity groaned. “I don’t suppose anyone has any ideas?”

“I have one.” The Autobots were surprised by that voice, until they saw Botanica approaching along the highway.

“He-hey Flower-Face.” Rattrap smiled happily. “I was wonderin’ when you’d show up.”

“Where’ve you been?” asked Cheetor.

“In the care of Shockwave.” Botanica groaned. “And unfortunately, he and Starscream aren’t the only Decepticons I’ve taken to associating with.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset’s question was answered when she looked behind Botanica and saw a massive group of Decepticons trudging along the highway, damaged but still intact. With Megatron at the head of the pack.

Optimus scowled and stood to face his old adversary. “Explain your presence here, Megatron,” he ordered.

“Save me the heroic bluster, Prime; I’m not here to fight,” Megatron assured. “I come with a proposition of a truce.”

War and Peace

“Truce? You’re kidding me, right?” Sunset asked seriously. “Why would we ever ally with you?”

“Because alone, neither of our factions stand a chance against Starscream,” Megatron said simply. “Have you never wondered why I kept Starscream around despite all his treachery?” The girls couldn’t deny that; they were certainly curious what purpose Starscream served to Megatron. “I keep him around because he is a competent warrior, whose bullying and intimidation keeps those below him in check.” Megatron looked up at his traitorous air commander as he blasted at various military vehicles around the reflecting pool. “His venomous aspirations define him as a model Decepticon; the type of deviant that will ensure our ultimate victory in this war. But it is the thought of him in charge that keeps me alert; reminds me to always keep a weapon close at hand before I lay down to recharge. You see, leadership is not something I fear losing… it is something I dread Starscream attaining.”

The Autobots were actually somewhat impressed by this rationale, but Sunset still wasn’t completely convinced. “He’s tellin’ the truth.” Applejack assured, forcing the team to believe what he said.

Optimus was the one to stand forward. “Very well, Megatron. We are allies, but if we should defeat Starscream and save the AllSpark, I ask we be left on equal footing.”

“I suppose that is the least I can do.” Megatron shrugged. “Very well. Upon our success, I will allow you access to the Omega Lock.” He turned to his forces and raised his cannons. “Decepticons! Attack!” The entire Decepticon legion quickly leaped into action and fired all their weapons on Starscream at once, and this time it seemed to do some damage.

“Autobots, fire!” Optimus roared, prompting every Autobot to fire their weapons again.

Sunset grew annoyed as this seemed to be taking too long. “We’re gonna need bigger weapons.” she pointed out.

“Agreed. Springer, how soon can you get the Xantium into position?” asked Jetfire.

“Only one way to find out,” Springer smirked. “Sandstorm, you’re with me; we’re gonna go get the ship.” Sandstorm nodded as the two Wreckers immediately switched to their aerial forms and flew north as fast as they could.

“A sound decision, human.” Megatron relented. “Soundwave, return to the Nemesis; inform the Constructicons that unless they can get the ship back in the air relatively soon, they will answer to me.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded and retreated through a GroundBridge.

“Speaking of the Constructicons, Lord Megatron, may I suggest a bit more muscle?” Onslaught recommended.

“Indeed, Onslaught,” Megatron smirked.

“You heard the boss! Combaticons, Combine!” Onslaught roared as he quickly united with his soldiers.

“Bruticus, armed for battle!” the Combiner roared as he charged at Starscream and unloaded every ounce of munitions he had.

“They’ve got the right idea. Stunticons, Combine!” Motormaster bellowed, prompting the Stunticons to transform to vehicle mode. Wildrider and Breakdown roared into position in front of Motormaster as the large rig roared toward them, slamming his bumper against theirs as large purple feet formed from their rear ends, Motormaster’s trailer unfolding into a massive torso before Dragstrip jumped and locked into place on his right shoulder, forming an arm and grabbing Dead End to lock into place on the left shoulder.

The massive combiner seized a bit once the large head with two massive horns formed – almost like it was glitching – but stood strong immediately. “Menasor, burning rubber!” it roared in a voice that sounded not too dissimilar from Motormaster’s as it drew a massive sword and charged to combat, firing massive bolts of energy from the cannons at its shoulders at Starscream.

“Man, why don’t we have anything like that?” asked Rainbow.

“The Autobots do have some Combiners, but unfortunately not all of them are with us right now,” Ironhide remarked.

“Hopefully we won’t need them.” Twilight shrugged as the firing continued.

“You think you can defeat me?!” Starscream roared, easily swatting Bruticus and Menasor away like flies. “I possess power greater than that of Primus himself! I will obliterate this world purely as a show of my power! Then I will destroy world after world until the universe accepts this one truth! I am the one true ruler of the cosmos! I am the Emperor of Destruction! All Hail Starscream!”

It was then that he was suddenly rocked by much more powerful blasts… from the Nemesis and the Xantium as they drifted into a low orbit over the city. “We’ll buy you all the time we can, Prime,” Springer reported over the coms. “But even Xantium’s weapons can’t handle this sort of mass bombardment for long.”

“Understood.” Optimus nodded, turning to his dark counterpart. “Megatron, we must end this quickly.”

“Agreed, Prime. And I have a plan to do just that.” Megatron smirked. “Focus the power of the Matrix through my cannon and the AllSpark will be released.”

“He must be restrained first.” Optimus scowled.

“Leave that to us.” Twilight smiled. “Rarity, grab his arms; I’ve got his legs.”

“Right away.” Rarity raised several crystals and tossed them, surrounding and restraining Starscream’s wrists as Twilight grabbed his ankles. They strained to hold his immense strength as Rarity’s crystals cracked. “We can’t hold him long.”

“Then it seems we have little time!” Megatron remarked as he held his cannon at the ready.

“Indeed. Now, let us light Earth’s darkest hour.” Optimus nodded as his chest opened, revealing the glory of the Matrix, which blasted into Megatron’s cannon and energized it fully into a bright blue glow.

“You are strong, Starscream. But behold… true power!” Megatron roared as he fired the massive surge of power from his cannon straight at his traitorous wing commander, the raw powerful energy of the Matrix seeming to burn away at Starscream’s chest until he fell free, allowing the AllSpark to float away as Starscream fell into the reflecting pool.

Rainbow quickly flew up and caught the AllSpark in her hands before she hovered back to the other Autobots. “So this is the source of all Cybertronian life in the universe, huh?”

“Is it weird that I thought it’d be a little more…?” Applejack struggled to find the right word as she looked at the orb.

“Grand?” suggested Rarity.

“Yeah, that.”

“I can see what you mean,” Rainbow remarked as she looked at the orb.

“You’re holding the spark of our life-giver Primus. That’s not grand enough for you?” Ironhide asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, when you say it like that…” Rainbow was interrupted as she saw Starscream – weakened and seriously beat up – drag himself from the reflecting pool.

He groaned as he looked up… though his optics immediately popped open in fear at the sight of Megatron standing over him. “L-L-Lord Megatron! I-” Megatron didn’t allow Starscream the chance to continue; he simply dropped the head of his flail on the Seeker’s head, shutting him up.

“If you dare attempt to give me any manner of excuse Starscream, I will make you wish you had never been forged.” Megatron scowled. “In the meantime, I believe I have a deal to keep. Nightbird, bring forth the components of the Omega Lock.”

“You cannot be serious, Lord Megatron,” Nightbird asked in irritation. “They are the ones that killed our homeworld.”

“Killed it? What’re you-Mmf!?” Rainbow was suddenly cut off when Jetfire clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Shush Rainbow, if she wants to find that out, she should do it on her own terms,” Jetfire whispered to her sharply.

“You have your orders, Nightbird.” Megatron scowled. “Unless your loyalty to me falters.”

Nightbird seemed surprised by this accusation and nodded lowly. “As you wish, my master.” She stepped over to a few Vehicon soldiers who handed her the components of the Omega Lock she’d stolen while the Autobots produced the one component they’d managed to save – the ring from Rattrap’s capsule – all of which were locked together to form a magnificent-looking construct.

“Whoa… so that’s the Omega Lock…” Twilight asked in awe.

“So how do we get the map?” asked Rainbow. Her question was answered when the crystal at the top of the Lock opened and the AllSpark flew from her hands into the crystal which closed and flashed a bright blue as pure data shot from two of its prongs and formed into small data drives which fell into Optimus and Megatron’s hands before it closed and suddenly shot from Earth into space.

“What the-? Where’s it going?” Sunset asked.

“Calculating trajectory… Destination: Cybertron.” Soundwave informed.

“Cybertron? Why’s it going there?” asked Rainbow.

“To await the Galaxy Keys,” Megatron concluded. “It would appear that this race is not yet over. But when it is, you will wish it had all ended here. Onslaught, Motormaster, escort Starscream to the brig. I shall attend to him personally.”

“Yes Lord Megatron.” the generals nodded and took Starscream by the arms as he kicked and screamed in fear while the Decepticons left through a GroundBridge to the Nemesis, which promptly soared away.

“We should probably leave too,” Ironhide noted. “Somehow I think the whole ‘Robots in Disguise’ thing just died.”

“Agreed,” Prowl noted bitterly.

“Optimus and I will handle this. The rest of you return to the Ark,” Elita ordered. And that was just what they did; the main force returned to the Ark as the two commanders appeared before in an emergency session of the United Nations where they explained everything, all vouched for and backed up by General Hawk.

After a tense five hours in the main hall, the governments of Earth had all agreed to allow the Autobots sanctuary on Earth until they managed to end the war. And now with the map to the Galaxy Keys in hand, the end of that war was in sight.

But what no one knew was that lightyears away, in a distant corner of the universe, a colossal form stirred... as if something had awakened it, and it was angry. And hungry.

Metal to the Pedal

After brokering peace with the governments of Earth, Optimus had returned to the problem of the Galaxy Keys, since the coordinates on the map were found to be encrypted. Fortunately, this encryption proved much easier to crack than that of the Iacon database as it only took him a few moments to decode and bring up the galactic coordinates of the first key.

“Wait a minute, I know those coordinates,” Sideswipe said, sounding almost nervous. “That’s Velocitron.”

“The planet where you used to go racing all the time?” asked Twilight.

“Racing is about all they do on Velocitron.” Sideswipe nodded. “Their entire society is based on speed; the more skilled you are on the racetrack, the higher your position in the planetary hierarchy.”

“The whole society is dedicated to showing how awesome you are at racing?” Rainbow recounted in excitement. “Sign me up!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, kid.” Sunstreaker countered. “Velocitron isn’t exactly the most… diverse planet in the galaxy.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“He means that all the racing is done on the ground,” Moonracer explained. “Velocitronians don’t trust flyers; think they’re always plotting against those on the ground.”

“So what, I need a new alt-mode?” asked Rainbow.

“Preferably something with wheels and a lot of horsepower.” Sideswipe nodded.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Sideswipe?” asked Lifeline. “You know the success probabilities of alt-mode reformatting are low.”

“How low?” asked Twilight.

“Less than 1 in 10.” Ratchet answered grimly, distressing Twilight.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Rainbow.

“Even before the war began, bots had been wanting to reformat their bodies; change their alt-modes to cheat their way into a more desirable caste of society.” Ratchet explained. “From what I’ve heard, it’s a physically taxing process.”

“Well, I don’t really think we have any other choice.” Rainbow shrugged. “Teletraan, bring up a list of the fastest street cars on Earth.” Teletraan did just that, and almost immediately, Rainbow’s optics locked onto the Hennessey Venom GT.

Rainbow smiled as she saw it. “Yeah, now we’re talking. Kit this baby out with every performance enhancer you can.” The car’s basic data improved by massive thresholds as its speed and torque were boosted. “Alright… here goes nothing.” Rainbow shrugged and took a few deep breaths to focus before she promptly scanned the car data on the screen.

Then it all happened at once; Rainbow screamed in intense pain as she doubled onto her knees as the plates on her body seemed to shift, tear and rebuild into different forms. The girls were all worried as they watched this display until finally it was finished and Rainbow looked better than new; a grille at her midriff, headlights, and fenders as her breastplate, front wheels in her shoulders, rear wheels in the backs of her shins and her wings were now in the form of car-doors… though she did still have powerful jets in her back with gold lightning bolts on it and her door-wings. Once Rainbow had gotten over the pain and rose to her feet, she smiled as she looked over her new form. “Oh-ho-ho-ho yeah, now we’re talkin’,” she smirked.

“Huh. Guess you got off lucky, kid.” Ratchet smiled as he quickly examined her. “I’ve never seen a bot switch alt-modes like that without it extinguishing their spark.”

“Uh… in that case, maybe we should give it a while before we deploy,” Sunset suggested. “Give Rainbow a chance to fully recover from the reformatting.”

“Are you kidding? I haven’t felt this great in ages.” Rainbow smiled. “I mean granted, I’ll miss being able to fly, but if I get to drive with the best of the best on another planet, then I’m in!”

“Be that as it may, I suggest you take it easy.” Ratchet assured. “We don’t know what lingering after-effects your reformatting might have on how either of your forms operate.”

“Actually, that gives me a bad idea.” Bumblebee realized as he looked at Rainbow. “Can you even transform now?”

Ratchet’s optics popped as he realized that was a good point. “He’s right. Can you transform?”

“Sure I can; watch,” Rainbow smirked and started to transform… but her breastplate only opened a few inches before it locked back into place. “Huh?” She put more effort into it and they opened a bit further as her wings closed but it still wasn’t enough. “Uh, I think something’s wrong.”

“The reformatting must’ve damaged your T-Cog.” Lifeline determined as she produced a scanner and went over Rainbow’s body.

“T-Cog?” asked Rarity.

“Is that anything like a T-Bone?” asked Pinkie.

“Not even remotely close.” Ratchet countered. “It’s a Cybertronian organ; it’s what allows us to scan alt-modes and transform in the first place.”

“So if it’s damaged, you’re stuck in one of your forms?” asked Spike.

“Yep.” Ironhide nodded. “I remember hearing reports after the Battle of Hell’s Point that Megatron’s T-Cog was so damaged he was stuck in tank-mode for two whole years.”

“Surely you jest.” Rarity remarked in surprise.

“I wish; those scouts were some of our most reliable,” Ironhide assured.

“Uh, can we get back to me, please?” Rainbow asked as she looked at Lifeline. “How’s my cog doing?”

“Well, the damage doesn’t look too severe; maybe only cosmetic,” she remarked. “Try transforming again.”

“Eh, third time’s the charm.” Rainbow shrugged and promptly attempted to transform. It was a strain at first, but finally, she transformed properly into her new car mode, the engine roaring. “Whoo-hoo-hoo! Listen to that baby purr!” She revved the engine a few times with a smirk, listening to it rev up.

“Man, what sort of package did you slam into this thing, Teletraan?” asked Sideswipe.

“I don’t care; it’s awesome!” Rainbow smirked… before she noticed something; her bot-mode’s right arm was sticking out of the side of the open door. “Oops.” Quickly she focused and pulled that arm back into her body, finishing the transformation. “There we go; now I’m good to go.”

“Not alone. You’ll need someone familiar with Velocitron to guide you.” Sideswipe insisted as he transformed next to her.

“And we obviously can’t leave you two alone without supervision.” Twilight insisted as she, Spike, Sunset, Sunstreaker, Bumblebee, Moonracer, and Lifeline all transformed as well, with Moonracer transforming into a bright teal Kawasaki Ninja 400 motorcycle.

“It appears our first away team has selected itself, Optimus,” Elita remarked.

“So it would seem,” Optimus noted, turning to the control console. “Wheeljack, activate the SpaceBridge.”

“Yes sir.” Wheeljack nodded and lowered the vortex, activating it to the coordinates of Velocitron.

“Looks like it’s my turn to say it,” Rainbow smirked as she shifted her new car mode into gear. “Autobots, Roll Out!” With that, the team raced through the vortex.

Unfortunately, the Autobots were not the only ones to discover the location of the first Galaxy Key; Soundwave had also had an exceedingly easy time decoding the coordinates, and as soon as the bridge crew saw them, one unit in particular was excited. “Velocitron? Ha-ha! Home sweet home, boys!” Motormaster laughed to the Stunticons, who all cheered and whooped as Motormaster approached Megatron. “Lord Megatron, it would truly honor us if you would allow the Stunticons to retrieve this Galaxy Key for you.”

“Be certain that is all you do on this planet, Motormaster.” Megatron scowled. “I’ve already had to clean up after the madness of a traitor in my crew; I do not need one of my combat teams growing distracted.”

“Understood, Lord Megatron. Rest assured we will not rest and we will not stop until the Galaxy Key is in our grasp.” Motormaster assured.

“Then go, before I change my mind,” Megatron ordered.

“Yes, my lord.” Motormaster nodded and turned to his team. “You heard him, Stunticons! Metal to the pedal; to Velocitron!” The Stunticons roared in agreement to that as they moved to the SpaceBridge.

Megatron only needed to cast a quick sidelong glance at Soundwave for him to get the message. “Ratbat, eject.” A purple data drive deployed from his chest and transformed into a bat-like being that fluttered around Soundwave.

“Operation: Observation.” Soundwave pointed after the Stunticons, allowing Ratbat to easily get the message and flap after the Stunticons to keep an eye on them… and keep tabs on all other activity on Velocitron.

Cathedral of Speed

It didn’t take long for the Stunticons to make it to one of the many interchanges on Velocitron’s highways, where they saw two vehicles thundering toward them. “Is that who I think it is?” asked Breakdown.

Wildrider zoomed in on the approaching vehicles and nodded as he saw them; a large green three-wheeled rocket car and a smaller red motorcycle. “Yep. Ransack and Crumplezone,” he noted.

“Looks like we’ll be recruiting some extra muscle while we’re here.” Dead End remarked flatly. “How wonderful.”

“Relax Dead End, we need all the help we can get; you know that,” Motormaster assured as he stepped forward, blocking the road as the two other vehicles approached them before they swiftly screeched to a stop and transformed in front of the large black truck-bot.

“Well, I’ll be fragged… Motormaster, is that you?” the motorcycle asked in happy surprise.

“Yep, it’s me Ransack.” Motormaster nodded as he approached. “And as of right now, you work for me.”

“Huh? Work for ya? Buddy, I don’t know where you get off, but-” Ransack didn’t get to finish that as Motormaster quickly pushed him to the road and stepped on his midsection.

“Hey!” Crumplezone snarled as he stepped forward, but stopped when the other Stunticons all raised their weapons and pointed them at him.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me. You work for me, or you’re scrap metal on the silicon flats.” Motormaster threatened.

“Yeah-yeah, alright fine.” Ransack agreed.

“Good. Now…” Motormaster nodded as he looked down at the motorcycle. “Where is the Galaxy Key?”

Once the team left the SpaceBridge, Rainbow smiled as she looked around. “I love this place already.” she smiled as she saw nothing around for miles except for desert salt flats and long open highways.

Twilight immediately brought up an analytic HUD on her windshield and started scanning the area. “Pretty arid planet. Why would Cybertronian life want to colonize it?” she asked.

“Don’t ask me; the colonies were founded millions of years before the war ever started.” Sunstreaker shrugged.

“And don’t worry; there is water here, it’s just underground,” Sideswipe assured. “I found that out the hard way when I took a wrong turn and ended up in a crater… which just happened to drain into an aquifer.”

“Nice,” Rainbow smirked as she roared toward the nearest on-ramp, with the others quickly following her.

Twilight continued her analysis and was impressed. “Hmm, this is a surprise. The atmosphere is suitable for organic life.”

“So we don’t need our rides’ life-support systems?” Sunset asked. “Great.” She rolled her window open a crack… but immediately rolled it back up when the wind on the road became too much. “Later.”

“Though there is something odd about it; there’s a bit more nitrogen in the atmosphere than on earth,” Twilight noted.

“That’d be one of the main ways Velocitronains make a living; nitrous farming,” Sideswipe remarked.

“Nitrous?” asked Rainbow excitedly. “As in ‘fuel injection supercharge’ nitrous?!”

“That’s the stuff.” Sideswipe smiled as he roared up next to Rainbow. “See, when racers on this planet get too old to stay on the track, they move out here to the desert to distill pure nitrous oxide so they can sell it to racers on the circuits. It’s one of the cornerstones of Velocitron’s economy; killer business really.”

“I hear there’s also a pretty lucrative mining outfit on this planet for Red Energon.” Lifeline remembered.

“Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.” Sideswipe smiled.

“Red Energon?” asked Twilight. “Energon comes in different colors?”

“Only a handful. And Red Energon is especially sought after on this planet.” Sideswipe explained. “It’s a pain in the tailpipe to harvest and takes forever to refine, but it’s worth it for the absurd boost in speed and power it can net you after a quick shot in the gas tank.”

“Sounds like my kinda drink. But I’m still plenty fast enough without it.” Rainbow smirked.

“Oh yeah? Wanna put your horsepower where your voicebox is?” Sideswipe smirked.

“Sideswipe, what are you doing?” asked Bumblebee.

“Hey, we’re on the racing capital of the universe, aren’t we?” Sideswipe returned. “I know we have a mission, but where’s the fun in being here if we don’t actually get to race?”

“Oh, you’re on!” Rainbow smiled as she roared ahead.

“Eat my dust!” Sideswipe yelled as he raced alongside her.

“Oh boy. Cmon, we’d better go make sure they don’t hurt themselves.” Sunset noted as she led the rest of the team after their speed demons.

They weren’t the only ones tearing up the roads of the planet, as miles away, a sleek red and white racecar roared along the highway amidst a massive block of racers. “I’m the top racer on this planet!” the car scowled in a female voice as she weaved in and out of traffic.

“Everyone here is plenty fast, but I’m the fastest bar none! Least of all him!” Her engine roared as she shot ahead along the highway… suddenly spotting a group on the road ahead. She smirked to herself as she looked at them. “Think you’re cool? Let’s see how cool you think you are when I run you down!” The racecar fired massive thrusters on her back and shot down the road toward the obstruction… until she finally saw who it was. “Holy-!” She nearly skidded out until she transformed into a gold-faced bot with her red cockpit for a breastplate, headlights as her feet, and her massive rocket-booster engine on her back, stopping right in front of Motormaster and his Stunticons.

“Well, here she is, boys; the great and glorious Override,” Motormaster smirked. “Greatest racer on all Velocitron… and former ruler of the planet.”

“Is that why you and your little posse came back after all these megacycles, Motormaster?” Override scowled. “To remind me of what I’ve lost?”

“No. We’re here to give you a chance to make the right call.” Motormaster said simply. “Now tell us; where is the Galaxy Key?”

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

“Cmon Motormaster, you know that’s not how we do things on Velocitron.” Override countered. “You want something, you gotta race for it. One-on-one.”

“You’re on!” Dragstrip assured as he promptly leaped forward and transformed to car mode. “Call it!”

Motormaster rolled his optics at his yellow soldier, but Override just smirked. “Three. Two. One. Burn rubber!” She promptly transformed and the two raced away down the highway, the other Stunticons quickly on their tails. “You’ve gotten faster, Dragstrip; I like that!”

“Faster than you!” Dragstrip roared as he raced onward.

“I don’t think so!” Override smiled as she raced ahead, flipping two massive engine thrusters off her back and firing them which sent her shooting along the road like a bullet.

“That the best you got?! Motormaster, turbo-pack!” Dragstrip yelled, prompting the large rig to launch something off his bed that latched to Dragstrip’s spoiler, revealed to be a massive turbo thruster that fired and sent Dragstrip roaring along the road. “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!!!!!!!!”

Finally, they were bumper-to-bumper as they neared a large arch, shooting under it at what looked like the same time before they skidded to a stop and transformed to bot-mode. “Yes! Yes! Yes, finally! I finally left you in the dust!” Dragstrip cheered. “I’m officially better than you, because I win!”

(Cut it)

“Settle, Dragstrip,” Motormaster ordered as he rolled up and transformed. “Check the screen.”

Sure enough, above on the arch was a large screen that showed just how close of a race it was… but clearly showed Override crossing the laser-marked finish line just before Dragstrip. “WHAT?! No! No-no-no-no-no; rematch! Right here, right now! This time it’s mine!”

“Not the priority.” Dead End countered.

“Right.” Motormaster agreed, turning to Override. “So about the Galaxy Key…”

“Yeah, never heard of it.” Override shrugged.

“I figured as much,” Motormaster said simply. “You always were lookin’ for a good race.”

“Isn’t that how she ended up with You-Know-Who?” Dead End remarked, earning one of the twin barrels of the blaster formed from Override’s thruster jammed in his face.

“Never bring him up again,” she warned.

“Settle, Override,” Motormaster assured as he pushed her blaster away from his soldier. “You may not know anything about the Key, but I know curiosity when I see it. Tell ya what; you outrace all of us and we’ll tell you everything you want to know about the Galaxy Key. When you’re ready for a rematch, meet us at the Bismuth Gulch ramp. Cmon boys.” The Stunticons all promptly transformed and drove away toward the gulch.

“Count on it.” Override smirked after them.

Soon enough, the Stunticons had explained what happened to their newest lackies at a large gorge glimmering with jagged bismuth crystals… and dotted with rusting wrecks. “You raced Override?” Crumplezone asked in surprise. “Wow. Did ya win?”

“Never mind that for now,” Motormaster ordered. “Point is she doesn’t know anything about what it is we’re here for, so it doesn’t matter.”

“So you lost,” Ransack remarked… just before Dragstrip grabbed him and dangled him over the gulch.

“Say that again.” he threatened.

Ransack and Crumplezone were both too terrified to say anything, but thankfully, the threatening was interrupted by Breakdown. “Wait a minute; what about Retrofit?”

“That old junker?” asked Dead End.

“Of course; he’s probably the oldest bot on the face of Velocitron. If anyone knows anything about the Key, it’s gotta be him.” Wildrider rationalized.

Dragstrip narrowed his optics at Ransack as he tossed him at Crumplezone, knocking them both into the sand. “Unless you two wanna end up as more wrecks in this gorge, I suggest you find Retrofit and break pieces off him until he talks.”

“R-Right.” Ransack and Crumplezone stammered in fear before they transformed and roared away.

“And the next time I race Override, I’ll win. That’s a fact.” Dragstrip scowled.

“Whatever helps you recharge, Dragstrip.” Dead End shrugged.

Soon enough, the Autobots’ team had found a high outcropping near the desert to look over the area. Sideswipe smirked as he saw a familiar purple vehicle in the sands below. “I don’t believe this. Dirtboss is still rollin’ around out there?”

“Who’s Dirtboss?” asked Spike.

“Planet’s champion off-road racer,” Sideswipe answered. “He’s only ever really seen by people at big planetary races; he trains pretty much all over the planet.”

“And who are those?” Sunset asked as she pointed down the other side of the ridge, indicating to two other very familiar vehicles roaring around the sands.

“Ugh. Ransack and Crumplezone.” Sideswipe groaned in annoyance. “Just a couple of bolt-headed bullies, probably lookin’ for someone to intimidate.”

“I’d say they found someone,” Twilight remarked as she saw Ransack and Crumplezone circling two other bots; one looked ancient with a black, silver, and gold color scheme and a metal beard and the other looked decidedly younger with a brighter blue color-scheme.

“Wait a sec, I know those guys; that’s Clocker and Retrofit,” Sideswipe remarked. “We gotta get down there and help ‘em out; they don’t stand a chance against those two goons.”

Twilight looked down and saw the older bot – whom she could only assume was Retrofit – raise a bludgeon that looked like it was formed from his engine block and deploy a large gold blade from it. “I dunno, Sideswipe; I think they can handle themselves.”

Ransack smirked as he and his partner transformed. “Well, well, well, looks like someone wants to play hardball.”

Crumplezone just chuckled. “Good, so do I. But I play for keeps.”

“Whaddaya say; Iron Whirlwind?” Ransack asked.

“Eh, I have more fun with Double Piledriver.” Crumplezone shrugged.

“Leave us alone!” Clocker yelled.

“Get lost, punk!” Ransack smirked and bashed the young bot away as he drew a large blaster while Crumplezone’s large engines flipped over his shoulders and aimed at Retrofit.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Rainbow smirked and suddenly leaped from the team’s perch and shot across the ground on the thruster on her back with her doors serving as wings before she tackled the two thugs away and hit the ground. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Retrofit nodded. “But who’re you?”

“She’s with me, old-timer,” Sideswipe replied as he roared over with the others.

“Well, looks like ol’ Motormaster isn’t the only guy comin’ back today,” Ransack smirked as he and Crumplezone found their feet.

“Motormaster?! He’s here too?” asked Sunset.

“Yeah, and I bet he’d pay a whole heap for your carcasses!” Ransack smirked as he and Crumplezone opened fire on the Autobots with one shot hitting the older bot and knocking him to the ground.

“Retrofit!” Clocker yelled and dove to his side.

“Oh, you wanna play rough huh? Alright then, let’s play!” Rainbow smirked and immediately transformed, roaring across the desert toward the two thugs. They both transformed and maintained their fire on Rainbow, until she sent herself into a spin and ended up knocking both the thugs off their line and straight into rock walls before she switched back to bot-mode.

“Nice moves, Rainbow!” Sunset smiled as Rainbow stumbled over. “You okay?”

“I’ll tell you when the spinning stops,” Rainbow remarked dizzily.

Ransack and Crumplezone both transformed and raised their weapons again, firing on the speedy Rainboom, but she quickly transformed back to car mode and roared toward them dodging every blast. “Time for some circular firing,” she smirked and shot straight between them… forcing them to accidentally shoot each other and knock themselves to the ground as Rainbow transformed to bot-mode again. “Give up?” The two goons – having apparently had enough – transformed and roared away across the desert. “Thought so.”

“Retrofit, please hang on!” Clocker begged as the old bot groaned on the sand.

“Step aside, Clocker; lemme take a look.” Lifeline insisted as she knelt beside the old bot to examine him.

“This is Lifeline; she’s our team medic.” Sideswipe introduced simply as the nurse examined Retrofit’s body.

“Damage doesn’t look too serious. Stabilizer’s out of alignment; you may feel a bit disoriented for a while, but some rest ought to be enough to help that.” Lifeline smiled as she stood up.

“Well thank you, young one. I don’t know what we’d have done without you.” Retrofit smiled as he propped himself up on his engine-block weapon. “And it’s certainly been a long time since we’ve seen you around here, Sideswipe.”

“What can I say? I’ve been busy these days.” Sideswipe shrugged.

“Not so busy that I can’t invite you back to the farm for a drink, I hope?” Retrofit smirked.

Sideswipe smirked. “That Engex swill you make? How could I refuse?”

“Well, cmon then.” Retrofit smirked as he transformed into a high-tech dragster and Clocker transformed into a convertible two-seater sports car which led the way as the others roared along behind them.

“So how do you know this guy?” Spike asked Sideswipe.

“Ah, we met once ages ago when I used to race on this planet regularly,” Sideswipe remembered. “Got sent flying off a track one time and ended up trashing his nitrous condenser. Had to work for him for about a month to pay off the damage.” He smirked and revved up next to Retrofit at this. “So how’ve things been since I left last time? Get any new stooges for the farm?”

“Matter of fact, I have.” Retrofit smiled. “But nothing anywhere near as clean as when you worked for me. This one’s my relative.”

“Your relative?” Sunset asked in surprise as they slowed down near an old farm and transformed to bot-mode.

“Seriously?” The group was surprised by a voice from around the corner of the farmhouse. “I thought this paintjob was something special, and now everyone’s got it.” The group was certainly surprised by the bot they saw; deep maroon with an orange hood with a gold wing design on his chest, dark gray shins and feet, and a large yellow spoiler on his back.

Retrofit just smiled “Sideswipe and company, let me introduce my nephew… Hot Rod.”

Author's Note

That's right; Hot Rod Skywalker reference just blew your mind. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, the Eurobeat shall intensify for the duration of the Velocitron Arc.

Rules of the Road

“Galaxy Key, eh?” The team had told Retrofit, Clocker, and Hot Rod about their mission to find the keys after the old bot poured them some Energon, and while Sideswipe had left a few things out, he was sure the message was received. “Well, sorry to say it son, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Aw come on Retrofit, you’re one of the oldest people on the planet,” Sideswipe remarked. “If you don’t know where it is, then no one does.”

“Well, maybe I can help ya more if ya tell me what it looks like.” Retrofit suggested.

“That’s the thing; we don’t know what it looks like either.” Sunset shrugged. “All we know is it’s an ancient relic of the Primes.”

“Primes? Well, if that’s the case, then it was probably somethin’ ol’ Amalgamous brought with him.” Retrofit remarked. “And even I’m not old enough to remember all that.”

“Who?” asked Rainbow.

“Amalgamous Prime; the Ninth of the Thirteen,” Bumblebee remembered. “And the progenitor of Transformation itself. The Covenant of Primus says that he possessed the original T-Cog and could shapeshift into just about anything he wanted.”

“So if the Key was brought to this planet by one of the Thirteen, it has to be something extremely important.” Twilight theorized.

“Well, whatever the case, I’m gonna help you guys find it.” Clocker assured.

“I’ll go too. Things have been going stagnant around here recently.” Hot Rod nodded as he stood up.

“Just make sure you don’t get in their way, boys.” Retrofit ordered.

“Relax, uncle; we’ll be fine.” Hot Rod assured. “In fact, I think I know just the bot to talk to first.”

“Oh great.” Sideswipe groaned quietly.

Spike noticed this and looked up at him. “What’s wrong, Sideswipe?”

“I think I know who Hot Rod’s talking about, and I really don’t want to see them right now,” he replied.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of options.” Spike returned.

Hot Rod smiled as he led the group out of the small farmhouse. “Cmon guys, let’s burn rubber.” Quickly, he transformed into a sleek supercar with long chrome-plated side pipes and shot out toward the road with the rest of the team close behind him.

Moonracer laughed as she weaved her way between her teammates. “Whoo-hoo! Man, I love this place! Wish I’d come here sooner!”

“I know, right?! Sometimes, I used to just stay out here for months burning fuel,” Sideswipe smirked as he raced alongside her.

“Uh, we got company up ahead,” Sunset remarked, pointing up toward a massive construct closing toward the team along the road. “Is that trouble?”

“Pfft. Only when it’s not around.” Hot Rod smirked. “Those things are all over the planet; they fix and maintain the roads. We couldn’t get around half as well without ‘em.”

The team’s engines echoed as they thundered beneath the repair machine, letting them really see how big it was. “Man, this beast is huge!” Rainbow remarked.

“You don’t have stuff like this back on your planet?” Clocker asked.

“We don’t even have roads like this.” Rainbow smiled.

“So where’s this person you want us to meet, Hot Rod?” asked Sunset.

“See that mesa up ahead?” Hot Rod asked, directing the team’s attention to it. “That’s the Champion’s Track; a private practice track for the fastest racer on Velocitron. If he’s anywhere, he’s up there.”

Sideswipe seemed surprised by his choice of words there. “‘He’?”

“Yeah, he. Y’know, Blurr.” Hot Rod remarked.

That was what made Sideswipe slam on the brakes and screech to a stop in the middle of the road before he transformed, prompting everyone else to stop and transform to bot-mode as they looked at him in confusion. “Blurr?! That motormouth is in charge of Velocitron now?!”

“He has been for the last few thousand years.” Hot Rod remarked. “Where have you been?”

“When did he win the title? What race?!” Sideswipe asked seriously.

“The 536th Planet Cup.” Hot Rod replied, now getting a bit nervous.

“Are you kidding me?!” Sideswipe asked angrily as he stomped to the side of the road. “Ugh… I already knew she was gonna kill me, but this…!”

“Whoa Sideswipe, rev it down,” Bumblebee said seriously. “What’s your damage?”

“Ugh, forget it. Cmon, let’s move.” Quickly Sideswipe transformed and raced onward toward the Champion’s Track.

“What’s his deal?” asked Rainbow.

“Search me. But he’s right about one thing; this Blurr guy isn’t gonna wait forever.” Bumblebee noted.

“Blurr barely waits at all; he talks almost as fast as he moves.” Hot Rod remarked.

And soon enough, the team would learn just how true that was; on the track at the top of the mesa, a bright blue streamlined bot – clearly Blurr – was talking to the Stunticons. “Look-buddy-I-don’t-know-what-I-can-tell-you-that-I-haven’t-already-told-you;-I-don’t-know-anything-about-this-Galaxy-Key-thing;-if-it-isn’t-a-race-I’m-not-interested.”

“Blurr please, be reasonable; my new boss can be very reasonable.” Motormaster negotiated. “You help us find the key, Megatron will give you rewards greater than anything you could win in a race.”

“There-isn’t-much-in-the-universe-better-than-the-rewards-you-get-from-races-here-Motormaster-you-know-that-better-than-anyone-but-if-your-boss-thinks-he-can-reward-me-better-than-a -race-you-have-my-attention.” Blurr said swiftly.

At this point, Sideswipe arrived at the entrance to the track and saw this going on. “Oh great. Another race I’m late to,” he remarked. “As if I didn’t have enough problems.”

“Name your price,” Motormaster said simply.

“I-certainly-would-name-my-price-except-my-price-would-be-the-Planet-Cup-and-nothing-in-the-universe-is-more-valuable-than-the-Planet-Cup;-it’s-just-impossible-impossible-impossible!” Blurr countered.

“Planet Cup?” Motormaster asked in confusion.

Then Dragstrip snapped his fingers. “Wait a second, that’s it!” he said and zipped to Blurr’s side. “Okay Blurr, if you won the Planet Cup, then lead the way.”

“Absolutely-positively-but-there’s-one-problem;-what’s-your-hurry?-I-know-this-place-is-the-racing-capital-of-the-universe-but-why-in-such-a-rush-to-see-the-Planet-Cup?” Blurr asked.

“The Autobots, of course. They’re nothing but criminals here to steal the Planet Cup.” Dragstrip assured. “They want nothing more than to conquer the universe. You wanna know why we haven’t been back here in so long? It’s because the Autobots started a war on Cybertron and we were conscripted to fight against them in it.”

“Well-that-certainly-sounds-bad-really-bad-super-bad-but-it’s-not-my-problem-you-wanna-know-my-problem-I-can’t-show-you-the-Planet-Cup-unless-you-beat-me-in-a-race;-you-know-the-rules.” Blurr explained.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

“Alright, you’re on.” Dragstrip smiled and transformed. Blurr smiled and transformed as well, into a super-sleek racecar that slid right next to Dragstrip at the lights. “Three laps. I win, you hand over the Cup.”

“Alright-done-deal-good-luck-may-the-best-bot-win-and-all-that.” Blurr nodded.

“Oh, I intend to.” Dragstrip smirked as the lights on the arch over the track counted down.

“So do I!” Sideswipe yelled as he transformed and roared past the light just as it turned green with Blurr and Dragstrip right behind him.

“Sideswipe! I almost forgot how much you loved this planet!” Dragstrip smiled. “Don’t let him win, Blurr; he’s one of those warlords I warned you about!”

“Oh, I’m the warlord?! Pfft, yeah right; and you’re the greatest racer in the universe.” Sideswipe smirked.

“It’s always nice to have some validation.” Dragstrip smiled.

“SARCASM, DUDE!” Sideswipe growled as he roared ahead. Blurr raced onward to keep up with him, leaving Dragstrip in the dust.

“Oh no you don’t!” he snarled as he fired a tank of nitrous into his engine. “I refuse to lose!” He shot ahead, easily catching up to his opponents as the other Stunticons cheered him on from the side of the track.

It was at about this time that the rest of Sideswipe’s team arrived at the track and watched it. “What the heck is going on here?” asked Twilight.

“That’s what I’d like to know.” Hot Rod remarked. “Uncle Retrofit told me all about Sideswipe, but who’re those guys?”

Sunstreaker looked and his optics popped when he saw Motormaster. “The Stunticons!” he yelled and leaped onto the track weapons at the ready.

“Bro, move!” Sideswipe yelled over the coms before he raced through, knocking Sunstreaker clean off his feet and straight into the wall.

“Ugh. Well, that was embarrassing.” Sunstreaker groaned.

“Sideswipe, what’s going on?” asked Bumblebee.

“I figured out what the Galaxy Key is; it’s the Planet Cup, the greatest racing trophy on Velocitron,” Sideswipe explained quickly. “Blurr has it right now and if Dragstrip wins, the Stunticons get it.”

“But if you win, we get it.” Rainbow realized. “Don’t you dare stop until you win, Sideswipe!”

“Oh, I don’t intend to,” Sideswipe smirked as he saw Dragstrip drifting off his line… before he hit the wall and started scraping it. “Comin’ through!” He raced ahead of the yellow formula car and went bumper-to-bumper with Blurr into the last lap.

“No! That cup is mine!” Dragstrip roared, but kept going into the wall.

Moonracer was keeping an eye on things around the track until she spotted something near the far wall. “Uh-oh. Uh, I think we got trouble.” She was right to think that; she’d just spotted Ransack and Crumplezone.

“If Dragstrip doesn’t win this, he’s gonna be ticked.” Ransack pointed out.

“Then I guess we’d better make sure he wins.” Crumplezone smiled as the racers shot under the arch.

“Last lap! Last chance to pass him and win that cup!” Sideswipe smirked as he roared around the track. He drafted behind Blurr for a while before he finally found an opening and slingshot himself around Blurr. “Ha-ha-ha! See ya at the finish line, Blurr!” He roared onward toward the arch… right before he saw Crumplezone jump into the road and fire two massive projectiles of wind from his jet engines. “Oh scrap!” Sideswipe knew that he’d lose the race if he dodged, but he also knew he’d be scrap if he didn’t move. “Ugh, dammit!” He slammed on the brakes and skidded to the side of the track to avoid the missiles as Blurr shot across the line.

(Cut it)

“Yep, that’s some good cheatin’,” Crumplezone smirked as he and Ransack chuckled to each other… but this chuckling subsided as soon as Dragstrip slammed into them both and drove them toward the exit.

“You idiots think I need your help to win?! I should scrap you right now!” he yelled as he leaped off the side of the track and down the side of the mountain, quickly followed by his fellow Stunticons who appeared greatly annoyed.

“Well… that happened,” Twilight remarked as Sideswipe and Blurr roared over.

“You-did-good-out-there-Sideswipe-was-it?-Sorry-I’m-really-bad-at-names-don’t-have-much-of-a-short-term-memory-high-speed-collisions’ll-do-that-information-goes-in-but-sometimes-it-doesn’t-stick.” Blurr rambled. “Anyway-you-did-good-not-great-but-good;-probably-would’ve-done-better-if-those-two-hadn’t-horned-in.”

“Thanks, Blurr,” Sideswipe said almost bitterly. “But listen, we really need to talk about the Planet Cup.”

“Everyone’s-got-the-Planet-Cup-on-their-minds-today-not-that-I-can-blame-them-it-is-a-really-special-trophy-but-if-you-want-to-talk-about-the-Planet-Cup-it’ll-have-to-wait-for-our-next-race-stop-by-when-you’re-healed-up-from-this-one-hope-to-see-you-soon!” With that, Blurr shot away.

“Man, you weren’t kidding when you said he talks fast,” Sunset remarked to Hot Rod.

“You alright, Sideswipe?” asked Lifeline.

“Eh, the only major damage was to my pride.” Sideswipe shrugged.

“Why’d you do that, Sideswipe?” Sunstreaker asked seriously. “I might not know as much about this planet as you, but I know Dragstrip didn’t stand a chance against Blurr, so why’d you get in that race in the first place?”

“You heard me earlier; the Galaxy Key is the greatest trophy on Velocitron,” Sideswipe answered. “If we want it, we’ll need to beat Blurr sooner or later; I just figured it was worth the risk now.”

“Alright, that’s fair. So how about now, we address your reaction to Blurr being the champion of the planet?” asked Sunset.

“Because last time I was here, Blurr wasn’t the champion,” Sideswipe said simply. “I didn’t expect him to be here.”

“Then who were you expecting?” asked Twilight.

“Me.” That voice surprised the group as they looked and saw Override nearby.

“No fraggin’ way; Override?!” Hot Rod said gleefully. “Oh man, I’m geeking out!”

Sideswipe just stood up and walked over to Override. “Hey Override,” he said simply. “Listen, I-” He couldn’t finish his sentence as Override just slapped him across the faceplate.

“Save it. You’ve got some nerve coming back here after what you did.” she threatened. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get off Velocitron and never come back. Otherwise, you’ll have to answer to me.” With that, she transformed and roared away.

“Uh… what was that about?” asked Rainbow. Sideswipe didn’t respond; he just transformed and drove away in the opposite direction. “Wha- Hey! Sideswipe!”

“Okay, does anyone have any idea what’s going on here anymore?” asked Twilight.

“I wish. I’m pretty sure the only way we can be sure is from Sideswipe.” Sunset remarked. “We’d better find him. Fast.”

“There’s only one place he could be going; it’s the most popular bar on Velocitron. Follow me.” Hot Rod ordered and transformed, roaring down the road after Sideswipe with the rest of the team on his fenders.

Elsewhere, Dragstrip had tied Ransack and Crumplezone up in scrap metal and was dangling them over a particularly deep part of the Bismuth Gulch, ready to cut them loose at any time. “Let me make this as transparently clear to you as possible; when I fight, I cheat. When I talk, I lie. When I date, I two-time. But when I race, I win. And when I win, I. Win. Clean. If you two idiots want to cheat at races I’m in, cheat for yourselves. But if you ever think for even half an attosecond of cheating either for me or against me, I will personally cut out your T-Cogs. And when I do it… it’ll be slow and painful.” He tossed them aside away from the gulch and blasted them free of the metal they were tied in. “Now unless you wanna be scrapped, go find out when the next Planet Cup race is and enter the Stunticons. Pull as much more muscle as you want, but I take priority. I get pole position.” The two goons were still laying there, terrified. “Well?! GO!” With that, the two goons transformed and raced away as fast as they could.

The other Stunticons had seen everything and were staring at Dragstrip in what looked like terror. “Okay, just gonna say it; if it’s between him and you, I’d pick you as our leader in a spark-beat Motormaster.” Breakdown said simply.

“Agreed.” the other three Stunticons nodded.

“Nice to feel needed.” Motormaster shrugged. This would be one race to remember.

Stories

The massive capital of Velocitron – Crater City – was massive with sprawling roads crisscrossing between buildings just like on the rest of the planet, with other racers dotting the streets. “Man, why is everyone packed into this one place?” Sunset asked as they drove down the main street.

“This is where Amalgamous Prime’s ship the Navitas landed when Velocitron was first colonized.” Clocker explained. “It’s something of a holy site these days; no matter where you are on the planet, every local makes a pilgrimage here at some point in their lives.”

“And in Sideswipe’s case, it looks like his pilgrimage has led him straight to Piston’s.” Hot Rod remarked as they pulled up outside a bar… that looked like it had seen better days.

“Sheesh. This is the most popular place on the planet?” Rainbow asked as they all transformed.

“Don’t let appearances fool you; Piston’s got some of the best Engex on Velocitron.” Hot Rod assured. “C'mon, let’s go. First round’s on me.”

“Uh, Sideswipe?” Sunstreaker reminded.

“Right-right-right; Sideswipe first, then drinks. Sorry.” Hot Rod nodded as he led the group into the bar. The place was a bit dirty, and the patrons all looked pretty tough, but all in all, it seemed safe.

“Good thing we didn’t bring Rarity or Fluttershy; they wouldn’t last two minutes in this place,” Rainbow whispered to Twilight.

“I’m a little more worried about how long we’ll last.” Twilight countered.

“Hey!” the bartender called to the group. “We don’t allow their kind in here.”

“Excuse me?” Twilight asked.

“Your Mini-Con. It’ll have to wait outside.” the bartender ordered. “Health code.”

Spike was confused by this but wasn’t sure what to do until Smokescreen knelt next to him. “Watch the door. If you see the Stunticons, give us a holler.” Spike nodded and plodded outside, taking up a position at the door to the bar.

Hot Rod took the lead as he stepped over to the bartender. “Hey Piston. Is Sideswipe here?”

“In the back.” Piston pointed down the bar, indicating toward a back room.

“Thanks.” Hot Rod nodded his head over to the back room, where they saw Sideswipe slumped in a corner booth surrounded by empty glasses.

“Jeez dude, this is sad.” Moonracer shook her head.

“Not to mention dangerous.” Lifeline remarked as she counted the glasses. “Disregarding the obvious probability of a DUI incident, this is way too much Engex for one bot in one sitting; you’re gonna corrode your filters.”

“Leave me alone.” Sideswipe slurred drunkenly.

“Sideswipe, I seriously hate that you’re making me say this, but, well…” Sunstreaker shrugged as he sat across from his brother. “We both know how disappointed Mom and Dad would be.”

“Who cares; they’re dead.” Sideswipe slurred.

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous- will you just talk to us?” Rainbow asked seriously.

“What’s there to talk about?” Sideswipe asked.

“For starters, how about your relationship with Override? I think we all figured out there’s some history there.” Hot Rod shrugged. “Mind filling in some blanks?”

“Actually I do mind.” Sideswipe slurred, waving them away. “Now get lost. Piston, another round!”

Sunset rolled her optics and reached toward his arm, but before she could touch him, her horn suddenly started glowing, as did her eyes. When the light faded, Sunset shook her head and looked at him in surprise. “Woof. That’s rough, man.” Sideswipe looked at her in confusion, as did the others.

“What’s rough?” asked Bumblebee.

“What just happened?” asked Twilight.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. I think my Armor made my powers… wireless, I guess.” Sunset shrugged. “I can read people’s minds without needing to touch them.”

That earned a small reaction from Sideswipe. “You just read my mind?” he asked in annoyance, though he was clearly still blisteringly drunk.

“Yeah. And trust me; it gets easier.” Sunset assured. “But it helps if you talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” asked Bumblebee.

It only took a few seconds for Rainbow to connect the dots. “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, hang on a sec,” she said seriously as she pointed at Sideswipe. “You? And Override?”

The others were shocked, especially Hot Rod and Clocker. “No fraggin’ way; you’re pullin’ our axles!” Hot Rod brushed it off, though not totally believing his own words. “Right?”

“It was a lifetime ago,” Sideswipe assured, suddenly growing sober.

“Oh holy scrap, you’re serious.” Hot Rod realized instantly.

“You dated the world champ? How did that happen?” asked Bumblebee.

“It’s a long story.” Sideswipe shrugged.

“Yeah, apparently really long from what I could see,” Sunset remarked, still remembering the insane images she saw in his mind.

“Can you give us the short version?” asked Rainbow.

Sideswipe sighed as he looked into his drink. “It was a few years before the war started,” he remembered. “I was here racing on the highway like I usually do when she passed me. I wasn’t gonna take that sitting down, so I burned rubber after her. I knew I was fast enough, but my tires didn’t get the memo; blew one and went clean off the side of the road, ended up crashing headlong into one of Retrofit’s nitrous condensers.”

“Now that I remember.” Clocker nodded. “You ended up working for us for two years to pay for the replacement.”

“I raced in whatever free time I had from that job and ended up running into Override again.” Sideswipe shrugged. “She was impressed I managed to keep up as well as I could, I bought her a drink here, one thing led to another, and I ended up in her corner after a lot of her major wins.”

“Not including the 536th Planet Cup, I’m guessing?” Twilight asked.

“I should’ve been.” Sideswipe shrugged. “But that was when the war was really getting started. I had to go fight, and well… ever since Optimus ordered the termination of the SpaceBridge network, I haven’t made it back here until now.”

“So that’s why Override is so ticked at you? Because you left to fight a war?” asked Rainbow.

“It’s not that; hell, I never even told her about the war.” Sideswipe shrugged. “I didn’t tell her anything before I left. The flag was supposed to drop that freaking second and I just hightailed it to the SpaceBridge without a word.”

“Okay, that sounds like something a girl would get ticked off about.” Sunset nodded.

“So just go find her and make up with her somehow.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Weren’t you listening?!” Sideswipe scowled. “I didn’t tell her anything about why I left when I did, and she hates me for it. She doesn’t want me on her planet.”

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Moonracer remarked. “We already know that the Planet Cup is probably the Galaxy Key.”

“And we can’t let the Stunticons get their hands on it first.” Bumblebee agreed. “Which means one of us will have to race for it.”

“Against Blurr? Pfft, good luck.” Hot Rod smirked. “That guy’s almost impossible to outrace. Override’s been trying since he beat her at the 536th, but she’s only ever made it close.”

“He hasn’t raced me yet.” Rainbow smiled, earning surprised looks from the others. “What? There’s no way Override’s gonna allow Sideswipe to race, so we need an unknown on the track. And who’s the fastest unknown we have?” She pointed at herself with her thumbs. “This gal.”

“Is that really the best idea?” Smokescreen brought up. “We don’t know when the next race for the key will be, and even if we did, I’m not certain you’d have enough time to train for it.”

“You definitely don’t.” Hot Rod assured, earning confused looks from the others. “I’ve been preparing for the Planet Cup for months so I could race in it myself, so I know all about it, including when it is… and it’s in two weeks.”

Sideswipe shook his head. “There’s no way you can get ready for a race as big as the Planet Cup in two weeks,” he said to Rainbow.

“Wanna bet?” Rainbow asked with a smirk. “In fact, where does Override hang out?”

“The highways over the eastern silicon flats.” Hot Rod remembered, but suddenly realized what he’d just said. “No, wait; forget I said that-”

“Too late!” Rainbow shot out of the bar, transformed as soon as she hit the road, and raced out east as fast as her wheels could carry her.

“Agh, scrap metal!” Hot Rod scowled at himself.

“Come on, we’d better go make sure she doesn’t get herself killed out there somehow,” Twilight remarked as she led the others out to the road.

Lifeline was still worried as she looked at Sideswipe. “You good to drive, Sideswipe?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just… just let me know if we pass any exhaust checkpoints; I’ll cut my engine before I hit them.” Sideswipe instructed.

“Alright, but I’m keeping an eye on you just to be safe.” Lifeline assured.

“We both are.” Sunstreaker agreed as the team hit the road. Quickly, they all transformed – Spike included, once Twilight informed him of what was happening – and raced off after Rainbow, ready to make sure she didn’t do anything reckless. But since this was Rainbow Dash they were talking about, they knew foolishness was bound to come up as they all raced east.

And they were right; it only took Rainbow a few moments to make it out to the highways Hot Rod mentioned, and sure enough, there was Override firing at small rocky outcroppings on the flats from the road with her blaster. She transformed to bot mode and strode confidently over. “Target practice?”

Override glanced over her shoulder at the new racer and raised a metallic eyebrow. “Helps me think,” she said simply. “You were with Sideswipe earlier. Nice to see he’s moved on.”

“Pfft, as if. First off, he’s not my type. Second, even if he was, it wouldn’t matter; he’s still crazy for you.” Rainbow rebuked.

“He’s crazy, that’s for sure.” Override remarked. “Thinking he can come back to my highways after what he did.”

“I think you mean what he didn’t do.” Rainbow corrected. “He told me the whole thing.”

Override didn’t take her eyes off her target practice. “Nice to know he still remembers how he tore my spark out and burned it under his tire.”

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

“You really think that’s what he wanted?” Rainbow said seriously, earning a scowl from Override. “Tell ya what; you and me, one-on-one, right here, right now. And if you win, you can believe whatever you like about what happened between you and Sideswipe.”

Override smirked as she locked her blaster to her back. “You’re on.”

Rainbow smirked and quickly transformed to car mode, revving up her engine. “From here to the next checkpoint arch on three,” she instructed as Override transformed next to her. “One- three, go!” She slammed her foot on the gas and peeled out ahead of Override… who didn’t even move for a few seconds before she fired her thrusters and shot after Rainbow, catching up in a matter of seconds, just in time for the rest of the group to quickly catch up, with Sideswipe bringing up the rear. “What took you so long, Override; bad ignition?”

“No, I just figured you needed a headstart.” Override smirked.

“Bad idea to underestimate me, sister,” Rainbow smirked as she fired a hit of nitro into her engine which sent her flying down the road.

“Is that the best you’ve got, kid? What’s Sideswipe see in you?” Override smirked as she fired her thrusters and shot ahead like a rocket.

Rainbow just snarled as she forced her foot further down on the accelerator. “C'mon Rainbow, you cannot lose like this!” she assured herself. “Just push it further and you’ve got it! C'mon, think of something!” Her Geode flashed around her neck as if trying to tell her something… and she figured out exactly what that was when a button appeared on her console… emblazoned with a rocket exhaust. “Now we’re talkin’!” She slammed on the button and almost immediately, the back panels under her tail lights opened up and revealed massive rocket boosters, which fired and shot her down the road. “AWWWWWESOOOOOOOME!!!” she yelled over the g’s as she shot past Override before she could blink.

“What?!” she yelled in shock.

“Whoa! Since when could Rainbow do that?” asked Bumblebee.

“All I know is she’s out of control!” Twilight was right; Rainbow was going too fast to steer safely.

Then it all happened at once; her engine started sparking and the rockets burst, sending her skidding out of control, straight through a wall. Quickly she tried to transform and save this before she hit the ground, but too late; she slammed into a massive sand dune on the side of the highway, smashing her face against the steering wheel. “OW!”

(Cut it)

The others all skidded to a stop at the broken wall and transformed, jumping down to check on her. “Rainbow, are you okay?!” asked Sunset.

“Ugh, I think so.” Rainbow groaned; she definitely felt the airbag in her face… but was definitely grossed out when she saw the blood stain on it from her face. Quickly she checked in the mirror and saw a fairly nasty gash right in the middle of her forehead. “Oh, I’m gonna feel that tomorrow.”

“Can you transform?” asked Hot Rod.

“I can try.” Rainbow shrugged, feeling a painful pull in her shoulder when she did. “Gah. Okay, you got it, girl.” She took a deep breath and focused on her T-Cog, quickly transforming back into bot mode, at which point she doubled over. “Ohhh, everything hurts.” She groaned as she slumped into Bumblebee’s arms.

“I gotcha,” he assured as he laid her down in the sand.

“You got spunk, kid; I respect that.” Override smiled. “Get a tune-up and we’ll finish up that bet.”

“You’re on,” Rainbow smirked back at the racer as she raced away. She groaned as she grabbed her arm in pain, looking up at Hot Rod. “You know a good body shop on this dust ball?”

“Retrofit knows his way around an engine like no one else on Velocitron.” Hot Rod assured. “When he gets done, you’re gonna be flyin’.”

“Good. You do that, I’m gonna rest up.” Rainbow remarked.

“Rest up? What’re ya talkin’ about; we’re gonna be workin’ on you.” Hot Rod remarked.

“Uh… yeah. So now’s probably a good time to tell you that we’re not your typical bots.” Sunset shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clocker asked in confusion. Sunset sighed as she pressed her button and shifted out of her bot form, shocking the two bots.

“Surprise…” she said halfheartedly, knowing this would be difficult to explain.

Planet Cup First Leg

In a secret bunker in the American interior, Cobra Commander was resting on the throne he’d set up for himself when one of his lieutenants walked to his side. “Speak, Black Out.” the Commander said simply.

The former G.I. Joe sniper saluted as he reported. “Major Bludd and his team just reported in, sir; they found something at the coordinates Blitzwing gave us. Destro’s already getting his Iron Grenadiers geared up for excavation, but he wants to make it fast before Megatron catches wind and sends the Constructicons.”

“Give him clearance.” Cobra Commander said in what seemed like annoyance.

“Yes sir.” Black Out saluted and started away… before he suddenly stopped. “Sir, I hate to question your orders, but is this really the best course of action? I mean, going behind the back of a guy like Megatron?”

“The Decepticons are the greatest threat Cobra has faced since its foundation; greater even than G.I. Joe.” Cobra Commander assured. “And to call the doubts I harbor regarding whether Megatron will keep his word and recognize Cobra’s control over Earth ‘substantial’ would be a gross understatement. Therefore, whatever Cybertronian weapons on Earth he wants, I want more. Do I make myself clear?”

“Explicitly, sir.” Black Out nodded and stepped away.

The sides of the highways were crammed with stands for at least five miles, all crammed with Velocitronians roaring with cheers as the race of the galaxy got underway. “Femmes and mechs of Velocitron, welcome to this; the 600th Planet Cup, where the best racers in the world drive to survive and prove who is the fastest!” The crowd cheered even louder at that as engines roared on the track. “This may very well be the largest and fastest Planet Cup challenge in history, and here comes our reigning champion now; the fastest racer in the quadrant who talks as fast as he moves, the Cobalt Streak himself; Blurr!” Blurr roared to the line and transformed waving to the crowd.

“And here’s the most recent runner-up to the title; Blurr’s longest-recorded rival and champion of thousands of stellar cycles ago; Override!” The crowd cheered her as well, but she remained in her vehicle mode, simply eyeing Blurr with a look of disdain from her cockpit.

“Another local favorite’s coming in; the bad boy of the Beryllium Baja, Dirt Boss!” The off-roader roared as he rumbled up alongside Override. “And here come two more colorful characters from Crater City; Crumplezone and his partner-in-grime Ransack!”

“Hey, I got top billin’ here, bolt-brain!” Ransack yelled, but the mediator ignored him.

“And here’s another band from the desert; an old, old, really old veteran of the racecourses of Velocitron; Retrofit. And it looks like he’s brought the whole family; his old farmhand Clocker and his nephew Hot Rod!” The crowd cheered for the three as they rumbled up to the line, Hot Rod especially enjoying the attention as he revved hard enough for jets of flame to blast out of his exhaust.

“And here come some old favorites; gone for millennia and back to tear up the track all over again, it’s the Stunticons; Motormaster, Dead End, Wildrider, Breakdown, and Dragstrip!” The Stunticons roared as they rumbled to the track, more than happy to be driving in such a big race again.

“And it looks like we’ve got some newcomers in the blocks tonight from Cybertron and some dirtball planet I’ve never heard of called ‘Earth’!” the announcer smiled as the Autobots rumbled to the line. “Quite the bunch of names too. Let’s see; Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Bumblebee, Moonracer, Chromia, Elita-1, and… well, how about that? We’ve got a Prime in the blocks tonight, folks; Optimus Prime himself!” The crowd erupted into intense cheers as Optimus rumbled into the blocks.

“Wait, this guy’s a Prime?!” Ransack remarked in shock, quickly transforming and stomping over to Motormaster. “You guys never said anything about us goin’ up against a Prime!”

“Would it make any difference if we had?” asked Motormaster.

“Yeah; we never would’ve messed with him otherwise.” Ransack pointed out. “You know Primes; they’re great at everything!”

“Not Optimus; he doesn’t even know how to hook up Nos.” Dragstrip countered. “Now stop gripin’ and start revvin’.”

“Fine! But we’re gonna be talkin’ about this later!” Ransack growled as he returned to his block and transformed.

“Prime wasn’t supposed to be here.” Breakdown panicked. “Do we call Lord Megatron?”

“And look weak by asking for support to come to our own home colony? No.” Motormaster assured. “Besides, knowing Soundwave, he’s got one of his Mini-Cons watching us right now. Lord Megatron will know about this soon enough anyway.” He wasn’t wrong; Ratbat was very close-by, transmitting everything he saw straight back to the Nemesis.

“And here it is, folks, what this whole shebang is all about; in the hands of our planet’s fine racing command structure – the Supreme Turbo Committee – the greatest racing trophy in the universe; the Planet Cup!” Four small robots walked out onto the high stage above the line holding the massive, gold and red spiky trophy high above their heads on a pedestal.

Applejack couldn’t help but whistle in impressment. “Well, butter me up and call me a biscuit if that ain’t the mother of all trophies,” she remarked.

“Now you see why I was so sure about this?” Rainbow smirked over to Sunset and Twilight. “If that’s not the Galaxy Key, I don’t know what is.”

“Alright, alright; you get a gold star, Rainbow.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Let’s just hope my add-on to the plan works.”

“Forget that; those are the guys who run the Planet Cup?” asked Twilight, sounding almost unbelieving.

“Yep, that’s them,” Sideswipe said over his commlink from the pits with Sunstreaker and the rest of the team. “Roadhandler, Free Wheeler, Swindler, and Tailspin; four of the best non-professional racers on Velocitron and the guys behind this whole crazy race.”

“And it looks like Committee-Bot Roadhandler has something to say before we get started.” the announcer noted as the small yellow-and-red bot stepped forward.

“I have one last-minute regulation for this decade’s Planet Cup.” he bellowed in a voice more than a bit too loud for a small bot like him. “One of our newcomers has come forward and revealed that she and many of her fellows… are, in fact, organics.” This sent a feeling of shock through the stands and the blocks as Rainbow and the other girls climbed out of their cars, all wearing color-coordinated racing suits. “In accordance with their wishes for fair play and healthy competition, they have requested that all other racers use their holo-matter avatars for the duration of the race.”

“Organics?!” Override asked indignantly as she transformed. “Roadhandler, you cannot be serious! Organics have never survived a race on Velocitron, let alone the Planet Cup!”

“First time for everything, right?” Rainbow smirked.

“Last time I checked, Override, the rules are ours to change.” Free Wheeler countered, stepping forward to show he was an inverse of Roadhandler in terms of coloration. “We received an official request from an underdog and we’ve agreed to it by unanimous decision. You don’t like it; you know where the door is.”

The whole stadium gave an impressed “Ooh” at the challenge Free Wheeler had basically handed to Override, so she just scowled. “Fine,” she remarked and quickly transformed back into her car mode, projecting a holo-matter avatar of a red-haired humanoid woman wearing white and red in her cockpit.

Once he saw this from the pits, Sideswipe quickly transformed to car mode and projected his own avatar, quickly and quietly moving over to Override’s window, which he gently knocked on. Override didn’t seem to react, but he knew she noticed him. “Just like old times, huh?” he smirked. Override didn’t say anything; she just narrowed her avatar’s optics as the other racers all projected their own avatars in their cockpits. “So icebreaker’s not workin’; gotcha.” Sideswipe acknowledged.

“As soon as I win this race, I’m throwing you into the sun.” Override threatened simply.

“Babe, I get that you’re ticked, but… the whole reason I left was for the war,” Sideswipe assured. “I had to defend my home; protect my brother.”

“I could care less about why you left; I’m better off for it.” Override assured… though Sideswipe didn’t buy it for an instant.

“Are you?” he asked seriously; he could see something in her eyes that made him doubt what she said.

“Just get lost before I crush you here and now.” Override warned.

“Alright, alright.” Sideswipe relented and backed away from the car before disappearing. He returned to his vehicle form and quickly transformed, glancing across at Sunstreaker. “What do you say to a little intelligence-gathering side-mission?”

“Don’t you think your ex hates you enough without you prying into her personal life?” Sunstreaker asked seriously.

“It’ll take, like, two nano-cycles,” Sideswipe assured as he moved over to a console. “I just wanna check something.”

“And what would that be?” asked Ratchet.

“Before I left Velocitron for the war, Override had some sort of secret she wanted to share with me,” Sideswipe explained. “I just… wanna know what it was; maybe get some closure before we never see her again.”

“Alright, but when she shoves your own swords up your tailpipe, don’t come cryin’ to me.” Sunstreaker warned.

“Don’t worry; I won’t,” Sideswipe assured as he accessed the database he was looking for. “Same garage as always. Let’s see who she’s got in her corner nowadays.”

“Alright, it looks like all our competitors are set. Let’s head down and see if we can pick up any last-minute trash talk!” the announcer called out.

“You want trash talk? How about this; by the time we’re done, the only work the Stunticons are gonna find is in a demolition derby!” Rainbow yelled.

“You’re gonna be eatin’ those words along with my dust, ya organic scuzzball!” Dragstrip warned as his yellow-suited avatar revved his engine.

“Autobots, we know why we are here.” Optimus reminded. “If we lose here, the galaxy tips ever closer to oblivion. We must win.”

“Yes sir!” the Autobots all saluted from their cockpits.

Optimus gave special attention to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, remain in the rear for cover at the beginning; only make your move when you have the opening.”

“Understood.” Rainbow nodded and revved up.

“So are we supposed to win or just mess stuff up?” Crumplezone asked Ransack.

“Eh, whatever comes first.” Ransack shrugged.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

“And here it comes, folks; the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the First Flare of the Planet Cup!” the announcer yelled as the lights went to red. All the racers revved their engines as the light went to yellow and a small flare fell from the top of a high arch. The flare burst into green flames and immediately the racers peeled off the line in a massive storm of roaring engines. “And they’re off!”

Blurr was out to an early lead as predicted with Override close behind… and Dirt Boss on her bumper. But Rainbow had problems of her own. “Oh man, this isn’t good,” she remarked as she tugged on her shift stick.

“What’s wrong?” asked Bumblebee.

“My stick’s stuck; I can’t get out of second gear,” Rainbow remarked. “I gotta get up to speed.”

Hot Rod revved and pulled in front of Rainbow. “Draft behind me; the slipstream oughtta pull you.”

“Worth a try.” Rainbow shrugged and slid in behind Hot Rod, who quickly revved up and pulled ahead, the slipstream indeed pulling Rainbow close behind him. “Alright nice, just a little faster!” Once she was up to speed, Rainbow swiftly shifted straight to fifth gear and slammed on the gas. “Thanks, Hot Rod! Hot soup comin’ through!” She shot ahead of Hot Rod, but a quick blast of nitrous helped Hot Rod close the gap a bit.

“You think we got this?” Hot Rod asked.

“I know we do. They’ve got a heck of a lead on us, but I’ve got friends counting on me.” Rainbow smirked. “And one thing they all know? I never leave my friends hangin’. Even if I knock myself to pieces, I am not losing this race!”

“Well, don’t go to scrap just yet; this is just the qualifier.” Hot Rod reminded. “Top five or we’re gone.”

“Then let’s pick it up!” Rainbow smirked as she raced onward, honking at Override as she drove by. “Heads up, Override; objects in mirror are 20% cooler than they appear!”

“Hot oil comin’ through!” Hot Rod smiled as he raced right behind her.

“Not bad for an organic.” Override relented and powered up her thrusters. “Let’s see how you handle this!” Her rockets fired and she shot ahead. “If you drove as fast as you talked, you might have a chance here!”

“Oh, I drive a lot faster,” Rainbow assured as she raced onward.

“Is everything all right up there, Rainbow?” Ratchet asked over the coms.

“Can’t talk right now, doc; tryin’ to drive here.” Rainbow reminded.

“I just want an update. Any more problems?” Ratchet asked.

“Not as long as I keep my foot on the floor.” Rainbow shrugged as she pressed her foot harder into the gas pedal. “How’re things goin’ in my taillights?”

“Bout as well as ya might expect.” Applejack pointed out, though she could very easily make out Dragstrip swearing up a storm in the background of her transmission.

This was because Optimus and Elita were blocking the track ahead of the Stunticons and the others were closely bringing up the rear, boxing them in. “Wide load, Prime; move it!” Motormaster roared, honking loudly at the Autobot commanders.

“Sure you don’t wanna cheat just a little, Dragstrip?” Wildrider asked with a smirk.

“Grr! Fine, blow ‘em out of the way!” Dragstrip ordered.

“Thought you’d never ask!” Ransack smiled and armed his weapons.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Moonracer smiled as she raced up alongside Ransack, her avatar leaping from her bike for just long enough to kick Ransack’s avatar in the back of the head before she landed on her own bike.

“Grr! Okay, now I’m mad!” Ransack scowled.

“I warn you; you touch that bike and you’re scrap metal!” Rarity warned, a jagged field of crystals forming around her car as she drove closer.

“And barely ‘nuff worth salvage at that.” Applejack added as she followed along next to Rarity.

“C’mon, you really think we’re low enough to shoot a Prime in the back?” asked Motormaster.

“You tell me, Decepticon,” Bumblebee warned.

“Nah, we don’t shoot people in the back.” Wildrider smiled… before he suddenly spun around and started driving in reverse, large weapons flipping out of his doors. “It’s more fun to do it to their faces!” He opened fire and forced the rest of the team to swerve and avoid the blasts.

“Whoa, what’s going on back there?!” Rainbow asked in surprise.

“Ignore it; just keep driving!” Moonracer insisted as she quickly caught up with her and Hot Rod.

“Alright, here goes nothin’!” Rainbow shrugged and raced onward to catch up to the leaders. “Hey Dirt Boss, I’m gonna pass you now.”

“You ain’t got the pistons for that, kid.” Dirt Boss snarled.

“Burn!” Rainbow was more than a bit surprised to see Ransack and Crumplezone next to her. “Ha, pistons!”

“I don’t get it.” Crumplezone remarked.

“Wha-? How did you two get past Optimus?!” Rainbow asked.

“Same way the rest of us did!” Motormaster called as he and the other Stunticons roared up behind them. “Prime and his lady just went out for a spin.”

“Kinda like you!” Crumplezone laughed as he bashed into Rainbow’s fender, sending her skidding into Hot Rod and Dirt Boss, knocking all three of them into spins as the Stunticons roared ahead.

“Nice work, boys!” Motormaster smiled. “Alright team, let’s take this race!”

Rainbow and Hot Rod were still spinning until they finally managed to shift up and roar back into the race, leaving Dirt Boss spinning behind them as the other Autobots quickly caught up. “You okay, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.

“Just a little motion sick.” Rainbow groaned, trying her best to choke down her puke. “I’ll be fine.”

“Is she lucky or just that good?” asked Wildrider.

“Not gonna matter in a few more miles.” Dragstrip smirked as he roared ahead. “You’re mine, Override! You hear me?!”

(Next Track)

The Autobots all rallied and raced together as they watched the Stunticons roaring onward up ahead toward Override and Blurr. “It’s only a matter of time, Optimus. Something’s got to give and it’s probably going to be them.” Elita pointed out.

“Agreed. Autobots, maintain a tight formation. And be prepared for anything.” Optimus ordered.

“Yes sir!” the others all acknowledged.

Up ahead, the Stunticons roared over an overpass with Wildrider quickly falling back behind the others. “This oughtta slow ‘em down.” he smirked as his rear bumper opened, letting several small bombs tumble out and litter the road, promptly exploding and blowing the road to rubble as the Autobots drew closer.

“Uh, bridge is out! Ideas?!” Hot Rod asked.

“Indeed; floor it!” Rarity smiled, quickly raising a ramp with her crystals that looked just high enough to clear the gap.

“Nice one, Rarity!” Twilight smiled as the fastest of the team – Rainbow, Pinkie, Hot Rod, Clocker, Bumblebee, Sunset, and Moonracer – team all slammed on their accelerators, jumping the ramp over to the other side of the gorge as the rest of the team skidded into a drift around a side road, with Rarity letting the ramp disappear.

Dirt Boss saw the ramp disappear and appeared especially ticked off. “Time for the road less traveled.” he snarled and swerved off onto the dirt, rumbling down the mountain.

Below, he could clearly Ransack and Crumplezone on the road below with the Stunticons. “Hey cheaters~!” he yelled. “Think you can double-cross me!?”

“It wasn’t us, Dirt Boss! It was Wildrider!” Ransack assured as he pointed ahead to the Stunticon in question.

“What reason have those two ever given anyone to believe them?” Motormaster countered. That was good enough for Dirt Boss as he swiftly bashed Crumplezone and Ransack into the wall before he caught up with the Stunticons, the Autobots close behind.

At the line, the announcer smiled as he watched the racers close in. “Here it comes, folks; we have our lineup!” he called as Blurr and Override raced across the line nearly simultaneously. “Blurr wins the first leg; Override’s a close second, and they have no idea what’s been happening behind them!”

“Does it really matter?” Override smirked as she transformed and tromped off.

“And now the battle for the following positions is coming up!” the announcer roared as he watched Rainbow, Hot Rod, Dirt Boss, and Dragstrip all racing at once.

“Time to turn up the heat!” Rainbow smirked and fired her rocket thrusters, blasting ahead just before the others crossed the line.

“And our organic speed demon – one of the first to ever race for the Planet Cup – Rainbow Dash has taken third place!” the announcer called. “Followed by Dragstrip and Dirt Boss! We have our first round of qualifying racers!”

(Cut it)

The others all roared across the line and rumbled into their pits… with Ransack and Crumplezone rolling through in last, though the Autobots were more concerned with their own as Rainbow jumped out of her car. “HA!” she laughed. “First qualifier done and dusted! Planet Cup, here I come!”

“Cool your circuits there, Rainbow.” Hot Rod warned as he rumbled in next to her. “That’s just the first leg. You want to keep that qualifying position, you gotta earn it over the next few legs.”

“I know; that’s just gonna make it more fun,” Rainbow smirked.

“I admit it, that was a great performance out there.” Sunset smiled. “We really had them for a while there.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Rainbow smiled, looking over at Rarity. “And Rarity, that ramp? Genius.”

“I certainly try, darling.” Rarity smiled. “I’m only sorry we couldn’t all cross with you. At least then, we wouldn’t have to worry about Decepticons qualifying.”

“Eh, where’s the fun in it if it’s that easy?” Bumblebee shrugged.

“For now, we need to worry about making sure we’re all still prepped for the next leg.” Twilight pointed out.

“Agreed.” Optimus nodded, turning to the medics. “Ratchet, Hoist, ensure we are all optimized for the race as it proceeds.”

“With pleasure, Optimus.” Hoist nodded as the medics quickly examined the team’s vehicle modes.

As the teams worked, Rarity – who had expressed a desire to avoid this sort of grease monkey work before the race began – walked over to find Sideswipe sitting on his hood in avatar mode with a fairly distraught look on his face. “Is something wrong, Sideswipe?”

“You could say that.” he shrugged. “And before you ask, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Whenever my friends say that it usually means they really do need to talk about it.” she pointed out. “So… would you care to try again?”

Sideswipe sighed. “Well… Override wanted to tell me something before I left. And I just found out what.” Before Rarity could ask further, the avatar disappeared and Sideswipe’s engine roared to life, prompting Rarity to hop off his hood as he drove out of the garage.

“Whoa. What’s up his tailpipe?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy as she watched him drive out, wiping some oil off her hands and socket wrench with a rag.

“It’s… not for me to say.” Fluttershy shrugged simply, as she ran diagnostics from a small computer terminal next to Sunset’s car. Sunset just got suspicious; the last time Sideswipe was this cagey was when he was keeping his past relationship with Override from the group. Naturally, she suspected something similar this time, so she climbed into her car and tried to focus on using her telepathy, but she couldn’t get anything.

“Hm. Must have a range limit.” she surmised, easily figuring out that Sideswipe was out of that range.

But what wasn’t out of that range was a strange deep voice she didn’t recognize. “Round and round… round and round… round and round…”

“What the heck?” Sunset quickly jumped out of her car and looked around, but she didn’t see anyone else in the garage.

Twilight and Spike looked a bit freaked out when they saw this from Twilight’s car. “Are you okay, Sunset? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Twilight remarked.

“Definitely didn’t see one…” Sunset countered, still looking around in concern. “But I think I might’ve heard one.”

Planet Cup Second Leg

Megatron had been enjoying his torture of Starscream for a good long while now, and while he was sure his treacherous air commander would never really get the picture, it was at least nice for the warlord to get some aggression out… and train for the moment when he would inevitably defeat Optimus Prime. Still, even torture got boring every now and then, so he arrived on his ship’s bridge. “Report.”

“Lord Megatron, Ratbat is reporting,” Soundwave reported, patching Ratbat’s feed up to the main screen, showing the blocks of the first race on Velocitron.

Megatron’s optics narrowed as he saw Optimus and the Autobots. “I should have expected Optimus would interfere. But I did not believe he would stoop so low as to race.”

“Not gonna be much of a race for him, if you ask me, Lord Megatron.” Blast Off pointed out. “Prime’s alt-mode is about as aerodynamic as a girder.”

“The question is why are they racing anyway?” asked Sky Shadow.

The answer came when they saw the Committee bring out the Planet Cup, and the telemetry Ratbat transmitted from his scan of the trophy. “Object resonance matches Spark-Shift Armor and Omega Lock,” Soundwave reported.

“The Galaxy Key is a race trophy?” Megatron asked in disbelief.

“Only makes sense, my lord.” Knock Out remarked. “With a society structured around racing, something as important as the Galaxy Key would become a trophy. Perhaps over time, the inhabitants simply… forgot about the object’s true importance.”

“The circumstances do not interest me, Knock Out.” Megatron scowled. “All I desire is for the Galaxy Key to be in the hands of the Decepticons.”

“Shall we assemble reinforcements then, My Lord?” asked Scrapper.

“Have the Vehicons ready at the SpaceBridge,” Megatron ordered. “We will give Motormaster a chance to bring victory to the Decepticons with this race. But if they should fail, then Velocitron will feel the full might of the Decepticons.” And all on the bridge knew that was a threat Megatron had every intention of following through with.

Override was in a foul mood when she arrived at the racetrack for the second leg of the Planet Cup, and it only got worse when she saw Sideswipe standing next to her garage. “I distinctly remember telling you to leave me alone.” she scowled as she drove through the door and transformed.

“And I remember I forgot some of my stuff at your place when I left for the war.” Sideswipe countered. “Is it still there?”

“Torched it all when I lost the race.” Override answered.

“I don’t believe you,” Sideswipe smirked. “You’ve always been a sentimental bot. You can hide it from your fans, but not from me.”

“Sentiment doesn’t win races.” Override scowled. “And neither do reminders of things I’d rather forget. Now get lost or get scrapped.” She reached up to close her garage, but Sideswipe just grabbed the door and held it open.

“What’s his name?” he asked concisely. Override just pulled down sharply on the garage door and slammed it in Sideswipe’s face. “Hard way it is, then.” He walked away from Override’s garage back to the Autobots’ bay where Rainbow Dash and the other remaining Autobots were getting ready to drive.

“Care to share with the class, Sideswipe?” asked Moonracer.

“Not particularly.” Sideswipe shrugged as he walked back into the garage. “Good luck out there.”

“Sheesh. What is with him?” asked Rainbow.

“Who knows? All I know is we have a race to run.” Sunset pointed out, promptly zipping up her racing suit.

“Sunset’s right; let’s roll out.” Bumblebee nodded as he rumbled out to the track with the other Autobots, just before the announcer came on the p.a. again.

“Femmes and mechs, welcome back; the second leg of the Planet Cup begins right now! Let’s meet the lunatics who remain after the first race.” the announcer called to the crowd as the racers all lined up in the blocks, their avatars all set next to their vehicles. “Pulled some shifty moves last race, but let’s hear it for the local bad boy; Crater City’s own Crumplezone!”

The crowd just jeered at Crumplezone, his avatar’s green metallic mandible not making him look very pleasant. “Aw cmon, I was framed!”

“Whatever you say, big guy.” the announcer smirked. “Next up, Crumplezone’s partner in grime; also from Crater City, Ransack!”

The booing got worse as Ransack tipped his avatar’s cap up with his finger. “Alright, just for that; no autographs!”

The announcer ignored him. “Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho, you’re a pretty tough crowd, huh? Well, here’s someone you can cheer for; the hopeful farmhand Clocker!” And cheer they did as Clocker’s blue and red-haired avatar stood forward and waved. “And here’s the kid’s boss lookin’ to get back in gear; the old-school racer Retrofit!”

Retrofit roared, his avatar’s metallic beard waving in the low wind down the track. “Alright, let’s burn some rubber!” he bellowed.

“And it’s not just these two either; here from their farm is one of the best turbo-revvin’ young punks on Velocitron, Hot Rod!” Hot Rod’s avatar smiled as he stepped away from his car and waved, the chrome plates on his jacket’s sleeves gleaming in the sun as the announcer moved on. “This girl’s got a name made for this planet, and looks to match; give it up for Moonracer!”

The crowd cheered and whooped for Moonracer as she looked up at the announcer. “You left out how I’m the best damn sharpshooter in the universe,” she smirked as the announcer moved on.

“He’s got the stripes and his engine’s buzzin’ like mad with muscle to spare under all that muscle metal; it’s Bumblebee!” Bumblebee waved and swung a quick series of jabs in front of him.

“You mess with the bee, you get stung!” he smirked.

The announcer moved to the next. “Velocitron has never had organics in such an important race before, and everyone thought they’d never make it far, but she and her friends proved everyone wrong sure as her hair burns like a supernova; it’s Sunset Shimmer!” Sunset smiled and couldn’t help but pose on her car’s hood, earning some hoots from a lot of the spectators.

“Don’t touch, boys; you’re just gonna get burned,” she smirked as she licked her thumb and touched it to her hip, hissing through her teeth for the joke as the announcer moved on.

“He qualified for the Cup Challenge with a fifth-place finish; can he improve on that today? It’s Dirt Boss!” Dirt Boss’s avatar looked especially villainous with the messed up cybernetic right eye and chin, but he still smiled up to the crowd.

“No one can cover terrain like me, baby!” he assured.

The announcer moved to the next block. “All those aerodynamics don’t leave much room for brains, but what he does have is drive to win at any cost; here’s Dragstrip!” Dragstrip’s avatar wore a yellow racer’s suit similar to the girls’ and held a purple racing helmet at his side, complimenting his purple hair and angry expression.

“Make no mistake, people; I’m not leavin’ this planet without that trophy.” Dragstrip assured dangerously as the announcer moved on.

“And here’s someone else lookin’ to take the win. What can I say that isn’t already being said about the larger-than-life superspeed of Earth’s own… Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow smiled and jumped up on top of her car as the crowd cheered, some even chanting her name.

“I can’t hear you, Velocitron!” she called, making the chanting louder.

“Man, does she know how to work a crowd!” the announcer smiled as he moved on. “Next up, the favorite to win despite the odds; the first lady of the track and former series-leader five-time champion, Override!”

“Thank you!” Override called, waving to the crowd… and shooting an especially dirty look at Sideswipe from the track.

“And last but certainly not least, our current champion; the motormouthed speed-freak who talks almost as fast as he drives, Blurr!!!” The crowd went especially nuts as they saw Blurr’s bright blue avatar with his slicked-back hair zipping around his car form posing. “And those are our racers today, folks! It’s almost start time, so let’s go a-racin’! Drivers! To! Your! CARS!” The crowd roared as avatars and humans alike climbed into their vehicles.

Rainbow smiled as she heard her commlink tone, Ratchet quickly patching in. “Remember Rainbow, we can’t be certain what sort of problems your car might face on the track after everything you’ve put it through. Try not to push too hard.”

“Relax, Doc; I’ll be fine,” Rainbow assured. “I’ll see in Victory Lane.”

“Ratchet’s right to worry, Rainbow.” Sunset pointed out. “After the transmission trouble you had last race, you should be really careful.”

“Yeah, I know. But that’s not gonna stop me from enjoying this race.” Rainbow assured.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

Just then, Roadhandler stepped out onto the arch over the racetrack. “RACERS! START! YOUR! ENGINES!!!” The vehicles roared to life and the lights went red. Rainbow tightened her grip on the steering wheel as the lights went yellow. Then the flare dropped and burst green, sending everyone racing out of the blocks and straight out onto the track, with Rainbow keeping pace with the leaders right away.

“Heads-up, guys; lane-merge comin’ up!” Twilight warned. “You’re gonna have to get a lead fast.”

“That I can do,” Rainbow smirked and quickly fired her thrusters, catapulting her ahead of Blurr just before he could cut her off, letting her reach first place in a matter of seconds. “WHOO!” Quickly, she cut the thrusters and swerved hard around the corner on this single-lane stretch.

“Comin’ through!” Dirt Boss roared as he raced past Override, his higher suspension letting him rumble over her without trouble.

“Oh, that is so cheating!” Rainbow yelled as she saw this, watching him close in behind Blurr… and her.

Behind them, Sunset led the second group around the corner… with Crumplezone way in the back behind Retrofit. “Hey Gramps, move it; this ain’t no Sunday drive!” he growled, honking his horn as they drove.

“The closer you tailgate me, the slower I go, buddy.” Retrofit said simply.

Ransack simply sneered and raced past his larger green companion, his small size making it easy. “Hey CZ, why don’t you just pass him?” he sneered as he roared past. “Oh wait, I forgot; you’re a wide load!” He roared off ahead laughing, leaving Crumplezone growling in anger in the back.

“Now there’s an idea!” Moonracer smirked and revved her engine to catch up with Ransack.

Rainbow was still keeping an eye on Dirt Boss behind him as the track widened out… to allow for obstacles. “Oh man, speedbumps!” And they were big.

“Go to traction control and lower your speed,” Ironhide advised from the garage.

“Copy that.” Rainbow did as she was ordered, feeling much more grip as she raced onward, surprised as she saw Override keeping up with her.

“Interesting move,” she remarked.

“Yeah? How about this?!” Rainbow smirked and pulled hard on her handbrake, throwing her into a powerful drift around the corner as the others followed close behind. But then she saw the next obstacle was a massive flight of stairs. “Oh, for- what fresh hell is this?!” She was going too fast to stop and ended up bumping down every step for a while before Override and Blurr ran up next to her… literally; in their bot forms.

“Well, it’s clear you’re not the brains of your operation.” Override smirked.

“Oh, it’s on now!” Rainbow scowled and quickly transformed, running down the stairs after them, using her superspeed as much as she could to keep up with them. “Three can play at this game, guys.”

“Absolutely-positively-I-don’t-doubt-what-you-can-do-but-you’re-not-winning-this-race-it’s-just-impossible-impossible-impossible!” Blurr assured.

“Uh… Rainbow?” Twilight said over her coms.

“Oh, you got no pride!” Dirt Boss scowled… as he drove up right behind the group, his offroad suspension letting him drive down the stairs easily. “Nothin’ more annoying than pedestrians!”

“Yee-hoo!” Ransack yelled as he leaped out over the stairs at the top, firing his rocket thrusters and sending him flying out over the others.

“Oh come on; that is so cheating!” Rainbow yelled in annoyance as she, Blurr and Override reached the end of the stairs and all transformed, racing down the streets after Ransack through a large city sector.

Dragstrip raced through the streets, confused as to why he didn’t hear any engines behind or in front of him. “Motormaster, this is Dragstrip; where is everyone?”

“Going every which way. I think Ransack might’ve messed with the directional signs.” Motormaster answered.

“WHAT?!” Dragstrip scowled and screeched to a stop. “Gimme the fastest route to him and Crumplezone; I’ll crush them into scrap metal.” The route was immediately patched to his onboard computer and raced after him.

Rainbow and the others got the same sense of confusion as they were apparently driving in a parking structure. “This cannot be right,” Moonracer remarked to Bumblebee.

“That’s because it ain’t.” Applejack noted. “Ransack sent y’all on a little detour.”

“What?” Sunset asked and looked down from the side of the structure, seeing Ransack and Crumplezone on the road below, with Retrofit and Clocker behind them… and Dragstrip closing in anger. “Those slippery little cheats!”

“Looks like we’re gonna have to jump!” Dirt Boss remarked.

“That’s gonna be fun,” Rainbow smirked. “You comin’ with, Override? Finish line waits for no one, but not if we’re on the wrong track.”

“Oh please, that’s the oldest trick in the book!” Override countered. “There’s no way I’d fall for it.”

“There’s a reason old tricks are still used, Override; because they work.” Rainbow pointed out.

“Even if that’s true, why are you telling me?” asked Override.

“Little thing called honor.” Rainbow pointed out. Override wasn’t sure what to think, but it definitely sounded right when he put it like that.

“Sounds-legit-to-me-but-I-have-a-question-how-are-we-gonna-get-down-there-from-here-and-get-the-lead-back?” asked Blurr.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got that handled.” Rainbow smiled, switching a feed on. “Rarity, I’m sending you the position of the wall in front of us. Once I blow it out, we’re gonna need a ramp back down to the track. And put it as far out in front of those two idiots as you can.”

“You’ll have it.” Rarity nodded, quickly manipulating her crystals.

“Blow out the wall? With what?” Override’s question was quickly answered when Rainbow pressed a button on her console and opened a small compartment in her door, firing a small missile that blasted the wall out in a small explosion.

(Next Track)

“You were saying?” Rainbow smirked as she saw a large overpass of crystals down from the garage.

“I still don’t understand why you would tell me about this switch.” Override scowled.

“Because if I’m gonna kick your bumper here, I’m gonna do it fair and square on the real track,” Rainbow assured as they raced onto the crystal ramp and down toward the main track.

“Ugh. You really know how to push my buttons, kid.” Override growled.

“Guess that’s one honor I can share with Sideswipe,” Rainbow smirked. Override just scowled and looked back ahead as she drove… just before Dirt Boss drove over them, his offroad suspension helping him again.

“Hate to break up the touchy-feely but eat my dust!” he roared as he drove onward down the ramp.

“I could drop him; just say the word.” Rarity smirked.

“Hold that option open for next time.” Bumblebee countered as the team hit the asphalt, just barely behind Ransack and Crumplezone.

“Hot soup, comin’ through!” Rainbow laughed as she, Override and Blurr raced past them.

“Just because you helped me out with this one, don’t get your hopes up and think you can win this thing!” Override pointed out to Rainbow.

“Please! I’m too fast and way too awesome to lose now!” Rainbow smirked as they raced toward a tight hairpin, which Rainbow drifted around with ease. “Case-in-point!”

“You gonna talk through this whole race?” Override smirked.

“Yeah, all six minutes of it. When I win.” Rainbow returned.

“Keep tellin’ yourself that, kid.” Override rolled her eyes as she floored it straight down from the turn onto the straightaway with Rainbow close behind and Blurr close behind them both. Further behind was Dirt Boss, Retrofit, and Hot Rod, then Sunset, Dragstrip, Ransack, and Crumplezone – the last two of whom had been crunched a bit out of shape.

The others had all fallen behind and were trying to pace themselves as the leading groups entered the tunnel. “I’m gettin’ the vibe we ain’t gonna win this race.” Ransack pointed out.

“Short end of the dipstick again, huh?” asked Crumplezone. “Well, if we can’t win this race, then no one can.” His turbines flipped forward and started blasting the other competitors.

“Whoa! Looks like someone didn’t get the memo.” Dragstrip remarked. “I’m gonna scrap you both!”

“We’ve got bigger problems right now, Dragstrip!” Sunset yelled as she saw some of Crumplezone’s blasts shooting toward the end of the tunnel and blowing apart a portion of the ceiling.

“Whoa! Autobots, we got a cave-in!” Rainbow called over the coms.

“Hang tight, Rainbow; emergency vehicles en route!” Hoist remarked as he and Ratchet jumped out onto the track, transforming into their vehicle modes and racing down the track with sirens blaring.

“I’m goin’, too!” Sideswipe yelled as he raced out onto the track, following the medics.

Override was still driving in the tunnel, blind through the dust from the explosion. “Override, will you slow down?! You’re gonna scrap yourself!” Rainbow called.

“So much for honor!” Override called back to her. “Trying to steal my win? I don’t think so.” No sooner had she said that than she slammed straight into a huge pile of rubble in the tunnel, knocking her out and forcing her avatar to power down… right before another mass of rubble from the blast started tumbling toward her.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Rainbow yelled and transformed, quickly grabbing Override in her arms before she leaped clear of the rockslide, skidding out of the tunnel just as Ratchet, Hoist, and Sideswipe raced to their side. “She got hit hard,” Rainbow noted as she set Override down on the ground, where she promptly transformed back to bot mode.

(Cut it)

“Lemme take a look,” Ratchet ordered as he looked Override over.

“Why did you stop?” Override asked Rainbow seriously. “Anyone else would’ve driven away and won, easy.”

“Guess I’m not anyone else.” Rainbow shrugged as the other racers shot past, but Blurr and the other Autobots all screeched to a stop nearby to check on the wreckage. But Rainbow didn’t even look twice at them as they passed, which confused Override even more. “Look, I know we’re not formally friends or whatever, but if it’s a toss-up between helping a friend or winning a race, I’d choose a friend every time. I never leave my friends hangin’; that’s my creed.”

“Autobot creed, too; if anyone needs help with anything, it’s our obligation and pleasure to offer help.” Sideswipe agreed, taking Override’s hand. “It’s especially a pleasure for me, babe. You know I still care about you.”

Retrofit smiled as he looked at the others. “Don’t you still have a race to run?” he pointed out.

“Right. Think on what we’ve told you, Override.” Sunset pointed out. “I hope you make the right call. Back in the race, Rainbow; we’ll take it from here.”

“Got it.” Rainbow nodded and transformed, racing ahead after Dirt Boss.

“You should be okay to keep goin’ for the day, Override.” Ratchet assured. “But I suggest you get some rest when you’re done here.”

“Thanks, doc.” Override nodded and stepped away from the tunnel. She cast one last, almost longing look at Sideswipe before she transformed and drove onward down the track.

“What was that all about?” asked Hot Rod.

“Memories I’ve been dredging up, at a guess.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Get back in the race and we’ll talk later.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.” Hot Rod assured as he transformed and raced after Override. As expected, Dirt Boss won the race with a very ticked-off Dragstrip a close second.

Rainbow took third with Override, Hot Rod, and Blurr behind her, but it didn’t really matter that much to her. Especially not as she rolled into the garage and saw Optimus waiting for her. “You performed admirably, Rainbow Dash.” he smiled.

“Thanks, Optimus. And don’t worry; I’ll win it next time.” Rainbow assured.

“Victory is measured in numerous different ways.” Optimus pointed out. “Some take it by trophies, others by simply ensuring that another is set down the right path. And I believe without a doubt that you have already achieved the latter and will achieve the former.”

“That’s what this is really all about; pure faith that you’ll win.” Sunset smiled as she patted her friend on the shoulder.

“Faith can only take you so far, kid.” Override remarked as she pulled up in front of the Autobots’ garage. “You gotta have the skills to back it up, and I’ve gotta admit; you’ve got that in spades, Dash.”

“Thanks, Override.” Rainbow smiled, quickly turning back to her pit crew. “Okay, let’s get my car tuned up for the next race.” The team set to work, but Sideswipe simply walked over to Override, who transformed to look at him optic-to-optic.

“Is this little pep talk the only reason you stopped by?” he smirked.

“I still hate you for ditching me like that.” Override pointed out. “And because of that, I’ll tell you that you got the pronoun wrong in our chat earlier.” Sideswipe raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You should’ve asked, ‘what’s her name’?” Before Sideswipe could ask, Override simply transformed and raced back to her own garage down the line.

Hot Rod had overheard that and walked over in confusion. “Wait a minute, did Override rebound off you for another femme? Man, that kills!” he laughed and bumped Sideswipe on the shoulder before he walked back into the garage.

Sideswipe didn’t respond; he just kept his eyes on Override’s garage door, as if he was expecting someone to go in or out at any moment. “‘Her’, huh?”

Sunset was confused as she heard that but just kept working on Rainbow’s car; she had enough to worry about as it was… including that voice in her head. “Hey Chromia, can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Of course, hun; what’s up?” For some reason, even before Chromia chose her avatar of a middle-aged muscular woman with graying blue hair, Sunset had always considered her a cool aunt she could talk to.

“Is there any reference to Cybertronians having… telepathy?” Sunset asked.

“Not exactly; even for Outliers, I’ve heard it’s a fairly rare power.” Chromia shrugged. “But there are those on my home colony Caminus who have said they can speak with ancient bots nearly as old as the Primes themselves, but much bigger.”

“Bigger?” Sunset was surprised by that; Cybertronians were already plenty big to her, so how much bigger could they get? “What were they called?”

“The big bots or those who speak to them?” Chromia asked.

“Eh, both?” Sunset shrugged.

“The big bots themselves… they were called the Titans.” Chromia smiled. “And those who could commune with them are known as Cityspeakers.”

Planet Cup Third Leg

The skies over southern Cambodia were quiet for the most part… even considering the massive sleek fighter flying high over the Cardamom Mountains in the clouds.

“Now what have we here?” the pilot smirked as he looked at the small screen in his cockpit and saw a group of familiar-looking mech-units drilling into a certain ridge of the mountains. And a rather aggressive-looking man in a blue-and-red suit commanding them. “Out for the fresh air, Sebastian?”

Quickly regaining seriousness, the pilot turned on the coms. “Pit, this is Ghost Rider; Phantom-4. I got eyes on what looks like a Cobra dig site at those coordinates you gave me.”

“Copy, Ghost Rider. Any indication of what they’re digging for?” asked Cover Girl.

“Negative; definitely some sort of Cybertronian weapon, but I can’t tell what it is from here.” Ghost Rider countered, adjusting his red scarf as he flew.

“Alright, get all the recon photos you can and return to base.” Cover Girl ordered.

“Copy, Pit; reconning site and will RTB.” Ghost Rider noted and swiftly did as he was ordered, snapping as many recon photos as he could before he swiftly bugged out.

What he didn’t know was that his presence had been picked up on the surface. “Definitely a Joe aircraft, Major.” the soldier reported as he lowered his binoculars. “Sure we shouldn’t have engaged?”

“Someone was gonna find out about this site sooner or later anyway.” the major sneered with a powerful Australian accent. “Just count yerself lucky it was the Joes and not the Cons.”

“All respect Major Bludd, but how would the Decepticons be worse than the Joes?” asked the soldier.

“If the Joes catch us, they’ll lock us up.” Major Bludd pointed out. “If the Decepticons catch us, they’ll vaporize us. You do the math.”

The soldier paled a bit and nodded. “Understood, Major.” He returned to his work with that and allowed Major Bludd to walk to Destro’s side.

“Did ya really have to scare the lad like that, Sebastian?” Destro asked with a smirk on his metal face. “He’s only been with us a month.”

“Then he shoulda got the picture about this sooner.” Major Bludd countered.

“Aye. From what I heard, Black Out got an earful from the Commander back at base.” Destro smirked.

“Shocker,” Bludd remarked.

Suddenly one of the mechs moved from the digging site to look at the officers. “Destro! Major! We hit something!”

“Let’s see it, boys!” Destro smiled as he and Bludd dashed over to the pit… and were more than a bit surprised by what they saw. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Velocitron thrummed with life as the racers prepared for the third leg of the Planet Cup. Override opened her garage, ready to roll again… only to see Sideswipe parked outside her bay again. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” she remarked bitterly.

“Now where have I heard that before?” Sideswipe smirked, remembering exactly where; the second time he’d tried racing Override, back before the war.

“If you’re just gonna pester me like that until the end of the race, you might as well save your air intake.” Override rolled her optics as she transformed, her avatar projected in the cabin as she revved her engine.

Sideswipe quickly projected his own avatar and slipped next to her car. “What’s her name?”

Override sighed; she’d been proven over and over that while she may not have understood this war Sideswipe went to fight in, the Autobots were at least fair sports. But that didn’t mean she forgave him for leaving her. “Prove to me that the war was worth leaving me for and maybe I’ll tell you.” She revved away to the line with that.

“Terms accepted.” Sideswipe nodded as his avatar deactivated and he transformed, walking back to the garage where the others were getting ready. “All set to ride, guys?”

“Good to go, Sideswipe.” Rainbow nodded; she’d been training in deep sand pits for this leg of the race since she’d heard it was always an offroad leg. She hadn’t admitted this to anyone, but she was a bit nervous about this leg; she’d only really raced offroad in motocross, including for the Friendship Games and while the medics had optimized her car for maximum ground clearance and torque, she wasn’t sure she could keep up with Dirt Boss.

“Alright, good luck out there, kid.” Sideswipe nodded. Sunset was somewhat relieved to be disqualified from the race, since it gave her more time to consider what Chromia had told her after the last leg; if Cityspeakers could communicate with the Titans, then she had to wonder if she was a Cityspeaker for hearing that voice in her mind. She hadn’t told anyone about it but was worried.

Soon enough, the blocks were filled and the racers were ready. “This is it!” the announcer bellowed. “The third leg of the Planet Cup is about to begin, and what a race it’s shaping up to be! Blurr, Override, Dirt Boss, Retrofit, Hot Rod, Dragstrip, Crumplezone, Ransack, and Rainbow Dash; the only racer left from this new hot-shot organic team! Excellent racers all, but only one can win! Who wants it more, the old favorites or the brash newcomers? You’re just gonna have to watch to find out!”

“Alright Rainbow, this is it.” Twilight smiled to her friend next to her car. “Remember what we practiced and keep your eyes open.”

“You got this, Dash, but remember; this ain’t just about speed, it’s endurance too.” Applejack reminded.

“Relax girls, I got this in the bag,” Rainbow smirked as she climbed into her car. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Famous last words,” Applejack remarked as she and Twilight walked away.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

“Clear the blocks, pit crews!” Roadhandler bellowed as the start line was emptied. “RACERS! START! YOUR! ENGINES!!!” The blocks roared as the racers all revved their vehicles to life, the red light blinking to life. They went yellow and the whole crowd could feel the anticipation. Then the flare dropped and burst green, sending all the racers shooting out of the blocks like bullets, swiftly leaving the tarmac behind for the sands of what was apparently called the Diablo Desert.

Rainbow took an early lead, but it didn’t last long as a sensor on her dashboard started beeping. “Gah, barely any traction!” she groaned, her wheels spinning in the sand.

“Remember what we practiced, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight reminded swiftly. “Ease off the throttle!”

“Trying my best here, but I have to win this!” Rainbow growled as she drove onward… suddenly spotting something on the track ahead of her. “Uh… what’s that up ahead?”

“The Quicksilver Dunes; quicksand.” Hot Rod explained quickly, watching the sand dunes ahead writhe around large vortexes of quicksand. “You lose your line near one of those pits, you’re history.”

“Least you’re doin’ better than those idiots,” Dragstrip remarked, pointing behind him at Ransack and Crumplezone trying to dig their vehicles out of the sand.

“Man, you really don’t like those guys, do you?” Rainbow remarked.

“Neither does nature, apparently. It’s not my fault they drove straight into a sandstorm.” Dragstrip shrugged.

“Isn’t it, though?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but Dragstrip just ignored her and raced onward, bobbing and weaving between the quicksand pits behind Dirt Boss and the other two leaders. Considering Dirt Boss’s experience with offroad driving, it didn’t really surprise any of the Autobots that he was in the lead relatively quickly. “Gah, no time for agility; I got the need for speed!” With that in mind, Rainbow slammed on her thrusters and shot straight across the desert toward the lip of one of the quicksand pits.

“She’s not doin’ what I think she’s doin’, is she?” Spike asked seriously.

“Pretty sure she is.” Twilight nodded. “Hoist!”

“Way ahead of ya!” the tow truck nodded as he transformed and roared out onto the track. But it didn’t look like he would be needed as Rainbow hit the lip of the first pit and leaped well over it and three others… before she landed nearly square in the center of the fifth pit.

“Gah, aw man, I thought I was in the clear!” Rainbow groaned and transformed, but she just started sinking faster. “Ah, no use; I’m stuck! Someone help!”

“Help’s at hand, kiddo!” Retrofit assured as he roared over and transformed, reaching down to her. “Grab my hand!”

“Gah, I can’t reach!” Rainbow strained as she tried.

“Lemme lend a hand too!” Hot Rod smirked as he raced over and grabbed Retrofit by his ankles. “I’ll sling you over and give you more range!”

“No, that could get them both stuck.” Hoist warned over the coms as he rumbled onward. “Just hang tight; I’m almost there.”

“I don’t think you’re gonna make it in time, Hoist!” Rainbow remarked; she was already up to her knees in the quicksand. “Looks like it’s on you, Hot Rod! You’ve gotta win the race for us!”

“No way; I’m not ditching you like this!” Hot Rod assured.

Retrofit suddenly got an idea and fiddled with something on his back, before he threw a long black line down into the pit. “Grab the line!” he called.

Rainbow was surprised, but gladly grabbed on. “Okay, go!”

“Burn rubber, son!” Retrofit called to Hot Rod, who quickly transformed and let Retrofit climb onto his back before he floored it, the two bots combined pulling hard to drag Rainbow out of the quicksand.

Twilight was worried; if this went wrong, the Autobots would be out of the race altogether and either way, they were sitting ducks. And she saw just how right she was in short order. “Retrofit, nine o’clock!” she called over the coms.

The old racer looked just in time to see Dirt Boss aiming his cannons at the three in the sand trap. “You’re both outta the race!” he roared and fired two large blasts at them… and they nearly connected before Hoist leaped in and deflected the blasts with his towbar and leveled a bright yellow round hand cannon at him.

“You first!” the medic smirked and blasted Dirt Boss right in the chestplate, knocking him down just as Rainbow was hauled from the sandpit.

“You okay, kid?” Retrofit groaned in exhaustion.

Rainbow groaned as she stood up, her hip joints scraping as she moved. “Guh, aside from the mother of all sand wedgies, yeah,” she remarked, really hating that she had to feel pain from her bot-form in her organic body.

“A little help here?” Hoist called as he used what limited hand-to-hand skills he could to fight off Dirt Boss as he swung at him… but quickly his attention drifted elsewhere when he heard two loud engines closing in.

“What?!” he snarled as he saw Override and Blurr roar past. “OVERRIDE!!!” he roared and transformed, racing after the two racers. “Thought you could leave me in the dust, huh? This is my turf! No one does offroad like Dirt Boss!”

“We’ll see about that!” Override smirked as she deployed crampons on her tires and fired her thrusters, with Blurr racing close behind on his own nitro kick as they shot past Dirt Boss.

Naturally, Dirt Boss didn’t take that well and transformed before he leaped onto Override and started punching at her cockpit, but it barely even scratched her. “That the best you’ve got?” she smirked… before Dirt Boss was suddenly shot off her roof and sent tumbling into the sand ahead of Override. “What the-?!” She looked off to the distance and saw a bright red sniper rifle peaking out from the distance. Override couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of that rifle as she raced onward.

Sideswipe saw the rifle too and smirked just like Override, as he knew who that sharpshooter probably was. But he was more focused on how Override transformed and slammed the tire on her thigh against Dirt Boss’s face, burning rubber against his faceplate. “Ha-ha, that’s my girl!” Sideswipe laughed.

“I see why you fell for her so hard,” Ironhide smirked.

Not far from the site of Override beating down Dirt Boss, Ransack and Crumplezone saw their “friend” was in trouble and started firing, but Override leaped clear and drove off before any of their shots connected… leaving them to connect with Dirt Boss’s face, which only ticked him off more as he returned fire.

“Okay, you just set yourselves up for that one!” Dragstrip remarked to the two goons as he shot past Dirt Boss as he kept blasting at Ransack and Crumplezone until they hit him in the shins and sent him tumbling into a quicksand pit.

Quickly they transformed and looked down at him as he struggled for freedom. “Help me! Get me out of here!” he called.

“First he shoots at us, now he wants our help; make up your mind, man,” Crumplezone remarked in annoyance.

“I say we let him rust here!” Ransack smirked and the two goons drove away after the other racers.

(Cut it)

Further ahead, Rainbow and the others were still driving with Hoist now close behind just in case… and it looked like he’d be needed fairly soon as he saw Retrofit riding a bit rough. “You okay, old-timer?” Hot Rod smirked. “You’re not usually this slow when you race.”

“Just tired is all. Go ahead without me.” Retrofit assured.

Rainbow was less sure as she checked the diagnostic link to Retrofit’s systems Twilight had set up, and what she saw alarmed her. “Retrofit… what was that thing you threw me in the quicksand?”

“Don’t remember.” the old bot shrugged.

The diagnostics said otherwise. “It was your cooling belt, wasn’t it? You’re burning up!” She was right; the diagnostic feed showed a distinct lack of a cooling belt in Retrofit’s engine, which was running exponentially hotter than it should have.

Suddenly something popped and Retrofit skidded off to the side, nearly hitting Hoist as he spun out. “Retrofit!” Hot Rod called as he and Rainbow slid to a stop and raced back to his side as Hoist examined him.

“Is he okay?” asked Rainbow.

“As okay as he can be after driving about eight miles through a desert with a bad cooling system.” Hoist shrugged. “What could’ve possessed you to do that, Retrofit?”

“When I was in danger, Rainbow Dash here didn’t think twice before she leaped in.” Retrofit pointed out. “Why shouldn’t I do the same?”

“Because you’re a much older bot. Damage gets more severe with age; you know that.” Hoist pointed out.

“Cmon uncle, let’s get you back in that race.” Hot Rod smirked.

“Forget me; this race is all yours.” Retrofit groaned as he stood up and tried to walk away… but stumbled into the sand.

“I’ll strap you to my back and carry you across the line if I have to,” Rainbow said with conviction the girls weren’t used to.

“I don’t think you’ll have time,” Bumblebee called over the coms. “The others are almost on top of you.” Rainbow looked and indeed saw the telltale dust clouds of approaching racers.

“This race isn’t just for adrenaline or fun, Rainbow.” Hoist reminded. “This is about the fate of the universe. You know as well as the rest of us that if the Decepticons get their hands on that Galaxy Key, that’ll just make our job that much harder.” Rainbow groaned, knowing Hoist was right.

“Today isn’t where first place really counts, but if you two don’t get goin’ and qualify now, you’re outta here.” Retrofit reminded. “And you can’t do that draggin’ an old hunk of junk like me along with ya.”

“I’ll get him back to the pits in one piece so Ratchet and I can have a look at him.” Hoist assured. “I just hope to see you there.”

Rainbow sighed and nodded. “Alright, see ya there. I owe you one for this, Retrofit.”

The old bot just chuckled. “Way I see it, I owed you one. Let’s just say we’re even; now git!” Rainbow smirked as she and Hot Rod transformed and raced off toward the finish line.

“You really okay with this, Retrofit?” Hoist asked as he and the old bot transformed back to vehicle mode.

“Ah well, there’ll be other races, I guess.” Retrofit shrugged as Hoist winched him up on the towbar. “And next time, baby, I’m comin’ in first! Whoo-hee!”

“We’ll make sure of that, old-timer.” Hoist smiled as they rumbled onward.

At the line, it was Override with Blurr a close second. Dragstrip came in close behind with Ransack and Crumplezone right on his tail, and finally Rainbow and Hot Rod, all of whom rumbled into the pits. “Well, second to last is better than nothin’. Sorry, Hot Rod.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Don’t be. It’s just been fun to race out there.” Hot Rod smirked as he transformed and walked over to Clocker. “Sorry about Retrofit, Clocker.”

“It’s okay; I’m used to him thinking with his Spark.” Clocker smiled.

“Is he gonna be okay, Ratchet?” asked Rainbow.

“Hoist and I are the best medics the Autobots have to offer,” Ratchet assured. “He’ll be better than new, promise.”

“That’s good to hear.” Override noted from the door, surprising the group again. “Retrofit’s a good bot; taught me a lot when I was starting out.”

“I remember you talking about that.” Sideswipe nodded.

“What? He never told me that.” Clocker remarked in surprise.

“I asked him not to. Didn’t want it getting around that I learned some of my best tricks from an old nitrous farmer.” Override smiled. “You know how he is.”

“All too well.” Hot Rod nodded. “Well, guess all there is to say is good luck in the next leg.”

“You too.” Override nodded as she stepped over toward her pit.

Sideswipe waited until no one was looking and walked out after her. “I’ve got a bit more to say if you don’t mind.”

Override narrowed her optics at Sideswipe, but he could tell she was just putting on a face. “Depends what that bit is.”

“I saw the rifle,” Sideswipe said simply. “So what is her name?”

Override didn’t seem that surprised but was still fairly hesitant as she didn’t want to let that secret slip. But with everything she’d seen so far, she decided she might as well tell him as she walked into her garage. “Stormchaser.” With that, she slammed the door shut and left Sideswipe leaning against the wall.

“Stormchaser…” he smiled to himself. “Pretty name.” He didn’t notice Sunset had been spying on him as he walked back to the Autobots’ pit, but she had a pretty good idea of what was going on here now.

On the Nemesis, Megatron had just seen the events of this race from Ratbat’s feed and he was quite displeased. “Once again, Motormaster, your soldiers have disappointed me.” he snarled to his general over the communication link.

“There’s still one more race to go, Lord Megatron,” Motormaster assured. “And make no mistake, if Dragstrip doesn’t win that one, he’ll answer to us both.”

“I intend to make sure of that.” Megatron nodded as the com channel terminated. “Soundwave, prepare the SpaceBridge. I will attend to this personally.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded and activated the SpaceBridge just as Megatron approached the rig… along with a truly massive troop of Vehicon soldiers, no doubt ready to lay waste to any who got in their way when they arrived on Velocitron.

Author's Note

For reference, Stormchaser is my OC; do not steal.

Planet Cup Finals

“Okay, so why did the Committee move the race here?” Twilight thought that was a reasonable question; the track itself was enough in her book, so the decision to move the final leg of the Planet Cup to the massive shrine in the middle of Crater City confused her more than a bit.

“You’ll see.” Hot Rod assured as the team all prepared themselves in the center of town, with Rainbow Dash parked next to her fellow competitors; Override, Blurr, Dragstrip, Hot Rod, Ransack, and Crumplezone.

“THIS IS IT!” the announcer bellowed. “All of these worthy competitors have struggled to make it through the race and now it comes down to this! It’s time for the Planet Cup to pick the lineup for the final race! Who will be chosen, and who will lose their chance to race for the Planet Cup?”

“Wait a minute, the Cup itself chooses the final lineup?” asked Twilight.

“Yup. And it looks like it’s selection time.” Sideswipe smiled as he watched the shrine start to glow. Rainbow smiled as she saw that glow spread not only to herself, but also to Hot Rod. Override and Blurr had also apparently been chosen, but all four scowled when they saw that Dragstrip, Ransack, and Crumplezone had been chosen as well.

“The Planet Cup has spoken!” Roadhandler called out. “All seven of you will now race for the honor of claiming the greatest racing trophy in the galaxy? Now the only question is… Who wants it more?!” The crowd roared as the floor under the racers suddenly started to open.

Quickly, the drivers all leaped into their vehicles before the floor opened up, but they didn’t immediately fall; they just hovered for a moment and slowly lowered into the pit along with the shrine… before the racers touched down onto a long stretch of road. Then the Planet Cup rose from the shrine in all its glory behind a forcefield that looked almost like bulletproof glass, glowing to illuminate stripes along the sides of the road, highlighting a massive underground racetrack filled with corkscrews, insane drops, and loops. “Whoa! This! Is!! AWESOME!!!” Rainbow cheered as she jumped out of her car.

“It always is kid.” Override assured as she looked out at the track. “But I’ll admit, this track is definitely one of the best I’ve ever raced on.”

“The race will begin tomorrow at first light.” Roadhandler bellowed. “Get some rest, racers. You’re gonna need it.”

That evening, the Autobots all met in their pit to examine the exact layout of the track. “This is insanity. It’s like racing on a roller coaster.” Twilight remarked.

“I know, right? And I can’t wait to get in on it!” Rainbow smiled and zipped over to her car. “Gonna need some extras first though; maybe some Magna-wheels for those loops and some fuel and nitrous with a little extra kick.”

“Hold your horsepower on any more mods, Rainbow,” Ratchet instructed as he examined her car. “I’ve been running diagnostics on your Armor, and it’s not looking good. You’ve kept it in vehicle mode so long throughout the race, it seems as though the limb servos have atrophied a bit. It might affect your balance and aerodynamics if it’s not addressed.”

“Relax doc, it’s nothing a good stretch won’t cure,” Rainbow smirked as she climbed into her car and focused on her geode, trying to activate the vehicle… but only a few plates shifted. “Huh?” She tried harder, but the shift grew less and less extreme. “Wha- What’s happening?”

Lifeline was quick to scan Rainbow’s car and she didn’t like what she saw. “Your T-Cog’s malfunctioning,” she reported, earning a wave of terrified looks from the others. “Your Armor’s jammed in vehicle mode.”

“What?!” Rainbow quickly leaped out of her car. “How’s that possible?”

“The damage from your reformatting.” Sunset realized. “It must’ve been worse than we thought.”

“And all this driving around at high speeds and keeping your Armor in vehicle mode between races has probably only exacerbated the damage.” Hoist agreed.

“Can you fix it?” asked Rainbow.

“By dawn tomorrow?” Ratchet countered. “We’re basically talking about forcing a dead bot out of Rigor Morphis.”

“Huh?” asked Spike.

“It’s something that happens to Cybertronian lifeforms when they die: the body assumes its preferred shape; sometimes it’s bot-mode, sometimes it’s the alt-mode,” Lifeline explained. “And in this case, I’d say it’s the alt-mode.”

“Which basically makes this an autopsy and attempted resurrection.” Ratchet pointed out. “And just in case no one realized it, I’m not Shockwave; this sort of mad science isn’t my area of expertise.”

“No. But medicine is.” Optimus noted. “As long as Rainbow Dash lives, her Armor lives as well. This is not an autopsy; it is simply surgery. And you are among the best surgeons in the universe, old friend. Do all you can in the time you have, because we have faith in you. And in the knowledge that fully functional or not, Rainbow Dash will race tomorrow.”

Ratchet wasn’t sure, but he was touched by Optimus’ faith as he examined Rainbow’s car. Finally, he sighed and looked at Hoist, Lifeline, and Clocker. “Looks like we’re going without recharge tonight.”

“What else is new?” Hoist shrugged as the four medics set to work.

Across the way, the Stunticons were in their own pit… watching Crumplezone slam Ransack with a hammer repeatedly, calling it a tune-up. “Why do we even bother with these bolt-brains?” Dead End asked seriously.

“Because they’re stupid, violent blunt objects.” Motormaster pointed out. “Tools to be disposed of when we’re done here.”

“I should think that will be soon.” a dark voice suddenly said behind the racers, surprising them more than a bit as they saw a familiar form in the shadows of their pit.

“L- Lord Megatron!” Motormaster said in surprise before he and the Stunticons all knelt before their master. “What are you doing here?”

“Ensuring my soldiers complete the simple mission I sent them on three weeks ago.” Megatron scowled.

“The Galaxy Key is nearly ours, Lord Megatron,” Dragstrip assured. “If you can just keep patient until I win the race tomorrow-”

“Perhaps, Dragstrip…” Megatron scowled, interrupting his soldier. “You misheard me. I sent you here to secure the Galaxy Key three weeks ago. And I do not possess it yet.”

“You will, tomorrow. I swear it upon my Spark.” Dragstrip assured.

Megatron simply scowled as he looked at Motormaster. “Be certain you keep your soldier keeps his word, Motormaster. Lest his tongue cut his throat,” he said simply as he slunk back into the shadows.

“Yeesh, who’s Tall, Dark, and Gruesome?” asked Ransack.

“The Blade of Kaon,” Motormaster said simply. “And someone I sincerely wouldn’t want to mess with.”

Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen on Crater City, the whole town was out in force to watch the last race. “The final race has arrived!” the announcer called. “All the drivers have moved their vehicles into position and soon we’ll get to see one of the most talked-about showdowns in history! Can Override finally take the title back from her longtime rival Blurr? Do Crumplezone and Ransack have a plan that will bring them to victory? Will the victory-obsessed Dragstrip get to add another win to his list? Is the turbo-revvin’ young punk Hot Rod going to make his old uncle Retrofit proud and be named champion? Or will Velocitron’s first-ever organic racer Rainbow Dash take it all for her homeworld Earth?”

Rainbow was wondering the same thing as she looked out of the pits at her car, with Sunset and her friends all standing with her. “How ya feelin’, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow wanted to answer with the same sort of cocky attitude her friends knew her for, but words failed her as she looked around and the gravity of the situation sank in, especially considering the condition her car was in. “It’s, uh…” she said breathlessly. “It’s big.”

“Yeah.” Sunset nodded as she looked around. “Yeah, it is.”

Hot Rod’s avatar walked over and gave the girls all an acknowledging nod before he turned to Rainbow. “That cockpit’s the exact same size it’s been since you got here.” he reminded. “The docs did what they could last night; got your weapons ready in case you need ‘em and at least two good transformations, plus an extra three hits of Red Energon-spiked NOS routed straight to your thrusters.”

Rainbow nodded, still unsure of what to say. “Should be enough.”

Fluttershy smiled as she walked forward, setting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. For what’s probably the best moment in my life,” she assured.

“All our lives,” Sunset added.

Rainbow couldn’t help herself as a small tear came to her eye, which she quickly flicked away. “Couldn’t have made it without you.” she smiled shakily. Almost on instinct, Pinkie grabbed all the girls together into a group hug.

“We’ve got cold milk waiting for you when you win,” Pinkie assured; she knew the racing tradition on Earth called for that, and she knew it would make Rainbow’s day to drink it.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Thank you all.” Rainbow smiled, glancing over at Sunset. “Man. Y’know, if you guys told me Freshman year that by now, I’d be driving in a race for the fate of the universe on another planet, I’d never believe you. But look at me now.”

“Oh dear, that reminds me.” Rarity realized and quickly zipped to the side of the garage, quickly grabbing something from the locker and zipping back to Rainbow with it. “I was up late working on this while we gave the crew company last night. Admittedly, it’s not my best work but… well…” She handed the fabric bundle to Rainbow and stepped back. “I think we’d all feel great if you wore it for the race.”

Rainbow unfurled the bundle and saw it was a brand new hand-stitched racing suit; bright blue with gleaming white highlights on her collarbone and outsides of the sleeves, rainbow-colored notches on her outer thighs, and the Wondercolts symbol in metallic gold on the back, a gold lightning bolt with wings on her belly split by the silver zipper with Rainbow’s own insignia on the sleeve, and her nametag stitched on the left breast.

Rainbow was instantly in love with the garb and went into a fast rainbow-colored whirlwind, instantly putting the garb on along with bright blue racing gloves and boots. “I love it.” she smiled with intense newfound confidence.

Rarity smiled and nodded as Sunset handed Rainbow her a rainbow-colored racing helmet. “Twilight and Wheeljack set up a way to connect this show back to Earth, so all of Canterlot City’s got its eyes on you.” she smiled. “Win this one for the Wondercolts.”

Rainbow smirked and bumped forearms with Sunset in a sign of solidarity. “For the Wondercolts,” she said as she strode confidently out of the pits toward her car, which she could see had the Wondercolt symbol emblazoned on the door.

[imagine this but with color]

Exactly as Sunset had said, there was a TV feed from Velocitron beaming across the galaxy to a small Autobot hover-drone, who beamed the feed onto the back wall of the Canterlot High gym so the crowd of students from CHS and Crystal Prep could watch, all more than glad it was Saturday so they could really enjoy this race. Rainbow’s parents were in the crowd as well and lost it more than anyone else in the stands when she came strutting out of the pits down to her car like a professional racer.

“Takin’ all bets, folks! Twenty says the first lap only takes Rainbow five minutes!” Indigo Zap called out, immediately getting a handful of bets from the other spectators.

“C’mon Dashie, you got this!” Rainbow’s father cheered.

A similar feed was being broadcast to the main screen in the Pit and every agent of G.I. Joe was watching with bated breath, ready to see humanity’s champion win it for them in this race of the ages.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

Rainbow could practically hear her dad cheering in her ear as she folded her hair up into her helmet before she put it on and climbed into her car, revving the engine up with a roar. “We’re burnin’; you guys all hooked up?” she asked over her coms.

“Link is set; diagnostics look good,” Ratchet reported. “Keep an eye on things on your end though; we did our best, but with damage like this, you can never be too careful.”

“Copy that; see you in Victory Lane,” Rainbow smirked and quickly flashed her lights over at Hot Rod, who flashed back as a sign of solidarity between the two racers.

“The sun is almost up, femmes and mechs! Place your bets and say your prayers; this is where the rubber meets the road and at the end of it all, only one driver will come out with their chrome intact and claim the greatest prize in the history of racing!” the announcer bellowed as she watched the light of the sunrise from the lip of the pit to the track, barely touching the top of the shrine, firing off a whole wall of flares down to the line, all blasting into vibrant green flames and prompting the racers to floor it hard, with Override, Rainbow, and Blurr jumping out to an early three-way lead.

“You can’t really think you’ll win this.” Override remarked to Rainbow.

“Doesn’t matter what I think; all I know is I’ve never let my friends down before and I’m not gonna start now,” Rainbow said with strength.

“Tough talk; let’s see ya back it up.” Override roared as she shot onward down the track with Rainbow and Blurr close behind. Rainbow strained to fight the g-forces as she pushed her car ahead of Override as they reached the first turn, where Rainbow started drifting… but quickly started spinning out.

“Whoa, skidding!” she called over the coms.

“Beginning wireless power transfer,” Twilight reported as she hammered on the computer terminal.

“You got spark, kid, but we all knew an organic was never gonna win this.” Override smirked as she and Blurr shot past in the turn.

Rainbow wanted to shoot a retort back her way, but she was too busy dealing with the fact that her field of vision was shrinking. “Rainbow! Rainbow, come in!” Sunset called over the coms.

“She’s going into g-LOC! Rainbow, straighten it out!” Twilight ordered.

Rainbow could barely hear that, but she could clearly see the track straightening out in front of her, so she quickly straightened out the drive. “Gah! Oh, that sucked!” she yelled as she pushed the pedal as far down as it could go.

“You okay, Dashie?” asked Pinkie.

“Ask me again when I win this,” Rainbow smiled as she raced after the leaders.

“Man, I can’t believe this; we’re stuck all the way back here!” Ransack was right; he and Crumplezone were stuck way in the back of the pack behind Hot Rod and Dragstrip, and those two were closing hard on the other three.

“Looks like it’s time to use one of those little improvements we made,” Crumplezone smirked.

“Good idea! They may be faster, but we’re smarter!” Ransack smiled as both the punks’ avatars pressed small yellow buttons on their control panels, firing powerful jump-jacks from their undercarriages, sending them flying to the other side of the hairpin turn and landing them right behind the main pack.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a real race here!” Dragstrip smiled as the racers roared onward.

“Looks like!” Rainbow smirked as she pressed harder and harder on her throttle, but she felt herself slowing, and the gauge said the same. “Twilight, my top speed’s dropping; help me out here!”

“Checking…” Twilight quickly analyzed the car and found the cause instantly. “Got it; your driveshaft fell out of sync with the main power circuit, so it’s only getting partial signals. I’m attempting to reroute.” Almost instantly, Rainbow started speeding up again.

“Nice one, Twilight! And just in time!” Rainbow smiled as the racers shot toward the loop.

“Don’t you get tired of losing, kid?” Override called back to Rainbow.

“I-bet-she-does-I-know-I-do-not-that-I’ve-lost-recently-but-I-definitely-know-how-it-feels-to-lose-over-and-over-and-over!” Blurr agreed.

“Are you guys gonna talk through this whole race?” Rainbow smirked. “Or can we save the trash-talking for when I’m on the top of the podium?”

“Ya know what’s funny?” Ransack asked.

“Vin Diesel’s audition tape for Cats? It exists.” Pinkie smiled over the coms.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I even wanna know what she’s talking about,” Dragstrip remarked.

“Save the headaches for after the race; good call.” Rainbow agreed.

“Yeah, but what’s really funny is that you bozos actually think you have a chance!” Ransack laughed as he and Crumplezone shot ahead.

“Yeah; your puny engines can’t keep up with the nitrous injectors we installed. My own special blend.” Crumplezone smiled as he and Ransack fired their injectors and shot their vehicles up the loop.

“You’re not the only ones who set up a little speed boost,” Rainbow smirked and quickly pulled a tab on her dash, sending freshly purified Red Energon straight into her fuel injector, sending her car rocketing up the loop after them with Override and Dragstrip close behind.

“Careful Rainbow, we don’t know how Red Energon will interact with your T-Cog!” Ratchet called.

Rainbow quickly pulled up her car’s diagnostics and looked them over as she rocketed upward. “Looks good so far.” And it looked even better when she saw Ransack and Crumplezone run out of nitrous and fall from the top of the loop, sending them crashing to the track just seconds before the other racers shot past them.

“Good riddance to bad scrap metal, I say!” Dragstrip smirked as he raced onward. “This race is all mine now, baby!”

“Not on my watch, pal!” Rainbow smiled as they raced onward.

(Cut it)

Back at the crash site, Ransack and Crumplezone had transformed back to bot mode and looked at each other in annoyance. “Well, so much for fair and square. Looks like we’re doin’ this our way.” Ransack smirked as they both quickly drove back to the shrine, where they found the Planet Cup still locked behind its forcefield.

Ransack tried just jumping at the trophy, but the forcefield electrocuted him and threw him back, knocking him to the ground. “You okay?” Crumplezone asked dumbly.

“Does it look like I’m okay?!” Ransack asked in annoyance.

“Not from where I’m standing.” That voice caught both racers off-guard until they saw Sideswipe standing near the forcefield with two large swords in his hands. “You boys better step back if you know what’s good for you.”

“Guess we don’t know what’s good for us then,” Ransack smirked as he and Crumplezone raised their weapons and started firing at Sideswipe, but he quickly deflected as many shots as he could with his swords, though a few made it through and knocked him down before they started firing on the forcefield, trying to blast it down.

“Ransack and Crumplezone have gone off the deep end; they’re trying to steal the Planet Cup!” the announcer called in concern.

“Oh, now he gets it right!” Ransack remarked in annoyance… before he was suddenly blasted in the back. “Huh?!” He looked and saw a bright red femme with a heavy marksman’s rifle in her hand and a blade protruding from her free wrist.

“No one messes with Override’s prize until she wins it!” she assured.

“Oh yeah, wanna try that again?” Ransack smirked as he turned his blaster on her.

“No. And neither do you.” Sideswipe threatened darkly, quickly holding one of his swords against Ransack’s neck.

“Save a little action for us, Sideswipe!” Rainbow called as the other racers shot back to the shrine, weapons folding out of Rainbow’s doors.

“My team hired you scum to run blocker for me, and now you try to cheat me out of the Planet Cup?!” Dragstrip roared as he transformed and shot over to them, practically foaming at the mouth in rage. “I oughtta break you both down for scrap right now!”

“Easy there, Dragstrip; why don’t we just let ‘em leave with their lives and a promise that they’ll be vaporized if they try anything again? What do you think?” Hot Rod smirked.

“Well, ya know what I think?” Ransack asked before a bevy of weapons cocked and pointed at them.

“We should run?” Crumplezone guessed.

“That’s exactly what I think.” Ransack nodded in fear before they both transformed and raced out of the city as fast as they could, leaving the racers and spectators laughing at the crooks’ expense.

Even on Earth, the crowd at CHS was laughing their butts off as they saw this. “Oh, man! Oh, this was so worth the drive from town!” Sour Sweet laughed, not even going sour after that remark; this was just too funny to ruin it like that.

“That’s my girl! Send those bums packin’!” Rainbow’s mom cheered.

“Alright folks, betting is open again! Let’s see the money!” Indigo Zap called, earning another wave of bets, including a few from Snips and Snails that said Rainbow would lose by a mile. Indigo smiled, knowing exactly how much those two would be kicking themselves for throwing money away like that.

Finally, the racers calmed their laughing down enough to look at each other. “Well, this was a fun distraction,” Rainbow smirked. “But if I know my classmates, they’ve got money on this race, so let’s get back to it.”

“Right. See ya on the course.” Hot Rod smiled as he revved his engine and roared away, followed by the others. Dragstrip was more than a bit annoyed by this little display his meat shields had just put on… and unfortunately, so was Megatron.

“This is the muscle you hired, Motormaster?!” he snarled at his general.

“Did I say ‘muscle’? Sorry, I meant ‘bullet-shields’.” Motormaster said nervously. “But there’s really no need to panic, Lord Megatron; there’s still plenty of race to run. And Dragstrip will win this, I promise you.”

“He had better, or it will be your heads,” Megatron warned menacingly.

As Sideswipe watched the racers shoot off back down the track, he smiled and looked at the femme that had just backed him up. “Lemme guess… Stormchaser?”

“That’s my name; don’t wear it out.” she smiled and slung her rifle onto her back. “And you are?”

“Name’s Sideswipe. An old boyfriend of Override’s,” he smirked before he transformed and drove back to the Autobot pits. Stormchaser appeared confused but just shrugged it off as she transformed into a Cybertronian formula car and drove to Override’s pit.

(Eurobeat Intensifies-AGAIN!)

The race was back on and things were going well as Rainbow took a clear lead, though something seriously didn’t feel right in her systems. “Hey, I think there might be something loose in the engine; check it for me?” she asked over the coms.

“Stand by,” Twilight ordered and quickly checked. “Oh no. You’re putting too much strain on your primary ignition couplings; your engine’s gonna stall! And we can’t fix that through the computer uplink!”

“Can I make up ground with my boosters?” Rainbow asked, eyeing her thruster button.

“Not unless you wanna blow yourself to scrap metal.” Ratchet pointed out. “You’re better easing off.”

“No way, Ratchet; I gotta win this race.” Rainbow scowled as she raced onward, cornering with the others despite the obvious smoldering in the ignitors. “C’mon, c’mon…!”

Dragstrip was starting to get annoyed; he’d been behind Rainbow for nearly this entire race, and now it was getting to him. “No way am I letting an organic steal this win from me! I always win! I’m Dragstrip! Dragstrip is the best racer in the universe!” With that in mind, he roared up next to Rainbow and fired some sort of harpoons out of the sides of his car into Rainbow’s car.

“Gah! I’m hooked!” she called as she started to spin out.

“Can you transform? That might be enough to shake him off!” Sunset suggested.

“Worth a try!” Rainbow scowled as she strained, focusing on her T-Cog, almost sensing its damage through her geode as physical pain. It burned as she tried to activate the techno-organ and stop the spin Dragstrip had put her in, but finally she just barely managed it, transforming and tossing Dragstrip to the side as she skidded to a stop inches from the edge of the track.

The whole Autobot team cheered Rainbow’s moves, and although Optimus may not have been as vocal about it as the others, it was clear from the expression on his face that he was proud of her.

(Cut it)

Rainbow grimaced as she held her bot-form’s side, feeling the pain in her T-Cog for real. “Ohhh, this hurts so much worse than I thought it would.” she groaned.

“You gonna be okay?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah. Yeah, just- just gimme a sec.” Rainbow cringed, trying to keep her balance. But she clearly didn’t have that second as she saw Override, Blurr, and Hot Rod bearing down toward her. “Oh scrap.” Quickly she fought through the pain and tried to get a running start, but her plates only shifted again. “Oh no. No, no, no; not now! My T-Cog’s seizing again; I can’t transform!”

“The T-Cog is overheating; the repairs are coming undone!” Twilight noted from the diagnostic readout.

“Girls, get me back in this race!” Rainbow yelled, still limping through the pain as the other racers shot past her.

Hot Rod skidded to a stop and transformed next to her. “I got your back, Rainbow!” he assured.

“No! No, keep driving; the Autobots need at least one guy in this race for us.” Rainbow ordered.

“She’s right, Hot Rod; you drop out now, the whole universe will be singin’ ‘Hail the Conquerin’ Decepticon’.” Retrofit ordered.

Hot Rod knew they were right; if Rainbow couldn’t get back in the race fast, he was their only chance. “Don’t start learning those lyrics just yet, uncle.” he nodded as he transformed and shot down the track after Blurr and Override, quickly followed by Dragstrip.

“So long, slimeball!” he laughed at Rainbow as he drove after the leaders.

Rainbow growled in anger as she saw him race away. “I am not letting that punk take this from us!” she snarled.

“Now is hardly the time for vanity, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity pointed out.

“This isn’t about my ego, Rarity!” Rainbow countered. “This is about the universe! I promised you guys I’d win this one! And even then, it’s not just for you! Earth, Cybertron… even Velocitron. This race is about more than just who gets a trophy. It’s about who lives and who dies, and I intend to make sure that all my friends live! That’s my promise and I’m going to keep it!”

(Eurobeat Intensifies One Last Time)

Rainbow could feel her human body Pony-Up inside her bot-form as she knew exactly how much she knew she believed what she was saying. Then something outrageous happened; out of nowhere, Rainbow’s bot hair – which had been condensed into her helmet – sprouted a familiar rainbow-colored ponytail extension, her audio receptors took the form of pony ear-shaped radar dishes on the top of her head and her door wings were covered by the image of actual feathered wings. Rainbow’s bot-form had somehow Ponied-Up just like her own form.

Almost immediately, her pain faded and the readout showed only positives. “Unbelievable; she’s in peak condition,” Ratchet remarked.

Rainbow smirked as she overheard that and instantly transformed back to vehicle mode and shot down the track like a rocket, her thrusters and engine firing on a massive load of Red Energon and nitrous, rainbow-colored flames shooting up in the wake of her tires. “And she’s back in it!” the announcer yelled as Rainbow raced after the other drivers like a bat outta hell, the crowds across the galaxy cheering as she shot down the track, her tires squealing on the pavement and her engine whining like it was about to explode as she shot toward the leaders.

“She’s gonna do it.” Pinkie smiled happily as Rainbow became hyper-focused on the track ahead of her. Everything else aside from the road was nothing but shadows in her peripheral as her wings spread and acted as a massive spoiler, giving her only more speed as she shot past Dragstrip and Hot Rod before they even realized she was there.

Override caught a first glimpse of the girl in her rearview mirror and tried her hardest to outdrive her, but it was just too much as Rainbow shot right up alongside her and Blurr. “They’re neck-and-neck as they approach the finish line; it looks like this is gonna be a photo finish!” the announcer called.

Rainbow gave a triumphant roar as she shot down the road, her nose bleeding violently as the g-forces got the best of her, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open as she floored it toward the finish line. Her wings folded in, cutting the wind resistance in half as she shot across the line just half a car-length before Override and Blurr, prompting her to spread her wings again and let them act as air brakes as she screeched to a stop just inches away from the shrine, her tires melting and her brake-blocks cooking as she finally took her foot off the gas pedal and relaxed at exactly the same time her suspension basically gave out beneath her car.

(Cut it)

Rainbow could barely hear anything as she hovered on the edge of unconsciousness, breathing deeply as she fumbled to open her car’s door, stumbling out onto the ground and letting her helmet drop from her head as she pulled herself up by the hood of her car, finally hearing the mad cheering of the crowds and her friends as they charged from the pits, the other racers slowing to a stop not far from her and all joining in. “People of Velocitron, we have here an unprecedented result here at the 600th Planet Cup and a new champion crowned; not Blurr, not Override, not a bot of any description, but an organic lifeform! People of the galaxy, from Earth; Rainbow Dash!”

The whole crowd cheered for Rainbow as she quickly collapsed her car back into its Armor rig around her geode and she stumbled a bit, quickly caught by her friends as they lifted her into the air, the whole crowd across the galaxy chanting Rainbow’s name in victory.

Dragstrip smiled as he looked up at the girl, which surprised a great deal of those present. “I’m surprised, Dragstrip,” Sideswipe remarked as his avatar walked up next to the Stunticon. “I would’ve thought you’d be furious about losing to an organic.”

“Not when she won so spectacularly.” Dragstrip smiled as his avatar disappeared. “You’ve earned a reprieve.” With that, Dragstrip rumbled away.

Sideswipe smiled and deactivated his avatar, transforming to bot mode as he walked over to Override and Stormchaser. “Well… how’s that for a win?” he smiled.

Override smiled at Sideswipe in a mix of annoyance and pride. “Inspiring enough for me to tell the truth.” she smiled, turning to Stormchaser. “Stormy… this is Sideswipe… your father.”

Stormchaser seemed more than a bit surprised at this as she looked at Sideswipe. “My… what?” she asked breathlessly.

The girls were amazed at this as well, but they were a bit too busy celebrating Rainbow’s victory. “Dashie! Dashie, here-here-here!” Pinkie called as she handed her friend a glass jug of ice-cold milk, just like she’d planned.

“No, no; this was a team effort. We all gotta take a pull off of this.” Rainbow insisted as her friends put her down.

“No argument there. But you were the one behind the wheel, Rainbow; first drink’s all yours.” Sunset insisted.

Rainbow smiled as she put the cold glass to her lips and took a big sip, letting out a sigh of happiness at the taste. “Oh, that’s the stuff.” she smiled as she handed the jug around to her friends, who all had a pull of their own.

Optimus’ avatar stepped forward and nodded to Rainbow. That appeared to be all he would do, but then he and Elita-1’s avatar grabbed her in a heavy two-person bear-hug. “I am proud of you, Rainbow Dash,” Optimus said warmly.

“Thanks, Optimus. I’m proud of myself too.” Rainbow smiled as she was released from the hug and given some good room as everyone transformed into bot mode, hyping Rainbow up as she raised her hands to the crowd.

Sunset smiled as she saw the forcefield surrounding the Planet Cup dissipate. “Well, looks like our work here is done.”

“Looks like.” Retrofit agreed. “C’mon Rainbow, let’s go claim your trophy.” Rainbow smiled as she walked up to the shrine with the old racer… but then he was suddenly shot in the chest by a massive energy blast and knocked down.

“RETROFIT!” Hot Rod and Clocker yelled in fear as they shot to his side.

“I think I’ll take it for myself if you don’t mind.” a dark voice smirked from the shrine.

Optimus’ optics narrowed as he deployed his faceplate, laying eyes on his old adversary right there next to the Planet Cup. “Megatron…”

Perfect Harmony

Ratchet was next to Retrofit in less than a second as Optimus stared up at the shrine, at Megatron who was presently surrounded by the Stunticons. “I admit, I was a bit impatient earlier today, Optimus.” Megatron sneered as he took the Planet Cup in hand. “But clearly patience is rewarded, for now the Decepticons have one of the Galaxy Keys. And more will come. And soon, Cybertron will be ours to rule.”

“You know perfectly well that I will never allow you to possess the Galaxy Key, Megatron.” Optimus pointed out.

“Then by all means, Prime…” Megatron smiled as he locked the Cup to his back and drew his sword. “Come and take it. Or perhaps instead, you will be more concerned with the innocents you so care for.” With a snap of his fingers, legions of Vehicons stood up from the stands and started firing at the Autobots.

“Hit the deck!” Sunstreaker called as he and Sideswipe knocked Override and Stormchaser to cover.

“And now you understand why I had to leave when I did.” Sideswipe shrugged as he pulled his blaster and started returning fire, as all the other Autobots did as well.

“I need cover fire over here!” Ratchet called as he tried to focus on attending to Retrofit.

“Got yer back!” Ironhide called as he moved to the medic’s side, providing covering fire as Optimus and Megatron charged each other, blades at the ready.

The battle was epic as Autobots and Decepticons fought hard through the city. “Having fun yet, boys?” Motormaster smirked.

“You better believe it!” Wildrider called wildly as he fired at the Autobots.

“Yeah, this is way better than just racin’!” Ransack smiled as he and Crumplezone fired into the crowd.

“Oh, now I remember what we forgot,” Dragstrip smirked.

“As do I. Cover me.” Motormaster nodded as he walked over to the two goons, his other soldiers covering him. “Ransack? Crumplezone?”

“Yeah?” the two goons asked… before Motormaster blasted them both in the chest and left them to bleed out.

“You’re both fired,” Motormaster said simply as they died. “Stunticons, Combine!” The Stunticons quickly all drove into each other and slammed together to form their mighty combined form. “Menasor, burnin’ rubber!”

Megatron had just knocked Optimus down when he saw Menasor rise. “Yes. Excellent. Now Menasor, crush this world in the name of the Decepticons!” he bellowed.

Suddenly Rainbow shot behind him. “Yoink!” she laughed as she grabbed the Planet Cup from his back and skidded to a stop. “Gotta keep your head in the game, Megs.” Megatron merely snarled and aimed his cannon at Rainbow. “Oh jeez!” Quickly she zipped out of the way of Megatron’s cannon, dodging the shots as he fired on her.

“Hey Dash! How bout a round of keep-away?” Applejack called.

“Go long!” Rainbow called as she tossed the Planet Cup to the cowgirl, which ended up becoming a pitched game of keep-away between all the girls just to keep the Planet Cup away from the Decepticons.

“This is insane!” Stormchaser yelled as she fired on some of the Vehicons.

“And exactly why I left; I didn’t want you or your mother getting wrapped up in all this!” Sideswipe shrugged.

“So you left your girlfriend behind when she was pregnant?!” Sunstreaker asked in irritation as he pelted a legion of Vehicons with thermite grenades.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant when I left; all I knew was she had a secret to tell me!” Sideswipe pointed out, turning back to Override. “But, while we’re on the subject, I do feel like you should’ve told me about that before the race!”

“Maybe if you’d told me you had to leave, I would’ve.” Override countered.

“Can you guys please save this for later? Like when we’re not in the middle of a firefight?!” Bumblebee called over in annoyance as he kept firing at the Vehicons.

“Yeah, and can we also talk about how you kept my dad a secret for my whole life, Mom?!” Stormchaser asked.

“You never even told her about me?!” Sideswipe asked as he slashed one Vehicon’s head off with his swords.

“I told her the truth; you left before she was born! That seemed like enough at the time.” Override scowled.

“Well, it’s not enough now.” Stormchaser countered as she stabbed another Vehicon with her forearm blade. “You tell me my dad never cared about us enough to stick around and all of a sudden, you tell me he’s back?!”

“You told her I didn’t care about you!?” Sideswipe asked angrily.

“Sideswipe! Firefight! Focus!” Ironhide called.

“No, that’s a very valid concern Ironhide; a parent leaving before birth is one thing but being told they didn’t even care?!” Rarity objected as she swirled her gem shields around her to protect herself and the Planet Cup from enemy fire, quickly tossing the Cup in turn to Sunset.

“She’s got a point. Can you imagine what would happen if you left me if I was pregnant? What would I tell our kid?” Chromia agreed as she swung her axe.

“Can we please focus here?!” Fluttershy cried out, surprising a lot of the Autobots with her volume.

“Sheesh, okay fine; we’ll talk about it later.” Sideswipe shrugged… before he saw something. “Stormchaser, look out!” Quickly he jumped across his daughter just in time to get a massive energy blast right in the chest.

“SIDESWIPE!” Override called in terror as she watched him fall limp on the ground.

“Medic!” Sunstreaker called.

“He’s not the only one who’s gonna need it!” Menasor roared as he stomped forward, his massive sword and shoulder cannons at the ready. “Unless you hand over the Planet Cup. Now.”

Sunset scowled as she stood forward, looking up at Menasor. “You’ll never have this Galaxy Key or any of the others,” she assured, her friends standing with her.

“Oh? And what do you plan to do to stop us, organic slug?” Menasor scowled, leveling his massive sword.

“Whatever’s necessary,” Sunset assured. “Because that’s what Autobots– no, that’s what friends do. And my friends and I have proven time and time again that as long as we’re together, darkness will never win.” The girls’ geodes resonated with power as Sunset said that, and surprisingly, so did the Matrix of Leadership within Optimus’s chest.

“By the AllSpark…” the Prime remarked breathlessly as he felt this surge of power… and how familiar it felt.

Across the galaxy back on Earth, a strange metallic prism thrummed with the same sort of energy before it opened and revealed a core of pure energy, which shot a massive beam of mystic energy out into space. A beam that was detected by the Autobots, Decepticons, G.I. Joe, and Cobra all at once. At the speed of light, the beam shot across the galaxy before it hit Velocitron and enveloped the girls and Spike. “What’s happening?!” Fluttershy asked in fear.

“I dunno, but it feels… incredible,” Applejack remarked.

Twilight looked around through the energy and saw a look of shock on all the Autobots’ faces and even one from Menasor. “Whoa, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked as out of nowhere, she started to jerk and spasm in what looked like pain. Everyone looked and saw that somehow this energy was reformatting her bot form to its original alt-mode of jet-fighter.

Then they appeared; small metallic gold disks suddenly formed from thin air in front of the girls’ optics with their symbols emblazoned on them. Their bot-forms’ chests opened up and these disks locked in behind their organic bodies before they closed up, their optics flashing sheer white as they started hovering before they all suddenly transformed to vehicle mode. Then things started getting crazy.

Pinkie’s car mode landed on the ground and spun into reverse and suddenly launched itself in the air, a large metallic foot construct deploying from its tail end before it landed with Fluttershy’s copter hovering next to her, the cockpit folding out into a foot as the rotors and tail collapsed into a leg. Twilight’s car roared toward them before it launched and everything behind the front doors flipped down under the front bumper and split in half into metallic thighs that locked into place on top of the leg constructs, Pinkie on the left and Fluttershy on the right. Then Sunset’s car leaped up and hinged horizontally in the midsection before it landed on top of the structure so far, the fenders folding under the bumpers to form large metallic orange breasts.

Applejack and Rarity were next, with Applejack’s truck linking into the new form’s left shoulder area by the front, a large fist folding out from the bed before Rarity’s car linked into the right shoulder and a similar fist folded out from under the rear bumper. Then Rainbow’s jet swooped up and locked into the assembly’s back, its wings extending longer and unfurling large blue crystalline feathers as the engines extended and bulked up before the nosecone folded point-down into a cavity in the body, allowing a white-faced head with a helmet that glittered like light blue crystal interspersed with white star-like spots to rise up, its optics flashing white before they glowed a steady blue.

Then Spike raced over to the massive form and leaped up at its breastplate, his legs quickly splaying out and linking into the shape of handles similar to those on the Matrix as his head folded onto his torso and his scalp opened, revealing an ornate gold display with seven colored crystals emblazoned on it.

“Whoa, what just happened?” Rainbow’s voice echoed inside the large robot’s mind.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“Whoa, Twilight?! Is that- are we reading each other’s minds?” Rainbow thought back.

“What’s happening here?” asked Fluttershy.

“Ah think Ah know,” Applejack noted, making the robot’s optics look down at their body.

“Whoa! Did we just combine?!” Pinkie asked. “Awesome!”

“Of course. Our unity must’ve activated whatever allows Cybertronians to combine.” Twilight noted in understanding.

“And how does that explain this?” Rarity asked, clearly referring to the telepathic aspect of everything.

“It must take us thinking in sync to operate this new form.” Sunset theorized.

“Why’d it reformat me then?” asked Rainbow.

“Probably because your jet form is more conducive to the Combiner’s structure.” Twilight theorized.

“Whatever the case, we need a name for this beauty.” Pinkie pointed out.

“Only one real thing I can think of for that.” Sunset smiled. The others all heard it in their minds and they liked it.

Suddenly the Combiner’s optics flashed a brighter blue before it posed strongly. “Harmonion fights as one!” it bellowed in a deep female voice. Menasor was more than a bit intimidated as Harmonion was at least a few dozen meters taller than him and definitely looked a lot stronger.

(Cut it)

“What?!” Megatron yelled in shock at the sight of this new Combiner, but it quickly turned to rage. “Menasor, destroy them!”

Menasor wasn’t sure what he could do but quickly started firing his shoulder cannons at Harmonion, but she quickly raised her right hand and conjured a large shield made of crystals, deflecting every shot.

“My goodness! That’s my magic!” Rarity recognized easily.

“Not anymore it’s not; we all have access to it now.” Rainbow smiled.

“Not just yours; I think we can all use all our magic in this form.” Twilight smiled.

“What about my dragon powers?” Spike suggested.

“Worth a try.” Rainbow smiled.

On that cue, Harmonion reared back and opened her mouth, blasting a huge torrent of multi-colored fire across the battlefield, incinerating nearly all the remaining Vehicons. “Whoa! These girls get more and more awesome with each passing cycle.” Smokescreen smiled.

Menasor just roared as he charged the fire and swung his blade at Harmonion, but his sword was quickly caught in the left hand before the right hand stretched out and conjured a huge field of crystals into the form of a massive greatsword, the flat of which was swiftly bashed against Menasor, knocking him into the wall of the shrine and forcing him out of his combined form.

“Oh, this is awesome!” Rainbow yelled as the Combiner dispelled its sword. “I don’t wanna separate, ever!”

“You really want us all in each other’s heads all the time?” asked Sunset.

“Okay, so there are some downsides but come on; this is awesome!” Rainbow pointed out.

“I must agree with Rainbow Dash; color-clashing aside, this form is simply divine!” Rarity agreed.

“Who’s next?” Harmonion smiled down at the remaining Decepticons.

Megatron was still more than surprised at this Combiner’s sudden appearance but scowled as he saw he was clearly outmatched against it and the other Autobots. And either way, he had more important things to worry about than just this single Galaxy Key. “Make no mistake, Optimus Prime; this is far from over.” Megatron bellowed to his rival before he turned away. “Decepticons, return to base.” With that, Megatron marched away toward a SpaceBridge followed by the Stunticons and what few Vehicons remained.

Once they were gone, the girls flashed white again and separated back into their individual bot forms. “Okay, that was awesome!” Rainbow called.

“I’d say so.” Bumblebee smiled… before becoming forlorn. “And now comes the attending to the wounded.”

“Oh dear, that’s right.” Fluttershy realized as she raced to Sideswipe’s side to try and help Hoist in keeping him stable while Ratchet attended to Retrofit.

“Is he gonna be okay?” asked Hot Rod.

Ratchet’s face fell. “I’m sorry; the damage is too severe. His Spark is giving out,” he said somberly. “Sideswipe has a better chance, but I need to take over from Hoist.”

Hot Rod and Clocker looked at each other in sorrow, but it was clear they had come to the same decision. “Go.” Hot Rod nodded, letting the old medic zip over to Sideswipe. “Retrofit, I-”

“Ya don’t have to say it, son.” the old bot wheezed. “I already know. Ya may not be my blood, but I’m damn lucky to have had ya with me. Clocker?”

“I’m here, Retrofit.” he nodded.

“Look after the farm for me, will ya?” the old bot wheezed.

“I will. I promise.” Clocker assured, suddenly surprised when Retrofit pulled him closer and whispered something into his ear. Clocker appeared surprised, but he couldn’t ask anything as the light in Retrofit’s optics burned out.

Across the way, Sideswipe was struggling as Ratchet jumped in. “Talk to me, Hoist; what’ve we got?” he ordered.

“The blast hit his filters; he’s losing too much Energon.” Hoist responded.

“Please tell me you can fix him,” Override said with a sense of desperation.

“I can get him patched long enough to get him to a CR chamber; beyond that, it’s up to him.” Ratchet shrugged as he grabbed a large plate of scrap metal, quickly welding it onto Sideswipe’s torso as he grit his teeth in pain.

“C’mon Doc, no painkillers?” Sideswipe cringed.

“Your filters are damaged enough as it is; the last thing you need right now is drugs.” Ratchet countered.

“At least his attitude’s still intact.” Sunstreaker shrugged.

“More than I can say for my optics; can’t see slag.” Sideswipe groaned, starting to weaken.

“Don’t you dare leave, Dad; you just got here!” Stormchaser ordered desperately. “I want to get to know you before you go.”

“You will; I promise you that.” Ratchet nodded as he finished welding on the metal.

“Where’s the nearest health center?” Hoist asked.

“Up that way; ninth building on the left.” Hot Rod answered quickly.

“Clear the way.” Hoist ordered as he transformed and quickly winched Sideswipe onto his truck bed, flooring it toward the health center as his and Ratchet’s sirens blared.

“Is Sideswipe gonna be okay?” Spike asked.

“Ratchet’s the best there is; even a patch job from him oughtta be enough to keep my bro alive until the CR Chamber can do its magic,” Sunstreaker assured.

“I’d prefer to make sure of that for myself if no one minds.” Override assured as she and Stormchaser suddenly transformed and raced after the emergency vehicles.

As promised, Ratchet and Hoist got Sideswipe into a CR chamber in the health center just in time and while the next two hours of repair were a long time for most of the Autobots to hold their breath, Sideswipe was soon intact enough to regain consciousness and smile at his friends and family all around him. “Don’t worry, guys; I’m not ready to join the AllSpark just yet.”

“You asshole,” Sunstreaker smirked as he watched Stormchaser hug her father in his bed. “You don’t come back from the brink with a lame line like that.”

“How far over the brink was I, Ratchet?” Sideswipe asked.

“Far enough that your treatment got priority,” Ratchet assured. “You’re alive, but until you’re completely back in one piece, you’re on medical leave. Here, if you want.”

“Really?” asked Sideswipe.

“We have discussed it,” Optimus assured. “Even if your damage did not make returning you to Earth a risk, you deserve some time here. To make amends and be with your family.”

Sideswipe smiled as he held Stormchaser with one arm and gripped Override’s hand with the other. “Thank you, Optimus,” he said simply.

Sunstreaker smiled as he looked at his brother. “Get well soon, bro,” he said. “And Override?” Override looked over at Sunstreaker who smirked. “Make sure my brother actually does get better, or Ratchet will be the least of your concerns.”

“You’re right; if he doesn’t take it easy, he’ll have to answer to us both.” Override agreed and bumped fists with Sunstreaker. “Good luck with the war.”

“We’ll need it.” Arcee nodded as she looked at the Planet Cup in Rainbow’s arms. “One down, three to go, after all.”

“And now we’re down a bot.” Kup scowled.

“Not for long.” Hot Rod stepped forward. “I’d like to join you.”

“Are you certain, Hot Rod?” asked Optimus.

“Three weeks ago, I would’ve said yes just out of interest of my own thrill-seeking.” Hot Rod smiled. “But now that I know everything that’s happening? I dunno; something… something in my Spark is telling me that I need to go with you. Like, it’s what I’m meant to do.”

“Far be it from us to argue with a bot’s Spark, Optimus.” Ironhide pointed out.

“Very well, Hot Rod. Welcome to the Autobots.” Optimus nodded, shaking Hot Rod’s hand.

“Well, now that we have that out of the way, we have another problem.” Elita pointed out.

“Indeed. And it can only be properly addressed on Earth.” Optimus noted and turned on his commlink. “Optimus Prime to the Ark; lock onto my signal and activate the SpaceBridge.” The vortex opened just behind Optimus, giving the Autobots a solid path back to Earth.

Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones with trouble on their mind as a brig cell opened. Starscream curled into the corner in fear as Megatron stomped into the cell. “Does your loyalty lie only with the Decepticon cause, Starscream?” the warlord asked darkly.

“Of course, Lord Megatron,” Starscream said in fear.

“Then scramble your Seekers,” Megatron ordered. “The Enigma of Combination has been activated on this planet and I intend to be the one to possess it, so the Decepticons might finally crush the Autobots underfoot.”

Starscream was surprised; after going against the Decepticons with the AllSpark, Megatron was willing to allow him access to such great power as the Enigma of Combination? This was an opportunity handed him on a silver platter. “As you command, Lord Megatron.” he nodded and stepped past the warlord, already scheming as he left to take his Seekers out to do just as he was ordered.

But the Decepticons weren’t the only ones to mobilize. On a distant planet, a tall femme watched the starry sky, her face wreathed in shadows from burning braziers nearby. “A relic of the Primes has found life,” she said simply. “Its power must not be misused.”

“As you command, mistress.” a bulky femme bowed before she boarded a large ship and hovered from the surface. It nearly left the planet before a dark form leaped from the shadows and slipped in through the closing hatch before the ship flew from the planet’s surface and shot across the galaxy.

Combiner Wars

By the time the girls arrived, the Ark was already abuzz with activity as the Autobots armed themselves. “Wheeljack, have you located the source of the energy surge?” Optimus ordered promptly.

“With a light show like that, how could I miss it?” Wheeljack pointed out as he brought up a map of Earth, a point in the Gobi Desert highlighted. “It’s right here on the Chinese-Mongolian border.”

“Powerglide and I have already contacted G.I. Joe; General Hawk is sending out the General to back us up just in case,” Hound reported.

“Wreckers are all standin’ by for your order, Optimus.” Springer saluted.

“Lot of defenses for something that just upgrades bots,” Rainbow remarked as she set the Planet Cup on the console.

“Combiners aren’t just upgrades, Rainbow.” Twilight pointed out. “We were all mentally linked when we combined.”

“That’s traditional for Combiners; the minds and power of multiple bots coming together as one,” Smokescreen noted. “And they don’t just come from nowhere either. They come from what we’re after right now.”

“And that is?” asked Rainbow.

“The Enigma of Combination,” Elita answered as she prepped her rifle. “The Artifact of Nexus Prime; the Seventh of the Thirteen, and the First Combiner. The Enigma is what gave you those Combiner Cores within your Armors.”

“During the war on Cybertron, the Constructicons stole the Enigma from Iacon and became one of the first major Combiners we’ve had to deal with.” Prowl recounted as he grabbed a large shotgun in addition to his pistol. “Since then, it was stolen and re-stolen by both sides, resulting in the events earning their own little name; the Combiner Wars.”

“Finally, the Enigma was returned to the Iacon Hall of Records, and Alpha Trion banished it and countless other Cybertronian relics here to Earth,” Optimus concluded. “And if Megatron were to acquire the Enigma again, he would build further legions of Combiners to destroy us.”

“And the last thing we want right now is an army of Combiners taking over Earth,” Jetfire assured as he primed his rifle and his arm and leg cannons.

“Then we’d better get movin’. The Enigma isn’t gonna wait forever.” Chromia ordered as she readied her axe, though she did look a bit more concerned than the others.

“Agreed. Wheeljack, activate the GroundBridge.” Optimus ordered. The engineer pulled the lever and activated the vortex. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” The whole team transformed, including the newcomer Hot Rod and they all roared through the vortex, landing in the Gobi Desert right where they saw a large pit in the sands, surrounded by sand scorched to black glass.

“Yeah, this is definitely the place,” Cliffjumper smirked as he looked around at the scorched sand.

“That’s what we thought.” Duke’s voice called over a loudspeaker. The Autobots looked and saw what the girls believed was easily the biggest vehicle the Joes had in their arsenal rumbling toward them; a massive gray tumbler with huge green landing pads on either side covered with a bevy of high-caliber machine gun turrets, anti-air cannons, and missile launchers, as well as a large space between them clearly meant for a cannon but covered by a small helicopter. “And that’s exactly why we brought the General.”

“Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho! You guys don’t half-do things, do you, Duke?” Rainbow smiled in excitement at the sight of the massive vehicle.

“Not when we’ve got Decepticons and Cobra to worry about,” Duke assured as he turned to the large vehicle’s driver. “This beauty ready to kick some ass, Storm?”

“You know it, Duke.” the major at the controls saluted as he stopped the massive assembly.

“Positions, soldiers!” Duke ordered as he leaped from the cockpit, prompting numerous Joes to snap to their places on the turrets of the massive vehicle while Wild Bill climbed into the small helicopter, ready to spin it up.

“Think this’ll be enough?” Lancer asked almost jokingly as she looked at the vehicle.

“Well, just in case it’s not, we’ve got something that might be a little more your speed.” Duke smiled as he grabbed his two-way radio. “Steeler, bring ‘em in.”

On cue, a group of eight heavy deep green tanks rumbled over the same ridge the General had just driven over, their cannons and mounted machine guns aiming in pretty much every direction but straight down. One of the tanks’ hatches opened and an unshaven man pulled himself up to look out of the turret. “Think we’ve got enough now?” he asked.

“With the Skystrikers and Conquests we’ve got watching the skies too? Yeah, I’d say we’ve got all our bases covered, Steeler.” Major Storm agreed.

“Uh… I hate to impose, but… can I scan one of these tanks?” Lancer asked promptly.

“Had a feeling you’d ask that.” Steeler smiled as he climbed out of his tank and patted the side armor. “This is a M.O.B.A.T., Multi-Ordinance Battle Tank. My personal favorite piece of mobile armor in the Joes’ garage.”

“Mine too, I can already tell.” Lancer smiled as she quickly scanned the tank, her body reconfiguring to match the vehicle. “Oh yeah, I’d like to see any Decepticon get past this.”

“Allow me to grant that wish!” Everyone was surprised to hear Starscream’s voice calling over the desert, especially when they saw a massive wing of Seekers fly into the area.

“What the hell?!” Duke remarked as the Seekers started firing on them, but their blasts were quickly intercepted by a combined shield from Trailbreaker and Rarity. “Nice work! Ace, Slip-Stream, get your wings down here; we got company! Bill, airborne! Turret crews, light these bastards up!”

“Sir!” the soldiers all over the General yelled as they swiveled their guns into place and started firing on the Decepticons, the wings of Skystriker jet-fighters and new fighters with forward-swept wings flew down from the clouds and joined the fight, along with the small attack chopper Wild Bill quickly launched.

“Maximize!” the Maximals all said at once and transformed, readying their weapons.

“I’m surprised to see you here, Starscream!” Rainbow smirked as she and the Autobots’ fliers quickly transformed and went up to join in the dogfight. “I figured Megatron wouldn’t want to share his new favorite punching bag.”

“Laugh while you can, organic! I’ve more than learned my lesson after my spate with the AllSpark and Lord Megatron trusts me enough to bring him the power of the Enigma of Combination!” Starscream countered as he fired on the former racer.

“Not without backup, he doesn’t,” Scrapper yelled across the desert as the Constructicons roared into the area, along with a large troop of Vehicons.

“If I may, Scrapper? Since we’re fighting for the relic that made us what we are…” Hook suggested.

“An excellent suggestion, Hook,” Scrapper smirked. “Constructicons, Combine!” On that order, Scrapper and Mixmaster roared forward first and started shifting; Scrapper folded his scoop upward and Mixmaster leaned his whole body up on his cab to form feet which Long Haul launched onto, transforming into a waist and lower-body assembly similar to Twilight’s configuration, linking on top of the first two – Scrapper on the right, Mixmaster on the left – before Hook hinged similarly to Sunset and linked on top of the assembly, into which the remaining two Constructicons locked; Bonecrusher on the left and Scavenger on the right, each deploying large purple hands from black wrist assemblies before a large purple assembly that looked like a small fighter craft deployed and locked onto the Combiner’s chest and deployed a large black-helmeted head with a thick red visor.

“Devastator destroys all!” he bellowed.

“Oh, so it’s a Combiner fight you want, huh?” Rainbow smiled as the Vehicons transformed and started firing at the Joes and other Autobots.

“Then it’s a Combiner fight you’ll get.” Sunset agreed. “Let’s bring it together, girls!” Sunset ordered. The other girls all charged at Sunset and just like last time, they felt the energy of the gold chips in their bot-forms burning through their bodies before they all combined.

“Harmonion fights as one!” the new Combiner announced as she marched forward, seeing she was about the same height as Devastator. “How does this sound, old man? Wanna go toe-to-toe with the new girl on the block?”

“With pleasure.” Devastator smiled as he charged Harmonion and tackled her, but she barely moved, thanks in no small part to Applejack’s strength coursing through the Combiner’s massive valves.

“This is too easy,” Rainbow smirked in the mental link.

Harmonion’s servos whirred and quickly grabbed Devastator into a suplex, slamming him down into the sand and sending up a massive wave of sand that blanketed the entire battlefield. “Sand-blind; shield your eyes!” Duke called as he quickly ducked behind one of the tanks, the sand quickly overtaking the team. “Storm, get the mortar up!”

“Locked and loaded!” Major Storm called as he flipped a switch and opened the back of the General, revealing a massive 120mm mortar cannon.

“Wild Bill, flash bombs; we need coordinates on those Cons!” Duke ordered.

“Comin’ up!” Wild Bill reported and started buzzing over the battlefield, dropping small charges that burst into blinding flashes of light, easily illuminating large groups of Vehicons.

“I got ‘em!” Major Storm called and started firing the mortar, supported by fire from the tanks and Autobots as they destroyed a massive amount of Vehicons.

“Heads up; we got more incomin’.” Wild Bill noted from the glare of his flash bombs.

“More Cons?” asked Chromia.

“Negative; I’m not reading any Spark signatures,” Powerglide noted.

“Then who is it?” asked Ironhide.

“COBRA!!!” That gave them the answer as a fleet of HISS Tanks and Rattler fighters roared toward the group.

“Figures.” Duke shrugged. “Steeler, focus fire on the HISS Tanks!”

“Copy that!” Steeler nodded and the tanks started exchanging fire.

Harmonion meanwhile simply pulled herself up from the sand and looked behind her. “Is that all you got, Devastator?”

The massive green and purple Combiner simply wrenched himself from the sand and stood up. “Not even close.” he bellowed and drew a massive purple blaster, firing at Harmonion.

Quickly she used Rarity’s magic to deflect the blasts back at Devastator, but they missed by a mile. “A little support here would be nice,” she called.

“Comin’ right up,” Roadblock called from one of the missile turrets. “FFT Missiles incomin’!” Four missiles flew from his turret and hit Devastator right in the back, but they didn’t do much in the way of damage.

“Two can play at that game, fleshy!” he bellowed and flipped his left hand out for a bank of nine missiles, all of which he launched toward the General. Harmonion barely had time to use Rainbow’s speed to zip in front of the large transport and deflect them with Rarity’s gems.

“If two is company, then three’s a party!” she smirked and charged again.

“Did we seriously just say that?” asked Spike.

“Don’t look at me; it was Rainbow’s idea.” Applejack pointed out.

“I thought it would be funny.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Focus; we’ve still got a Combiner to beat down!” Twilight countered as Harmonion continued to wrestle with Devastator.

“I think I have an idea to include us in this explosives bash.” Sunset smiled. “Pinkie, think you can make us some sugar grenades?”

“Worth a try.” Pinkie shrugged.

Almost the instant Devastator kneed Harmonion in the midsection, the hood of Pinkie’s car opened and a large canister launched up into the Combiner’s left hand. As soon as Harmonion touched it, it started glowing pink so it was quickly thrown into Devastator’s face, where it exploded into a burning pink cloud of smoke.

“Gah! Ugh! Alright, that’s it!” Devastator snarled as he raised his blaster again, but Harmonion simply deflected it with a quick backhand and they kept punching each other.

Just then, the radio in the General turned on. “General, this is Defiant. I’m picking up something entering the star system. Whatever it is, it’s big and heading straight for your position.”

Optimus’ commlink toned at almost the exact same time. “Optimus, this is Wheeljack. Teletraan’s detecting an unknown starcraft approaching your coordinates.”

“Are they friend or foe?” Optimus asked as he maintained fire against the Decepticons and Cobra forces.

“Hard to say; they’re coming in pretty fast,” Wheeljack noted.

“Fast is right; they’re right on top of us!” Jetfire called as he saw a massive ship colored teal and red descend upon the battlefield.

Chromia was the first to stop fighting at the sight of the massive transport as it landed not far from the General. “The Forge’s Torch…” she said breathlessly.

“The what?” asked Harmonion.

Right on cue, the ship opened and a team of six femmes all colored the same as the ship leaped out from the hatch and joined the battle, all armed with powerful weapons; the tallest of them hefted a massive pickaxe over her shoulder while the one with a banded mask like Wheeljack’s raised a large wrist-mounted crossbow with bladed arms, the one with unusual red face paint drew a bladed buckler, and the two copter-bots drew large swords while the smallest of them drew twin auto-pistols, all of which were used against Autobots and Decepticons alike.

“Whoa, what’s this all about?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know, but if they wanna fight for the Enigma too, it’s probably safe to say they’re not on our side.” Twilight shrugged.

“Then let’s go take ‘em down!” Rainbow roared as Harmonion charged, though, in the back of the mental link, Sunset was less sure.

The Autobots and Decepticons were both taken off-guard by these new attackers, but Chromia quickly laid her arms down as she raced toward one of them. “Pyra Magna, stop this! We are not your enemies!” she begged.

“Step aside, heretic! Those who misuse relics of the Holy Primes must face judgment!” Pyra barked as she swung her pick at Chromia, who barely had time to raise her shield to defend herself.

“You leave my lady alone!” Ironhide roared as he transformed and drove straight at Pyra, transforming again and firing at her at nearly point-blank range…

And his shots would’ve connected if the femme with face paint hadn’t suddenly teleported between them and tanked the shots on her bucker. “Same to you, sinner.” With that and little else, she bashed Ironhide in the face with her shield and knocked him and Chromia both back.

“Little too gung-ho there, don’t you think Jumpstream?” asked Pyra Magna.

“As if I’d let you get hurt, Pyra,” Jumpstream smirked.

“Flirt later, fight now, Jumpstream!” the feme with the mask bellowed as she fired energy arrows across the battlefield.

“Guh- Not the time, Dustup!” Jumpstream yelled as she charged back into the battle.

Hot Rod quickly slid to cover behind a downed Vehicon, ducking under a few of Dustup’s energy arrows. “You think you’re the only archer on this field?” he smirked and pulled part of his spoiler off his back, revealing it to be an energy bow which he aimed at Dustup and charged two energy arrows at once. “Get on my level.” He loosed the arrows and they both grazed Dustup’s arm.

“You’re pulling to the left,” Dustup smirked as she fired back at Hot Rod.

The bike-bot simply fired wildly and slid past the Wreckers until she reached the edge of the crater and looked into it to see the Enigma. “Whoa. Pyra Magna! It’s the Enigma of Combination!” she called.

“The Enigma?” Pyra said in shock, suddenly pushed to the side by Jumpstream just before Harmonion slammed an overhanded left hook into the sand where she was standing. “Well, that explains you. Secure the Enigma, Torchbearers; no one will be allowed access to this relic!” With that in mind, she quickly transformed into a massive eight-wheeled red firetruck and roared toward the crater.

That was the clincher for Sunset. “Girls, stop!” she bellowed and suddenly jerked her bot-form in one direction, suddenly pulling Harmonion apart and sending the girls tumbling into the sand.

“Ugh! That was completely uncalled-for, Sunset!” Rarity yelled as she stood up, brushing the sand off her paint. “I’m never going to get all this sand out.”

“Seriously SunShim, what was that for?” asked Rainbow.

“They didn’t even know we were fighting over the Enigma. And Chromia seemed to know them.” Sunset explained.

“Of course, I know them.” Chromia nodded as she and Ironhide limped over. “The Torchbearers are a peace-keeping organization from my home-colony Caminus.”

“Is everyone there as fanatical as them?” Rainbow asked as she pointed to the Torchbearers, who were quickly circling the crater around the Enigma.

Suddenly another form shot from the Torchbearers’ ship and flew over, tackling a sudden Vehicon away in a fast cloud of sand. “‘Fanatical’ is a hard word.” a female voice argued.

Chromia’s optics popped wide open at that voice. “Windblade?!” she asked in shock.

The sand cloud faded and revealed a gleaming red and black femme with blue highlights on her armor, a helmet similar to an ancient Japanese hairstyle, and a face colored with white and red paint that looked similar to kabuki paint… not to mention the massive wings with large mounted turbines and a large katana sheathed on her hip. “Sorry our reunion couldn’t be under better circumstances, Chromia.” she shrugged as she looked at her friend and back at Rainbow. “Nice wings, kid.”

Rainbow was almost too shocked at the sight of Windblade to think but still scoffed a bit. “Mine? Looked in a mirror lately?”

“Yeah, they’re nice, aren’t they?” Windblade smiled. “Anyway, like I was saying, all of Caminus is bound by a religion known as the Way of Flame which teaches us that Primes are holy beings and their relics are of the highest worship.”

That gave Sunset an idea. “Optimus! Open your chest! Show them the Matrix!”

Optimus was seemingly confused, but since they didn’t have any better ideas, he did as he was instructed and opened his chest, showing the Matrix of Leadership in all its glory and letting its energy and light burst out.

The Torchbearers were immediately stunned by the sight of this. “A Prime…” Pyra Magna said breathlessly as she stepped back toward the pit… and suddenly misjudged her footing, slipping into the crater.

“Pyra!” Jumpstream yelled and reached in after her leader… just as Pyra landed on the Enigma. Then its light consumed the Torchbearers who were all drawn into the crater at once.

When the light faded, no one was sure what had just happened… until a large silver hand reached up and grabbed the edge of the crater, pulling up another massive Combiner; Pyra Magna obviously formed the torso with the smallest of the Torchbearers linked on as a chestplate, Jumpstream and Dustup were the arms and the copter-bots were the legs, all beneath a large teal head with a red crown and glittering set of goggles. The Combiner appeared confused for a moment as she examined her new form, but her fists suddenly clenched as she looked around. “We… I… am… Victorion!” she bellowed and stomped forward, drawing a massive sword composed of all the Torchbearers’ weapons from their back and leveling it forward. “And any who do not wish to face divine retribution should leave. Now.”

Starscream was more than terrified at the sight of the Combiner then glanced down at Optimus. “I would strongly encourage doing as she says,” he said simply as he raised his rifle again.

That was good enough for Starscream. “Decepticons! Retreat!” he ordered and soared away as fast as he could, the remaining Seekers and Vehicons quickly following him along with the Constructicons, who separated from Devastator and all raced away, along with Cobra’s forces.

“Huh. Well, that went easier than I expected.” Elita remarked.

“Pretty easy to convince Camiens you’re the good guys if you have a Prime on your side.” Chromia pointed out as Victorion suddenly separated and reverted to the Torchbearers, who simply knelt before Optimus honorably.

“Great and honored Prime, my group humbly begs your forgiveness,” Pyra Magna said quickly. “We knew not who you were.”

“There is no need for you to beg, Torchbearers,” Optimus assured. “I am no divinity, and misunderstandings such as this are common in times of war.”

“Of course.” Pyra nodded as the Torchbearers stood up. “May we at least know the name of the honored Prime that treats us as friends?”

“I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots.” he introduced himself. “And we too are fighting to keep the relics of the Primes from the wrong hands.”

“Then it looks to me…” the copter-bot with the visor smiled.

“…that we just found some allies.” the other finished.

Spike appeared confused as he looked at the two copters. “Uh, what’s that about?”

“Don’t worry too much about Stormclash and Skyburst; they have a twinned Spark. You know how it is.” the smallest bot smirked. “I’m Rust Dust, by the way.”

“Pleasure. We caught the rest of your names in the fight.” Sunset agreed.

“Again, our deepest apologies for our encounter going like that.” Pyra Magna noted, turning to Optimus. “If we’d known you were a Prime, we would’ve-”

“No apology necessary, Pyra Magna,” Optimus assured as he held up his hand. “As I said, such misunderstandings are common in war.”

“Especially when you’re late to the party and don’t know who else is invited.” Mirage agreed, casting an annoyed look at Sunstreaker.

“Ugh. You’re still holding that friendly fire accident over me?” Sunstreaker asked in annoyance.

“It’s not exactly easy to forget when one of your own shoots a thermite grenade at your back!” Mirage pointed out angrily.

“I told you a thousand times; the sun was in my eyes and I thought you were Dragstrip!”

“Boys! Focus!” Sunset barked.

“Sorry.” the two apologized in annoyance.

“Well… that was… something,” Rhinox remarked.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” Rattrap shrugged as the Maximals switched to their beast modes.

“So… what now?” asked Moonracer.

“First off, I’d like to know what you’re doing here,” said Rainbow. “But I think we already know.”

“Yes. We were sent to this world by the Mistress of Flame – leader of the Way of Flame – to locate the relic that was activated on this planet.” Pyra explained, looking back into the crater. “We had no idea we would find the Enigma of Combination.”

“And what’s your excuse, Cityspeaker?” Jumpstream asked, pointing to Windblade.

Sunset’s interest seemed instantly piqued as Windblade rolled her optics. “Someone had to come along and keep an eye on you girls. And given what just happened here, I’d say it was a good call,” she said simply.

“I can accept that.” Pyra shrugged as she turned back to Optimus. “Now… what is to be done with the Enigma?”

“I should think that’s obvious,” Elita remarked, looking at her and Optimus. “After all, if we want to keep relics of the Primes out of the Decepticons’ hands… where better to send them than a planet where the Primes are hailed as gods?”

“Is that really the best idea?” Duke asked as Wild Bill landed his helicopter back on the General. “I mean, what if the Cons attack Caminus?”

“They are more than welcome to try, organic,” Pyra said with an edge to her voice. “Caminus is not simply a chapel; it is a bastion. If any attempt to plunder from us, they will die trying.”

“Hey, no need to get hostile here, lady; we’re on your side,” Roadblock called over.

“It’s true. See?” Hound noted, pointing to the Joes’ insignia on his chest.

“Man, what is it with bots and organic life?” asked Applejack.

“Don’t take it personally; it’s just that organic and technological life in the universe have rarely seen eye-to-optic through history,” Trailbreaker explained bluntly.

“Well… no reason not to start now.” Sunset shrugged as she collapsed her Armor back to her geode, followed by the other girls which deeply surprised the Torchbearers.

“What in Solus’ name…?” Pyra asked in shock.

“It is… a long story,” Optimus said simply. “But humans have proven time and time again to be sound allies to Cybertronian life. And while we have made a home on their planet, we have not forgotten our original home of Cybertron. And we would gladly accept further aid in ensuring we return there in time.”

Pyra bowed her head nobly at the suggestion. “We would be honored, Optimus Prime,” she said.

“Count me in, too.” Windblade agreed as she stepped forward. “Not much of a point being a Cityspeaker if you don’t find a few new Titans to speak with.”

“I… kinda want to talk to you about that later, if that’s okay.” Sunset agreed.

“Sure, kid.” Windblade smiled.

“Very well then. We will take the Enigma to Caminus and return to join your war.” Pyra nodded as she carefully picked the Enigma up out of the crater and carried it to the Torchbearers’ ship.

“Signal us when you’re ready and we’ll send the SpaceBridge to pick you up,” Bumblebee ordered simply. The Torchbearers offered a final salute and bow to the Autobots before their ship closed up and took off into the stars.

Once they were gone, Rainbow started snickering. “What’s so funny?” asked Twilight.

“Oh. Just thinking about how Starscream’s gonna explain this to Megatron.” Rainbow smirked.

“Ho-ho-ho, man; I didn’t even think of that.” Cliffjumper laughed a bit. “Man, what I’d give to be a fly on the wall of that conversation.”

In fairness, any flies on the wall would probably be smashed considering how many times Megatron had already thrown Starscream into the walls. “So you mean to tell me, Starscream, that not only have you failed to secure the Enigma of Combination, but you’ve allowed the Autobot to add another Combiner to their ranks on this dirt heap of a planet?!” the warlord roared in outrage.

“P- Please, My Lord, I was not expecting these newcomers!” Starscream choked. “Just- Just give me another chance, please!”

“Lord Megatron.” Soundwave walked over, interrupting the warlord.

Megatron snarled as he dropped Starscream on the deck. “Speak, Soundwave.”

“I detected a vessel leaving the planet carrying an energy signature,” Soundwave reported, displaying the energy readings on his chest screen.

Megatron scowled. “The Enigma… Where is it going?”

“Most likely destination; Caminus.”

“Caminus? Pfft; that figures. They treat Primes as gods; it’s only natural they would deny me the weapons I rightfully deserve.” Megatron scowled, promptly turning to Sky Shadow. “And what of our human ‘allies’, Sky Shadow? What excuse do they offer for their failure in securing the Enigma?”

“None but fear, my lord.” Sky Shadow assured. “This Camien Combiner did appear to be more than they could handle. I assure you though that Cobra Commander has promised they will be punished most severely for their failure.”

“At least he and I share one interest; punishing disloyalty.” Megatron scowled.

Starscream groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. “What now, Lord Megatron? Do we lay siege to Caminus?”

Skywarp just chuckled derisively. “Help yourself. I’ll teleport my fist inside your abdomen and wave.” Starscream simply scowled at his brother in annoyance.

“Skywarp speaks truly, Starscream.” Megatron pointed out, interrupting whatever his commander had in mind. “Caminus has been impenetrable since it was colonized, and for very good reason. Even we dare not attempt to invade them. It would be suicide.”

“Yes, my lord.” Starscream nodded in annoyed understanding.

“I must agree with Starscream, Lord Megatron; with the Enigma and first Galaxy Key in the hands of the Autobots, what do we do now?” asked Sky Shadow.

That was when the computer toned. “Lord Megatron, we’ve decoded the next set of Galaxy Key coordinates.” a Vehicon reported.

“Display the location,” Megatron ordered, prompting the destination to appear on the ship’s screen. “Eukaris…”

“The home of those biomechanical deviants?” Sky Shadow asked in disgust. “Huh. Well, that oughtta be enjoyable.”

Megatron couldn’t help but smile cruelly. “Well, Starscream… you wanted another chance…” he said. “And so I shall give it to you; accompany me to Eukaris and assist me in leveraging their Galaxy Key to our hands.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Starscream nodded, despising this plan already as he followed his lord to the SpaceBridge.

Sky Shadow was right about one thing, at least; Cobra Commander dealt with the soldiers who returned from the Gobi Desert very swiftly… by executing them all by firing squad. “What manner of morons do I have working for me that they dare run from battle with G.I. Joe and their toys?!” the commander roared in anger.

“Calm yourself, Commander,” Baroness assured. “We are not done yet.”

“No. Indeed not.” the Commander nodded, turning to the one-eyed soldier at his side. “Tell me, Major Bludd; has there been any progress on our project in Cambodia?”

“Not much.” Bludd shrugged. “Blighter’s really in that mountain tight, and we’ve hit the stone with everythin’ short of a particle cannon, but the bugger hasn’t even cracked.”

“Shielded, then.” the commander noted. “Return to Cambodia and keep digging; bring me the entire mountain if you have to, just bring me the weapon.”

“Yes sir.” Major Bludd bowed and swiftly left.

“I request to go with him.” a man asked from the shadows, wearing a ninja Gi in all white. “You never know who may show up.”

“Patience, Storm Shadow.” Cobra Commander ordered. “You will go where I tell you to go.”

Storm Shadow simply scowled under his mask and slunk away. “You know he’s going to go with Bludd no matter what,” Baroness remarked.

“Of course. But in the meantime, I expect progress. From all fronts.” Cobra Commander pointed out, casting a glare over at Destro, obvious even through his mask.

“My men have been workin’ round the clock to reverse-engineer as much Cybertronian tech as they can,” Destro assured. “We’re close to a breakthrough, sir; I assure you.”

“As you have been assuring me for weeks.” Cobra Commander scowled. “Until I hold a weapon in my hand, I don’t think I’ll be believing you.”

“You will, Commander. You will.” Destro nodded as he walked off. Baroness left as well, leaving Cobra Commander knowing that whatever came next would be dangerous for all Cybertronian life on Earth.

Primal Lords

Exactly as planned, the Torchbearers returned in fairly short order via the Autobots’ SpaceBridge. “So how’d it go?” Windblade asked as they arrived.

“We explained as best we could to the Mistress of Flame.” Pyra Magna reported. “She guarantees that if any more Relics of the Primes are found, Caminus will safeguard them.”

“Good, because I fear we may encounter more such Relics before the war is done,” Optimus noted.

“Find anything good yet?” asked Cheetor.

“No; my coding skills from my time at Iacon appear more… rusty than I suspected,” Optimus noted. “I fear the only way we may obtain relics from Iacon is if the Decepticons locate them and we simply acquire them from there.”

“Well, at least that sounds more fun.” Rainbow shrugged. “Now if y’all will excuse me, I’ve got some flying to do with my new awesome-wing sister. How about it, Windblade? Up for a race?”

“Sorry Dash, kinda promised I’d talk to Sunset. I got ya next time though.” Windblade assured as she walked outside, where she easily found Sunset and Twilight.

“Is everything set up?” Twilight asked.

“Yep; Caminus will handle securing relics of the Primes.” Windblade smiled, turning to Sunset. “So, you said earlier that you wanted to talk about Cityspeaking?”

“Yeah, during the Planet Cup on Velocitron, I kept hearing the same phrase over and over in my head; ‘Round and round, round and round’, and I could never figure out where it came from,” Sunset explained, groaning a bit in annoyance as she remembered it.

“Hm. Well, that certainly sounds like a Titan trying to make contact.” Windblade shrugged. “But… that repetition… I dunno; maybe its brain module was damaged somehow. Where was it strongest?”

“Crater City. It was so loud there; I could barely hear myself think.” Sunset remembered. “Apparently, it’s where Amalgamous Prime’s ship crashed.”

“Ah. Well, that explains it.” Windblade nodded simply, earning a look of confusion from Sunset. “All the most ancient of the Titans were affiliated with the Thirteen, and they could transform into colony-seeding battleships. Where do you think Caminus got its name? Hint: this makeup? Same design as his.” She pointed to her face-paint design.

“Whoa. Okay so, how do I actually – y’know – communicate with the Titans instead of just hearing their voices in my head?” asked Sunset.

“Well, how do you think your ability manifested?” Windblade shrugged.

“From my geode magic,” Sunset explained, pointing to the button at her collarbone. “It lets me see peoples’ memories and emotions when I touch them. As far as we can tell, my Armor made that power hands-free.”

“Okay, that makes a certain sense.” Windblade shrugged. “Well, maybe if you were to locate the Titan trying to communicate with you and make physical contact, that might make the connection two-way.”

“Great. Where am I supposed to find a Titan to test that theory with around here?” Sunset shrugged.

“What about that voice you heard before we found Airazor?” Twilight suggested. “That might’ve been a Titan.”

“You mean the one I heard after you hit me after speaking the truth?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re just gonna hold that against me until you figure this out, aren’t you?” Twilight asked in annoyance.

“Ya think?” Sunset pointed out, earning a chuckle from Windblade.

“Solus’ Breath, you two are perfect for each other,” she smirked.

Sunset could see Twilight blushing at that insinuation and smirked right back. “Just so we’re clear, Windblade; Twilight’s already taken,” Sunset smirked, quickly dodging the upside-the-head smack Twilight tried to land on her. “Fool me once; shame on you. And hey; I may be bi, but I ain’t interferin’ with that.”

“Okay, that’s reasonable,” Windblade smirked, knowing full well they were gonna get along awesomely.

“Hey guys, get in here; we’re about to see the first Galaxy Key!” Smokescreen called.

The three femmes quickly zipped into the ship where they saw Rainbow setting the Planet Cup on a small plinth on the deck. “What’s going on?” asked Twilight.

“We figured it was the same sorta situation as the capsules the Maximals had,” Rainbow explained quickly. “Quick blast from the Matrix and we’ve got the first key.”

“Are we sure that’s gonna work?” asked Sunset.

“There is only one way to find out,” Optimus said simply as he opened his chest, revealing the Matrix. For some reason, Pyra and the other Torchbearers averted their eyes at the sight of the reliquary as it fired a burning beam of energy at the Planet Cup, causing it to somehow shift from its trophy form to the form of a bright red crystalline chip with gold gauges around the perimeter and a lightning bolt shooting through a small crescent.

“Whoa…” the girls all said at once as Optimus disengaged the power of the Matrix and closed his chest.

Red Alert smiled as he grabbed the Galaxy Key and opened a small vault in the wall, placing the key inside it before it was sealed. “One down, three to go,” he said simply.

“Then we get to Cybertron, put ‘em in the Omega Lock and Bob’s your uncle.” Applejack smiled.

“Gotta find the other three first.” Sunset pointed out. “Any ideas?”

“That might have to wait,” Teletraan noted. “We’re receiving a transmission from Duke.”

“Put him through,” Optimus ordered, the image of the Joe lieutenant quickly reappearing on the screen.

“Checking in; is the Enigma secure?” he asked.

“All according to our arrangements, Duke,” Optimus assured.

“Good, because we’ve got another situation,” Duke noted, displaying some of Ghost Rider’s pictures on the screen. “This is aerial imagery from over the mountains in Cambodia. From the looks of things, Cobra’s digging for another Cybertronian weapon out there and we need an expert opinion on what it does. Snake Eyes and Jinx are already on-site ready to attack, but a little backup goes a long way, especially if the Decepticons show up to the party. I’m sending coordinates for the drop-point.”

“Understood.” Optimus nodded and the transmission terminated, the coordinates quickly uploaded into the GroundBridge. “Drift, you and Hound will investigate. Recover the relic and report back.”

“Yes sir.” Drift and Hound saluted as the GroundBridge activated and the two bots drove through.

Once the vortex was closed, Wheeljack stretched and looked around before he noticed another absence. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” he asked.

“Do you really need to ask?” Sunset pointed out.

Wheeljack just sighed. “Of course. Want me to bring her back, Optimus?”

“No. This mission may require air support in some way. Better to send it now than later.” Optimus shrugged.

“In the meantime, I suggest we figure out where the next Galaxy Key is hidden.” Rarity pointed out. “How many other colonies are there?”

“Eleven; one for each of the original Primes.” Springer reminded.

“Wait, I thought there were thirteen originals; where’s the thirteenth Prime’s colony?” asked Sunset.

“Odds are he never made one, but that’s just a guess.” Windblade shrugged.

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“No one knows anything about the Thirteenth Prime; even his name was lost to history,” Chromia remembered. “Throughout Camien religious teachings and the Covenant of Primus, he’s only ever really referred to as ‘The Arisen’; mediator and unifier of the Thirteen.”

“Ominous title. What happened to him?” asked Applejack.

“Stories say that when the Thirteen fell to infighting after a war against darkness, The Arisen asked Primus to rebirth his Spark,” Wheeljack answered. “Rumors have shot all over the galaxy as to who or what he was reincarnated as, but no one can really say for sure who’s right or wrong.”

“Okay well… let’s start with the colonies we do know about.” Sunset shrugged. “Teletraan?” The computer immediately brought up a map of all the known Cybertronian colonies, though it quickly crossed Velocitron off since they’d already been there. “Let’s see… where to go first?”

Eukaris was a treacherous world; massive storms swirled and struck in the skies as volcanos erupted all across the world and everywhere else, there was wild jungle as far as the optic could see. And as Megatron and Starscream left the SpaceBridge to look out over the jungle, one thing in particular rang through Starscream's mind.

“Far be it for me to question you, Lord Megatron, but this appears to be a waste of time,” he said simply. “There are no signs of civilization anywhere on this forsaken planet.”

“And that, Starscream, is why I was hesitant to bring you along on this mission in the first place.” Megatron scowled at his treacherous wing commander. “But you begged me to give you another chance and here you have it.”

“Yes, Master,” Starscream said simply as the two transformed and took to the air.

They flew over the canopy for a good few miles before Megatron saw something. “Ah. And you claimed there was no civilization on this planet, Starscream,” he remarked, indicating a large stone temple in the distance.

They soared to the top of the temple’s staircase and transformed into bot mode… suddenly finding themselves surrounded by beast-formers; namely a wolf, a Spinosaurus, two Pteranodons; one black and one red, a scorpion, a tarantula, a wasp, a lion, an eagle, a rhino, a tiger, and a buffalo.

The lion roared threateningly as he plodded toward Megatron. “Who dares intrude on Predacon grounds?!” he snarled.

“Know your place, hybrid trash.” Megatron threatened. “You stand before Megatron; leader of the Decepticons.”

“I could care less who we’re dealing with.” the red Pteranodon screeched. “This temple is sacred Predacon ground. Any who attempt to enter will face obliteration!”

“Do not make threats you cannot follow through with, coward.” Megatron pointed out. “Starscream?” His wing commander simply raised his arms, priming the null-ray cannons mounted to them which he aimed at the Predacons.

“Stand aside, vermin. This temple is under new management.” Starscream smirked.

“Oh, I believe you will find quite the opposite is the case. Yes…” an oily voice greased from within the temple before a large purple Tyrannosaurus Rex plodded out. “This temple has stood with the Predacons since long before our own war began and so it shall remain.”

“And I suppose you are the one to make certain of that?” Megatron asked.

“Oh, I hardly think so. No…” the T-Rex smiled. “That honor belongs to our great leader, Lord Hydrax!” Right on cue, a massive fire-colored dragon stomped out of the temple, his four legs shaking the earth as he looked at Megatron in the optics, the two smaller orange heads at his shoulders snapping and snarling.

“Why do you dare defile this sacred Predacon sanctum?” Hydrax snarled.

“Drop the mystic drivel, mutant; we’re here for the Galaxy Key.” Megatron scoffed.

“Whatever it is you seek, there is nothing for you here.” the wolf growled.

“Now why do I have such trouble believing that?” Megatron smirked.

“Oh, I like you. Yes…” the t-rex smiled.

“Arrogance and ignorance are a rank combination, Tyranotron.” Hydrax countered, scowling at Megatron. “Come forth and face me if you dare!”

“With absolute pleasure.” Megatron smiled as he drew his sword.

“Hydrax, Terrorize!” the dragon roared and almost immediately, he transformed into a massive scaly bot and his tail became a huge battle-ax.

And he wasn’t the only one to transform either. “Tyranotron, Terrorize!”

“Fangwolf, Terrorize!”

“Undermine, Terrorize!”

“Brimstone, Terrorize!”

“Rocketsting, Terrorize!”

“Tarantulas, Terrorize!”

“Waspinator, Terrorize!”

“Terrorsaur, Terrorize!”

“Razorclaw, Terrorize!”

“Divebomb, Terrorize!”

“Headstrong, Terrorize!”

“Rampage, Terrorize!”

“Tantrum, Terrorize!”

Once this display of transformations was done, the Decepticons found themselves surrounded on all sides by beast-former robots that all looked very aggressive and annoyed. “Quite a menagerie,” Megatron remarked coldly.

“Now then, if you’ve come to threaten me, you have made a fatal error.” Hydrax snarled. “If you want my help, then let us speak like civilized beings.”

Megatron simply smirked. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Hydrax smiled back. “Indeed.” He hefted his axe and swung it at Megatron, who quickly clashed it away with his sword. The Decepticon warlord revved his cannon under Hydrax’s chin, but he just returned the favor by suddenly flipping his smaller orange dragon heads out of his shoulders, fire burning between their teeth. “You are a noble warrior. And powerful. Very well.” He stepped away and transformed back into his dragon form. “I will hear you out. Inside.”

The surrounding Predacons appeared surprised by this decision but acquiesced as they all transformed to beast mode and escorted the Decepticons into the temple. Inside, Megatron explained the circumstances of the war and of the Galaxy Key. “I see. So you want these keys to reign over Cybertron.”

“Indeed. And the cowardly Autobots feel a desire to stop me.” Megatron reminded.

“A foolish ideal, I agree.” Hydrax nodded. “It is the same here on Eukaris; the strong should rule the weak, and that is why I am Alpha.”

“Indeed. Now if you please… the Galaxy Key.” Megatron reminded.

Hydrax scowled and looked over his shoulder subtly, looking at a large green dragon statue behind him. “I do not know where it is, and it may take time to locate. And more time to verify what you have told me, but I suspect it is true. I must consult with my cabinet, the Tripredacus Council. Return tomorrow morning and you will have my decision.”

“As you wish,” Megatron said simply as he stood and walked from the temple, followed by Starscream.

“I do not understand, Lord Hydrax.” Undermine hissed. “Why would we do business with an off-world vehicle former?”

“Because, you sail-backed moron, one does not use their most lethal weapon in the first engagement.” Hydrax reminded. “If Megatron wants the Galaxy Key, he must prove himself truly worthy of it. And besides… he said these Autobots were aligned with the Maximals, did he not?”

“Yes…” Tyranotron smiled greasily. “And after all, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. This arrangement could prove… mutually beneficial. Yes…” The other Predacons snarled in understanding and all chuckled as well, knowing this plan would go very well.

Outside the temple, Megatron and Starscream were walking to the edge of the building to leave. “Lord Megatron, it’s obvious they have the Key. Why not simply take it by force?”

“That would be an unnecessary waste of effort and Energon, Starscream.” Megatron pointed out. “Why do yourself what you can have an underling do for you?” Starscream couldn’t help but nod as that made sense.

What neither of them realized was that in the jungle in the distance, a pair of piercing reptilian optics were watching.

Pest Control

Hound and Drift would be lying if they said they were surprised Rainbow Dash had stowed away for this mission; they just cast her fairly annoyed looks as they all emerged from the SpaceBridge. “What, like I’m gonna miss this?” Rainbow pointed out seriously.

“Don’t you think you spent enough time in the spotlight on Velocitron?” asked Drift.

“Hey, that wasn’t just me.” Rainbow pointed out. “We all know that if it weren’t for my friends, I never would’ve made it to the final race.”

“Well, at least you’re humble.” Hound rolled his optics. “C’mon, let’s get to the ridge and scope things out.”

Drift seemed confused as Hound simply tromped off. “Shouldn’t we meet up with the others?” he suggested.

“Snake Eyes and Jinx? Please: they’re ninjas.” Hound countered. “They’re watching us right now.” That seemed to discomfort Drift more than it probably should have as he quickly followed Hound.

Rainbow seemed confused about that and quickly moved after him. “You alright, dude?”

“Fine. Just… a little nervous.” Drift shrugged, his eyes darting around.

“Why? We’ve handled Cobra before; they’re no problem.” Rainbow smirked.

“It’s not Cobra I’m worried about.” Drift assured. “And it’s not Bludgeon if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“What are you worried about, then?” asked Rainbow.

“I think I know,” Hound smirked as he rolled his optics. “And I think you’re being paranoid, Drift. The DJD doesn’t exist; it’s just an urban legend Megatron made up to keep his soldiers in line.”

“Yeah, say that again when Jetfire and I disappear in the middle of the night and no one on the Ark knows what happened to us.” Drift pointed out.

“What are you guys talking about; what’s the DJD?” asked Rainbow.

“Decepticon Justice Division; Megatron’s personal attack dogs,” Drift explained. “Any Decepticons transgress the cause, they go on their list. Trouble is you never know if you’re on the list until they come for you, and when they do, your friends would be lucky to find your skid plate.”

“Yeesh, thanks for the visceral description,” Rainbow remarked.

“Relax Rainbow; even if the DJD did exist, their killing fields are rumored to be out around planet Messatine, and that’s a long way away from Earth,” Hound assured. “But like I said, they’re an urban legend, so you got nothing to worry about. The only Con that Drift should really be worrying about is Turmoil; if he finds out you deserted, you’re scrap metal.”

“Guh, why’d you have to remind me of him?” Drift groaned in annoyance… before Hound suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

“Well maybe this’ll help take your mind off it; get down,” Hound ordered quietly, prompting the team to drop down onto the ridge, where they looked out and saw a large array of MARS exosuits and Cobra soldiers drilling around a massive metal pod.

Rainbow couldn’t help but give an impressed whistle at the sight of the pod. “Man, that’s big,” she remarked. “What is it?”

“Hard to tell.” Hound shrugged as he pulled a set of bot-sized binoculars off his waist and examined the pod. “Could be anything from a waste disposal canister to a planet-annihilating bomb.”

“I doubt either option.” a familiar voice came from the shadows nearby. Almost immediately, Rainbow and Drift leaped to the ready, but Hound kept his eyes on the pod.

“Snake. Jinx. Took you long enough.” he remarked bluntly as Jinx and Snake Eyes emerged from the shadows of the trees.

“Had to make sure no one else was following us,” Jinx said simply.

“And was there?” Hound glanced back, only for Snake Eyes to shake his head. He then tapped his wrist almost impatiently. “I know we’re on a time crunch, but I wanna know what that weapon is before we move.” Snake Eyes simply tilted his head forward, as if asking if that was a good idea. “If you’d prefer to go in and bust heads, be my guest. I’d think you’d prefer stealth.”

“How do you know what he’s saying? He doesn’t even talk.” Rainbow asked.

“Because he can’t.” Jinx pointed out bluntly. Rainbow was confused until she saw Snake Eyes move part of his suit’s collar, allowing her to plainly see two disgusting scars on either side of his neck; a clear remnant of a through-and-through bullet probably aimed at his vocal cords.

“Ugh. Sorry I asked.” Rainbow groaned in disgust as she looked back out at the dig site. “So what do you think it is, Jinx?”

“Containment capsule,” Jinx noted. “I saw a hatch on one side and given the level of precision Destro’s men are exercising, they probably think it’s sensitive material.”

Hound couldn’t help but agree; Destro’s men were being extremely deliberate as they drilled around the pod. Rainbow’s eyes popped as she laid eyes on one of the men. “Whoa. Who’s the cyclops?” she asked.

“That’s Major Bludd; an Australian assassin and one of Cobra Commander’s own top attack dogs,” Hound noted. “He’s probably down there as security.”

“Not simply him.” a voice echoed from the shadows, prompting everyone to suddenly go on guard.

“Should’ve figured you’d show up sooner or later, Storm Shadow,” Hound called out. “You never could pass up a chance for a good duel with Snake Eyes.”

“You know me too well, Autobot.” the voice pointed out… before a few small arrows flew from the forest. Snake Eyes quickly chopped them out of the air with his swords before he tossed a few shuriken in return, only for them to bounce away as well and the white-clad ninja to leap from the forest at him, clashing blades with Snake Eyes and Jinx, the latter of whom drew a large ornate sword from her hip to block her opponent’s blade.

“Old rival?” Rainbow remarked.

“You could say that.” Jinx shrugged simply.

“Nice to see I’m not the only one in the mood for a reunion.” another voice remarked from the shadows before a large cannon fired. Drift quickly drew his blades and slashed the shell in half out of the air as a familiar tank rumbled in and transformed.

“Bludgeon. I was wondering when you’d come back for a rematch.” the samurai-bot smirked, flipping up his battle mask.

“This time, no draw,” Bludgeon said darkly as he drew his own sword and clashed with Drift.

“Uh, we got more company incoming.” Rainbow pointed out as Destro’s men started firing up the hill at the group.

“Looks like it’s down to you and me, Dash,” Hound remarked as he quickly transformed and raced down the hill, firing his guns at Destro’s soldiers.

Rainbow quickly followed him as she transformed and took the air, firing down at the Cobra soldiers with her jet-mode’s machine guns and accidentally allowing some of her shots to ricochet onto the pod, knocking some stone off around the lower edge.

“Careful; you might damage it!” Hound called up to her… before he saw the writing her bullets had just revealed. “What in Liege Maximo’s name…?” He got a closer look and quickly screamed to a stop before transforming. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

“What? Do you know what it is?” asked Rainbow.

“Yeah, that’s the good news!” Hound barked as he fired his guns in every direction and called the Ark. “Hound to base; I’ve ID’d what Destro’s digging up. It’s a Scraplet trap.”

Wheeljack was more than stunned to hear that back at base. “Scraplets?! Guh, just our luck.” he groaned.

“Won’t be a need to feel annoyed if you can get me a thermobaric Detpak in the next two minutes,” Hound ordered.

“Comin’ right up.” Wheeljack nodded. “Rattrap, you do demolitions, right? Might need some help with this.”

“Yeah, no prob, Jackie.” Rattrap nodded as the two bots dashed to Wheeljack’s lab.

“Whoa, why the rush? What are Scraplets?” asked Sunset.

“Only the most dangerous vermin to ever plague technological life,” Ironhide assured, all color from his faceplate gone in what looked like fear. “I’ve seen a swarm of them the size of Moonracer strip a bot down to the endoskeleton in thirty seconds… and then eat that too.”

“Why’d you have to single me out for that comparison?” Moonracer asked in annoyance.

“Wait… these things eat metal?” Applejack asked in surprise.

“Yeah. Especially living metal.” Sunstreaker pointed out. “And if Destro gets it in his head to try and weaponize them…”

“Oh, there’s no ‘if’ about it, Sunstreaker,” Powerglide assured. “Once Destro sees what Scraplets are capable of – and presumably pries one of them off that titanium dome of his – he and Mindbender will go straight into figuring out how to control them. And if they succeed…”

“No Autobot or Decepticon on Earth – present or future – will be safe.” Optimus agreed.

“Hence the need for this little beauty.” Wheeljack smiled as he walked out with a large explosive charge in his hands, Rattrap right behind him.

“I don’t understand; how did Cybertronian pests end up in Cambodia?” asked Twilight.

“Eh, little bugs get around,” Cliffjumper explained. “Big extermination companies used to make a mint rounding them up before the war.”

“Most likely, whatever ship this pod came from was aiming it for the sun.” Red Alert agreed. “But it probably got caught in Earth’s gravity and crash-landed like us. I just hope the pod’s onboard stasis containment systems haven’t been damaged in any way.”

“If that happens?” Rarity asked in concern.

“Chow time.” Red Alert answered bluntly.

“Relax; it’s not gonna come to that. This baby will make sure of that,” Rattrap assured, patting the Detpak in Wheeljack’s hands. “Thermite burn-charge into the center of the trap, then about a dozen megatons of fuel-air explosive punch to vaporize the little bugs into oblivion.”

“That don’t sound safe to take through the bridge,” Applejack remarked in concern.

“We won’t have to,” Jumpstream assured as she took the Detpak in hand. “I can teleport, remember?” Then without even waiting for a response, she suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue light.

She reappeared on the ridge in Cambodia and just barely managed to duck a strong backswing from Bludgeon’s sword as he clashed blades with Drift. “Go; I got you covered!” Drift ordered.

Jumpstream quickly nodded and transformed into an advanced Cybertronian supercar before she roared down the hill with the Detpak in her cabin, covered by Hound’s gunfire at the Cobra soldiers.

Rainbow meanwhile had swooped down next to the pod and was laying down covering fire of her own to keep Destro and Major Bludd away until she heard a metal scrapping from the pod. “Uh, Red Alert? Remember those stasis systems you were worried about?”

“Dead?” Red Alert surmised.

“Yeah, I think so.” Rainbow noted as the metal of the pod suddenly burst out… and allowed a small metallic orb-like entity with deep indigo optics to crawl out on small spider-like legs.

Destro and Major Bludd just looked at it in confusion along with Rainbow before she burst out laughing and ran a hand down her faceplate in amusement. “Oh man… I- I can’t breathe…” she laughed as she turned to Jumpstream nearby. “These are the worst pests on Cybertron?! Man, the way you talked about them made them sound worse than the Decepticons!”

“Rainbow Dash, retreat exactly five steps toward me if you value your Spark,” Jumpstream ordered in quiet distress.

“Alright Jumpstream, joke’s over; let’s get serious here. I can crush this thing in my hand. Watch.” Rainbow smiled as she grabbed the Scraplet and clenched her metal fist around it calmly… before she suddenly felt a powerful chomping pain in her palm. Quickly she opened her hand in pain and saw the Scraplet eating her hand and it then quickly started eating up her forearm. Perfectly reasonably, Rainbow screamed and swatted the Scraplet off onto the ground before she lit it up with her Gatling guns.

Bludgeon suddenly stopped dueling Drift when he saw this. “Whoa wait, what? No one told me we were dealing with Scraplets here,” he remarked in shock.

“Amazing what a little openness between allies can net you,” Drift smirked.

“Okay, I take it back; these things are evil,” Rainbow remarked simply. “Jumpstream, bomb please?”

“With gusto.” Jumpstream nodded as she handed Rainbow the Detpak, which she promptly set on the trap over the hole the first Scraplet had escaped through.

“Fire in the hole!” Rainbow called as she triggered the charge, letting the thermite burn into the pod. Quickly the Autobots all rallied around Jumpstream who swiftly teleported them back to the Ark.

“Forget this. Soundwave, GroundBridge; now!” Bludgeon ordered as he transformed and roared away.

“Best we get goin’ too, shiny.” Major Bludd remarked to Destro.

“Aye, I can’t help but agree, Major.” Destro nodded. “Pack up and retreat, boys; now!” No one had to be told twice as Destro’s men quickly packed up and ran from the pod as the thermite burned deeper in.

Storm Shadow scowled as he saw this and glared at Snake Eyes and Jinx. “This will be settled another time.” he scowled, quickly dropping a smoke bomb and disappearing, leaving the GI Joe ninjas behind.

“Time to go,” Jinx noted, to which Snake Eyes nodded and the two slipped away into the forest just before the Scraplet trap exploded in a massive fireball.

When Megatron heard Bludgeon’s report of what had happened, he was livid. “Scraplets?! On this planet?” he asked.

“Yes, my lord. And Cobra was digging for them without our prior knowledge.” Bludgeon assured.

“Not entirely, Bludgeon.” a purple bot with a yellow helmet and large tank cannon on his back pointed out. “I gave them the coordinates; I just didn’t know what was there.”

“Then perhaps, Blitzwing, next time you send Cobra out on a treasure hunt, you should accompany them to ensure what they locate is safe to both sides of the alliance.” Sky Shadow pointed out.

“I’d hardly call it an ‘alliance’, Sky Shadow.” Starscream pointed out. “They found Scraplets, for Primus’ sake. Scraplets!”

Megatron scowled as he looked at the communication feed to Cobra’s HQ. “Well? What excuse do you offer for this turn of events, Cobra Commander?”

“Merely the same as Blitzwing, Megatron.” Cobra Commander assured. “Perhaps if our alliance is to bear fruit, you should hold up your end of our deal better. You have yet to truly assist Cobra in its global conquest.”

“Because I have more important things to do than cater to your own petty desires.” Megatron scowled. “Which if you’ll excuse me, I must return to. It’s a welcome distraction from your soldiers’ incompetence.” Soundwave quickly terminated the connection as Megatron turned to the door.

“As I’ve said countless times, Lord Megatron, organics are wastes of space who only ever get everything wrong.” Starscream pointed out.

“Save your preening, Starscream. We’re returning to Eukaris; Hydrax will have made his decision by now.” Megatron ordered.

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” Starscream scowled and followed Megatron to the door.

“My liege, if I could have a moment of your time?” Knock Out asked before the warlord left.

“Make it brief, Knock Out,” Megatron ordered simply.

“You’re aware that astronomy and stellar cartography are hobbies of mine.” Knock Out pointed out as he brought up a complex star map. “Well, I’ve noticed that a few planets in the far outer rim of known space have somehow… disappeared.” As if to accentuate that, a handful of dots on the map suddenly disappeared.

“And?” Megatron asked, as if asking his soldier to get to the point.

“Well, I’ve double-checked old records from before the war on these lost planets and none of them list any possible cause for why they should disappear like this.” Knock Out explained. “And that’s not even the most alarming thing about it. Observe.” He pressed a button on the console and brought up a trajectory line between the previous planet locations, showing they were all in a straight line from each other, which confused Megatron.

Starscream saw something somewhat more disturbing than that. “That trajectory… it leads straight to Cybertron.” he noticed, seeing the line pass over their homeworld.

“Which is particularly why I’m concerned; I fear that what befell these planets may soon befall our home as well.” Knock Out nodded. “I grew intrigued so I asked Soundtrack to run an advanced scan of the lost planets’ locations, and the search yielded a strange energy resonance I have yet to match to anything.” He brought up the energy reading as an example, and indeed, it did look unusual.

Megatron couldn’t help but raise a metallic eyebrow at the sight of this strange turn of events, but he didn’t appear overly alarmed. “Send your findings to Shockwave so he can run his own analysis,” he ordered. “If anything comes of it, inform me.”

“As you wish, My Liege.” Knock Out nodded as Megatron and Starscream walked out of the bridge.

Breakdown had been nearby when Knock Out reported that and couldn’t help but be intrigued himself… though equally concerned. “What do you think it is, Knock Out?” he asked in worry.

“If I subscribed to any of the old religions, Breakdown?” Knock Out remarked. “I’d say it’s the apocalypse.”

Back at the Ark, Ratchet was tending to Rainbow’s arm. “Maybe next time we deal with something terrifying, you’ll listen to us when we tell you not to mess with it.” he pointed out.

“Whatever, doc.” Rainbow rolled her optics as the doctor backed away, letting Rainbow see her arm was back in one piece. “Thanks. We good to go?”

“Essentially. Your real wrist might be a bit stiff for a while, but that should fade with time.” Ratchet assured.

“Cool.” Rainbow nodded and quickly collapsed her Armor back to her geode. “Well, it’s been fun, but I think I’m adventured out for now.”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you say that, Rainbow.” Sunset smiled as she transformed her Armor into her car.

“Hey, we all have our limits,” Rainbow assured as she walked over. “It just happens that mine is only reached after winning an insane road race on an alien planet, becoming part of a giant Combiner, finding an ancient relic that let us become that Combiner, and getting my arm chewed on by an alien robot parasite.”

Applejack just chuckled. “How much did you bet that sentence would never leave your mouth?” she remarked from her truck.

“More than I care to admit,” Rainbow said as she cast her eyes off to the side nervously, climbing into Sunset’s car.

“Well, just be glad you didn’t make that bet with Swindle; trust me, when someone owes him money, he collects,” Mirage assured.

“Do… I wanna know how you know that?” Twilight asked in concern.

“No. No, you don’t.” Mirage said bluntly.

“Alright well, now that we’re clear on that, I think that’s our cue to go home, girls,” Twilight remarked as she transformed into her car. “Fluttershy, you can carpool with me and Spike.” Spike promptly deactivated his Armor and leaped into Twilight’s car.

Fluttershy collapsed her Armor and climbed in with Twilight while the other girls revved their own engines. “See you guys tomorrow,” Sunset called as the girls all raced out of the Ark toward town.

“Whew. First old weapons, then Relics of the Primes, now Scraplets…” Elita smirked, turning to Optimus. “What do you think we’ll unearth next?”

“With luck, the location of the next Galaxy Key,” Optimus noted as he continued his decryption process on the Iacon files. “But failing that, I would gladly welcome either of the first two options.”

“Speaking of which, any update on where we’re going next?” asked Airazor.

As if on cue, Teletraan toned. “As a matter of fact, yes.” the computer toned and brought up the map from the Omega Lock, placing it over another map and highlighting one planet in particular.

Optimus’ optics went wide at the sight of it for a split second before he regained seriousness and uttered a single order. “Contact Tigatron.”

Beast Wars

It had been a while since the Rainbooms could really get in some quality band practice since they’d gotten involved with the Autobots, but when they wrapped up a jam session at CHS today, they were on a serious high of happiness as their Ponied-Up features disappeared. “Great work today, girls.” Sunset smiled as she set her guitar down.

“I hope the next planet we go to has a music competition because we would totally rock it!” Rainbow smiled with a powerful cord on her guitar.

“Eh, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high, kid.” a familiar voice remarked from the corner of the room. Spike looked around and suddenly saw a very familiar rat near Rarity’s backpack.

“Rattrap? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“And I think more importantly, why were you in my backpack?” Rarity asked.

“Heh. Eh, I was lookin’ for somethin’ to snack on while I waited for ya.” Rattrap shrugged. “But that don’t matter now; we got work to do. Prime needs us at the Ark.”

“Another mission already?” asked Twilight.

“S’pose it had to come sooner or later.” Applejack shrugged. “Best get rollin’.”

“Ooh! Before we go, we should have a team name.” Pinkie smiled.

“Huh?” asked Sunset.

“No, she’s right.” Rainbow smiled. “The Autobots and Decepticons all have different teams with squad names, so I say we should have one of our own. And I vote Rainbots.”

“Mm… Nah.” Applejack shrugged. “Don’t quite roll off the tongue.”

“Um… how about Harmonibots?” suggested Fluttershy.

“I like that.” Twilight smiled.

“Alright then. Harmonibots, let’s roll out.” Sunset smiled as they packed up. The team moved out to the parking lot and activated their vehicle forms, with Rattrap jumping into Rarity’s car – which she found thoroughly disagreeable – before they rode off to the Ark.

When they arrived, they were surprised by what they saw; the Dinobots and Maximals were all getting prepped along with Optimus, Elita, Hot Rod, Ironhide, Chromia, Pyra Magna, and Windblade. And there was one more surprising face when they transformed. “Tigatron?” Spike seemed surprised.

“Mm. Been a long time, little pup.” Tigatron smiled.

“This mission must be important if we called him in.” Rainbow smiled. “Where’re we going?”

“Home.” Cheetor smiled as he prepped his blaster. “The next Galaxy Key’s on Eukaris.”

“Why are you packin’ so much heat then?” asked Applejack.

“Well, things on Eukaris aren’t exactly copacetic.” Rhinox shrugged. “Autobots have their war; Maximals probably have ours by now.”

“What does that mean?” asked Sunset.

“Before Alpha Trion asked us to safeguard the Omega Lock and the AllSpark, Eukaris was dealing with its own political turmoil,” Airazor explained. “Tension between the tribes and all that; we’d split our alignments down the middle between us Maximals and a faction called the Predacons.”

“Heh. Yeah, and with our luck, the Preds have probably gone on the warpath by now.” Rattrap rolled his optics.

“Well, if that’s the case, then let’s go change that luck,” Rainbow smirked as she checked her Gatling guns and deployed her missiles, accidentally crushing something on the console.

“Rainbow Dash, I needed that!” Ratchet barked angrily.

“Sorry.” Rainbow shrugged nervously, quickly collapsing her missiles back into her arms. “But seriously, say the word and I’m ready to go.”

“That remains to be seen.” Lifeline countered. “Magic repair and Combiner Core reformat aside, you’re still on thin ice, medically speaking. You’re staying here until we’re sure you’re in peak condition.”

“So who goes to Eukaris then?” asked Sunset.

“Um… I’d be willing to go. I-If that’s okay, Optimus.” Fluttershy shrugged.

“I wanna go too. As an ambassador for Earth.” Twilight smiled.

“They haven’t gotten in the way yet.” Ironhide shrugged.

“Very well. Prepare yourselves.” Optimus ordered simply.

Twilight and Fluttershy walked over to the armory section and saw Wheeljack and Springer standing ready near a bank of guns. “Alright, alright; let’s get you ladies kitted for a real gunfight.” the engineer smiled.

“I feel like I’m set,” Twilight smirked as she looked over the readout of her jet-mode’s weapons systems and glanced down at Spike.

“Yeah, for a dogfight.” Springer countered. “But if you get caught on the ground, you won’t be able to count on Spike all the time. And in those cases, you need guns.” He glanced over at the engineer. “Weapon ports; let’s see ‘em.”

Twilight and Fluttershy were confused about what the Wrecker meant by that but shrugged as they tried to focus… and ended up extending weapons from their wrists and into their hands; Twilight had a strange rifle with a bulb at the muzzle and Fluttershy had a large electric ray. Springer appeared impressed. “Not bad. Concussion cannon and Energon infusion emitter. Those oughtta come in handy.”

“Whoa! Do we all have those?” Rainbow asked in surprise at the weapons.

“Where do you think I keep my stingers?” Bumblebee smiled as he flipped his own weapon out of his wrist, before he glanced over at Twilight. “Good luck, guys.”

“Thanks, we might need it.” Twilight was still surprised she and Fluttershy were so armed, but they retracted their weapons and walked to the SpaceBridge with Optimus and the others as Red Alert activated it.

“Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus ordered, prompting his team to transform and race through the SpaceBridge.

On the other side of the vortex on Eukaris, Megatron and Starscream had arrived at the Predacon temple where they found Hydrax and his followers waiting. “As requested, Hydrax; we have returned,” Megatron said simply. “Now if you please, the Galaxy Key.”

“First I wish to truly test your mettle, to see if you are worthy of the knowledge.” Hydrax countered, his two extra heads snapping and snarling.

Megatron sneered; he’d known this was coming at some point. “If you truly wish to test yourself against the Champion of the Pits of Kaon, then be my guest Hydrax,” he said as he raised his sword and shield. “But you may find the outcome most… disagreeable.”

“We will see about that. Hydrax, Terrorize!” the dragon snarled and transformed, hefting his axe as he leaped at Megatron, his smaller heads blasting fire at the Decepticon. But when the axe cleaved the flame, Hydrax appeared stunned as Megatron was nowhere to be seen. “What?!”

Suddenly the smaller head on his left shoulder snapped, prompting Hydrax to turn… just in time to see Megatron swing his blade at the Predacon leader’s main neck and stop short just as the edge drew Energon. “Impressive. So this is the combat training on Cybertron.”

“No training; simply gladiatorial survival instincts pushed to their greatest extent,” Megatron assured as he returned his sword and shield to his back, earning a small but meaningful round of applause from the other Predacons… though Starscream saw what looked like uncertainty on Fangwolf’s face as Hydrax locked his axe onto his back.

“With training such as this combined with the might of the AllSpark, you may indeed become invincible. And a most worthy ally.” the dragon-bot smirked.

“Your might is already impressive, Hydrax.” Megatron nodded.

Hydrax laughed as he slapped the Decepticon warlord on the shoulder. “Good answer!”

Megatron couldn’t help but chuckle. “As much as I may enjoy sparring with a warrior such as you further, Hydrax, I don’t have all day. The Key.”

Hydrax was about to speak before Terrorsaur swooped into the temple. “Lord Hydrax! Another Maximal siege team is on the way! It looks like nearly all of them this time!” he crowed.

“They will be met with the same destruction as all their past attempts.” Hydrax scowled as he drew his axe. “Predacons, Terrorize!” The Predacons all snarled and transformed, firing their weapons out into the jungle.

In the jungle, a large black widow spider hissed as it climbed a tree. “Raptorknight and I told you this was foolish, Fangwing.” the spider growled in a feminine voice.

The target of her snarling – a wolf with forelegs, wings, and a tail that looked more in place on an eagle – snapped up at her. “Be honest, my little spider; foolish is fun!”

“Not when it gets us pinned down like this!” the spider screeched back. “You should’ve known Terrorsaur would see us coming a mile away.”

“Cool your circuits, Blackarachnia; we’re only here to remind ol’ Hydrax we’re still a threat.” an armadillo assured, quickly turning to a large black bison. “Hornbash, let ‘em have it!”

“With pleasure. Hornbash, Maximize!” The bison bellowed and transformed, blasting a large explosive shell from his mouth up, which hit Tyranotron straight in the chest.

“Grr! Eviscerate them!” the T-Rex snarled, prompting Razorclaw’s team to charge down the stairs toward the Maximals.

“About time!” a large grizzly bear snarled. “Barbearian, Maximize!” He transformed and snarled, charging out to engage with Razorclaw directly.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold it Barbearian!” the armadillo insisted as he jumped in the way. “Do not engage directly; just get ‘em pissed and lure them back to the traps. Blackarachnia, think you can hit Hydrax or his new friends from here?”

“Easily. Blackarachnia, Maximize!” the spider smirked and transformed into a surprisingly attractive female bot mode who leveled a blaster at the dragon bot and fired a large blade-like bolt. Quickly Megatron saw this bolt and jumped into the way, deflecting the blade with his shield before he fired back with his cannon, blasting the tree to splinters and sending Blackarachnia flying.

“Blackarachnia!” Quickly Fangwing took to the air and caught the spider bot in his paws, flying her toward safety. “We’ve done what we set out to do, my friends. Tactical retreat is in order!”

Barbearian and Hornbash appeared much less enthusiastic about this retreat than the others, but soon begrudgingly accepted as they retreated, leading Razorclaw and his team into the jungle… right into a large line that suddenly shot up from the dirt and clotheslined them right in the necks as the Maximals retreated into the jungle.

Razorclaw snarled and stood up. “Divebomb, get airborne; track them down!” he ordered.

“Waste of time; we flyers have scouted the jungle more times than I can count and we’ve never found the Maximal base.” Divebomb insisted. “This time will be no different.”

“Prove it; get up there! Now!” Razorclaw ordered.

“No!” Hydrax bellowed from the perimeter of the jungle. “Divebomb is right; the Maximals are little more than terrorists now who dare interfere with the natural order of Eukaris. Hunting them down is a waste of time when we can simply let them come to us and be terminated. Then Eukaris will truly belong to me.”

“Rebels such as this never know when to stop, Hydrax,” Megatron assured. “Simply destroying them on your doorstep is not enough. They must be taught the error of their ways… by vaporizing their home.”

“Yes… I like the way you think, Megatron.” Tyranotron smiled as he stood up and reverted to his dino mode. “Once the Maximals and their base are destroyed, our world will truly belong to us.”

“If you believe you are capable of ending this war for us, Megatron, then I will gladly allow you the chance to prove it.” Hydrax scowled. “And should you succeed, I may be willing to let you know where this Galaxy Key you seek is.”

“I suggest you keep your word on that, Hydrax. Or these Maximals will not be the only ones to feel my true wrath.” Megatron advised. “Starscream, come; time to go hunting.”

“With pleasure, Lord Megatron.” Starscream smiled as he readied his guns before marching into the jungle behind his master.

Far away in the jungle, the Autobots exited their SpaceBridge and found themselves in the jungle. “Wow. So this is Eukaris.” Twilight noted as she looked around; the jungles were truly massive with trees several times taller than Optimus and a dense canopy, storm clouds toiled high overhead seemingly constantly, and in the distance, massive volcanoes rumbled as if they could erupt at any second.

“Hmm. Grimlock not like this planet.” the Dinobot snarled. “Too much… green.”

“Well, it’s no Caminus… but I suppose it has its charm.” Pyra Magna remarked.

“Seems the jungles have gotten wilder in our absence,” Botanica remarked as she set her roots in the ground for a moment.

“No real signs of any conflict,” Airazor noted as she flew high above. “Maybe the war between the Maximals and the Predacons is over.”

“I wish I had your confidence in that, Airazor,” Rhinox said as he looked around.

Suddenly the ground shook and the group was on high alert. “What’s that?” Chromia said quickly as she raised her axe.

She got her answer in short order as the ground split open and a massive plant almost like a sunflower rose from the ground and started batting at the Autobots with large bulbs on tentacle-like stems. “Jumpin’ Gyros; a Helianthus Crusher. I hate these things!” Cheetor snarled.

“Then let’s take it down!” Ironhide roared as he raised his blaster, firing at the large plant as the others backed him up.

Grimlock roared as he charged the massive plant, eagerly tearing at it with his teeth. But it clearly didn’t do much before he was batted away by one of the arms easily, before it extended the same courtesy to Elita, knocking her into a tree. “Elita!” Optimus called in concern, right before the plant grabbed him by the ankle and swung him into the air.

“Alright, enough is enough. Maximize!” Cheetor called, prompting all the Maximals to transform and open fire on the large plant as well.

“How do we stop these things?” Hot Rod asked, firing bolts from his wrist cannons.

“We tear it out at the roots!” Rhinox ordered as his chain guns roared.

“Yeah, easier said than done, big guy.” Rattrap pointed out.

Then a powerful roar sounded across the valley. Everyone looked and was surprised to see a massive golden lion charging down a nearby cliff toward the plant, along with a large gorilla. “Mind if we lend a paw?” the gorilla bellowed.

“Great timing as always, big bot!” Cheetor smiled.

“Friends of yours, I assume?” Windblade asked as she deflected another stem with her sword.

“Good guess.” Airazor smiled.

Then the gorilla leaped from the cliff and started swinging from the trees before he landed next to Grimlock. “Optimus Primal, Maximize!” With a growl, he jumped up a bit and his legs spun around to reveal more mechanical legs as his chest flipped out for an armored chestplate, his ape-head flipping back for a robot head that greatly resembled Optimus’s.

Naturally, everyone was surprised by the ape’s choice of name, but it got better when the lion charged and slashed at the plant’s main stem with massive golden claws and ripped it up out of the ground a bit. With the opening, Primal flipped large double-barreled blasters out of his wrists and fired into the ground, blasting the plant out of the ground further which Slug took to charge in and rip the plant up with his horns, blasting fire from his mouth at the roots to burn the plant down. “Whoa. That was awesome!” Spike barked happily.

“You alright, Optimus?” Hot Rod asked as he helped the Prime up.

“I am fine, Hot Rod,” Optimus assured as he gripped his arm before he marched toward the new Maximals. “I believe I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Think nothing of it.” Primal smiled, cycling his blasters back into his wrists. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while anyway. Leobreaker’s told us a lot about you.”

“No points for guessing who Leobreaker is, I guess,” Windblade noted as she glanced at the lion, sheathing her sword.

“But, um… how does he know Optimus?” Fluttershy asked.

“A sound question.” Optimus nodded as he looked at Leobreaker. “Who are you?”

“I’ll show you. Leobreaker, Maximize!” With that roar, the lion’s entire upper torso rotated 90 degrees before he reared up on his hind legs which extended into more humanoid legs, its forepaws becoming fists as a robotic head deployed from the lion’s mane.

Everyone was surprised at that transformation, but Ironhide was particularly amazed as he walked up to the beast-bot. “I don’t believe this. Overhaul?” he asked almost breathlessly.

“Been a long time, ol’ buddy.” Leobreaker smiled.

“You know this guy, Ironhide?” Hot Rod asked.

“Well, I should hope so,” Ironhide remarked, setting his arm on Leobreaker’s shoulder. “He’s my little brother.”

“What?!” Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy asked at once.

Chromia was just as surprised as she approached. “By the Forge. What happened to you, Overhaul?” she asked. “The last any of us heard from you was that distress beacon from the SpaceBridge at K’th Kinsere.”

“Nice to see you too, Chromia.” Leobreaker smiled. “And to answer your question… that’s a long story.”

“Well, I think we’ve got time.” Cheetor shrugged. “Especially since I think we’ve all got some questions.”

“I expected you would.” Primal noted. “Come on, let’s get back to base and we’ll explain everything.” No one could argue with that, so once the Maximals all transformed back to their beast modes, they led the rest of the group through the jungle to safety… and the next stage of their race for the AllSpark.

Rumors

Canterlot City; a fairly standard metropolis all things considered… aside from the madness of the occasional magical mishap from the students of Canterlot High. Ever since the most recent Fall Formal, mystic beasts, relics and energies from another world have been leaking across to this one. Still, if any madness popped up, it was nothing the students couldn’t handle. At least… that’s what they thought. If they knew what was coming, the students would be terrified.

It all began one warm Thursday morning when Sunset Shimmer first revved into the school’s parking lot on her black 2009 Harley Davidson FLHT Electra Glide Standard motorcycle. (This, but with hot-rod flames)

She’d always liked her old bike, even though she did think it was a bit ostentatious with the flame-job she’d gotten so long ago. She’d been thinking about changing it or maybe even trading the bike in for something else entirely for a while now but she’d been so busy lately that she’d never had a chance.

Still, she had more pressing concerns lately; school, magic research, and band practice with her friends. But that still didn’t detract from her attention to the unusual, including the car parked across the street; a bright yellow 2010 Chevy Camaro with black racing stripes.

Sunset knew most of the cars that usually parked in the area of the school, so even if it weren’t for the paintjob, that car really stood out to her.

She glanced over when she saw her friends arrive, all apparently preoccupied until they saw her. “Hey Sunset, what’s up?” Twilight Sparkle smiled.

“Not much.” Sunset shrugged, before looking back across the street. “Hey, have any of you ever seen that car over there before?”

The girls all looked over at the car and were surprised as well. “Never seen it before. Looks pretty killer though.” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Perhaps we should report it.” Rarity suggested.

“Nah, it’s probably nothin’.” Applejack shrugged. “Maybe some new guy workin’ ‘cross the street or somethin’.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out soon.” Sunset shrugged. “Cmon, let’s get to class.” No one could argue with that, so they all made their way in the front door.

All day in class that day, the girls heard stories of mysterious vehicles around town; trucks without cargo, emergency vehicles with no emergency in sight, things like that, and it was more than enough to confuse the girls.

But they would be even more confused by what Twilight revealed she’d brought to school after band practice in the music room; a small metal orb.

“What is this thing?” Rainbow had to ask.

“I’m not sure. Spike dug it up in our yard this morning.” Twilight shrugged. “I think it’s some sort of meteorite, but I’ve never seen this type of metal before.”

“Ooh! Maybe it’s aliens!” Pinkie Pie smiled.

Fluttershy seemed worried about that idea, but Applejack just scoffed. “Cmon now Pinkie. Magic I can accept, but aliens? Not in this lifetime or any of the next.”

“What, farm-girl like you, AJ?” Rainbow smirked. “I don’t believe that. Never had crop-circles before?”

“Not unless ya count the circle of cars ‘round the farm when the family reunion comes round.” Applejack smirked right back.

“Actually, Pinkie might be right.” Twilight pointed out, looking closely at the meteorite itself. “I stopped by the science lab in my free period and took a closer look at this thing, and saw some microscopic circuitry in the metal, plus some weird writing I’ve never seen before.” She showed the girls her phone, which contained pictures from through the lens of a microscope, revealing the circuitry and unusual squiggles which the girls could only imagine was the writing Twilight had referred to. “I’ve done some digging online; no tech on Earth is this advanced. And given that, one would be inclined to assume…”

“What, you seriously think this is some sort of alien technology?” asked Sunset.

“It’s certainly a possibility. But I don’t have the gear to prove that here.” Twilight shrugged. “We’ll have to look it over at my lab back home.”

Unfortunately, they still had most of the day to wait for that to happen since it was barely lunchtime by the time this revelation came about. And in the cafeteria, the rumors only circulated further about the strange vehicles around town. But it only got weirder from there; apparently Sandalwood had gotten close enough to one of the vehicles to peer inside, and didn’t see anyone driving. Microchips and Flash Sentry reportedly went through similar incidents which only made matters more and more confusing. But what really confused Sunset and the girls was that as the students were gossiping, the meteorite was faintly glowing.

These all seemed highly unusual even for Canterlot City, but then things got weirder; as they ate, Sunset could’ve sworn she saw something out the lunchroom window. Something that looked like a person, but… bigger. She didn’t understand it until the school-day ended and the girls all walked out, only to see that the Camaro was gone which confused her even more. “That’s odd.” Twilight noted, looking at her watch. “The workday at that building doesn’t end for another hour.”

“Maybe whoever drove that car didn’t work there.” Fluttershy suggested, unsure as she said it.

“I’ll buy that.” Rainbow shrugged, moving over to Rarity’s car. “Well, I’ll see you girls at Twilight’s place.”

Sunset was still confused but couldn’t put her finger on why. Still, she didn’t have any better explanations for that car’s disappearance and moved to head home. But as she saddled up on her bike, she found there was a problem; for some reason, it wouldn’t start. “What the-? Oh cmon, ya piece of junk.” She tried a few more times, but the engine still wouldn’t turn over.

“You okay, Sunset?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, I think my bike’s just dead.” Sunset shrugged. “Doesn’t make much sense though; it ran fine this morning.”

“Just another excuse for ya to get rid of it, I say.” Applejack shrugged, opening the back of her old pick-up truck. “Cmon, load that thing up and we can carpool.”

“Thanks AJ.” Sunset smiled as she climbed off the bike and rolled it over. Then with super-strength and minimal effort, Applejack grabbed the bike and carefully lifted it into the back of the truck before strapping it down.

When she did this, however, Twilight noticed that the meteorite was glowing even more than before, and also shaking in her pocket. She only got more confused as she saw this, but decided not to look into it until the team reached the lab. With that in mind, the girls all climbed into their vehicles and started out of the parking lot.

But just as they were leaving, Sunset saw something. “I think I just found out where that car went.” And sure enough, around the corner of the building was the Camaro, parked so that the driver could look through the window of the cafeteria.

“Okay, this is getting stupid.” Rainbow snarled as she climbed out of the car.

“Rainbow Dash, what on earth are you doing?” Rarity asked in surprise by this action.

“I’m gonna go give this guy a piece of my mind.” Rainbow assured, walking ever-closer to the Camaro. “Alright pal, what’s your deal?” Unfortunately, she wasn’t very close to the vehicle and as soon as she spoke, the Camaro revved its engine and raced away down the street. Rainbow managed a quick glance in through the car’s window as it left, and what she saw shocked her as she turned to the others. “Uh guys, there’s nobody driving that thing.”

That surprised everyone as they looked after the vehicle. “Another one? Here?” Sunset was just getting more and more confused. “Why?”

“Maybe they’re aliens, here for that meteorite.” Pinkie suggested jovially.

“What’re the odds of that?” asked Applejack.

“At this point, I’d say we can’t afford to rule anything out.” Twilight reminded. “I suggest we all keep our eyes open. If we see anything unusual, we should say something.”

“Does that count as unusual?” Rainbow pointed up, indicating to the others that a wing of F-15 Eagle air-fighters was flying over town… and they appeared to be multiple different colors.

“I’d say so.” Applejack pointed out. “This town hasn’t had a military fly-over in years.”

“We’ll check the news at the lab, see if there have been any other incidents.” Twilight assured. “Now cmon, let’s move.” The girls all quickly boarded their vehicles and drove toward Twilight’s house… unaware that they were being followed.

Author's Note

And so the story begins... What is the story behind this meteor? Where have these ghost vehicles been coming from? And above all, why does Twilight have the feeling there is more going on here than meets the eye?

Training

With Fluttershy now carrying an operational Spark-Shift Armor unit, Prowl had convinced Optimus that she and Applejack should receive official training, including flying lessons for Fluttershy once she scanned a vehicle mode.

Which she was in the process of doing now, with Wheeljack and Inferno on hand as they looked through Teletraan’s databanks. “Um, if it’s okay, I think I’d like something a little more, um… grounded?” Fluttershy was right to ask that; Teletraan was only showing her helicopters.

“Well, unless you wanna turn into a giant snowmobile in the middle of spring, I’m afraid this is what you’re stuck with.” Wheeljack shrugged, chuckling a bit at his own remark. But he saw how uncomfortable it made her and calmed down. “I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t exactly serve much purpose for you to have that rotor and not be able to fly. Besides, if you want, Inferno here can give you some basics.”

Rainbow was nearby and was confused when she heard that. “How would he know how to fly a helicopter? He’s a fire truck.”

“Yeah, but I served with a couple of helicopters when I was with the Wreckers,” Inferno informed, and chuckled as he remembered. “Good ol’ Springer. He was a tough one, I’ll tell ya that. Wreckers’ second-in-command, and believe me when I tell ya that he earned that position. Whirl, though? Whew. Don’t even ask.”

“Yeah; the less said about that lunatic, the better.” Wheeljack agreed, turning back to Fluttershy. “Bottom line, Fluttershy; I’m sorry but you’re basically limited to helicopters.”

Fluttershy wasn’t happy about that, but accepted it as she looked through the database… before she stopped on something; an HH-60M Black Hawk Medevac helicopter. “Oh. This- This looks nice.”

Wheeljack smirked. “Huh. Didn’t expect you to go for something so intense.”

“Hey, Ratchet’s teaching her to be a medic, isn’t she?” asked Inferno. “Makes sense for her to have a med chopper.”

“Eh, I guess you’ve got a point.” Wheeljack shrugged. “Nice choice, Fluttershy. Scan away.” Fluttershy had been told how to scan alt-modes by Applejack, so she did as she was told, prompting the same green beams to shoot from her optics and scan the copter’s data into her bot-form’s systems.

Then just like with Applejack, her bot-form’s armor started taking on the appearance of various parts of the helicopter; her breastplate took the form of two halves of the cockpit – with opaque glass in bot-mode – her legs split from the tail-rotor, and her arm-plating shifted from the doors on the sides of the copter. “Huh. Not bad, kid.” Inferno smirked. “I’ll be outside when you’re ready to learn how to fly.” With that, he left the hangar for the hills outside.

Before she left for her lessons, Fluttershy decided to look in on the other new recruit. However, when she arrived at sickbay, she was surprised to find Ratchet there alone, cleaning up. “Wh- Where’s Deadlock?”

“Database. Said he wanted to find a way to ‘remake himself’ so he could ‘start his new life as an Autobot’. If you ask me, I’d say he’s just bored.” the old medic shrugged.

“Oh um, okay.” Fluttershy nodded and left the Ark, finding Inferno and Applejack – in bot-mode – outside waiting for her. “I’m uh… I’m ready.”

“Alright then. Let’s see your alt-mode.” Inferno ordered, prompting Fluttershy to concentrate and swiftly transform to copter-mode, which seriously surprised her when she shifted down into the cockpit. “Nice. Alright, now step one; familiarize yourself with your controls. You should see a joystick between your legs and a smaller lever on your left, and a set of pedals.” Fluttershy looked around and saw all the controls Inferno listed easily. She saw a key on her side and figured it might’ve been the ignition, which she quickly turned to start the engine whining.

“Looks like she found the ignition easy nuff.” Applejack remarked.

“Looks like,” Inferno smirked, turning back to Fluttershy. “Alright, now focus on the lever on your left. That’s called the collective; controls your speed and height. Twist it until your blades are up at a manageable speed and then pull up slow and steady.” Fluttershy did as she was told and twisted the grip on the collective until her blades were spinning at a very high speed, then she carefully started to pull up, her tires slowly leaving the ground until her wheels were at the same height as Inferno’s head, a strong wind blowing down from her rotors.

“Good, good; perfect!” Inferno smiled up at her. “Now use the joystick to move; it’s touchy so go gentle!” Fluttershy was nervous, so she put as little adjustment into the joystick as possible, only for the copter to lurch forward fairly suddenly, so she quickly pulled it back. Too quickly, nearly sending her straight into the mountain until Inferno grabbed her landing gear and held her steady. “Easy! Return the joystick to its upright position!” His order was quickly followed as the copter leveled out before Fluttershy came in for a landing, her rotors stopping once she landed. “I told you the joystick was touchy.”

Fluttershy quickly transformed at this, looking sorry for herself. “I- I know; I’m sorry.”

Inferno smiled. “Don’t be; for a newbie pilot learning from a fire truck, I’d say you did pretty well.” He chuckled as he placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “But if you want any future lessons, maybe we should wait and see if Springer gets here and he can teach you.”

“What’s this Springer feller like, anyhow?” Applejack knew she was in for a story with that question when she saw the smile on Inferno’s face.

“Heh, where do I begin? He’s a total maverick; the kinda bot you’d expect to just ride in out of nowhere, save the day and be smug about it.” Inferno smirked. “I remember the first time I met him; it was the battle of Tetrahex, and the Autobots were losing ground. I could’ve sworn we were doomed until I saw that dropship on the horizon; it was from the Xantium, the Wreckers’ battle-cruiser. Man, that old tub could take a beating. Anyway, it came in and Springer led a huge unit of Wreckers out; mowed the Cons down like nothin’. That was the day I joined up, and believe me; I had a hell of a time.”

“So why’d you leave?” Rainbow had walked over, and heard most of the story.

But she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest when she saw the sad expression on Inferno’s face. “Some of my old buds from the planetary rescue force before the war – they had tickets off Cybertron aboard a civilian transport. Barely even left the ground of the Hydrax Plateau spaceport before the Seekers blew their ship out of the sky.” The others suddenly understood everything now. “After I saw that, I knew I had to get the others off-world as fast as possible. Springer understood, but our commander Impactor? Not so much. He was a tough-nosed old bot; lost a hand to Cosmic Rust and had to get a harpoon installed in its place.”

“Well, that just sounds cool,” Rainbow remarked.

“It was, but it didn’t make him any more approachable.” Inferno shrugged. “Anyway, I’d say that’s enough lessons for now Flutters. For reference, those pedals in the cockpit help you turn.” It was just then that he saw Optimus driving up from town before he transformed and walked over. “Hey, Prime. I was just teachin’ Flutters here how to use her new rotors.”

“Thank you, Inferno.” Optimus nodded. “We will require whatever advantage we can achieve in the race for the AllSpark.” Fluttershy bowed her head a bit to Optimus before she returned to human-form, metal shifting around her body back to her geode. “Speaking of which, has Wheeljack had any luck with the two fragments we have currently?”

“Plenty of luck Prime, but none of it good.” Wheeljack shrugged as he walked out. “I’ve managed to rule out a few places, but there’s still a majority of the planet left for us to search. And with most of the other Autobots still in stasis, we’ll never be able to safely search the rest of the planet for it.”

“And without reliable access to Energon, our CR Chamber can only do so much,” Ratchet added as he and Twilight walked out to join the others before he looked over at Fluttershy. “I thought you’d like to know that Deadlock’s available again.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy nodded as she and Rainbow walked back into the hangar, where they found Deadlock on the computer. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Just… trying to figure out how to really reinvent myself, you know?” he shrugged. “How can I truly atone for all I’ve done in an honorable way?”

Rainbow smiled as she zipped up next to him. “You wanna come up with a good way to change? I have an idea for that. Road trip!” Deadlock seemed open to that idea, as did the other girls in the hangar at the time. Their journey would make a completely new and different bot out of a lost spark, whether they really knew it or not.

Shadows Return

The bowels of the Nemesis echoed with the sounds of raw rage as Megatron bashed his way through various footsoldiers, working off his anger. “The AllSpark, all but within my grasp! And once again, Optimus Prime and his Autobots find a way to stand between me and my destiny!” He roared as he blasted several of his soldiers down with his cannon.

Starscream smirked from his place in the shadows, remarkably proud of himself for keeping the fact that he was the one to disable Nightbird secret from Megatron. And in it, he saw a chance to get his hands on the AllSpark first. “My liege, if I might be so bold-” He flinched in fear as Megatron’s flail suddenly embedded itself in the wall next to him.

“Far too bold, Starscream!” the gunmetal warlord growled. “Do I look as if I’m in the mood to listen to your preening?!”

Starscream had always feared Megatron, even amidst all his maddening schemes. “Please my lord, I wish only to serve you. And- And I have a plan to do just that.”

Megatron snarled as he retrieved his flail. “Be brief.”

“While I agree that Nightbird was a worthy warrior, her failure was far more than disappointing.” Starscream relented. “Thus I volunteer to infiltrate the Autobot base myself and attempt to bring you the map to the AllSpark.”

“And if you should fail as well?” Megatron asked rightly.

“Then I assure you, My Liege, that you will never hear from me again.” Starscream bowed nobly.

Megatron nearly said something before the ship’s coms toned. “Lord Megatron.”

The warlord was growing weary of these interruptions. “Speak, Soundwave.”

“Unknown signal detected on Decepticon communication frequency, requesting GroundBridge.” This surprised both Megatron and Starscream.

“Perhaps one of our lost brothers has emerged from stasis.” the commander suggested.

“Possibly, Starscream. But I will not risk anything, on the off-chance it is Autobot duplicity.” Megatron snarled. “Soundwave, send the nearest patrol unit to the origin of the signal. They will determine who exactly is contacting us.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron,” Soundwave reported.

As it turned out, the closest unit was Motormaster, as well as Dead End, the now healed Breakdown, Wildrider, and a gold bot whose alt-mode was obviously an Indy Car, all currently taking something of a rest in Upstate New York.

Motormaster sighed as he stood up and looked at his team, having just gotten off the coms. “Alright Stunticons, up ‘n at em. We’ve got new orders; someone's makin’ a GroundBridge request a few kliks north. We gotta make sure we can trust it.”

“Why should we trust anyone? We’re called Decepticons for a reason.” Dead End pointed out.

“Cmon Dead End, don’t bring the mood down.” Wildrider ordered. “Besides, if it’s Autobots, then we get to scrap ‘em!”

“That’s the spirit,” Motormaster smirked. “Now… Stunticons, Metal to the Peddle!” That was all they had to hear before they all transformed and roared off down the road after the signal.

Totally unaware of the watchful eyes viewing them from above. “Hey guys, we’ve got some old friends up ahead,” Rainbow smirked from the air. “Sending you a pic now.”

Prowl and Cliffjumper smirked when they saw the images of the Stunticons on their screens. “Well, well, well… Motormaster again,” Cliffjumper remarked. “He nailed Brawn over Nightbird last time, and I’d bet half my Energon rations he’s after her again.”

“Sure seems to know where he’s going,” Rainbow remarked. “Think I’ll buzz down and say hi.”

“Hold off on that; we’re closing on their rears,” Prowl ordered. “Think I’ll try and get their attention myself first. Cliff, fall back a bit.” Cliffjumper quickly did as he was ordered, allowing Prowl to turn on his lights and siren.

The Indy Car saw this in his rear-view and scowled. “Hey boss, we got Autobots. Betcha I can kill ‘em all before you do.” Quickly he transformed and jumped onto the back of Motormaster, firing back at the two Autobots.

“Gah! Hey, no free rides bolt-brain!” Motormaster reminded. “Breakdown, Wildrider, pull back and hold them off. Dragstrip… race you to the coordinates.”

“Oh, it’s on!” Dragstrip could never turn down a challenge so he jumped off his commander, transformed, and floored it down the road.

Breakdown and Wildrider did as they were ordered and fell back, flipping weapons out of their sides and firing back at the two Autobots, who quickly swerved to avoid the fire. “We’ve got this covered, Rainbow. Get after Motormaster and the others and find out what they’re after.” Prowl ordered.

“On it,” Rainbow smirked and fired her boosters to swiftly catch up to the last three Stunticons, swooping down to Dragstrip and transforming, running alongside him with a smirk as her hair condensed into a rainbow-colored helmet. “Hey there.”

“Wha- more Autobots?” He was reasonably annoyed by this. “No way; I’m not losin’ here, especially not to some femme with wings. I’ve got a rep to maintain.”

Rainbow smiled; this guy seemed about as obsessed with winning contests as her, if not more so. She smirked; she could use that. “Well, here’s your chance buddy. Race ya!” Her power suddenly activated and she dashed down the road ahead of the astounded Dragstrip, leaving a rainbow-colored blur in her wake.

Dragstrip just snarled. “No one outraces me. No one.” With that in mind, he fired his engines and opened a nitrous valve, sending him flying down the road after her.

“Dragstrip, you idiot! Wait for us!” Motormaster growled and roared after him in anger, Dead End swiftly pursuing.

As Rainbow dashed ahead, she saw exactly what it was the Stunticons were after; Nightbird, in a clearing of the woods holding a ramshackle transmitter and screeched to a stop. “Huh. I thought those lunkheads were here after you.” Obviously, she was right, as Dragstrip roared up and transformed, horrifically angry.

“No one outraces me and lives to tell about it.” Dragstrip snarled as he raised a massive blaster, firing on Rainbow in rage. Dash simply dashed around him, dodging every blast and returning fire with a few blasters she’d stolen from the Ark without Red Alert realizing it.

But even she realized she was in over her head when Motormaster and Dead End arrived and began supporting Dragstrip, forcing her to take cover and turn on her com. “Hey Cliff, I really hate to be the ‘a little help’ girl, but… A little help?”

“Kinda busy right now!” Cliffjumper noted as he and Prowl were pinned down by fire from Wildrider and Breakdown.

It was just then that a communique came in from the base. “Autobots, return to base.” It was Optimus, and from his voice, everyone could tell it was urgent.

“I’d love to, Optimus, but I’d love even more to stop Megatron from getting Nightbird.” Rainbow pointed out.

“You should have interchangeable warheads for your missiles. Try hitting her with a pulse charge; that oughtta wipe her drives.” Wheeljack ordered.

“Worth a shot, I guess.” Rainbow shrugged and quickly found exactly the swap function. Quickly, she prepped a pulse charge and leveled it at Nightbird, smirking when she saw the Stunticons standing near her. “Say goodnight, boys!” The rocket was let loose and when it impacted with the ‘Cons, they all froze, surrounded by electric currents and crying out in pain. With the Decepticons immobilized, Rainbow quickly switched to jet mode and took to the air. “See you guys back at the Ark, Cliff!”

“We’ll be waiting!” Cliffjumper smiled as he tossed out a grenade at the other two Stunticons, surrounding them in a large cloud of gas that suddenly grew a strange crystalline form around them. “Ha-ha! Ah, I love glass gas.”

“Cmon Cliff, let’s roll!” Prowl ordered as they both transformed and roared back down the road, straight through a GroundBridge.

The pulse charge swiftly wore off as Motormaster snarled at Dragstrip, swiftly bashing him down with a backhand. “Next time I tell you to wait for me, maybe you’ll listen.”

“I never lose a race.” Dragstrip insisted. “And that rainbow-colored freak just changed that. But not for long.”

“Later, Dragstrip.” the commander ordered. “We’ve got a mission; let’s finish it. Dead End, go round up Wildrider and Breakdown. I’ll call for a ride.” Dead End just sighed and transformed as he roared down the road. “Motormaster to Nemesis; the communique is legit. It’s Nightbird.”

Obviously, Megatron was more than a bit surprised to hear that, but also remarkably happy. “Is that so?” He didn’t see the look of surprise on Starscream’s face – mostly because he didn’t care – and instead looked straight to his communications officer. “Soundwave, send the GroundBridge. And have Bombshell report to the bridge.”

The order was quickly followed as the GroundBridge opened near the site. “Dragstrip, pick her up,” Motormaster ordered as Dead End, Wildrider and Breakdown rolled up. “Bout damn time. What kept you?”

“Cliffjumper. Glass gas.” Breakdown explained simply as he transformed rather stiffly.

“Mm, I hate that stuff.” Motormaster nodded. “Alright, let’s move.” Dragstrip scowled as he hoisted Nightbird’s offline body over his shoulder as they all marched through the GroundBridge, to the bridge of the massive battlecruiser. “Lord Megatron, our champion has returned.”

“Excellent. Your service will be rewarded, Motormaster.” Megatron nodded, turning to the beetle that started this madness. “Bombshell, examine Nightbird’s drives.”

“You might wanna take an especially close look,” Motormaster instructed. “The Autobots’ rainbow-colored flyer hit us with a pulse charge; might’ve fried some of her systems.”

“Thankfully, my Cerebro-Shells are extremely well-protected against EMP weapons,” Bombshell assured as he removed the shell from Nightbird’s head, plugging it into the computer. And what he saw amazed him. “Incredible. Lord Megatron, our creation has succeeded in her mission; we have a practically complete map to the location of the AllSpark.”

Megatron was more than amazed as he looked at the practically dead machine in the Stunticon’s arms. Swiftly, he grabbed her up from Dragstrip’s arms and walked off the bridge. “Soundwave, cross-reference the map with charts of this world. I will be in the medical bay.”

And indeed, that’s where he went, welcomed by Knock Out and Flatline, fairly surprised by the sight of Nightbird in his arms. “Ah, Lord Megatron. Quite a surprise to have our old human-built friend here.”

“Though a perfectly welcome surprise, of course.” Flatline assured.

“Which is, of course, more than can be said for the fact that she has succeeded in her mission.” Megatron smiled, laying Nightbird down on the surgical slab. “And for her loyalty to the Decepticon Empire, she shall be rewarded greatly. And made a true Decepticon.”

Knock Out seemed confused by what he meant. “You mean…?”

“Indeed Knock Out; I want you to give her true life,” Megatron assured. “A full Cybertronian rebuild; biotech systems, a T-Cog, and a Spark.”

“Lord Megatron, with all due respect; cloning the biotech and T-Cog we can do, but how are we supposed to give Nightbird a Spark without access to the AllSpark?” Flatline asked seriously.

“A wise question indeed, Flatline.” Knock Out agreed.

Megatron simply scowled at his medical staff as he activated his comlink. “Soundwave, contact Shockwave; order him to SpaceBridge to the Nemesis to assist our medical staff.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.”

The warlord glared at his medical crew as he raised his eyebrow. “Satisfied?” He didn’t wait for an answer; he simply turned to leave the sickbay. “I expect progress next time I arrive.” With that, he left the medical bay and returned to the bridge. “Soundwave, report.”

“Shockwave has been contacted. ETA of SpaceBridge; 30 nanocycles.” Soundwave reported. “AllSpark map data has apparently been corrupted by the Autobot’s pulse charge.”

Megatron scowled. “Pull whatever resources you need; just get that map decrypted. I want the AllSpark in my hand.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” It was just then that a SpaceBridge portal opened at the back of the bridge, allowing a remarkably intimidating Decepticon to come forth.

Megatron smiled as he saw this soldier arrive. “Ah, Shockwave. Welcome to the Nemesis.” The newcomer was deep purple with a large cannon in place of his left hand, connected to a massive, armored backpack by a large cable. But what really set this Decepticon apart from all the others was his singular cyclopic gold eye in the center of his otherwise empty face. The Autobots had no idea what they were in for.

Love in War

The Autobot base had been fairly quiet recently after the destruction of the Energon Harvester, as Optimus worked tirelessly to decode the coordinates in the section of the Iacon database that Sunset had brought. He’d already decoded at least the coordinates for the Harvester, which he easily disregarded and continued to decode. It was a fairly quiet day in the hangar with all the other Autobots either resting up, on patrol around the world or just enjoying the hospitality of Canterlot City, which Optimus actually found quite agreeable as it allowed him to focus on his work… until the face of his great adversary appeared on the screen. “Optimus… been well? It’s been so long since we last spoke.”

“What do you want, Megatron?” Optimus scowled, quietly prompting Teletraan to start scanning to isolate the frequency.

“Don’t bother trying to track me down, Prime; I’m not on that ridiculous planet anymore.” Megatron scowled. “I simply called to extend an invitation. To a little… reunion… on Cybertron.”

“Reunion?” Optimus asked.

“Yes. It would seem that an old mutual friend of ours was caught in command of a resistance on Cybertron and had only just recently pilfered a few tons of Energon from Shockwave.” Megatron remarked, stepping aside. “You remember each other, of course.”

Optimus was more than shocked to see his counterpart being held by the Decepticons, much less still alive. “Elita…”

Elita was shocked as well; she could hardly believe her optics. “Optimus…”

They both still remembered what it was that drove them apart. It was when the Ark was about to launch from Cybertron. “Ark’s all set to go, Optimus. And everyone’s aboard.” Ironhide reported. “We’re ready to leave Cybertron on your order.”

“Good. Prepare to launch immediately.” Optimus ordered. Ironhide saluted and quickly climbed aboard the ship.

No sooner had he left than Elita-1 roared into the hangar and transformed, slowly jogging to Optimus’ side. “Optimus, my team just reported in. The Decepticons are closing in; they know about the launch.”

“Megatron will never allow us to leave.” Optimus scowled. “We must launch immediately.”

“Optimus…” Elita started, stopping Optimus from boarding the Ark. “You know I wouldn’t doubt you without reason, but… is this truly the best option? If you leave while the Decepticons still have command of Cybertron, you’re just giving the planet to them while you go for the AllSpark.”

“It is not ideal…but so little is in wartimes.” Optimus shrugged simply. “If Megatron wishes to rule a dead and ruined world, then I say we allow him that much.” Elita’s optics narrowed as he said that, but he simply placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Once we have the AllSpark, we will return and defeat Megatron once and for all before we restore our homeworld to its former glory.”

Elita nodded; she knew nothing would stop Optimus from keeping his word on that. “Very well. Let’s go.” She was just stepping up when the area around the ship’s launch bay started roaring with massive explosions. “Decepticons!”

“Optimus, this is Jetfire; Megatron’s brought a new warship.” the flyer reported. “It’s easily the size of the Ark and maybe a fair bit bigger. If we wanna leave, the time is now!”

“Understood. Quickly.” Optimus nodded as she quickly climbed aboard with Elita, only for the red femme to suddenly be shot in the shoulder and knocked to the ground beside the gangplank. “Elita!”

“I’m okay!” she said as she raised her blaster and fired in the direction the blast had come from, firing blindly at a large unit of Decepticons. “Go; get the ship launched! I’ll find a shuttle and join you with the stragglers!”

“We’ve gotta go, Prime! Now!” Prowl ordered as he sealed the ship before it launched. Elita never made it with that shuttle or the stragglers; she and whatever Autobots remained were left behind on Cybertron. And that was the last Optimus Prime and Elita-1 ever saw of each other.

Until now. Optimus scowled at the screen as Megatron stepped back into the frame. “If she has been harmed, Megatron, I assure you-”

“Spare me the boasting, Prime,” Megatron ordered. “Elita is unharmed. How long she remains this way is entirely up to you.”

“What do you want?” Optimus asked.

“Optimus, no! Don’t listen to him!” Elita yelled before Strika clamped her mouth over the red femme’s mouth.

“What I want is quite simple, Optimus,” Megatron assured. “You will surrender the war and forfeit the Matrix of Leadership. Arrive at the following coordinates within two hours to deliver your decision. But remember, if you wish to see your beloved Elita-1 alive, I suggest against arriving armed. Two hours, Prime; not a moment longer.” The channel closed and a set of coordinates appeared on the screen in its place.

Optimus scowled; he knew he was playing right into Megatron’s hands, but he had no choice. He promised himself during the war that he would do everything in his power to protect Elita-1, and now that he knew for certain that she was alive, he gladly renewed that vow… even if it meant sacrificing the war. “Teletraan, calculate travel time.” That order was easily followed as the coordinates were shown as being just outside the sensor perimeter the Autobots had set up around Canterlot City. With that decided, he strode to the door, passing by Sunset as she and the girls arrived in their armor, all transforming to bot-mode as they saw him pass.

“Hey Prime, where ya goin’?” asked Applejack.

“On patrol,” Optimus said simply, transforming to vehicle mode before he rumbled away.

“Huh. Is it just me or did he seem kinda… out of it?” asked Rainbow.

“More than kinda,” Sunset remarked. “We’d better see what’s up.” With that, she moved to the terminal and revved it up. “Teletraan, where’s Optimus going?”

“He’s left to receive transportation to Cybertron.” The girls were surprised by this.

“Bring up a replay of most recent transmission.” Twilight instructed, allowing the girls to see that Megatron had taken Elita prisoner.

“Now I get it; Optimus went to tear his way through Megatron and save his girlfriend.” Rainbow rationalized.

“Chivalrous as that may be, Rainbow Dash, I don’t believe that’s Optimus’ intention.” Rarity remarked.

“What makes you say that?” asked Sunset.

“Because if it was…” Rarity remarked, opening a small hatch. “Then why did he leave his weapons?” Sure enough, there within the cabinet Rarity had just opened was Optimus’ ion rifle, battleax, and longsword.

That was what made Sunset realize it. “He’s surrendering…” The others looked at her dumbstruck. “He’s giving up the war in exchange for Elita-1’s life.”

“What?! That’s stupid!” Rainbow said in outrage.

“Love makes people do stupid stuff.” Twilight shrugged. “Either way, Optimus is going to need back-up.”

“Well, we can’t follow him,” Sunset remarked from the terminal. “He wiped the coordinates for that SpaceBridge.”

“And he’s got too much of a headstart on us, so we can’t follow him.” Rarity remarked.

“Then we’ll just use our own SpaceBridge!” Pinkie smiled as she lowered the vortex-generating ring from the ceiling.

“Pinkie, are you crazy?!” asked Twilight. “We haven’t even tested the SpaceBridge yet!”

“Well, as the old saying goes; ‘There’s no time like the present’.” Rarity shrugged.

“Say that again when the event horizon tears us apart at the atomic level, or the wormhole breaks and scatters us across the universe,” Twilight assured. “Believe me, I’ve studied Wheeljack’s notes on what can happen when these things malfunction, and I don’t want to have to add a new possibility to that list.”

“Quit being paranoid, Twilight.” Rainbow smiled. “Chances are nothing’ll happen and we’ll end up on Cybertron just fine.”

“Okay, maybe that’ll happen.” Twilight reasoned. “But what do we do once we’re there? We’ve never been to Cybertron; how do we find our way around?”

“We could ask one of the others,” Spike suggested.

“Ask us what?” Wheeljack asked as he and Perceptor appeared.

The girls all looked at each other and came to a consensus; if there was anyone who knew what could happen if they went through the SpaceBridge, it was the ones who built it. “A-A map of Cybertron,” Twilight said quickly. “For some background research; where Megatron really got his start, major battles, that sort of thing.”

Wheeljack raised an eyebrow at the girls’ behavior but shrugged. “Alright sure.” Quickly, he accessed Teletraan and downloaded a map of the planet as well as a database of Cybertronian history and various major battles in the war into a pad, which he then handed to Twilight. “There ya go. Now if you’re charting Megatron’s life story, you’ll wanna start at the Nova Point Energon mine, then move on to the Pits of Kaon. After that, just look into recent political events and then follow the tide of battle.”

“Thanks.” Twilight nodded. “You guys going out?”

“Gotta get some parts in town for a project we’re workin’ on.” Wheeljack shrugged. “Tell Optimus we’ll only be gone for a few minutes.”

“Sure thing.” Applejack nodded.

“If I may ask, why have you lowered the GroundBridge?” asked Perceptor.

Sunset started panicking but tried her best to hide it as she looked straight at the scientist. “Just… going for a scouting mission,” she said simply. “We won’t be gone long.”

“Very well.” Perceptor shrugged as he transformed and his avatar picked up the microscope, quickly climbing into Wheeljack when he transformed before they left the base.

“Well, we’ve got our map of the planet and we know where to start looking.” Rainbow shrugged. “Now we’ve just gotta rev up the bridge and hope we don’t disintegrate.”

“That’s a big hope.” Twilight reminded as Rainbow started entering coordinates in the SpaceBridge’s computer. “I don’t exactly like using myself as a test subject for dangerous science.”

“Relax; we’ll be fine,” Rainbow assured as she pulled the lever, and the vortex roared to life, somehow looking much more intense than any standard GroundBridge. “Well, it didn’t explode right away. That’s a good sign, right?”

“I suppose. Only one way to know for sure if it works. Someone has to pass through.” Twilight instructed.

“Whee!” Pinkie cheered as she jumped into the vortex, terrifying the other girls… until Pinkie’s head poked back through with a broad smile. “Cmon through, guys; the weather’s great.”

“Yee-hoo! It works!” Applejack cheered, prompting a reasonably happy celebration from the other girls. Quickly Rainbow and Applejack grabbed Optimus’ weapons and carried them through the portal, the other girls quickly following them.

But they weren’t expecting what they saw. “I thought you said the weather was great.” Rainbow was right to criticize Pinkie for that; the sky was a massive blanket of crimson clouds with thunder booming in the distance.

“Oh come now Rainbow Dash; storms are very calming.” Rarity remarked.

Twilight wasn’t so sure and checked her scanner, and she didn’t like what she saw. “Not this one,” she remarked. “I’m getting some dangerously caustic readings from those clouds, and pH levels down below one.”

“Translation?” asked Rainbow.

“Acid rain,” Twilight answered simply. “And if my readings are right, the acid’s strong enough to melt any bot unfortunate enough to be caught in it down to slag.”

“Great. So where do we start?” asked Applejack.

“I doubt Megatron would want to base himself out of the mines; he wasn’t exactly proud of that job,” Sunset remembered that from her conversation with the warlord. “Let’s check at Kaon.”

“Best idea we’ve got so far.” Rainbow shrugged as the group all transformed and started driving.

Optimus had only just arrived at the coordinates Megatron had ordered him to, where he found Soundwave waiting with the Combaticons. Optimus scowled as he transformed, his faceplate and visor in place just to be safe. “I am unarmed.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Onslaught assured as he scanned the Prime, surprised by what he found. “Not even a sidearm, Prime? I’m almost insulted.”

“All I want is to protect Elita-1,” Optimus assured. “If I must surrender myself to do that, then I do so easily.”

“Megatron said you’d say that.” Onslaught remarked, turning to Soundwave. “Open the SpaceBridge.” Soundwave did as he was ordered, opening the doorway through which the Prime slowly walked, finding himself in the center of the gladiatorial arena face-to-face with Megatron.

“Optimus. I must admit I was surprised to hear that you had come.” the warlord remarked.

“You know full-well you left me little room for negotiations, Megatron.” Optimus countered. “I have only come to surrender myself in exchange for Elita-1’s safety.”

“Ah, honorable to the end, my old friend,” Megatron remarked. “But I will honor our agreement. Elita-1 will not be harmed. You however are another matter.” Suddenly Optimus was shot by a powerful energy bolt in the back, knocking him to the ground where he started slipping out of consciousness. But just before he blacked out completely, he saw the Decepticons dragging Elita and several other femmes out from somewhere under the arena’s stands.

Elsewhere in town, the girls had been forced to move with extreme stealth through the streets of Kaon to avoid the Decepticon patrols on the streets, one of whom they had to duck into an alley to dodge as they rumbled past. “Great. At this rate, we’ll be across town just in time for Megatron to finish cutting Optimus up for dinner.” Rainbow remarked.

“Hey, can I help it if I don’t know my way around?” asked Sunset. “Having a map is one thing; having a sense of where everything on the map is located is another.”

“Found ‘em!” Pinkie called from the ledge of the building they were hiding under.

Rainbow was surprised and quickly climbed up next to her. “How’d you do that?” she asked. Pinkie just pointed and directed Rainbow’s attention to a huge arena with a massive statue of Megatron standing at the gates. “Oh.” With that, she climbed back down and gestured for the girls to follow her.

It didn’t take long for the girls to reach the large arena… where they saw Optimus chained to a wall, as if awaiting execution with Obsidian and Strika holding Elita like they were going to force her to watch. “Oh no; we’re too late.” Sunset scowled.

“Not yet we’re not,” Rainbow smirked. “Megatron’s gonna wanna gloat, and that’ll be our chance.”

Sure enough, Megatron soon strode out of the gladiator’s dwelling with a proud smile on his face. “Well, this is disappointing Optimus. I was expecting at least some show of futile resistance.” the warlord scowled. “Mm, no matter, I suppose. Once the Matrix is in my hands, this war will finally be won and all will bow to me.” Optimus simply sighed as he looked at Elita one more time, seeing her optics wet with tears. “Oh, don’t go all to pieces Prime. You’ll be reunited with her soon enough.”

“What?!” Optimus asked, finally finding some fire within his Spark.

“Ah, ha-ha; there he is.” Megatron smiled proudly.

“You promised me Megatron. You gave your word that Elita would not be harmed.” Optimus scowled.

“So I did. But unless I missed my guess, you failed to note exactly how long she was to remain unharmed.” Megatron smiled as he leveled his cannon at Optimus. “Oh well. Such is the way of war.”

Sunset smirked as she grabbed Optimus’ ion cannon from Applejack and aimed it at Megatron’s arm. “Now I know why you’re called Decepticons!” she called and pulled the trigger, a massive blast firing out and knocking Megatron’s cannon off-target and forcing him to accidentally shoot the control panel for Optimus’ restraints, which allowed the Prime free to charge at Megatron.

Quickly Obsidian and Strika both readied their blasters and fired at Optimus, relaxing their grip on Elita. What happened next wasn’t exactly clear to anyone viewing it from the outside, but for Elita, everything seemed to stop dead as she slipped her way free of her captors and run to Optimus and push him toward the door of the arena. Unfortunately, Optimus was a heavy bot and she started running out of strength. But more than that; she was weakening at an inordinate rate until at last, everything started running properly.

For everyone else, however, it appeared as though Elita had somehow blinked Optimus away from Megatron just before the tyrant’s generals could pump him full of holes before she fell to the ground as if gasping for air. “Elita!” Optimus panicked and grabbed her up.

“Cover them!” Twilight yelled and quickly raised Spike in his Targetmaster form, firing on the Decepticons with the others quickly supporting her in covering Optimus and Elita.

“Dash, get Prime and his gal their gear!” Applejack ordered as she handed the Prime’s weapons to the jet-bot.

“Got it!” Rainbow nodded and raced down, quickly grabbing Elita’s glaive and large blaster rifle before she raced to their sides. “You might need these.”

Optimus gladly took his weapons back and started firing at Megatron with his rifle. “What are you doing here?”

“Apparently saving your bumper,” Rainbow remarked as she fired a barrage of glass gas missiles from her arms at the Decepticons, immobilizing them for a moment. “Cmon, we gotta get outta here.”

“The… o… thers…” Elita wheezed breathlessly.

“We’ll come back for them,” Twilight assured as she and the other girls regrouped with them. “For now, we’ve gotta get somewhere safe and get you some help.”

“She’s right, Optimus. We don’t stand a chance if we can’t get Elita some medical attention.” Sunset assured.

“Then let’s roll.” Optimus nodded and quickly transformed, allowing Applejack to load Elita onto Optimus’s back before the girls all transformed and they all raced down the road out of Kaon amid a swarm of gunfire from the Decepticons, Rainbow’s glass gas wearing off already.

“Cease fire!” Megatron ordered, halting the fire after the Autobots. Once they were gone, Megatron turned to his cyclopic science officer. “Shockwave, send your best scouts after them. I will possess the Matrix.”

“As you command, Lord Megatron.” Shockwave nodded, knowing exactly how convicted his master was.

Build Up Speed

Retrofit was reasonably surprised about the news that his newest guests were organics – especially after they had to explain it themselves when Hot Rod and Clocker were too flabbergasted to say anything for themselves – but once they got over it, they got to work on getting Rainbow’s bot-mode revved up to race Override. “How’re the electricals holding up?” Retrofit asked as they checked systems.

“Lookin’ good so far,” Twilight reported. “I’m still not convinced removing the self-diagnostic core was the best idea though.”

“Eh, it was just slowing me down.” Rainbow shrugged as Lifeline’s holomatter avatar attended to her forehead. “Take that and some other junk out and I’ll be the fastest thing this planet’s ever seen, I promise you that.”

“We’re on a mission, remember?” Bumblebee reminded. “We’re just here for the Galaxy Key; nothing else.”

“Why do you think I’m getting my speed amped up? If we want to get the key, we have to win the Planet Cup.” Rainbow argued.

“Oh sure, that’s why you’re doing it,” Sunset remarked sarcastically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked in annoyance as she stood up and looked her friend in the face.

“I mean this isn’t just about the Key to you.” Sunset pointed out bitterly. “It’s about ego. You just want to show off on another planet. Do you even really care about the mission? About us?”

“Take that back!” Rainbow snarled as she charged her friend.

“Hey-hey-hey, easy!” Moonracer interrupted, quickly jumping in with her holomatter avatar – an average-sized human in a teal biker’s bodysuit with teal hair and blue eyes – before things got ugly. “Everyone just calm down; save your aggression for the Decepticons.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Sunset remarked bitterly as she stepped out of the garage.

“Where are you going?” asked Twilight.

“For a drive,” Sunset said simply as she activated her car mode and drove off the farm.

“Pfft. Good riddance.” Rainbow scowled as she moved back to her own car.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Bumblebee assured as he raced after Sunset.

Twilight sighed as she sat down and looked at Spike. “This is getting hairy, isn’t it?” Spike asked.

“No doubt about that.” Twilight shrugged. “I’m starting to think we should call for backup just to help calm things down.”

“Who says we need it? Just one good race and that key is ours.” Rainbow smirked as her car mode was detached from Retrofit’s various diagnostic systems. “Let’s see how I ride this time.”

“Fine by me.” Retrofit smiled as he, Clocker, and Hot Rod transformed, leading Rainbow out to the highway.

“C'mon, we’d better make sure she doesn’t knock herself to scrap,” Sideswipe suggested as he and the others raced after her, finding her opening it up on the highway.

“Alright, now we’re talkin’!” Rainbow smirked as she put the pedal to the metal.

“Alright, lookin’ good.” Hot Rod smiled. “Now remember; we fueled those boosters with Red Energon, and it packs a hell of a kick.”

“We’ll see about that!” Rainbow smirked as she slammed the button on her dash, firing the rockets again and sending her racing down the highway faster than before. “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” she screamed as she shot down the road.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa, Rainbow; slow down!” Hot Rod yelled as he blasted after her on a nitro-kick, only barely keeping up… as he saw her wheels bouncing dangerously. “Rainbow, your suspension’s off! You’ve gotta stop before you crash again!”

“Catch me if you can!” Rainbow smirked, having misheard Hot Rod’s warning as a challenge… but she clearly understood it when she started to lose control near an upcoming turn. “Oh man, not again!”

Quickly Hot Rod and Clocker transformed and blasted a hole in the wall for Rainbow to safely fly through, which she did, allowing her to transform back to bot mode and skid to a stop on another road. “Whew. Okay, that was not fun.” Hot Rod remarked as the others caught up.

“I think we made you too light.” Retrofit pointed out.

“Ya think?” asked Sideswipe.

“My center of gravity feels off too; think you can fix it?” Rainbow asked, apparently doing her best to steady herself.

“At this point, I think the best course of action is to get you back to the correct weight.” Lifeline shrugged.

“No, just do enough to get me back in balance; I can handle the rest.” Rainbow insisted.

“Fine.” Lifeline shrugged before she checked her time readout. “Just about time for the check-in to Optimus. Think Sunset’s doing it?”

“We’d better hope so,” Twilight noted.

And indeed she was, way out in the desert as she opened the com-line. “Sunset Shimmer to Ark; come in, Ark.”

“This is Elita-1, Sunset Shimmer.” the commander returned. “What do you have to report?”

“Nothing definite yet, Elita; Rainbow Dash is… trying to follow up on some new leads,” she reported. “We’ll call back in when we find something.”

“Understood. I’m sure you’re doing your best. Elita-1 out.” the communication terminated and Sunset sighed as she sat down in the sand.

“You didn’t tell her about Rainbow modifying her car form?” Sunset didn’t even react; she knew Bumblebee was following her.

“It’s too great a sacrifice.” she returned simply. “I don’t want to have to tell the bosses she’s tearing herself apart based on a hunch.”

“So you don’t believe the Planet Cup is the Galaxy Key.” Bumblebee surmised.

“Frankly, I’m surprised you believe it.” Sunset pointed out.

“The Primes worked in mysterious ways.” Bumblebee shrugged… before he looked over the ridge and saw some familiar grilles. “Heads up; Ransack and Crumplezone.” Sunset looked and indeed saw the two thugs, and they were talking to Dirtboss.

“You two should’ve just fallen into that gorge.” Dirtboss scowled. “If Motormaster and his gang think they can disappear for a few thousand stellar cycles and then come back and order me around, they can all kiss my skid plate. I’ll take down Blurr and Override on my terms!” Suddenly he transformed, prompting the two goons to do the same which resulted in a three-way brawl that ended with Dirtboss in the dirt.

“You always were thick-headed, Dirtboss, but this is ridiculous,” Ransack remarked. “You sure that skull-plating isn’t too thick?”

“I got an idea; how about we check for ourselves?” Crumplezone smirked.

“You’re more than welcome to try!” Dirtboss scowled as he stood up and flipped his tailpipes over his shoulders, turning them into plasma blasters that fired at the goons, but it barely scratched them as they returned fire, knocking Dirtboss to the ground.

Sunset almost jumped in, but she shook her head. “No. This is just how Rainbow got suckered into this whole thing.”

“He’s outmatched, Sunset. He needs help.” Bumblebee pointed out.

He was right; Ransack placed his foot on Dirtboss’s chest and aimed his blaster at his head. “C'mon, wouldn’t you rather have us as friends than enemies? Join up with us and Override is scrap metal.”

“If you won’t jump in, I will.” Bumblebee scowled… but found he didn’t have to as Override and Blurr both raced in and transformed.

“What’s goin’ on here?” Override asked.

“What’s it look like, your former highness?” Ransack smirked. “Just bein’ helpful citizens is all.”

“He fell, and he’s cryin’ like a compact!” Crumplezone laughed.

“So-he-just-happened-to-fall-down-right-before-we-got-here-sorry-boys-I-just-don’t-believe-that-it-makes-no-sense-no-sense-no-sense.” Blurr remarked quickly.

“C'mon Dirtboss, get up.” Override said as she offered him a hand.

Dirtboss just smacked her hand away and stood up on his own. “I’ve had enough of your charity, Override. I certainly don’t need it now.”

“Have it your way.” Override scowled as she stepped away, glaring at Blurr. “See you at the Planet Cup.” With that, she transformed and raced off as Blurr raced away in the opposite direction.

Dirtboss scowled as he looked at Ransack and Crumplezone. “Scrap metal, huh? Alright, count me in.” he scowled, earning a laugh from the other two goons.

Sunset and Bumblebee slid down in the dirt on the ridge, looking at each other with incredulous looks on their faces. “Override rebounded from Sideswipe to that tool?” Sunset asked in surprise.

“I think we’ve got bigger problems than that; that’s three new goons for the Decepticons.” Bumblebee pointed out. “And with Rainbow on a warpath to scrap herself to the finish line…”

“You’re right.” Sunset nodded. “Make the call.”

Bumblebee nodded and turned on his commlink. “Bumblebee and Sunset Shimmer to Ark; Priority One. Optimus, do you copy?”

“Report, Bumblebee,” Optimus ordered.

“Optimus, we need you and the others on Velocitron ASAP,” he reported. “Bring Ratchet and Ironhide.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“It’s a delicate situation,” Sunset said simply. “The major problem is that the Decepticons beat us here and they’re almost to the Galaxy Key.”

“Understood. We’re on our way.” The communication was terminated.

“We’d better get back to the others,” Bumblebee noted as he transformed and raced across the desert with Sunset on his tail.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)

Further out in the desert, they found Rainbow Dash… in what appeared to be a race with Dirtboss, with Ransack and Crumplezone bringing up the rear behind the two. “Wha- how’d those guys get ahead of us?” asked Sunset.

“Ransack and Crumplezone know every shortcut on this planet like the backs of their fenders.” Hot Rod remarked as he raced alongside them. “And they’re willing to do anything to get their way.”

“Including this time, huh?” Sunset shrugged as the rest of the team raced behind the group. Quickly Sunset tuned her coms to Rainbow. “Rainbow, what’s going on here?”

“What’s going on is that I’m getting something to show for my time here.” Rainbow scowled. “And I don’t need your help to do it.”

“You sure you wanna play with the big boys, little girl?” Dirtboss snarled. “You might get hurt!”

“Please, I could outdrive you on foot!” Rainbow smirked as she swerved around him, skidding onto the highway. “Whoo! Good luck tryin’ to beat me on the pavement, off-roader!”

“The benefit to being an off-roader is all-wheel drive. And modular suspension!” On that cue, Dirtboss’s wheelbase lowered and splayed his tires out to take up two whole lanes, forcing Rainbow into the wall.

“Gah! Hey, watch the paintjob!” Rainbow growled as she pushed back.

“No one beats Dirtboss! You hear me?! Nobody!” Rainbow smirked as he swerved at her again, giving her a perfect chance to transform and flip over him, transforming back to car mode as he slammed into the wall and fell behind.

“You sure about that?! Because I think I just did!” she joked, trying not to think about how she’d almost just gotten killed as she drove ahead.

“Get back here, coward!” Dirtboss roared as he drove after her.

“Rainbow, break off! Backup’s on the way!” Bumblebee called. “You hear that; break off!”

“Something’s gonna break off, I can feel it!” Rainbow remarked as Dirtboss bashed her rear end over and over.

“Nobody can help you now, little girl! Just you and me!” Dirtboss laughed madly.

“This just got boring. Let’s just shoot ‘em.” Crumplezone suggested.

“Whatever.” Ransack shrugged as they swerved off and found a ridge, where they transformed and readied their big guns, blasting down at Rainbow who swerved to avoid every shot.

“Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous!” she yelled.

“Hang on, Rainbow; I gotcha!” Hot Rod smiled as he transformed and fired triple bolts of plasma from the pipes on his arms at the two cheaters, but that didn’t seem to do anything as they kept blasting until Rainbow had spun out and Dirtboss roared ahead.

“Alright, let’s finish this!” Ransack smiled as Crumplezone aimed his engine cannons at Rainbow.

(Cut it)

He nearly fired before a massive bolt of energy shot near his feet and threw him off-balance. “Huh?!” He looked to the sight of a massive cloud of dust approaching, led by what looked like a big rig. “Motormaster?”

“No.” Twilight smiled as she saw the dust break… to reveal Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Hoist, Elita, Chromia, Arcee, Kup, and the rest of the girls, all of whom quickly braked to a hard stop on the highway and transformed, leveling every weapon they had at the Decepticons.

“Leave. Now.” Optimus said with a tone of finality as his ion rifle whirred to life.

“Don’t gotta tell us twice; we’re outta here!” Ransack yelled as he and Crumplezone transformed and raced away.

“Thank the AllSpark.” Sunstreaker smiled as she and the others raced to Optimus’ side, transforming next to him as he lowered his weapon. “Ratchet, Rainbow needs serious medical attention.”

“Alright, make a hole; medic comin’ through,” Ratchet ordered as he and Hoist moved to help Lifeline extricate Rainbow from her crash.

“Who were those fellers?” asked Applejack.

“Couple local punks we’ve been havin’ trouble with.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Turns out Motormaster and the Stunticons got here before us.”

“That’s a bad turn.” Chromia sighed as Ratchet, Hoist, and Lifeline dragged Rainbow to the others.

“I’m alright, I’m alright.” she insisted.

“Ep-ep, leave the diagnoses to me please.” Ratchet insisted. “And I say you’re on the whole other end of the scale from ‘alright’.”

“Her bot-mode’s barely functioning, Optimus; humans have guts, I’ll give ‘em that.” Hoist smiled.

“So who wants to go first?” asked Elita.

“It’s my fault, Optimus; the others all tried to stop me,” Rainbow assured weakly. “We found a lead on the Galaxy Key and I’ve been pushing myself so I could win it.”

“Win it?” asked Rarity.

“Apparently, the key is the greatest racing trophy on the planet.” Bumblebee explained as a storm started to roll in. “The only way we can get it is if we win it in the upcoming race.”

“Sideswipe had some less than pleasant last words with the former champion last time he was here and he’s basically been banned from racing.” Sunstreaker continued. “Rainbow volunteered to represent our team, but she’s been going overboard with augmentation.”

“Augmentation?! After an alt-mode reformat?!” Ratchet yelled in anger. “Kid’s lucky she hasn’t splattered herself all over the pavement yet.”

“We’d better talk somewhere else. Storms get pretty bad in this part of the desert.” Hot Rod suggested. “C'mon, let’s get back to my Uncle Retrofit’s farm.” He transformed and led the way as Elita carried Rainbow on her bed.

Back at the farm, Ratchet, Hoist, and Lifeline set to work on tending to Rainbow as best they could. “I appreciate your willingness to allow us here, Retrofit,” Optimus said simply.

“Anytime. It’s not often we get a Prime around here for company.” Retrofit smiled. “It’s the least we can do after everything your boys have done for us here.”

“Arcee, where’s that Energon?!” Ratchet ordered.

“Right here,” Arcee noted as she raced to the medic’s side, handing him a large tank of medical Energon for Rainbow’s bot-form. Hot Rod narrowed his optics as he looked at her, seemingly confused.

“Why was this kept from me?” Optimus asked in annoyance.

“We didn’t want you to worry, Optimus.” Twilight shrugged. “We thought we could handle it ourselves. Turns out we were wrong.”

“This is partly my fault too, Optimus,” Sideswipe noted. “I didn’t tell any of them about my relationship with Override. Next thing we know, Rainbow’s racing with her heart and not her head.”

“That was not your decision to make,” Elita said firmly.

“We know. But Rainbow does have the right idea; if we can win the Galaxy Key in this race, that’s one more win for us and one more loss for the Decepticons.” Sunset admitted.

“And who has this trophy now?” asked Optimus.

“His name’s Blurr; a long-time rival of Override,” Sideswipe answered. “And before you think of meeting with either of them Optimus, you have to know that Motormaster has made the Autobots out to be the instigators of the war. And even if he hadn’t, I doubt either of them will listen.”

“I will see about that myself,” Optimus said simply. “Where can I find them?”

“Blurr’s probably still up at the Champion’s Track practicing for the race.” Hot Rod noted. “Who knows where Override is.” Optimus simply narrowed his optics and transformed, rumbling to the Champion’s Track.

When he arrived, he saw Blurr rocketing around the track like a bullet until the Prime eased into his way, forcing the champion to transform and skid to a stop next to him. “Move-aside-please-wide-load-I-have-a-race-to-win-and-I-can’t-train-to-win-a-race-with-my-training-track-blocked!”

Optimus simply transformed and looked the bot in the optic. “Blurr. My name is Optimus Prime. You have met with my associates Sideswipe and Rainbow Dash.”

“Sideswipe we both know.” Override’s voice came from behind him as she raced in and transformed. “And I’ve raced Rainbow Dash personally. I’m Override. So what are you here about this time; the Planet Cup or this war everyone keeps talking about?” Optimus opened his mouth to start, but Override raised her hand. “Y’know what? Forget it; we both heard the same sob story from Motormaster and your guys, so we’re not in the mood to hear it again. You want the Planet Cup, you gotta win it; that’s the law on Velocitron.”

Optimus scowled. “Disappointing,” he said as he transformed and left, returning to the farm to find Rainbow had woken up and locked back into her bot-body. “How is she?”

“Physically, both her bot-form and human body are as close to 100% as we could get ‘em.” Ratchet answered. “Psychologically is another matter.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Ironhide growled. “We’ve all taken a beatin’ every now and then, but we’ve kept goin’ in spite of it.”

“As you see.” Ratchet remarked to Optimus, who saw the defeated look on Rainbow’s faceplate.

“Lemme guess; Blurr and Override wouldn’t hear you out?” Rainbow said to Optimus without even looking at him.

“No. They would not.” Optimus nodded.

“Doesn’t surprise me. All those two care about is racing. And winning.” Rainbow sighed. “It’s all I cared about too, before I got here. I never should’ve come on this mission.”

“Alright, who are you and what have you done with our Dashie?!” Pinkie accused.

“She learned that the racers here are in a whole ‘nother league than her,” Rainbow said simply. “I don’t belong here. I’m no good to anyone.”

Ironhide scowled and crossed his arms. “Someone had to say it; just glad it was you. Saves the rest of us a lot of trouble,” he grumbled.

“What was that?!” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“Whoa, easy there, old timer.” Applejack remarked in surprise.

“Winnin’ a war is hard ‘nuff without wildcards like you runnin’ round messin’ things up for everyone else.” Chromia scowled. “I’ll be glad to call for a SpaceBridge back to Earth for your useless chassis.”

“I cannot believe I’m hearing this!” Twilight said in shock.

“Neither can I. What the heck, you two?” asked Sideswipe.

“How could you say that? Rainbow Dash saved our lives.” Clocker pointed to himself and Retrofit. “She’s the bravest bot I know, compared to you anyway.”

“It’s okay, guys,” Rainbow said simply, stopping them all. “They’re right. I should just go home; at least it’s comfortable there.” She trudged out of the farmhouse and out into the rain, leaving the others stunned behind her.

“Rainbow…” Hot Rod said as he went after her.

“Well, now that you’ve thoroughly destroyed Rainbow Dash’s hopes and dreams, perhaps you’d like to tell the rest of us how you truly feel, Ironhide.” Rarity said in annoyance.

“You shouldn’t judge him too hard, kid,” Kup assured. “Sometimes all it takes to get a bot back on the right road is some tough love.”

“Heh. Young’ns these days.” Retrofit shook his head derisively. “You still don’t understand it, do you?”

“Understand what?” asked Sunset.

“That I can fix up Rainbow Dash until she’s genetically perfect with the best-maintained bot and car mode in the galaxy.” Ratchet pointed out. “But there isn’t a medic in the universe who can restore her spirit.”

“That’s right. Right now, she’s lower than the bottom of your oil pan.” Retrofit continued. “But she’s still got her pride, so Ironhide had to say what he did. For a stubborn brat like Rainbow Dash, that’s the only way to snap ‘em out of a funk like that and get her fightin’ spirit back.”

“But then we are just old rust buckets; what do we know?” Kup shrugged as the older bots all trudged out of the farmhouse.

Applejack shook her head and chuckled. “What’s so funny?” asked Sunset.

“It’s just… I dunno, hearin’ all that out loud from a buncha other old folks…” Applejack shrugged. “Kinda reminds me of all the times Granny Smith talked me outta doin’ somethin’ stupid like that.”

Out on the ridge, Rainbow ran over what Ironhide said in her head over and over as she sat on the hood of her car; all she’d really done since she joined the Autobots was get in the way, mess up the mission, or put herself at risk. And here she’d somehow done all three at the same time. She looked over her shoulder and saw Hot Rod pull up next to her and looked away in disdain. “If you’re here to try and comfort me Hot Rod, save your breath.”

Hot Rod turned his engine off and quickly projected a holomatter avatar of what looked like Sunset if she was a guy, but with a fiery wedge on his shirt and sat next to her on her car’s hood. “Y’know… Retrofit isn’t actually my uncle.”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“Yeah. I took a CNA test about a hundred years ago.” Hot Rod nodded. “We’re not related, but he raised me like we are.”

“Does he know?” asked Rainbow.

“Nah, didn’t wanna ruin it for him.” Hot Rod assured. “You saw the old guy; it’d break his spark if he knew. Besides, he’s kinda my hero for putting up with me all these years. And when I found out you were the first one to jump in and save him, you kinda became a hero of mine too.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Are- Are you hitting on me?”

“Pfft. Primus, no.” Hot Rod assured with a chuckle. “I’m just sayin’ it because if you really wanna be a hero, you don’t have to save the universe every day. I ain’t givin’ up on you, but that means you can’t give up on yourself either. You got that?”

“Yeah. Yeah, alright. I won’t give up. Not yet.” Rainbow smiled as she climbed back into her car.

Hot Rod smiled and returned to his own body and they both drove back to the farm, where they found Optimus waiting. Rainbow promptly stood at attention and saluted. “Ready for orders, sir,” she said officially.

“I relinquish command in this operation to you, Rainbow Dash,” Optimus said officially.

Rainbow was more than surprised, as were the others. “Optimus, you can’t be serious.” Ratchet said seriously.

“Override and Blurr will not listen to reason.” Optimus rebuked. “They have made it clear that they will only relinquish the Galaxy Key if one of us wins it in the Planet Cup. Therefore, that is what one of us must do. And since my vehicle mode is not suited to high-speed endeavors like this, Rainbow Dash will assume command.”

Rainbow smiled broadly and leaped to hug Optimus. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said happily before she stepped back and got serious. “Alright folks, listen up; aside from Prime and Fluttershy, we’re all racin’ in the Planet Cup! We’ve got less than two days to get ready, so let’s hit the salt flats and get some practice in.”

“Are you really sure we can win, Rainbow?” asked Sunset.

“It’s not a matter of whether we can or not, Sunset.” Rainbow countered. “Either we win or the Decepticons get the advantage in the war. It’s our only option.”

The others all smiled and nodded to each other as Twilight turned to Rainbow. “Whatever you say, team captain.” she smiled.

“Thanks, guys. Medics!” Rainbow barked, turning to Ratchet, Hoist, Lifeline, and Fluttershy. “I want every last one of us in peak racing form!”

“You realize that you’re the only one on this ‘team’ of yours who stands even half a chance of winning the race.” Ratchet pointed out.

“Which is exactly why everyone else will be running blocker for me.” Rainbow smiled. “The Stunticons are gonna be playin’ dirty, and I don’t ‘em messin’ up my paintjob while I go for the gold.”

“Just remember, Rainbow Dash; you might be our favorite to win, but you’re not alone out on that track.” Sunset reminded. “Harmony, remember?”

“Right. Harmony.” Rainbow smiled and she and her friends all bumped metallic fists.

“Chromia, you and Sunstreaker survey the track and distribute the data,” Elita ordered. “We’ll need to know what we’re getting into here.”

“Yes ma’am.” Chromia saluted.

“I have one more objective I’d like to suggest,” Sunset interjected. “Who runs the Planet Cup?”

“The Supreme Turbo Committee in Crater City. They arrange the whole event every ten years.” Hot Rod answered.

“Good. Then go to them and tell them this.” Sunset ordered, whispering the order to Hot Rod.

He was a bit surprised by this order but nodded. “Understood. I’ll be back soon,” he assured and raced off the farm toward the city.

“I tell you Sunset, this might be the best sporting event I’ve ever captained.” Rainbow smiled.

“Save the ego for when you win.” Sunset smiled right back. “Because I know you won’t settle for second.”

“Heck no I won’t.” Rainbow smiled, ready for the best race of her life.