A Shadow of Myself

Two days of walking, more walking, and occasionally sitting down did not agree with Charlotte's feet. They had blistered, and the previous night Cadence finally noticed them when Charlotte took her shoes off. Now the blisters were gone thanks to the alicorn's magic, but her feet still hurt, her legs ached, and she was half-tempted to try to see if she could ride one of the tricycles that they had found in the towns.

She also had two more bracelets and was wearing three on her wrist.

There hadn't been any sign of transformers or care bears. Well, no encounters with them anyway. They had passed through three more towns and found destruction identical to the first town they had visited. The lone transformer part from the first town was the only one they had seen. As for the care bears, they found plenty of toys and other memorabilia, but nothing beyond that.

Now they were back on the road again. So much walking. Adventures were bad for her feet.

It didn't help that the scenery was as uninteresting as could be. This being the third day, her eyes had adjusted to the dimness. Now she had the pleasure of seeing all the nothing around her. Well, not completely nothing–there were rocks, boulders, husks of long-dead trees. Every once and a while, there would be an abandoned motorized tricycle; out of gas. Once, they had come across a pair of dead bodies. One was a child, and it had been gripping a Lots-a-Heart Elephant when it died. No one wanted to spend time examining them.

Was it wrong that she left the scene wanting to ask Empathy if he knew Lots-a-Heart? They were both elephants. She could ask, but beyond some nodding and gestures, she wouldn't be able to understand his answer. He still seemed to understand everything said to him. How did that even work? It would be nice to take the necklace blocking mind magic off so she could understand him. Phobia hadn't given permission yet, and she was currently fast asleep on Andrea's back, so there was no asking her right now.

"This is miserable," Sweetie Belle said, breaking the silence.

"Glad someone else said it," Scootaloo agreed. "We've been on a lot of adventures, but this one has more walking with nothing happening than any of the others."

Cadence, who was leading the way, looked back briefly. "Would you prefer transformers to be shooting at us?"

"Would be a change of pace," Scootaloo grumbled.

Charlotte decided to make conversation. "Hey, Scootaloo, I was wondering, why don't you ever fly? I wish I had wings so I could give my feet a break."

"I can't," Scootaloo answered, fluffing her wings slightly. "My wings are too small, and the mana flows in them are too narrow. I can hover a few feet off the ground for a moment or two, but even that is exhausting."

Charlotte paused. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive."

Scootaloo shrugged. "It's okay. It bothered me when I was a filly, but I'm long since over it. I don't need to be able to fly to be awesome. They aren't a defect; they're just different. They make an excellent engine for carts, my scooter, and boats. I wish we could find a good-sized cart. If we did, I could speed up this trip and give all our legs a rest." She looked up and squinted. "Looks like Sapphire is returning early. She's coming in fast. Maybe she and Bursa found something."

Cadence stopped and followed Scootaloo's gaze. "Bursa isn't with her. They should return together."

"You sure?" Andrea asked. "Bursa kind of blends in with the clouds."

The princess nodded. "I'm sure. I hope this isn't bad news. She's also coming from the wrong direction."

It only took a few more seconds before Sapphire landed in front of them, seeming out of breath.

"We've got Decepticons nearby. They spotted Bursa and me," the blue pegasus announced. " Do you have any idea how fast those guys go? I'm faster, but that was still a workout."

Everyone stiffened and started looking around.

"Where's Bursa? They didn't catch her, did they?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly.

Sapphire shook her head. "No, she went into hiding. She couldn't move fast enough to outrun them. I think she disguised herself as a boulder. That should fool those bots. They didn't seem that bright. I had to fly well out of the way, so I didn't lead them back to you."

"That's not going to fool them for long. They'll be searching the entire area," Luster said as she looked out into the horizon. Sapphire still seemed a little winded but nodded in agreement.

"Wake Josie and Phobia; we need them up and alert, and we need to find somewhere to hide," Cadence instructed in a rush. "Luster and Sweetie, be ready to help fight off an attack but don't light your horns yet. The light could attract them to our position."

Andrea touched her saddlebag. "I don't think my guns will do much against giant robots."

"Change back to a crystal pony as soon as those two are awake. If the transformers have magic, you can give us warning," Cadence instructed. She looked at Sapphire with concern. "Are you going to be able to fight if we need you?"

Sapphire drew herself up and nodded. "I can bring the lightning. The only reason I'm worn out now is because of all this cruddy air. Those pollution clouds still have static, more static than regular clouds. I can get them to strike."

"How close is the closest cover?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sapphire gestured to the side. "About a mile that way, there's an area with a lot of boulders and crevices. We can hide out there."

Charlotte looked out in that direction. A mile was a long way to go with Decepticons on the hunt for them. "Could you teleport us there? Save us the run and the time exposed?"

Cadence frowned as if considering. "It is an option if we get desperate. Teleporting ten individuals at once uses a considerable amount of power and could give away our position if they have any form of magic tracking. I want to hold back on that until we don't have a choice. If I do it, I would likely take us back to the last town we were in. That is farther away, and I have a safe spot for a teleport landing marked out already. That also takes us further away from Bursa, and we still need to figure out how to retrieve our changeling friend."

"We need to hurry with that," Apple Bloom said grimly. "Bursa has got good survival instincts, but she ain't the brightest candle– if y'all know what ah mean. She might well try to imitate one of them there Decepticons and get herself caught when it becomes clear she ain't one of their kin."

"Yeah, they talk to her for about five seconds, and the jig will be up," Scootaloo agreed. "She might imitate how somecreature looks perfectly, but she is a horrible actor, and her bright ideas are laughably bad."

"I could make a fog to help cover us– spread it out over a large area," Sapphire suggested. "I figured out they have to have visual on you. They either don't have radar, or it doesn't work in this atmosphere."

"We can barely see as it is! We'd get lost or trip into one of those crevices you mentioned," Scootaloo fussed.

"And lighting our horns to find the way would make us stand out in the fog. We'd be more exposed, not less," Luster added in.

Sapphire blushed with mild embarrassment. "Sorry, didn't think of that. I usually do this kind of stuff solo or with other pegasi who don't lose their sense of direction in fog. This is new to me. I'll still get you to the right spot."

Andrea had finished waking the two ponies up on her back.

"What's going on?" Josie asked sleepily. "We find something?"

"Decepticons found us, or they will soon," Charlotte answered.

"We're making a run for shelter, then figuring out how to get Bursa from where she's hiding before she does something dumb," Andrea explained.

The two nocturnal ponies jumped down from Andrea's back, and Andrea adjusted her earrings to crystal pony form. Once changed, she adjusted her bags quickly to better sit on her reduced stature.

"Need to get moving quickly," Sapphire stressed. "They move fast. I can outfly them, but none of you can outrun them once they realize I sent them off on a wild goose chase in the wrong direction. The fact they must be overconfident or dumb is the only thing buying us time now."

Everyone started to move at a light run in the assigned direction.

"Are we dealing with jets?" Charlotte asked as she ran, imagining the most common aerial Decepticons from the cartoon.

Sapphire shook her head. "No. They are some weird aerial transports. I don't think these guys are primarily fighters, but they're still speedy and armed. They tried to shoot me down, but they couldn't get a lock on me. I'll give full details when we get to shelter. For now, save your breath and keep running."

It was good advice because even at this pace, Charlotte was quickly running out of breath. Breathing more heavily made her feel ill. She wished she had Sunset's transformation necklace. Running on four legs was so much easier than running on two. This had to be hell for Empathy.

As she glanced to her sides, she had a sudden realization. Where was Empathy?

Stopping in her tracks, she turned around. Empathy was far behind them. His stubby little legs couldn't keep pace with the ponies or her. She was about to go back and get him when Cadence blocked her with a wing. She was about to protest but saw the alicorn light her horn. A second later, the elephant was on Cadence's back, seeming very confused about how he got there.

Then came the laser blast, striking Cadence in the side and sending Empathy skidding across the ground.

"No!" Charlotte shouted.

Two…she wasn't sure what they were. They looked like troop transports from some Star Wars movie came into view. Charlotte didn't pay them much attention. She was focused on seeing if Empathy was alright. Cadence was the one who had gotten shot, but it should take more than one laser blast to kill an alicorn, right? Empathy was the one who might be dead.

"Stop! You need to emergency evac us!" Andrea shouted from somewhere behind her.

"I need to make sure he's okay!" Charlotte screamed back.

"The evac will bring him with us! Do the evac!" Josie yelled.

Charlotte wasn't listening. Her focus was on her friend. She wasn't cut out for this kind of stuff, but Empathy really wasn't. They should have insisted on him staying behind.

"Damn it!" Andrea shouted. "Does anyone else know how to operate her evac? Her brain's gone dead."

"Cadence does!" Apple Bloom answered.

"That isn't helpful right now!" Andrea cried.

Charlotte lifted Empathy from the ground. He was banged up and bleeding from his hard skid across the rocky ground, but he was breathing.

There was a resounding boom of a thunderclap, followed by a succession of others. This was quickly followed by a shield enveloping Charlotte and Empathy, and unicorn blasts and gunshots firing on the vehicles in the air. Several people were shouting, but she couldn't tell what was being said.

"I've got a sound spell up, so our voices carry over this. Don't think we need to worry about being quiet!" Sweetie announced.

"Cadence is just unconscious but isn't hurt too bad!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Ah can carry her!" Apple Bloom cried out.

"This is going to attract a lot of fucking attention! More are probably already coming!" Josie yelled. "We need her to evac, now!"

The bots above suddenly stopped firing and retreated somewhat. The others kept firing on them.

"Get them to cover. I'm not sure how long my magic will work on robots!" Phobia called out.

"I'm shocked it's working at all. Keep it up!" Andrea urged.

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, and Charlotte temporarily lost her balance. A massive fountain of dirt and rock erupted about a hundred feet away, followed by a giant drill. A vehicle burst up through the ground, a vehicle with an Autobot symbol.

A strange-looking middle-aged woman with purple hair, a much shorter brown furry 'something', and what was obviously an intuit raccoon came out of the vehicle in a rush. The woman looked up at the sky, seemed to take a deep breath, then opened her mouth.

SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

"Oh, Celestia! That hurt!" Scootaloo cried out in pain.

The brown…thing…came over to Charlotte and gave her a shove towards the vehicle. It was bipedal, yellow-eyed, and wearing a cap with goggles. "Get! Get to Excavator! And cover your ears! Shrieky isn't done!" He didn't wait for her to respond as he moved on to the others.

SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

"Ow! That lady has a set of pipes!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

"Get to Excavator!" the brown thing yelled.

"This way!" the purple raccoon called out to them, bouncing up and down.

"Move it! Carry Cadence, Charlotte, and Empathy if you have to. I'm pretty sure these creatures are friendly!" Phobia ordered.

"Friendlier than the things above us," Scootaloo agreed.

SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Charlotte picked up Empathy and started running for Excavator. She remembered that one. He was the Autobot equivalent of Devastator. Him transforming into a bot to fight would be nice, but him acting as a getaway vehicle was probably more pragmatic at the moment.

SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

CRASH!

They all jumped as one of the Decepticons came down in a heap. It had transformed back into a robot for some reason during the fall, and it now lay burning on the ground. What the hell? Maybe they didn't need Excavator. This lady was taking down Decepticons with her voice! The other took a few more shots, then beat a hasty retreat.

"Move it!" the raccoon yelled. "He's going for help, and they'll come back with fighters! Shrieky can deal with factory bots, but not those!"

It just now occurred to Charlotte that she could understand the raccoon intuit. He had to be using actual language, not the magic Empathy used. She trusted him. As she got closer, she got a better look. It was Brightheart Raccoon. The others weren't far behind her.

"Come on, Beastly, get Shrieky moving!" Brightheart called out.

"I'm trying; she's winded!" the brown thing yelled back as the woman slumped down. "She isn't going to be able to do that again for a few days. This had better have been worth it!"

Charlotte entered Excavator along with the others. It would have been roomy, but there were ten of them and about to add three more. There was a panel with a bunch of indecipherable data on the front along with a screen showing what was in front of them– not that there was much to look at other than the edge of the drill.

Shrieky and Beastly came in, followed quickly by Brightheart. The door closed behind Brightheart, and the drill started spinning as Excavator went forward and then down into the ground.

Everyone was out of breath except for Brightheart, who was looking at them all with fascination. "I don't know who or what you are, but I hope you'll help the resistance."