War From the Stars

Chapters

Descent
Impact
Discovery
Meetings
Introduction
Disguises
Plans
Outsiders
Life
Histories
Thrill
Companions
Adjustments
Investigations
Struck
Aftermath
Punishment
Strangers
Reports

Descent

He didn't know how long he'd been offline, but consciousness returned to him in perhaps the most violent way possible, as he was thrown from his chair and collided with the floor behind him with the sudden jerking of all around him. He grunted with understandable discomfort, placing his hand to the side of his head to find, to his relief, that there was no damage. But that was about the only good news he had right now, as all around he could hear nothing but the loud and constant sound of the alarms blaring. Things were going from bad to worse, and fast, and he couldn't afford to just dwell on that. So, after shakily getting up, he got back to his seat, taking only a moment for his optics to adjust to the scene before him. Equipment in every direction was either failing, on fire or both, and it didn't look like it was going to get better any time soon. But he knew there was no time to waste, and so called out. "Re...report!"

His voiced echoed all around, and it was a mere second after that when he got a response. "Long story short...we're falling."

He turned, seeing the familiar face that had accompanied the voice. Her presence improved his feelings on the matter, but only just, as his leadership instincts kicked in instantly afterwards. "The other ship?"

"That's the only good thing going for us right now," another voice replied. The leader looked to her, seeing perhaps the only smile he was likely to get right now, albeit more of a smirk on her part. "We gave as good as we got. They're going down too."

Her satisfaction was evident, but he knew that wasn't going to be the end of it, and so he looked up to the shattered remnants of what had been the bridge's main viewscreen. "We can't afford to let them just disappear from our sights. Can you tell where they're landing?" he asked.

After a brief look at her instruments, the pilot shook her head. "Negative. Sensors are completely shot. Wherever they're going down, we're not gonna find them." She chuckled drily. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all get scrapped."

Their leader considered that, but he was suddenly made aware of something else, as a turn to his left revealed an empty seat, with a torn and burning console but no occupant. "Where...where is he?" he asked with obvious concern, looking all around.

The one who had spoken to him first hung her head slightly, and when she spoke her voice was tinted with professionalism that was clearly covering up her worry. "The Doc's looking him over now, but..." She paused, and he knew what she was about to say next wasn't going to be good. "He took it pretty bad. His station went up the moment we were fired on. I'm no medic, but...it looked serious."

That was the absolute last thing he needed right now, having a bot down, especially a friend. But there it was, and they still had a crisis on their hands. So, reaching to the side, he pulled up his smaller, personal viewscreen to look at whatever systems were still operational. Unfortunately, it was slim pickings, as most of the aforementioned systems were in the red. There was, however, one small ray of light at the end of this tunnel, albeit a cold comfort in the grand scheme of things. "We still have access to our directional engines."

The pilot looked to him with some incredulity. "With respect, boss, that's not gonna be enough to stop us falling."

"Maybe not," he conceded. "But it will be enough to ensure we can control the angle and position of our ship when we come in." He narrowed his optics, looking to the various options and calculating in his mind all the things that would need to happen to give them the best possible chance. Alas, the only chance he could find was a small one at best. Still, it was better than nothing, and so he gave the order. "Pilot! Begin the turn! Make sure our ship is positioned like this when we enter the atmosphere!"

His subordinate looked to the information coming in on her own console, and after glancing to it for a moment she nodded. "Understood, Sir!"

And so she got to work, rapidly pressing buttons to give the ship what few commands it could actually carry out right now. Meanwhile, the commander looked to his second. "What of the world we're falling to? What do we know?"

The right-hand officer shook her head. "Very little. An abundance of organic life, but it's mostly unstudied and uncharted." She paused for a moment. "But it's where those readings came from, so if we're lucky we'll actually find what we're looking for."

"Be that as it may, the native population is at risk if we collide in the wrong place." He again looked to his pilot. "Based on whatever readings we took before sensors went down, is there a likelihood that indigenous life will be harmed by our arrival?"

The pilot, still keeping her eyes on her instruments as she worked, shook her head as she answered. "Negative. Our predicted impact zone is far from the more concentrated populations centres of the region. Casualties should be at a minimum."

Her leader sighed. "Thank the Allspark for small miracles then." Then, he and the others looked around them to the sound of loud groaning, a tell-tale sign that the ship was, thankfully, actually turning during its fall as intended. "Pilot?"

"It's all working, Sir. We're still going down fast, but at least now..."

She didn't finish, but he understood, and so gave a single nod. "Time?"

"Not long," the pilot replied. "Impact should be in ten...nine...eight..." As the countdown continued, the commander felt a hand holding his, and he turned to see his second looking him right in the optics. Her fear was plain, revealed only to him, and he returned the expression with another silent nod. No words passed, but they knew this could be their last moments. And so, they made sure that, if that was the case, then their last sight would be each other. The pilot, meanwhile, let them have their moment as she finished her count. "...Three...two...one...IMPACT!!!"

And all went dark once more.

Author's Note

Long before I ever became a fan of MLP, Transformers was the Hasbro obsession of my life. I've always wanted to do a crossover story between them, but like with all others, it took me a while to really get my head around how I wanted it to be. Still, here it is, and I hope you enjoy :twilightsmile:

Impact

A smile was upon Sunset's face as she enjoyed the warm glow of the fire before them. All of her friends were here, even Spike, who was currently snoring beside Twilight's ankle as she sat and roasted her marshmallows. The girls, all sitting in a circle upon logs around the aforementioned flames, were busy chatting with one another about all they'd been doing that day, but by far the loudest of them, as expected, was Pinkie, who stuffed an entire bag's worth of mallows into her mouth and swallowed before letting her general feelings known. "Wow! You know, it really is great that Gloriosa Daisy invited us here to Camp Everfree to look after the place while she and her brother take that long-overdue vacation! And we've had so much fun while the place has been closed for us to work on it! It's like we've got our own, private forest for the summer!"

Rainbow, having had her own mallows by this point, looked around herself before turning to Pinkie again. "Er, Pinkie? Why are you talking like that? We already know why we're out here and what we've been doing. You don't need to explain things."

"Oh, don't I?" the party-lover remarked, looking slyly to the side as if she was in on some sort of joke.

Ignoring her, Applejack chuckled as she looked to the fire. "Ya know, ah can't think of a better way ta spend mah summer than this. Lots o' outdoors work, bein' with all o' y'all. It ticks all the boxes."

Rarity smiled to her, scooting over slightly so as to be closer. "Indeed, Applejack. And fingers crossed our time here will be less...shell we say, fraught than our original visit?"

Applejack blushed slightly to the other girl's now-closer proximity, which Twilight herself was happy to see between them. "I wouldn't worry, Rarity. Remember, all that weirdness was caused by the gemstones and, well, we have them now."

Fluttershy nodded to her spectacled friend. "Now we can just enjoy Everfree like it was meant to be. Calm, peaceful and filled with precious, little critters!"

As if to emphasise that latter point, a little bird immediately flew into the hand Fluttershy had opened as she'd been speaking, chirping happily as she took immense delight in having it be there. Sunset, looking to all of the other girls, breathed a sigh of relief. "I just hope Gloriosa get get some of the stresses of this place worked out of her by the time she returns."

Twilight, having adjusted her glasses, nodded in agreement. "Same. Even without all the magical nonsense she was going through, it's pretty clear just from our first day here that Camp Everfree is a real handful." She glanced around herself. "Honestly, it's a wonder she never took any vacation time before this."

Rarity, leaning back on her log slightly, mused on that. "Well, we all know how hard it is to fall into overworking ourselves." As before, she looked to Applejack. "Don't we, Applejack?"

Applejack, for her part, just rolled her eyes to that not-so-subtle jab at her personal work ethic, though the others clearly found it funny by the laughs they all tried to stifle. But, getting back to Sunset, the former unicorn glanced upwards, to the stars, and seeming, for the moment at least, very content with how things were. "Well, in any case, I'm glad to be here. And with all of you here with me too."

Pinkie, having at last finished her marshmallows, a thing even her friends thought wasn't going to happen, giggled before she too looked up at the night sky. "You can say that again! Just us, the forest, the beautiful stars and...oh!"

Twilight, noting her uncharacteristic halting of her own words, looked to her with interest. "Pinkie?"

The other girl, if possible, smiled even wider before pointing straight up to the sky. "Lookie! A shooting star!"

As expected, all eyes were on the heavens as they saw that their friend had the right of it. There was indeed a trail of light streaking amidst the already-impressive canvas above them. "Well, that's the beauty o' bein' away from the city," Applejack remarked. "Ya can actually see stuff like this!"

But while most were in awe of the sight, Twilight was not so enthralled, as there was something about the specific light they were looking at that just didn't sit right with her. "The angle...the shape..." she murmured.

Sunset looked to her with concern. "Twilight?"

Then, to the surprise of all of them, the former Crystal Prep girl shot up from her side of the log, standing tall and bearing a look of utter horror. Spike, who had been sleeping next to her, was also jolted from where he was, awakening immediately and looking around frantically. "What?! What time is it?!" he asked absentmindedly.

But Twilight didn't listen to him. Instead, when she spoke, it was with a voice that had been brought down to a whisper. "...It'll hit." A silence fell on the group after that, but it was broken when Twilight herself spoke again. "Run," she said with an almost stunned quietness.

"What?" Sunset asked, clearly feeling her friend's fear.

Twilight looked her right in the eye. "RUN!!!" None of them needed an explanation, so all got up from their logs and began to run as fast as they could from the area, heading towards the direction of the main visitor centre of the Camp. Looking over her shoulder, Sunset saw when Twilight had feared. The shooting star growing closer and closer, now revealing itself to be a giant, flaming object of some sort that would undoubtedly cause massive damage wherever it fell. They'd all had their fair share of scrapes, but this was something else altogether. Even Pinkie was silent and serious as she ran alongside everyone else, all of whom were giving it their all to clear the area. But eventually, the inevitable occurred, and they could hear the object finally collide with the ground some distance away. Before any of them could say a word, they felt it, the approaching shockwave of the impact.

Rarity, turning her head in that direction, immediately stopped. "GET BEHIND ME!!!" Without question, they did so, knowing what she was planning. And sure enough, she activated her gemstone, erecting a magical barrier all around them. And not a moment too soon, for the shockwave of the fall now hurled towards them, and they held each other to brace for it, seeing Rarity's power face its greatest test yet.

Discovery

All of them had held their breath when the blast wave had struck Rarity's barrier. And the moment that had happened, all had gone dark. None of them knew exactly how much time had passed, but eventually, and to their profound relief, they started to come to. Sunset was the first, nursing a sore spot on her head, and she looked over to her side to see Twilight, fumbling on the ground to find her glasses, which Sunset quickly picked up and handed to her. One by one, all of the others began to stand up slowly, groaning with discomfort. They weren't hurt by the blast, thanks to Rarity, but it had still knocked them about and taken the wind out of them. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about their immediate surroundings, much to their shock. Where once there had been a peaceful-looking nighttime woodland, now every tree had broken branches or was otherwise covered with dust from the fall of whatever had hit the ground. They all knew that this was simply one, small part of the wider Everfree Forest, but even so, it was a noticeable blemish. "Well," Pinkie began. "If Miss Daisy was stressed about looking after this place before..."

Her friends frowned to the remark, though mostly because they knew it to be absolutely true and didn't want to think about it. But, they also knew that they had more important matters to worry about, such as whatever it was that had crashed. Applejack, squinting to see as well as she could through the dust and the gloom of night, pointed in the direction of the collision. "Ah think...yeah, it looks like it fell in the caves where we found our gemstones!"

Sunset nodded to her. "Then that's where we're going."

Fluttershy's head snapped towards her. "You want to go towards the thing that nearly killed us?!"

"Flutters, something just fell out of the sky and nearly wrecked us," Rainbow remarked. "You don't just walk away from that and ignore it."

Twilight began walking towards the impact site first. "And besides, we've dealt with worse."

"Only just!" Fluttershy insisted. But, one look at all of her friends heading in that direction in spite of her concerns was all it took for the animal lover to try and resolve herself for it. Taking a deep breath, she put on a brave face before marching off to join them.

The group walked in silence for a time, all of them looking around with concern and fear as the devastation of the surrounding woodland became increasingly worse as they progressed. But ever they moved, knowing where they needed to go and that they needed to be ready in the face of whatever they would find there. Eventually, they reached their destination, the large rock formation at the very centre of the Forest, where they had obtained the gems that gave them their extraordinary magical abilities. Unfortunately, it was not as they remembered, as an enormous, smoldering hole was now there in the side of the thing, a clear sign of whatever had crashed into it. Rarity, stepping ahead, took one look at it and, knowing they were likely in for a dangerous time, whispered to herself. "Well, once more unto the breach then."

Indeed, the group continued, Rainbow making sure to have her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder so as to comfort her during this admittedly tense time. Their approach was slow and cautious, with Sunset and Twilight at their head, and soon they set foot into the edge of the hole. The former peered within, trying to make out anything. "If something is in there...we'll need to go in all the way."

"Oh, I just knew you'd say that!" Fluttershy muttered to herself.

And so, in they went, step by step, just in case the impact had left the ground itself less-than-safe to walk on. It was difficult to see, and even the once-glittering insides of the cave were no longer there to help them, having undoubtedly been muted by whatever had hit it. Then, it happened. The first glimpse of the cause of all this. Sunset halted in her tracks, and so too did everyone else. Spike whimpered with fear and retreated behind Twilight, and the latter took off her glasses, giving them a quick wipe before putting them back on her face. "Um...Sunset?"

"Yes, Twilight?" the other girl replied.

"I'm...I'm not crazy, am I? Because I'm seeing..."

"Yeah, well, if you are crazy, then so am I, because I'm seeing it too."

"So...anybody else gonna say it?" Rainbow asked. And when nobody answered, she elected to do the honours. "Okay, fine...it's a friggin' spaceship!" Indeed it was. A vessel unlike anything else they had ever seen, sort of orange-yellow in its colouring, and massive to boot. It's mere presence had forced the cave to expand far beyond what it had originally been, like the impact had dug in deeper and excavated it all in one. With smoke and steam billowing all over, nobody dared approach any closer, with only Rainbow having the nerve to continue speaking. "Okay...so what now?"

Only now did Twilight step forward, still looking to the vessel with awe. "I'm...I'm not sure. This completely upturns how we'll need to look at the universe!" She spun around, looking as excited as anyone had ever seen her. "Imagine it! Proof of life outside of our world!" Then, after hearing Sunset deliberately clear her throat, the young scientist took on an embarrassed blush. "I mean...besides the worlds we already knew about."

Applejack, who seemed more concerned than enthusiastic, narrowed her eyes to the ship. "This ain't some kinda...attack, is it?"

"I don't think we need to worry about that, Applejack dear," Rarity reassured her. "After all, it seems rather odd that any attackers would arrive here in such a...shall we say, less than elegant method of landing?"

Pinkie, smiling as happily as ever, shrugged her shoulders before skipping closer to the ship. "How about we just ask em?"

The other girls looked on in horror as she merrily approached the ship and, with a balled fist, knocked on it a few times. "PINKIE!!!" they all called together.

But the girl was unconcerned, waiting a few moments to find that there was no response, leading to her turning around and shrugging again. "Huh, guess nobody's home." Then, as if to answer her, a loud whirring sound was heard to the side, causing all to look and see an enormous door start to open. "Um...then again..."

Meetings

The moment the girls saw the doors start to slowly creak open, they instantly took action, rushing towards the largest rock in the immediate vicinity and hiding behind it, with Spike close behind. They stayed deathly quiet, with only the sounds of the door itself echoing throughout the now-enlarged cave. After a time, the thing was finally open, and all awaited whatever it was that was about to emerge. There was sweat on their foreheads, and some even took to holding their breath in anticipation, but eventually, they began to hear a sound. It was, undoubtedly, footsteps. Loud, actually metallic-sounding footsteps. After a time, their eyes widened with shock to see the one making that noise. It was, by all accounts, a robot, albeit one with a generally human shape. And, it must be noted, a generally female human shape, which they definitely weren't expecting. The newcomer, who bore a largely light-blue colouring, scoured the area and eventually sighed, which was something the girls didn't typically imagine a robot could do. Stepping out of the ship in earnest, the mechanical alien placed her hands upon her hips before looking back to the door. "Well, on the positive side of things...we're not dead."

It was only a second or two when the girls caught sight of a second visitor emerging from the ship. Another female from the looks of it, taller only by a fraction than the first, and whose colours were predominantly a light red, though bearing some pink highlights in a few places. She had a more serious look to her, stepping ahead of her blue compatriot, and when she spoke, it was with a tone that all could tell was that of someone tired. "And the bad news?"

The blue one shook her head. "I had a look at our systems. The engines are shot to the Pit, weapons might as well not be there, and..."

"And long-range communications are gone too," the other one finished for her.

"Got it in one," the first one admitted.

"Our situation may be grim, but we have all faced harder circumstances in the past, and we will survive this one too." This voice, a deeper, more authoritative one, was coming from within the ship, and there was something about it that caused both of the other robots to turn instantly upon hearing it. The girls too nudged further out, peeking as much as they dared past the rock, for there was something about that voice that compelled them to have a further look. From the darkness of the ship interior emerged the largest alien they'd seen yet. A simply towering figure whose upper half was bright red, contrasting with the predominantly blue colouring of the legs. Unlike the others, this one was definitely male in appearance, and his face bore a distinct plate over what would have been the mouth. After looking around himself, he turned to the other two. "We cannot allow the severity of our arrival deter us. We must make repairs where we can, scout out the region, and if our foes have indeed survived, as we have, then we need to do all we can to prevent further harm to this world."

Clearly, this was the leader of the new arrivals, and one of the females, the red one, crossed her arms before addressing him. "Given how we landed, it's only a matter of time before we're noticed, Optimus. And besides..." She paused, looking into the ship once more. "We have our own to consider."

The leader, the one referred to as Optimus, nodded solemnly before looking in that same direction. "Agreed, Elita. Though, if we're fortunate, the good Doctor will have news for us on that count."

As if responding to his words, a fourth figure came from within. Like the first two, this one was also female, and definitely the second tallest of the four of them. Coloured in a combination of white with red trim, she bore a look that could only be described as disappointment. "Optimus...I did all I could."

The blue one, looking more than worried, stepped forward. "...Bee? Is he...?"

"He lives, Chromia," the new robot answered, whom the girls assumed was the doctor previously mentioned, but she still seemed disheartened in spite of that apparently good news. "The damage was extensive, and I only had so many resources at my disposal."

"By Primus, Red Alert!" Chromia shouted. "Just tell us already!"

In silence, the Doctor stepped to one side and, as expected, revealed another robot just behind her. This one appeared to be shorter than all the others, and was a bright yellow all over. Optimus, Elita and especially Chromia seemed relieved to see him, but this Bee, from what the girls could tell, did not match their expression. "Bumblebee? Are you...alright?" Elite enquired.

Bumblebee looked away, as if ashamed of something, and after a long silence, he looked to them again. But, instead of what all might have expected to be a response to the question posed to him, there was instead a completely incomprehensible series of sounds. Bleeps, bloops, and all manner of mechanical noises all taking the place of regular speech. There was gesturing from Bumblebee's hands, as if he was trying to say with sign what he was clearly failing to do with his voice, but none of his crewmates seemed to have any clue what he was attempting to convey. After a moment, Chromia frowned to Red Alert. "What happened?!"

The Doctor looked away. "His voice processor was damaged beyond repair. I did what I could, but it was the only one of his systems I was unable to restore. Now..." She slowly gestured to him. "This is his voice."

Bumblebee hung his head, those same sounds coming out where his voice should have been. However, to the shock of all five of the robots, another voice was heard instead. "Um...he says he's sorry for making you all worry." Within a second, all metal heads turned, looking to the one who had spoken. It was Fluttershy, who had emerged from behind her and her friends' hiding place, looking as scared as ever, but still getting her words out. "Well...that's what he said, so...I thought...I should just let you know."

After that, the other girls and Spike joined her, and for a time both sides stared at one another, not sure what to do next. After a while though, it fell to Elita to break that silence. "Well...guess we were found a bit sooner than expected."

Introduction

On one side, seven girls and their dog looking on with awe and fear. On the other, five enormous robots from space looking down with uncertainty as to what to do next. However, in due course, it fell to the respective leaders of both groups to make the first move. Sunset, steeling herself, began to walk forward, with Twilight briefly looking concerned for her wellbeing but ultimately trusting her decision. Meanwhile, Optimus too began to walk ahead of his colleagues, though his size admittedly meant that it took fewer steps on his part than Sunset. Eventually, the two stood before one another, with Optimus bringing himself down on one knee so as to look her in the eye. After yet another bout of silence, the gargantuan automaton finally addressed her. "Greetings. I am Optimus Prime, commander of the Autobots."

His mannerisms and tone gave Sunset the distinct impression of one who had been leading for a very, very long time, and after clearing her throat, she returned his greeting. "I am Sunset Shimmer, and...um..." Realising she had no actual title to match his, she instead defaulted to glancing to the girls behind her, putting on a smile before again looking to Optimus. "And we welcome you to Earth." She reached out her hand, silently inviting Optimus to take it for a shake. However, upon seeing the Autobot look to her with confusion, she chuckled before explaining. "Oh, it's...it's a human thing. We shake hands." She then looked to the much larger hands that Optimus had compared to her. "Which, now that I think on it, would be pretty difficult for us, wouldn't it?"

But Optimus was by no means put off by her words, instead giving a single, respectful bow of his head. "The gesture is appreciated regardless, and you are most kind to welcome us, Sunset Shimmer."

With the ice having officially been broken, both sides began to approach the other, and while there was clearly no formal procedure for something like this, they took a stab at it any way. "We have had brief encounters with biological life in the past," Red Alert remarked. "But actual dialogue hasn't been conducted for...a very long time."

Twilight, smiling to her, giggled slightly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we're not used to this sort of thing either."

Pinkie, with her usual degree of tact for this sort of situation, rushed over to Chromia with an absolutely giddy look to her. "Sooooooo...whatcha here for?"

That particular question caused an air of unease among the Autobots, several of whom looked to Optimus, as if asking for permission. When their leader gave them a nod, Chromia finally looked back down to the party-loving girl to answer. "Well, as you can probably tell from how banged-up our ship is, we didn't mean to come here like this. It was supposed to be just a routine scouting trip. But, as usual for us, the universe wouldn't let us catch a break...and we were shot down."

That answer burst the bubble on the uplifting, optimistic feeling that had permeated the girls until that point, with Rarity seeming aghast at the notion. "Good heavens! By who?!"

Optimus, standing tall once more, looked to the side. "The Decepticons."

There was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there in his prior dialogue, and something about it sent a small shiver down Sunset's spine. But, before she had a chance to ask him who these attackers were, Elita stepped forward and answered the unspoken question. "For a long time now, our world was divided in two. A war that spread across the planet, splitting our population into either Autobots..." she gestured to herself and her crew before looking back to Sunset. "...and Decepticons."

"...A war," Applejack muttered to herself, her words heavy and solemn, evoking looks of understanding from the other girls.

Bumblebee, picking up on that sentiment, spoke aloud again, though as before it was only Fluttershy who could understand him. "Oh, no, it's okay. You didn't offend us. It's just...well..."

Rainbow picked up where she left off. "Let's just say that wars aren't really the kind of thing you talk about with us unless you're reading a history book."

Sunset nodded, then looked back to Elite and folded her arms. "So these Decepticons...are they still up there?"

Chromia smirked to that, answering in Elita's place. "No, thankfully. During the fight we knocked out their engines, so they fell down too." Her eyes narrowed. "If we're lucky, they didn't make it."

"And if they did?" Sunset asked warily.

Finally, Optimus turned back to face her. "Then your world may be in grave peril." As before, he got down to one knee before continuing. "Please know, it was never our intent to bring our planet's problems to yours. But, if our enemies have indeed made planetfall, then the risk your people now face cannot be overstated."

With the gravity of the situation finally dawning on them, the girls took on looks of fear and nervousness, and after Sunset stared at Optimus for a while, she looked over to her friends, and before long the eight of them all walked off to the side, ready to speak privately. Optimus, recognising this, turned to his own crew, discussing matters of ship repairs. Meanwhile, Sunset briefly looked over her shoulder before speaking to her friends. "So...what do we think?"

"Oh, you mean besides how crazy it is that we find out there's aliens and they've brought a massive, world-spanning war to our doorstep?!" Rainbow asked with understandable trepidation.

"Can we trust em?" Applejack asked. "If these ere Bots are part o' some war, how do we know they're not as dangerous as those Cons?"

"I think we can trust them," Fluttershy added. "I know I was scared of them at first, but...I have a good feeling about them."

"Be that as it may, darling, we still have the small matter of them being giant robots from beyond the stars," Rarity pointed out. "That's going to cause ripples."

Sunset nodded as she mused on that. "Rarity's right. If people find out about them, there'll be a panic. Somehow...we need to keep this quiet."

Optimus, looking back to them, took on a softer tone of voice. "In that, Sunset Shimmer...I believe we can help."

Disguises

"Um. Mr Optimus? Sir?" Twilight asked. "I don't mean to be rude, especially considering you're the first alien visitors our planet has ever had, but...this seems like a really bad idea!" Atop the highest hill in the Everfree, the former Crystal Prep student, her friends and the five visiting Autoots looked out as far as they could see, gazing beyond the edge of the vast woodland to the fields, towns and roads that lay ahead of it. But, being out here instead of in the more obscured cave interior or even the woods themselves, Twilight had a definite and understandable concern. "It's just...we're sort of exposed out here. Any one of those drivers down there on the highway could just look up and see you!"

"I appreciate your concern, Miss Twilight," Optimus replied. "However, a visual is required for us to properly blend in. Had our long-range scanners remained intact after the crash, this action would not be necessary. But circumstances were not that kind to us."

Sunset, looking to the Autobot leader with curiosity, spoke next. "I'm still not entirely sure what it is you're doing. How is looking at far-off cars and stuff gonna help you to hide?"

Chromia took on a knowing smile as she glanced down to the Equestrian. "Oh, trust me, we Cybertronians have a trick up our sleeves on that count." After seeing Sunset blink to her, she continued. "Cybertronians? As in, from Cybertron?" Then, realisation came to her. "Wait, did we not tell you our planet's name?"

"Nnnnnnnnope," Applejack replied flatly.

"We had a lot of things to explain to them, Chromia," Elita reassured her. "I think we can be forgiven for not mentioning everything."

Bumblebee nodded in agreement with her, then let out a series of bleeps which, as usual by this point, Fluttershy was there to relay. "He says maybe we can all get together and talk about it after this. Over a...um...energon-shake?" Bumblebee nervously scratched the back of his head, then bleeped again, prompting a smile on Fluttershy's part. "Oh, you don't need to apologise, Bee. Like Elita said, there's a lot to cover."

Red Alert looked to Fluttershy with curiosity. "I never asked, how is it that you can understand our young friend, when we cannot?"

Rainbow chuckled, patting Fluttershy on the shoulder and answering in her place. "Don't you worry, Red. Fluttershy here is really good at understanding others. No matter the critter, if it talks, she'll understand."

"A respectable skill," Optimus commented. "Understanding of others is something all should strive for. The universe would be a far better place if it could be achieved."

Looking to him, Sunset smiled. "I should introduce you to my old teacher one day. Something tells me you two would get on great."

Then, Rarity took on a smile of her own, pointing out towards the aforementioned highway. "Ah! I do believe I see the rush hour traffic start to come along!"

All looked ahead, and as she'd said, there was indeed a myriad of vehicles now driving along the roads out there, and even at this distance they could hear the sound of them echoing across the air. Optimus, nodding to the sight, gave a silent command to his Autobots. "Yes...I believe those will most definitely do."

And so the girls looked up, seeing, to their curiosity, the blue eyes of the Autobots start to glow brighter than before. This lasted for a solid minute, all five of them staring out at the many cars and trucks on the highway, before the light of their eyes returned to a normal intensity, with Elita looking to her commander afterwards. "Scans complete."

Optimus acknowledged her, then turned, beginning to walk back down the hill to the relative safety of the woodland. All others followed him, human and Autobot alike, and before long they were all down in the shade beneath the forest's canopy. Chromia, looking to Bumblebee, bore a concerned expression. "You still up for this, Bee?"

This time, Bumblebee just gave a thumbs up, leading to a smile on Chromia's part. But, they both stayed quiet when, once they were all gathered together, Optimus looked them over before speaking his command. "Very well then. Autobots...transform!"

The girls took a step back, and watched with amazement as the five giant robots began to change shape before their very eyes. Parts were twisted around, folded into others, all accompanied by a loud and very distinct noise of some sort. With only a few moments, they found themselves looking not at five alien machines, but five ordinary, everyday vehicles, not unlike what they'd just seen on the highway. A blue motorcycle. A small, yellow car. A larger, reddish car. A white ambulance. And finally, where Optimus had stood, an enormous, bright red truck. Seeing this play out, Pinkie expressed an understandable sentiment. "Ooooooooh! Now that's a neat party trick!"

As soon as she'd said that, the girls watched the Autobots reversed the process, becoming the robotic forms they had come to know. Chromia, giving herself a quick stretch, looked more than satisfied with that. "Yep, definitely gonna get some miles in with a vehicle mode like that."

Twilight, stepping forward, tapped her chin briefly. "Well, putting aside the existential crisis of me never being able to look at the cars that drive down my street the same way ever again, this would certainly be a boon for you to traverse our world without rousing too much of an issue."

Optimus nodded to her. "The ability to change has been an integral part of our people since time immemorial. So much so that, in the instances we actually do interact with other races, they almost never refer to us as Cybertronians, but instead...as Transformers."

"Oh, that is an awesome name if ever there was one!" Rainbow remarked.

Elita looked to Optimus, her eyes narrowed. "Now that we can move freely, we need to fan out and scout for the Decepticons."

Optimus looked to her, giving another nod. "Indeed. We may not have intended to come to this world, but we cannot allow it to suffer from the war the way our world did."

"I'll start work on our scanners," Red Alert offered. "I doubt I'll be able to fix them fully, but any advantage will help."

Pinkie shot up her hand, like a student hoping to answer a teacher's question. "Oh! Before you do...can I ride one of you?"

"Pinkie!" Rarity exclaimed. "Phrasing!"

Plans

Water. He had heard about it before, in reports about other worlds beyond his own. But it was quite another to see it with his own optics. A vast, seemingly endless expanse of it in all directions, save for the small plot of land their vessel had actually managed to crash into. The tall, silver-grey Cybertronian narrowed his red eyes to the situation, his fist clenching as the memory of the past battle replayed itself over and over in his mind. Clearly, their foes had more fight in them than he'd expected, hence why they were down here. But even so, he seethed over this mutual thrashing they'd given each other, leading to his present circumstances, standing at the bridge of what once had been a proud warship. Still, he knew it served him little to just dwell on failure, and so instead his mind turned to other matters. Namely, to find out what he could about this unassuming, alien planet they'd found themselves on. A hiss, indicating the opening of a door, was heard behind him, and without even bothering to look to the one approaching him, he spoke, his voice cold and almost detached. "Starscream. I trust you have news?"

The voice that replied was somewhat higher-pitched than his, but remained an intimidating one. "I do, Lord Megatron. Soundwave has completed his examination of our ship. Needless to say, it's not getting back to space."

"Weapons?" Megatron asked quietly.

"Wrecked. Save for one of our smaller cannons, but Soundwave says he has plans for it. Not sure what plans, but I learned a long time ago that I'd never get a straight answer out of him."

Megatron's mouth twisted briefly into a smile, amused over his as-yet absent subordinate's activities. "I take it we also cannot call for aid?"

"Correct," Starscream confirmed. "Communications this far out from charted space is a near impossibility. Our only hope is either having some other Decepticon ship pass this way, or to find some means of repairing our own with whatever meagre resources this world has."

Megatron, upon hearing that, looked out again through his window to the enormous ocean. "Speaking of which..."

He didn't finish, though Starscream already knew the question. "Heh, it took little effort to learn all we needed about it. This world has some sort of information-sharing network across the planet, not unlike the holo-nets of Cybertron." A dry chuckle escaped him. "But we're talking really rudimentary stuff here, my Lord, especially when it comes to security. Honestly, a newly-awakened protoform probably could've hacked into it."

"Be that as it may," Megatron began, leaving the question open.

Starscream, finally, walked into view for him, albeit in the form of standing alongside him so as to enter his periphery vision. Megatron briefly glanced in the direction of the red, white and blue Decepticon beside him before refocusing his attention on the waters ahead, instead just listening to his second's words. "They are a biological race, humans. Inhabiting every continent, I'd say their level of civilization is...maybe a five? Six, if we're being generous."

"Are they a threat?" Megatron asked warily.

To that, Starscream actually laughed. "Hardly, my Lord! No, after scouring their history, it seems that war, in general, is something they avoid as though it were a plague. The last major conflict occurred generations ago to them, and it spooked them so much they made it a point to demilitarise themselves. Truth be told? I think even just one of us could conquer this world if we wanted."

Slowly, Megatron's eyes narrowed. "Be wary of underestimating them, Starscream. Remember, we once thought the Autobots lacked the stomach for a fight. Yet, when the war began, they proved us wrong, and on more than one occasion."

Megatron could see Starscream nodding in solemn agreement, though it wasn't long before the latter added his voice once more. "And on the topic of our enemies, we have yet to detect them, though readings from our scanners prior to our fall indicated that they seemed to be heading in the same direction as those anomalies."

"What is the likelihood that it really is some undiscovered energon deposit?" Megatron asked.

"Cybertron never made it out this far before the war," Starscream explained. "The chances of it being energon, even naturally-occurring, are slim at best." He paused, musing on his own words. "Though if Prime was willing to risk a trip out here, it's worth investigating at the very least."

Megatron nodded to that. "Indeed. And make no mistake, Starscream, Optimus is out there. After all we've thrown at him over the years, it'll take more than a crash like ours to bring him down."

The Decepticon leader resisted the urge to smile at the thought of facing his enemy in battle again, choosing instead to maintain the image of the composed and stoic warrior he was so known for. Instead, he saw again in the corner of his eye that Starscream was looking to him. "Shall I head out? See if I can find any of them?"

Megatron thought about that, then shook his head. "Not just yet. Go back to work with Soundwave. I won't risk discovery. Have him modify what remains of our shield generator to cloak us. After that, head down to the cargo bay and get Clobber to try and clear up the mess in there."

"Well, she be happy to be given something to do," Starscream admitted.

The leader waited, listening for the sound of his subordinate's footsteps getting further and further away, eventually leading to that same hissing sound to let him know that he was, once more, alone in this place. Turning, he looked to the wall, to a pair of shining, and incredibly sharp-looking swords that were crossed over one another in a decorative fashion. Walking to it, he grabbed the handle of one, pulling it from the display and, in a menacing sight, trailing his finger along the edge. And only now, alone in this place, did he afford himself a smile. "Soon, old friend. Soon...we will meet again."

Outsiders

It was strange for her, being inside of a vessel clearly intended for beings much larger than she was. Still, it definitely left her in awe. Sunset, walking along the floor of what, at one point, had been a fully intact bridge, looked to every beeping monitor and giant chair around her, just taking it all in. The sheer scale of all of this was beyond anything she'd seen thus far in her life, which was already saying something considering everything she and her friends had been through. Yet, she knew this was all just normal to those who dwelt here. And speaking of whom, thunderous footsteps behind her alerted her to an approaching Autobot, and as she turned she saw that it was none other than Optimus himself, who looked down to her upon entering the bridge. "I would have preferred you to see the Ark back when it was in good condition, Miss Shimmer. These remains are far from the best first impression."

Sunset chuckled. "No apology needed, Mr Optimus. It's impressive all the same." She watched Optimus nod to her, then make his way over to the largest of the chairs, right in the centre of the room, before sitting in it. He busied himself with work on the panel in front of him, and Sunset walked alongside him to observe him do it. "So...any luck getting a call out to your people?"

Optimus hung his head, and Sunset knew from looking that, while he may have wanted to put on an air of confidence or reassurance, the facts were too dire to be ignored or sugarcoated. "No. And the chances of us repairing our ship to do so are small. It appears...we are simply stranded." He leaned back into his chair, staring out at the shattered remains of what used to be the main viewscreen of the bridge. "I do not wish to trouble you with our burdens, Sunset Shimmer. But...let it be known that I would never wish this feeling on you. To be trapped in a far-off place. Never knowing if you will see your kind or your home again."

Sunset looked away, holding herself. "Actually...I kinda do know what what feels like." She didn't look back to him, but she could nevertheless feel his inquisitive eyes on her, prompting an explanation on her part. "You see...much like you guys, things with me aren't all they appear." After that she finally looked to him. "I'm...not actually human."

Optimus was quiet for a time, then spoke, clearly doing his best to hide the fact that he thought the girl's statement was odd. "Forgive me, Miss...but that is a difficult claim to accept."

Sunset smiled to him, then gestured to herself. "Don't let the look fool you. This appearance is just a consequence of my people journeying from our world to this one. And believe me, it took a lot of getting used to."

Now looking like he was taking her words more seriously, Optimus considered them. "Red Alert would be fascinated to examine you if that is indeed the case. Involuntary biological transformation as a result of interplanetary travel." His face was hard to read, but even Sunset could tell that he was smirking slightly under that face-plate of his. "Knowing her, she'd likely want to write a whole thesis about it and present it to her..." Then, he stopped, sighing briefly before looking back to Sunset. "Apologies, my mind was elsewhere."

Sunset could feel that there was something else there, but didn't pry, instead getting back to her point. "Thing is...my coming here, it...well, it was for less than benevolent reasons. And once I was here, it was a while before I had any hope of returning." She paused, looking away from him and instead staring at the cracked glass of the viewscreen. "There were times...I wondered if I could return. If all I'd learned of the journey was wrong and that...I was truly trapped in this place." Walking to the side, she placed her hand upon the cold metal of the base of one of the empty chairs. "Some nights...I couldn't sleep. Kept awake by the thought that...I'd made a prison for myself. That I'd chosen exile and would never know anything else."

Optimus had let her speak, and only now, when she'd stopped, did he offer his own words. "Did you return, in the end?" Seeing her nod, though still looking away from him, he continued. "Then take heart in knowing that your dark tunnel had a light at its end. You suffered alone in this place, a point made worse by the knowledge that it was your hand that made it so. It is a pain none should endure...and you were correct. Your experience gives you more than enough cause to emphasise with us. And for that...I am grateful."

Sunset, finally looking back to him, smiled. "You're very welcome, Optimus." She shrugged. "And hey, it's not all bad. In truth, my being here was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. I was...kinda terrible back in the day. But living here..." Her expression softened. "I have friends now, a life I'm happy with. I can even go back to those I left behind if I wanted."

Optimus nodded to her. "That is good to hear. Though a bitter pill to swallow, sometimes it is only through passing through the darkest times of our life that we emerge someplace better. It is a harsh lesson, but one worth learning all the same."

Folding her arms, Sunset chuckled. "Out of curiosity, are you usually prone to giving inspiration speeches at the drop of a hat?"

"...It has been...noted," Optimus conceded.

Another laugh from Sunset. "In that case, Optimus, I think you guys will fit in very well with me and my friends." Walking away, she began to head for the bridge door, still speaking back to Optimus as she did so. "And hey, maybe you guys can get back home one day too."

"That...will not be possible."

Sunset stopped, slowly turning, her face now one of concern. "I'm sorry?"

As before, Optimus hung his head. "Our war...cost us. And that cost...was Cybertron." After a solid minute of quiet, he looked her right in the eye. "We...no longer have a home to return to."

Life

Bumblebee was, it had to be said, somewhat out of place in the lush and verdant environment of the Everfree Forest. Metal in contrast to the greenery in every direction. Yet, in spite of this clear mishmash, Bumblebee was quite taken with his surroundings. Every tree, every smaller plant, every bird that flew through the air, he was as close as he could get, his wrecked voice-box letting out all manner of cooing and other such noises to show his interest. He was not alone here though, as both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were close behind, with the latter merrily skipping along as she kept watch over their new, and incredibly large friend. "Gee, you'd think he'd never seen trees before."

Fluttershy looked to her. "He hasn't. He told me Cybertron is a completely metal planet. No flesh and blood creatures, nor green or wooden plants like we have."

Pinkie slapped her hands over her own cheeks, letting out a gasp. "But that's so...so..." Then, she paused, scratching the side of her head. "Actually, I don't know what that is. Good? Bad?"

Fluttershy giggled. "Neither. It's just...well...different." She looked over to Bee, still smiling. "And I'm sure our world looks pretty different to him."

Pinkie considered that, then broke out into a wide smile before jumping ahead to speak loudly to her otherworldly walking companion. "So, Bee. You like our planet so far?"

Looking to her, the yellow Autobot gave a smile, coupled with an enthusiastic nod, much to Fluttershy's delight. "I'm glad," she said. Then, both girls watched as their friend soon became entranced by the arrival of yet one more animal, this time a small, pink butterfly. Bumblebee's eyes widened, and he got down to one knee to get a better look at the creature as it landed on a nearby flower. It flapped its wings briefly, with the Cybertronian looking to it like it was the strangest, most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Fluttershy smiled to this, matching his movements by gracefully going down on her knees in front of the flower herself. "It's called a butterfly. And they're one of my favourites too."

Pinkie soon joined them, just as happy to see the little critter as much as they were. But she didn't say anything, at least not until Bumblebee stretched out one finger of his to try and touch the butterfly, only to be met with disappointment as it flew away in response. "Sorry, Bee," Pinkie remarked. "They're kinda skittish. I'm sure the animals on your planet are the same, right?" She paused to think on her own words. "Um...do you have animals? Like, maybe electric sheep or something?"

Hearing her question, Bumblebee's shoulders slumped, and he looked, for some reason, sad. Fluttershy reached out, patting him on his arm to comfort him, and very much looked like she knew something that Pinkie didn't. After a while, the other girl turned to her friend and began to explain. "There used to be creatures on their world. What'd we'd call animals. But..." She halted herself, as if the very thought threatened to bring her to tears. "The war...ended all of that."

Instantly, Pinkie understood, and while she may have been famous for her joyful, glass-half-full mentality, even she recognised the need to not throw an upbeat attitude around at a time like this. "Oh."

Fluttershy again looked to Bumblebee. "He told me a while back. All he's ever known is his planet during the fighting. He's been shown what it used to be like, in histories and things like that, but he's never seen Cybertron as it was with his own eyes." In spite of the sombre mood of the conversation, Fluttershy actually managed a smile, albeit a small one. "I'm sure it was lovely, back in its day."

Bumblebee gave out what could perhaps be argued to be a sigh, nodding gravely to his friend's words. Then, while motioning with his hands, he began to speak, though still with only Fluttershy there to understand him. Pinkie watched, patiently listening to every beep and other random sound that came from the Autobot, but she knew it would ultimately be Fluttershy who could actually help her to make sense of it. Sure enough, once Bumblebee had stopped, the latter turned to her, smiling wider than before, prompting Pinkie to step forward. "Well?"

Clearing her throat, Fluttershy began her translation. "There was this one image he's always remembered. I guess you could call it a festival. It happened every few years to remember important heroes of the past. All of Cybertron would've come out to celebrate it. There was dancing, singing, all sort of things. And at the end, all the many lights of the city..." She paused, looking to Bumblebee again. "Iacon, was it?" Seeing Bumblebee nod, she continued. "Right, Iacon. All of Iacon's lights went out, everyone would look up to the bright, starry sky, and then, the whole fleet of Cybertron's ships would trail overhead, letting loose a mass of fireworks! There'd be colours the likes of which we don't even have here on Earth, and every Cybertronian would look to it with awe and wonder, happy in the knowledge that they lived good lives on a good world." Then, Bumblebee's shoulders slumped again, and he let out one more, sad bleep, which Fluttershy soon translated. "At least...they used to be."

Pinkie, in a rare moment for her, let all of that story sink in, picturing in her mind's eye what it would have been to walk an alien world and see a celebration like that. But of course, much like Bumblebee himself, she knew she was only hearing it second-hand, or third in this case. The Autobot himself had never had the chance to see it, having known instead explosions as far removed from the beauty of fireworks as you could get. Still, that typical, Pinkie energy soon reasserted itself, and she smiled to him, rushing over and hugging his enormous leg. "Don't you worry, Bee! You're with us now! You might have never been able to enjoy a big party on Cybertron, but trust me, you'll definitely get to see one with me around!"

Bumblebee blinked to her, then nervously glanced to Fluttershy, who giggled before nodding to him. "Believe me, she means that."

Though still unsure, Bumblebee nevertheless responded all the same, carefully patting Pinkie on the top of her head, which the girl interpreted, and rightly so, as thanks. "You're very welcome!"

Histories

Though fascinated by what she was seeing, Twilight could not help but feel the tragedy of the images presented to her. Red Alert, hard at work on some sort of computer, had produced a number of pictures on an adjacent screen for her small companion, and Twilight had been transfixed on them since. Pictures of once-beautiful, towering buildings on Cybertron, now left as little more than smouldering wrecks. Roads and open spaces littered with fallen Cybertronians. It was a grim reminder of just what kind of world and past these aliens had come from, and Twilight had been nervously twiddling her thumbs since she'd started watching it. Red Alert, apparently the observant sort, noticed this about her as she glanced from her work. "I realise this is hardly a happy viewing for the young, but..."

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's fine. I asked to see it after all."

Red Alert sighed. "It was beautiful once, our world. But time and conflict change all things." She paused for a moment, just staring at her screen absentmindedly. "Our home...can never be what it once was. It can never be lived upon again. The war lasted so long, took such a heavy toll...our people, Autobot and Decepticon alike, will forever be in exodus."

Looking to her, Twilight's expression was one of sadness, and understandably so. "I'm...so sorry."

"The sentiment is appreciated, Twilight," Red Alert replied. "But it is a situation we have learned to live with...much as we might not wish to."

Slowly, Twilight looked again to the terrible images of war from Cybertron's past. She held herself as she dwelt on the horror of what it must have been like to live through such a time. "I wonder...would this have been us if things had gone differently?"

Red Alert again looked to her, curiosity seeping into her voice. "Your world has had wars?"

Twilight nodded, though she didn't turn towards her. "We have. Mostly they were far into the past. So much time having come and gone that there's something of a disconnect between them and those alive today." Then, she winced. "Except...for one." Her Autobot companion didn't enquire, leaving the way open for Twilight to, finally, look to her and finish. "The Great War." She frowned as she looked to the side. "But believe me, the only thing 'great' about it was its size."

Red Alert turned fully to face her. "Great War...that's what we called ours too."

The two shared a look of understanding, and after a short silence, Twilight continued. "It started over a hundred years ago. Nations had been snarling across borders for years before that, but it took one incident in particular to send the dominoes falling." Again, she looked away. "A driver taking a wrong turn. And what followed...was a killing." She grimaced. "The death led to outrage. Outrage to threats. Threats to buildup. Before anyone could stop it, war had started. And it wouldn't stop for ten years." Slowly, she shook her head. "Nineteen-ten to nineteen-nineteen. The decade where the world nearly destroyed itself. Fighting and killing on a scale never seen before, never dreamed of before. No nation, no continent was spared, not even us over here in the UAF." A long sigh escaped her. "Sure, every once in a while one side would invent some new weapon or come up with a new strategy to tip the balance, but then the other side would do the same and bring things back to how they were. A ten-year stalemate that accomplished nothing but...death."

Red Alert could see how much this tale was upsetting the girl, but even so, there was one question she knew had to be asked. "How many?"

For this, Twilight took off her glasses, looking to them in her hands before speaking softly. "Estimates vary depending on who you ask...but it's generally accepted that the toll numbered around fifty million, soldier and civilian alike." After saying that, she returned her glasses to their rightful place upon her face. "No other event in human history had ever taken so many." Thinking on that, she frowned slightly. "I guess that point finally made it into our leaders' heads by the end of it. Because the closing year of the decade saw calls for peace, from all sides. They knew there'd be nobody left anywhere in the world if things kept up that way, so all gathered and agreed to an end to it." Looking over to Red Alert, she actually smiled here. "And all credit to them...the peace held. For a century afterwards, there's been no wars on our world. The Great one scared people so much that every measure possible was done to prevent it. Global demilitarisation, the formation of the World League, the cultural emphasis on cooperation and unity, all of it has served well to make sure that my generation has never had to take up arms." Her frown returned. "I just...I just wish it hadn't taken such a terrible thing to make them walk that path."

"Maybe so, Twilight," Red Alert remarked. "But consider this." Getting down on one knee, the Autobot medic looked to her thoughtfully. "Your people actually learned their lesson. You stopped yourselves before it was too late." She placed a hand upon her own chest. "My people...did not. Despite knowing the doom we were bringing ourselves, we could not stop it. And now, we pay the price." Despite that grim situation, she actually smiled. "Still, it brings me comfort to know that there is a world out there who, when faced with the same darkness, was able to bring themselves back to the light."

Twilight's face softened. "Words can never express how sorry I am that your people no longer have a home. But...things got better for my world. Perhaps...you can find a new world to call home? One where you can try to do things better?"

Red Alert's smile widened, but only a little. "A sweet dream, little one. But it cannot be. Because even the end of Cybertron did not halt the death. The war rages on, across the stars, wherever Autobots and Decepticons meet." Her expression then became a dark one. "And should the day come when we meet again on this world...you will see that truth first-hand."

As anyone would expect of her, Twilight's own expression became a sad one yet again. "Then let's hope...that day never comes."

In response, Red Alert hung her head. "Trust me, Twilight...it always comes."

Author's Note

So yeah, you can probably tell with this chapter, but I am definitively creating an alternate history version of Earth as the setting for this :twilightsmile:

Thrill

As much as Rainbow would have loved to experience the rush of having the wind blowing through her multi-coloured hair, even she knew the importance of keeping a helmet on when riding a motorcycle. Specifically, she was atop Chromia in her vehicle form, zig-zagging through the trees of the Everfree and achieving speeds the likes of which the girl knew full well couldn't be done by regular, Earth bikes. Still, she couldn't help but smirk, especially knowing that she'd beaten Pinkie to the punch when it came to actually riding one of their alien friends. As for Chromia, despite having had this form for only a short while now, she definitely knew how to use it, and displayed agility and movement that could definitely have been shown by expert-level motorcyclists. It all came to a head when, at the edge of the great lake at the centre of the forest, there was a small, wooden pier. But, rather than slow down at the sight of the water's edge, Chromia instead sped up, her engine revving loudly enough to frighten several nearby birds from their trees. Rainbow, perhaps sensing what was coming, expressed an uncharacteristic level of hesitancy about it. "Er, Chromia? You sure about this?"

"Heh, don't worry, Dash. I got this!" the blue Autobot replied. Again, she revved her engines, and Rainbow held on for dear life when the two of them shot forward together, going faster and faster and faster until, finally, they sped over the edge of the pier. Horror gripped Rainbow's heart, and while Chromia's face was unseen in her current mode, one could definitely feel that she was grinning with confidence on the inside. For it was in this moment that a blaze of fire erupted from her back engines, propelling her forward and making her practically airborne, speeding through the air and, to Rainbow's utter amazement, actually managing to land on the other side, with even a few feet of ground to spare. It was a shock to the system, no question, and after waiting for the bike to slow to a halt, Rainbow shakily got off, removing her helmet and panting furiously while leaning against the nearest tree. Chromia, still as a bike, nudged closer to her. "You doing okay, kid?"

Rainbow, having eventually caught her breath, looked to the Cybertronian with wide eyes. "Chromia, I mean this in the best possible way...but that was insane!"

Chromia chuckled. "I know, right?" Only now did she transform, becoming her true self, complete with that distinct transformation sound Rainbow had become so familiar with. Placing her hands upon her hips, Chromia looked out to the lake, smiling. "We don't have things like this on Cybertron, not even back during the days of peace. Is the rest of Earth like this?"

Rainbow, now fully recovered, smiled back to her and shook her head. "Some of it. Other places have totally different stuff to get around." She then started counting off her fingers. "Let's see, there's deserts, oceans, mountains, big grasslands, all sorts of stuff to ride on."

"I look forward to trying them out," Chromia replied, after which she offered her hand to her smaller companion. "And you know, you're welcome to join me. I know speeds like that are probably not something you're gonna get here on this planet, so I bet it's pretty exciting to try them, right?"

Here, it was Rainbow's turn to look smug, and she folded her arms and gave Chromia a knowing smile. "Oh, I don't know about that. We can get pretty speedy here on Earth too you know."

To that, Chromia looked to her with some skepticism. " No offense, Rainbow, but I doubt it."

Taking those words as a challenge, Rainbow simply shrugged. "Okay, you asked for it." Chromia, understandably, didn't know what the girl was talking about, but then found, to her confusion, that there was a brief moment where she just could not see her. As if she'd completely vanished for a second. She wondered if there was some sort of malfunction in her optics, but then felt a sense of relief when Rainbow returned, back where she was a moment ago. But this time, something had changed. She was holding a small object, which she soon raised up to show to her. "Voila!"

Looking closer, Chromia soon recognised the item. "Wait...are those...Twilight's glasses?"

Rainbow nodded proudly. "Yep!"

Chromia blinked, then stood upright again, glancing behind her. "But...she's all the way back at the Ark with Red Alert. How...how did you...?"

Rainbow, twirling the aforementioned glasses with her finger, smiled. "Super-speed, my friend. It's a little trick I picked up a while back. All of my friends have something like that to boast about." Then, in a move mirroring Chromia, she put her hands on her hips. "Still think I can't handle a bit of speed?"

In spite of her clear surprise at this new information, Chromia soon found herself smiling. "No...seems I was wrong about that." But then, after a short moment, her smile faded, and she looked to Rainbow with interest, narrowing her eyes. "Hold up..." She got to one knee, bringing her face closer to the human, prompting some concern on the part of the latter. But she said nothing, instead just letting Chromia look at her. Then, after a while, the Autobot spoke again. "When you used your speed, there was...a reading. I...I know that..." Then, her eyes widened. "It...it was you! You and your friends! That's what we detected down here!"

"Er, what?" Rainbow asked.

Standing up again, Chromia facepalmed herself. "The readings that drew us to this planet in the first place! It's wasn't energon after all! It was you, and whatever this weird power of yours is!" Turning away, she stared out at the lake and groaned. "Well, that's just wonderful!" she declared with clear irritation. "The fighting, the crash, getting stranded, and we don't even get to find what we came here for!" She sighed, then took a moment to calm herself down before looking back to Rainbow. "The reason we were coming to your planet. We detected you."

Rainbow didn't know what to say, but when she opened her mouth to do so, she was interrupted by the distinct sound of a familiar voice calling to her from across the forest. "RAINBOW DASH!!!"

Her eyes widening, the young athlete looked to the glasses still in her hands. "Oh, right, I should probably return these."

Companions

Having grown up in the environment that she had, Applejack was no stranger to the idea of fixing broken machines. But even she was having a hard time making sense of the scene before her. Elita, down on one knee, looking into an open panel on the side of the Ark. Whatever it was she was doing in there was clearly an attempt at some sort of repair, but what it was she was repairing or even what all those doohickeys inside the thing did was totally beyond the farm girl. So, much as she would have loved to have offered a helping hand, even a relatively small one on her part, she knew she'd just get in the way. Thus, she relegated herself to the sidelines, standing beside Rarity, who was similarly transfixed with the mechanics going on. As for Elita herself, she was completely engrossed in her work, though not so much as to not be willing to strike up a conversation with her audience. "So then...magic powers?"

Rarity, sweeping aside some of her hair, replied. "Indeed. And trust me, the concept was as much of a shock to us as it surely is to you."

Applejack, adjusting her hat slightly, chuckled. "Y'all should've seen how crazy things got fer us when we first got em."

"I can imagine," Elita commented, keeping her eyes on the machinery. "This world is truly strange to us. But, being a mostly-biological one, that was to be expected." Here, she paused, glancing towards the two girls. "Our journey to this place has now been revealed to us to have been a mistake. We thought we were discovering some new energon source, but instead, we find something that simply cannot be used by us."

Rarity hesitated, apparently not wanting to show her ignorance on her matter, and Applejack, quick to pick up on the other girl's feelings, decided to ask in her place. "Sorry ta pry...but what is energon?"

"The lifeblood of my kind," Elita explained. "We Cybertronians could not live without it. And just as you humans require food and air to survive, so does energon provide that vital function for us."

"Huh...guess it would be rather disappointing for you to find it isn't there then," Rarity conceded.

"To put it diplomatically," Elita said with a hint of dismay in her tone.

Applejack, taking off her hat, looked to the Autobot second-in-command with some sympathy. "We never meant fer our powers ta lead ya astray...but we're sorry that they did."

"You needn't apologise," Elita said to her. "We are the ones who made the mistake. We saw something we didn't know, we made assumptions, and now we must cope with the consequences of it."

Rarity, as before, hesitated, but she soon stepped forward with a small smile. "Well, I know this is small comfort, but at least you're here with friends. That's something."

Elita actually smiled to that, nodding in agreement. "I am...and it is indeed a comfort."

Applejack too smiled. "Eyup. No matter how bad things get, ya can always get through it if ya got good folk around ya." Turning to Rarity, the blonde girl reached out and held her hand, prompting a slight blush on the part of the fashionista. "Ain't that right, sugarcube?"

Rarity giggled. "Oh, you have such a way with words, darling."

Elita regarded them, looking from one to the other, then nodded. "Ah, I see. You are committed then?"

This time, it was the turn of both of them to blush, with Applejack nervously scratching the back of her head. "Well, that's certainly one way ta say it."

Elita's smile returned. "You needn't be embarrassed, young ones. You're not the only ones to have experienced romance."

Instantly, Rartity's eyes widened, and appeared to be filled with twinkling lights. Applejack, by contrast, rolled her eyes. "Oh boy, now you've got her goin'."

Rarity stepped forward, hands clasped together as if in prayer. "Oooh! Do tell! Would it be the stoic medic, by any chance?"

Elita chuckled. "No, she's happily single." Rarity then pondered that, but before she opened her mouth again, Elita cut her off. "Nor is it Bumblebee or Chromia. I won't go into details, but trust me when I say those two are a touch too young for me."

With those options off the table, Rarity smiled with understanding. "Ah, I see. You like them tall then?"

Elita turned, taking on a fond expression as she regarded the windows of the ship's bridge high above. "Yes. Optimus and I...well...we are very important to one another." She didn't see the girls look to her with growing interest, and so continued. "We've known each other since before the war began. And even when it was raging, we were inseparable, always on missions together or directing our forces. I'm not sure when it happened, or at what point we both realised it, but..." She looked back down to the open panel. "But there came a day when we knew...how much we meant to each other."

Rarity, placing a hand upon her own chest, sighed with contentment. "How romantic. Love blooming in the inhospitable landscape of a battlefield. It's like a fairy tale."

"Only with more robots an' lasers," Applejack added, earning her a nudge in the side from Rarity's elbow.

Elita considered their words, then nodded. "We may be metal, but hearts beats as fiercely in us as they do in you." A quiet moment passed, and she then looked to the side. "But...our time has been...fraught, to say the least. War does not leave much room for...well...what you have experienced."

Solemnness became the expression on both of the girls, and it fell to Rarity to break the silence that they were going through. "There's always a chance things might get better. And I realise this is small comfort, but...if your feelings for one another have lasted this long, even in the face of all the horrors you've come across..." She smiled. "Then that's proof right there that they'll probably continue for a long time afterwards."

Thinking on that, Elita too smiled. "You are young...but you speak wisely, Miss Rarity."

Applejack chuckled, placing her arm around the other girl. "Trust me, when ya marinate yerself in as much romance as this one does, ya tend ta pick up a lot o' sentiment."

Rarity, rather than be irritated by that, simply smirked to her partner. "Oh come now, Applejack. You know you love it."

Looking to her, Applejack smiled softly. "That ah do, Sugarcube. That ah do."

Adjustments

Upon entering the large cargo hold, Starscream took note of those that were here. On one side was a truly gargantuan Decepticon, even by their standards, coloured purple and green, bearing one bright, red eye. At present, she was hauling massive containers from one side of the room to the other, and failing that, was busying herself with clearing away any debris or damaged components, which were unsurprisingly plentiful, given the nature of their landing here. On the other, a Decepticon more his size, largely a dark blue, and whose face was obscured by a white plate, not unlike that of their enemy, Optimus Prime. It was to the latter that Starscream walked to, seeing him work at his console and not even bothering to acknowledge the Lieutenant's presence. At least, not until said Lieutenant actually spoke. "Soundwave. Report."

"Ship status, sub-optimal," Soundwave replied. "Shields repurposed for stealth. Chances of detection by Autobots or indigenous life, minimal."

Starscream resisted the urge to roll his optics as his comrade's usual, clinical response to everything, and so instead got back to more important matters. "And your study of the natives?"

Soundwave's gaze remained on his work as he answered. "Vehicle forms selected. Uploads will be distributed once modifications are made. Weaponry is required for effective combat."

Starscream turned, leaning against the wall as he considered his compatriot's remark. "The creatures, the humans. They confound me. So many vehicles to choose from and yet hardly any of them are fit for war."

"Affirmative," Soundwave concurred. "Most military constructs relegated for museum displays or in storage. Alterations needed to present-day transportations for effective, combat-ready disguises."

A smirk appeared on Starscream's face. "Primitive or not, it'll be a treat to fly these alien skies in the local guises." His smile vanished shortly afterwards, replaced by a frown. "Then we can get down to the important task at hand."

Here, finally, Soundwave looked to him. "Engaging Autobots may be unsound. Resources and reinforcements are unavailable on this world until we can repair communications. It is unknown what force was present aboard the Ark, before or after its crash."

Starscream nodded. "True. And given that this is Optimus' ship we're talking about, it'll be safe to say he's got some heavy hitters with him." Then, his confidence returned as he regarded the still-silent grunt in the room. "Good thing we've got one of the heaviest hitters of them all, eh Clobber?" Alas, his fellow Decepticon was still not heeding him, instead continuing with her heavy lifting, much to his irritation. "Fine then." Then, he paused, glancing around the rest of the room. "Anybody seen the quiet one?"

Soundwave looked to him, then nodded. "Affirmative."

Starscream opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped when, to his slight concern, he found a blade to his throat, held there by someone standing behind him. He stood absolutely still, before then hearing a whisper in his audio receptors. "Careless, Lieutenant. You need to be more aware of your surroundings."

Grunting, Starscream waited until the blade had been removed before turning to look to its owner. Standing just a head shorter than him was the fifth of their number, a silvery-grey in hue save for the dark purple faceplate she wore. Her eyes were narrowed to him, and she twirled the blade in her hands with expert precision. "Nightbird," Starscream acknowledged. "Always hoping to make a dramatic entrance, eh?"

The female shrugged, responding with her almost disturbingly-calm voice. "Well, until we get to our enemies, I'll have to entertain myself however I can." She looked over to Soundwave. "Primus knows that one is never fun."

Soundwave offered her a look, which was as difficult to read as ever with that face of his, before getting back to whatever his project was. Meanwhile, Starscream folded his arms and regarded Nightbird with the same irritation as before. "You'll get your chance eventually. We're Decepticons after all. It's never that long a wait before a fight happens."

Nightbird arched an eyebrow to him. "Well, here's hoping our next battle goes a bit smoother than our last one, Starscream."

He understood her meaning immediately, and so narrowed his eyes. "My decision was sound, assassin. Take out the Ark's engines and they won't be able to flee from us. It was Optimus, remember? We couldn't afford to let him slip past us."

Nightbird nodded. "True. And yet, as you'll recall, focusing on the engines gave them enough time to point their weapons at us." She looked around the room. "And we can all see how that ended for us."

Starscream turned from her. "We had no way of knowing their ship had that much firepower. By all accounts it was just a long-distance transport."

"One commanded by the very leader of our enemies," Nightbird pointed out. "So was it really that wise to assume it'd be defenseless?"

Starscream stayed silent for a moment, which Nightbird took as effective admittance of his blunder, but shortly afterwards he turned to her again. "Look, bottom line, we're stuck here and we have to make the most of it. We make what repairs we can, including our communications with any luck, we find the Autobots, engage them and, if we're careful, finally succeed in taking out Optimus."

Nightbird looked to him slyly. "Just Optimus?"

Starscream frowned, then glanced down to his right forearms, wherein there could be seen four tally marks scratched into his own metal. "Well...obviously not just him," he admitted. Then, he looked back to her. "But he's the key to our victory. Get rid of him and the Autobots fall."

Nightbird shrugged. "Pretty talk. Heard it plenty of times over the last few millennia, but hey, maybe this time we'll actually get it done."

To that, Starscream's irritation returned. "Enough backtalk, Nightbird. You should get yourself sorted out for an alternate mode."

Nightbird chuckled, turning from him and starting to walk away. "Oh, I already have. And I figured it was high time to take inspiration from my own name on that count."

Starscream watched her go, then looked over his shoulder, to both Soundwave and Clobber, before sighing. "One never talks to me, one only ever talks about his work, and the other likes to be cryptic." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is there nobody here who can actually hold a normal conversation with me?"

"Lord Megatron?" Soundwave suggested, keeping his eyes on his work.

"I mean someone who actually wants to talk to me!"

Investigations

Twilight's eyes darted all over the screen of her laptop as she worked. Image after image sped past and she paid close attention to all of them. Sunset stood behind her, seeing the girl as she sat upon as rock in the vast cave formation that now housed the Ark. After a few glances in the direction of the aforementioned ship, the former unicorn finally spoke to her spectacled friend. "Any luck?"

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing. If these Decepticons are actually here, on Earth, then they're doing a pretty good job of keeping a low profile." She gestured to her computer. "I haven't been able to find a single news report, blog or even conspiracy website photo of them or anything like them."

Sunset smiled. "Well, these Cybertronians know how to hide. So it probably won't be too easy to spot them."

Finally closing her laptop, Twilight looked around, checking to make sure they were both alone, before standing up and looking Sunset in the eye. "Sunset...are we doing the right thing? Getting mixed up in all of this?"

Sunset's smile faded, and she nodded to her friend. "I get what you're saying. They're in big trouble, and have been for some time. For all we know, we've just let ourselves get wrapped up in a problem we really don't want."

"I know they've gone through a lot," Twilight conceded. "But at the same time...what if them being here is just the first step to some big, terrible thing coming to our world." She took off her glasses, looking down to them in her hands as she gave them a wipe. "I don't want to discount all they've been through. Losing your home must have been horrible thing."

Sunset looked away from her, nodding glumly. "Preaching to the choir on that one, Twilight."

Twilight, putting her glasses on, gave her friend a soft look before continuing. "I don't think any of them are lying to us. And I don't doubt that these Decepticons are going to be a potential problem." She folded her arms, giving a quick shrug. "I mean, they're giant, alien robots. That's dangerous no matter what way you slice it."

"True," Sunset chimed in. "Your world already went through one terrible war. The last thing it needs is that kind of nightmare starting again from up there," she finished, pointing upwards to emphasise her point.

Twilight, after a brief pause, looked around, making doubly sure that there were no prying eyes. "Our friends have all accepted what they've been told by Elita and the others. I trust their judgement, but..." She stood quiet for a time, but then took a step closer, bringing her voice down to a mere whisper. "Sunset...I just have this feeling. That there's more to this war than just a group of baddies fighting a group of goodies. I know that's been a lot of our experiences, and what you and yours have dealt with back in Equestria. But this? I think things might be more complicated."

Sunset too started to speak more quietly. "I feel the same. I don't think they're withholding anything out of maliciousness or an attempt to manipulate, but there's definitely something that's not making it to our ears."

After that, Sunset saw her friend start to look more than a little uncomfortable. Then, after giving her the time she needed to get her thoughts in order, she watched as Twilight spoke with clear worry. "Sunset...I think we might need to try and get more information than what we've been given."

"You're not wrong to want it," Sunset admitted. "But if there is some big, important secret in all this, I doubt they're going to just tell us. Remember, we're as much a group of strangers to them as they are to us."

Twilight bit her lip, and her overall air was that of someone who was desperately wanting to avoid saying what she was about to say. But, after taking a deep breath, she finally got it out. "Sunset...it occurs to me that...we haven't divulged all of our magical abilities to them."

It took a moment or two, but Sunset's eyes started to widen, and she instinctively placed her hand upon her pendant, looking to Twilight with pure shock. "Twilight...are you...are you asking me to look into their memories?"

Twilight looked away, shame plastered all over her face. "I know! I know! It's a violation! And every fiber of my being is telling me we shouldn't be doing it. That I shouldn't be asking you to do it!" She exhaled deeply. "But I..."

Sunset softened here, lowering her hand from her pendant and instead gently putting it upon Twilight's cheek, gently guiding her face to look back to her. "I know we're in a tricky situation here. And I know how much you must hate thinking about having to do something like that. But...I'd be lying if I said it was a completely unreasonable course of action." After letting that moment sink in for her friend, Sunset removed her hand, looking to Twilight directly. "But we need to be careful. As you said, it's a move that could lead to a lot of mistrust and bad feeling. If we do it, it should be done only when we feel that we have to."

Immediately, Twilight nodded. "I don't like thinking about this kind of subterfuge, Sunset. But I'll gladly take any delay in doing something like that." A second passed, and she started to look a touch calmer. "For now, the Autobots aren't a problem for us. They're not enemies, they're just stuck. Far from home with baggage having possibly come along with them. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. But...I've known people who've said that they do things for a greater good before. I want to believe that these people actually mean it."

"Something tells me that they do," Sunset assured her. "We'll play things by ear. See how they turn out and take actions when needed. If they're needed."

Twilight smiled, but it was a smile tinted by tiredness. "You'd think, after all this time, I'd be less stressed about dealing with things from other worlds."

Sunset laughed briefly. "Trust me, Twilight, I don't think it's something a person can ever get used to."

Struck

Though she only acquired her driving license recently, Fluttershy was still quite confident in her skills upon the open road. And so it was today as she drove far from Camp Everfree, going along the familiar journey she'd come to know in recent months. However, it was definitely worth mentioning that she had the ultimate safety net in the form of a car that could think and act on its own, in this case Bumblebee. The young Autobots let loose a series of incomprehensible sounds that, to Fluttershy's ears, led to a smile. "Oh, I'm sure you'll love the roads around here. Traffic in the area has always been good so you can have all the open space you want." Another few bleeps and bloops led to a giggle on her part. "Yes, I would very much appreciate you not going as fast as Chromia. Rainbow may adore those kinds of speeds, but not me." She sighed. "I find...taking things slow is the best way to do them. You can't really appreciate anything, like the views, if you're just rushing past it all the time." After another beep, Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Well, it's good to know you're finally in a place where driving doesn't have to be for just getting away from danger."

The two drove on like this for some time, enjoying the peaceful tranquillity of an afternoon down the open roads. But, there came a point where Fluttershy, after glancing up to the sky for a brief moment, developed an excited smile. "Oh!" She put her foot on the brake, though a beep from Bumblebee let her know that this definitely felt like an abrupt stop on his part, prompting an embarrassed blush for the girl. "Sorry, Bee. I just need to stop on the side here." And so stop she did, parking her Autonot friend on the edge of the road, upon some adjacent grass, and getting out. She scoured the sky once more, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, before finally spotting what she'd noticed before. "Ah, there it is!" The object in question was a far-up plane of some sort, trailing through the skies at great speeds. Having finally locked onto it, Fluttershy clasped her hands together. "Oh, Rainbow would just love being here right now. Those aerial performers are always such a delight for her." She looked to her companion. "She's taken me to so many shows." Then, she paused, tilting her head slightly. "Huh...I could've sworn those planes were always blue."

Even in his current mode, Bumblebee still had sight to use and try to make out what Fluttershy was referring to. Like her, he too had spotted the aircraft high above them, and as she'd said, it was not predominantly blue in colour. Rather it seemed to be a combination of red and white, with only the rear section being the colour she'd expected it to be. However, there was something about the way it was moving, flying at a speed one could almost call aggressive. This triggered something in Bumblebee's instincts, making him feel wariness of a sort he'd had a merciful reprieve from since he'd landed on this planet. Instantly, he started letting out sounds of distress to his friend, causing her to look to him with equal concern. "Bee? What is it?" But he kept on making noises, leading to Fluttershy looking again to the plane, this time noticing, to her horror, that it had turned and was now heading in a new direction. Specifically, it was descending rapidly, looking like it was flying straight towards the two of them, to which Fluttershy took an instinctive step backwards. "Wha...what's it doing?!"

Her friend didn't answer. Instead, and to the girl's further shock, he just straight-up transformed, right there in open daylight by the side of the road. By some small miracle there were no other humans to witness him doing it, but Fluttershy remained worried about the action. She didn't have time to debate though, for her Autobot partner instead just gestured to her, silently motioning for her to run and hide. Though hesitant, Fluttershy did so, running as fast as she could to behind the nearest tree, leaving the young Cybertronian all by himself. He wasn't alone for long though, as the aforementioned plane was still darting fast towards him. And it was within the last few moments of this that Fluttershy witnessed what had been so concerning for Bumblebee. For that plane now also transformed, becoming a massive robot that clearly dwarfed the Autobot by a definite margin. Such was the size, strength and speed of this stranger that, upon making contact with Bumblebee, he grabbed the latter by the throat and, after landing on both feet, slammed him back into a large, nearby tree. "Did you think you could hide?!"

Bumblebee reacted immediately, grabbing hold of the hand that was gripping him and twisting himself so as to be able to deliver a roundhouse kick to the face of what Fluttershy had to assume was one of the Decepticons she'd heard so much about. The impact of the kick caused the assailant to drop Bee, though he quickly recovered, using the jet engines on his back to launch himself back in the air. Meanwhile, Bumblebee, in a moment of quick thinking, noticed a large log on the ground, presumably from a recently-fallen tree, and just as his attacker came back down to give another hit, the Autobot grabbed the makeshift weapon and swung it. The Decepticon blocked it with his forearm though, and with his other hand laid another punch to Bee, followed by a backhand which sent the younger Cybertronian flying backwards. When his enemy was down on the ground again, the Decepticon looked to him with narrowed, blood-red eyes. "It's not you I'm here for, Scout!" he said, marching menacingly towards Bumblebee.

As for the Autobot himself, he didn't wait to see what the Con would do next, instead charging forward, colliding with his opponent and sending him falling back this time. Fluttershy watched it all, terrified and enraptured by the sight all in one. She looked on as Bumblebee, now having a slight advantage in this fight, wasted no time in jumping as high as he could, and produced what seemed to be a short blade from his right wrist. Clearly, he was going in for the kill, but the Decepticon wasn't going down that easily, and his engines roared to life one again, lancing him along the ground just in time to avoid the Autobot's decisive blow. Now back in the air, the Con flew hard and fast into Bee, grabbing him by the neck yet again and taking him along for the flight. Bumblebee, now held once more, had to endure a barrage of trees to his face as the Con forced him along the road's edge at high speeds. A trail of splintered and ruined trees were left in their collective wake, but like before, Bumblebee was able to take hold of the offending hand and reposition himself, twisting so that he was right on the Con's back. This time, he took out his blade and made contact, shoving it straight into one of the engines.

The effect of this was as one would expect, with the Con flying off against his presumably desired direction, redirecting him to collide with the trees on the other side of the road. This had the added benefit of forcing him to release Bumblebee, who rolled to the side to recover from the fall. However, it seems even this move was not enough to deter his Decepticon enemy, as the former jet now lunged forward, grabbing tightly onto Bee's chest and holding him up, his voice now having gone far beyond mere irritation and into full-on rage. "I've been patient, little one, but even I have my limits! Tell me what I want to know or it's the scrapheap for you!" Bumblebee looked to his foe with defiance, and when he finally did speak, it was with all of the mechanical noises he had now been reduced to. The Decepticon, bearing a look of confusion and annoyance, responded accordingly. "What? What in Cybertron's name are you...?" Then, after a long pause, his eyes widened, as realisation now dawned for him. "The crash...you were injured?" Then, anger crept into his voice again. "You can't talk?!" When Bee replied with more noises, the Decepticon's grip tightened, and he balled his free hand into a fist. "Then it seems you are of no further use to me."

But before the larger Cybertronian could deliver and undoubtedly fatal blow to the scout's head, he was distracted by the sudden and unexpected sound of something clunking against his leg. Curious, he glanced down, as did Bee, and the two of them bore witness to the sight of Fluttershy, armed with nothing but a stick she'd picked up off the ground, whacking the Decepticon with whatever strength she had. Unfortunately, this was not enough for the metal alien to really feel all that much, but Fluttershy nevertheless kept at it. "Put him down and leave us alone, you big bully!" she declared angrily.

The Decepticon, blinking to this, soon looked back to Bumblebee, bearing a distinct smirk. "How cute. You befriended a local." When Fluttershy's demands were further ignored, she fumed, giving another hit to the blue leg in front of her. This time, however, it simply served to annoy the assailant, who now looked down to her with a frown. "Your elders should really teach you not to punch above your weight class." With his path now decided, he looked on with steely resolve as he raised his foot, taking a moment to see the look of terror on the young girl's face, before bringing it slamming down again, leaving naught but a cloud of dust there. Bumblebee, enraged by this display, renewed his efforts to break free, though his attacker was not swayed by this. "Come now, Scout. So many of our kind fallen and that one gets you riled up?"

"She's not falling today, Decepticon!"

The new voice caught him off-guard, and he turned to see a second human, one with bright, rainbow-coloured hair, just off to the side. More importantly though, she was holding Fluttershy in her arms, who appeared to be completely unharmed, much to the confusion of the Decepticon. "What...how...?"

The new human chuckled. "Heh, gonna have to be faster than that if you wanna smush us!"

"Not that we're inviting you to of course," Fluttershy added, giving her friend a look of annoyance.

The Decepticon regarded them well, especially the new girl, and he narrowed his eyes in a manner that the humans had already witnessed in their Autobot friends. After a few moments of this, he smirked again. "...Interesting."

"STARSCREAM!!!" a new voice bellowed.

This time, the Decepticon, Starscream, reacted not with curiosity or irritation, but with fear. He dropped Bumblebee to the ground, with Fluttershy rushing over to tend to him, and instead looked as a bright, red truck began approaching at high speeds down the road, flanked by a red car and a blue motorcycle. Starscream, apparently recognising a lost battle when he saw one, cut his losses and leapt into the air, with even the damaged engines on his back able to keep him airborne. However, before fleeing completely, he cast one final look towards the two humans, grinning darkly. "Don't worry...we're not done with you just yet."

And that was the last thing he said to them as he transformed in mid-air back into his jet mode, launching himself high above at great speed away from the area. All eyes were on him until he was no longer in view, and Rainbow then ran to Fluttershy's side. "Fluttershy! You okay?"

Fluttershy nodded to her, but her attention was back to Bumblebee soon afterwards. "Don't worry, Bee. We'll get you to Red Alert and you'll be all better." Bumblebee let out a few beeps, which the animal-lover quickly smiled at. "You're very welcome."

Rainbow, looking away from her friend, watched as Optimus, Elita and Chromia finally arrived beside them, transforming into robot mode. "So...that was a Decpticon, eh?"

Optimus nodded grimly. "It was. And it seems our fears of their survival have just been proved right." He turned, looking to his injured scout, speaking with clear and obvious sadness. "Our war...truly will continue on this world."

Author's Note

Full confession, a lot of this fight was derived from the awesome scene in the live-action Bumblebee movie where the title character fought Blitzwing. Though if you ask me it's pretty clear that design was meant to be Starscream :twilightsheepish:

Aftermath

"Rainbow, I promise you, I'm fine," Fluttershy tried to reassure her friend.

But Rainbow was still unconvinced, darting around her at great speed to check for any kind of bump, scrape or cut she might have sustained after her encounter with Starscream. "No deal, Fluttershy. You went up against a friggin' giant! I'm not letting you outta my sight until I know you're okay!"

Fluttershy knew she meant well, but still sighed to this display of overprotectiveness. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was going through something similar, laying down on the massive bed intended for Cybertronians in the Ark's medical bay while Red Alert looked him over. Despite the beeps the yellow scout was producing, his doctor remained beside him. "Even I know you're trying to tell me you're fine, Bee. But I wouldn't be doing my job if I just let you go without an exam. You've already sustained one serious injury on this planet, so let's not risk it, alright?"

Bumblebee knew it was pointless to resist, and so let her get on with her work. Down below, Fluttershy looked on as the rest of her friends arrived in the medical bay, rushing to her with with obvious and understandable worry. "Fluttershy!" they all exclaimed together.

Once there, they barraged her with questions about how she was and what happened, and after a while the girl finally just had enough. "Girls!" Watching them fall silent, she took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'll tell you what happened, okay?" In response, and after looking to one another, the girls collectively stepped back, giving Fluttershy some space. After taking a moment to show her appreciation for this with a smile, she began to regale them with a detailed description of everything that had happened in the past hour. Starscream's attack, his fight with Bumblebee, the arrival of Optimus and the others, all of it. The girls listened well, their reactions ranging from fearful to excited, and when it was all done, Fluttershy concluded her story. "And then me and Bee were brought here to be looked over."

"I deeply regret that you had to become involved in our fight, Fluttershy." All heads turned to see that it was Optimus who had spoken, and as the Autobot leader approached the still-shocked girl, he got to one knee to bring his face closer to hers. "It was never our intent for you or your friends to become entangled in our conflict. But such is the nature of the Decepticons that you became so once they knew you to be associated with us."

Fluttershy looked like she accepted the apology, but Rainbow was not so swayed, zipping over to look Prime right in the eye. "Oh yeah? Well, in case you didn't notice, big guy, but your fight almost got Fluttershy killed!"

"Rainbow!" Sunset called to her, clearly not wanting to see any kind of dispute flare up.

But Rainbow ignored her, keeping her gaze squarely on the Autobot. "Good robots, bad robots, what difference does it make if our people, our world is the one that's gonna get hurt from it?!"

Here, Twilight stepped forward, pulling Rainbow back and stepping in front of her so as to be between her and Prime. "Rainbow! That's enough!"

"No, Miss Sparkle, your friend is right to be angry," Optimus declared. When all eyes were on him, he continued. "We knew from the moment we saw you that there was a chance this could happen. It was the main reason why we were so hesitant to approach those of your world when we first arrived. It has happened before." He glanced upwards. "Back when the war still raged on Cybertron, associates from other worlds that had ties to our planet would often find themselves as targets for one reason or another. Cutting off relations was one of the only ways we had of making sure those worlds did not suffer retaliation from Decepticon forces." Again, he looked to her. "But given our situation upon Earth, that option may not be possible for us."

Rainbow, still angry, folded her arms. "So...what, we're just supposed to 'get used' to being attacked by Decepticons now?"

Optimus hung his head. "As grim a situation though it may be...it will undoubtedly be something we must prepare for, especially since Starscream has most likely informed the remaining Decepticons where we can be found."

Rainbow turned away from him, walking over to Fluttershy. "Just count yourself lucky I was able to get there as fast as I did. If it wasn't for my speed...well..."

She didn't want to finish her words, but Fluttershy understood, placing her hand upon her friend's shoulder in a further effort to reassure her. However, Optimus, upon hearing the girl, took on a concerned look of his own. "You...displayed your abilities during the fight?"

Rainbow looked to him, eyebrow raised. "Yeah? Why?"

"That...may present complications," Optimus replied.

The air of ominousness was undeniable after he'd said that, but none of them got the chance to ask him about it, for it was at that moment when Chromia burst in, looking more than a little worried. "Optimus, we've got incoming."

Optimus looked to her, frowning. "Decepticons?"

Chromia shook her head. "No. Humans. They arrived at the park entrance a few minutes ago and have started looking around. I don't know them, but I get the feeling they're not friendlies."

Sunset stepped forward. "The park's closed right now. Nobody's supposed to be here except us," she explained, gesturing to herself and her friends.

"Well, they're here," Chromia answered back. "And the fact that they've arrived so soon after Bee was attacked can't be a coincidence."

"We must tread carefully," Optimus commanded. "Even if they are not here with benign intentions, Cybertron has already risked human life enough for one day. We cannot act directly, Chromia."

"You won't have to," Sunset said to him. "It's our job to see to human troublemakers in this park. So..." She turned to her friends. "Let's go and do our job, girls."

Punishment

Starscream marched onto the deck of the ship's bridge looking quite pleased with himself, seeing Megatron where he always was, standing at the viewscreen and looking out to the horizon. Nightbird was there also, but the assassin wasn't really doing anything except leaning against the wall and looking on as the second-in-command arrived. Speaking of whom, once Starscream was close enough, he stopped, speaking loud and clear to his leader. "Megatron! I have news!"

Megatron, for his part, stayed where he was, like a statue, but when he spoke it was not with appreciation for the new development, but rather what appeared to be restrained anger. "Starscream...would this news, by any chance, be related in any way to your decision to violate my orders?"

Starscream paused here, glancing to Nightbird, whom he could tell was feeling quite smug about something. Then, after recomposing himself, he continued. "Sir, I realise that my actions are not completely in-line with your wishes, but I assure you they have yielded important information."

"Indeed?" Megatron replied. "And I imagine that your actions yielded important information also." Slowly, he looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes to his lieutenant. "Information such as our existence to the natives. Information such as our hostility towards them. Information such as the Autobots now having concrete proof that we survived the crash, and will thus be on high alert now."

At this point, Starscream was fully aware that he was not on his leader's good side, which was always a bad place to be on any day. So, standing at attention in an effort to appear more deferent, he continued his case. "But Sir, my encounter with the Autobot scout has given me insight that may change our entire operation here."

Megatron paused, but only for a moment. "The scout? Bumblebee?"

"Yes, Sir," Starscream acknowledged, regaining some of his former smugness.

Megatron looked ahead once more. "Tell me...did that diminutive, yellow youngster actually fall by your hand?"

Hesitation gripped Starscream once more. "...Optimus and his cohorts arrived to reinforce him before I could deliver a decisive blow."

"Oh?" Megatron mused. "So my old foe yet lives. That is good to know," he said with what could charitably be called satisfaction. But his mood turned cold shortly afterwards. "Still, it's somewhat disappointing that not only did my own right hand violate my directive, but that he also couldn't even manage to finish off the least of their number." As before, he looked over his shoulder to his subordinate, but this time, his gaze was darker then before, which was saying something. "Tell me, Starscream...how should a leader respond to a combined display of not only insubordination...but incompetence?"

Starscream fumbled for a bit. "I...um...I don't..." He looked to the side, to Nightbird, who still bore that satisfied look that irked him so much. However, it was here when she revealed exactly why she was looking like that, stepping to one side and revealing, to Starscream's great concern, that the display that usually held Megatron's two swords was now empty. This, in turn, led the flier to look back to his leader, his eyes widening. "...oh."

Sure enough, Megatron turned, revealing that he was holding both of the aforementioned weapons in his hands. Before Starscream could react, Megatron gave an almighty throw of one of them, sending it flying straight to his Lieutenant as though it was a javelin. Starscream was unable to dodge fast enough, and so the blade pierced his shoulder, sending him straight back into the wall, wherein in pinned him there. He let out a great scream of pain, which nobody else seemed to show any concern over, and he looked down to his injured shoulder to see a bright blue stream of energon leaking out from the wound. Megatron, looking down to the second sword he still had in his hands, took a few steps closer to the now-injured Decepticon. "The answer? This. This is how a leader should respond, Starscream."

Starscream gripped the handle of the sword that had penetrated him, but no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't make it budge. It was embedded too deeply in the wall behind him. "M...my master...please..."

Megatron was close to him now, looking him right in the eye, and in a move that terrified Starscream even more than his current predicament, the Decepticon leader held his second sword to the latter's throat. "Because you have served me well in the past, Starscream, I'm going to give you a chancer for me to feel...merciful." He pressed the sword against his second's throat harder. "Give me one...good...reason. One reason why I shouldn't end your life here and now." Here, he actually cracked a smile, but it was one of sheer ruthlessness, putting one in mind of a predator about to go in for the kill. "Let us hope that oh so incredible insight of yours is as good as you claim."

Now knowing that his life was on the line, Starscream knew that there was no room for preamble or build-up, so he just laid it all out. "The readings! The readings that drew the Autobots here! It wasn't energon! It was humans!"

At first, Megatron seemed sceptical, but after a moment of considering the confession, he spoke softly. "Go on."

Starscream, taking a breath after this miraculous reprieve, continued. "During my fight, there was a human who attempted to intervene. A female. I tried to crush her, but another arrived to rescue her. I couldn't even register how she did it. She seemed to possess some...some ability. Something that, by all our studies of humans, she shouldn't have been able to do." He gulped before carrying on. "So I scanned her, and I saw it. The same anomalous readings that the Autobots had been chasing. It was her, it was both of them. There is...something unusual on this planet. Not energon, but something powerful enough for us to mistake it as such."

There was silence after that, during which Starscream fully prepared himself for that information to be nowhere near enough for him to be spared. To his shock, and to Nightbird's disappointment, Megatron smiled again, taking hold of the first sword and pulling it out, releasing his second. "Very good, Starscream. You actually did something useful." He turned away from him, wiping the energon stain off his weapon. "Now go, get Soundwave to patch you up...and await further orders."

Slowly, and painfully, Starscream got himself up, holding onto his injury tightly and, after looking to Megatron, mumbling under his breath with venom. "As you wish...master."

Strangers

The girls had been watching the newcomers for a few minutes, and nothing about what they were seeing filled them with anything other than worry. A large, black van had arrived in the Camp, parked just outside the main visitor centre, where Gloriosa's office was located. From it had emerged a pair of men, clad in black suits, wearing dark sunglasses and sporting earpieces, which they occasionally talked into. It was all a foreboding sight, and the girls made sure to keep their distance, hiding behind the biggest trees nearby, watching intently. At the moment, the men just seemed to be observing the immediate area, but it was clear to the teens that they weren't just here to enjoy the views of the Camp. After a while, Twilight whispered to her friends. "Well...this is all very black helicopter."

Pinkie glanced to the sky. "Er...no, I think it's just a black van we're dealing with, Twily."

Twilight cast her a look, but it was Sunset who spoke next. "I think we all know why they're here. I'd hoped to avoid something like this, but I guess a massive spaceship crashing into the woods wasn't going to be the easiest thing in the world to keep quiet about."

Rarity, scooting closer to her Equestrian companion, glanced in her direction. "Sunset, far be it from me to suggest tackling an issue directly, but we can't exactly spend the day skulking behind trees."

Sunset sighed, nodding. "You're right. And besides, if nothing else, it's like we said to Optimus. We've got a job here, so...let's do it."

Rainbow groaned. "This won't be good."

So, after just a moment, the girls all stood and emerged from behind the trees, heading over to the van and the two men. "Hello!" Sunset called out. She and the other girls watched as the two figures looked to them, with one of them whispering something into his earpiece. They said nothing for the moment, so Sunset spoke a second time. "I'm terribly sorry, Sirs. But the Camp is closed for the time being. No visitors. Whatever your business here is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you both to leave."

Here, finally, one of the men spoke, clasping his hands together at his front and using a calm and very professional-sounding tone. "Apologies, Miss. But I'm afraid that won't be happening."

"We are here under strict orders, and our presence here is a matter of national security," the other one added. Then, after taking a step closer to her, he continued. "And those orders...concern all of you."

Sunset and the girls could feel the tension rising in the situation, but the former nevertheless maintained a calm of her own. "Oh? And from where, exactly, do these orders come from?"

The first man nudged his sunglasses down slightly, looking her in the eye. "From President Starswirl."

Sunset didn't know what she'd expected, but that answer certainly wasn't it. However, in stark contrast to the stunned silence of the others, Rainbow actually burst into a laugh. "What?! You expect us to believe that the President of the United Atlantic Federation is sending a pair of shady-looking secret agents to us? For what?"

In response, the calmer of the two men took his glasses off entirely, looking over to the girl. "With respect, Miss Dash...I believe you already know why."

Hearing that the man already knew her name took the wind out of Rainbow's sails somewhat, and there was a deep suspicion among the other girls that their names were similarly known. Even so, Sunset folded her arms, standing her ground. "No matter what orders you have, I hope you understand that we're not going to just take you at your word."

"Then take me at mine, Sunset."

The girls were all taken aback by the familiar voice, and turned in unison towards the van. A third figure emerged from it, walking towards them, and Sunset couldn't help but be surprised at her arrival onto the scene. "P...Principal Celestia?!"

Pinkie looked over to the rest of them. "Okay, I did not see that one coming!"

Celestia, once over to her student, looked to her and spoke with that same softness she was so known for. "Sunset, I realise that..." She glanced to the two men. "All of this probably isn't giving off a very safe air for you." She looked back to her. "But that's why I'm here." Then, she looked to the other girls. "These gentlemen are telling the truth. President Starswirl did ask for them to be here, to meet up with you."

Despite knowing Celestia to be a good person, Sunset still felt wary about all of this. "Do you...know the President?"

"Sunset, I promise you, I'll explain everything. But right now, I just need you to know what, as much as you may feel like it's a bad idea, and trust me, I get it...we all need to go with them," Celestia assured her.

Sunset looked to her, hearing and trusting her words. But even so, in the face of everything else going on, it was a difficult thing to accept. So, in a moment of quiet, she turned and walked over to the other girls, after which Celestia could see and hear them whispering to one another, doubtless discussing their options. After a moment, the ex-unicorn gave her friends a nod before looking back to their teacher. "Alright...we'll go with you."

Celestia smiled. "Trust me, this is a lot for me too. You wouldn't believe how shocked I was to get a phone call from the President earlier today." She looked again to the men. "No to mention having these two knock on my door."

Sunset actually chuckled here. "Yeah, I can imagine."

Then, the older woman took on a more serious tone. "Sunset...I should probably tell you that an invitation has also been extended...for your out-of-town visitors."

Sunset sighed. "Yeah...figured that'd be the case."

One of the agents stepped forward. "You may inform them that they are free to maintain their...disguises during the journey. The President feels that revealing them is unwise right now."

Sunset looked to him, then over her shoulder, to the forest. "Yeah. There's be plenty to talk about, I imagine."

Celestia laughed, but it was as brief and dry one. "More than you know, Sunset."

Reports

It would have been an understatement to say that the scene before the clerk was anything short of busy. An older man, with a long, almost wizardly beard, dressed in a very professional-looking blue suit and tie, sitting at his desk and looking over mounds of paperwork. And while the window behind the man gave way to a lovely view of the city and assorted greenery, he himself looked more than a little tired and stressed. But, when one was the President of an entire nation, that tended to be the way. Still, the clerk waited, briefly fumbling with his pudding-bowl haircut, as his superior continued with his phone call, looking very much like he really didn't want to. "Yes, Premier. I realise that this is an important matter, but you have to understand, these things were decided a long time ago. Making last-minute changes like that is going to ruffle feathers, you had to have known that." He waited, hearing the voice on the other side and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I realise a man of your importance might not like it, but that's where you're going to be seated. The hundredth Peace Day celebrations is going to see the leaders of nations all over the world, and not everybody gets to be in the front row."

Here, the clerk cleared his throat, causing the President to look up. As quietly as he could, the clerk whispered to him. "Sir. A development," he said, offering a piece of paper to his leader.

The President accepted the paper, looking to it and appearing, at last, actually happy about something. "Mr Premier, it seems you might get your wish. Turns out the Chancellor of Weimar will be unable to attend the event due to some health problems. They'll be sending their aide to represent their nation instead. Now, obviously, an aide being in the front row will be somewhat unorthodox, so they'll be reassigned further back. If you're interested..." A barrage of excited words on the other side of the line caused a smile for the President. "I'm glad to hear it. I'll send word and we'll make the necessary changes. I trust that will be all?" After waiting for the response, he nodded. "Very good. Then I will see you at the event." Finally, he put the phone down, letting out a long sigh after doing so. "I swear, if it's not one thing with the Union of Volga, it's another." Looking down to the paper that had been handed to him, the President offered his aide a small smile. "Thanks for the timely lifeline, Stygian."

The younger man nodded to him. "Just doing my job, President Starswirl."

Then, before the conversation could progress any further, the door of the office opened, and both men looked on as a woman with long, green hair, roughly around the same age as the President, entered, carrying a file in her hands. The leader of the nation reclined back into his chair at the sight of her, his smile widening. "Ah. Miss Mistmane. Good morning. I trust the day goes well for you?"

The new arrival glanced to Stygian, then to the President. "It does, Sir. But I'm afraid there are...developments."

Starswirl raised an eyebrow to her, then glanced down to the aforementioned file she'd been holding. After only a moment he noticed the black "H" that was printed in the corner of it, and his expression became one of seriousness once more. "Yes...of course." He turned to his clerk. "Stygian. I think you're needed at the committee for discussing the decorations for the upcoming celebrations, yes? Might be worth popping in and seeing them." Stygian, for his part, understood an important meeting when he saw one, and so gathered his own papers before giving a nod to the President, after which he made his way out, with Mistmane politely opening the door for him as he left. After making sure they were alone, with all doors and windows closed, Starswirl got up from his desk, reaching out and accepting the file Mistmane had brought. Opening it, he looked at a number of notes and, more importantly, satellite photographs. One in particular caught his interest, which seemed to depict, of all things, a pair of massive robots, one yellow and one a combination of red, white and blue. Narrowing his eyes to this, he spoke. "So...the supposed 'meteor strike' from a few days back was nothing of the sort then?"

"It would appear so, Mr President," Mistmane confirmed. After a brief pause, she continued. "And there is more. It seems the seven have become embroiled in this."

Starswirl looked to her, then to the photo again. Sure enough, in the corner, there appeared to be a small dot of pink, utterly dwarfed by the main figures of the picture. The old man sighed. "Can't those girls go one, single week without something bizarre happening to them?!"

"I'm afraid it doesn't seem so," Mistmane added dryly. Then, after looking over her shoulder, she spoke again. "Sir...given what you and I know...we always suspected that it was only a matter of time before something like this occurred."

Putting the file to his desk, Starswirl rubbed his temples as he sat back down in his chair. "I know. Ever since I took this office I'd been warned." He looked again to the files. "Until now, the worst I had to deal with was a group of girls who seemed to be able to handle what was happening, but this? This is new. This is bigger. This is..."

"More than they know how to resolve," Mistmane finished for him.

Looking up to her, Starswirl nodded solemnly. "To put it mildly." After a long silence, he leaned forward, clasping his hands together upon the desk and speaking in the authoritative tone of his station. "Before today I had been content to sit and watch things play out. Now it seems that things have escalated. Mere observation is a luxury we can no longer afford. Action is required."

Mistmane nodded, and while she already knew the answer, she nevertheless felt the need to ask the question. "Then what are your orders, Sir?"

Starswirl closed his eyes, mentally weighing the consequences of what he was about to do. But, in the end, he knew he had little choice. And so, after taking hold of the file again, he gave his command. "Send word to them. It's time the girls knew...that we know." After a moment, he glanced to the phone on the side of his desk. "And I...need to reach out to an old friend."