War for Ponytron

Chapter Two: The Sparkle Brigade

Database entry 16 from the log of Ratchet:

This war has taken a far greater toll than I expected. As a doctor, it hurts to see so many good Bots injured...or worse. Each day, my hatred towards Megatron grows stronger, as I’m forced to watch the abhorrent results of his campaign for a “free” Cybertron. Optimus still has hope for Megatron, but the rest of us know that by the time this war comes to a close, only one will stand. We hope that it will be Optimus, but as the war takes more worse turns than good ones, I fear it may be Megatron who stands, while Optimus lies beneath his feet.

End of log.

        The ruins of Tyger Pax were swarming with Lunarcons. Cranes and mining equipment littered the ground, amongst the rubble. Canyon walls hid their operations from all but those on the canyon floor. The Sparkle Brigade approached the mining site with extreme caution. Titan units patrolled the perimeter. As the Sparkle Brigade took cover behind what remained of a wall on the outskirts of the mine, their leader turned to address them.

        Twilight Sparkle, a purple Ponytronian, led the team. She wore two stripes down her back, one rose and another violet, with a dark sapphire blue one the sides. “When Cadence sent us to investigate, I figured we’d find something, but nothing like this,” she said.

        A white Bot, with stripes of various blues, leaned forward and said, “It looks like they’re trying to rebuild the city. We should probably get a better look at the operations.”

        “Shining Armor’s right. Fluttershy, have you finished patching up Spitfire?”

        Two yellow Ponytronians sat at the end of the wall. One adorned in pink, the other sporting flame decals. “Just about. The wounds aren’t serious, but she got burnt a bit,” she answered in a hush voice.

        The injured Spitfire spoke up, “I wouldn’t have gotten burnt, if somepony had done their job and watched for mines!”

The final team member, Soarin, was dark blue on light blue. “You’re lucky you can fly. I still can’t believe you got out of that minefield alive.”

        “I can’t believe they bothered to put a minefield around this scrapyard,” said Shining Armor jokingly. “At least, the mines are out of the way now.”

        Twilight hushed the team. “Remember, this is a stealth mission. We’re just lucky they placed the mines too far to hear from the ruins.”

        Soarin was tweaking his gun. While he worked, he said, “Those titans are the only things that could survive a mine, but they’re so stupid. The Cons put quantity before quality when they put those things in charge of defenses.” He injected a canister of red energon into his neuron rifle.

        “What are you doing?” Twilight inquired.

        “Well, I figured, if red energon makes us faster, maybe it could make my gun shoot faster,” he replied.

        “Where did you get that red energon from? We didn’t bring any with us,” said Spitfire, as she stretched her legs. Fluttershy put her tools back into the med kit.

        “Don’t worry about it. Just a little gift from the Cons.”

        Shining Armor looked through a hole in the wall. “Looks like you might get to test that theory. Titan coming this way.”

        Soarin readied his gun and placed the barrel through the hole. Twilight pulled him back and said, “Stealth. Mission. We only engage the enemy if absolutely necessary.”

        Soarin grumbled something and then asked, “What’s the plan then?”

        Twilight pointed at a dilapidated structure fifty meters from their position. “We need to get in there. Database entries from the Ancients say that most buildings in Tyger Pax had access panels to underground tunnels.”

        The team pressed against the wall as the titan approached. Not a sound exited their mouths, as the titan stopped at the wall. The titan looked around the area, but didn’t leave the wall. Soarin readied his gun again, but stopped when Twilight shot him a threatening stare. After a few cycles, Twilight considered a stealth kill, but then the titan continued its patrol. The team quickly moved up to a downed pillar, parallel to the canyon walls.

        “That was too close, Twilight. Next time, I’m shooting,” complained Soarin.

        Twilight sighed. “If we’re more careful, there won’t be another situation like that. Let’s keep moving. Twenty-two meters left.”

        Fluttershy raised her hoof to speak.

        Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, Fluttershy, what is it?”

        “I was just thinking that maybe if we could use the tunnels to get to that building over there,” she began, pointing to a structure a few hundred meters away, “we could blow the energon stockpile next to it on our way out, and use the tunnels to escape while they’re distracted by the explosion.”

        The rest of the team blinked. They all knew Fluttershy was a good tactician. She studied under Cadence. However, she was never one to offer tactical advice in the field. Usually, when the team was sent out to look for energon deposits or investigate ruins for Ancient tech, Fluttershy was silent. She only spoke when medical help was needed or when spoken to.

        Twilight smiled and said, “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy. Soarin, since you have an affinity for destruction, why don’t you blow the energon.”

        Soarin smiled with excitement. “I think I can manage that,” he said, juggling a grenade with his wings.

        “Alright team, let’s get to those tunnels,” ordered Twilight. The team galloped towards the structure. While they moved, Twilight looked back at Fluttershy and said, “You know, you should talk more often. You say some pretty smart stuff.” Fluttershy smiled.

        The team reached the structure, lining up on both sides of the entrance. Spitfire peeked in to check for enemies. “Clear.” she said. They moved in and began searching the building. They reached a locked door.

        Twilight sighed. “Great. I’ll get busy hacking this. The rest of you watch my back.” She sat down and began working the door’s keypad with a hacking device mounted on her front left leg. Small wires extended from the device and pushed buttons on the keypad. “How did the Ancients work these things without tools?”

        “Ahem,” interrupted Soarin. “I think I can get us through the door faster.” He was grinning.

        “Oh really? You think you can hack faster than me? Be my guest,” Twilight said, confident in her ability.

        Soarin approached the door. “Who said anything about hacking?” He lifted a hoof, turning it into his neuron rifle, and fired at the keypad. The keypad burst into a red flash and disintegrated. “Whoa. That red energon sure does something.”

        The door didn’t open. Twilight gave Soarin a blank look. “Just because the means of unlocking the door is gone, doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to open.”

        Shining Armor laughed and said, “Hey, why don’t you try using that red energon on the door instead.”

        Soarin looked at his gun, and raised it to the door. It lit up in a red flash as well, and disintegrated. “Good idea, Shining.” He walked through the dust that was once the door, and took a right down the next hall.

The team followed Soarin down the hall. They walked in silence for a few cycles, as they moved through the maze of hallways. Then, Twilight asked, “Soarin, if you like destroying things so much, why didn’t you join the Wreckers?”

        Soarin kept walking and they kept following. “I tried. Rainbow Dash even vouched for me, but AJ said no Wonderbolts. I tried to change her mind, but she wouldn’t budge.”

        “Applejack doesn’t trust anypony in the Wonderbolts, since they all joined the Lunarcons, except for me and Soarin. The Council can’t enforce tolerance on the Wreckers, so there’s not much we can do about it,” stated Spitfire. “Not that I wanted to join the Wreckers.”

        “Well, I did. They get the most dangerous missions, and I love the thrill of a good fight. We spend so much time sneaking around that we,” Soarin began, as he blasted through another door and kept walking, “never get to fight anything. It’s getting boring. If we are the Solarbots’ elite squad, why do we get scrap missions?”

        The team took a left into another hallway. “The war just started. I’m sure we’ll get our fair share of excitement soon enough,” assured Shining Armor.

        At the back of the group, Fluttershy whispered, “I hope not.” Soarin turned his head and gave her a disappointed look.

        Twilight stopped at a third door. This one had a sign above it that read “Access Tunnel.” She backed up and gave Soarin a nod, who then blasted the door. They entered the room, and surrounded the panel on the floor. There was a touchpad on the wall.

        “Thank Primus. This one doesn’t need a code,” Twilight said, pressing her hoof against the touchpad. The panel separated into four quadrants and retracted into the adjacent panels. “Alright, everypony in. Time to get working.”

        The tunnel was pitch-black. The energon flow to its power supply had long since stopped. The team tried to ignore Fluttershy’s trembling. Twilight and Shining Armor’s horns transformed into flashlights, illuminating the long hallway before them. The walls were rusted. The floor, covered in rubble from quakes caused by the mining operations above.

        Twilight grinned and looked at Soarin. “See. I told you these flashlight functions would be useful. Looks like you were wrong.”

        Soarin gave Twilight a blank stare. “I never said they weren’t useful. I said they looked stupid, and I was right. Celestia did always say you were bright. She didn’t know how right she was.” Soarin started laughing, until he heard the sound of a charging rifle. “Kidding.”

        Unlike the building they entered from, the tunnel had no doors. Just hallways. Many hallways. There was no way of telling which way they were going, as none of the exits were marked or functional. They considered checking them, by blasting them open, but Twilight decided against it. Walking through the buildings above would take too much extra time. Eventually, after walking for an hour or so, they stopped at one of the exits. There were energon canisters piled at the bottom of the access ramp.

        “I suppose this must be it,” said Spitfire. “They wouldn’t put all of this here if it wasn’t the energon stockpile.”

        “Unless the Cons put the titans in charge of more than just defense. Remember the minefield?”

        “Don’t worry Soarin. I remember the minefield. I remember it clearly,” Spitfire said in a stern voice.

        Soarin smiled warily. “Uh, should I blast this open then, Twilight?”

        Twilight considered this and said, “No. If there are Cons up there, we don’t want them to hear the blast.” She turned to Fluttershy. “Do you have a blowtorch in that med kit?” Fluttershy nodded. “Good. Use it to open the panel.”

        Fluttershy did as instructed and placed the blowtorch back in the kit. The team ascended the ramp and entered the access room. A single Lunarcon guarded the door to the room. Soarin signaled the rest to go back into the tunnel. He backed up to the panel as well, shot the door’s keypad, and went into the tunnel. The guard entered the room to investigate the sound. He noticed the open panel and approached it to look inside.

        Soarin used his wings to place himself on the ceiling of the tunnel. The guard knelt down to peek inside the tunnel. Soarin’s hoof turned into a blade, and when the guard poked his head through the hole, he gasped as cold steel sliced through his mouth. From the mouth up, the guard’s head was severed, and fell to the tunnel floor.

        Soarin landed on the ramp and retracted his blade. The lifeless husk of the guard lay limp over the edge of the hole. Energon dripped from what remained of his head. Soarin turned to see the rest of the team waiting for him to speak. “What?” he asked.

        “Exactly how many weapons do you have?” asked Shining Armor.

        Soarin laughed. “More than you. When they told me I’d be joining the elite Sparkle Brigade, I made sure to be equipped for any situation.”

        “No complaints here,” said Twilight, as she moved past Soarin.

        The rest followed her lead, and left the tunnel. The team began moving through the hallways of the energon stockpile. The light in the facility was much appreciated after their time in the tunnel. Twilight was glad to be rid of her flashlight, curbing any criticism or jokes from Soarin. They entered the main room. A titan stood guard inside.

        Soarin readied himself, but was stopped by Twilight. “Not this time Soarin,” she said. “Shining and I will handle this one.”

        Shining Armor and Twilight snuck up on the titan. Fluttershy looked worried as they grew closer to the hulking beast of a pony. Twilight on the left and Shining on the right, they simultaneously skewered the titan’s neck with their horns. Energon poured out through the puncture holes. The titan fell to the floor with a crash. Twilight cringed at the thundering sound. A Lunarcon soldier entered the room, reacting to the sound, and was instantly shot through the head.

        Soarin put away his neuron rifle and switched to his side-mounts. “We better get moving before more Cons show up.” He entered the main room and started up the ramp to the second floor. He turned to look at Twilight. “Try not to make too much noise next time.”

        Twilight followed him. “Sorry we aren’t all killing machines like you. Some of us used to spend our time in the archives,” she said angrily.

        “We all have our own talents. You lead. I fight. Works better that way.”

        “You would’ve fit in well with the Wreckers.”

        “That’s what I told Applejack. I’m glad somepony acknowledges my expertise,” Soarin said with a huge grin.

        Twilight sighed and muttered, “It wasn’t a compliment.”

        The upper floors were unguarded. The Lunarcons trusted that a titan would keep the building safe. The team reached the top floor and approached the viewing windows that surrounded the room. The expanse of the canyon laid before them, they looked with dropped jaws.

        “By the AllSpark. You were right, Shining. This is no normal city though. The Cons are building a prison,” said Twilight.

        In the canyon below, stood a massive fortress. Surrounding it were various buildings adorned with cannons. Attached to the canyon walls above the fortress were warp cannons. The ruins of Tyger Pax had become the foundation for an impregnable Lunarcon prison. Dozens of titans patrolled the immediate vicinity of the fortress.

        Fluttershy stepped back. “The Council will want to take the ruins.”

        “Probably. I’m guessing they’ll send us in too,” said Soarin.

        “It’ll be a suicide mission! There’s no way the Solarbots could invade this place!”

        The rest of the team looked at Fluttershy questionably. She lowered her head. “I mean, I’d still go, but I don’t think we have the proper forces to take on something like this.”

        “Well, she’s not wrong," Twilight began, “especially with those warp cannons. They’d annihilate anything we could throw at them.”

        “What if we dropped high-powered explosives on them from the top of the canyon?” asked Soarin. “That way, they can’t hit us.”

        “That could work, but we don’t have those kinds of explosives. Besides, we don’t have the troops to commit to this takeover,” said Spitfire.

        “That would be a job for the Wreckers,” said Twilight. “That’s what they’re best at anyw-”

        Twilight was interrupted by Shining Armor. “Uh, Twilight.”

        She turned to him and asked, “What is it?” Her eyes widened as she saw the two pegasi outside the window, X12 Scrapmakers in hoof. “Oh.”

        As the hum from the spinning barrels of the Scrapmakers penetrated their audio receptors, Shining turned around and said, “We should run.”

        They ran for the exit. Within moments, the room filled with laser fire from the Scrapmakers. A few shots scratched the members of the Sparkle Brigade. One hit Soarin in his left flank. He stumbled for a moment, before picking himself up with his wings. As they descended the ramps leading to the main room, they could hear the sound of the Scrapmakers spinning up again as the two pegasi moved to greet them on the first floor.

        A thermo rocket cannon emerged from Shining Armor’s back. He lowered his head as he entered the main room, and fired it at the door. The pegasi emerged in the doorway, and were struck by the three missiles, blowing them to pieces.

        Soarin stopped at the bottom of the ramp and looked at the pile of scrap. “Nice. Gotta get me one of those,” he said.

        They were about to head down the hallway to get back to the access room, when Fluttershy said, “Wait! We need to blow the energon!”

        “Do you really think we have the time for that?” asked Spitfire.

        “It would slow down their construction, and should create a chain reaction through the energon power lines, leading to the stockpile in the tunnel. If we do though, we won’t be able to come back through that access panel again.”

        Spitfire blinked. “Uh, well what do you think, Twilight?”

        Twilight looked at Fluttershy. “Are you sure about this? It’ll blow their entire energon supply?”

        “Yes,” Fluttershy answered, unsure. “Unless they have additional stockpiles.”

        “Destroying some is better than destroying none,” said Shining Armor.

        “Alright,” began Twilight, “we’ll blow the energon. Still got that grenade, Soarin?”

        Soarin smiled. “You bet I do,” he answered.

        “Good. We’ll guard you. Plant a timed charge on the energon outside.”

        They crossed over the pile of scrap at the door and moved to the energon pile that was in front of the building. Lunarcons began advancing on their position. They took careful shots, so as to not destroy the energon. Twilight and Shining used their horns to pick off a few that stood atop the fortress. A squad of five jets flew in from the fortress. Shining Armor readied his thermo rocket cannon again and blasted three of them out of the sky. The other two were shot down by Spitfire, who transformed and took flight.

        Spitfire readied her under-wing neuron rifles and lit up the ground, littering the canyon with Lunarcon corpses. Soarin continued working on the grenade, trying to estimate the amount of time they’d need to escape. A titan emerged from one of the buildings across the canyon. Riot cannons emerged from its sides. Twilight raised a hoof, revealing an E.D.K. TechVolt. She fired it at the titan. The shock from the blast surged through its massive body, ceasing all functions. In its electrical fit, the riot cannons misfired, destroying one of the cannons atop the buildings.

        Soarin got up and looked at the team. “Everypony. Move. Now!” he shouted.

        They hurried back inside, through the hallways, and entered the access room. As they rushed into the tunnel, Soarin shouted, “Twenty nanokliks!” They galloped down the ramp and took a right at the first divergent path. They lined up against the wall around the corner and waited. The ground shook and blue light filled the tunnel as blue flames burst forth from the energon. After the shaking stopped, they looked back at the ramp. It had been covered in scraps of metal, and the hallway leading to it was covered in blue flames.

        Spitfire laughed. “I think it’s safe to assume Fluttershy was right.”

        “That’ll show the Cons!” exclaimed Shining Armor.

        “We aren’t out of here yet,” said Twilight. “We need to get back on the other side of the minefield, and call for a ground bridge. Shining, flashlights. Soarin, silence.”

        The team made their way back through the tunnels, following flares that Fluttershy placed during their first trip through. After they made it back to the access panel of the first building, and had Fluttershy cut it open, they went back through the winding hallways.

        “I hope whoever designed this place is rusting in a scrapheap,” said Soarin.

        Once in the main room, Twilight peeked out the front door. The Lunarcons were still searching the energon stockpile, attempting to find the nonexistent corpses of the Sparkle Brigade. “We’re still clear,” said Twilight. They snuck out of ruins, the way they came in, and reached the minefield.

        “Don’t fall in this time, Spitfire,” joked Soarin.

        “Be careful I don’t push you in, Soarin,” she threatened.

        Across the minefield, Twilight tried to get a signal on her transceiver, while the team rested. Fluttershy administered first-aid to Soarin, who was now complaining about the pain in his flank. “You know, Shining, you could have warned us about those pegasi sooner,” he said.

        “You could’ve been more alert,” Shining retorted.

        Twilight furiously tapped the transceiver on her ear. “Hello? This is Captain Twilight Sparkle, requesting ground bridge. Can you hear me? Scrap. The signal is terrible out here. I repeat, this is Captain Twilight Sparkle, I need a ground bridge to Canteon at my location.”

        “That won’t be necessary,” said an approaching voice.

        The team, now alert, readied their weapons. “Are you a Bot or a Con?” asked Soarin. As the figure approached, she became more clear. Twilight focused her optics and said, “Celestia? Is that you?” She looked back at the team, who were still armed, except Fluttershy. “Lower your weapons!” ordered Twilight. “Celestia, you look...different.”

        Celestion Prime approached the team. “Much has changed, my faithful student.”

        “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the control room back in Canteon with Cadence?” asked Twilight.

        “The Council has asked me to lead a stealth mission to Lunus Omega, and I have chosen your team to accompany me.”

        “You’re just a historian. You work in the archives. Why would the Council ask this of you? I don’t understand.”

        “Twilight, I am no longer Celestia, the historian. Now, I am Celestion Prime, leader of the Solarbots. Nightmare Moon assaulted Canteon while you were away, and the Council needed somepony to lead the troops into battle.”

        “You? A Prime? I-what-how?”

        “I too was at a loss for words when I was told of the Council’s decision.”

        Twilight stood before Celestion, dumbfounded. Soarin laughed at this revelation. “Bookworms on the frontlines. What a world! So, Prime, we got another stealth mission? If it’s anything like today, this should be exciting!”