> Megatron’s Revenge > by TheClownPrinceofCrime > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: A New Plan in a New World > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “What is this?! Shockwave, what is the meaning of this?!” the Decepticon leader demanded. “The destination code has been deleted, my liege,” replied the Decepticon spy. “The space bridge could send you anywhere!” The said space bridge began to malfunction once Megatron put Starscream’s head, in which the Allspark fragment was imbedded, inside the power chamber. Thus, the space bridge could not maintain that much power and went out of control. “Ahhhh, make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!!!” Starscream cried as he was electrocuted by the power source. “This is getting too painful!!” Optimus Prime and his Autobot crew—Prowl, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead—had to hold on to the ground to avoid being sucked into the unstable portal. “This thing is going to blow up any cycle now! We have to stop it before it does!” Optimus said. Starscream was about to be yanked from the chamber once the space bridge became even more unstable. “What? No, no, no, NO!!! This cannot be happening to meeeeeeeeee!!!” he yelled, getting sucked into the portal. Megatron held unto one of his swords and impaled the ground to avoid being sucked in. Then he glared daggers at his annoying archenemy. “You have interfered with my plans for the last time, Autobot!” he angrily shouted. He pointed his fusion cannon to finish off the Autobot commander once and for all. He wickedly smiled as he had been waiting for a long time for that. However, Optimus grabbed one of his stasis cuffs and cuffed Megatron’s arm that held his fusion cannon. As a result, his primary weapon was disabled. Enraged, Megatron kicked Optimus away from him and reached for his other sword. He stabbed his swords on the ground while he reached to the injured Autobot to avoid being dragged into the portal. Once he got close to him, he raised his swords again just above Prime. He uttered cries of wrath and triumph as he was about to end his arch rival. Suddenly, the stasis cuff magnetically attached to his free arm and cuffed it as well. Thus, he was immobilized completely. Having no firm ground, he was pulled into the portal with his weapons flying by. “NO! NOOOOOOO!!!!” The mighty leader of the Decepticons was sucked into the portal before he could even destroy his Autobot foes and witness the outcome of the unstable portal. Never before had he suffered this type of humiliation. Having a great reputation of conquering his enemies with ease and little effort, he always expected to triumph in every battle against the Autobots. But this... this was something he would never forget. Sure, he has been defeated before but nothing like this. For a long time, he had been planning to conquer their home world Cybertron and recreate it into his image. He also wanted to seize the power of the Allspark, the life force of all Cybertronians. Unfortunately, his treacherous second-in-command Starscream waylaid him and gave way for a number of circumstances that led him down to a human world called earth. After fifty years of being offline, he reawakened by the Allspark’s power and was rebuilt into his new body by Dr. Issac Sumdac, the head of Sumdac Tower after he deceived him into thinking he was an Autobot. Now, he was once again in a state of helplessness and humiliation. The portal took them into outer space. Surrounded by asteroids, all that they could do was death-glare at each other. For five solid minutes, they said nothing but only glared daggers. Having enough of each other’s silent treatment, they snapped. “Stop staring at me!” Megatron yelled. “No, you stop staring at me!” replied Starscream. “Look at what you have brought us into, Starscream,” continued Megatron. “This was the very moment I have been waiting for: conquering Cybertron and reigning supreme as its leader and master!! And you have ruined it!” “ME?! It was your idea to put me in that ridiculous chamber! What was I supposed to do?! Oh, wait, I forgot... NOTHING!! Because I’m just a head with no body!” retorted Starscream. “I should have just removed your Allspark fragment! That would’ve stabilized the space bridge!” Megatron shouted. “What?! That would’ve taken me offline!” Starscream argued. “The result of which I would’ve been so satisfied with...” uttered Megatron. “Well, look at us now, Megatron! We are stuck here in the middle of space with no power, no help, and simply nowhere to go... all because of YOU!!!” Starscream chided. “You were about to ultimately defeat your greatest enemies—those accursed Autobots—and yet your ego and pride betrayed you to utter humiliation! Yet you call yourself a mighty leader...” “Says the fool who got backstabbed by his own clones,” smirked Megatron. Starscream widened in surprise before turning his head (or himself as he was just a head) in shame. “Do not remind me of that...” After that, they stared at the stars in silence. Megatron in particular was sulking in his defeat more as his pride was severely wounded. “How could I been defeated that easily? I was so close to gaining victory over my adversaries once and for all. Yet I was so foolish to even—NO! It’s not my fault! It was those Autobots that got in my way!” he mentally ranted. “I am the leader of the Decepticons. I will never give up; thus, I will continue to fight them all. Once I find a way out of here, I will have my revenge on that... Autobot scum and his teammates.” Megatron thought. Before he could think of any plan however, he lifted his head and saw a strange planet right before him. “Huh? What is that?” he asked. “Wait... that’s earth, isn’t it?” asked Starscream. “No, this planet appears to be... different. Definitely not planet earth. Huh?” Megatron felt himself being pulled by the gravitational force of the planet. As they drew nearer to the atmosphere, they started to descend into the planet’s surface. “Oh, what is it this time?!” Starscream asked. “The gravitational force, you fool! Brace yourself!” Megatron suggested. “HOW CAN I DO THAT WITHOUT MY BODY! AHHHHHHH!!” Starscream screamed. Annoyed by his screams, Megatron lifted his cuffed arms, opened his hands, and held him tightly. Both Decepticons descended into the planet. Suddenly, a random small asteroid flew by. Megatron came near to it and smashed the stasis cuffs on it so hard that it broke. Regaining all of his strength, he grabbed his weapons, and transformed into helicopter with Starscream strapped in the cockpit. He then flew down into the atmosphere. As he flew all the way down into the cloudy sky, he noticed the sky dark with the moon and stars shining above. As he scanned the massive landscape below him, he noticed a nearby forest. Smiling to himself, he flew all the way to the exact forest and transformed to robot mode. He looked around and saw everything around him—trees, grass, flowers, a still flowing river, hills, everything. “What is this planet? This place appears to be quite similar to earth, but the outside covering of this world is very different.” Megatron observed. “What do you mean by that? It’s clearly earth!” Starscream doubted. “I told you! We are NOT in earth! Something tells me that we are in a world which we have not seen before,” said Megatron. “Hmmmm, obviously, it is nighttime as the humans call it. It would be best if we stay here until the morning so that we can explore what this planet has to offer.” “Whatever you say, oh mighty Megatron.” Starscream said sarcastically. Megatron sat upon the grass and laid his back on a hill behind him. Realizing he nearly used up most of his energy, he activated power-down mode and rested. THE NEXT MORNING Early in the morning, Megatron got up and went over to Starscream who also powered down. “Rise up!” Megatron commanded, kicking him abruptly. “Ahh! What?! What’s going on?!” Starscream spoke, reactivated. “Time to see what this planet has to offer. Besides, it might have resources that can help us find our way back to Cybertron and annihilate the Autobots forever.” Megatron replied. “And what if it doesn’t?” Starscream scowled. “It has them. I am sure of it. Enough questioning me already!” Megatron snapped. He picked up Starscream and exited the forest. As he was walking towards the other hills, he noticed something: a local town far below the hills. He quickly hid behind one of the hills while zooming his vision on the town. “It seems that this world does have inhabitants. I wonder what those inhabitants are,” he said. His optics zoomed on the residents of the town and discovered something rather unusual. “Odd,” said Megatron. “What? What is?” Starscream asked curiously. “These inhabitants are actually... organic animals. They are quadrupedals; some have horns, others have wings, and others have neither. What are they exactly?” Megatron wondered. “Who cares what they are?! They’re just a bunch of worthless organics for all I care! This is a waste of time! Let’s get out of here!” Starscream yelled. “No... there’s something interesting about them,” said Megatron, evilly smirking. “You see what I’m seeing?” “Uhh, no?” Starscream replied, confused. “Look,” he instructed. He lifted Starscream to the exact spot the former saw. The Seeker saw some of the equines performing some type of magic. He even spotted a pink-purple mare with dark purple hair teleporting from one area to another, and a white mare holding some items with her magic. “Ohhh, I see. These fleshbags have... magic?” Starscream concluded. “Precisely,” said Megatron. “Those creatures could be useful to us. If there is more magic around here, it could be the key to our way of victory to Cybertron. The Autobots won’t stand a chance against this sort of power.” “How exactly are you going to do that?” Starscream asked. “Simple, Starscream... we will play this game in the Autobot way.” Megatron planned, malevolently grinning. > Chapter 1: Formal Greeting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THE FRIENDSHIP CASTLE “Glad we were able to solve the friendship problem between those two,” the purple alicorn said. “The more they exercise proper communication with each other the better their friendship will be!” “You can say that again, Twilight,” said the pink-purple unicorn. “It is just like what Stygian went through before he became the Pony of Shadows.” “That’s why it’s so important to be honest and upfront about what you’re feeling. I’m glad they understood that lesson.” Twilight smiled. Suddenly, a pink pony burst through the doors into the map room. She also carried two trays of cupcakes on her head while brightly smiling. “Hey, Twilight! Hey, Starlight!” “Hey, Pinkie!” both ponies greeted back. “What are those cupcakes you have?” Starlight asked. “I made lemon cupcakes with sprinkles on top! I thought you two would love them since their lemon-flavored!” Pinkie smiled, giving them a lemon cupcake each. Twilight and Starlight had their first bite on the cupcakes. To Pinkie’s joy, they enjoyed the sweet flavor of the cupcakes. “Hmmm, this is sweetly delicious! Thanks, Pinkie!” Twilight thanked. “Yeah, this is really good! What else did you add besides lemons?” Starlight asked. “Well, I added, cinnamon, milk, three eggs, brown sugar, flour, and—.” “TWILIGHT!!” a little dragon cried. He entered inside while panting in fear. Three ponies looked back at him with clear worry on their faces especially Twilight. “What’s wrong, Spike?” she asked. “There is a giant monster heading right toward us!” Spike shouted. “That thing is carrying a huge live head with it! I’ve never seen it before, and it looks so scary! It’s walking on its way to Ponyville!” OUTSIDE Megatron slowly walked down the path to the local town of Ponyville. However, he couldn’t help but make thunderous footsteps that nearly shook the town considering his massive size. As he got close to it, the ponies spotted him with mixed reactions. Some of them were so seized by curiosity that they couldn’t even scream in terror of the titanic beast, others were amazed by the detailed design of the being, and others were terrified to be near him and ran away. Megatron secretly relished their apparent fear as he often intimidated other beings, Cybertronian or not, with his big size, mighty strength, and threatening nature and demeanor. However, with the new plan he hatched earlier, he had to hide his true intentions and play the friendly alien until the time was right. “Well, Megatron, you sure are making a great impression.” Starscream sarcastically remarked. “Silence, fool,” Megatron whispered. “Things will go according to plan. These creatures have no idea how powerful and unique they really are. Just follow my lead.” Starscream groaned in annoyance. Suddenly, a rainbow-colored pegasus swiftly flew up to Megatron’s face and eyed him with a suspicious glare. “Hey, you! Who are you? What are you doing here trying to scare us in Ponyville?” she demanded. This made both Decepticons raise their metal eyebrows. “These organic creatures have the ability to talk? That’s new. I still need to know what they really are. I need all the answers necessary to succeed in my plan.” Megatron thought. Then he feigned a smile towards the pegasus. “Pardon me, dear creature. I mean no harm to any of you,” said Megatron. “Allow me to introduce myself: I am Megatron, the leader of the peacemaking Decepticons. We come in peace in search of a home.” His respectful attitude made the pony raise her eyebrow at first until she softened her gaze and smile back. “Oh, well uh... welcome to Ponyville! I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony in all of Equestria! Pleasure to meet you, Megatron!” “Likewise, Rainbow Dash.” Megatron nodded. “Quite an odd name but whatever.” “And who are you?” Rainbow asked, pointing at the body-less Seeker. “The name is Starscream, Megatron’s... (clears throat)... uh... second-in-command. Greetings to you too... Rainbow Dash.” Starscream introduced, trying very hard to swallow his pride. “I am the fastest and most powerful Seeker of them all! If only I had my body, I would prove that to you!” “Fastest, huh? Hah! Bet I could beat you in a race!” Rainbow bragged. “In your dreams, organic... uh, I mean, Rainbow Dash.” Starscream spoke. “Oh dear, it appears that this Rainbow Dash acts too much like Starscream. First he made clones of himself and now this? How many more Starscream ripoffs do I need in my life?” Megatron internally groaned. “Anyway, would you kindly introduce me to your friends, Rainbow Dash?” Megatron asked. “No problem! Follow me!” Rainbow said, flying off. Megatron followed her to the middle of Ponyville to meet the rest of the ponies and her friends. Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike exited the Friendship Castle and immediately saw Rainbow Dash being followed by the gigantic monster with a strange weapon mounted on his arm and a live head on his other hand. “Rainbow Dash, behind you!” Twilight warned. “Hey, don’t worry! He’s friendly! He wants to meet you guys!” Rainbow told them. “We have a new visitor of Equestria!” Pinkie made a long gasp until she zoomed out of the area for a few seconds before coming back with a party hat and a party cannon. “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!” she shouted, shooting confetti to the air. Megatron stood somewhat genuinely confused at this turn of events. A little equine actually considered celebrating a new visitor who appeared to be some sort of... alien? This was one of the many stranger things he had ever witnessed in his life. “Greetings to all creatures of this town. I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. I come in peace in search of a planet to call home.” he introduced. Twilight and the others were slightly taken back by the term “Decepticon”. It sounded so much like deception and con to suggest something rather suspicious. “Hmm, that’s weird. Decepticons? Never heard of the term before, but that doesn’t sound too friendly.” Twilight whispered to herself. Then she looked up at the giant with a smile. “Well, welcome to Equestria, Megatron! I’m Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship! It’s an honor to meet you.” “Why does her voice sound so familiar? She sounds like Sari Sumdac for some reason.” Megatron wondered. “Well, Twilight Sparkle, thank you for the kind words. I apologize if I have caused any... disruption of sorts.” “Oh, it’s nothing,” said Starlight. “I’m Starlight Glimmer. This is Spike the dragon, and this is Pinkie Pie.” “Yep! The one and only!” Pinkie said. “Oh, and who is that with you?” Twilight asked, looking at Starscream. “He is my... (groans)... second-in-command of my Decepticon forces.” Megatron replied with no enthusiasm. “What happened to his body?” Starlight asked. “Ughhh... don’t ask. It’s a... long story.” Starscream replied. “Ummm... okay?” Starlight said, puzzled. “Wait? Where did you come from? Are you an alien? (Gasp) ARE YOU REALLY AN ALIEN?! I really want to know!!” Twilight repeatedly asked. “Well, technically I am. I am from the planet called Cybertron, the home of my own kind.” Megatron replied. “THAT IS FANTASTIC!! I have so many questions!” Twilight squealed. “Wait, so you guys are friendly? You’re not gonna hurt us?” Spike asked. “Of course we are friendly, young one. I lead an army of warriors who believe in freedom, justice, and sacrifice. For freedom is the right of all sentient beings!” Megatron declared. “That’s awesome! Wait, you said you were looking for a home, right? And you call yourselves Decepticons. What happened to this Cybertron, and why do you call yourselves that? That just sounds... strange.” Rainbow asked. Megatron set Starscream down on the ground before addressing her questions. “I’m glad you asked, Ms. Rainbow Dash. Our worse enemies called the Autobots denounced us with that cruel name to assassinate our character and deform our righteous image. However, I decided to embrace that name to use that for good.” “Wow,” the ponies said. The rest of the residents joined in and listened to Megatron’s story. “As for Cybertron itself, it unfortunately was taken captive by the evil warlord named Ultra Magnus.” Megatron continued. The ponies gasped in shock. “Yes, he and the cruel Autobot terrorists conquered my home world, wrecked havoc in our streets, and exiled me and my army to outer space. Even worse... they destroyed the ones I held dear to my spark.” Starscream rolled his optics. However, the ponies felt sympathy for the Decepticon leader. “That’s terrible! I’m sorry that happened!” Lyra spoke from the crowd. “How can those Autobot beings be so evil?!” Octavia added. “How cruel and heartless!” Bon Bon added. “Indeed, my little friends. Thus, for many solar cycles, I’ve been searching for any sign of a home where I can abide peacefully with no trouble or even better... find a way through which I can defeat the wicked Autobots and save Cybertron.” Megatron finished. “Perhaps you creatures can help me?” “Don’t worry, Megatron. We will assist you in anyway we can. My friends and I will be here for you. As the princess of friendship, I’ll be more than happy to be your new friend!” Twilight smiled, offering her hoof. Megatron thought about it until he grinned. “Much appreciated, Princess Twilight.” He bent down and softly shook Twilight’s hoof. The ponies then celebrated as they had new friends in town... or so they thought. “This is all too easy,” thought Megatron as he smirked. > Chapter 2: Having New “Friends” > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Megatron walked across Ponyville while following Twilight, Starlight, and Spike as they showed him all of Ponyville. “While these organics possess the absolute power I can imagine, they do appear to be very primitive. Not that it matters of course,” he thought. “Since you’re the leader of a faction, should we address you by your title?” Twilight asked. Megatron grinned at that. “Well, certainly! You may call me Lord Megatron... if you feel comfortable with that though.” “Okay then, Lord Megatron, allow us to introduce you to everypony including our other friends!” Twilight smiled. “Oh, I am so ever eager to meet them,” said Megatron, slyly smirking. The four went to the carousel boutique where a certain white unicorn worked with the dresses and other fabrics. Hearing loud thunderous steps outside, the mare quickly went outside to investigate the noises. To her shock, she beheld a gigantic metal monster standing behind her three friends. Then he bent down to her level with a feigned smile. “Rarity, I presume? A great pleasure to meet you.” “SWEET CELESTIA! Where did you come from?! Twilight, who is this titanic being?!” Rarity shrieked. “He is Lord Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. He and his friend Starscream were wrongfully banished from his home planet and came here,” Twilight explained. “They are our new friends!” “Starscream isn’t my friend. Attempting to assassinate your own master isn’t a sign of friendship. What a pathetic waste of energon...” Megatron groaned. “Oh, well... pardon me, Lord Megatron for my rude response. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance!” Rarity apologized, offering her hoof to him. He softly shook her hoof in acceptance. “Ehhh, filthy pests... touching these inferior organics is something I’ll never get used to.” he thought. While they weren’t looking at him, Megatron wiped his left servo on his leg. “You have other friends you wish to introduce me to?” Megatron asked. “Yep! Applejack and Fluttershy! Follow us!” Spike said. They then led him outside of the town to some place else. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stayed with Starscream as she wanted to know him a little more. “So, Starscream, you said you are a Seeker, huh?” she asked. “Yes, I am! I have always been the most effective warrior of all the Decepticons!” Starscream boasted. “All those Autobot scum that faced me could never lay their disgusting servos on my powerful wings!” “Wow, that’s actually... twenty percent cooler! Were you the only Seeker out there?” Rainbow asked. “Actually... I was the only Seeker amongst the Decepticons. It wasn’t until I decided to... make clones of myself to create my own sub-faction of warriors.” Starscream admitted, turning his optics to the ground. “Really? What motivated you to do that?” Rainbow curiously asked. This made Starscream twitch his right optic in annoyance. “I did it because... I wanted to build an army for Megatron to serve our great and mighty cause! Megatron will tell you how really loyal I am!” Starscream explained with a fake smile. “THAT’S COOL! That makes us so much alike! I am the element of loyalty! As a close friend of Twilight, I always do the best I can to be loyal to her and to my other friends! I will never abandon them no matter what.” Rainbow proudly told him. “Wait, hold on a second... element of loyalty? What the spark is that exactly?” Starscream asked, arching his metal optic brow. “It is one of the six Elements of Harmony. The elements are loyalty, generosity, honesty, kindness, laughter, and magic. With all these elements, you have harmony and friendship forming together! Pretty cool, huh?” Rainbow explained. Starscream thought on the information for a few seconds before his interest began to spark and wanting to know more about these Elements of Harmony. “Elements of Harmony, huh? That’s very interesting, Rainbow Dash.” However, those specific elements started to disgust him as he thought about them. “Those fleshies couldn’t have thought of much better elements than those so-called elements of the weakest quality? Laughter, kindness?? LOYALTY?! Pathetic!! But magic sounds more... promising...” “Which one of those elements is the most important one?” Starscream asked. “Easy! Magic!” Rainbow replied. Then Starscream began to smirk. This sounded like the direction Megatron told him about. He slowly realized how crucial Megatron’s plan was the more he saw some possible potential of this magic being that powerful. “I suppose Megatron had his head screwed on straight when he mentioned about powerful magic. His plan might work after all.” he thought. Then he faced Dash. “Tell me more about these... Elements of Harmony,” said Starscream, smirking widely. ******** Megatron followed Twilight, Starlight, and Spike to another area called Sweet Apple Acres. Once he set his red optics on the farm and the large field next to it, he became a little interested. “Hmmm, is this where your other friend lives, Twilight?” he asked. “Yep! You will start to like her once you two get to know each other!” Twilight replied, smiling. “Now you have to be careful. Since the Apple family harvest apples around here, you have to make sure you don’t step on anything that resembles an apple.” “An apple? You mean one of those organic foods that has varying red and green colors with a stem on top?” Megatron asked, puzzled. “Correct,” Starlight replied. “Hmmm... very well,” said the Decepticon leader. He then slowly stepped in front of the barn where there were three ponies working together. When they saw him stepping forward, they started to panic. “Ahhh! A giant monster!” the yellow filly exclaimed. “WHAT IN TARNATION?!” the farm pony shouted. “What the horse apples are ya?!” Once again, Megatron secretly relished the fear that displayed itself on the faces of the ponies. However, it was imperative for him to keep up his convincing act lest he loses his main objective. “No need for fear, young ones, your friendly new visitor is here.” he assured them. This made the three farm ponies slightly relaxed. “Really? You’re—you’re not gonna hurt us?” the filly asked. “It’s all right, he is with us. His name is Megatron. He comes from a peaceful race of alien robots who fight for justice and freedom.” Starlight introduced. “That is correct,” said Megatron. “I apologize if I have startled you all. Please, introduce yourselves.” “My name is Applejack, and these are my siblings: Big Mac and Apple Bloom. Sorry for our reaction earlier. We thought ya were goin’ to attack us,” she said. “Not at all. The only ones who would definitely hurt you are the evil Autobots,” said Megatron, closing his fists. “They will all be brought to justice for all the horrors they did to Cybertron.” “Uhh, what’s Cybertron?” Applejack asked. “My own home world that was taken captive by Ultra Magnus and his evil forces. I am here to find help so that I can reach my Decepticon army and help save my endangered home.” Megatron answered with apparent sadness. “Surely, your species is adequate enough to fight against its enemies?” “Oh, well, ah’m so sorry to hear, Megatron. But we could definitely assist ya in whatever way we can,” said Applejack. “And don’t worry, we faced other villainous threats before! We fought against Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, Discord before he was reformed, and just recently the Pony of Shadows!” “Hmmm, those creatures do sound quite interesting. I truly do wonder how threatening and powerful they were,” Megatron thought. “Impressive, Applejack. That tells me you’re more than capable of helping those of dire need. It pleases me to see other beings of kindred spirits.” “Yup!” Big Mac said. “Now just one more friend for you to meet and then we’ll have you meet the princesses!” Twilight shouted excitedly. “Princesses? You mean you have rulers in this land?” Megatron asked. “Yep! Come on, let’s go!” Spike waved. “I have a better way to get there,” said Megatron. Suddenly, he arose in the air and transformed into a helicopter. This blew away the ponies and dragon standing by. “WOW!! THAT IS SO AWESOME!!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Sweet Celestia!! You just turned into a... flying... thingie??” Spike exclaimed, dropping his jaw in shock. “It’s called a helicopter. I know you will love it. Now, hop inside.” Megatron instructed. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike jumped inside the cockpit and marveled at the buttons and design of the inward structure of the helicopter. “Wow, this is... amazing! Wait... I’ve seen helicopters in Sunset’s world but not this type.” Twilight uttered. “Really? Well, to think of it, it feels really strange yet cool at the same time...” Starlight whispered. “I wish I can transform like that. Ponies can be transformers, right?” Megatron then flew off to the other side of Ponyville where Twilight directed him to Fluttershy’s cottage. The apple family stood by in awe after seeing everything that happened. “Wow,” said Big Mac. “Tell me about it,” agreed Applejack. “A huge being that can... transform or something? That’s something you don’t see everyday. Autobots and Decepticons? Why does that “Decepticon” name sound so... suspicious to me?” > Chapter 3: Meeting Fluttershy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “There you go, Angel. Enjoy your lunch,” said the yellow pegasus with a smile. Angel Bunny and the other critters were having their lunch within the cottage while their caretaker stood in their midst. “Now, wait here. I am going to check on the others, okay?” she said. She went outside her home and saw a bear and several birds waiting for her. “Don’t any of you worry. Your meals will be ready shortly.” After they happily nodded, Fluttershy trotted to her kitchen and began the preparation of her meals. Suddenly, a strange creature appeared in a white flash and stood behind Fluttershy with some newspaper in his paw. “Hellllllloooo, bestie! Quite a refreshing day so far, isn’t it?” “Discord! I didn’t expect to see you here. How are you?” Fluttershy asked. “Oh, same old, same old,” said Discord. “You know me... the Lord of Chaos always fascinated by every unusual moment of every day life. Speaking of which, take a look at this! I think you might like it!” He opened the newspaper before her. Once she read the headline, she was amazed. “Oh my, a new visitor to Ponyville? Just now? How did they put it on the newspaper so fast?” Fluttershy asked. “Oh no, I made this myself. Once I’ve heard about this new visitor, I decided to put the paper together and make it into a surprise! In fact, this visitor should be on his way right now!” Discord smiled, snapping his finger before a timer appeared next to him. “I have some other animals to feed right now so—.” “Oh, don’t worry, my dear Fluttershy. Allow me...” Discord snapped his fingers again. The food Fluttershy was preparing immediately finished and teleported to the bowls of the other animals. “There! Oh look! Five more seconds!” Five seconds later, helicopter noises were heard outside. It got louder and louder once the helicopter itself came closer to the cottage. The animals outside were scattered from the area for fear of the strange object hovering above them. The helicopter opened its doors, and there came out Twilight, Starlight, and Spike. “Wow! That ride was... amazing! We should do this again!” Spike said. “Yeah, I have to admit that was really fun,” said Twilight. “Looks like we made it to Fluttershy’s cottage!” Suddenly, Discord and Fluttershy appeared in a white flash. “Looks like you three have already befriended this visitor.” Discord observed. “Discord?! What are you doing here?” Starlight asked. “To have this epic moment of seeing this guest for myself... with Fluttershy of course.” Discord replied. He snapped his fingers to summon a sofa chair and some popcorn. Then the helicopter transformed into robot mode and stood beside the cottage while looking down on the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy trembled in fear before Megatron as she had never seen a giant alien robot before in her life. A titan of this magnitude immediately overwhelmed her which caused her to hide behind Harry the bear. “I hope I didn’t disturb the young creature, did I?” Megatron politely asked. “Yes, you did. She is really terrified of seeing a giant coming near her, and you even have the appropriate strength to tear down her home and—.” “DISCORD!!” Twilight, Starlight, and Spike yelled. “What? I’m just saying how she felt.” Discord said, raising his arms in innocence. “This amalgamated creature has some twisted sense of humor I see,” Megatron observed. “I like him already. His power he is flawlessly displaying could be of great use to the Decepticons.” “I believe proper introductions are in order,” said Megatron. “My name is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. The honor of meeting you and your little friend is mine.” “Megatron, huh?” Discord uttered as he flew up to Megatron. “My, my, my, you look like a leader all right! The name’s Discord, the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony! And of course, friends with these ponies and the little dragon here... including my dear Fluttershy.” he finished. “Discord? Quite a fitting name considering your power and personality.” Megatron noted. “How long have you and... Fluttershy been friends?” “As long as you can imagine! And believe me when I say that she is a very special pegasus despite her flaws.” Discord smiled. “Is this the creature this Applejack mentioned earlier? It seems this... friendship magic... has corrupted him and made him deviant from his true purpose.” Megatron groaned in disgust. “Besides, how can he be a ‘Lord of Chaos’ if he is living peacefully with these insects?” “I mean you no harm, Fluttershy. I come here in peace,” Megatron said, calming the timid pegasus. He then offered his servo for a hoof shake. She slowly came forward and stared at his hand. She extended her hoof and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you... um... Megatron,” she said. “Welcome to Equestria.” “Much thanks, Ms. Fluttershy,” said the Decepticon overlord. Then he faced Twilight. “Great! Now that you have met my best friends, I think now is the best time to introduce you and Starscream to Princesses Celestia and Luna! Spike, time to send them a letter!” Twilight announced. “You got it!” Spike agreed, opening a scroll and readied his pen. ON EARTH “WHERE IS MEGATRON?! He’s got to be here somewhere!!” cried the cyclops Decepticon. “Oh I know! He is somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean! I’m sure he is!” yelled the liar Starscream clone. “Silence, you fool! We just checked there!” the female clone angrily shouted. The five Decepticons were hiding within a large cave of a mountain just outside of Detroit. All day, they searched for their leader but with no success or luck. “Thiz massive search for our leader iz a waste of time, Lugnut,” said the other Decepticon. “Megatron iz gone. There is nothing we can do.” Then his blue face switched to the red face. “Those Autobotz scum will PAY for what they had done to our leader!!” Then his face changed again to a Jack-o-lantern like face. “In the meantime, we can sing and breakdance to celebrate Omega Supreme’s demise!” he said. He then started to breakdance and sing crazily to the chagrin of Lugnut. Lugnut angrily smacked him to the wall. “ENOUGH, BLITZWING! We will not rest until we have successfully found our glorious leader Megatron! He is our only hope of winning this war against the Autobot fools! I don’t care how long it takes to find him!” “Oh, Lugnut, your loyalty to Megatron is so admirable!” observed the yellow Starscream clone. “It truly is an honor of finding our great master beside you.” “Thank you, Starscream.” Lugnut proudly spoke. “Ughhh, we three need to have new names!” the female clone shouted. “I’m tired of being addressed with that idiot’s name again! We are our own Decepticons now.” “Hmmm, very logical choice, my dear,” said Blitzwing. “We must have a distinction between you three clones zo that we could tell who’z who. How about we call you... Slipstream?” She put her finger to her chin as she thought about the name. She smiled in satisfaction. “Slipstream... yeah, I like that. Perfect!” “And I’ll call myself Sunstorm!” the other clone said. “And my new name will be Ramjet! Because I hate ramming myself on those other jets. I’m above that sort of nonsense!” Ramjet bragged. Suddenly, a hologram appeared from a device Lugnut brought with them to communicate with someone in regards to Megatron’s whereabouts. “Lugnut, although I was not able to detect Megatron’s location anywhere on earth, I will be able to find him through an unorthodox measure.” “Really, Shockwave? What unorthodox way are you referring to?” Lugnut asked. Then Shockwave held a strange item and attached it on his left arm. “This device will help us discover our leader. It has the ability to discover anybody in whatever planet or galaxy that being may be. It can also create a portal to take us to said planet or galaxy to retrieve that individual.” “What about a dimension? Can it do that?” Slipstream asked. “Yes, it can. However, it will take a few hours for this device to detect Megatron’s location.” Shockwave added. “It cannot create a portal unless it finds Megatron first.” “GRRRRAAA, we need to find our great master NOW!!” Lugnut impatiently cried, punching a boulder next to him. “Patience, Lugnut, we will find our dear leader very soon! After that, the Autobots will not know what or who will hit them.” Shockwave assured. Then the hologram disappeared. He activated the device and pushed the search button. “Find Megatron.” he commanded. It emitted a green beam. Thus, the green beam flew out of Cybertron and speedily flew across the universe. > Chapter 4: Meeting the Princesses > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTSIDE CANTERLOT Megatron in his helicopter mode flew above the clouds with Twilight, Starlight, and Spike inside the cockpit while he used his grappling hook to carry Starscream below him. Rainbow Dash also accompanied them as she wanted to hang around with the Decepticons more. “Hey! Megatron! Why carry me outside?! I can’t stand these stupid clouds coming at my face!” Starscream whined. “Now, Starscream, you wouldn’t fit properly with my wonderful ‘friends’ inside. It wouldn’t be fair for them now, would it?” Megatron chuckled. Starscream groaned in annoyance. “Come on, Screamy, it’s not that bad! Check this out!” Rainbow said, flying around the clouds speedily with a rainbow trail emitting from her tail. Starscream widened his optics as he beheld the acrobatic moves of the Wonderbolt and the clouds being formed into various shapes by her moves. “That is... impressive,” said the amazed Seeker. “Pretty cool, huh?” Rainbow asked, smirking. “Indeed,” agreed Starscream. Suddenly, he sent to Megatron an encrypted message by hooking his head into Megatron’s cannon. The message went from his cannon all the way to his data banks. Once Megatron read all the information within the message, he was intrigued. “Ahhh, how intriguing,” Megatron thought. “The ponies have magical artifacts that can defeat any foe they encounter. Elements of... harmony? Hmmm, kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, laughter, and magic. These elements have great potential... if used for a greater purpose that is. For once, you made yourself useful, Starscream.” “Look, there’s Canterlot!” Twilight alerted. Within a few miles, the city of Canterlot was seen. Megatron came to a halt and hovered just above the front yard of the palace gates. The Royal Guard lifted their spears in fear as they had never seen this strange flying object before. However, when they saw Twilight, Starlight, Spike, and Rainbow together, they sighed in relief. Megatron transformed back to robot mode. “Thanks for the ride again, Megatron!” Starlight smiled. “This definitely beats walking and going on a train!” “My pleasure, Starlight Glimmer. I believe your rulers are expecting you four.” Megatron reminded. “Yep! They will be in for a big surprise! Celestia and Luna will have a great time with you guys!” Spike said. “Oh, I love the sound of that,” said Megatron, slyly smiling. As the ponies and dragon gained entrance into the city, Megatron picked up Starscream and followed them into the city. He looked down and saw every pony widen their eyes in complete shock and fear as they stared at the fearsome Leader of the Decepticons. Some of them kept staring at him and Starscream whereas the others ran away screaming in terror. As usual, Megatron relished their screams of horror as they were music to his audio receptors. “At least seeing these puny organics run away is something worth watching on this annoying planet,” Starscream whispered. “Indeed,” agreed Megatron. “How did you obtain that information you sent me?” “Rainbow Dash told me everything there is to know about those Elements of Harmony. Heh, if you ask me, those elements sound very foolish. Laughter and generosity? Give me a break...” Starscream quietly scoffed. “No. They actually might serve a bigger and better purpose if used carefully for our plan,” said Megatron, evilly smiling. “What? How?” Starscream doubted. “Think bigger, Starscream. Once we obtain those elements, we will use them to crush the Autobots. I can only imagine their ultimate power being just as mighty as that of the Allspark. With these gullible creatures by our side, we can utilize their magic and their elements to destroy our enemies and conquer Cybertron.” Megatron planned. Starscream thought about it until he half-smiled back. “Ahh, now that might work. But what will I get in return? You will obviously seek to be ruler of Cybertron, but what about my reward?” “A new body of course,” Megatron smiled. Then his smile faded and began to glare at the Seeker. “However, make another attempt to overthrow me and you will lose more than just your body.” Starscream looked up and saw his Allspark fragment shinning in his forehead. “Okay, okay, fine! Anything you want!” Starscream fearfully nodded. “That’s more like it,” Megatron said. “Now, remain silent and let me do the talking.” INSIDE THE THRONE ROOM “I do wonder what this visitor looks like,” said Celestia. “I don’t think we had ever any strange visitors from another dimension, have we?” “I don’t think so, sister. But whoever he may be, I’m sure he will turn out to be our great friend at the end of the day.” Luna replied, smiling. Suddenly, the front doors opened with Twilight, Starlight, Spike, and Rainbow entering inside the throne room. They bowed reverently before the Royal Sisters. Celestia and Luna nodded in acknowledgment. “Princesses Celestia and Luna, we introduce you to our special guest! However, I think it would be best if you meet him outside. He wouldn’t be able to... fit in here.” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. “Oh? He’s that big?” Celestia asked. “Yep. He is outside right now,” said Spike. Once the princesses stepped outside the castle, they widened their eyes in surprise. Megatron stood above them and bent down to their level. “Greetings, rulers of Equestria. You are Princesses Celestia and Luna, I presume.” Megatron greeted. “I introduce you to Lord Megatron, leader of the Decepticons!” Twilight announced. Starscream silently groaned in annoyance. The rulers stood in silence as they never met a creature of this massive stature. Frozen in surprise, they could only manage to say three words, “Wel-welcome to... Equestria?” IN SPACE The green beam continued to fly across the galaxy in search for Megatron. It flew to Saturn and its moons. Without any success, it departed from its atmosphere and flew to several more planets of the Solar System. It had no luck whatsoever after searching extensively in its planets and moons. It flew off to space once again. However, it was not alone. A massive red ship flew across space and spotted the green beam flying to the other parts of the galaxy. Inside sat a Cybertronian with a hook on his right arm. “Huh, that’s something I’ve haven't seen in a while,” said the robot. “Someone must be searching for something. If it’s a prized trophy, then it will be ours for the taking. Don’t you think so, big boy?” He turned around to see another robot with a red visor and a yellow face mask. A metal hawk sat on his arm as it screeched in eagerness to get into action. The secondary robot walked forward and came from the shadows. He had a Decepticon insignia on his chest. “Do not call me that, bounty hunter,” he said with a monotone, autotune voice. “I am Soundwave, the Master Revolutionary. Wherever that beam is going, we will follow.” “Glad we can agree,” said the bounty hunter. “You sure you are in good shape after what happened to you? I might have rebuilt you with your pet’s help, but it will take a few days for you to fully heal.” “I will not rest until the Autobots are destroyed,” said Soundwave. “I have detected the source of the beam. It comes from Decepticon Shockwave. He sent the beam in search for Decepticon Leader Megatron.” “Megatron? I haven’t spoken to him in a while. The last time I met him was when Starscream tried to scrap us. I guess he’s in trouble, huh?” Lockdown asked. “It seems. Follow the beam. Megatron will help me destroy the Autobots and humans for good. The revolution must continue,” said Soundwave, his visor shining brightly. > Chapter 5: New Advantages > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN CANTERLOT “I thank you for your friendly welcome, Princesses Celestia and Luna,” said Megatron. “I see that your loyal servants are of great company to my needs.” “I’m glad you see that... uh, Lord Megatron,” said Celestia. She looked behind him and noticed Starscream next to Rainbow Dash. She also noticed the Decepticon insignia on Megatron’s chest. “If I may ask, what is that strange cutie mark on your chest?” Megatron looked confused by the term. He stared back at Starscream and noticed him being very confused as well. “Cutie mark? What exactly is a cutie mark?” “It’s a mark that represents your talent and your overall personality. It’s what we call a cutie mark.” Celestia explained. “Our insignia is far from looking ‘cute’ but whatever.” Starscream muttered. “This represents our Decepticon cause. It’s what we call our faction’s insignia. We stand as a united group of warriors who believe in freedom, justice, and sacrifice for the... good of others. However, the tyrannical Autobots denounced us with that name to taint our character and reputation.” Megatron explained. “Despite their cruelty, I decided to use that name and use it for our good intentions.” “Wow,” said Luna. “Where do you come from? Who are those Autobots you speak of?” “We come from Cybertron a home world filled with peaceful and friendly Cybertronians which we used to be. However, a tyrant named Ultra Magnus divided us and swayed thousands of civilians into his false ideology of justice and righteousness. He created the Elite Guard and the Autobots who conquered our home and threatened anyone who stood with me. Thus, we have been expelled from our home.” Megatron sadly answered. Celestia and Luna began to have sympathy for the deceiver. Celestia flew up to his face, and put her hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Megatron. You are more than welcome to stay here in Equestria if you so desire. We welcome any creature who wishes to become an inhabitant here.” “Disgusting offer,” Megatron thought. “But I have something... better.” “Actually, I was wondering if you ponies can assist me with something.” “Oh? What would that be?” Celestia asked. “You see, my Decepticon warriors are worried sick for me. In fact, they may be looking for me everywhere in my dimension. Plus, I must... save Cybertron from those wretched Autobot terrorists. They are surely enslaving everyone there to their cruel will.” Megatron said. “Yeah, enslaving them with their stupid patronizing sense of justice. That’s for sure.” Starscream thought. Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment until they faced Megatron back. “How many are they?” “Hundreds of them,” replied Megatron. “We Equestrians have a history of facing great threats from other places. We also stand by any creature who calls for our help. So if you want us to help you in reclaiming your home and help you defeat your enemies, we will gladly assist you in this.” Celestia proudly said. “Excellent,” said Megatron. “But we would have to create a spell in order to make a portal from our world to yours. It will take plenty of time for the spell to properly function.” Luna explained. “Take all the time you need, princesses. In order to succeed in our preparation for war, we must make no mistakes during this process.” Megatron grinned. “With this portal working, I can not only reunite with my troops but also have them and you ponies unite together to stand against a common enemy!” “So we’re gonna be kicking Autobot flank? Awesome! I bet none of them can catch me flying fast enough to knock them out!” Rainbow boasted. “Flank? What’s a flank?” Starscream asked with a puzzled look. “Umm, never mind,” said Rainbow, sheepishly smiling. “There’s no time to waste! The Autobots might be planning to takeover any planet they see fit!” Megatron urged. “Right. Luna, Twilight, we will need to learn a spell that can create a portal from our world to this Cybertron planet. We have much work to do.” Celestia instructed. Luna and Twilight nodded with determination. They entered through the castle doors to begin their preparation. Before the doors closed, Twilight peeked her head to say something. “In the meantime, you can hang out with my friends until we’re ready. See you all later!” Twilight smiled before she closed the doors. “My pleasure, Twilight,” Megatron grinned while his red optics glowed brightly. Little did he notice a grey pegasus colt with a black mane saw him grinning with a look of mischievousness from a distance. “Who is that guy? He looks like he’s up to no good,” said the colt. “Rumble, are you ready for our cooking session?” a stallion pegasus called. “Coming, Thunderlane!” Rumble replied. As he cast his last look of suspicion at Megatron, he flew off. “So, Megs, wanna ride us again? I really love your helicopter mode!” Spike eagerly asked. “I prefer to be called Megatron, little Spike. Do not call me... that,” Megatron sternly said. “Oh, sorry, Megatron. Can you ride us again? Pleeeeeaaassssse...” Spike again asked with puppy dog eyes. “Ughhh... this little pest gets on my circuitry. At least he’s not as irritating as Sari Sumdac who somehow shares Twilight’s same voice. I wonder if that’s her in pony form... no... no, there’s no way.” Megatron thought. Then he transformed to helicopter mode and allowed Starlight and Spike to enter inside. He ejected his hook to carry Starscream. He and Rainbow flew off to the sky to exit Canterlot. “Hey, Megatron, what is that large thing on your... uh... which you carry on your arm?” Rainbow asked. “That is called a fusion cannon. It is my most powerful weapon to destroy and dismantle my adversaries. It is also very effective especially when it blasts a victim—uh, an enemy at point blank range. Much useful.” Megatron proudly explained. “Wow! That’s cool! I wish I got one of those!” Rainbow shouted. “At least my null rays can shoot better,” said Starscream, smirking. “What was that?” Megatron growled. “Uh, I mean... y-your powerful cannon speaks of your greatness, oh, mighty Megatron!” Starscream stuttered. “Ahh, well, thank you,” said Megatron with sarcasm. “Hey, Megatron, I was thinking of something. How about we go visit some other kingdoms such as the Dragonlands, Yakyakistan, the Changeling hive, or maybe even Griffinstone!” Starlight suggested. “This world has other kingdoms? Changeling hive? Dragons? You mean to tell me that there are other creatures that are... not ponies?” Megatron asked, immediately intrigued. “Yep! They are great creatures! Which one do you want to go first?” Starlight asked. Megatron took a moment to think about it until he thought of an idea. “Actually, take me to ALL of these places. I would love to meet each of them.” “Besides, those other creatures can be useful for my ultimate plan. With these new advantages in my sight, little do you foolish organics realize that you are massively contributing to the war... for my grand favor.” IN SPACE The green beam continued to soar across the galaxies. After searching dozens of planets with close scrutiny, it finally detected an energy signature far away. The beam flew for a few extra miles until it spotted a colorful planet in a far distance. Glowing brightly with hope, it sped away to accomplish its purpose. Little did the beam notice that the red space ship followed its track. > Chapter 6: Rumble’s Nightmare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- AT MIDNIGHT Rumble was fast asleep in his bedroom at Cloudsdale. He turned to his other side of the bed to get in a more comfortable position. For a while, he was resting peacefully on his pillow... until a great disturbance interrupted his sleep. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook his bedroom. The grey pegasus colt woke up and got up from his bed. “Huh? What is happening?” he wondered. He flew to the window, opened it, and saw the entire town of Cloudsdale in a fiery inferno. He saw strange jets flying around and blasting every home they saw. Every single home was being burnt until each cloud vanished into oblivion. Shaken with fear, he ran to his brother’s bedroom. “Thunderlane! We are under attack! Cloudsdale is under attack!” he cried. However, Thunderlane was not present in his bedroom. “Bro, where are you?! Where are... ah!” The ceiling of the house started to crumble. Realizing he was in immediate danger, he flew out of the house moments before it crumbled down to pieces. “Nooo!!” Seeing that he no longer had a home and his dear brother was missing, he escaped the onslaught of the mysterious flyers and flew down to Ponyville. The jets transformed into identical robots and laughed maniacally. Rumble safety landed on the grass and cast his last look at his beloved home. Seconds later, the entire town was obliterated by the sheer firepower of the Seekers. Shedding a couple of tears, he trotted to Ponyville. However, to his horror, the whole town of Ponyville was also under attack by the Decepticons. He saw humongous metal creatures with dangerous weapons on them blasting every target they saw. Fire and destruction were everywhere. “NOOO!! This cannot be happening!!” Rumble cried. He ran to the City Hall for safety. He carefully made sure that none of the invaders would spot him and take him down. There, he took cover until the aliens left the town. Suddenly, a new figure descended to join them. All the other attackers immediately kneeled and worshipped their apparent leader. Once Rumble took a look at him, he instantly recognized him as the same visitor from yesterday. “ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON!” they shouted. “Megatron? That’s his name?” Rumble whispered. “My loyal Decepticons, our conquest of this pathetic, worthless planet is only the beginning. Our main target is Cybertron! Once we have taken all the necessary magic and this world’s elements of Harmony, Cybertron will be ours for the taking, and the Autobots will be no more!” Megatron declared, raising his fist. The Decepticons cheered for their leader and hailed him again. Rumble stood by to absorb what he just heard from the Decepticon overlord. After a few seconds of reflecting, he decided to remain hidden until they left. Suddenly, the entire roof was ripped off by another Decepticon. Blitzwing grabbed him before he could even run away. “Hey! Let me go! Let me go! Thunderlane, HELP ME!!” Rumble cried. “Silence, you little pest!!” Blitzwing yelled with his red face. “Your organic brotha’ won’t zave you thiz time!!” His face switched to a crazy face. “But you will go out with a BANG like fireworks!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!” Blitzwing taunted. He lowered his cannons to end Rumble. “Nooo! STOP!! HELP!!” Rumble screamed. As he was waving his arms in fear, he opened his eyes and saw everything black. He looked around and saw no one anywhere. “Huh? Where am I now?” “You seem troubled, young one,” said a familiar voice. Rumble looked back and saw Princess Luna appearing to him with a concerned look on her face. “Princess Luna! You’re here!” Rumble said, running to give her a hug. Luna returned the hug. “I was having a horrible nightmare!” “It has something to do with Lord Megatron, does it?” Luna asked. Rumble slowly nodded his head. “He appears to be someone who is up to no good. I don’t know him that much, but he clearly looks like he is planning something... EVIL! I saw that evil smile he made yesterday. I wouldn’t want to be around him at all!” Luna took all of that to heart and thought about what she should do next. “I see what you are saying. He made friends with me, my sister, Twilight, and her friends. He also appears to be a friendly and caring leader of his people. But if what you say is true... (sighs)... then I will inform my sister about this. We will keep a close eye on him.” “Thank you, Princess. I don’t want Equestria to suffer an alien invasion. Wait a minute...” Rumble muttered as he realized something. “He said something about Cybertron and... Autobots? What if—what if we are harboring a power-hungry maniac?! What if Megatron was lying to you guys?! What if those Autobot guys find us and destroy us for sheltering their enemy?!” “Rumble! Calm down. We will have a serious talk with Megatron to discover his true intentions. Everything will be fine.” Luna comforted, stroking Rumble’s mane. “(Sigh) I hope you’re right, Princess. I’m just scared of what will happen,” said Rumble. “I understand that. Go and have your rest. You will definitely need it.” Luna advised. “Okay. Thank you, Princess.” Rumble slightly smiled. With that said, everything turned bright with white light. Rumble woke up from his sleep and saw everything back to the way it was. He looked out the window and saw the shining moon and stars, the still clouds, and all the homes in one piece. He went to his brother’s bedroom and saw him fast asleep peacefully on his bed. Sighing in deep relief, he went back to his bedroom. “I don’t know what this Megatron guy is up to, but I know for sure he is bad news.” Rumble muttered. IN THE EVERFREE FOREST Lockdown’s ship landed in the forest; after morphing the ship to appear as part of the forest, he opened the doors. He and Soundwave exited the ship and beheld the surroundings of the area. “Huh, that’s funny,” said Lockdown. “These trees look similar to earth, and this planet has only one moon. Is this earth 2.0 or something?” “It matters not to me. What matters is the location of Decepticon Megatron and the destruction of the Autobots.” Soundwave reminded. Suddenly, they saw the green beam fly past them and straight through the forest. “After the beam!” Soundwave ordered. He transformed into van mode and drove off in pursuit of it. “Since when do you give me orders?” Lockdown asked. “Laserbeak must have really broken him.” He transformed into a muscle car and followed his ally. The beam got closer and closer until it finally spotted something it has been searching for... Megatron. The Decepticon leader turned around and saw the green beam slowly approach him. “What is this? What are you?” he demanded, aiming his fusion cannon at it. The beam suddenly made beeping noises for several seconds and morphed into a large portal. Megatron shielded his optics from the portal’s bright green light. “Ahh! What the spark is this?!” Starscream yelled, closing his optics. At that moment, Shockwave slowly came out of the portal. He knelt down before Megatron reverently. “Lord Megatron, we have found you at last.” “Shockwave? This is rather... unexpected. Still, you’re just the tactical advantage I need.” Megatron evilly smiled. “I am ever glad to see you functional, my liege. Also, I have not come alone.” Shockwave said, standing up. “Oh, great, what now?! Huh?” Starscream widened his optics as he saw Lugnut, Blitzwing, and his three treacherous clones coming out of the portal as well. “YOU?! YOU GUYS?!” “Not you again!” Slipstream scowled. “At least you still lack a body so you won’t tower over us again!” “Master!! We have found you once again!!” Lugnut cried, bowing down. “Victory is now rightfully ours!!” “My loyal Decepticons, I did not expect you all to come to my... how should I say it... rescue. Nevertheless, this will greatly benefit me despite now a minor change of plans.” Megatron declared. “Megatron, is that you?” a monotone, robotic voice called. They all turned their heads to see Soundwave and Lockdown coming to them. Megatron slightly gasped as he remembered him as Sari’s former toy companion. He never thought of actually seeing him again. “Soundwave?” > Chapter 7: The Truth Revealed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Where did he come from? I’ve never seen him before!” Lugnut said. “My, this Soundwave fellow looks so magnificent! Surely, he has some mighty spark within him!” Sunstorm praised. “I’ve met him! He is a great friend of mine!” Ramjet lied. “I have not met any of you except for Megatron,” said Soundwave. “I have arrived here for the sole purpose of finding him so he could assist me in destroying the Autobots and the humans of earth.” “Well, Soundwave, as unexpected your arrival is, your timing couldn’t be even more perfect.” Megatron evilly grinned. “With you by our side, we will all be unstoppable.” Then he took a look at the bounty hunter. “Lockdown, I see that you have allied yourself with my old friend here. I assume you have the same intention as well?” “Actually, I thought that green beam would lead to a good-looking trophy. I guess it turned out to be something... surprising.” Lockdown shrugged. “Anyway, now that we’re all here, what’s the plan?” “Recently, Starscream and I have ‘befriended’ a town of organic equines equipped with a raw power called magic, and they have considered us as honorable guests in their kingdom. Additionally, they have a powerful source of magic residing in this... Everfree Forest called the Tree of Harmony which contains all six elements of Harmony.” Megatron explained. This started to intrigue the Decepticons. “Elements of Harmony, you zay? Hmmm, what are thoze elements?” Blitzwing asked. “Honesty, generosity, kindness, loyalty, laughter, and magic. With these elements, they maintain peace, balance, and harmony throughout all of Equestria.” Megatron answered. “What a ridiculous concept. Surely, they have something better than that.” Starscream scoffed. “Silence, fool! As I was saying, here is what I have planned: I trick these insects into putting their trust in me which I have already done, lead me to the elements, and they create a magical portal that I can use to travel to Cybertron. But now that you’re all here, you also will play into my game. With these ponies by our side, we can take over the planet and eliminate the Autobots once and for all!” Megatron declared. “A magical portal won’t be necessary, my lord,” said Shockwave before displaying a device on his arm. “I have recently constructed this device to create a portal without even having a need for a space bridge. It’s quicker and more efficient. It is what emitted that green beam to locate you.” Megatron gazed at the item and thought of the next course of action. “Hmm, well, in that case, I will request that they don’t waste their time any further. Once again, Shockwave, you have exceeded my expectations. Perhaps I should elect you to be my second-in-command one day.” This greatly irritated Lugnut as he clenched his fingers angrily. Starscream secretly chuckled at Lugnut’s reaction. Behind the bushes, Rumble eavesdropped on their conversation and plot. “So there are more of them! I knew it! It’s those same giants from my dream!” Rumble whispered. “What’s going on?” a voice asked. Rumble looked back to see Spike coming near him. “Spike? What are you doing here?” Rumble asked. “I heard loud noises from Ponyville. I think something was flying down from the sky.” Spike whispered back. Then he looked over the bushes and saw the Decepticons banding together. “Wait, that’s Megatron?” “Yeah, he is definitely up to something! Come, we have to be quiet!” Rumble advised. He and Spike sat together and peeked through the bushes to continue listening what the ‘Cons were saying. “Is it a good idea to bring these organics into our war? They are considerably small and weak. There is absolutely no way they can battle against the Autobots.” Starscream doubted. “Fear not, Starscream, they will do well in serving us... for the Decepticon cause.” Megatron said, clenching his fist. “And if those organics refuse? What will happen if our facade is exposed?” Soundwave asked. Megatron then frowned and glared at the night sky. “Then we will destroy them... every last one of them.” “I greatly look forward to that. I've always wanted to squash fleshy creatures!” Slipstream grinned. “With or without those creatures, the Decepticons will nonetheless prevail! You, oh glorious leader, will rule over all the universe! AND THE ENTIRE COSMOS WILL REJOICE!!! ALL HAIL MEGATRON!!!” Lugnut loudly praised. “Pipe down, Lugnut! Those creatures are sleeping. We wouldn't want to disturb them...” Megatron scolded. “... for now.” “Yes, of course, master. My apologies...” Lugnut said. “First thing tomorrow, I will request their leaders to guide me to the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest. Once those elements are in my servos, Cybertron will be mine. I might even conquer Equestria as a bonus. Soundwave will accompany me to the palace.” Megatron planned. “Me?” Soundwave asked, puzzled. “Just in case they spill any valuable information about the magic of this world, you may want to record our conversation.” Megatron suggested. “As you wish, Megatron,” said Soundwave. Rumble and Spike stood in shock and horror. They couldn’t believe that Megatron—their own guest and new ‘friend’—is actually a bad guy planning to take over the universe. “I can’t believe this. Megatron is planning to take over Equestria! He’s been playing us the whole time!” Spike whispered. “I knew he was up to no good. We have to warn the princesses before it’s too late. You go tell Princess Twilight and the others; I’ll inform the Royal Sisters about what we’ve just heard.” Rumble advised. “On it,” said Spike, running off. “I hope things don’t go south too quickly. I’m not ready for war yet.” Rumble said to himself before flying off. EARLY IN THE MORNING Megatron and Soundwave travelled to the city of Canterlot in their alt modes as the sun rose up by Celestia’s magic. “Remember, Soundwave, play nice and give no sign of hostility to the ponies since you’re new here. Allow me to do the talking.” “Understood, Megatron.” Soundwave complied. Soon, they arrived in the city and transformed to their robot modes. The Royal Guard opened the palace doors for the rulers to meet them outside. Out came Celestia, Luna, the Mane Six, Starlight, Spike, Rumble, and Discord. “Ah, yes, the negotiator. Lord Megatron, we’ve been waiting for you.” Discord smiled. The others had unfriendly looks on their faces except Pinkie and Fluttershy. The ponies made a confused look at Soundwave. “Well, who do we have here? A friend of yours?” Luna asked. “I am Soundwave, the master revolutionary against injustice in high places. I am pleased to meet you.” he introduced. “Soundwave, huh? Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship.” she kindly greeted. Soundwave stood erect and gazed dangerously at Twilight. “The voice of this Twilight Sparkle is that of the organic Sari Sumdac. Analyzing voice match...” Soundwave thought. Once the analysis on his visor was completed, it showed their voices did match. “Analysis complete. Conclusion: Sari is in pony form. Therefore, she must be destroyed.” He raised his plasma blasters at Twilight. “Sari Sumdac, prepare for termination!” “Who is Sari Sumdac? Hey, what are you doing?!” Twilight exclaimed. The guards raised their spears at Soundwave to protect Twilight. “Soundwave, enough!” Megatron ordered, holding Soundwave’s shoulder. “That is not Sari Sumdac! It is actually Twilight! Stand down!” “Illogical. Their voices match!” Soundwave said. “What did I tell you about showing no signs of hostility?” Megatron reminded. At that moment, Soundwave put his guns away and stood down. “I beg your pardon, Princess Twilight. My old friend here has bad memories of facing Sari in battle. She coincidentally shares the same voice you have and is affiliated with the evil Autobots.” Megatron spoke. “Oh, well that’s understandable. An alien having the same voice I have? That’s... unheard of,” said Twilight. The guards then lowered their weapons. “That’s because you both are voiced by the voice actress Tara Strong!” Pinkie smiled. Soundwave and Twilight looked at her in confusion. “Tara Strong?” they both asked in unison. “Never mind!” Pinkie said, hopping around. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Celestia reminded. “Of course, your highness,” Megatron agreed. “You said you’ve been waiting for me. Your magical spell has been accomplished I presume?” “Unfortunately, we were unable to finish our spell before sunrise. However, there is a serious matter I and the others wish to discuss with you,” said Celestia. “It is rumored that you are planning to take over Equestria and steal the elements of harmony. Is this true?” Megatron was a bit surprised by the revelation of his plan. “This is not possible. How could any of them know this? I cannot let my plan go to ruination. Not now, not ever!” he thought. “That is quite ludicrous! There is no evidence that I have made such a wicked plan. I am a peacemaker! I would never do such a thing!” “Rumble and Spike here say otherwise,” said Luna, stepping aside to allow Spike and Rumble have their word with him. “We know it to be true! You lied to us the whole time!” Spike angrily shouted. “You pretended to be a nice alien robot when you’re actually the villain!” “Yeah! We overheard everything you said last night. You want to steal the elements and take over both Cybertron and Equestria! Admit it!” Rumble shouted. “He has several more Decepticons with him here in Equestria!” The ponies gasped in surprise. Megatron and Soundwave again stood surprised as they didn’t expect to be exposed by two young creatures this soon. However, Megatron smiled and waved them off. “Foolish children, you might not have slept well last night. I was just simply resting in the forest, and you just had some deceitful illusion. Why would I ever betray such great friends you all are?” “Do not patronize me, Megatron!” Rumble growled. “I know who you really are! Your insignia, red eyes, and evil smile you made yesterday speak louder than your lies!” “You tell him, Rumble!” Spike said. “Your accusation is illogical,” said Soundwave. “Peacemakers don’t stir war; they create peace and unity between parties. The Autobots are the evil ones who sow seeds of rebellion, deceptions, and hatred. Therefore, you are lambasting the wrong bot.” Luna then thought of a solution to the problem. In order to solve this issue once and for all, she must physically prove and see the evidence of the truth. She flapped her wings and flew to Megatron. “Huh? What are you doing?” he asked. Without a reply, she ignited her horn and tapped his head. Her eyes glowed white as she was accessing Megatron’s memories. She saw everything that transpired in his past with the Autobots on Cybertron and on earth. She saw him fight Optimus Prime and his Autobots as they struggled to protect the Allspark on the ship prior to Megatron’s crash landing in Detroit. She also saw the revelation of his deception to a man named Isaac Sumdac moments before Sari’s key rebuilt and revived him completely. He saw Optimus’s efforts, his heroism, and kindness in protecting earth and defending the humans. She saw him and his crew not as warmongers but as peaceful alien robots trying to defend their new home from Megatron himself and his army. Lastly, she saw the Decepticons battling Omega Supreme while Megatron faced Optimus again as the space bridge malfunctioned. She saw him and Starscream get sucked into the portal which led them to the ponies’ universe. The ponies, Spike, and Discord saw all of that as well as a panoramic view of his memories flashed before them outside Megatron’s head due to Luna’s magic. Then she released herself from his memories, and looked at him in shock. “It is true! You are a tyrant and ruthless overlord of the Decepticons! You tricked us!” Luna exclaimed. “The way you were beating all those poor Autobots... it’s unbelievable!! You beastly beast!!” Rarity added. “GASP! THE PLOT TWIST OF THE CENTURY!” Discord dramatically yelled, snapping his fingers to add an audience gasp sound effect. “How could you, Megatron?! Why are you doing this?!” Twilight asked. Seeing his facade blown up to smithereens, he dropped the act completely. “Because ultimate power is exactly what I need to conquer Cybertron. Since my loyal servant Shockwave has successfully created a device to transport our way to that planet, I will have everything I need to take it... the elements of harmony.” “Over my dead body, Megatron.” Celestia growled, igniting her horn. “I won’t let you take the elements for your own personal gain. If you want the elements of harmony, you will have to go through us first.” Luna, Twilight, and Discord likewise stood in defensive stance as they glared at the ‘Cons. “It’s treason then,” said Megatron. “You’re one to talk,” Discord shot back. Megatron unsheathed his swords while Soundwave took his plasma blasters out again. “Decepticons, my charade has been blown. Meet me at Canterlot and attack the city!” Megatron commanded through his com link. Celestia, Luna, and Discord took their fight with Megatron while the rest took on Soundwave. Megatron blocked magical beams with his swords and swung at them. They blocked every deadly swipe and blasted more beams at him. “Laserbeak, deploy! Operation: equine destruction!” Soundwave ordered. Laserbeak ejected from his chest compartment and attacked Twilight and her friends. The bird shot lasers from his beak at them which they barely dodged. Rainbow Dash flew around Laserbeak. “Catch me if you can, bird-brain!” she mocked. As he began shooting at her, she twirled around the bird speedily until he became dizzy from spinning around trying to blast her. “Ha-ha!” Suddenly, the other Decepticons arrived and immediately started shooting missiles and laser shots at the castle. They destroyed the castle, and transformed into robots before landing on the ground. “Decepticons, neutralize the organics!” Shockwave commanded. “IN THE NAME OF MEGATRON!!” Lugnut shouted. They encountered many pony civilians running for their lives. Blitzwing stood in front of them with his hothead face. “You helpless little organics, get outta our way before I crush you all into... (switches to crazy face)... pony little pancakes!! Hahahahaha!!” Suddenly, he received a vanilla cake to the face. “Hey there, silly face! Over here!” a jolly voiced called. Blitzwing looked to his left to see Pinkie Pie standing on top of a house smiling at him. “I’m really starting to like you! Wanna play a game?” “Awww, look how cute and adorable you are!” Crazy Blitzwing said, petting Pinkie on the head. “How about we play tag! I love tag!” “Cool! I love playing tag too! Tag, you’re it!” Pinkie said, poking Blitzwing’s hand. She zoomed out of his way. “This is going to be fun! I’m gonna get ya!” Blitzwing said, shooting lasers from his cannons at Pinkie. “Hold still, you filthy pest! I will crush you in Megatron’s name!” Lugnut cried, punching his claws on where Applejack was. “Y’all have to catch me first!” Applejack smirked. She ran around his legs while tying them up with her lasso. Lugnut ripped the lasso rope from his legs and chased after her. Having enough of the chaos and wanting to get this over with, Soundwave activated his small speakers to disorientate the ponies. The Mane Five, Starlight, Rumble, the citizens, and the guards got struck by the sound waves and fell unconscious. Before the waves could even reach the alicorns, Discord, and Spike, Discord snapped his fingers before a sound-proof room appeared around them to block the waves. Once Soundwave stopped, the room disappeared. “Phew, that was a close one! It’s really no wonder you’re called Soundwave. That’s just—ahhhhhhh!” Discord cried, getting zapped by electric cords. He fell down unconscious. “DISCORD!!” the princesses and Spike shouted. “Very impressive powers this creature has,” said Shockwave, retrieving his electric cords into his claws. “Perhaps I should extract them to be utilized for the destruction of the Autobots.” “I knew these creatures had potential to be very useful to us,” said Megatron. “All that are left are the elements of harmony.” “NEVER!!” Celestia defied. She held Luna, Twilight, and Spike together until the four of them teleported. “Lockdown, Soundwave, find the princesses and Spike and bring them to me alive.” Megatron commanded. “As you command, Megatron,” said Soundwave. He transformed to a van and drove out of the city. “Those magical abilities will make a fine addition to my collection.” Lockdown smirked. He transformed to a muscle car and also left the city. > Chapter 8: Forest Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THE EVERFREE FOREST The three alicorns and Spike appeared in the midst of the forest. “Are we safe now? Can I open my eyes?” Spike asked, covering his face in fear. “You sure can, Spike,” said Celestia. They looked around to see that they were in the forest. Behind them stood the Tree of Harmony itself. “We must protect the elements from the Decepticons! If Megatron gets his hands on them, we will all be doomed.” she finished. “We got to do something,” said Twilight. “We have to create a plan to stop him and his lackeys!” “But how? They are more powerful than we are and are twenty times our size!” Spike worried. “The Decepticons may have an advantage over us by sheer size and advanced weaponry, but there is one thing they do not have... the magic of friendship,” Luna said. Once Celestia heard this, she smiled with determination. “You’re right, Luna. The magic of friendship has always been our source of power and strength especially when we faced off our dangerous enemies—Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, the Pony of Shadows. As long as we are united together, no fearsome foe will be able to bring us down!” “Yeah! And Megatron will be no different from the other villains we faced.” Spike added. “And no villain has ever managed to defeat us because of that. We must stop Megatron from taking over Equestria before it’s too late for us and... Cybertron!” Twilight said. BACK IN CANTERLOT The Decepticons put all the ponies in magic-proof cubes and locked them up. Megatron stood before the cube that contained the Mane Five and Starlight. “How does it feel to be held captive by your ‘friend’? Betrayal does sting you, doesn’t it?” he taunted. He opened the cube to hear their response. “You won’t get away with this, Megatron!” Rainbow defied. “Oh, yes, I will. Thanks to you, Rainbow Dash, I know the full power that the elements of harmony can unleash; once I get my servos on them, all of that magical power will be mine for the taking,” said Megatron, evilly grinning. “I should’ve known you were tricking us the whole time! All of that backstory of the Autobots being evil and you being a good guy was a lie!” Starlight exclaimed. “Now you know why we are called Decepticons, Starlight Glimmer. Truly, it is a name worthy of recognition and fear.” Megatron smirked. “How could you do this to us? How could you be so cruel?” Fluttershy asked, shedding a few tears. “My dear Fluttershy, you absolutely know nothing about me. Do you even know the full depth of cruelty? Those pathetic Autobots always stand for freedom, justice, and tranquility. You ponies preach about... love and... friendship,” said Megatron with disgust in his voice. “All of these virtues are nothing but lies that speak high levels of foolishness and denial. That is cruelly degrading. If you really want power, you must take it by force, not through friendship. I will always maintain this mantra...” He motioned his warriors to say it for him. “Peace through tyranny!” they proudly shouted. “I hated every moment of that humiliating charade in being your companion, but it fortunately payed off,” Megatron continued. Then he took several steps toward the glaring ponies. “You know, it is not yet too late. You all can still join me in my conquest of Cybertron. We can take over Cybertron and destroy the Autobots together!” “After all the lies you threw at us?!” Applejack yelled. “And after the way you deceived us and made us think those Autobot guys were bad?! No thank you!” Rainbow angrily refused. “We will never join you ruffians!” Rarity added. “After everything you have done, no more strawberry cupcakes for you, big meanie!” Pinkie shouted, eating the said cupcake. Megatron then frowned at them. “How pitiful...” Then he turned to one of his men. “Shockwave, is the energy extractor ready for operation?” “Almost, my liege. It needs approximately ten more cycles until it is fully ready.” Shockwave replied, working on the said machine. “Take all the time you need, for victory is nearly in my powerful grasp already.” Megatron boasted, optics beaming bright red. “What are you gonna do to us?” Fluttershy fearfully asked. “Even if you won’t join us, your potentially strong magic will be of great use to us. However, you still have something I need, and I need them now.” Megatron growled, punching the ground near them. The ponies shook in fear as they looked at him. “Guide me to the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest. Do this and I will let you all live.” “And if we refuse?” Starlight asked. “Then I will allow Shockwave to drain you all organics of your precious magic... before you all perish... slowly and painfully.” Megatron threatened. “So... what is it going to be? Choose wisely... for your sakes.” BACK IN THE FOREST Celestia and Luna ignited their horns and emitted a magical barrier around the Tree of Harmony. “Now that the Tree is protected, we need to figure out a way to save our friends and stop Megatron and his Decepticons from conquering both Cybertron and Equestria.” Celestia spoke. “They must have a weakness that we can exploit for our favor,” said Twilight. “The sooner we discover their weaknesses the better our chances of survival will be.” “Behind you!” Spike warned. Red lasers shot down from the sky toward the four beings. They dodged the blasts and hid behind the trees. The three alicorns and Spike saw Laserbeak swooping down with Soundwave and Lockdown behind him. The duo transformed into robot mode before Laserbeak sat on Soundwave’s right arm. “It turns out you weren’t that hard to find after all,” Lockdown said, chuckling. “The best option for you organics is to give up. Don’t make it hard for yourselves.” “We will never surrender to you tyrants!” Luna defied. “We will defend Equestria with all of our might from evil villains like you!” “Enough, fleshling. Surrender now, or be terminated!” Soundwave demanded. “Why don’t you make us, you blocky piece of trash!” Spike shot back. “We all know that you guys are too weak to force us to surrender!” Enraged by the insult, Soundwave brandished his plasma blasters. “PREPARE FOR TERMINATION!!” he yelled. He shot plasma beams at the trees the four heroes were hiding behind. They jumped out of the way before the beams destroyed the trees. Luna shot her magical beam at Soundwave; it struck him on the shoulder, wounding him a bit. Lockdown turned his hand into a chainsaw and ran toward Celestia and Spike. He swiped at them which they swiftly dodged and jumped away from his other deadly swipes. Spike opened his mouth and breathed fire on Lockdown’s face. It didn’t do much damage on him, but it did serve to temporarily blind him. “Ahhhhh, get that stuff off of me!” Lockdown said. With him distracted, Celestia blasted her beam at Lockdown’s left leg. It struck him there which made him groan in pain. Celestia took notice of that. “Those titans must be sensitive to our magic. Hmm, that gives me an idea...” Laserbeak chased Twilight in the air. The latter kept shooting magic beams at the minicon to slow him down. The bird dodged the blasts and began shooting his lasers at the alicorn. “Eeeyahhh!! Ahh! How can I even lose that creature?!” Twilight shouted, barely dodging the laser beams. Soundwave ran forward and looked up at the alicorn with a dangerous stare. “I am still convinced that this so called Twilight Sparkle is Sari Sumdac in disguise. She must be destroyed no matter the cost.” He activated his speakers and he emitted his soundwaves again. Before the waves could strike her, Twilight teleported from the sky back on the ground behind Soundwave. She shot him on the back with her magic. “AHHHHH!!” Soundwave groaned. He grabbed her and threw her against a tree. “You will pay for that, Sari Sumdac!” “I am not whoever you’re talking about! My name is Twilight! TWILIGHT!! You hear me?!” Twilight irritatedly shouted. Luna kept flying around Lockdown while skillfully avoiding his swipes. “Hold still, you obnoxious little pest!” Lockdown grunted. “Catch me if you can, skull-face!” Luna smirked. She continued flying around him until Laserbeak knocked her down along with Spike. “Oww!!” Soundwave seized Twilight and Celestia and threw them against their friends. With their four targets at their mercy, the three robots regrouped together. “We end this once and for all. Laserbeak, transform. Operation: fleshling destruction!” Soundwave commanded. Laserbeak transformed into a guitar and landed in Soundwave’s grasp. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Spike stood still as they were about to meet their demise. “I have an idea, you three. I need you all to do exactly as I tell you...” Celestia said before whispering her idea to their ears. Soundwave played the guitar which activated the laser waves. At that moment, Twilight teleported all four of them away from the deadly waves. The Decepticons stood there in confusion. “Huh? Where are they off to now?” Lockdown asked, annoyed. “Hey, boneheads, over here! Look at me!” Spike called, breathing fire on their faces. “Grrrraghhhhh, not again!” Lockdown grunted. While they were distracted, the alicorns combined their magic by having their horns together and sent a large spell on the ‘Cons. The spell smote them and set them on purple fire. As they were bellowing in agony, they were levitated off the ground and were sent flying in the air all the way to a far-away mountain until they were no longer seen. “Great job, Spike! You got them really good!” Twilight smiled. “I sure did! I was hoping that they would melt from the fire I breathed or the one you set them on though.” Spike chuckled. “Well, at least we know their one weakness so far. I am sure we will discover more of them once we get back to Canterlot,” said Luna. “Indeed. Come on, we have Equestria to save. Megatron must be stopped no matter the cost!” Celestia declared. BACK AT CANTERLOT “The energy extractor is now prepared for operation, Lord Megatron.” Shockwave reported. “Excellent,” Megatron grinned. Then he glared back at the Mane Five. “I will not ask you again. Take me to the Tree of Harmony and I will spare your miserable lives.” “Even if we did, you will destroy us all anyway!” Rainbow said. Megaton briefly paused before evilly smirking at the ponies. “You’re smarter than I thought. You ponies could have joined me in my conquest for power. You will all be made examples while your magic will be mine for the taking.” He turned to Shockwave. “Activate the extractor!” “With pleasure, my liege!” Shockwave complied. He turned it on along with the cubes glowing purple. “NO!” Rarity cried. “Somepony help us!” a Canterlot pony cried. “Your magic will finally be mine!” Megatron maniacally laughed. Suddenly, a large purple beam struck the extractor which caused it to explode. The explosion threw Shockwave against the demolished remains of the castle. “What the spark was that?!” Ramjet exclaimed. The Decepticons looked back to see Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Spike standing firm with looks of bravely. Luna flew above and blasted all the deactivated cubes open. Thus, all the ponies were freed including Discord, Starlight, and their friends. “Ahhhh, yes! Time for the climax of the story, everypony! The battle of the ages!” Discord cheered. He snapped his fingers and got a large golf club with a cap on his head. “Golf, anypony?” Megatron growled angrily at the alicorns. He grabbed Starscream and made him turn into an energy blaster. “One shall stand!” Celestia began. “One shall fall!” Twilight finished. “Or, in this case, four shall stand,” Spike muttered. “Why throw away your life so recklessly?” Megatron condescendingly asked. “That’s the question you should ask yourself, Megatron.” Luna replied, glaring. “No! I will crush you with my own bare servos!” Megatron boasted. “Until I cowardly call on my men for help and use any random object to throw cheap shots at my opponent!” Starscream mocked, imitating Megatron’s voice. “Shut up, Starscream!” Megatron snapped. “Decepticons, ATTACK!!” All the Decepticons readied their weapons and uttered war cries. Celestia grinned and flew up against Megatron. “Time to finish this... FOR EQUESTRIA!!” > Chapter 9: The Final Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia ignited her horn and emitted a large magical beam toward the Decepticon leader. Megatron raised his swords to block the blast, but it was so powerful that it sent him flying in the air. He transformed to helicopter mode before firing his fusion cannon at his opponent. Celestia created a magical shield over her to block the deadly blasts. “You cannot win, Megatron! Equastria will triumph once again!” she shouted. “Brave sentiment, organic, but completely meaningless!” Megatron mocked. He fired more blasts to break down her shield. Celestia then morphed the shield into another beam and shot at one of Megatron’s rotors. It malfunctioned which forced him to fall and transform back to robot mode. He ran forward and swiped his swords at Celestia who effortlessly dodged them. Suddenly, she received a hit on her back from a beam. “Gaahh!” she groaned. “Quite an easy shot if I may say so myself,” said Starscream, converting his mouth from an energy blaster. “See, Megatron? Even I can shoot perfectly at an organic which you couldn’t.” “SILENCE!” Megatron angrily shouted, kicking Starscream away. Then he got another blast to the face. “It would be wise to surrender, Lord Megatron. Do this, and I shall grant you mercy.” Celestia commanded. “I WILL NEVER SURRENDER TO A FLESHLING!!” Megatron bellowed, firing another blast at Celestia. Shockwave fired several shots at Discord; however, the latter flew around him on a plane while eating oranges with peanut butter. “You know, you could’ve just given me a fighting chance! But instead, you went for a classic move of firing a cheap shot at my back like a coward would. How disappointing...” Discord frowned. “Enough talk! Surrender or perish!” Shockwave threatened. Discord then fake yawned and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a humongous fly swatter appeared in the sky and swatted Shockwave on the concrete. It disappeared which revealed an injured Shockwave on the ground. “You were saying, Mr. One Eye?” Discord asked, smirking. Lugnut fired dozens of missiles at Applejack in a far distance. The farm pony ran to the missiles with a lasso on her muzzle, swung it at one of the missiles, and caught it. She spun around and threw it at the rest of them. The missile struck a few of them which resulted in a massive explosion in the air. The brightness forced Lugnut to cover his optic. With him distracted, Applejack ran forward, jumped, and bucked him in the optic. The large Decepticon grunted in pain. “CURSES, MEATBAG! I WILL CRUSH YOU TO ATOMS FOR THIS!!” he bellowed, stumbling around. “Ah like to see ya try, Decepti-creep!” Applejack smugly replied. Rainbow Dash flew away from two Seekers who were chasing her around the city. “This pony can fly faster than both of us? How amazing! Truly, this creature has been gifted with the ability of great speed and flight! I am so proud of her!” Sunstorm praised. “What are you talking about?! I am the faster flyer of Cybertron! I’m even faster than this organic! It should be common knowledge by now!” Ramjet bragged. “You guys are all talk and no action! Show me some speed, will ya?” Rainbow challenged. She dashed across the clouds with a rainbow trail following her. The two Seekers stopped and transformed to their jet modes. They fired null rays at her, but missed every single time. Then she flew past them and flew high up in the sky. She flew down and kept the same amount of speed while keeping her sight on Sunstorm and Ramjet. As soon as she speedily came close to them, she shot herself forward in the opposite direction which created a massive rain boom in the sky. The rain boom knocked both Decepticons out. They crashed on the ground with big injuries. “That’s why they call me Rainbow Dash!” she proudly spoke. “Owww...” Ramjet muttered. “That was even more impressive than I ever imagined,” said Sunstorm before slamming his head back on the ground. Lugnut still continued pursuing Applejack while shooting lasers shots from his side blasters. “In the glorious name of Megatron, you shall be destroyed!” “STOP!!” cried a certain pegasus. Lugnut looked down to see Fluttershy with a courageous and determined look on her face. “Leave Applejack alone, you big monster! Pick on somepony your own size!” “You are in no position to give me commands, little one. Only the great and powerful Megatron can command me when to fight and when not to fight! NOW STEP ASIDE OR PERISH!!” Lugnut shouted. He activated his boom button on his arm and pointed it at the two ponies. “Then you leave me no choice, mister,” said Fluttershy. She flew up to the Decepticon and gave him... the Stare. At that moment, Lugnut exceedingly trembled in her presence and struggled to maintain his balance. “What... is... happening... to me?! Please, stop... (groans)... I beg of you! ARRAHHHHH!!” Lugnut muttered in pain. “I think ya need to relax, big guy! Take this!” Applejack said, bucking the boom button so hard that it broke. At that moment, Lugnut’s entire arm exploded and set him on fire. The force of the explosion sent him flying in the air and crashed on the castle’s remains. “Thanks, Applejack,” said Fluttershy. “Don’t mention it, Fluttershy. Come, we have to get these citizens to safety!” replied Applejack. They went forward and did so. Blitzwing once again attempted to destroy Pinkie Pie as they encountered each other again. “Hold still, organic, so I can roast you!” his hothead yelled, shooting fire from his cannons. “Roast me? You mean roast me like ‘You’re shorter than I expected!’ or ‘You smell like bad cheese!’ or maybe even this ‘How come you have three faces? You couldn’t figure out which one is the ugliest?’ That kind of roast?” Pinkie innocently asked. Blitzwing then stood there in confusion. His face switched to his intelligent side. “Curious. That insulting sentence waz also spoken by a certain Autobot. Hmmm...” He switched to his crazy face. “Who cares?! That was just so funny! Hahahahaha!! Let’s continue playing tag!” “Yay! Tag you’re it!” Pinkie ran away while Blitzwing transformed into a tank and followed Pinkie in the same path. He blasted several houses randomly as he looked for her. “Come out, come out, come out, wherever you are!” Blitzwing called. “We’re playing hide-n-seek now? Yeepee! Where are youuuu?” “Down below you, silly!” Pinkie responded. Suddenly, Blitzwing was shot from below the ground and flew up in the sky until he crashed down on the ground. Pinkie got out of the massive hole with a large party cannon. “Surprise!” Pinkie said, smiling brightly. Confetti was all over the unconscious Decepticon. “Don’t you dare move, insect! Make one move and I’ll blast you to smithereens!” Slipstream threatened, pointing her null ray blasters at Rarity. “First of all, it’s Rarity! I have a name you know! Second of all, why would you threaten a girl like that? That is very unladylike of you, darling!” Rarity scolded. “Who do you think you’re talking to?! I am a Decepticon, and I can threaten whoever as I please! So, Rarity, you had better surrender or else face my wrath!” Slipstream angrily replied. Rarity noticed Spike getting behind Slipstream. “I am sorry, miss...” Rarity said. “Slipstream,” the Seeker added. “Miss Slipstream, I do not take demands from anypony who is trying to destroy my friends. Again, so unladylike and uncouth of you to do all this! Thankfully, my little friend here shall teach you some manners!” Rarity smirked. “Who?” Slipstream asked. Once she turned around, Spike breathed fire on her face. “AHHHH!! NOOO!!” She then attempted to shoot Spike with her burned optics closed. With her distracted, Rarity made a diamond shield that deflected one of her null blasts and struck Slipstream on the chest. It sent her flying against the demolished castle and crashed there as well. “Good job, Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity commended, patting him on the head. “Anything for you, Rarity,” said Spike with dreamy eyes. Megatron looked around and saw all of his forces defeated by the heroes. Enraged by the outcome, he grabbed Celestia and Luna and threw them against a house. They fired their beams at him, but he blocked them with his swords. “You actually think you can defeat me?! YOU ARE NOTHING!!” He fired another blast at them, but they teleported and appeared above him. They fired their combined beams at him which struck him on the head. He tumbled to the ground with a few bruises. Then he grabbed Starscream and shot his energy beam at the alicorns. They shielded themselves from the beam. “That’s it! I have enough of this!” Starscream yelled. He accidentally activated his flying technique and flew up with no boosters. “Wait... I can finally fly? Without my body?!” “Impossible! How can he do that?” Luna asked. Seeing his new ability, he had an idea in mind. “Sorry, Megatron. Looks like you’re on your own. Those elements of harmony will belong to me! I will crush you and all those organics and rule the Decepticons forever!” Starscream declared. He flew off to the Everfree Forest. “STARSCREAM!!!” Megatron angrily shouted. Starscream manically laughed as he flew out of Canterlot. “That fool Megatron will be powerless against my new ultimate might that shall tear the galaxy apart! Hahahahaha!! What the?” He looked down to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They flew up to his face. “You’re not going anywhere, Starscream!” Twilight said. “We won’t let you steal those elements! Surrender now!” Rainbow ordered. “Never!” Starscream defied. He increased his speed and entered the forest. Rainbow however knocked him against a tree and kicked him toward another tree. “Oww! How dare you!” Starscream muttered. “Bring it on, Screamy! Show me what you got!” Rainbow challenged. Starscream growled angrily. He shot more beams at her which she effortlessly flew around and punched him toward the air. As he was screaming in pain, she came down on him and pounded him to the ground. “Take that, Scream!” “Grrrr, IT. IS. STARSCREAM!!!!!!! NOT SCREAM!!!” he yelled. His scream pushed back Rainbow toward the dirt. He got up from the ground and blasted her against several trees. He then grabbed her tail with his teeth and twirled around until he threw her against a boulder, greatly injuring her. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called. She flew to her to check to see if she was okay. “Now, to find the elements...” Starscream evilly smiled. He flew off again to look for the elements. He didn’t notice Twilight smirking behind him. Once he flew several miles across the forest, he finally found the elements. Grinning widely with satisfaction, he descended below. “Finally, the power of the elements of harmony belong to me. I will become the greatest conquerer the entire multiverse has ever—AHHHH!!” He screamed from the painful shock out of the magical barrier he touched. It launched him across the sky out of the forest. “I told you it would work,” said Twilight, chuckling. “I guess it did, hehehe...” Rainbow chuckled back. She winced in pain from the injuries she received. Starscream landed all the way back in Canterlot. Megatron raised his metal eyebrow at his sudden return with no elements until he smirked. “Well, Great Starscream, did your flawless idea turn out well?” “Curse you, Megatron,” said Starscream. Celestia, Luna, Starlight, Spike and Discord sent every blast of magic they had at Megatron. Having enough of their antics, he stomped his foot on the ground with enough force to create a shockwave. The shockwave knocked them against several buildings. Then he fired a blast at one of the buildings to have it fall on Spike. Starlight however ran up to him, picked him up, and teleported from the falling building. “Give it up, Princess Celestia. I shall be ruler over this multiverse, and you all shall bow to my will.” Megatron declared. “Do your worse, Megatron. The Magic of Friendship will prevail over you and all evil,” said Celestia, getting up from the debris. “So be it,” replied Megatron. He raised his fusion cannon to finish off Celestia. Suddenly, Twilight appeared in front of him and glared at him. “You will go no further, Megatron!” Twilight said. She blasted him on the face and lifted him off the ground with her magic. Then she threw him against the ground. He grunted in pain. He got up and shot several blasts at her. She teleported from each shot he fired; once he stopped, she grabbed him via telekinesis and tossed him across the vacated city. He crashed on the ground again. Enraged, he unsheathed his swords and swung them at Twilight. While she speedily dodged the swipes, she kept blasting him with her magic. Suddenly, he grabbed her by her right wing and threw her against a house. He then tried to step on her; she quickly jumped out of the way. He swiped at her again; the tip of his sword sliced a quarter of her hair. Before she can teleport, Megatron grabbed her horn and began to slowly squeeze it. Twilight yelled in pain from the pressure. “Let’s see how you can manage without your horn, Princess Twilight.” Megatron said, growling in anger. Twilight again wailed in pain as he put more pressure. Luna came forward and blasted his back. Megatron was forced to drop Twilight as he grunted from the shot. He looked back to see Luna glaring at him with her ignited horn. “I won’t let you hurt Twilight,” she said. Megatron raised his cannon and aimed at her. Quickly thinking, Luna teleported inside his cannon and recharged her horn. At that moment, his entire cannon exploded taking out his entire arm as well. “AHHHHHH!!!” he screamed. Luna came down to Twilight to check on her. “Are you alright, Twilight?” “I’m fine, Princess,” replied Twilight. Once Celestia came to them, she smiled. “My friends and I need the elements of harmony to stop Megatron. It’s the only way to save Equestria.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other until they nodded in agreement. “You’re right, Twilight. Megatron won’t be stopped until the power of the elements puts an end to him and his Decepticons. Go forth.” Celestia ignited her horn and disabled the barrier around the Tree of Harmony. As the Mane Six reunited together, Twilight teleported them all to the Tree and grabbed their elements. Quipped with the elements, Twilight teleported them back to the city and faced the injured Decepticon leader. “It’s over, Megatron,” said Twilight. “Your acts of evil and terror are put to an end!” “And we have the high ground!” Pinkie added. “You underestimate my power!” Megatron yelled. “Don’t try it!” Applejack warned. The Mane Six were lifted from the ground and began to glow. Growling in irritation, Megatron grabbed one of his swords with his only hand and jumped toward them to destroy them. However, as soon as their eyes turned white, they emitted a large rainbow beam that struck Megatron in mid air. The Decepticons including Starscream were also enveloped by the rainbow magic. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” Megatron bellowed. His entire body then became petrified in stone. All the Decepticons also turned to stone. Starscream screamed in terror as his Allspark fragment slowly disintegrated from the rainbow power. “AHHHHHHHHH... nooooooo...” The Mane Six came down and stopped glowing white. What they were seeing were statues of Decepticons with looks of terror on their faces. Megatron had the defiant look on his face with his sword raised while Blitzwing had the crazy look while having a dance-like pose. “(Giggles) That guy looks funny!” Pinkie laughed, looking at the triple-changer. Twilight then stepped forward with a disappointed look at Megatron’s statue. “If you had not possessed maniacal tendencies to take over Equestria and this Cybertron planet you mentioned... we could’ve been great friends. We gave you friendship, and you used it for your own evil intentions. You asked us to help you take you back home, and so we shall. Discord!” “On it!” Discord complied. He snapped his fingers and there appeared a massive rubber band which tied up all the statues. “In the name of Equestria, we banish you to Cybertron! You shall never come back to harm our home ever again!” Twilight judged. “Here is the way!” Pinkie alerted, standing next to the portal she created from Shockwave’s device. “Enjoy your flight!” Discord said, turning into a big tennis racket. He smacked the banded statues into the portal before it closed. All the ponies cheered for their victory. ON CYBERTRON “Anything new going on, Ironhide?” a ‘Bot asked. “Nah, nothing much. Just busting old Decepti-chops like there’s no tomorrow!” Ironhide replied. He and his comrade were guarding the gates of the Elite Guard while the Elite Guard officers were having their official meeting with Ultra Magnus inside the building. “What ‘bout you, Brawn? Any excitement lately?” “I wouldn’t say ‘excitement’. I’m always occupied with guarding the Decepticon inmates who just love to rant, taunt, mock, and insult me whenever I’m on duty. And let me tell ya, it is never fun to be around those freaks.” Brawn replied. “Don’t let them get to ya, pal. They’re just mad over the fact that we Autobots are better and smarter in every way.” Ironhide boasted. “But definitely not stronger,” said Brawn. “Hahahahaha! You’re funny, bro. You’re the strongest ‘Bot there is! Just break their servos, and they’ll immediately comply to ya! Haha! I would pay to see that!” Ironhide chuckled. “(Chuckles) Thanks, Irony. Perhaps we should just—what in the Matrix is that?” Brawn asked. Both Autobots looked up and saw a large meteor coming down toward the outskirts of Iacon City. They witnessed it softly landing on the ground with a parachute out of nowhere. “Oh my Primus! We have to check it out!” Ironhide said. “What?! We can’t just leave our posts! Sentinel Prime’s orders!” Brawn reminded. “Who gives a scrap about his orders? Do you? Do I? Of course not because he’s a jerk face idiot. Now come on!” Ironhide said. He transformed in his alt mode and drove off. Eventually Brawn transformed to alt mode also and followed him to the outskirts of the city. As they got close to the landed meteor, they transformed to robot mode and investigated it. They gasped in shock as they beheld the petrified statutes of Megatron and the seven other Decepticons. “It’s... it’s Megatron!” Brawn yelled. “Statues of the Decepticons? Where did those come from? Where is Megatron’s arm?” Ironhide asked. He took his scanner out and put it on their statues. “I want to know if it’s actually them or not.” Once the scanner tested positive, he again gasped in shock. “It’s true... it really IS them!” “Who did this? Who was the one who petrified them in... stone?” Brawn wondered. After moments of silence to contemplate what they were seeing, both Autobots grew smiles on their faces. “YESSSS!!! YESSSS!!! The war is no more!!” “Right you are, bro! Megatron and his stop officers are also no more! We can celebrate now! The rest of his army have no leader now!” Ironhide agreed, jumping up and down in happiness. After they had their moment of joy, Ironhide opened his com link. “Jazz, sir! We have great news! I suggest you come to our location to see good tidings for yourself. We’re in the outskirts of the city.” He closed the com link. “What will we do now?” Brawn asked. “Once our superiors see this, they will create new plans to vanquish the remaining of the Decepticons. I’m sure of it. Oh, and we should have Ultra Magnus deal with those statues. After all, he does have a hammer.” he winked. > Epilogue: Far From Over > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BACK IN CANTERLOT “I’m glad that’s all over,” said Applejack. “Me too! Well, I’ll still miss that triple-faced dude. He was so funny! A cold face, hot face, and crazy face. I wish I had three faces like him!” Pinkie squealed, holding three face masks over her face. “I still can’t believe Megatron tricked us like that. After we offered our friendship to him, he used it for his own agenda,” said Twilight, frowning. “I can only imagine what we would’ve been like as friends.” “That’s a good thing he didn’t get his hands on the elements of harmony. We all would’ve been doomed!” Starlight said. “I am glad that all of us are okay,” said Celestia. “Perhaps all of us have learned our lesson today. We should always be careful of whom we befriend and whom we trust. Once we become more cautious of our own surroundings and atmosphere, we will have better chances of getting out of harm’s way.” “A wise lesson indeed,” agreed Luna. “Looks like we have a huge mess to clean up! Didn’t these Decepticons ever learn to clean up after themselves?” Discord sighed, viewing the rubble around the city. He snapped his fingers which summoned a broom and a garbage can while wearing garbage man clothes. “Alright, time to clean up this trash.” While the Mane Five and Discord went about helping the Royal Guard and the citizens clean up the mess in the city, Celestia and Luna looked back at Twilight, Spike, and Starlight. “Do you think we should visit this... Cybertron one day?” Celestia asked. Starlight held Shockwave’s portal device through telekinesis. “Hmmm, I think it would be a great idea! I always wanted to visit other worlds to see what they’re like. Cybertron seems like an interesting place.” “I agree, Starlight! We could learn about these giants and even the Autobots! What they like, how they live, how they function, everything!! I have so many questions to ask them!” Twilight brightly smiled. “The way they transform... boy, that is just awesome in every sense of the word!” Spike added. “Still though, those Decepticons, despite how cool they look, we now know they’re just bad news like how Tirek and Chrysalis are.” Suddenly, Thunderlane ran to them with a look of worry and stress on his face. “Hey, have you guys seen Rumble? I’ve been looking everywhere for him in Cloudsdale and Canterlot! Where did he go?!” They gasped in shock. They looked around to see Rumble nowhere in sight. “Where did he go?!” Twilight asked, panicking. IN A DISTANT MOUNTAIN “Those fleshlings will pay for everything they have done to me,” said Soundwave. “I will destroy every last one of them until they are all extinct.” “You gotta admit though they have very strong magic,” said Lockdown. “I can just imagine their magic flowing through my circuitry. Being so strong and powerful to take on my enemies with that kind of power is so... tempting. That’s the type of trophy I would love to obtain.” “Perhaps you are right,” agreed Soundwave. At that moment, Laserbeak returned to them and displayed the recording of the Decepticons’ defeat. Soundwave then faced the bounty hunter. “They have gambled and lost. Fortunately, the three of us are not leaving this planet empty-handed.” Soundwave spoke. “Oh? What’s that?” Lockdown asked. Soundwave opened his chest compartment to reveal Rumble lying unconscious. “I could dispose of him right now for ratting us out. However, I have a new plan that could involve his usefulness and help me destroy the Autobots once and for all.” His visor glowed bright red with... a vengeance. THE END... FOR NOW