So here it is. The sequel to 'My Little Combaticon.' I've been having a huge problem with the Foster's thing, because my little brother convinced me to start again without Stunticons. So that's why I haven't been doing anything so far.
And here we go. On Cybertron, 15 million years ago...
Best Served Cold
By the Tormentor
Cybertron, several million years ago.
The ancestral being, red and white with wings of age, crashed into the obsidian wall. This was not of accident, but of force. The being, Vector Prime, the guardian of time inherited by Primus himself eased his old body up, and clutched Rhisling between his hands and gazed at his attacker.
His own brother, Megatronus Prime. His armor, once a vivid combination of grey and crimson, was now pitch-black due to the corruption of Unicron on his dear brother. Now a cage of primal power, Megatronus was now seemingly to be eternally on fire, a consequence of the severe power he inherited by the Dark God of Chaos.
"Why must you do this, Megatronus?" Vector Prime screamed at his fiery brother, his sword clashing against the blazing edge of his enemy's blade. Vector Prime was so confused. So very confused, the guardian of time was, over the past few days.
The awakening of Unicron, and his demise.
The deaths of Alchemist Prime and Nexus Prime.
Solus Prime, the greatest blacksmith of Cybertronian history, nearly blasted in half by the power of the stolen Requiem Blaster.
All of this caused by their angry brother, the one who felt destiny could not control him or his people. All the destruction caused, the deaths enormous, and the very world that they were trying to save was crumbling beneath their feet. His once over-ambitious brother has become the epitome of fury that was once in the hands of Liege Maximo, before his destruction by the hands of Unicron himself.
Vector Prime locked his blue optics straight into his brother's, the once familiar red now ablaze in an inferno of hatred. For a twinge, Vector Prime felt such pity for his short-sighted brother, possessed by the power of the now dead Unicron and succumbed to his hunger for absolution.
"It is my destiny, Vector!" Megatronus roared and swatted away his older brother, eager to claim the prize that the last surviving Primes swore to protect with their lives. He stepped up to the golden pedestal, and held by the crafted hands of Primus stood his prize.
The Matrix of Leadership.
"At last, victory." As Megatronus sighed for victory to be so near, his hands now coated in his power, a sonic blast knocked his hand away from grabbing the Matrix. Enraged, he looked to his left, and saw none other than the still functioning Solus Prime clinging onto the Requiem Blaster. Megatronus stomped over to his battered sister and crushed the blaster in his hands in front of the blacksmith.
"Sister, you have annoyed me for the last time." He growled, his fiery frame alive with fury at his sister.
"Even if you destroy me, Megatronus, others will rise to defeat you and your newfound tyranny." Solus coughed, precious energon flowing out of her mouth. Megatronus grabbed the last weapon she had on her, to prove that he was superior than his fellow Primes and that he was their greatest.
The Forge of Solus Prime, the tool Solus had used to build so many things for her race.
"Then I'll just have to DESTROY YOU ALL!" And with that, Megatronus raised the hammer above her head, aligning it with those pitiful optics of the femme who dared to defy his destiny, and brought it down upon her spark chamber, crushing the once-glowing orb into a shell of dull grey.
Vector woke to the sound of a scream and saw the horrific sight of Solus Prime murdered by Megatronus by her own weapon. He heaved the hammer out of her chest, energon sticking to the edge and tossed it aside like garbage.
It was then Vector Prime realized that Megatronus would not regret his actions. He would never care for his brothers and sisters anymore. Only his 'destiny' remained inside. But Megatronus could not be killed by a fellow Prime anymore, as he could not be killed at all. So Vector Prime sought that the only way to stop his brother was to send him somewhere where he couldn't harm anyone else. Somewhere someone could never awaken this new evil scourge.
"By the power invested in me ..." He began, and the gears inside of him began to glow and spin as the direct fuel of Primus himself funneled it's way into Vector's spark, realizing that his child had become corrupt.
" ... of the will of Primus ..." Megatronus noticed this chant before he reached for the Matrix, and scoffed.
"Do you really think that a chant could stop me? You are a bigger fool than I have imagined, my brother." Megatronus growled and blasted at Vector Prime. The blast did nothing but add a puff of smoke around the seemingly glowing Vector Prime, and Megatronus was aghast.
"What is this trickery?!" He roared, and brought his sword down onto the glowing Vector Prime, and the sword of flame shattered against his brother.
" ... I cast you from the Thirteen ..." Lighting struck around the two Primes and formed a vortex of energy around the area behind Megatronus, forming a swirling singularity that showed nothing but a dead universe behind it. This was the Nether, the universe for the evil to dwell eternally, never to return to the physical plane.
"What is-?" Megatronus began, but his feet suddenly gave as the singularity began to suck in everything around it, excluding Vector Prime and the Matrix.
" ... and banish you to the nether, declaring you to be ..." Vector raised Rhisling towards the singularity where Megatronus was trying to escape, and a single bolt of magical energy zapped Megatronus off the ground and into the blackness of the singularity.
"NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED! I SHALL RETURN!" He screamed, his flaming body disappearing into the darkness, and closing forever with a resonating explosion which didn't harm Vector Prime one bit. The Matrix hummed as it disappeared into Vector Prime, whom was now chosen to be the descendant of all future Primes; Nova, Nominus, Guardian, Zeta, Sentinel and finally Optimus. And with the final breath from the power of Primus, Vector sighed out only one word;
" ... Fallen."
Present day ...
"Okay, so this is what I know; Megatron is sending us to Cybertron to guard Shockwave. But why?" Blast Off asked, obviously not pleased with the fact that he had to get back up to go on another adventure without getting a decent recharge without organics annoying him or the rickety solar winds shaking a shuttle recharge berth.
"He fears of an Autobot attack, Blast Off. Either that, or the ponies from the previous planet returning with a vengeance to recapture their kin." Onslaught answered, him being in position of the command chair.
"Pfft. What's the worse they could do?" Brawl snorted. "Throw pixie dust at us? Plus, the only Autobots on Cybertron are those thieving femmes that Shockwave royally hates."
"Who doesn't hate them?" Vortex asked, slightly mad at a particular memory. "I remember one mission ago I was actually just flying around normally, for some damn fresh air, and that blasted red slag-sucker Firestar shot me with a particle ray! I couldn't transform for deca-cycles! When I get my hands on that brat, I'll-"
"Just drop it Vortex, you did get her back, remember?" Swindle said, who was currently on the gunner's seat with his legs propped up against the keyboard. "You practically dragged her across Kaon with a pipe shoved in her throat so she wouldn't scream."
"Oh yeah. That was funny." Vortex giggled.
"Easy for you to say funny, you sociopath. I had nightmares about that." Blast Off mumbled.
"Ease up, soldiers. We're getting a transmission from Shockwave." Onslaught pressed a green button on the armrest of his chair, and the image of the purple cycloptic Decepticon appeared on the large pilot's window.
"Greetings, Onslaught." Shockwave said. "How long are you to begin your mission on Cybertron?" He asked.
"We will be arriving on Cybertron within three cycles, Shockwave. I trust the experiment is going well?" Onslaught answered with a question, hoping not to be sent there for something stupid.
"Rest assured, the experiment is going as planned. Shockwave out." And the screen cut to blank and shrunk until it vanished from the window. Onslaught resumed his position and slumped down onto the seat, wondering what exactly Shockwave was doing.
-Canterlot-
"Princess Celestia, the shuttle will be launched in about three days. Currently, it hard enough to find the suitable materials, but are you sure you just want the five mares to go? No weapons or anything?" A royal adviser asked, who was currently writing down a series of notes taken from a variable source.
The shuttle, built for long exploration, was scavenged from the ruins of the Combaticon shuttle that was destroyed by the Autobots. Though it was harder finding pieces than reattaching them, Celestia made sure that everything was reformatted for the search of her missing pupil. Celestia didn't have a clue where Twilight was taken, but a sliver of data helped her out.
Several weeks ago, when Onslaught was captured by he ponies for his brief interrogation, Canterlot and Manehatten scientists discovered grand amounts of data in his system, including the names of places and planets that Twilight might be on. The names of Caldoon-4, Garrus-9, Alpha Centauri, Earth, and finally Cybertron.
Before he left, Blaster personally told Celestia that Cybertron was their homeworld but was under extreme Decepticon control. Barely any Autobots resided there anymore, and if they did they were probably on the run from the Decepticons. Cybertron was a rogue planet, and it only orbited a star once it was found by one. Blaster told her where Cybertron lied, and was probably grateful enough that the shuttle's experimental trans-warp module was still intact, allowing for easy travel.
The residing Elements; Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were to travel to Cybertron and rescue their friend. Coming along was Twilight's pupil Spike, who was coming as an observer. He would bring back information about the Transformers and Cybertron itself, and how Celestia would defend her kingdom if the Decepticons were to return.
"I'm sure that the Elements will be fine on their own. They've done it before." Celestia answered calmly.
"Yes, they have been over the years, your Majesty. But on the same planet." The adviser said, his words laced with worry for the poor mare stuck on the alien planet.
"I'm sure the Elements are strong enough to overcome any foolish Decepticon." And with her talking done, the adviser left her in the royal bedroom. Celestia walked out of her room to the observer deck to watch the white and gold spaceship being built only a mile away.
But was she making the right decision, to place all her faith on five mares and a baby dragon, searching the universe on the remade carcass of a Decepticon shuttle of which the hand-picked and most brilliant minds of Equestria had absolutely no knowledge of?
"You are sure they'll be fine on their own?" A voice asked behind Celestia, the luxury of being both smooth and calm.
"Luna, the only thing I fear is that they won't be able to save Twilight in time." Celestia answered.
"We shall see, sister." Luna turned around and followed the steps of the adviser not too long ago and trotted out of the bedroom, leaving Celestia to look up to the morning sky in fear.
Oh, sweet Twilight, please be okay...
-Cybertron-
In her own vision, Twilight was flying across a beautiful landscape of a thousand colors, herself resonating pure good and holiness that would rival Celestia's own agenda. Her wings were made of gold and encrusted with jewels of all sizes, and atop her head lied a perfectly cylindrical ebony horn.
Currently, in her dream, she was fighting to keep the forces of evil at bay. Her horn swept over their evil lands and resurrected them back to being fair and just. But no matter where she turned, Twilight would always have to try and keep the ever-growing evil. It returned infinitely stronger, and Twilight would grow a little more tired every time she bested it. It would always be on the horizon, the evil hue of black just beyond her reach, waiting to strike at the last possible moment.
As the black wave rose again to fight the glowing alicorn, Twilight saw a prominent figure inside of the darkness.
It was a Cybertronian, but it has seemed to be incredibly old, maybe a great great grandfather in Transformer time. It's arms and legs were crossed, giving it the definition of being in an invisible cocoon of slumber. But as Twilight saw as the black wave reached her lands, the being's eye opened.
There was nothing inside but fire. Pure rage incarnate as it looked down upon the lesser creature.
Twilight was interrupted by a blinding light, and her wings, her lands, and the being of evil was gone...
... and was replaced by the purple ceiling of Shockwave's laboratory. As she attempted to speak, Twilight's mouth barely made a whisper. Her mouth was completely dry, leaving every word a pain to say. And then her hunger kicked in, and Twilight's stomach groaned with the need for sustenance. She couldn't move as the laser cuffs bound her to the slab where Shockwave experimented on her.
As soon as the word experiment was spoken in Twilight's mind, her eyes raced around her body to see if there was anything important missing. So far, nothing was sawed off. As she moved her head, she felt the machine against her forehead. The needles were still painless despite being inside of her skull.
Twilight heard the clanging of metal footsteps, and the huge chestplate of Shockwave appeared over her. His single yellow optic, bone-chilling and emotionless, bored a gaze right at the famished unicorn. A quick scan and the laser cuffs disappeared. Shockwave pressed a button on the module above her and the needles slid out of her head, and the freedom of her vertebrae was complete.
"W-water..." She croaked, barely making a sound. Thankfully, Shockwave heard her.
"You require nutritional supplements after this continuation of an experiment. Luckily for you, I decided against the illogical decision of cutting off your horn." Shockwave picked up the purple unicorn and walked over to a makeshift pen. It was guarded by laser wires that glowed a bright blue, and there was a small bed, two bowls for water and grass and a camera to observe her.
Twilight dived for the water and sucked it up like a vacuum would do with dust, and gobbled down the grass in a hurry. Satisfied, Twilight walked over to her bed to realize she was incredibly tired, and slumped down on top of the cotton-laced cushion.
Shockwave was busy at a nearby terminal, calculating the properties of this 'magic' that would provide an unlimited supply of ammunition if tapped correctly. Though Megatron wanted a singular weapon with incredible power and ran on the magic, Shockwave proposed a more logical route and discovered that if used correctly this magic substance could replace the energon that so many weapons ate up, leaving more for the soldiers.
Megatron was reluctant but agreed.
However, Shockwave proposed that it was also logical that the organics might re-use the destroyed shuttle to find Cybertron. So, he wanted the five mechs that were most experienced in the environment of magic.
The Combaticons. Not only would their experience and first encounters help, but they also know how the organics fight with their magic. Plus, if the organics did come to Cybertron to rescue their kin, they would have to go through Bruticus first.
Shockwave also mentioned that the Autobots would most likely assist the ponies in their future rescue, but Megatron said that they were too injured to even walk, let alone attack the Decepticon-controlled Cybertron. The only Autobots that might help them would probably be the Female Autobots, who were on the run constantly.
The Decepticon scientist saw the glimmer of the Combaticon shuttle ease through space and onto the huge landing platform in front of Shockwave's tower. Shockwave turned to the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. Before going, he glanced a look at Twilight to make sure she was asleep. Concluding that she was, he stepped inside and went down to greet the Combaticons.
As soon as Twilight heard the doors of the elevator hiss to a close, she activated a levitation spell in herself and plopped out of her cage. She knew, however, that if she managed to take the chance and somehowingly escape, where would she go?
"Oh, think think think Twilight! You've survived an Ursa Major, Discord, and Bruticus; how would you call for help if there was a computer in front of you, but didn't know how to work it?"
Twilight levitated herself off the floor and onto the computer to send a message, or anything, to clue her friends to save her.
Only to discover that the symbols on the keys were in complete gibberish.
Twilight groaned in frustration and stomped her hoof in a fury, but in the action pressed a button that caused the screen to go white with static. Twilight yelped in surprise and nearly fell off the computer keyboard. But as she got a closer look, Twilight realized that her face was being shown on screen, courtesy of a camera on top of the computer.
To the left of the keyboard, two buttons; respectively red and green, glowed as soon as her face showed up. Deciding that the universal sign for a 'yes' was green, she pressed the green button, and her current facial expression; terror, was captured on the screen. It was enclosed into a purple file, and Twilight frantically sent it to the stars, hoping that her friends might find it.
-Planet of Junk-
Though never bored, Scrapbolt was somewhat dulled with Earth television. Most shows were nothing more than people either doing incredibly stupid things or dumb reality series that never ended. Scrapbolt sighed, for the only reception that he was getting was through the hacked Decepticon signal for Earth television that Razorclaw would often use to quell Rampage. The Junkion wished that something interesting would pop up.
Suddenly, the image of a terrified unicorn popped up from the old television set. Scrapbolt was confused for a second, and quickly decided what to do.
He changed the channel yet again.
-Garrus-9-
Fortress Maximus got up from his office chair and grabbed the printed report for the Last Resort; so far, 1,149 prisoners, 89 of them in spark extractors and 3 awaiting execution per orders from Ultra Magnus. Handing the report to Kick-Off, who ran downstairs to send the report, the warden walked down to finish his final report.
Said report covered was almost complete, nearly taking half a vorn to finish for the upcoming future prisoners. Maximus typed furiously, eager to get this stupid report done. Though he had nothing better to do in mind yet, a good fashioned visit to Autobot City or Metroplex would help ease his systems.
"Almost there..." He mumbled.
The image of a purple creature came alive on his screen, which caused the warden to jump back in immediate surprise.
"GAH!" He yelped, but quickly caught himself from doing further embarrassment and pressed the end key to get rid of the bizarre image on his computer. Fortress Maximus grumbled to himself.
"Damn hackers..."
"Hey Fort Max!" The warden turned around to see Rotorstorm, Roadbuster, Pyro and Topspin at the end of his office, their optics alive with excitement.
"Pyro, what's going on?" He asked, and the Wrecker shrugged.
"Dunno. But somethin' real weird is going on with the space-bridge..."
-Peaceful Tyranny, Epsilon System-
Vos peered down at wonder from the image on his personal holopad. A scared creature of mostly purple with strands of pink in it's mane, and a single horn atop it's head. It looked like an equestrian sort of creature that Vos wasn't so familiar with. Scrambling out of his room, he called down the hallway.
"Hey Tarn, you gettin' this thing too?"
"Yes, Vos. I am. And I have no idea what it is. All I know is that it's coming from Cybertron." Tarn, commander of the Decepticon Justice Division answered his crewman. His face, re-sculpted into the Decepticon symbol itself, turned towards the current screen he was viewing.
"Maybe one of Shockwave's?" Vos asked.
"Maybe. Purge the image, I'm getting a call from Megatron..."
Shockwave arrived just in time to see Twilight Sparkle in the middle of his laboratory, levitating a small blaster pointed at his face. Calculating over several thousand options for a direct attack, Shockwave fired his laser cannon at the blaster, which caused it to explode.
To Twilight's point of view, it had seemed Shockwave had just walked in to shoot that gun she found.
"How-! What-!" She gasped, bewildered at Shockwave's superior reaction time.
"It seems I require a more tactical cage to contain you. Luckily, I have brought reinforcements." Shockwave said, his cold cultured voice never betraying a hint of emotion.
Twilight gulped. Usually, reinforcements would either be some cruel bully who liked to push around ponies smaller than himself, or a gigantic sadist all in for inflicting pain on a weaker target. The sound of multiple footsteps clanged in the hallway beyond the door to Shockwave's laboratory, getting closer with every second.
When the reinforcements arrived, a familiar figure clad in green and black armor, with two cannons on his back and an orange visor triggered a memory inside of her head, for she recognized the Cybertronian.
"Onslaught." Twilight seethed, earlier memories of the Combaticon commander branching towards a bad part of her psyche. Behind Onslaught stood the rest of the Combaticons: Swindle, Vortex, Brawl and Blast Off.
"Hello again, Twilight Sparkle. When Shockwave told me he captured a pony, I wasn't really surprised. But when I heard that it was you, star pupil of Princess Celestia, I hate to admit that I was somewhat impressed." Onslaught said, his arms crossed over each other to say that he wasn't intimidated by the pony one bit.
"I bet Celestia's having a heart attack right now." Vortex giggled. And then, intimidating at his best of Celestia, he said; "Oh, my faithful little Sparkley Warkley! Were art thou? Oh bloo hoo hoo!" Vortex pretended to cry while Twilight growled.
"You jerks, I thought we were your friends!" She cried out at the Combaticons.
"That was before you sided with those blasted Autobots." Onslaught snarled with enough hate to quell Twilight.
"Enough of this." Shockwave said, before the confrontation came to blows. "Onslaught, hop aboard the monorail system. It will take you to your quarters at Kaon."
"Kaon, Shockwave?" Blast Off asked. "I was hoping that I could visit my old home. I heard that it wasn't sold and everything that I own is still there."
Shockwave rubbed his chin. "Very well, Blast Off. You may visit your old quarters."
Blast Off looked at Onslaught, who nodded a yes and the shuttle-former ran out behind his Combaticon brothers. After exiting, he transformed and flew towards the main square of Iacon, which was surprisingly well-built despite being a huge target for Decepticons.
Onslaught and the rest of the Combaticons left Shockwave and Twilight Sparkle to the underground monorail system, which in turn led to their new temporary homes.
Shockwave picked up Twilight Sparkle, placed her back in her cage, and told her a single command.
"Stay."
Twilight sighed. This was gonna be a pretty long vacation...