Chapter 4

"The Battle Heard Round Equestria"

Big MacIntosh was very unsuspecting of the approaching danger that was coming towards him. Still, he heard the sounds of flying as well as yells and screams and this made him start to walk a little faster, hauling his load of apple products.

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE ROYALTY!" shouted Inferno, waving his gun in the air and opening fire on the innocent farm pony.

Frightened, Big Macintosh ran as fast as his hooves could carry him, ignoring the way he was supposed to go. As he tried to escape, he was cornered by Soundwave, in his Panther beast mode. The newly born Predacon chuckled as he advanced slightly towards Big Mac.

"Soundwave, terrorize!" he growled and transformed into robot mode, pointing his gun right at Big Mac. Forgetting all means to be brave, Big Mac turned to flee as Soundwave fired a blast at him, hitting the cart and destroying the products inside it. Hitting the ground, Big Mac saw the destroyed cart and rather than defending his Apple family honor, he decided to continue fleeing for his life.

"Where do you think you're going, Red Hot?" chuckled Quickstrike, firing a blast from his cobra head claw, only for Big Mac to dodge it. Big Mac continued running down to a small creek in the Everfree Forest and it was there that he saw Shockwave emerge from the creek in his Alligator beast mode.

"Now, I've got you!" he laughed and transformed to robot mode, firing his tail missiles at Big Mac, attempting to strike him down.

Leaping out of the creek, Shockwave managed to get onto Big MacIntosh's back and struck Big Mac several times in the back of his neck with his alligator tail. Big Mac's cries of pain did not go unheard of however.

"Trouble in the forest, Optimus!" cried Rhinox, calling out to his supreme leader while reading his chain guns.

"Is it Megatron?"

"I think Megatron isn't the only one on this land after all! Let's go!"

"Right behind you, Big Green!" cried Rattrap and the Maximals all made their way into the Everfree Forest and saw Big MacIntosh being attacked.

"We got to help him, Optimus!" said Cheetor, urgently, loading his gun. And without saying a word, Optimus motioned for them all to start firing on the attacking Predacons. This sneak attack caused the Predacons to stop what they were doing.

"Who dares attack me?" snarled Shockwave and that's when he saw the Maximals in the bushes. "Maximals! Intruders!"

The diabolical alligator fired several rockets at the Maximals, but they quickly got out of the way. Rattrap rolled and fired several blasts at Shockwave. However, he didn't get very far and was soon being fired upon, this time from Inferno.

"Oh great, here comes Psycho nut," he muttered as Rhinox came into provide support by lifting a fallen tree and hitting Inferno on the back, effectively knocking him to the ground. The fire ant leapt at Rhinox, trying to tackle him, but was hit by Cheetor.

Quickstrike then saw what happened and joined in the fray.

"You're not interrupting this here hoedown," he laughed, firing several blasts out of his cobra mouth at Cheetor and Rattrap. "Take this varmint!"

Both Cheetor and Rattrap managed to duck and avoid the fuzor's blasts and while they dealt with the out of control Predacons, Optimus saw the frightened Big Mac and flew down to help him.

"Are you all right?" Optimus asked and frightened, Big Mac stepped back. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I need to get you out of here!"

"Eee-yup, if you say so," cried Big Mac and using his strength, Optimus attempted to carry Big Macintosh to safety, only to be met with a laser blasts that almost hit both of them. Standing in their way, Soundwave walked towards Optimus and Big Mac, his gun pointed right at both of them.

"Surrender while you still can, Optimus," he ordered, but Optimus was not going to surrender and drew out his twin swords. "And give the creature to me!"

"Guess again," Optimus replied and stood in front of Big Mac, protecting him from Soundwave's fury. However, Soundwave detected Big Mac behind Optimus using the screen on his chest. Nevertheless, Optimus was not going to give into Soundwave's demands in any way possible.

Using one of his twin swords, Optimus swung at Soundwave, slashing at Soundwave at whatever chance he could get. However, Soundwave managed to kick Optimus back against the base of a tree. But, Optimus was not giving up.

…

Meanwhile, Cheetor and Rattrap continued to struggle with Shockwave as he retreated back into the creek.

"Come on, Scale Belly, why do you just give up?" cried Rattrap, who felt the power of his gun running low. "Face it, you are outmatched!"

"That's what you think, vermin!" replied Shockwave, putting his gun into the water and then firing a blast of energy, hitting Rattrap in the leg and causing him to let out a sharp yell as he went against the base of a tree. Cheetor didn't take this very kindly and fired his gun at Shockwave, only to get the same treatment as Rattrap.

"Oh, man!" groaned Rattrap. "There were times that I wish I was a transmetal again!"

"You and me, both, Rattrap!" added Cheetor, trying to get off of the ground. "But, we got to keep fighting here!"

Shockwave then proceeded to advance towards Cheetor and Rattrap, their destruction warranted in his mind. However, Rattrap and Cheetor weren't going to go down lightly. Together, they charged at Shockwave, pushing him to the ground while throwing punches at the same time.

...

Meanwhile, Optimus continued to duke with Soundwave while Big MacIntosh could only watch.

"Megatron will prevail, Optimus!" grunted Soundwave as Optimus shattered the monitor on his chest. "Long live the Predacons!"

"He will not prevail as long as I am here!" retorted Optimus, picking Soundwave and throwing him to the ground. No sooner did Soundwave get thrown that he and the rest of the Predacons except for Quickstrike felt surges of energy circle through their robot bodies.

"Energon buildup!" cried Inferno, who was losing to Rhinox anyway. "Transform and fall back! Return to the Royalty at once!"

Doing as they were told, the Predacons transformed and retreated. Once they were gone, the Maximals went over to Big MacIntosh to see if he was all right.

"Are you hurt?" asked Optimus as Big Mac trembled with fear. "They are gone now, you have nothing to fear."

"Eee…yup?" asked Big MacIntosh nervously.

"He's been through a lot, Optimus," remarked Cheetor. "Should we help him find where he lives?"

"Yes, we should," said Optimus. "But be on your guard. We are in uncharted territory and we don't know if there will be another Predacon attack or else. But, we should be in beast mode to begin internal repairs."

The rest of the Maximals agreed and converted to Beast Mode. Big MacIntosh was astounded to see this, but was too tired to even react.

"Lead us to where you came from," said Optimus to Big Mac and the eldest of the Apple Siblings, led the Maximals out of the Everfree Forest and back towards where he started: Sweet Apple Acres.

…

However, the battle in the Everfree Forest, didn't go unnoticed as several Wonderbolts flew over to where the battle was fought.

"Send a notice to Canterlot," said a Wonderbolt to another Wonderbolt. "It seems to me like that creature we brought to the princesses, well, there is definitely more where creatures like him came from."

The notice was soon made and was on its way to Canterlot, while back at the castle where the Maximals were temporarily based. Silverbolt and Blackarachnia was startled to find one of the pods moving.

"Silverbolt!" called Blackarachnia as the still injured fuzor came dashing into the throne room. "One of the pods, it's opening!"

"Who do you think it could be?" wondered Silverbolt, knowing to be on his guard with the creature inside coming to life. "Friend or Foe?"

Both maximal lovers watched as the pod opened and a lion emerged from the pod, stepping out and staring at Blackarachnia and Silverbolt. The lion looked up at them for a brief second before looking down at the ground and saying in a deep voice:

"Rodimus Prime, Maximize!"

And the lion transformed from beast to robot, his eyes locked onto the injured fuzor and the former Predacon with keen interest…

END OF CHAPTER 4