Hiccup and Toothless flew, soaring through the skies around Diego Garcia. In flight, there was freedom. In freedom, there was a goal, an ideal to be achieved, and Hiccup felt, with each beat of his metallic friends' wings, that whatever that ideal was, he'd reached it..
Down on the ground, Optimus and Ratchet watched boy and Cyber Dragon fly free, hearing the whoops of pure joy from them both.
"I never saw him so alive, old friend, not when he served Megatron."
Ratchet smirked and said "That's because you never saw him coming. He blended right in with the background. Worse than Ravage, because at least that particular little fragger had some gold and silver on her paint."
Optimus chuckled and conceded the point to his friend. "Though I find it strange that he should attach himself to a human."
"Hiccup found him at his weakest, repaired him, has never raised a hand to hurt him. The boy is the exact opposite of Megatron, Prime. I'm not surprised in the least that 'Toothless' latched on to him as a carrier. I can say I would have, if I'd been Megatron's slave from the day I onlined."
"Is that why you took him on as an apprentice?"
"Partially. The boy reminds me of... Well, look at him. Look at the joy he gets from flight. Look at how compassionate he is."
Optimus gave his friend a sympathetic frown and asked rhetorically "He reminds you of Swoop, doesn't he?"
"Yes... And I may have failed him, but I won't fail this child."
"We all have regrets, but it may yet be that ours are greater than they should be, my friend."
"Herr-AGH!" came the scream as Starscream was thrown across a training mat and through a wall. In the training room, his opponent vented heavily, and surveyed her surroundings. Mechs of all sizes lay on the ground, limbs twitching in pain.
Megatron had chosen his Queen well, when he mated Nightbird. His death was inconsequential. She had plans, oh yes. Soon, her King would return to her...
And then, humans would burn in the fires of their rage...