"Your battle lines are impressive, Lord Megatron," Princess Luna said as she flew above the Decepticon warlord. Megatron was in his tank mode, driving just behind his warriors. They stood ready, though no sign of the enemy was present.
"Many of my soldiers have been fighting for millennia," Lord Megatron said. "The elite of my armies have been fighting under me for millions of years. When we first formed, we were a force the likes of which this universe had never seen before. To this day, we dominate the battlefield wherever we go. Few true threats exist that we cannot utterly crush."
"Our society isn't so militant. We fight when we must, not before. Most disputes between ponies remain non-violent, as they should."
"Surely your world has dangers. You have weapons. There must be a reason for them."
"We've cultivated a peaceful society, though we have had our share of threats to face," Princess Celestia said as she flew alongside her sister. "Admittedly, our peacefulness has caused us some trouble in the past. There have been threats that have been… difficult to overcome."
"Your troops look war ready to me. Clearly you have learned from your mistakes and discarded your naive pacifism."
"We would rather be too peaceful than not peaceful enough, Lord Megatron," Princess Celestia said, as she eyed the Decipticon warlord critically. "But you're right. We have learned from our mistakes."
"How big is your army, princess?" Lord Megatron said, as he glanced up at the ponies. They were specks of white and midnight blue next to the gigantic Transformers.
"Big enough," Princess Luna said as they came to land just before the front line of Decepticons. "What my sister and I wish to see is the enemy's stronghold. Where is their leader located? You brought us deep into space, through a portal into your own universe, and there is no sign of the enemy here."
"Traveling into the Dead Universe with any significant force is difficult," Lord Megatron said. "It requires outfitting our soldiers with special devices to keep the universe itself from killing them. It would be best to seal it away, but that's not easily done. Our greatest scientific minds are working on a solution, but every attempt has been met with failure."
"Test runs, my liege," said a tall, cyclopean Decipticon that approached from behind the line. Megatron transformed as the soldier bowed to him. "With each failure we come closer to a solution. I have learned quite a bit in the last forty-eight hours, and I am ready for another attempt."
"You are given permission to make your attempt, Shockwave," Megatron replied. "I will lead your defense. We will take the princesses and their soldiers with us and let them see the nature of the enemy."
"As you command, my lord," Shockwave said with another bow to Megatron.
"We would rather discuss the enemy with you before sending our troops into harms way," Princess Celestia said. "We know some, from discussions with Lio Convoy. We don't know the battle conditions here, though. Lord Convoy claimed he was unaware of the details of your 'little project', as he put it."
"Though we are at peace with the other factions, tribalism within Transformer society is still as strong as ever," Lord Megatron said. "We all work towards the same goal through different means. We are not always forthcoming with information to one another, though."
"Where is a good place to discuss these 'Terrorcons' in private, then?" Princess Luna asked. "We're already doing our own investigations, but I'm sure you have much more knowledge than we do."
"Discussion is an inferior form of learning. I will take you to the front lines and let you learn firsthand."
"But…"
Megatron ignored her protests and transformed, this time into a large aerial bomber. With a shout, he spurred his Decepticons into action and they began the march to meet the soldiers of Unicron.
"The atmosphere on this planet is quite humid, majesty," Spitfire said as she flew alongside the princesses. Fresh bandages were visible beneath her flight suit, though she had refused the offer to stay home and rest. Many of her Wonderbolts had come as well, and they, too, wore bandages from the previous conflict in Gotham. Rainbow Dash was not among them, though. She had been convinced by her friends to recover in Ponyville, and had seen her fellow Wonderbolts off with some reluctance. "There's a lot of clouds to work with overhead. We could make some strong twisters with all that material."
"Good," Princess Celestia said. "Take your pegasi into the clouds and follow us. Give us tornado cover when we engage the enemy."
"Understood," Spitfire said. She saluted and flew off with two hundred pegasus ponies at her back. As soon as they entered the cloud cover, the sky began to darken. Flashes of lightning could be seen from time to time, as the ponies worked to strengthen the storm. It soon began to drizzle on the small army, the storm's intensity building with each passing moment, following the army wherever it went.
"You fight by manipulating the weather to your liking," Shockwave observed. He carried a heavy steel tower on his back, which he claimed was the instrument he would use to try and seal off the Dead Universe. The buttons and lights that covered its midsection glowed softly in the dreary atmosphere. "I think you will find that poor weather conditions aren't as effective against our kind as they are against the biologic opponents you have faced in the past."
"If that is true, then we will simply change our tactics, Shockwave," Princess Celestia said. "Though I doubt you have seen weather the likes of which we can produce."
"Let us hope it is enough. Our enemies know no pain or fear, only the will of Unicron."
"They will learn to fear us," Princess Luna said as she trotted forward. Four hundred guard ponies followed her, and before her went the Pokémon. The Tyrantrum, Lord Chompy growled in minor irritation as the rain fell on his head. The Mega Tyranitar, Lord Krush stomped alongside his friend, and growled a bit himself. The ground beneath them shook as his rock-types dug through the soft earth. The Articuno, Lady Lorna, gave commands to her ice-types as she flew just above the princesses. The Mega Audino, Lady Harmony, had her team of medics triple-checking their supply packs while a large force of normal-types surrounded them protectively.
Luna stopped just as they came to a wasteland filled with broken, robotic bodies. There were skulls from biologic life forms, though they resembled nothing the ponies or Pokémon had seen before. Several hundred rusted Transformers rose from the ground, their mouths dripping with some purple liquid.
"Our algorithms predict this is the place where the next incursion will appear," Shockwave told his lord through their private comms link. He began unchaining the heavy, steel tower he had been carrying as the Decepticons opened fire on the shambling Terrorcons. "The latest prediction, made just a moment ago, numbers the enemy at several hundred thousand. Our forces will not be sufficient. I have sent for reinforcements, Lord Megatron. Sixshot and his aerialbots will be here momentarily."
"Tell him not to hurry," Megatron said as he watched the ponies and their Pokémon allies march ahead of him. He smirked, marveling at how creatures so small could act with such confidence. "I want to see what our new friends can do, first."
"Understood. I will postpone his arrival just long enough to give us an idea of their capabilities, while ensuring that our purpose is not at risk."
"Lead the way, princesses!" Lord Megatron called out. "We will have your backs."
"His attempt to test us is worrisome, sister," Princess Luna said as she glanced back at the Decepticon warlord.
"I agree, sister," Princess Celestia replied. "If the other two leaders weren't so determined to keep us out of this battle, I wouldn't have agreed to Megatron's offer. I'm still not sure if he should be trusted. What do you think?"
"Lio Convoy did tell us that he is reformed. Our psychic-types haven't warned us about him, either. We knew we would meet him, but not what his plans were. Our Natu claim that there is a danger in following Megatron on this mission, but they don't believe that he is the source of this danger. It takes time for their visions to become clear once in a new universe, though. I don't like that he wouldn't strategize with us, but I want to believe that his intentions are pure."
"Then let us worry about the enemy before us for now," Princess Celestia said. She raised a hoof above her head as lightning thundered and the rain fell harder. Four space-bridges opened behind the army of reanimated robot corpses, and thousands of Terrorcons began marching through.
"Forward!" the princesses called as the Terrorcons ran to close the distance. The ponies and Pokémon ran, as well. Lord Chompy's jaws were the first to meet them. He charged headfirst into a massive dragon Terrorcon. The Transformer's jaws were large enough to envelope the Tyrantrum entirely, but not enough to save it. Chompy bit into its upper jaw and jerked his head downward, ripping half the monster's head off in the process. He spun in a circle, cutting the Terrorcon in half with his Dragon Tail attack. He gave a mighty roar as his dragon-type Pokémon fired Hyper Beam attacks in unison. Then he charged once more.
Lord Krush chuckled to himself as he watched his friend tear a hole in the enemy lines. He gave a mighty roar of his own and his rock-types erupted from the ground beneath the Terrorcons, shredding metal and wires as they went. Several flyers hovered overhead, the biggest of them a griffon Terrorcon. It darted down to the ground at incredible speed to stomp on the Mega Tyranitar with its two front feet. Krush stood unmoved as the rusted metal tore over him, his nigh-unbreakable body destroying the Terrorcon's claws.
The Terrorcon shrieked as it sent waves of electricity into the stumps of its front legs. Krush gritted his teeth as the electricity coursed through him, then he punched the monster into the ground, shaking the entire battlefield.
"Impressive," Lord Megatron said, as he casually walked up behind the ponies. "But there are more than simple drones in Unicron's army."
A massive space-bridge opened just as Lord Megatron finished talking. A black, rusted tank the size of a large town rolled through the portal, crushing the Terrorcon drones under its tracks as it went.
"That thing's larger than Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres combined!" Princess Luna said as their group stopped its advance to brace against the titan. "Were you expecting something so large to come through, Lord Megatron?"
"Not necessarily, but we have seen titans come through before. Naturally, we are prepared."
The princesses waited a moment for the Decepticon lord to continue as their soldiers engaged the now raging horde of Terrorcons.
"Well? Where are your preparations?"
"I would like to see how you handle this first," Lord Megatron replied, staring down at the princesses with a smug grin. "That titan is severely decayed, and quite undersized. Likely due to being destroyed and put back together haphazardly. I wonder, can you bring it down in one piece?"
"So, this was the 'danger' our psychics warned us about," Princess Luna said as she sighed in frustration.
Celestia sighed, as well. She watched as the Decepticons spread out and began forming defensive lines rather than continuing to follow her troops. She spoke to the psychic circle she was connected to and ordered them to map out the titan. Then she cast a spell to raise her voice above the din, making herself loud enough that the pegasus ponies in the clouds could hear her, as well.
"Enter the titan!" she cried. "Destroy the beast from the inside! Beat down the robotic monstrosities! Crush all opposition!"
The ponies and Pokémon joined together in a mighty cheer. The clouds twisted above them, and twin tornadoes tore through the sky to make landfall to either side of the titan. Lightning flashed, destroying large swaths of Terrorcons on the ground and leaving craters in their wake. Spears and pikes were thrown from the tornadoes at incredible speeds. They pierced the robots as the twisters came to brush up against the titan, tearing apart its rusted hull and ripping the smaller Transformers out from within it. The Terrorcons' sensors located the ponies manipulating the storm. They closed ranks and opened fire on the tornadoes, forcing the ponies to retreat back into the clouds. Yet the damage had been done.
"The tracks of the tank are ruined, majesty," Commander Fizzlepop said as she ran alongside the princesses. "Still, it moves forward. I don't think it can do so for much longer, though. If it's anything like our 'friends' back there, I suspect it will transform soon."
"Then we must board it before it does," Princess Celestia said. She cast her voice-enhancing spell once more and called out to her troops. "Let the Decepticons deal with the ones on the ground! We must take the titan from the inside if we're to take it down in one piece! Everypony, board that monstrosity now!"
The skies erupted with lightning once more. The pegasi were bringing destruction with them as they flew into the holes in the rusted titan's hull. They took the fight to the Terrorcons, targeting their joints and the vulnerable insides laid bare by rotting chassis with spears, axes and vials of lightning. The pegasus' size made them difficult to hit, and their speed allowed them to stay one step ahead of their opponents, even if only by a fraction of a second. They cleared off an area around a ramp that hung precariously from the titan's undercarriage. Earth ponies and unicorns surged past them, while the Pokémon fought to protect the army's flank.
"These things are huge!" Commander Fizzlepop yelled as she sent a Terrorcon staggering backward with an unstable blast of magic. A phalanx of earth ponies was struggling to push back against two severed, robotic arms. They huddled together, shields held before them, fighting to hold the line. "If not for our Pokémon friends, we'd be surrounded by now."
"If not for Rockhoof, we'd be crushed by now!" one of the earth pony guards yelled as he struggled against the pounding of a giant arm. Rockhoof stood in their center, towering above them. Each savage hit buckled his knees, but he always managed to stop himself before falling. His fellow earth ponies helped him brace against the force of the blow, and together they pushed the arm off only for the next one to come crashing down.
"Focus your fire!" Princess Celestia yelled as she and Luna joined the unicorns' volley of magical blasts. The princesses each chose an arm and shattered them with a single spell. "Push ahead! Stay strong, Equestrians!"
"Fighting opponents of steel is harder than fighting those of flesh, princess," Rockhoof said as he raised his shovel above his head and slashed a minicon in half. The tiny Terrorcon fell to pieces that twitched and tried to grab at the ponies as they charged past.
The halls were long and massive. They had been built for beings in excess of thirty feet tall, which made traveling through them difficult. This was made worse by the vast army of Terrorcons that roamed the halls. The ponies were beginning to get the hang of fighting these horrific robots. They were all rusted and decaying, exposing the wires and steel joints holding them together. It was a common theme among these monstrosities, though dismembering them didn't necessarily stop their movement.
The ponies slashed at the exposed joints with magically sharpened weapons. It was difficult cutting through the metal, but they soon gained a sense for which parts were most important for the Terrorcon's mobility and focused their attacks. Groups of unicorns dismantled Terrorcons piece by piece with telekinesis, while the sturdiest of them fought alongside the earth ponies and pegasi. Steel beams and thick tubing fell from the ceiling, blocking their path several times. Entire ceilings threatened to collapse on top of them, but they were able to escape into another room before they were buried.
More Terrorcons appeared out of every hole, pushing the ponies to fight their way through. More than once, they ran between the legs of the shambling horrors, choosing to avoid what battles they could when they could. They charged ahead, the Terrorcons closing ranks behind them to prevent their Pokémon friends from keeping up.
"Chompy!" Princess Luna called through the psychic link. The ponies had noticed when they had been separated from their friends, but the heat of battle was such that they had little time to think about it. "Where are you?"
"On the third floor, majesty," Lord Chompy said, his voice a guttural roar in the pony's head. "They've led us astray. We're lost, but the Natu with us are trying to find a different route."
"Krush, Lorna, Harmony! Report!"
"We are in a similar situation, majesty," Lady Lorna said. "This place is astonishingly massive. Our own Natu aren't sure where we are, or where to go from here. The psychic outline they drew shifts with each passing moment as the titan rots and its interior crumbles. Then there are the little, dead-eyed robots that drip liquid as they move. There are thousands of them, constantly building and rebuilding. I don't know if they're intentionally drawing us off course, but they are doing it all the same."
"The exit is still clear, majesties," Lady Harmony said, her voice strained and tired. "My normal-types are holding the line, though it's not easy. I've seen a few jets fly overhead; Decepticons I believe. Other than that, their lines haven't moved."
"We're barely inside this thing twenty minutes and we're already separated," Princess Luna said, biting her lip angrily as she blasted another Terrorcon through a nearby wall. "We can't keep this up forever, Celestia."
"We'll find a way to reconnect," Princess Celestia said. "It'll just take some time."
The group continued to travel through the necro-titan, fighting their way through room after room. Progress was slow. According to the periodic reports from the Pokémon, they were making faster progress but weren't any closer to understanding the layout of the robot. It wasn't just the minicons who were changing the rooms, but the titan itself seemed to change its insides in order to confuse its invaders. After two hours of fighting through the monstrosity, the titan suddenly shuddered and slowed.
"Is it transforming?" Captain Spitfire said as she landed next to the princesses. Fourteen Terrorcons were being torn apart by the ponies behind them, while several hundred minicons rolled into the room, their arm canons firing at the ponies in short bursts.
"No," Princess Celestia said, looking around her at the rotting corridor. Laser fire bounced off of the shields of the guardponies surrounding her and her sister, while groups of ponies charged in to cut the minicons down in close range. "I don't feel a change in orientation. I suspect we'd feel the entire thing shifting if it were transforming. I think the Decepticons have decided to start fighting this thing off from the outside."
"I don't like them, sister," Princess Luna said as she began to treat the wounded that had been taken out of the fight. "Their name is an obvious red flag. Megatron has done nothing more than throw us to the wolves."
"These enemies were going to be a challenge to begin with," Princess Celestia said as she looked around, planning their next move. "They're different from the creatures we've faced before. Learning how to deal with them is vital. A good ally would not send their friends into a situation like this without careful preparation and support. Megatron has given us neither. I believe he is trying to make a point at our expense."
"Majesty!" one of the Natu yelled urgently from his perch atop a pegasus pony guard. "Move!"
"Wha-?" Celestia said. She sidestepped just in time to see the ceiling begin to melt from above them. Molten metal dripped down, falling next to Celestia to smoke on the floor. The ponies looked up to see a canon several floors above them. Light gathered around it as it pulled in the molecules from the air to superheat, condense and fire. "Everypony, move!"
She used her magic to push her ponies out of the way as fast as she could, while Luna lifted the wounded and carried them to safety. The Decepticon either didn't notice them, or didn't care as he fired a second shot into the titan. This one made a hole straight through the beast, melting a portion of its right side tracks. The titan lurched, but kept moving.
"Hold your fire!" Princess Celestia yelled. "We're friendly!"
"Oops," the Decepticon called back. "Didn't see you little things down there! Name's Sixshot, and I've got orders to kill this thing. The troops under my command are planting bombs at key positions on this titan. I'm just slowing it a bit. This thing is gonna blow up in about ten minutes. You'd better get out before then."
He pushed a button on his gun and it began charging again.
"I demand you cease fire! Allow us more time to pull out!"
"You've been here over an hour and you're not even close to fulfilling your mission," Sixshot said as he opened fire once more. The ponies ran out of his way, barely avoiding his third plasma beam as it melted through the same hole at a different angle to pierce the tank tracks again. "If you're not strong enough to handle this fight, then you shouldn't be a part of it."
"Move out, everypony!" Princess Luna yelled, angrily. "We'll have a talk with Lord Megatron when this is over."
"That's great!" Sixshot yelled back as the ponies began running back the way they had come, avoiding every fight they could as they hurried to escape the titan in time. "I'm under his orders, afterall. I bet he just forgot you were here! No hard feelings?"
He laughed as the ponies ran on.
"How did it go, majesties?" Lord Megatron said with a smug grin.
"You sent us in without any information!" Princess Celestia yelled, flying up to stare the Decepticon warlord in the eye. "You said you would have our backs, but you didn't follow us in!"
"Entering the titan was a poor way of bringing it down when other options were available. Sixshot was on his way, and he excels at killing the weaker, more heavily rotted titans. I simply held my position and waited for his arrival."
"You told us nothing of 'Sixshot'!" Princess Luna yelled. One of her wings was bandaged from a blast she had taken during the fight to escape the titan. "If we could have accomplished your goal without entering that monster you should have told us! You held back vital information which led to many of our soldiers being harmed in an unnecessary battle!"
"Was it unnecessary?" Shockwave interjected. "You gained valuable battle information, did you not? You've worked out how to bring your foe down, and know you are capable. Though your tactics are inferior to ours, at least you can do some good."
"We could have learned such things with a proper discussion," Princess Celestia said, scowling at Shockwave. "You could have helped us gain information on what we were to face before we faced it!"
"Discussion is an inferior form of learning. Doing a thing, through trial and error, is best. I can run through millions of scenarios in a second and pull out the one most likely to succeed. Yet, even my best laid plans have gone awry due to elements outside of my control. The battlefield is full of such elements. Knowing how to deal with them comes from experience, not theorycrafting."
Lord Krush stomped toward Shockwave, his fists clenched to strike at the Decepticon. Shockwave looked down on the Mega Tyranitar, aimed his arm cannon, and opened fire. Two minicons separated from his legs, taking advantage of Krush's momentary distraction to attach themselves to Krush's back and electrocute him. He screamed in pain and anger, swinging at the minicons to try and pull them off.
"Your carapace is made of an unknown material," Shockwave said as he continued to fire upon the rock-type leader. Krush turned to let the next salvo hit the minicons, forcing them to separate from him and return to Shockwave before their master could fire again. "Yet no armor is without…"
Shockwave stopped mid-sentence as his legs were knocked out from under him by a swing from Krush's tail. Krush panted heavily from the electrocution, but his hide was undamaged.
"We have four dead and fifty-six seriously wounded!" Krush roared. He punched Shockwave, sending him crashing through several dozen Decepticons before he came to a stop. "That's just among my rock-types! You sent warriors to dismantle the titan when you first wanted us to take it whole! Sixshot nearly killed the honored princesses and their soldiers in the process! I will not be talked down to by some wretched, backstabbing steel box on legs!"
"I agree with Lord Krush," Princess Luna said, her eyes narrowing at the Decepticon warlord. Shockwave watched the ponies and Pokémon closely, as if weighing the logic in attacking again. "Our healing magic has kept our casualties at zero, though our wounded are more than three times that of Lord Krush's soldiers. If we had known that the Terrorcons could so expertly separate us we would have been better prepared. Our original plan involved our pony healers as a field asset for both sides of our forces, while Harmony's team was funneled the most gravely injured where they would be treated in a heavily defended location. Without the proper information on the titan's ability to confuse invaders, that tactic was thrown out the window."
"And you blame us for giving you no information, and thrusting you into the heart of a vicious battle without our aid," Lord Megatron added, kneeling down to look the princess in the eyes, his voice slow and condescending. "What you engaged in was small compared to what awaits you in future battles. We are warriors born, and have been for millions of years. We have technology that can shape and mold the very fabric of reality. Whispers of our presence make empires tremble, and send star systems into panic. We are the supreme life forms of our universe, and we are less than gnats compared to Unicron! Your forces seem… inadequate, at best, to handle the threat posed by the brother of Primus. I imagine this is why Optimus and Lio refused to take you into battle. I will inform them that their decision was the correct one."
"And we will think better of allying ourselves with you in the future," Princess Celestia said, as she turned her back on Megatron. She cast a spell and opened a portal home.
"It's a shame, but it looks like we're on our own for now," Princess Luna said as she fell into step with her sister.
"At least we were able to get a good idea of the enemy," Princess Celestia said as she followed her troops back into the plains beneath Canterlot. "Lord Convoy and Lord Optimus wouldn't give us that much. They would only loan us the squads serving under Bumblebee and Windblade as guardians."
"They think us smaller and weaker. Perhaps we are, but that doesn't change the fact that we are in this fight as much as they are. An ally who holds our hooves like we're children isn't doing us any favors."
"Agreed. We'll continue to accept aid from Bumblebee and Windblade for as long as they are willing to give it, but we will not rely on the Transformer lords. Our next step is to find out where the enemy's stronghold is and plan our attack."
"Let us see if our friends have heard back from Discord then. I do hope he's getting along well with Charles and Korish."
"Goodness knows they have enough in common," Princess Celestia said, with an exasperated sigh. "Troublemakers, all of them. Let us better hope that the ponies we sent to direct them are doing well."
"Agreed," Princess Luna said with a small laugh.