A train thundered towards Canterlot, with one extra car than normal. It was flat, with a cargo net slung over it, and Optimus sitting on top. He'd changed into his vehicle mode, since it was easier to load onto a car. He'd also lowered his seat to the ground and rearranged his interior for Celestia. She'd decided to ride inside him, rather than a train car. She sat on the floor of his cab, with her head slumped in one of her hooves, and using her other hoof to toy with his wheel. "Celestia, are you alright?" he asked. "I...I'm fine, it's just...so much has changed over this last day. You've showed up, one of our largest cities was nearly destroyed, and there was nothing I could do about it. I feel so...helpless" she confessed. "What do you mean? You kept Luna and Twilight safe so they could damage the Nemesis, and you saved my life" he said. "I know, but it's my duty to protect Equestria. I'm the eldest alicorn, I have the power to control the sun, but I was helpless out there against the Decepticons" She sat up, resting her head on his dashboard.

"Ratchet said there was supposed to be a funeral for us tomorrow. I wonder what it would have been like" she mused. "You know, this isn't the first time I was believed dead" he told her. She cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked. "Several times during the war, I was lost behind enemy lines, and had to make my way back, usually by my own wit. Once, Ratchet and I were shot down thirty miles behind the front. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I'd have made it back" he said. "Hah. Sound's like the last thousand years of your life were a lot more exciting than mine. All I've done was sign documents and drink tea" she said with a chuckle. The train turned the corner, revealing a single, tall mountain in the distance Though her vision was obscured by the net that had been placed around them, she could still see that it was Canterlot.

"Finally, we're home. It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said. Prime took a good, long look at the mountain, noting every detail, from the diamond that covered the peak, to the golden city and it's marble obelisks, to the purple slope, to the faint shapes of pegasi flying around the city. "You know, in all honesty, I think I prefer this planet to Cybertron" he confessed. "Really? I thought it'd be too...alien for you" she said. "I'll admit, it is strange, but there's a certain charm about your land. It's unspoiled by war, its inhabitants are full of joy and life, you know how to use nature without destroying it...I can't explain it, but there's a sense of...harmony on this world" he explained. Celestia blushed a little, fluttered by his compliments. "Thank you, Optimus, you have no idea how much that means to me" she said as they pulled into the train station.

Megatron sailed over green treetops, flying towards where he left Starscream. By now, the failed Decepticon should have been running low on energon, though not enough to threaten his life. Megatron flew over the riverside, only to find Starscream wasn't there. He landed along with the escort he'd brought. A pile of crystals lay where his commander once stood, the remnants of his former prison. He growled, clenching his fist, and looking around for his insubordinate lackey. "Starscream!" he howled. Starscream's head poked out of a hole in the ground. "L-Lord Megatron. What a pleasant surprise! I-" Megatron grabbed him by the neck, pulling him out of the burrow, and slamming him into the dirt. "How dare you defy me! I ordered you to stay in that crystal, did I not?" he shouted in his ear. "Please forgive me, Lord Megatron! I assure you, I was only trying to aid our cause" Starscream pleaded. Enraged, Megatron pulled him out of the dirt, throwing a punch at his face. Screamer braced for the impact, but no blow came.

Megatron threw another punch, but that also failed to land. Feeling brave enough to look, Starscream opened his eyes. Megatron threw a third punch, that, like the others, bounced of a transparent shield around his lackey. Were it not for the fact the shield reflected the sunlight, it would have been impossible to see, and even then, Megatron only caught a glimpse of it. "Explain yourself, Starscream. What is this?" he ordered. "That's what I've been trying to tell you! Just after you left, I found the wreckage of a Decepticon warship, with piles of energon in its cargo hold! There was something strange about it, so I decided to test it on myself" he lied. Megatron dropped Starscream, much to his relief. In truth, energon depletion was giving him a headache. Megatron turned his back to him, crossing his hands behind his body. "You've peaked my interest, now show me the hold" he commanded. Starscream righted himself, nodding as he slouched to show his reverence. "Right this way, my liege."

He lead Megatron and the Vehicons who'd accompanied him into the bowels of the ship, down its dark halls, though they could see just fine, and into the hold. The interior of the ship was purple, with a few computer screens and old, nonfunctional lights dotting the hallway. There were also the corpses of long dead Cybertronians, some Decepticon, and some Autobot. They neared the door to the hold, which had been propped open by a dead Cybertronian. Starscream gingerly slid through the crack, careful not to touch the body underneath him. Megatron pulled the doors off the wall, kicking the corpse out of his way, and throwing the doors into the darkness. In front of him was a relatively empty hold, with only twenty energon cubes in it; the ship could hold three hundred at most. "This is what you drug me here for?" he bellowed. "T-this is only part of the cargo! The data logs say it broke in half before it impacted the planet! I'm sure we can find the other half" stuttered Starscream.

Megatron waked up to the pile of cubes, stroking his chin as he held one in his hand. Normally, energon cubes were blue, but these were a very light purple, nearly grey color. Not only that, but they felt more powerful. Just holding one caused Megatrons hand to tingle. "Have Soundwave analyze the cubes as quickly as possible" he barked, calmly leaving the hold.

Princess Luna galloped onto the trainyard, along with four bat pony guards. She didn't really need them, since she was more powerful than all of them combine, but it was simply tradition. In front of her two train-ponies pulled the netting off Optimus. One was a gunmetal-grey mare, with a lighter grey mane, and a cargo box as her cutie mark. She wore overalls, and a blue and white striped hat. Her partner, a black and white stallion, wore the same attire, though his cutie mark was a cargo net. Once the net was tossed aside, Prime's side door opened, and Celestia stepped out.

Breaking any kind of formality, Luna ran up to embrace her sister, tears streaming down her face. Celestia enveloped Luna in a hug, wrapping her wings around her little sister, as her eyes also grew damp. Behind them, Optimus changed forms, smiling warmly at their show of affection. "When word reached me from Ponyville you were alive, I didn't believe it to be true, but-sniff-I can't even begin to describe how glad I am I was wrong" Luna said. Celestia stroked her mane, kissing the top of her head. "I missed you too, little sister" she told her. Luna grabbed something one of the bat-guards was carrying with her magic. The object was long, curved, and wrapped in cloth. "What is that?" Celestia asked. "Something you lost at Cloudsdale" Luna explained. Celestia took the mystery thing from her, unwrapping it, revealing it to be her scimitar. "My sword? Where did you find it?" she asked again. "It was on the ground below Cloudsdale. It...was all of you we could find...we thought you were dead" Luna said as a fresh batch of tears collected behind her eyes. Celestia pulled her sister tighter, draping her head over her shoulder. "I'll never leave you again, Luna, I promise" she said, nuzzling her back. Luna nuzzled her sister's chest, allowing herself to be consumed by the larger pony's warmth.

Suddenly, Celestia jerked her head up, looking around in confusion. "What's the matter, sister?" Luna asked. "Where's Optimus?" she said. Indeed, Optimus had disappeared, vanished without a trace. The two sisters broke apart from each other, dashing out of the train depot. Prime wasn't hard to find, since twenty foot robots tend to draw a crowd. They turned a corner, and sure enough, there he was, surrounded by a horde of curious Canterlot citizens. "Optimus! Wait!" Luna shouted. Optimus turned, furrowing his brow. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "No, I just wanted to thank you for returning my sister to me. I...I don't know how to express my gratitude" Luna told him. "Hm. If anything, I should be thanking her for saving my poor excuse for a chassy. If she wasn't with me, I doubt I'd be standing here, or anywhere for that matter" he said. Celestia blushed, covering her face with her hoof. "Don't be so modest, you saved my life just as many times as I did your's" she said. "You must tell me of your adventures" Luna told them. "Maybe later. Right now, I think I'd like to get out of this armor and take a bath" Celestia said.

Moondancer walked through the halls of Canterlot, escorted by two white guards. Her head hung low, as she nervously scanned the walls. She'd been sitting at her house, getting ready to go to lunch with Lyra, when the guards came knocking. Two more guards opened a pair of large, heavy doors, revealing a dark room. Moondancer gulped, reluctantly entering. "Moondancer." She jumped at the mention of her name, nearly fainting from fright. "Y-yes" she said in a meek voice. "You shouldn't be afraid, my little pony" the mystery voice told her. Suddenly, the room was illuminated by bright, white light.

The room was entirely white, save for the gold bits on its pillars. Celestia and Luna stood on either side of a massive white table, along with several ponies in lab coats. Like always, Celestia had a warm smile on her face, though Luna's expression was more neutral. On the table was a massive mass of mangled, dark, dark purple metal. Moondancer wasn't sure what the mystery object was, but it made her feel uneasy. The table was so large, that it actually had a hydraulic lift, and it's on ledge to work on. "Good afternoon, Moondancer. You'll have to forgive my guard's...lack of tact. Sometimes, they get a bit too focused on a task" Celestia told her. "Y-you know my name?" she asked. "Of course I do. You were one of my student Twilight's best friends when she lived here with me" she told her. "I-if I may be so bold, why am I here?" she asked again.

Celestia's smile faded. "You've, no doubt, heard of our alien visitors by now." She turned away from Moondancer, her tone changed from one of comfort, to one of business. "The Autobots have sworn to protect us, but the Decepticons outnumber them ten to one." She turned back towards her subject, motioning to the Decepticon on the table. "This is one of those Decepticons. Moondancer, I want you to examine his weapons, so we may join the battle and drive the Decepticons off our planet" she said, her voice booming.

Moondancer jaw dropped. "Why me?" she asked. "You are extremely knowledgeable, probably as knowledgeable as Twilight. You are also one of the leading researchers in machinery and steam power, though they seem to have far surpassed anything we posses" Celestia explained. She and her sister began to leave, passing Moondancer on their way out. "You'll have access to the lab , it's tools, and the specimen for as long as you like. I don't want to pressure you, but we are under attack" Luna added. Moondancer gulped. One of the other lab-ponies handed her a white jacket and some safety glasses, smiling warmly. She slid on the glasses and coat, stepping on the lift, and looking over the fallen soldier. "I want a complete chemical analysis on the armor, and the weapons removed A.S.A.P!"

Outside, Luna and Celestia chatted as they walked. "Are you sure this is a good idea, sister?" Luna asked. "We don't have a choice. We must protect our subjects" she told her. "Still, this seems dangerous. Why don't we ask the Autobots? I'm sure they'd be happy to give us weapons" the younger sister suggested. "No, they won't. Optimus may be my friend, but there is no way in Tartarus he'd give us weapons. He'd be afraid we'd destroy our world with them, just like he did" Celestia said. "What if he's right?" Luna questioned, her tone confrontational. "I've already decided. We're making as many of these weapons as we need to defeat the Decepticons, then I'm going to personally destroy them" she explained. "Alright sister, I hope you know what you're doin" Luna said as she left for her room. Celestia looked down at the floor, sighing. "So do I…"