PREDAKING'S CHOICE

IT HAD BEEN SEVERAL HOURS SINCE PREDAKING HAD ENCOUNTERED THE ORANGE pony. He had been reprimanded by Megatron for fighting with the Insecticons while trying to protect the orange pony.

Not that Predaking cared. Megatron did not control him. Neither did Shockwave, despite being the one who brought him back from the dead. So what if he fought against the Insecticons to protect the orange pony? So what if some of the Insecticons had been killed during the scuffle? He was loyal to the Decepticons, but only because they were the closest things he had to kin.

So why did he have this sort of fealty towards Fluttershy? He still felt conflicted about that. Was it because Fluttershy and her kind were small, fragile, and innocent? Was it because Fluttershy was the first – and so far, the only – creature to show him any sort of kindness?

These questions were plaguing him as he sat on the outer deck of the warship. They'd plagued him before. Why couldn't he stop thinking about this? There was something so…endearing about these little ponies. Yet how could he even think that, when he had only met two of them personally?

Kind, sweet Fluttershy, and her friend Applejack. He didn't get a chance to actually speak with Applejack, but judging from the way she talked, he could tell that she was quite the honest one, always speaking her mind and never thinking twice about what she was going to say. He hadn't seen either of them around the ship, so he figured they must have escaped with the Autobots.

The Autobots….The reason Megatron had summoned him. He had been brought back from the dead and brought to Earth with Shockwave to be the ultimate Autobot hunter. He had never been able to actually destroy the Autobots, but he had had several encounters with them. Yet they always managed to escape. Megatron would always have that "we'll get them next time" attitude, but that didn't stop Starscream from poking him from that electric prod.

He stretched his arms as he looked out over the blue ocean. It stretched on forever – nearly three thousand miles of endless water, filled with all sorts of creatures. From what Predaking could gather, humans knew virtually nothing about the domain that lay just beneath the surface. Rather, they knew more about distant planets in far-off galaxies.

He couldn't help but wonder if they knew about Cybertron.

"Predaking!"

Predaking glanced over his shoulder, saw Megatron approaching him.

"What is it now, Megatron? Are you going to once again drill me about aiding the equine in her escape? Or perhaps a hundred more questions about slaughtering several Insecticons? I have nothing more to say to you. So I ask that you leave me be to reflect."

"You are supposed to help us destroy our enemies, not aid them," Megatron said. "I'm beginning to question where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties lie with the Decepticons – "

"Then prove it."

"What would you have me do?"

"It's simple, Predaking – you have a choice to make. The next time we encounter the Autobots and their pets, will you crush them? Or will you be crushed? The choices are yours, Predaking. And yours alone. So I suggest you make them carefully." He started walking away.

Predaking turned before Megatron entered the warship. "Megatron!"

Megatron stopped and turned back to Predaking. "What is it?"

"I will continue my campaign against the Autobots."

"Glad to hear it."

"However – I will not take any action against the little ones. You've told me about how tenacious they are, and yet when they had the opportunity to end my life, they instead spared me. You may say that they showed pity towards me. But in return, I will not harm the Autobots' small friends. Do you understand, Megatron?"

"I understand," Megatron said. "But I am not exempt from that. They are still targets. So for their own sake, they had better return to their own wretched world before our next encounter." With that, he disappeared into the warship.

Predaking turned back to the ocean. The sun was to the west; it was beginning to set.

I need time by myself to reflect.

He transformed into his Dragon Form and took to the air on the thermals from the ocean.

The sweet, salty scent of the ocean filtered into Predaking's nostrils as he soared less than fifty feet above the rolling waves of the ocean's surface. Dolphins leaped out of the ocean; he spotted several oceanic sharks among the dolphins, probably tailing them as they searched for an evening meal.

He pulled up, gaining altitude, flying high into the evening clouds. The first stars were beginning to sparkle in the sky.

And his thoughts once again turned to Fluttershy.

So kind. So sweet. And yet she was afraid of him at the same time. He supposed he couldn't blame her; after all, he was several times her size, capable of killing her with no effort at all. The only reason he had spared her life was because she had done him no wrong. She was innocent in his eyes. Were he one of the other Decepticons, he may not have hesitated.

Megatron had hoped that the equines would return to their world before the Decepticons' next encounter with them. Not Predaking. He wanted to meet at least Fluttershy one more time.

He wanted to thank her for her kindness.