Chapter 9: Call Of The Whirl
The next afternoon in Equestria, Whirl was with Twilight and her friends at Twilight's Castle after classes at the School of Friendship had ended. Whirl was lying down on her back in the grass and looking up at the clouds outside with the Student Seven and Spike while Twilight and the other Ponies discussed with Princesses Celestia and Luna about how to get Whirl back home to the Academy.
"Hey, look at that one!" said Solar. "That one looks like a frog!"
"And that one looks like an eagle." added Ocellus.
"And that one looks like an elephant." said Gallus.
"There's one what looks like a snake." said Sandbar.
"Yona see cloud that look like rhinoceros." Yona put in.
"Ooh, I can see one that looks like a seashell!" grinned Silverstream.
"I see one that looks like a dragon like me and Spike." said Smolder.
"What about you, Whirl?" asked Spike. "What can you see?"
"I can see one that looks like me and Hot Shot holding hands." said Whirl in a sad-sounding tone.
The Student Seven were quick to notice Whirl's feelings.
"What's wrong, Whirl?" asked Solar.
"She just misses Hot Shot." Spike replied, answering for Whirl. "And the other bots at the Academy, too. But mostly Hot Shot.
"Oh." said Solar.
"Yeah." nodded Whirl.
"Well, why don't you just call or text the others at the Academy?" asked Spike. "I mean, you do have a phone, so you might as well."
Whirl face-palmed.
"Why didn't I think of that before?" she asked as she sat up. "Thanks, Spike!"
At the Academy, Medix was browsing through his Bot Blog page on his tablet when he saw a notification appear telling him he had a new message in his inbox. When he read the message, he couldn't believe his optics.
"It can't be her!" he gasped.
But it was. The sender of the message was none other than Whirl, who not only greeted the recepient, but also asked them to ask Heatwave or any of the older bots if they can somehow set up a video call with herself and the other bots so they could all speak with her. Medix sent a reply saying that he knew just the bot for the job, then left his quarters in search of Ratchet. He soon found his uncle in his (Ratchet's) quarters on his tablet just about to place the order for the new parts needed to repair the Dimension Bridge.
"Uncle Ratchet?" Medix called. "Do you have a minute? I want to ask you something."
"I'll be with you in just a second, Medix." replied Ratchet.
"Okay." nodded Medix.
Soon, Ratchet had placed the order and was now ready to attend to whatever his nephew needed him for.
"So, what's up?" he asked.
Medix told Ratchet about the message he had received from Whirl on Bot Blog and what she had requested.
"Yeah, I can do that." said Ratchet. "And I know the perfect place to do that."
Medix and Ratchet then went into the briefing room, where they were just about to try and hook up Medix's own tablet to project it onto the big screen when Medix got another message from Whirl. This one told them not to tell Hot Shot of their plans right away. Medix sent another reply saying he understood. With that out of the way, the uncle and nephew duo proceeded to carry out their plans. Soon, they were ready, and they called all the other bots except for Hot Shot into the room. When Whirl came onto the screen, they were all pleased to see her.
"It's so nice to hear from you, Whirl." said Heatwave.
"Yeah, we've all been worried about you." added Blades.
"Are you safe?" asked Chase.
"Yup." nodded Whirl. "Safe and sound."
"Say, where did my invention take you anyway?" asked Hoist.
Whirl wasted no time in explaining where she was at and who she had met.
"Sounds to me like you've had a great time there so far." said Medix.
"Hey, what's going on here?" asked a familiar voice.
Who else would it but Hot Shot?
"Hey, Hot Shot, perfect timing." said Wedge. "Look who's calling."
When Hot Shot saw Whirl on the screen, he was very surprised.
"Is that really who I think it is?!" he asked.
"Yes, Hot Shot, it is." replied Heatwave with a smile.
Hot Shot was ecstatic, and he immediately rushed towards the screen to speak to his lover.
"I can't believe it's really you!" he cried happily. "Are you alright?"
"Don't worry, I am." Whirl winked.
Hot Shot was then given the update about Whirl's whereabouts and new associates.
"Wow." said Hot Shot. "They seem friendly."
"They are." agreed Whirl. "But boy, do I miss you guys."
"I miss you too, Whirl." Hot Shot added. "Very much."
Just then, on Whirl's end, she saw the Mane 7 and the Princesses approaching her.
"I gotta go, guys." she said.
"Okay." said Hot Shot. "Talk to you later?"
"Maybe." shrugged Whirl.
After everyone said goodbye to one another, Whirl ended her call, then turned to face Twilight and the others.
"Well?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, Whirl, but we can't come up with a good enough idea to get you back home on your own." Twilight said sadly.
"Therefore, we believe that the only option is to wait until your friends at the Academy can get the Dimension Bridge fixed and working again." added Celestia. "Besides, we Equestrians don't have access to the kind of advanced technology you Cybertronians do have."
Whirl felt very sad.
"It's okay." she sighed. "I understand."
Fluttershy gave Whirl a hug with her wing.
"Don't be sad, Whirl." she said. "You should be happy that you'll still be able to go home to the Academy regardless."
That did make Whirl feel better.
"Thanks, Fluttershy." Whirl smiled.
Just then, Whirl heard music.
"Where's that coming from?" she wondered.
Whirl transformed into car mode and followed the sound of the music. She followed it to Ponyville Park, specifically to a bandstand where she saw a quintet of male musicians on the bandstand playing music for a fairly large group of Ponies, who were enjoying the music. While four of the members of the quintet were each playing a different instrument, there was one member who wasn't playing any instruments and was instead dancing while singing into a microphone that he was holding. Some of the Ponies in the crowd were even dancing along with him to the music. Whirl was surprised when she saw the five musicians.
"I didn't know there were these kinds of bands in Equestria!" she exclaimed. "But who are those guys? They look very familiar. Maybe it would be better if I watched them in robot mode."
But then, she remembered something.
"I better do it somewhere where they can't see me." she thought out loud.
But one of the Ponies in the crowd, an aquamarine Unicorn mare with a Charlotte blue and white mane and tail, eyes in a gradient from persimmon orange to Kournikova yellow, and an image of a lyre on her flanks, heard Whirl.
"Just do it here." the mare said. "They won't notice."
"Okay, if you say so." said a reluctant Whirl.
With that, Whirl transformed into her robot mode, and fortunately, this had gone unnoticed, because the five musicians on the bandstand were so busy entertaining the crowd with their music that they barely noticed the Cybertronian who was witnessing this performance, and they just kept on playing as if Whirl wasn't even there, even more so when Whirl took out her phone to record them. After a bit, Whirl decided to go back to the castle, so she transformed back into car mode and drove off.
"Seeing that band was really cool." Whirl said as she drove through the streets. "But something tells me I've seen them somewhere before. No matter, I've got better things to think about right now, like going back home to the Academy once Hot Shot and the others get the Dimension Bridge fixed."
End of Chapter 9
