Author's Note: Finally! I didn't think I'd ever get this new story started. But here it is.

Here's one thing you may need to know before you comment. If this chapter doesn't seem detailed enough, there's a reason for that. You see, I had a much more detailed draft prepared, but right before I was done with the chapter, there was a technical error that made me erase the whole chapter. What you see here is a rush job, but I did my very best. I promise I'll do better in the future.

That's it. More chapters on the way. Any and all comments are welcome.

Etheria, a peaceful, mysterious planet full of magic and wonder. For eons, they have lived in peace and happiness. Then, everything changed when a mysterious army known as the Horde arrived and declared war. The Etherians barely stood a chance. All hope seemed lost. Then, two miracles emerged. One was a girl who found a powerful sword. With it, she can summon the strength to take down the Horde. The other was the Autobot army, visitors from another planet. When their mortal enemies, the Decepticons, followed and joined forces with the Horde, the Autobots did the same with the rebellion and the girl with the sword: She-Ra.

Three weeks have passed after a nearly-impossible battle in the Rebellion's capital of Bright Moon. Alliances have been forged to the other princesses as the war becomes stronger. However, all that is going to change when everyone comes across a great secret, one that reveals a connection between their two worlds in a way they never imagined.

Despite winning the Battle of Bright Moon, the forest surrounding the Rebellion city took a heavy toll. Every tree and field of grass was still frozen solid slowly melting. Before, the forest's shifting landscape provided the perfect cover. But the storm from a couple weeks earlier had frozen it solid. Ever since, the Horde and the Decepticons have been sending their battle drones into it. That's where the rebellion comes in.

On this fateful day, the rebels and Autobots—consisting of Glimmer, Frosta, Bow, Mermista, Perfuma, Arcee, Bumblebee, Seaspray, and Prowl—battled another wave of drones. One after the other, they each busted apart bot after bot. The princesses used their magic to waterlog, tangle up, or just smash while the Autobots used their weapons to crush the drones. They stopped attacking when there wasn't another intact bot in sight.

"Another one bites the dust." Seaspray said.

"No dust here, I'm afraid." Prowl reminded his comrade. He gazed at the tree covered in ice. "Just a bunch of ice."

Bumblebee buzzed his response since his voicebox was damaged on Cybertron.

"I know it's melting," Prowl replied, "But it's at a slow rate."

"We'll figure it out." Perfuma assured her primary partner.

"Come on." Glimmer said. "We should check back in to Bright Moon."

In another part of the forest, there exists a tower called the Beacon. It was built my a mysterious alien race the Etherians call the First Ones. It was there that She-Ra—real name, Adora—would train under the holographic mentor called Light Hope. After her latest session, Adora exited the Beacon to meet up with her personal partner, Hot Rod.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Well… It went." That was the best answer Adora had. She was put in a simulation of a fight against her former friend an arch-rival, Catra. However, the simulation ended when Adora didn't have the strength to end her life.

"Again?" Hot Rod asked. "You know, it would probably go a lot better if I went in there and trained with you."

"Maybe," Adora said, "But Light Hope says you're not ready to come in yet."

Hot Rod sighed. "All right. Probably for the best. I mean, the last time I was in there, I lost my hand."

"Right. How's the new one your medic got you?" Adora asked.

"You know, it might sounds weird," Hot Rod said clutching his new fist, "But I think I like the old one better. Oh, well. Gotta give Ratchet his due credit. So ready to return to Bright Moon?"

"Yeah." Adora said.

Hot Rod shifted his body parts until he changed into his vehicle mode. Adora entered the door and sat during the drive.

Meanwhile, at the Fright Zone, Catra had just finished lecturing her cadets about their own simulation of battle. When she was done, she met up with her partner, Starscream, in the hallway.

"Any better?" Starscream asked.

"Well, it took longer for Kyle to be caught and hung upside down. So yeah, that was fun to watch." Catra said. "But they still haven't learned how to fight Adora when she's She-Ra."

"You'd think they would have known after all the times she trounced them." Starscream said.

"Don't exclude yourself like that, Starscream." Beckoned a broader voice approaching. Both Starscream and Catra widened their eyes when the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, had approached them. "Based on what I heard, this 'She-Ra' trounced you too."

"Hold on." Catra said. "It wasn't his fault. No one could have predicted when other Autobots were going to show up. Trust me, we had victory in the bag."

"Yes. You did come close, I will acknowledge that." Megatron said. "That's why I decided to let this alliance play out. Starscream assured me that the Horde will insure our ultimate victory. Do not ever make me regret letting your little army live, Force Captain Catra. Oh, and one more thing, Starscream. Shockwave is expected to arrive soon." He walked away.

Starscream groaned in disgust. "Shockwave? Seriously?"

"Who's Shockwave?" Catra asked as she and her partner entered Entrapta's new lab. There were boxes of supplies from Entrapta's old castle that were being set up by her along with the perky Scorpia and the dull Predacon, Waspinator.

"Shockwave is the Decepticons' chief of scientific advancements." Starscream replied.

"WHAT?!" Entrapta yelled in excitement. "There's an alien scientist among you? What's he like? Is he like me?"

"I can assure you, princess, he is nothing like you." Starscream said browsing through Entrapta's transferred belongings. "He's a serious stiff who only acts 'logically'. He's not into the same stuff you are, such as tiny food, fizzy drinks, or…" He held up a cat portrait with huge eyes. "What is this supposed to be?"

"I think it's cute." Scorpia said.

"Next to your partner, everything else is cute." Starscream said.

"Enough about that." Catra said. "What are the words from our drones in the forest?"

"The princesses and Autobots caught up to them… and smashed them." Waspinator replied.

"Well, at least a good bit of them were distracted with protecting their woods," Catra said, "But there's still so many Autobots making alliances with the other kingdoms. We need a game changer."

"Ooh!" Entrapta yelled in excitement. "I've got an idea!"

Ever since the arrival of the Autobots, the castle of Bright Moon has been through renovations. The doors have gotten big enough for any Bot, bigger chairs have been provided, and even the war room table is big enough for the princesses and a fair amount of Autobots. The Autobots even built elevators for people in Bright Moon to take so they can arrive on the Ark that hovered above the castle.

Upon Adora and Hot Rod's arrival, they met up with everyone in the war room.

"Hey, Sari! Hey, Aunt Casta!" Glimmer greeted her cousin and aunt.

"Hey! Sorry I couldn't be here earlier," Sari said, "It's quite a walk to get from here to Mystacor to pick up my mom."

"But I am excited to be here." Castaspella said. "The first war meeting between the new Princess Alliance and the Autobots."

"Yes. A shame you weren't here when the Autobots arrived and the alliance began." Queen Angella said.

"I knew you'd bring that up."

The last guest had arrived. A red truck slowly approached the table until he transformed. In a matter of seconds, Optimus Prime stood before everyone.

"Whoa, he's cool." Adora said.

"I know." Hot Rod agreed.

"This meeting shall come into order." Optimus Prime said. "Strongarm, your report."

The blue-and-white Autobot with broad shoulders approached. She pressed a button on the side of the meeting table showing a map of Etheria. "My team and I managed to liberate the village of Thaymore, but this was the third time since we arrived that they needed to be saved. Apologies, but this new planet and its environment is an unknown factor to us."

"It takes some getting used to." Hot Rod said.

"Um, excuse me." Princess Frosta said. "Sorry to change the topic, but I was wondering when I'd get my own personal Autobot partner."

"What happened to Perceptor?" Prowl asked.

"He didn't cut it." Frosta said.

"Seriously?" Glimmer asked. "Frosta, that's the fifth Autobot you dismissed."

"Sorry. It's just hard for me to click with the right partner."

"We'll deal with that at a later time." Optimus said before turning to a large, black Autobot. "And what of the Energon extractions, Ironhide."

"Piece of cake." Ironhide said. "There's still ship loads of crystals out there that we're fighting the 'Cons over. Just pulled in enough Energon to fuel ten jets."

"But our resources are still diminishing." Bow stated. "With the Horde sending drones for us to fight, the Energon mining, and the planet's unfamiliar landscape to the Autobots, we can barely afford to protect the people."

"So we should probably focus on one of those issues." Arcee said. "I'd pick the drones in the Whispering Woods. They're meant to distract us. Those drones are deployed, but other than that, there hasn't been one Horde grunt or Vehicon beside them."

"Sounds like a plan Catra came up with." Adora said rolling her eyes.

"So what do we do?" Perfuma asked. "We can't just leave them alone. They'll destroy the whole forest looking for us. Those poor trees."

"And poor us." Mermista said.

"I think I may have an idea." Bow said. "If we can find an intact bot and figure out how it works, I can probably program a killswitch to shut them all down at once."

"An excellent idea, Bow." Angella said.

"Very well." Optimus stated. "Return to the Whispering Woods and find a drone. Take a few more Autobots with you for better ground. I recommend Cliffjumper, Jazz, and Ratchet. Remember, it needs to be completely intact. So do not destroy it."

"Don't worry about it." Frosta said. She made gauntlets made of ice around her arms. She grabbed a large piece of equipment and crushed it in her icy grip. "We know when to use force… and how much to use."

When the decide she had broke, the medic, Ratchet, yelled in annoyance. "Princess Frosta, I needed that!"

"With the princesses and Autobots distracted by the Energon mines and the drones attacking the Whispering Woods, parts of Etheria continued to be ours for the taking." Catra said as she presented her plans to Hordak and Megatron in the throne room.

"Well done." Hordak congratulated.

"Well, we could do more." Starscream said. "So, Entrapta has come up with a brand new weapon to use against the princesses and the Autobots. Entrapta?"

The long-haired princess clapped her hands revealing a new drone model. It was bigger and it had tentacle-like legs with sharp bits like a spider. Entrapta pulled out a laser and blasted a hole in its leg, which quickly fixed itself before everyone's amazed eyes.

"Introducing Emily's Kid Sister, or EKS for short." Entrapta presented. "With First Ones tech at its core, this thing has the destructive power to rival a princess or Autobot."

"Impressive." Hordak said.

"Indeed." Megatron agreed. "Very promising. And you can make more of these?"

"Yes… Well, no. I mean, I can, but I only had enough First Ones tech to make four."

"Don't worry." Catra said. "I know where we can get more."

Once at the Whispering Woods, the Bots and princesses split into three teams. The team heading north consisted of Frosta, Sari, and Jazz. The team heading west consisted of Mermista, Perfuma, Seaspray, Prowl, and Cliffjumper. The team heading east consisted of Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Hot Rod, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Ratchet.

On the north side, Jazz took point on their search. On the way, Frosta approached to her best friend, Sari.

"Hey, Sari, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Do you think I'm too picky?"

Sari turned to her friend. "What? Why are you asking?"

"Well, I've denied five Autobot partners since the Autobots arrived. And that was just because they didn't live up to my standards."

"What exactly are you looking for in a primary partner?" Sari asked.

"Someone big and powerful. Like Optimus Prime, only a lot more fierce." Frosta replied.

"That does sound a bit high on expectations." Sari said. "Look, you can't beat yourself up over it. I mean, I don't have an Autobot partner yet either."

"I couldn't help but overhear," Jazz said, "I think I may have some advice for you."

"This should be good." Frosta said.

"Just go with the flow." Jazz said. "When you find the right partner, something will spark in you. You'll know it when you see it."

"That's actually good." Frosta said. "Thanks."

On the east side, Adora and Hot Rod stopped their group when they looked down the hill. Their eyes were locked onto a drone, but not a normal one. It was an EKS.

"That's new." Bow said. "How do we catch that one?"

"Well, we would use the EMP blaster I was working on back at Bright Moon," Ratchet said, "Except your icy friend mangled it earlier!"

"Well, we don't need some small device." Hot Rod said. "Adora, Slingshot Special?"

"I'm in!" Adora said. She raised up her sword and declared her signature phrase: "FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!" In a flash of light, Adora grew and her outfit changed into a white and gold outfit.

Hot Rod changed into a car and Adora landed herself right on his roof. He drove down the hill right to the EKS before he quickly changed back into robot mode. During his transformation, Adora was launched off and flew straight toward the EKS. She struck it and it was hurled straight to a tree. The impact accidently impaled the robot with a frozen tree branch.

"Adora!" Ratchet shouted. "We needed that!"

"It's okay." Adora said. "So the Slingshot Special had a bit more kick than we thought."

"Yeah." Hot Rod said. "We can just find another drone to…"

They were interrupted by the sound of electricity shifting from the robot. It removed itself from the tree branch and its hole fixed itself up. Everyone stared in shock as it walked away.

"Oh, scrap." Hot Rod said.

"Okay, that's new!" Bow shouted. "How did the Horde come up with something like that? Was it a Decepticon trick?"

"If it was that easy for us to fix ourselves, the war would have been over a long time ago." Arcee said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I don't know where it's going." Bow replied.

"Hold on." Adora said gazing at the direction the EKS went. "That looks like… Hot Rod, I think I know where it's going!"

Hot Rod widened his eyes realizing the same thing Adora realized. "It's heading for the Beacon."

At the Fright Zone lab, Catra, Starscream, Entrapta, Scorpia, and Waspinator grouped up gazing at the computer screen. There were four quarters of the screen showing the same area of the forest, but at different angles. All four EKS' made it to the tower with an actual Decepticon.

"Who's that guy again?" Scorpia asked.

"His name is Vortex." Starscream said. "Bit of a slacker, but he's the perfect guy for a heist mission."

"And a good one too." Catra said. "That tower has loads of First Ones tech inside, enough to have an entire army of these drones."

"Anyone want popcorn?" Waspinator asked.

"I'll take some… along with tiny cupcakes." Entrapta said.

At the tower site, Vortex tapped his foot on the frozen ground while the EKS drones circled the tower. He grumbled to himself.

"'Break into an alien tower,' they said. 'It'll be easy,' they said. Guess they didn't think of telling me that there's no way in here!"

He stopped complaining when he got struck with a wave of water from behind. All of the princesses and Autobots ran into the area confronting them.

"Don't just stand there, you buckets of bolts!" Vortex shouted. "Destroy them!"

The EKS drones turned around and fired their lasers at their enemies. The aliens took cover and fired back while the Etherians took a more close-up method. While they fought, Vortex decided to continue the search for the entrance on his own.

The Bots and princesses already managed to group up against one of the drones. They just needed to destroy two more and capture the last. The second was destroyed when Cliffjumper kicked one right to Perfuma's vine trap.

In the Fright Zone, the villains sat in anticipation watching the battle. Among them, Catra kept a close eye on She-Ra. Adora had turned her sword into rope and used it to trip the third drone to its side. She jumped on top of it and looked at the drone in the eye knowing who was watching on the other side.

"Hey, Catra." Adora crushed the camera under her foot. Catra was riled up at that.

In the end, with Sari's help paralyzing the last drone in a magic circle, Frosta raised her arms and it grabbed the last drone in its clutches.

Meanwhile, Bow had caught up to Vortex and fired an arrow at him. It detonated right at his face.

"AH! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!" Vortex shouted thrusting his hand at Bow. Bow tried to dodge, but he was too late. He had already been pinned to the tree while Vortex readied his claws. "Gotcha, you little bug. Any last words?"

Bow developed a face full of fear, but not at his captor. He noticed something rising from behind him. All Bow could say was…

"DINOSAUR!"

Vortex momentarily dropped his hand in confusion. "'Dinosaur'? What kind of last word is that?"

"DINOSAUR!"

"Yeah, yeah. I heard. Personally, I would've gone with 'Tell my family I love them', but whatever."

"DINOSAUR!"

"I KNOW YOU SAID DINOSAUR!" Suddenly, Vortex felt a hot gust of air blow right at his back. He turned around and saw what appeared to be a T-Rex, but much bigger and made of a menacing brown metal. Vortex changed his expression to fear. "Oh… Dinosaur." He screamed just as the dinosaur robot clamped its jaws right at his torso ripping him in half with just his teeth.

At the Fright Zone, the villains jumped back in shock. "WHOA! WHAT THE…" Scorpia shouted. "WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?"

Catra sneered before turning the screens off. "We'll figure that out later."

Back at the Whispering Woods, Bow quickly escaped his captivity and returned to his friends, who shared his shock at the creature roaring before them.

"Friend of yours?" Bow asked looking at Bumblebee, who buzzed his response.

"We've never seen that thing before in our lives!" Ratchet shouted.

"Is it a good guy?" Frosta asked in amazement. "If he is, then dibs."

The dinosaur turned his eyes to the alliance. It took a good look before taking a deep breath. Suddenly, its body parts shifted much like any other transformer. In the end, there stood a massive Cybertronian with sharp edges.

"Rod, Arcee," he growled in delight.

"Wait a minute." Hot Rod said in surprise. "Grimlock?"

"It can't be." Arcee gasped. "I thought you were dead."

"Grimlock?" Arcee asked. "Rod, wasn't that one of the guys who was at your boot camp with you?"

"Yeah. And last I heard, he was captured by the bounty hunter, Lockdown." Hot Rod said. "How are you here?"

"I wish I knew." Grimlock answered. "That cur, Lockdown, caught me by surprise and took me to the Decepticon mad scientist, Shockwave. He did experiments on me, which resulted in my new alternate form. I guess he got the idea from studying a primal world."

"So how'd you escape?" Arcee asked.

"Zeta Prime." Grimlock answered. "He lead a strike force to assault Shockwave's lab. He broke me out, then gave me a special mission that involved me being in a stasis pod. The next thing I know, I wake up on this strange planet barely able to control my beastly form. I also found this on me when I woke up."

Grimlock reached behind him before pulling out a curved piece of flat metal. It was shining yellow like gold, but it had clean cut ends in a perfect 90 degree angle. He passed it to Arcee.

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Grimlock said. "Zeta Prime didn't exactly give me specifics."

"I suppose Fixit could take a look at it." Bow said. "You know, while we're examining the robot."

"Since we saved the Beacon, I suppose we should head on to Bright Moon." Hot Rod said.

"And then, I get to tell everyone that I've got a… a… DINOBOT as a partner!" Frosta declared.

"Partner?" Grimlock asked. "Wait, what's going on? Where are we?"

"Buddy," Ratchet said, "We've got a looooooong story for you."

While Catra left to the cells to taunt Shadow Weaver, Starscream waited in the hallway. It was then that he was approached by Megatron.

"Oh. Lord Megatron."

"I couldn't help but overhear that Catra's little plan has failed." Megatron said. "Mind telling me what happened?"

"It was one of Shockwave's escaped experiments." Starscream explained. "He showed up out of nowhere and ruined everything."

"From what I've heard, it was ruined before it arrived." Megatron said. "It appears that Catra has her downs as well as her ups. Which could be bad for you, considering what you had to do in order to convince me to agree to this alliance."

Starscream gulped. "Don't worry, sir. I promise, she won't disappoint you."

"I hope not." Megatron said. Suddenly, the sound of jet engines would be heard outside. "Ah. That must be the good scientist now."

Starscream groaned as he followed his leader outside to meet the guest. The two of them entered the courtyard where the ship landed before them. The entry ramp opened up and a large, dark-purple Decepticon walked out. He had a large cannon for an arm and one red eye for a face.

"Welcome, Shockwave." Megatron greeted. "We have a lot of work to do now that you're here."

"Apologies for my delay, Lord Megatron." Shockwave said when another Cybertronian walked behind him. "It wasn't easy finding the right bounty hunter I can trust to escort me and my supplies."

The skull-faced Cybertronian waved his hook hand gently and defiantly. "Bounty hunter is such a belittling term. Just call me Lockdown."

Fixit, the orange Minicon, entered Bow's lab where he was trying to carefully pick apart the EKS they had successfully obtained. "Hey, Bow."

"Fixit!" Bow said. "Did you learn anything from that metal we got?"

"Well, I put it in the analyzer, but I won't get any results for a bit." Fixit said. "But I did make two calibrations… habitations… observations!"

Bow looked over the brief glitch the Minicon made. "What did you learn?"

"Well, based on the cut edge, I think it's a piece of something. Something was probably cut in four. Secondly, if Zeta Prime sent Grimlock here, then that must meant he must have known we'd come here."

"What?" Bow asked. "How could he know that? Didn't he die, like, a thousand years ago?"

"I have no idea." Fixit said. "So far, today's full of mysteries, such as why Grimlock was here, why this shiny metal is so important, and how the Horde got this advanced.."

"Well, we can at least solve the last one." Bow said as he pulled out the last compartment cover. His eyes became curious as he took a deep look into it. "Wait. Is that…"

"Is what?" Fixit asked.

Bow reached in and pulled out a blue data crystal from the very core of the drone. "This is… First Ones tech."

"What?" Fixit asked. "But the only person who knows how to do that is…"

The two of them exchanged looks of surprise, and then joy. They were very much excited at the fact they had realized. A friend of theirs who was thought to be dead was just confirmed to have survived.

"Entrapta's alive!" Bow cheered.

"And…" Fixit suddenly became worried. "She's a prisoner."