Ch 1: Toothless

10 endless minutes remained ticking away at the clock which seemed to mock me as I stared. 10 minutes more and I would be free of this dreadful confinement of my lecture of anatomy and physiology. My eyes unhurriedly scanned back to my professor as I paused my doodling of miscellaneous objects in my notebook. At long last, the clock striked 2, and I flew out of the lecture hall, finished with my sophomore year in college. I quickly made my way to the commuter parking lot where my chariot awaited me; more like a 2,000 pound metal box on wheels, but nonetheless I was ecstatic to be out of school for the summer. I pushed the clutch of my car in and put it in neutral, awaiting the gentle pur of the engine to greet me. The air freshener, which was a cut out of the adorable black dragon from How To Train Your Dragon swung from side to side with the breeze that passed through the open windows of my car. The dragon had been hanging there since the day after I purchased my car; I always thought my mother had put it there because we joked that the car resembled a small dragon. In reality, my little dragon was a crystal black 2017 Honda Civic Si coupe, that I was immensely proud of since it was my first important purchase on my own.

The drive from campus was dull as usual. I made my way into the neighboring town of my home, down a dusty dirt road to a farm house sitting in solitude at the bottom of a hill. I kept my horse here, and retrained the other members of the barn to rehome them. It was a job that luckily went along with my studies. I hopped out of my car and strolled down the hill to the barn. The red doors creaked as I pulled them apart and entered, greeted by the welcoming whinnies of several of the stable's inhabitants. I walked up to the stall of my horse whom I had purchased during the winter; he was a retired Thoroughbred directly from the track when I first met him. My hands ran over his forehead, brushing against the familiar white star on the seal brown horse before me, his tail swishing away the aggravating flies. The leather halter that hung on his stall door read "FIRST FLIGHT" on a shiny, brass plate. The gelding was affectionately known as Pilot, however. The radio quietly buzzed in the background, news of alien robot activity across the nation, and the rest of the world. I had never come across a Transformer, only hearing stories blasted across all news channels, especially after the catastrophic events in Chicago. As long as the alien robot danger stayed clear of me, I didn't mind the existence of extraterrestrial life.

I decided to take Pilot out for a leisurely ride through the forest. Tacking him up, I placed the saddle on his back, fastened his martingale and adjusted his throat latch on his bridle. I tightened the leather girth, which held on his saddle, before I climbed aboard. Off we went, slowly taking off from our spot outside the barn doors and down a dirt trail that lead into the forest. The summertime in New England was beautiful, rays of sun that passed through the trees warmed my back as I rode along at a walk, the breeze gently sweeping through my hair and Pilot's mane. Our ride was quiet, we were only accompanied by the occasional tweeting of the birds perching in the trees above. A cracking noise, like the sound of sticks snapping, broke the tranquil silence of the afternoon. Thinking it was a deer perhaps, I turned my head to scan the forest floor, but nothing was to be found. The snapping returned, but was louder, and was rather startling. Pilot snorted, stopping in his tracks and took a few steps to the side; I could feel him begin to bunch up with anxiety. My left hand began to caress his neck, trying to coo to the horse to relax, reassuring him that nothing was there. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I took a deep breath, trying not to let the noises bother me. I could feel my internal turmoil bubbling inside. No one ever came in these woods. It was private property, and deer were too timid to approach a horse and rider. I urged Pilot forward, asking him to move along, but the trees behind us began to groan, and leaves began to fall from above. All of the sudden, the snapping noises came back, except much louder and closer than before; the sound of a tree splitting thundered throughout the forest. My nerves were at an all time high; I turned my head around as Pilot stirred underneath me to lock eyes with a Transformer. I shakily inhaled a nervous breath, my hands tightening around the reins in fear as I deciphered the alien symbol on the robot's arm. It was a Decepticon.

My eyes widened and Pilot took off, racing from the Decepticon which was feet from us. The trees continued to fall around us as we sprinted from the robot, a ferocious cry erupted from it. My heart was practically beating out of my chest, I could feel the sweat covered horse beneath me pick up his pace, most likely thinking this was some twisted form of a race. The Decepticon was gaining on us as the forest crashed on either side of Pilot and I, birds fleeing the scene, leaves scattered throughout the air. Thankfully, my getaway horse was an off the track Thoroughbred, and thankfully I was not caught in this danger riding our overweight Haflinger pony.

"Come here, girl!" The robot hissed venomously. I yelled to Pilot to run faster, terrified of the robot getting its sharp hands ahold of us. Why was this Decepticon after me? What did I do? How did this thing find me? How am I going to outrun this? My mind was teeming with a slew of questions as we continued our escape through the foliage, branches scraping my face as we passed through them. "Now, I've got you!" The Decepticon roared as he caught up with Pilot and I. Just as I thought we were going to be captured, to my right stormed another colossal metal figure. It barreled directly into the Decepticon chasing us, a whirl of black was all I could make out before I pummeled down onto the forest floor, whacking my head as my feet were ripped out of the stirrups of my saddle. Pilot whinnied and reared up, riderless, and I could see the reins were caught up in the brush which entangled him. I rubbed my head as I glanced behind me to see that we crashed over a tree that had fallen, and being a freshly retired racehorse, Pilot had no idea how to clear that large of a jump. I groaned as I straightened myself out, my body protesting as I snuck over behind the fallen tree to watch the fight waging before me. The new, black robot was swiping the Decepticon over the head with its fist, its knee coming up to bash the enemy in its abdomen. The two continued their brawl, the sound of clanging metal filled the summer air, the enraged roars from the Decepticon echoing throughout the forest. The black robot dove into the Decepticon right after receiving a punch in the face from the enemy. Whatever "side" that black robot was apart of, it was saving my life. I continued to watch the match before me, sweat and blood dripping down my face; I prayed that the Decepticon would lose in some twist of fate. Once more, the black Transformer dished out a tremendous punch to the Decepticon's face, which then backed away. The enemy robot screeched at the winner of the match, metal parts hanging from its body as it struggled to transform and flew away. I scrambled away from the fallen log to where Pilot was trapped in the brush. I untangled him and clutched onto his reins as the black Transformer approached us. It knelt to the ground, and fixated its blue eyes on me. As my eyes surveyed the robot, I nervously inhaled, trying to calm myself down. My eyes caught onto a familiar silver symbol on the front of the robot. It was the Honda symbol displayed upon the robot's chest. I noticed an Autobot symbol imprinted on the arm of the Transformer, and I sighed, relieved. Hopefully this one wouldn't try and kill me.

"Are you Holly Connor?" The Transformer inquired. I peered into the robot's eyes, and stepped back. "Yes," I croaked.

The Transformer stood up, what appeared to be the front of wings, was visible from where I stood. It was a colossal being, not quite the height of the surrounding trees. A jagged black tail swung from behind the robot, its pointed ears perched forward as it began to speak. "I am an autonomous robotic organism. You can call me Toothless."

Toothless? The Transformer was black, it had a visible Honda symbol on it, and the robot resembled that of a dragon. The word Night Fury popped into my head..Toothless. It was the name of the dragon from How To Train Your Dragon. I blinked a few times, trying to gather my thoughts, while at the same time still frightened beyond belief for my safety. "Are you my car?" I demanded, my hold on Pilot's reins tightening as I stood before him. I was met with a distinct nod from the Transformer which confirmed my hunch. My car was an alien robot.