The Autobots aproached their wrecked ship, along with the familiar village they'd arrived near. "Wait, isn’t this Ponyville?” Luna said.

“Yes, it is” Celestia confirmed. Everypony was already up, awakened by the Nemesis’ crash. Most stayed in their houses, a few were brave enough to venture outside, though they lingered by the door, and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash went right up to the Autobots.

“Hi there, Ratchet, my name Pinkie Pie” she said. Ratchet slammed on his breaks, turning and looking straight at Pinkie.

“How...exactly do you know my name?” he asked.

“Silly-filly, I always catch TFP!” Ratchet just stared at her, as the other Autobots sped past him. “By the way, you might want to warn Optimus the Decepticons fix their ship.” she told him.

“Why should I listen to you?” he asked.

“Because I know your name, I know you’re the medic, I know you’re from Cybertron, I know you made that weird, green synth-en and went all nutso, and I know you’re a grumpy gus” she said as she jumped on the top of his cab. Ratchet said nothing, pausing for a few moments, before turning and following the others.

They reached Twilight’s castle, letting Celestia and Luna off, before changing forms. Celestia knocked on the door. They heard loud, periodic thuds slowly nearing them, when they suddenly sped up, then returned to their normal pace. Twilight slowly opened the door, her mane a mess, darge purple bags hanging down from her eyes. She looked around, jolting awake as she saw the huge metal titans on her doorstep. “What in the-What the-What-WHAT?” she stuttered.

“Do not be afraid, Twilight Sparkle, we came in peace” Optimus said. She turned to Celestia, looking for confirmation.

“It’s alright Twilight, they’re friendly. Also, Optimus, the conjugation is come, not came. Came is past-tense” Celestia explained.

“I see” Prime said.

“What are you? Where did you come from?” Twilight asked.

“Who cares? They’re awesome!” Rainbow interjected, perched on Wheeljack’s shoulder. He smiled at her remark, drawing his swords for the pegasus. She squealed, leaping from his shoulder and looking at her reflection in the blade. “Cool!”

Prime explained their origins to Twilight,  giving her the same speech he gave Celestia. “So, your home planet was destroyed by a single war?” she asked.

“It was a war unlike any I’ve ever seen before, or since. The conflict didn’t years, or even decades; it lasted for centuries” he said.

“Wait, if this war lasted centuries, and you were there at the beginning, then how are you still alive?” Rainbow asked.

“The average Cybertronian lives for millions of years. It may not be apparent, but I am well over nine-thousand years old” he told her. Celestia’s ears perked up.

“And Prime is on the younger end. I’m over twenty-thousand years old” Ratchet said.

“Woah. Then, why aren’t there more of you? And why haven’t we met before? You guys live so long you could go from planet to planet without dying, so why haven’t you?” Twilight asked.

“With a war on the scale of the Great Cybertronian Civil War, and claimed most of the population. In addition, we didn't have time to explore. Every ship in any fleet was either used as a warship, or an evacuation ship for the civilians” he told her.

“Civilians?” Luna asked.

“During the war, there were many bots who didn’t want to choose between Autobots or Decepticons. Megatron forced them to fight or die, but we chose to evacuate them. Only the warrior class, and volunteers were allowed to fight” Prime told them.

“Optimus, can you please get her off me” Ratchet interrupted, having finally caught up with the others. By now, the rest of the main six had joined the group. Pinkie was still on top of him, chattering on about how she used to watch Transformers back in the ‘80s, whatever that meant.

“Pinkie, I think you might want to get off the giant robot” Twilight advised.

“But I’ve got something really super-dooper-oh-my-gosh important to tell Optimus” she said.

“How do you know my name?” Prime questioned.

“Don’t ask that” Ratchet told him.

“Listen, the Decepticons are going to fix their ship, and they’re gonna attack Cloudsdale!” Pinkie shouted.

“What?!” said Rainbow.

“Yeah! They’re gonna fix their ship, and fly right over us, and head for Cloudsdale!” She told them.

“Pinkie Pie, how would you even know that” said Twilight.

She cringed, looking around nervously. “Because I read a chapter ahead” Pinkie blurted as her cheeks became red.

Suddenly, the Nemesis flew directly over Ponyville. The ship was close to the ground, so close the rumble of it’s engines knocked over lamps and tables across Ponyville. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when the massive monsterosity passed over. “Oh no” Twilight said as she realized what direction they were going.

“Autobots, transform. We need to get to Cloudsdale, now!” Luna ordered.

“We will go, but you should stay here. We will handle the Decepticons. It is our war, after all” Optimus told her.

“Hey, this here’s our home! Ain’t we got a right to fight for it” Applejack shouted.

“The Decepticons are extremely dangerous. We cannot allow you to get hurt” he said.

“Forgive me if I sound rude, but do you have the faintest idea where Cloudsdale is?” Rarity asked.

Optimus paused. “No, we do not” he admitted with a sigh.

“See? Y’all do need us!” Applejack said.

Bumblebee bleeped and blooped a few times, saying something. “Oh, that sounds like a good idea” said Fluttershy. All of the Autobots turned to her, making her feel very uncomfortable. “Uhm, did I do something wrong?” she asked in her small voice. Bumblebee said some more bloops. “Yes, I can understand you...is that bad?” she asked again.

“No, just...weird” Bulkhead told her.

“What Bulkhead means is Bumblebee's voice box was damaged during the war, and most organics cannot understand him” Prime explained.

“What did he say anyway?” Twilight asked.

“He said that since there are six of them, and six of us, we should each ride one of them, and they can protect us” Fluttershy said.

“Sorry, but we’ll have to pick on the fly. The longer it takes for us to decide, the less time we have to catch those Decepticon creeps” Rainbow reminded.

“She’s right. Autobots, transform, and roll out” Optimus ordered.

Each pony climbed onto the top of the Autobot they were closest too, with the exception of Rainbow dash, who flew. Celestia and Luna rode Prime, Twilight rode Smokescreen, Applejack rode Bulkhead, Pinkie Pie rode Ratchet, Rarity rode Arcee, and Fluttershy rode Bumblebee. They all drove at full speed after Rainbow Dash, who was faster than any of them.