Author's Notes:

Honestly, this chapter isn't all that put together, but the idea I've got set is still there.

"Tell them that Sunset Shimmer... has been lost."

Elsewhere

Back in Canterlot, the lone Cybertronian Weirdwolf was attempting to patch up his wounds from the battle with Galvatron and his Decepticons. He had been sitting on the dock all by himself with only the sounds of the chirping birds and the swashing lake. Complete peace and quiet.

But his peace and quiet ended when he looked up to the sky. A glowing green portal appeared from out of thin air. But what shocked him was seeing a body fall straight from the portal and into the middle of the lake. With a worried look. He jumped off and dived in to go find the body that splashed into the depths of the lake.

Meanwhile

At Autobot Headquarters, Ratchet and Wheeljack were putting together the finishing touches on their plan. They had just the Autobot to go and find Rainbow Dash and now they had one last thing to do.

"Ratchet. Break a piece of an Allspark fragment."

Ratchet did as instructed, and walked over to an examination table where a small blue crystal was laying. He pulled a small fracture from it, and held it in a small little clamp tool.

"Are you sure this is a wise idea? What if--"

"We have no choice. Come on!"

Ratchet walked over to the flatbed where the now constructed warrior was laying, and he gave the fragment to Wheeljack. Wheeljack carefully opened up the spark chamber, and he put the crystal down into the chamber. Once he set it in, he sealed it up and the chest panel.

"Now... Energon!"

Several tubes that were connected to the asleep body, were flowing with glowing blue liquid that was going straight into the body, giving it the Energon it needed. Then like a burst of lightning, a flicker of light came on through the eyes of the bot as it awakened. It jolt itself straight up, gasping and breathing heavily like he just came out a deep pool of water. Ratchet gasped in shock, all the while Wheeljack was grinning away.

"Its alive! Finally, something I made didn't explode!" Wheeljack cried out in joy. "VICTORY!!!"

"Wha... where am I? What happened?"

"Easy. You just woke up from a very long period of stasis. We'll explain everything to you, but we need you to do something first. We need you for a rescue mission..."

Wheeljack pulled up a holoscreen, showing the map coordinates of where Rainbow Dash was last found, including a full on body shot of Rainbow Dash herself. The Bot just let out a gasp when he got a look.

"Rainbow Dash..."

"Yes, she's... wait, how do you know her name?" Ratchet asked.

"I gotta save her!"

The figure jumped off the table and ripped the cables off himself. Running right past Ratchet and Wheeljack he rushed out the door.

"Look out! Dead corpse walking!" He yelled.

The two doctors rushed out and found their lively mech accessing Teletraan-1, and watched as a drone scanned him up and down.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"I can't go and find her without a disguise, can I?"

"But wait, you're not--"

"I'm coming Rainbow Dash!"

The protoform didn't listen and it was too late, he ran out of the open space and walked onto the desert sand. Then with a determined look his puffed his chest up high and looked towards the horizon.

"Help is on the way!"

He took a few steps to run, then transformed mid-air into a yellow 1980s sports car vehicle with an extra engine attached to the back just in front of the spoiler. His tires swerved as he drove, and kicked up a cloud of dust right behind him as he rushed off.

"Well. He's at least motivated." Wheeljack shrugged, watching him leave.

Five Hours Later

Back up in the city of Scorponok, poor Rarity was pacing back and forth in her own cell trying to think of a plan to escape. She couldn't be left alone in there to rot or be hauled off to Cybertron.

"What to do, what to do... how does one even escape a prison cell?" Rarity asked as she looked at the laser grid that was connecting between the floor and the ceiling. She went out to grab it, but she received a mild shock and yelped. "For that matter, how does one leave a futuristic cell?"

She was about to think again, but she stopped when she heard the sound of feet slamming against the metal floor. A figure approached her cell, but she couldn't make it out who it was. Soon the laser grid vanished, revealing a yellow figure with gray arms and a gray head.

Rarity gasped. "S-S-Steamer... no, no, please!"

Steamer raised a finger up to his mouth and whispered. "Shhh... No one can know I'm doing this."

He looked to the left and to the right. Rarity was nothing but confused. What was he doing? And why did it sound like he was hiding?

"Steamer, what exactly is going on?"

Steamer looked again, and he walked close to her, and took a knee down to face her directly.

"I'm breaking you out of here."

Rarity gasped. "You mean... wait. Are you with the Autobots?"

"What? No, I'm not with the Autobots. Or the Guardians. But if you listen to me carefully, I can get you out alive."

"But why?" Rarity asked.

Steamer looked her dead in the eye. "Because its the right thing to do."

Rarity smiled back. "Lets get out of here."

Steamer nodded and he carefully picked Rarity up, holding her in her arms, keeping one arm locked around a hostage.

"Wait, why are you holding me like this?" Rarity asked.

"I can't let any of them find out we're escaping. Don't want to raise suspicions."

Rarity stayed silent as Steamer carefully walked out of the hallway prison, holding her close in his arms.

"Wait, darling! We have to rescue everyone else! I know they have my dear Knockout!" Rarity pleaded.

"I don't want to leave them here either, but if I try, then none of us are getting out of here. They'll have to take care of themselves for the time being." Steamer replied.

Rarity frowned and she looked away. Steamer looked to her face with a hopeful look.

"But I have a good feeling they'll be okay."

Rarity looked back to him and gave a warm smile in return.

"I hope so too."

"I'm sure of it. Now come on, we got to get out of here."

Steamer quickly rushed out of the prison hallway with Rarity and entered into a giant hull-like room. There they could see tons of weapons, Energon cubes, stasis cuffs, mouth clamps, and lots of storage containers. They had hauled quite a lot with them during their trip.

Across the room, they could see a control station which was connected to a Groundbridge portal. Only one problem. The room was surrounded by the six Constructicons. All of them were scattered about the room, making walking straight to it impossible.

"How are we going to slip past them?"

"I have an idea. If they can be distracted long enough, we can escape through the Groundbridge portal." Rarity whispered.

Steamer smiled. "I like that. Okay, can you get to the controls?"

"I believe so."

"Good. Now if you can, see if you can tap into the main controls to start up a new bridge. Somewhere far away from these guys. I'll distract them."

"Understood."

Rarity quickly snuck past some of the Constructicons by hiding her body behind some of the boxes, and making quick dashes across to more barriers, finding the perfect cover. Once the coast was clear, she heard Steamer make himself present.

"Hey guys!" Steamer called out. "Sorry for the alarm. I just wanted to see how you guys were doing."

Steamer expected them to respond back with anger or distaste. But instead, they were unusally friendly towards him.

"Steamer. Its nice to see a loyal Decepticon still around in our midst." Scrapper spoke, looking to the Renegade.

"What do you mean?"

"Those infernal Shadowcons are constantly standing in our way, bossing us around like they're high and mighty, and they keep twisting Galvatron's mind. They're up to something... we know it." Hook replied.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about what they could be doing, could you?" Long Haul asked.

"I'm afraid I don't. They barely look me in the eye, or even say a word." Steamer nodded.

"Typical of them. Look, we know something's going on with them. They're up to something, and whatever it is, its not good for us." Scrapper spoke. "There's something they're not telling us... I can feel it."

Steamer blinked. "Oooookay?"

"Look." Scrapper said. "If you overhear something that sounds like they're plotting against our leader... come and find any of us. And I'm sure you know what I mean..."

Steamer nodded. "Of course. Only talk to you guys."

The Constructicons gave a few smirks and grins.

"I knew you could be trusted. You've got more loyalty than Starscream." Scrapper patted his shoulder. He was about to reply but a com signal went off on the side of his ear. He picked up and he instantly recognized the voice. "Understood. Constructicons. Let us see what Shockwave has to tell us. Steamer, we'll catch up to you later. But keep an eye out if they come after you..."

Steamer nodded.

The Constructicons left the room, letting Steamer sigh in relief. Thank goodness, he thought they were about to sniff him out.

"Steamer! I have the coordinates activated!"

Steamer rushed to the console with Rarity and smirked. "Great job. So, where are we going?"

"We have to go back to our friends, I'm sure..." Rarity looked down at the screen adn blinked. "Wait a minute, what's that?"

Steamer tapped a few buttons on the controls and zoomed in on the map.

"The map is reading an organic life signal, mixed in with Cybertronian technology. I can't pinpoint its location, but it seems to be somewhere in the Canterlot district." Steamer's eyes gazed at the monitor, watching the signal flash very brightly. "And it would seem there is a huge energy source within. Looks like those traces of magic that we were tracking for."

Rarity instantly caught on. "We're defiantly going there first."

The portal opened up, opening their escape.

"Alright. Lets go."

Steamer stood back, and his body began to change shape. His head folded into his chest, his arms clicked together forming the roller, and his legs bent backwards to form the back end of the steamroller.

"Hop on!"

Rarity skipped into the driver control, and Steamer rushed as fast as he could through the portal, leaving the giant ship.

The two crossed through to the other side and found themselves on dirt-like terrain outside of a farmland. No signs of any farmers or workers, hopefully none would pick out a girl and a steamroller out there.

Rarity stepped off, allowing Steamer to convert to his biped form. He took a few steps forward and looked at the top of the barn-house. He could see an odd hole through it, like something had crashed right through. Rarity knocked on the door of the old barn. No reply.

She carefully opened it up and was met with the mob of angry chickens running out of the barn, all clucking as they ran away. Rarity waited for a brief moment to see if there were any more, none. But she did receive a few feathers in her hair.

"Excuse me? Hello?" Rarity asked with a posh voice. "Is there anyone in there?"

No reply.

She carefully stepped inside and she gasped when she found her friend. Rainbow Dash was found with her legs and her head sticking out of a pile of hay, and she didn't look awake.

She quickly rushed over and threw the hay that had gathered around her, and Rarity carefully pulled her out.

"R-Rainbow?" Rarity cooed as she held her close.

She pulled her head close to her chest and listened carefully. She could hear her heart beating hard, making her sigh in relief. Thank goodness she wasn't dead.

She pulled her head back up and looked to her face. Her face was twitching slightly, and she could see her eyes slowly opening up. Rainbow's vision was slowly starting to return, and the first image she could see was the familiar face of someone she cared for.

"Rarity?" Rainbow groaned. "I-Is that you?"

"Yes, its me!" Rarity pulled her closer and gave her a big hug. Unable to reply quick enough, Rainbow was caught off guard. But she simply smiled and hugged her back, holding her tight.

"Y-You're okay?"

"Of course! Well, admittedly, I'm a little hungry, but other than that, I am quite alright!"

Rarity moved an arm under Rainbow, and she helped her get back up on her feet. Thankfully for Rainbow, the fall did not break any of the bones in her body from the fall.

"How did you escape? Did you escape through a Groundbridge portal?" Rainbow asked as she slowly moved on her own two feet, but still limping slightly.

"Well... sort of."

The two of them exited out the door and were met with the sight of Steamer who was sitting on the ground, surrounded by some of the chickens who crowded near him. Rainbow let out a gasp and she stood in a fighting stance when she saw the face of who it was.

"Alright buddy, what are you doing here!? Rarity, run!"

Steamer carefully raised his hands up to pause her. "Wait, I can explain."

"Oh you can explain alright, maybe explain why you attacked me and my friends!"

"Rainbow, darling. Steamer isn't with them. He saved me."

"No he wouldn't, he... wait what?" Rainbow was surprised.

"He saved me. He got me off that dreadful ship."

Rainbow was dumbfounded. This Renegade was responsible for saving her? But why? She looked back to the Renegade and spoke in a calmer tone, but she still had a demanding demeanor in her voice.

"Why did you help?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. After what I saw they did to some of your friends I.... I couldn't stand it. I couldn't just sit and watch as they were harming innocent earthlings. Stealing things is one thing, but hurting innocent life forms or attacking their home was going too far."

Rainbow raised a brow. "Alright... well, if you were with them, do you know what they're planning? Maybe something that can help us?"

"Unfortunately I don't know, I swear I don't know. Galvatron and those new Decepticons have been keeping us all out of the loop, and none of us even know what Galvatron's real intentions are. All he says is he wants the Matrix of Leadership and Sunset Shimmer destroyed, but he never told us why. But this much I do know, and... Rarity, I wish I told you the minute I got you free but... I didn't want to see you hurt."

"Why? What happened?"

"They... they..." Steamer choked on his own breath, trying to say what happened. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Spit it out, what happened!?"

Steamer sighed. "Galvatron... killed... Sunset."

Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity were in complete silence.

"No... she can't be."

Steamer nodded. "I'm afraid she is. Galvatron shot her, and she fell right down... into a lava pocket."

Rarity whimpered for a moment. "No... she couldn't have been... she..."

Steamer moved a little closer and wiped a small tear from her eye and gave an empathetic look.

"I'm really sorry. If I could have done something, I would."

Rarity felt more tears well up. "This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" She cupped her own face and quietly wept into her hands.

Rainbow wasn't handling the situation well either. Her face was turning red with anger, her teeth were grit, and she was snarling.

"That's... it. Steamer, are you able to get us back to where you came from? Where the Decepticons are?"

"I'm afraid not. It was just a one-way journey for me and Rarity."

"Then we need to find someone who can get us back up there and make sure Galvatron never does something like that again!" Rainbow mashed her fists together.

"And what are you going to do against an entire army of Decepticons? There's only three of us, and even I'm not strong enough to handle Galvatron's strength."

"Then..." Rainbow groaned and she fell on her butt. "I don't know, but we can't just sit here and let him win!"

"Maybe we won't have to. But if we're going to stop them, we need to gather some help. And I know who we can ask." Rarity whimpered.

"Who?"

"Only the sweetest, most charismatic Decepticon we know. I-I'm sure he can help us..." Rarity pulled out a tissue from her pocket and wiped her tears off from her face. "W-We better go find him."

"Right. We'll, we better--"

A small bleeping noise was set off, coming from the automaton. He looked to his wrist which projected a holoscreen. "That's not good. I'm picking up an odd Cybertronian life force. But I can't tell if its Autobot or Decepticon."

"Where is it?"

"Its... oh sweet merciful Prime, its right here!"

The three of them looked up to the long path leading to the farm area, and they saw a bright yellow sports car veer into the pathway while also smashing through a part of a fence. It kept driving towards them until suddenly it jumped up into the air and transformed into its robot mode, looking at the Renegade with a stern look.

"Alright Decepticon, stand back from the humans, now!"

Steamer stood shocked. "Whoa, whoa, calm down, who are you?"

"Don't try with me, just let them go!"

Rainbow gasped when she saw who was standing right before them. He wore yellow skin, unbranded with a logo, his legs clearly formed the front end of the sports car while the cockpit glass was his chest, and the turbo and spoilers were hanging off his back, and his face was eerily similar to another Autobot she knew...

"S-S-Sunstreaker!?"

Rarity gasped. "Wait, that's--"

"It is!"

Steamer looked confused. "You know this bot?"

The Autobot looked over to Rainbow Dash and gasped. "You're okay!"

"Y-Yeah, I... wait. How are you alive? Or even, just... WHAT!?"

"Here's my question. Who is this Decepticon and why is he with you two?" Sunstreaker huffed.

"Wait, its okay. Steamer's with us. He helped save Rarity." Rainbow spoke. "Here's my question, how are you alive? I saw your corpse shut down that night on Halloween!"

Sunstreaker blinked. "Oh! That, I almost forgot. Well, I only got a small explanation, but I think this is the reason for why I'm not dead." He opened up his chest and revealed a small blue crystal that was glowing brightly in his spark chamber.

"An Allspark fragment..." Rainbow and Rarity blinked.

"But wait, if that crystal is what's helping you stay online, how did you even find us? Why are you even here?"

"Like I said, I only got a small explanation. Ratchet told me that I was turned back online because half of their soldiers are hurt. Why he revived me, I don't understand. All I saw was your signal, and so I picked a vehicle to disguise as, hit the road, and I've been racing all the way here for the past... 5 hours."

Rainbow still stayed back, unsure if the figure in front of her was the real thing.

"Here's my next question. What is the last thing you remember before coming here?"

"Still got trust issues huh? Tough crowd. But anyways, last thing I remember was waking up in a dark place, and then it hit me... I was undead. Infected. I carried a plague with me and I was now down on this mudball." Sunstreaker was now pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Then the next thing I know is, I'm seeing Sideswipe in a very weird building laying Energon around like he's trying to catch mice. I knew that if I even tried to get near him, he'd be infected too. I begged him to finish me off but... I guess he couldn't do it."

His tone quickly turned sad as he spoke. "I knew he didn't want to shoot his own brother but... I didn't want him or any of his friends infected like me. And then that's when the rest of me shut down. And now, I'm waking up again, and now I'm as clean as a whistle."

The two girls looked at each other, and then back to Sunstreaker.

"So... you think you're good now?"

"I should think so. I actually feel really good. I feel more alive than I was back on Cybertron!" Sunstreaker stretched his limbs. "Now... if I understand correctly, you're Steamer, Rarity, and I remember you Rainbow Dash."

"Yes, darling. That's all of us."

"Great. So... what are we doing now?"

"We need to find one of our friends who can get us a Groundbridge back to the Autobot base. Wait, how did you get here?"

"I drove all the way here. The Groundbridge back at the Autobot headquarters is damaged." Sunstreaker shrugged. "But who are going to see? And for that matter, can someone PLEASE explain to me what's going on?"

Rainbow gave a much more friendly look. "I'll explain everything that's happened here on the way. If you're cool with me riding inside."

"I don't think I'd mind. But--"

A gunshot of a rifle scared them senseless and they looked back to see an angry farmer in overalls and a plaid shirt.

"Get off my property you alien varmits!"

"Transform and run!"

Steamer and Sunstreaker quickly transformed into vehicle modes, and both girls hopped onto each vehicle. Soon as everyone was ready, both of them quickly sped out of the farmlands while the farmer still tried to shoot them.

The two vehicles left as soon as possible from the farmlands and they escaped back into Canterlot City, and drove down onto the roads that led to the Everfree forest. Both of them pulled up to the dirt and leaves that were just connected to the dock.

Once the girls got out of their vehicles, the two transformed back into the biped forms.

"So, why are we all the way out here?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Because, that's where our friend is, and he can help us. Follow us." Rainbow said.

The group of four walked together in their own little huddle and wandered past several trees in the forest. Eventually they found themselves standing in front of a cave and in the front they could see a few cameras rigged up in front of it. And in front of the cave was a laser grid that blocked the entrance.

"Weirdwolf? I don't know if you're here but, we need to talk to you." Rainbow said to the camera above, waving her arms around.

Eventually a voice came from a small speaker system that was rigged to the cameras.

"My apologies, I didn't realize I was having company. Please come on in, and in fact, I think you girls need to see this."

The lasers removed themselves from the entrance and the girls and the Bots walked on in. Going through various rooms, they found Weirdwolf in another hollowed out area that they could assume was his basic medical room.

"Weirdwolf, we need to talk, we--" Rainbow began.

"--Rainbow, I have something very important I need to tell you girls first. I'm sorry for being so rude, but I just think this is a little more important."

"We're listening darling."

Weirdwolf nodded. "Okay. Well, I was patching myself up this morning, but I found her appearing through a Groundbridge into the lake."

He moved himself to the side revealing who was on the table. On a bed, resting was a yellow skinned girl with her hair only partially there, like having burned up from being set on fire. The only articles of clothing seen were the white tank top and black shorts, her arm was connected to an IV unit, and there were bandages wrapped around her chest and her forehead where the bald spots were located. And resting near her right arm was an orange trinket only they could recognize.

The girls gasped.

"Sunset..."