Friendship is Prime: Chapter Five

The team of six ponies and the four Autobots had been assembled.  It was at last the time to confront Discord and save the world.

"Bumblebee, activate the Groundbridge!"  As soon as Optimus gave the order, Bumblebee threw the switch and the base was once again lit with the green light that emits from their portal.  Optimus went through first, followed soon after by Ratchet, Arcee, and Bulkhead.  The six ponies all shared a quick glance of uncertainty at each other, but then they soon steeled their nerves and followed the Autobots through the Groundbridge.  However, at this time, a certain someone also decided to go follow the team, as Miko ended up making a break for the portal.  However, before she could get too far, Jack and Raf ended up catching her in the act.

"Miko, are you crazy?"  Jack scolded.  "It's going to be way too dangerous out there."

"Oh come on," Miko retorted.  "Aren't you the least bit curious to see how six talking horses are going to defeat this magic dragon-thing?"

Jack opened his mouth to answer, but the more he thought about it, he realized he couldn't give the response he wanted to say.  He and Raf wanted to see this just as much as Miko did.

"Alright fine," Jack finally gave in.  "But we keep our distance, and the moment things get too dangerous dangerous, we call Bumblebee to bridge us back to the base."  And with that, the three of them made their way through the portal.  Bumblebee was unfortunately too busy maintaining the operation of the Groundbridge to notice as the three kids snuck through.

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As the Autobots exited the Groundbridge, they made a note of how chaotic the weather had gotten.  An ominously low growl of thunder crashed in the sky, and an eerily spooky wind howled throughout this rocky region.  The clouds in the sky had started swirling around a fixed point in the distance, no doubt where Discord was located.

"Alright everyone," Optimus instructed, "Stick together, and be ready for anything."  The Autobots then proceeded towards the center of chaos, with the ponies closely behind them.

"Things sure have gotten out of hand over the country," Arcee reflected on what she had seen on the news channels with a look of grimace on her face.

"Yeah, I hope the kids'll be fine at the base." Bulkhead thought aloud.

"Oh don't worry about that," Pinkie Pie chimed in, "because they've been following us the whole time.  See?"  As she said this, she turned around and waved to a small rock face protruding from the ground.

After hearing this, the rest of the team stopped in surprise and looked to where Pinkie was pointing.  "Jack, Miko, Rafael," Optimus said sternly.  "Come out of hiding now."

The jig was up for the kids.  They emerged from their hiding spot and awkwardly waved back at Pinkie.

"You three know better than to follow us out here on the battlefield."  Optimus reprimanded his young compatriots.

"That's what I said, but Jack wouldn't listen," Miko accused Jack in an attempt to divert the blame from her.

"What?" Jack responded in shock.  "You were the one who"-

"It does not matter who is at fault," Optimus cut in.  "What matters is that we get you back before anything else happens."  He then proceeded to try and contact Bumblebee at the base.

"Bumblebee, we need another"- but before he could finish, Twilight noticed something in the sky heading right towards them.  "What that?" She asked as she pointed to a mysterious purple and grey aircraft.  However at that moment, the aircraft transformed into a giant robot and landed right in front of them.  He was not alone though, as soon after, a red car and blue car sped to his side and transformed into robots as well.  Then another 3 aircraft approached this location.  The first was a grey jet that transformed into a slender robot; next there was a blue and purple jet that transformed into a robot that seemed to have a blank screen where his face should be; lastly came the black helicopter that transformed into a female robot with four extra appendages extending from her back.  The six beings now all stood together, facing the Autobots.

"Megatron," Optimus uttered the name of his nemesis with great disdain.

"Airachnid," Arcee however, could do nothing less than utter the name of her enemy with absolute scorn.  She popped the blade out of her arm, ready to confront the one who caused her so much pain.  At the sight of this, a few of the Decpitcons raised their weapons and were about to fire.

Before any fighting could begin, however, Megatron raised his hand to signal the other Decepticons to stand down.  "Ah, Optimus," Megatron began.  "I see we both have our sights set on the same target."

"Does this mean you intend to help us fight Discord?"  Optimus responded in surprise.

"Make no mistake, I have no intention of helping you," Megatron sneered.  "But I will not allow someone else to take what is rightfully mine.  If that means a truce between our forces for the time being, then so be it."  After this he turned toward the Decepticons behind him.  "And if one of you raises so much as a hand against the Autobots, I guarantee you will never use that hand again.  Do I make myself clear?!?"  The four Decepticons other than the faceless machine felt a look of fright pass over their faces as they stood against Megatron's intimidating glare.  Against their stronger desire, they complied and lowered their weapons.

"Excuse me," Megatron heard a meek voice near his feet.  Once he turned to find what was below him, he looked quite surprised to find a purple unicorn at his feet.  "Are you guys friends of Optimus?  It is so nice to meet you.  I suppose we should introduce ourselves.  I am Twilight Sparkle and these"-

"Is this some kind of joke Optimus?" Megatron interrupted in surprise.  "Have you decided to keep even more annoying creatures around as your pets?"

"Make no mistake Megatron," Optimus replied.  "These six ponies hold the key to defeating Discord.  Our fates rest on their shoulders."

The Decepticons looked baffled at what he had just said.  Knockout could only try to hold back his laughter, and Megatron could not help but eye these small creatures and be puzzled by Optimus's words.

"Interesting theory," Megatron teased Optimus.  "Let's see if you're right."

Shortly after that, a familiar white light flashed above them, accompanied by evil laughter, and Discord appeared above them once more.

"Oh my, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Discord coyly taunted the Cybertronians.

"Discord," Twilight called out to their foe.  "Why did you come here?  What are you up to?"

"Twilight, long time no see!" Discord exclaimed with strange delight as he teleported down to her location and picked her up with ease.  "Oh my, you've grown so big since I last saw you.  How have you and your friends been?  We should all get together some time and catch up after the good old days."

"Knock it off Discord," Twilight was not in any mood for Discord's antics.  "You're causing a lot of people to get hurt right now; you've gone too far this time!"

As soon as he heard this, he let go of Twilight and let her plop on the ground.  "Ugh, it's always so 'down to business' with everyone," he uttered in slight disgust.  "Why can't it ever just be, "Welcome back Discord, it's a pleasure to see you again, my old friend."?"

"We're not friends!" Twilight sternly responded.

"You wound me, mon-amis," Discord followed up with feigned sorrow.

"Enough!" Megatron barged in on their conversation after his patience had been depleted.  "I grow tired of waiting.  If they refuse to do anything, I'll crush him myself!"  Megatron once again had his blaster cannon aimed at Discord.

"Oh what, you're going to shoot me?"  Discord replied in a clearly mocking tone.  "Do you honestly believe that can stop me?  Fine, if you robots all insist on budding in, I'll just have to subdue you for the time being."  As he said this, he snapped his fingers, and a white light enveloped both the Autobots and Decepticons.  After the flashes subsided, the kids and the ponies could not believe their eyes.  Where each of the Cybertronians previously stood were instead a group of humans!

Optimus was now a tall, average looking human with brown hair and a small matching mustache above his lip, garnered in blue jeans and a red shirt.  Bulkhead was now a large yet rather muscular dark-skinned bald man wearing a ggreen football jersey.  Arcee had become a black-haired woman in a blue riding suit.  Ratchet turned into a gray-haired old man wearing a doctor's overcoat on top of a red shirt, black pants combo.

Similarly, the Deceticons had also been humanized.  Knockout was now a human with red hair in a red jumpsuit, Breakdown was now a muscular tan-skinned, blonde-haired man with a patch over his right eye, and Airachnid turned into a black-haired, dark-skinned woman.  The faceless Decepitcon Soundwave did not reveal much from his humanization, as he was wrapped in a blue and purple cloak that did not reveal any feature of his body.  His hair was wrapped in a matching turban, and his face was covered by a featureless black mask.  Starscream became a slender man in a red & gray suit, his hair also a mixture of gray with red streaks in certain parts.  Megatron was transformed into a gray-haired old man who wore a long black trenchcoat.  Oddly enough, he still had his red eyes from before.

"Optimus," Jack tried to find the words he wanted to say.  "You're…you're…human!"

Optimus did not respond, as he and the others were still too surprised by what they saw as they inspected their new bodies.

Megatron, however, was only filled with horror as he looked at his new form.  "What have you done to me?!"  He screamed in anger at Discord.  "Now I'm no better than those lowly humans!"

"You like it?" Discord teased.  "I just wanted to make sure you didn't interfere in my little game.  Now as for you," he said as he turned toward the 6 ponies, "let's get rid of those annoying elements, shall we?"  He raised his hand as it began to glow, and the elements all began to glow in the same color, but soon after the glow around the elements dissipated.  At this moment, a look of panic ran across Discord's face, as he realized his powers had no effect on them!

"We're not falling for your tricks this time, Discord," Twilight scolded.  "We stand united, ready to defeat you.  You can't beat our friendship!  Ready girls?"  As Twilight addressed the other members of her team, they all responded with quick enthusiasm, and they all began charging up their respective elements.

Discord was panicked, trying think of a way to stop the Elements of Harmony, but he knew as long as they were together, they were invincible.  Then Discord was struck with inspiration.  He couldn't manipulate them, but he could manipulate everything else around them.  He had to act fast, but he knew he could still win.

Right when the Mane 6 were about to unleash the elements, the ground almost came alive.  It seemed to be moving in 6 different directions, as each of the ponies felt themselves being pulled farther and farther away from each other.  The next thing any of them knew, they were so far apart, they couldn't even see any other member of their team.

"Hmm, I suppose that just leaves the rest of you." Discord pondered aloud as he looked at the group of humans.  "I suppose you can all prove to be useful to me yet."

"What is that supposed to m"- Ratchet was about to follow up on Discord's rambling, but unfortunately he and every human with him at the time was enveloped in a white flash, including the kids.  After the flash receded, they were all gone.

"Now let's get started, shall we?"  Discord muttered to himself in anticipation.

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"Where am I?"  Twilight asked as she was in what appeared to be a desert plain, completely vast and empty.  Just as she took a step forward, the ground shook violently as several rock walls rose up around her.  They appeared to go on for miles with no end in sight.  Twilight gasped in realization at what was happening.

Discord had isolated the team and put them in a giant labyrinth.  Again.

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Optimus Prime woke up from his unexpected slumber to find himself still human and surrounded by rock walls.  He looked around for clues but unfortunately found nothing.  Unbeknownst to him and everyone else there, everyone had been separated and inserted into Discord's maze: Autobot, Decepticon, pony, and even Jack, Miko, and Rafael.  However, the three children were fortunate enough to end up grouped together right at the start.  As each of the individuals tried to gather themselves, they heard a familiar voice echo throughout the entire labyrinth.

"Welcome, everypony, one and all, to my Grand Maze."  Everyone could hear Discord speak in a psychotically cheery tone.  "To win, all you have to do is reach the end of the maze and meet me.  Simple enough?  Good.  However, I've made a few restrictions to ensure no cheating.  I'm sure most of my guests recall my recent action to disable blaster fire and vehicle modes."

As Twilight heard him talk, she said out loud, "You can't take away my magic this time, Discord!"  Soon after she said this, her horn began to glow in a purple aura.  A nearby section of wall also began to glow the same color.  Twilight was using a spell to try and phase through the wall!  However, as soon as she tried to walk through the wall, it stopped glowing, and she ended up being smacked face-first into solid rock.

"You're right Twilight," Discord's distant voice echoed in response to her earlier taunt.  "I can't touch you, but I can control what's around you.  "My second restriction was to make all walls of the labyrinth immune to magic."

Right after he said this, Rainbow Dash, in a distant location, decided to challenge Discord once more by taking off in flight and heading towards the sky.

"Let's see you stop me from flying!"  She boldly proclaimed seconds before smacking into and unseen wall in the sky and crashing back down to earth.

Discord's voice soon responded once more.  "And Rainbow Dash brings me to my third rule; I can't take away her wings, so I did the next best thing.  The maze is covered by an invisible ceiling, and nopony can get through it."

Rainbow Dash picked herself up off the ground and regained her composure before Discord started talking again.  "Now that those are out of the way, I trust you'll all be more compliant now? Great!  Have fun, and good luck everypony!"  Discord taunted followed by a haunting laughter that slowly died out over time.


With this, all 19 members in the maze gathered their nerves, and proceeded forward into the heart of the labyrinth.