[ Trigger warning: disturbing/sad scenes ]

"Do not move from your positions, Optimus Prime." coldly warned Shockwave, keeping his steady threatening stance, ready to activate the relic.

"What you have already planned to do will bring you nothing but downfall. Involving these innocent humans into our contradictions, capturing them and gaining their powers will not make you any more authoritative than us. We will not give up on fighting for harmony and peace, nor even for the ones who have lost their lives. But the war has ended long ago, you Decepicons should yield from aiming to--"

"Oh, please!" Starscream rudely interrupted the leader as he scoffed, "Spare us with your boring speech! You Autobots will have no chance against our power! And once we are finished with you, we will continue striving for the justice we wanted from the very start!"

"In your dreams, winged freak!" Smokescreen joined in with an insult, "You guys are never going to get away with this!"

While Shockwave was focused on the mighty Prime and his teammates, very slowly and steadily, Sideswipe managed to grab his katana which had fallen during their combat. Without even realizing what the young Cybertronian was up to, Sideswipe was able to throw his sword at the scientist's normal servo and successfully pushed the relic out of his grip. Unexpectedly, the sharp edge of the katana bounced on the metal surface of the harvester, right to the computer system and crashed into the functioning console. The destruction made the entire technology shut down and to the girls' surprise, their small prison cylinders to automatically open above their heads.

"NO!" Shockwave shouted in fury, he rushed to get his servo on the harvester but was rapidly stopped by the Prime's powerful blasts. Both sides fought with each other as they attempted to get to the sphere.

Rainbow Dash activated her geode, her pony ears and wings appeared, she flew out of the glass cage with upper delight, "Oh, yeah! Finally! Time to kick some 'Cons!"

As she was ready to go and join in fighting with their robot friends, Applejack coughed to grab her attention, the element of loyalty looked at the cowgirl standing inside her cage with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, "A little help here?"

Rainbow sheepishly stroked the back of her head and let out an awkward chuckle, "Heh, oops." she flew to the blonde girl to give her a hand. Twilight and Fluttershy did the same as they assisted the rest of their friends.

Starscream saw them straightaway and notified, "The humans! They are running away!" his optics then landed on the relic, he swiftly sprinted to it with his heels but before he could have it, Smokescreen and Strongarm tackled him down, "ARGH-! Get off me this instant!" as he wiggled to get out their grip, Soundwave grabbed them by their waists and threw them on the far rough ground.

"Hey!" Grimlock yelled from afar, Soudnwave set his sight on the fuming T-Rex, "No one messes with my team buddies!" after he punched a few Vehicons out of his way, the dinobot charged at the faceless Decepticon. The moment he opened his jaw to attack, Ravage appeared in front of his master and fearlessly hissed at the green reptile. That made Grimlock promptly stop in his tracks and shut his mouth. The big cyber-cat stepped closer to him, the dinobot nervously gulped as he backed away, "G-good kitty..." he stuttered out and Ravage jumped at him. Grimlock screamed and dodged him as he ducked his head down and ran out of complete terror. The feline chased him nonetheless, "GET AWAY, GET AWAY, GET AWAY!!!" the T-rex shouted as he tried to stay as far as possible from the panther. Ravage attempted to take a bite of his leg with his sharp teeth, Grimlock let out a frightened scream again in the process.

"Grimlock!" the cadet cried out his designation and pointed her hunter at the beast. As Soundwave noticed how she was trying to shoot him down, the Decepticon decided to help out his mini-con.

Until he could do so though, Bumblebee and Knock Out came and blocked his way, "Not so fast!" the lieutenant ordered. The slim robot decided to release Laserbeak from his chest-plate. The flying drone floated into the air and shot laser beams at the two Autobots. Knock Out rapidly rotated his prod to block the blasts and Bumblebee quickly took the opportunity to attack Soundwave with his spear. The faceless 'Con blocked his strikes with his thin arms, in the meantime, as the shiny red medic was defending himself from Laserbeak, Smokescreen came to assist him and shot a large stalactite which fell on the flying mini-con.

Although Soundwave's face was hidden, he was full of rage once he saw that one of his minions was damaged. A tentacle grabbed Bee's arm and shoved him to the ground, the yellow scout let out a painful cry due to his earlier deep wound. Till Soundwave could do any more severe damage, Smokescreen blasted him on the chest-plate, Knock Out leaped over his staff and kicked him on the side of his armor, shoving him away. When the two mechs helped Bumblebee to get up, Soundwave stood up and prepared himself along with more Vehicon soldiers for another combat.

Starscream pulled out his missile towards the Autobots and as he tried to get a proper hold, he heard pedes approaching him. Just in time, he was able to recoil from Sideswipe who nearly cut his arm off with his katana. The seeker stepped back and grunted at him, the red 'Bot directed the sharp edge of his hunter at the winged robot, "Remember me? Think we haven't finished what we started earlier." 

"Ah, yes. I do recall how annoying you are!" he screeched and opened fire, Sideswipe jumped in diverse ways to avoid the blasts. While Starscream stood concentrated on destroying him, Bulkhead raised his wrecking ball weapon and smashed it right in the face of the seeker. The hard punch made the grey Decepticon crash into numerous other drones.

Bulkhead, in return, laughed in satisfaction, "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that." he bumped his maces with a grin.

During that time, Optimus and Arcee battled with Shockwave. The femme jumped on the tall old leader and kicked the 'Con exactly in the eye. Shockwave stumbled rearward, Optimus struck with a punch but the Decepticon still didn't fall back. The Prime continued to hit him and just when he released his arm blade, Shockwave blocked him with his left arm cannon, Optimus' optics widened and the Decepticon punched him back on the face-plate. The leader received several kicks from Shockwave and slammed him to the rock wall with his arm.

Arcee shouted in pure anger, "Optimus!" and quickly joined the fight. She leaped on Shockwave's back and grabbed his antennas, a throbbing yell escaped from the scientist's nonexistent intake due to the hard pulling and struggled to take her off with his single normal hand. The second she could shoot his red eye with her Energon blaster, Shockwave was finally able to grab her and she got slammed on the hard ground. The femme helplessly wriggled to free herself from his tight hold.

Shockwave's arm cannon began to charge at her face, "Illogical. Attempting to cause the same damage you did to me as before. You will never be able to fool me again, femme."

The whole team and the elements of harmony saw the daunting scene ahead of them, "ARCEE!" Twilight screamed her guardian's name. When Arcee shut her optics and thought that it was all over, various powerful blasts were directed at the one-eyed scientist, causing him to retreat from her. The Prime continued to shoot at him and came by the femme's side. Soon, Shockwave's power lowered due to the strong hits and fell on his knee.

Each one of the girls finally stepped out of their cells, they carefully climbed down to the rocky surface and kept on watching the ongoing battle. Optimus halted from shooting, thinking their enemy may have finally given up. What they didn't see was that the harvester was right beside him. Shockwave promptly grabbed the device and targeted it at the Autobot leader. As the power of the shotgun-like weapon got near him, Bumblebee pushed him away and both fell to the ground. Once Shockwave could strike again at the mechs, Bulkhead blew it off from his servo. That caused the already-activated harvester to roll down and let out its reaping energy at the released humans as a bolt of lightning.

In the blink of an eye, the entire absorbing force got to the teenagers.

"GIRLS!" all members of the Autobot team yelled in horror.

The humans and their small canine screamed out of enormous pain as the relic was slowly and agonizingly taking their magic. None of them was able to move except for their entire bodies to tremble from the beyond-arching momentum. Hot streams of tears formed in their eyes. Echoes of piercing tormenting cries spread through the entire facility. Each colorful magic of their geodes was leisurely floating towards the aperture of the giant golden sphere.

Every Cybertronian stopped at what they were doing, their attentions focusing on the humans who were in great distress, "We have to destroy that thing!" quickly yelled Arcee.

"No!" Knock Out instantly opposed, "It might bring their magic to an end! Even worse-- their lives!"

"Then what do we do?!"

"Turn it off, now!" Bumblebee shouted.

"On it!" Smokescreen rapidly answered and blasted a few 'Cons out of his way as he ran to the relic.

"Stop him at once!" demanded Starscream.

As the young blue soldier rushed to shut it down, Ravage went after him. Strongarm got her hunter and took a proper position. She opened fire and the beast's body fell on the rocky surface. Shockwave charged his arm cannon at Smokescreen but before he could hit him, Grimlock rapidly came behind his back and grabbed his arm with his sharp teeth. He dragged the scientist and twirled him in the air, tossing him on the ground. The dinobot slammed his pede on top of him, preventing the Decepticon from moving.

Unfortunately, Smokescreen's along with Sideswipe and Bulkhead's way was immediately blocked by the troops. However, Arcee swiftly ran to Starscream as she noticed how the seeker was going for the relic. She converted into her motorcycle form and passed next to him. Although she almost reached the dangerous weapon, Soundwave grabbed her with one of his tentacles and tossed her afar, crashing her back into Knock Out's who was in combat with the faceless drones. 

Strongarm shot his slender, flexible limbs away from the harvester. While she continued to strike at him, Starscream received a hit on the back of his shoulder-pad, Bumblebee jumped and attacked him with his spear. As he kept him occupied, the lieutenant shouted at the Prime, "Go, Optimus!"

The old leader nodded and quickly made his way through the Vehicons as he fought them off. Shockwave detected how the Prime was approaching the relic, the faceless 'Con groaned and his entire body shook, Grimlock's optics widened. The purple cyclops aimed his arm cannon at the reptile. The blast hit him in the jawline and the dinobot collapsed. 

The cadet got distracted and concerned for her ally's state, Soundwave took this chance to drag her out of his way. Once dealing with the drones, Sideswipe, Smokescreen and Bulkhead joined in battling with the faceless Decepticon. Knock Out hurried to check up on Grimlock and Strongarm. Arcee assisted Bumblebee in fighting Starscream.

As Optimus virtually placed his servo on the shotgun-like weapon, Shockwave crashed his arm cannon into his side plating and the Prime grunted in pain. He released his arm blade, Shockwave blocked his attack with his cannon and pushed him back, then he opened fire.

Optimus dodged as he rolled sidewise but the strong blast went straight to one of the carts filled with fresh Energon crystals. The beam hit the down part of the cart which made the crystals fly out from the blast.

The moment they appeared in the air, the Autobots stared at the Energon pieces in fear. Out of everyone's expectations, one of those small crystals flew dangerously close to the giant harvester. All of their optics became wide and shouted in unison as it came near the mighty force.

When the tip of that tiny Energon piece fell in between the absorbing energy and human's Equestrian magic, a giant powerful explosion formed between the relic and the elements.

The Cybertronians swiftly covered themselves from the big force and thick smoke that surrounded them. The disturbance blew up and shook the entire laboratory. Soon, the earthquake made the whole place rumble. The structure and support of the cave began to collapse down, long cracks formed and the ceiling of the cave was falling apart. Before anyone could even know it, all of them got covered and trapped under the giant crushing boulders and rocks, buried in the natural ground.

After that...

Everything went silent.

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

Through those fallen rocks, several lights appeared from underneath. Briefly after trying to get out, small thin gleams of power got released into the air.

Wisps of Equestrian magic floated into the dark blue sky like stars, flying away and disappearing to all different kinds of courses across their world.

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

.

.

.

Optimus' neon blue optics flickered into the vanishing dust, face-plate covered by his arms. The Prime stood up and analyzed the environment around him. The moonlight was shining brightly on his smooth armor, he felt the cold yet soothing breeze of fresh air.

Shockwave's entire construction was gone. Now, it was only an open rocky landscape.

He searched for his comrades, he saw robots lying on the ground, some of them were groaning and rubbing their helms, others were trying to get up as they shoved the large destroyed rocks. Optimus looked around and focused into the distance but he couldn't see the girls.

His teammates stood up on their pedes and observed the situation. All they could see was the wild natural setting in the area, the destroyed cave under their pedes and the Decepticons who attempted to free themselves from the heavy ruins.

But there was no sign of their human allies.

Panic overcame Sideswipe as he searched all over the place for his missing charge, "Dash...?" he roamed through the boulders, "Rainbow, can you hear me?! Rainbow Dash?!" he shouted for her but he didn't receive an answer.

"Fluttershy? Anyone?!" Bumblebee yelled with worry as he joined the search. The Autobots continued to cry their names, expecting, hoping for someone to hear their voices.

Sadly, those voices never came back.

As the search kept on going, they started to lose hope with each shout. No one saw their bodies nor did they hear a sound. Optimus stepped to the center of the wrecks until his pede felt small pieces of metal.

"The relic." he thought to himself inside his mind. It was destroyed from the accident, only remains left of it. The Prime closed his optics and furrowed his optical ridges, both in deep sorrow and anger.

"C'mon, please..." Sideswipe pleaded under his vents as he didn't stop to move away the big rocks out of his path, "Please, not like this..."

"Are they...?" Smokescreen whispered, searching around for signs of life from their human friends.

Bulkhead silently inserted in disbelief, "No, they... they can't be."

"They are fine, I'm sure they're fine, they have to be!" Sideswipe denied, either he was talking to himself or his teammates, even he didn't know anymore.

Strongarm stepped closer to him, "Sideswipe..."

"I don't want to hear it, Strong! Just... keep on searching! I know they are here somewhere!"

"Sideswipe, stop..." she gently put her servo on his back.

The mech leaned on one of the boulders, his entire frame shaking, "They can't..."

Grimlock sadly stepped to his friend for comfort, leaning his head next to his.

Arcee fell on her knees and held her face-plate, Bumblebee kneeled beside her and put his arms around her, forming a hug. The Autobots's helms dropped down in sadness and grief.

They... failed them?

Have they really... lost their friends...?

Forever...?

Suddenly...

Out of the blue...

They heard a noise.

During the mourning silence, the heavy fallen rocks began to move from a very far distance.

Optimus opened his optics and glanced in the direction where he heard it, the rest of the team following his lead.

As soon as they heard the faint grunting and heavy breaths coming from the further horizon of the ruins, they could see a hand, weakly moving aside the large stones. Shortly, a shadowy figure appeared in their sights, rubbing its head.

"What... happened?" a female voice asked in slight discomfort.

Optimus' optics widened the instant he recognized her tone.

"Sunset...?"