"Hold up-- back up a bit- Equestrian magic? Elements of Harmony?? Now I've heard everything." Smokescreen scratched his helm in confusion, finding it difficult to sum up all the things the humans explained.

"I know, right? Some creators can come up with the craziest ideas for a cartoon show." Pinkie chimed in.

The rest gave her weirded-out stares, Pinkie blinked and shrugged at their silent reactions, "What?"

"This is Pinkie, don't ask." Rainbow told the giants unbothered and waved off.

"Um, where were we?" asked Twilight.

"You mentioned having different kinds of abilities? Do tell." Knock Out reminded with a slight curiosity in his voice.

Ratchet scoffed right after, "Puh-lease, this is absurd. I won't believe it until I see it with my optics."

"How about a small demonstration then? Sounds interesting." suggested Strongarm.

Applejack was the first one who came forward, "No problem, fellas." she calmly replied while stretching her shoulders.

"Just don't break anything!" Ratchet warned strictly as he kept a close optic on her.

The cowgirl headed in a random direction and looked around, observing the area as if she was searching for something. After peeking some more, a peculiar object caught her eye. It was entirely made out of crushed scrap metal parts which were formed into a giant ball.

"Mind if ah use this?" she asked them in her country voice and pointed towards the scrap.

"That old thing? Uhh, yeah sure, but what are you going to do-" before Bulkhead could finish, Applejack went to it and started picking it up with her bare hands, her pony ears appearing on top of her head. In a split second, the giant object was found right above her tiny fragile form. Without a single drop of sweat, she lifted it with ease and smiled at her audience.

"... with it." the bulkier green mech finished off with widened optics and a dropped jaw. In fact, the whole team was pretty amazed by what they were seeing. It was far too unreal for them to take in the fact that a simple human was capable of containing such power.

"They are not supposed to do that, right? " Knock Out asked unsure if what he was looking at was real.

"It is not physically possible for a human being to do so..." answered Ratchet. Suddenly, a gentle, pink magical aura wrapped around the giant heavy ball and slowly began to levitate away from Applejack's hands.

"Ain't me this time, sugarcubes." the country girl informed and gestured to someone else in front of her.

The robots' gazes focused on Twilight Sparkle who was standing fully concentrated on the flying object. As she started to raise her arms, the scrap metal did too. The heavy weight was a bit challenging but regardless, she was able to hold it in the air for way longer than she expected. 

After that, she proceeded to use her telekinetic abilities to handle the giant object to Bulkhead, "I believe this is yours." she said while settling down the scrap ball into his servos.

"Erm-- thanks?" he bewilderingly responded.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie came up with an idea. When she found a small bottle of sprinkles inside her frizzy pink hair, she began pouring some into her palm. While searching for an easy target to strike at, she spotted Rarity who was the nearest to her, completely unaware of what her friend was planning to do. 

"Hey, Rares!" the fashionista turned to her cheerful friend the second she heard her name, the loud shout caught the attention of the others as well, "Think fast!" Pinkie warned, as she was spinning her arm, the sprinkles started to glow in her fist. The moment Rarity realized what was about to happen, Pinkie threw them at her like a baseball.

Luckily, the fashion girl reacted just in time and formed a big diamond shield to protect herself from the explosion, "Pinkie Pie! Don't you ever DARE  to do that again! You could have ruined my hair!" she snapped at her pink friend. Out of the blue, a rainbow-colored track passed quickly near Rarity, causing a wind to blow her curly purple hair.

"Yo, did you see that?!" Sideswipe instantly questioned the whole group when he spotted the colorful trace.

A sudden female voice spoke near his audio receptors, "Saw what?" he froze and turned to see who it was, but there was no one, "Ooh, you were talking about me, weren't you?" he looked at the other side, yet again no one was there, "Yep, it's kinda hard catching up, but hey, I don't blame ya."

"What the- Hey! Stop that!" he struggled to get her. Despite that, to her own delight, she kept on flying around him with her super speed. As a result of her actions, the red 'Bot finally lost his balance and fell on the ground backwards. Several of his fellow teammates silently snickered at the hilarious performance.

Rainbow instantly stopped herself and glanced over the fallen mech, she let out a snort and flew to check on him, "Whoops, sorry 'bout that dude, didn't mean to make you hit the floor." she apologized, "You okay down there?"

Sideswipe groaned as he attempted to get up back on his pedes and rubbed the back of his helm. To Rainbow's surprise, he chuckled back, "Heh, not bad at all speedster. You sure got some cool tactics to show off."

"Great, this is all we needed now, more troublemakers." grumbled Ratchet, then he and the rest heard a whistle coming out of the shy girl who was standing not too far away from them. What they didn't expect to see were tiny creatures coming out of different paths of the base: tiny reptiles, insects, mammals, etc.

Everyone moved aside and carefully watched their steps as the animals made their way to Fluttershy, "Hello there little ones, glad to meet you all." the creatures happily let out diverse sounds in response, "Why, thank you so much." she kindly smiled.

As the shy girl continued her conversation with her animal friends, Optimus' gaze was directed at Sunset Shimmer who was the only one who didn't show her magical powers yet. Out of wonderment, he asked, "What about your abilities, Sunset?" that grabbed the girl's attention.

She looked up at him and replied, "Mine? Oh, It's nothing special really, I can only look through someone's past, that's all." she shrugged and nervously smiled.

"Is that so? What was I doing yesterday then?" Knock Out asked and kneeled before her. She indicated his hand, after taking the hint he moved his pointy index digit closer to her.

When she touched it, her eyes became fully white and delved into his memories. A few seconds later, she let go of his sharp digit and answered with confidence, "Were you watching a horror movie at a drive-in theatre last night?"

"Busy, huh?" Bumblebee mocked the cherry red doctor.

"The new part just came out. How could I miss it?" Knock Out persuaded.

"Well, it turns out you were right after all. You do have superpowers, I doubted you too quickly, my apologies." Ratchet excused himself.

"Don't worry about it darling, we also needed some time to believe it when this magic entered our world. Especially, to get the handle of these powers." Rarity comforted him.

"Do you think that... maybe this is why they were after us? They found out about our existing magic and now they are trying to take it away from us?" Fluttershy wondered.

"To gain more power...! That's it! They were searching for an alternate energy source behind our backs as a strategy this whole time! To attack us when we least expect it, with something we have never encountered before and don't know how to deal with!" suspected Bumblebee.

"No wonder it was so calm and quiet for a while. Those faceless creeps were way sneakier than we thought." Arcee concluded.

Ratchet looked up at his leader, "What do you think, Optimus?"

Upon hearing his question, the Prime took a few steps towards the other members in the base and answered, "Although this may be true, we still cannot be completely certain without having any sufficient analysis and provided evidence. Our enemies will not give up so easily, they will keep looking for you and will not stop until they get what they have already set as a goal. We will do everything in our power to end their evil deeds as quickly as possible and prevent them from harming either you or your planet. Therefore, you will remain here for your safety."

"What?! Staying here doing nothing while those stupid 'Cons are roaming around freely on our planet?! I don't think so!" objected Rainbow Dash, "We may not be big and tough like you guys but we can help you beat them! Together!" she suggested with full faith.

Sunset put a hand on her friend's shoulder and backed her up, "She is right." then her eyes focused on the tallest standing robot, "They are still not aware of what we are exactly capable of, we can use this as an advantage and stop them from causing all these troubles once and for all." she assured, her hand forming into a fist with a determined expression.

"Yeah! Besides, our families and friends are there too! It's our home, we have to fight for it!" included Pinkie Pie.

Arcee crossed her arms as she watched them proudly, "Huh, would you look at that. Strong and brave spirits. I'm impressed."

"We would do anything to keep our loved ones safe. You helped us and we are going to help you out too." Twilight confirmed.

Optimus thought for a moment to decide whether this was a wise decision or not, in a short while, he responded, "Hmm... very well, you may return to your homes. However, we still cannot allow you girls to remain unprotected. Each one of you will have an appointed member of our team to keep you safe, as guardians." he concluded,

Pinkie Pie let out a loud excited gasp as she put her hands on her cheeks, "For realsies?!"

"Now we are talking!" Rainbow cheered.

The Autobot leader focused on his teammates and began, "Bulkhead, I want you to watch over Applejack and Smokescreen to look after Pinkie Pie."

"You got it, Prime." replied Bulkhead.

Smokescreen saluted, "We won't let you down, Optimus!"

"Arcee, you will be Twilight's guardian and Sideswipe will be Rainbow's." he ordered to the rest.

"Understood." the femme nodded.

"This will be fun." smirked the red mech.

"Excuse me, Optimus?" he turned to Knock Out, "Although it may sound a little bit surprising to hear, especially from someone like me but... I would like to participate as a guardian of some of these girls as well, if you do not mind, of course."

"Is it actually because you started opening up to humans more or just to sneak out again?" the grumpy medic untrustingly asked, as a result, his colleague glared at him.

"Ratchet." Optimus sternly but at the same time calmly hushed him down, "In that case, you will have the responsibility to protect Miss Rarity."

Knock Out slightly bowed down at his response, "I will do my very best."

Optimus' gaze then focused on the yellow robot and said, "Bumblebee, you will guard Fluttershy." he nodded in agreement.

"As for Sunset... " the Prime concentrated on the girl and kneeled in front of her, "I  will be her guardian."

"Huh?!" Sunset became stunned regarding his decision. The leader of a team that consisted entirely of giant heroic alien robots has chosen her to be his human charge?

Ratchet's reaction was no different, "Optimus, are you certain about this?" he questioned rather concerned as he approached, "A Prime like you looking after a small human being? You are only putting your dear life at risk."

"I understand your worries, old friend. Despite her impressive power, she will need more protection than her close ones." concluded Optimus.

The old doctor thought about it once more, but eventually, he decided to agree with him, "I suppose... you are correct."

"Then it's settled. You can leave the base and return to your city with your assigned guardians. They will be watching over you while being in disguise. You must notify us whenever you decide to leave your homes, we cannot let you girls alone without supervision. I also suggest meeting in small groups for the time being, so as not to become easy targets for the Decepticons. Am I clear?"

"Sir, Yes Sir!" everyone saluted back.

"Good. For the rest, we will keep in touch the entire time in case something happens and will proceed with your observation here. We must be vigilant and prepared for any surprises."

"Of course." Strongarm nodded.

"Actually, Optimus?" the Prime followed the voice, which apparently came from Twilight, "Could I stay here in the base for the night? I would love to learn more about your kind and history, not to mention about the functionality of this interesting technology that you use." she wondered.

"Egghead." Rainbow coughed, Twilight in response gave her an annoyed look.

Optimus glanced over Ratchet, waiting for his permission. The medic peeped back at him and the female teen, "I don't see why not." he answered briefly.

"But darling, what about your family?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"Shining and Cadance's new house is still under an arrangement, so they will be busy and as I already said, my parents went off on a trip this week. Thankfully, I prepared some snacks earlier for Spike in case he gets hungry. Don't worry, I will be fine." she reassured her friends.

"Since we've come to full agreement, I believe that it is time for us to leave and take you home." reminded Optimus and turned to the mini-con to activate the Groundbridge. In a short while, the portal opened and each of their guardians transformed into their alt-forms, ready to go.

It was time for the girls to wish their goodnights. The teenagers gathered together in a big tight hug, "Just don't stay up whole night, okay?" Sunset jokingly advised Twilight as they let go of each other.

Twilight chuckled back, "Oh, come on you know me."

"Stay safe, sugarcube." said Applejack and waved goodbye along with the others.

"You too girls!" Twilight waved back at them.

"See you tomorrow! Byeee!!" Pinkie happily shouted and hopped inside the sports car.

"Must she be so loud." the medic muttered while watching them leave.

As soon as all of the girls were settled, the vehicles closed their doors. Afterwards, Optimus ordered in a powerful tone:

"Autobots, roll out!"

Everyone went through the portal and disappeared from the sights of the rest who have left in the base.

"So-"

Twilight began and faced the other Cybertronians with enthusiasm, "-what should we start with?"

"Oh boy, here we go." Spike rolled his eyes.

══════════════════

In the meantime, Shockwave was focused on working on the large control system, his back facing the standing troops. He rapidly entered several lines of code written in Cybertronian language with his only servo. Just as he finished writing those codes, several images of the teenage girls appeared on the monitors.

"What shall we do, sir?" one of the Vehicons asked.

"Considering your incompetent failure, there is no doubt that our targets have already allied with the Autobots, our state will become more intricate than before." Shockwave informed without even facing them.

This made the Vehicon soldiers slightly shiver out of fear, they could only expect the worst coming out of the terrifying scientist, who knew what he could possibly do with them regarding their unsuccessful mission, "Please commander, we beg for forgiveness! Give us one more chance, I swear in my spark, we will not fail you again." one of them pleaded and put a servo on his chassis.

Shockwave turned around and approached them slowly, "Be grateful you are needed for fulfilling this essential process, otherwise I could use you as experimentations." he threatened, "We will have to change our capturing tactics, to dispel our enemies and keep them further from those lifeforms."

"How are we going to do that, may I ask?" another one nervously queried.

Upon hearing his question, the large Decepticon's antennas slightly moved, it seemed as if he came up with a solution. When he once again turned his back on the troops, he returned to the console and clicked a button, which appeared to be the communication system.

══════════════════

It was nearly midnight. The night sky was completely dark and clear, only the moon which loomed large was surrounded by an ethereal glow and millions of stars sprinkled around it, a few large ones but mostly a multitude of little ones. 

There the forest lay, like a soft green blanket. From a far distance it would appear like any other copse of trees. Only the living creatures there were moving throughout the whole silent night.

Within the darkness, a strange big figure rapidly ran through the bushes and dodged every tree or branch that came into its way. 

It was a shadow, moving like a lightning. But it didn't stop, it kept on going even more. Leaving a trace of steps into the muddy ground, the fallen leaves of the trees rustled after the strong wind which was caused by its fast-running body. 

Then, out of nowhere, it froze in place. Its head lifted and its ears slightly moved, fully concentrated, as if it was listening to something.

::This is Shockwave.::

A voice spoke in its head.

::Change of plans.::

For a small period of time, the dark body proceeded back on scampering across the nature. When it finally emerged out of the forest, the shadowy figure slowed its pace and very steadily observed its surroundings. 

The grass moved with each passed silent step. As it continued searching around, it came across a high steep path, which was made entirely out of boulders, all covered with moss and old roots. It began leaping on each large rock carefully but still surprisingly fast.

Eventually, it reached a point where it was met by the night clear sky. While it climbed upon, it reduced its speed and walked further. The path was coming to its end, leading to a hill. The shadow sat down and watched. 

Except for the light which came from the moon, there was bigger brightness coming from below. And it was coming from civilization. It took the figure only a few minutes to examine the far location. 

Subsequently, it stood back up on its feet and slowly left, completely disappearing over again within the entire darkness.

Like a ghost.