Editing Finale (Friendship in Disguise!)

{{disambig2|the My Little Pony/Transformers story|the [[Of Masters and Mayhem]] story|Finale (Of Masters and Mayhem)}}

'''The heroes of two worlds unite for the final showdown against Megatron and Queen Chrysalis!'''

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[My Little Pony/Transformers]]'' #4
|prev=Strength in Numbers
|next=
|image=MLPTF 4 cvr.jpg
|title="Finale"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|published in=[[My Little Pony/Transformers issue 3|''My Little Pony/Transformers'' #4]] 
|date=[[November 4]], [[2020]]
|coverdate=November 2020
|written by=[[James Asmus]]
|art by=[[Tony Fleecs]]
|colors by=[[Lauren Perry]]
|letters by=[[Neil Uyetake]]
|editor=[[Megan Brown]], [[David Mariotte]], and [[Bobby Curnow]]
}}

==Synopsis==
In the [[Crystal Empire]], [[Smolder]] the dragon and her friends report to [[Princess Cadance]]: the [[Decepticon]]s across [[Equestria]] have gone missing, and [[Twilight Sparkle]] suspects that they must be up to something. They're right—before Cadance can finish her question, [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] blasts through the wall of her crystal castle, followed by [[Queen Chrysalis]] and the other members of their alliance! The two leaders make their demands: turn over all [[magic]] items so that the Cybertronians can create a new variety of powerful [[energon]]... and surrender their territory to the changeling swarm. But Cadance isn't going down without a fight, and neither are her friends Twilight Sparkle and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], who arrive just in time to explain that they've been travelling Equestria and gathering allies in anticipation of this final showdown. The [[Autobot]] leader makes one last attempt to convince Megatron to stand down, but when he refuses, the Autobots and their Equestrian friends charge into battle!

Amidst the mayhem, Twilight battles Chrysalis, Optimus takes out [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], [[Discord (MLP)|Discord]] dodges Megatron, [[Rarity]] and [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] take out [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]], and [[Pinkie Pie]] incapacitates [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] with a well-thrown pastry. Megatron orders [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] to shoot his way into the crystal castle and steal whatever magic he can find, but when he blasts his way into the palace, he finds Cadance, [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], and still more ponies blocking his path! Shockwave arrogantly dismisses this display as mere sentimentality... but he soon eats those words when their combined [[unicorn]] magic first shields them from his fire, then blows the Decepticon scientist out of the castle in a blinding beam of light. As Optimus battles the changelings outside the castle walls, Megatron taunts his old nemesis's sense of compassion until Twilight intervenes, magically disables his [[fusion cannon]], and warns the Decepticon leader: compassion is ''never'' a weakness. Twilight has friends and allies all across Equestria, and the Equestrians here are just a ''fraction'' of the forces she will bring to bear against him if the fight continues. Megatron realizes that Chrysalis has deceived him about the level of resistance they'd face and demands an explanation, but the changeling queen doesn't care. Even if they lose this fight, the Cybertronians are still stranded in her dimension and she's more than happy to sit back and watch as their war destroys Equestria piece by piece. Indeed, Chrysalis vows that she will ''never'' cast the spell that will reopen the bridge between their two worlds... moments before a glowing portal heralds the arrival of [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] and [[Spike (MLP)|Spike]], who have repaired the [[space bridge|spacebridge]]! 

Chrysalis orders her changelings to retreat and warns them to avoid the glowing portal, but before she can do the same, Megatron grabs the queen and demands the power she promised him. After all, Megatron's certain there's no magic capable of defeating them... but as Twilight Sparkle combines her own magic with the power of Optimus's [[Matrix of Leadership]], the pony princess explains that Megatron's biggest error was underestimating the most powerful magic of all—the magic of ''friendship''. Their combined attack envelops all of the Decepticons in a burst of energy, forces them back through the space bridge, and finally ends the threat to Equestria. With the villains vanquished, Optimus takes a moment to apologize to Twilight for the behavior of his fellow Cybertronians, but Twilight explains that while ponies don't judge appearance, they ''do'' judge choices, and she's glad that the Autobots chose kindness. 

After a final farewell party, Optimus and the other Autobots bid their friends goodbye, then return to Cybertron—and to ensure that the Decepticons will never trouble the citizens of Equestria again, Optimus destroys the malfunctioning spacebridge once the last Autobot is through. [[Gauge]] is sad at the prospect of never seeing their pony friends again, but Optimus points out that they'll always remember their true friends. 

Elsewhere on Cybertron, however, the battered Decepticons take stock of their recent defeat. A furious Megatron demands to know if Shockwave succeeded in his mission to steal Equestrian magic, but the scientist is as empty-handed as the rest of them. He ''did'', however, manage to retrieve the spacebridge coordinates before Optimus destroyed the tower; what if, he asks, the Decepticons could somehow bring the magic of Equestria to ''Cybertron''...?

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (17)
* [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (19)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (23)
* [[Gauge]] (21)
* [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (23)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (24)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (26)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (36)

|c2=
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (8)
* [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] (9)
* [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (10)
* [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (12)
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (13)
* [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] (14)
* [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (15)
* [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]] (34)

|c4=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
* [[Silverstream]] (1)
* [[Yona]] (2)
* [[Sandbar]] (3)
* [[Gallus]] (4)
* [[Smolder (MLP)|Smolder]] (5)
* [[Ocellus]] (6)
* [[Princess Cadance]] (7)
* [[Queen Chrysalis]] (11)
* [[Twilight Sparkle]] (16)
* [[Rainbow Dash]] (18)
* [[Discord (MLP)|Discord]] (20)
* [[Fluttershy]] (21)
* [[Spitfire (MLP)|Spitfire]] (22)
* [[Applejack]] (22)
* [[Soarin]] (25)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
* [[Rarity]] (26)
* [[Owlowiscious]] (20)
* [[Pinkie Pie]] (21)
* [[Big Mcintosh]] (22)
* [[Sugar Belle]] (23)
* [[Granny Smith]] (24)
* [[Maude Pie]] (25)
* [[Starlight Glimmer]] (27)
* [[Trixie]] (28)
* [[Sweetie Belle]] (29)
* [[Tempest Shadow]] (30)
* [[Shining Armor (MLP)|Shining Armor]] (31)
* [[Apple Bloom]] (32)
* [[Scootaloo]] (33)
* [[Spike (MLP)|Spike]] (35)

{{!}}}
}}

==Quotes==

"'''Autobots and ponies'''... '''TRANSFORM AND TROT OUT!'''"
"'TIL EVERYPONY ARE ONE!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Twilight Sparkle''' say it's on


"Operation: Melee—initiate. '''Eject'''."
"Ha! More like '''reject''', am I right?"
:—'''Soundwave''' takes a pie, courtesy of '''Pinkie Pie'''


"Compassion is '''never''' a weakness. And I'll have you know—you're up against just a tiny '''fraction''' of our magical friends. But we put out the call for '''more'''. And soon, you'll be '''glad''' we offer '''forgiveness''' to anypony willing to admit their mistakes."
:—'''Twilight Sparkle'''


"Oh... did you... '''have''' to do that? They were so... nice." <br>
"When you make a good friend, Gauge—and you're made better by the experience—that friend is '''always''' with you."
:—'''Gauge''' and '''Optimus Prime'''


==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* Right off the bat, we meet the members of the "Young Six:" [[Silverstream]] the hippogriff, [[Yona]] the yak, [[Sandbar]] the pony, [[Gallus]] the griffin,  [[Smolder (MLP)|Smolder]] the dragon, and [[Ocellus]] the good changeling. These characters were introduced in [[wikia:MLP:School Daze - Part 1|the season eight premiere]] as newly-enrolled students in Twilight Sparkle's [[wikia:MLP:School of Friendship|School of Friendship]], and, over the last two seasons of the show, grew to become prominent members of the cast.
* [[Princess Cadance]] debuted in the [[wikia:MLP:A Canterlot Weddding - Part 1|season two finale]], and has a bit of a history with Queen Chrysalis. Initially, the changeling queen sought to steal her throne by impersonating her; Twilight saw through the ruse in time, freed the real Cadance, and ensured that her wedding to Twilight's brother [[Shining Armor (MLP)|Shining Armor]] went through after defeating Chrysalis for the first time. The [[wikia:MLP:The Crystal Empire - Part 2|season three premiere]] then concluded with the newlyweds becoming the rulers of the [[Crystal Empire]] after defeating [[wikia:MLP:King Sombra|King Sombra]].
* Twilight's pet owl [[Owlowiscious]] appears as one of the many allies who charge into the battle against the Decepticons. Other combatants include [[Granny Smith]], [[Big McIntosh]], his wife [[Sugar Belle]], and [[Pinkie Pie]]'s sister [[Maude Pie|Maude]].  
* Bumblebee's reinforcements include the three "[[wikia:MLP:Cutie Mark Crusaders|Cutie Mark Cusaders]]"—[[Sweetie Belle]], [[Scootaloo]], and [[Apple Bloom]]—and a number of former villains. [[Trixie]] was Twilight Sparkle's magical rival up to the fifth season episode "[[wikia:MLP:Magic Duel|Magic Duel]]", [[Starlight Glimmer]] ran a conformist cult before she repented, and [[Tempest Shadow]] menaced our heroes during the [[wikia:MLP:My Little Pony: The Movie|2017 movie]] until she turned against the evil [[wikia:MLP:The Storm King|Storm King]] in the movie's third act.
* [[Spike (MLP)|Spike]] was stranded on [[Earth]] with [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] during the events of "[[Inspiring]]", where he gave himself a crash-course in Cybertronian technology that assuredly aided his efforts to fix the spacebridge. [[The Flyin' Fox Trot|Rainbow Dash's story]] in the previous issue ''did'' depict him back in Equestria, but given his role here we can safely write that off as an error.
* The final shot of the comic shows Shockwave examining an image of Twilight Sparkle's [[wikia:MLP:Castle of Friendship|Castle of Friendship]] in [[Ponyville]], which was her home from the fifth season onward.

===Transformers references===
* Twilight Sparkle incapacitates Megatron by magically blocking his [[fusion cannon]] shut; the orange cap at the end of his barrel references the [[For safety reasons#Safety_standards|orange safety plug]] that most modern gun-mode Megatron toys must incorporate in accordance with US gun safety laws.
* Sneaking into the crossover at the eleventh hour, [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]] makes a surprise one-panel appearance, fighting [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]! This might not be a surprise if you've been following IDW's recent output, however—she ''did'' recently cameo in [[Rise of the Decepticons: All Fall Down|issue #19]] of [[Transformers (2019 comic)|IDW's current ''Transformers'' ongoing]], and may even have been slated to star in "[[The Flyin' Fox Trot]]" at some point before [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] replaced her. Visually, she takes inspiration from the [[Fracture (Movie)#Transformers (2007)|2007 "Fracture" toy]], who was conceived as a reference to the ''GoBots'' character, and attacks Arcee with an axe based on that toy's accessory.
* Spike pilots a transforming [[exosuit]] identical to the model [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] used in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. When the baby dragon introduces himself to [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], he wonders if they've met before in reference to how the original ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'' cartoon depicted Bumblebee and Spike (the human, that is) as best friends.
* The series signs off by incorporating a version of the classic [[scene transition]]s from the original ''Transformers'' cartoon that superimposes Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark over the Autobot insignia.

===My Little Pony references===
* In anticipation of their fight against the Cybertronians, several of the changelings appear to have transformed into giant [[wikia:MLP:Creatures#Cragadile|cragadiles]], crocodlie-like monsters that menaced Twilight in the episode "[[wikia:MLP: Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2|Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2]]".

===Other trivia===
* Although the Young Six note that all of the Decepticons in Equestria have gone missing in anticipation for their big push on the Crystal Empire, several do not appear in the final battle—[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]], [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], the [[Rainmaker]]s, and the four deluxe Insecticons are all absent from the proceedings (though we can probably assume that Soundwave brought [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] and the other cassettes with him).
* Although they did not show up in any previous issues, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]  and [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] feature of the combined pony-Autobot force, but Ironhide does not appear in any subsequent panels.


[[Category:My Little Pony/Transformers issues]]