Editing Transformation Is Magic

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise!]]'' #1
|prev=
|next=Shine Like a Diamond
|image=MLPTF 1 cvrA.jpg
|title="Transformation Is Magic"
|caption='''Twilight''': Wouldn’t it have been interesting if we crossed over with our [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|sister series]] that debuted alongside us instead of [[Evergreen|the same old]]- <br/> '''Hasbro''': Lalalalaala can’t hear you! 
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|published in=[[Friendship in Disguise! issue 1|''Friendship in Disguise!'' #1]] 
|date=[[August 5]], [[2020]]
|coverdate=July 2020
|written by=[[James Asmus]]
|art by=[[Tony Fleecs]]
|colors by=[[Tony Fleecs]] and [[Lauren Perry]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[Megan Brown]], [[David Mariotte]], and [[Bobby Curnow]]
}}

'''The evil Queen Chrysalis summons changelings from another world to conquer Equestria, but doesn't get quite what she intended...'''

==Synopsis==
In the magical land of [[Equestria]], it's just an ordinary day for the citizens of [[Ponyville]] until the sky darkens and lightning crackles, heralding a ferocious storm! But this is no ''ordinary'' storm; the villainous [[Queen Chrysalis]] and her shapeshifting [[changeling]]s, having recently escaped their imprisonment, plan to conquer Equestria. The storm intensifies as the queen works her complex [[magic]], weaving a powerful spell that will summon "fellow changelings" from other worlds to Equestria, ready to aid her mission of complete destruction...

Many dimensions away, the [[Autobot]]s of the planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] valiantly defend a [[Space bridge|spacebridge]] from [[Decepticon]] attack. But [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] reports to [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] that this spacebridge is faulty—somehow, it's not just reaching out to other ''planets'', it's reaching out to other ''dimensions''! Megatron warns his subordinate not to activate it, but Shockwave doesn't even get to finish his sentence before the bridge mysteriously activates and spirits all of the assembled Cybertronians away... all of them, that is, except for a very confused [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], who arrives on the scene too late.

As this magically-enhanced spacebridge pushes through dimensions and materializes in the sky over Equestria, Queen Chrysalis delights in her moment of triumph, even as Princess [[Twilight Sparkle]] and her royal guards arrive to stop the evil queen. But Twilight's arrived too late: as she watches in horror, beams of colored light—each a dimensionally-displaced Cybertronian—streak through the portal, shoot all across Equestria, and come to land where they may, including [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and Bumblebee, who materialize in the air above a nearby mountain range and plummet towards certain doom! Twilight immediately takes off to investigate, while Chrysalis turns her attention to Megatron, demanding to know what he is and how he can be of use—a question that bemuses the Decepticon conqueror.

Optimus Prime desperately tries to raise [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] for an aerial rescue, but the flying Autobot's too far away and has problems of her own, having encountered an incredulous [[Rainbow Dash]] and the [[Wonderbolt]]s above the clouds. Bumblebee's convinced that this is the end... but Prime valiantly prepares to sacrifice himself to save Bumblebee, intending to cushion Bumblebee's fall using his own body. That's ''not'' what Twilight expected to hear as she swoops in to save the pair; using her unicorn magic, she sets the two Autobots down on a nearby cliff and says as much. Optimus and Bumblebee introduce themselves and explain that they hail from the planet Cybertron, though Twilight informs them that their "shapeshifting magic" won't be of much use on a world like Equestria. The pony princess is just relieved that Chrysalis has accidentally foiled her own plan by summoning such friendly beings to Equestria, but Optimus sadly corrects her: not all Transformers are benevolent. ''Some'' Cybertronians seek only conflict and destruction, and their presence will only bring war to this peaceful world—Cybertronians like Megatron and the Decepticons, who roll out with their new allies in tow...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (10)
* [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (11)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (12)
* [[Gauge]] (18)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (15)
* [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (22)

|c2=
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (13)
* [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (14)
* [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (16)
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (17)
* [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] (20)
* [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] (21)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (28)


|c4=
* [[Golden Harvest]] (1)
* [[Cloud Kicker]] (2)
* [[Quibble Pants]] (3)
* News vendor (4)
* [[Minuette]] (5)
* [[Lyra Heartstrings]] (6)
* [[Daisy (MLP)|Daisy]] (7)
* [[Rose (MLP)|Rose]] (8)
* [[Queen Chrysalis]] (9)
* [[Twilight Sparkle]] (19)
* [[Spitfire]] (23)
* [[Soarin]] (24)
* [[Rainbow Dash]] (25)
* [[Surprise]] (26)
* [[Fire Streak]] (27)

}}

==Quotes==
"'''See?''' This is why these '''nonsense crossover stories''' shouldn't even happen! What '''continuity''' is this even supposed to take '''place''' in? If Dr. Caballeron still has his castle, then this should be '''before''' Daring Do '''has''' the Sapphire Skull!"  <br>
"I think it's just supposed to be '''fun.'''"
:—'''Quibble Pants''' ignores the '''news vendor''' and declares this to be the Worst! Crossover! Ever!


"Yeah! Me, Grimlock, ready to—aw... friends '''ditch''' Grimlock again?"
:—'''Grimlock'''


"Uh—'''Optimus?''' Are my '''optics''' busted... or are we '''plummeting''' to a surprisingly colorful '''doom'''?"
:—'''Bumblebee'''


"Well, we're from the planet '''Cybertron'''. But we're happy to '''blend''' in to avoid scaring anyone! Does '''this''' help?" <br>
"Wow!...um... not really? But almost everypony here wouldn't judge you for being different!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Twilight Sparkle''' get acquainted

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* The conversation about [[continuity]] between an unnamed news vendor and the {{w|Comic Book Guy|Comic Book Guy}}-esque spoilsport [[Quibble Pants]] is definitely meant to tell fans of both franchises to relax, have fun, and not take this wacky story ''too'' seriously... but we couldn't call ourselves a wiki if we didn't at least ''try'' to point out some significant continuity beats!
* [[IDW Publishing]]'s ongoing ''My Little Pony'' continuity has always played pretty fast and loose with the cartoon's canon. Although everything we've seen in the comic—[[Twilight Sparkle]] as a princess, [[Rarity]] running [[Rarity for You|her boutique]], [[Spike (MLP)|Spike]] with wings—''could'' conceivably point to it taking place somewhere during the show's eighth or ninth season, the [[changeling]]s Chrysalis commands present a major sticking point: in the cartoon, they rejected Chrysalis and renounced their villainous ways in the [[wikia:MLP: To Where and Back Again - Part 2|season six finale]] (outside of a few rogues who didn't fully reform until [[wikia:MLP: To Change a Changeling|episode 17 of the following season]]). But, as the news vendor says...
* Chrysalis seeks revenge against the ponies for "imprisoning" her. This might be in reference to her imprisonment in stone in the cartoon's [[wikia:MLP:The Ending of the End - Part 2|penultimate episode]], but this would also mean the escape of fellow villains [[Tirac|Tirek]] and [[wikia:MLP:Cozy Glow|Cozy Glow]], which would make their omission rather strange as three major villains running loose should be a much bigger deal and—''*sigh*'' Right, right, "just supposed to be fun." Never mind.

===Transformers references===
* Like several other [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] stories IDW's published in recent years, the comic's Transformer cast features the traditional mainstays—[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], etc.—and modern headliner [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]]. One 'bot you might ''not'' recognize at first glance is [[Gauge]], a young, mint-green Transformer who recently debuted over in [[2019 IDW continuity|IDW's current ''Transformers'' continuity]] as [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]'s mentee. 
* The [[space bridge]] seen here, both the tower on Cybertron and the colorful ring that opens above Equestria, is drawn to resemble its original appearance from the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'' cartoon, most prominently the episodes "[[Transport to Oblivion (episode)|Transport to Oblivion]]" and "[[Roll for It]]". However, it's referred to here as one word, "spacebridge", as per the [[2005 IDW continuity]].
* Most of the classic Autobots and Decepticons are drawn to resemble their counterparts from the 1984 cartoon, minus [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], who turns into a tank instead of a handgun, and Bumblebee, who transforms into an unusually toy-accurate hatchback based on his [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#Universe (2008)|2008 ''Universe'']] toy.

===My Little Pony references===
* Continuing the fourth-wall breaking silliness, Quibble Pants reads (and complains about) a crossover comic entitled ''"[[wikia:MLP:Daring Do|Daring Do]] and the [[wikia:MLP:Power Ponies (characters)|Power Ponies]]''", two fictional (as in, fictional in the ''My Little Pony'' universe) franchises that frequently appeared in the ''Friendship Is Magic'' cartoon. He namedrops [[wikia:MLP:Dr. Caballeron|Dr. Caballeron]], villain of the ''Daring Do'' novel series, who was later revealed to be a real individual, and...look, it's complicated, okay?
* A group of bunnies fleeing the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s on page seven are all drawn to resemble [[Fluttershy]]'s pet rabbit [[wikia:MLP:Angel|Angel]].

===Errors===
* The teleportation scene on page four appears to feature ''two'' Bumblebees, one in the foreground next to Gauge, and another in the background next to [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. Now, it ''could'' be [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] or [[Glyph (Universe)|Glyph]] or someone, but...
* On page nine, the yellow patch on Fire Streak's flight suit is miscolored red.

===Other trivia===
* The comic's lettering helps paint the medium as these two wildly different worlds collide: while the Cybertronian speech bubbles use the traditional lettering style we're familiar with from the [[2005 IDW continuity|2005]] and [[2019 IDW continuity|2019]] continuities, the ''My Little Pony'' characters use their own whimsical typeface from ''their'' comics. In contrast, the text announcing each location is actually rendered in the ''opposite'' franchise's font for a fun bit of mix-and-match.
* The news vendor bears a strong resemblance to the comic's artist, Tony Fleecs, and has previously appeared in other ''My Little Pony'' issues he's drawn. In an interview for the second volume of ''My Little Pony: Art is Magic'', Fleecs said if he had his own OC, he'd name it Cheeseburger.

[[Category:My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise! issues]]