Ruby - Transformers: The Last Knight

Code Burgundy

Ruby ran to the stables as fast her legs would carry her, which was pretty darn fast. Air rippled behind her, flattening the grass as she hurried across the meadows. Urgency spurred her on, along with the raw power burning through her veins.

Her strongest horse, a steel grey stallion called Ice Storm, was dozing in the shade when Ruby whirled into the yard. He didn't exactly look ready to race for Cade's life. The sweet smell of hay and the tang of saddle soap calmed Ruby's panic. She grabbed Ice Storm's bridle and a carrot, hoping to bribe some energy from the beast. She'd be faster on foot, but that would only raise questions among Cade's neighbors. They didn't know about her. They couldn't. Keeping the autobots in their backyards a secret was more than enough for them.

"No saddle today boy," she crooned to him, "Nothing to hold you back."

He munched lazily on his carrot, eyes half closed. Ruby vaulted onto his back and entwined her fingers through his mane, leaving his reins loose.

"Ya!"

The horse launched himself forward, feeding off the strength Ruby gave to him. His hooves pounded the ground like thunder. His big shoulders and hindquarters propelled them along faster and faster. Ruby guided him across the plains away from the city. She checked his speed once they reached the woods, weaving through the trees until they broke free and across another plain. Finally, the mismatched village of outcasts came into view. She galloped straight through the middle and on to the junk yard, leaving a trail of dust.

"Yo! It's Ruby!" a round, fat autobot stood up among the sea of dead vehicles.

Ice Storm didn't bat an eyelid or break his stride. His indifferent opinion of transformers was a bonus on top of his speed. Most other horses went wild with fear.

"Hound!" Ruby replied, steering her horse around him, "Is Cade here? Did Bee bring him back?"

"Yeah, he's in the shop, where's the fire?"

"Behind! Be ready!" she called over her shoulder."

Ice Storm clattered into the garage, straight underneath a car on the jack. Ruby leaped down and tossed the reins to a rather startled Brains;

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" he cried,

"Give him some water, make sure he doesn't wander off,"

"Ruby?"

Cade looked up from working on Bumble Bee's broken voice box,

"Cade, we have to go, like, now," she said.

"Whoa, hold your horses,"

Everyone glanced at Ice Storm, who tried to nibble Brain's eyebrows.

"Good pony, nice pony,"

Ruby shook her head, long, tangled strands waving,

"I saw Megatron and-"

Bee stood up so fast he hit his head on the ceiling.

"You saw WHO?!" Hound bellowed, leaning down to stick his green-helmeted head in the door.

Drift transformed from his new Mercedes form behind him,

"He didn't show up on my radar," he said,

"Oh, shut up about your radar," Hound smacked him on the shoulder with a clang that went straight through Ruby's head, "There's decepticons flying everywhere, your radar's useless,"

"Would you just listen to me? Megatron was at the stadium, well under it really, and he had decepticons spying on us, he knows about the badge you were given today, Cade, and it must be important because he's going to kill you for it!"

"This thing?" Cade took the token out of his pocket.

"AH!" cried Brains. The horse lifted him clean off the floor by his wiry white hair and shook him, then, "Where did you get that? Who gave it to you? It can't be real,"

"Here," Cade pulled Brains free of Ice Storm's teeth and passed him the token.

"It looks real, but, no, it can't be,"

"Barricade said the bot who had it was a knight," said Ruby, "Do you know what that means?"

"The knights were an ancient group of transformers," said Brains, "Sorta like the Primes, remember, the Fallen wanted the Matrix for his crazy sun-sucking machine, this is a bit like that,"

"How?"

"Well, I dunno much details," he patted down his hair, "But, I think these tokens are keys, or pieces of a puzzle that makes a key, you know, that makes something big work,"

"Right." said Ruby, "Now that's cleared up, we need to MOVE,"

"How would Megatron know where to find us?"

"I don't know, maybe the same way he evaded us and changed form, then reappeared right under our noses already!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting? Or did you tell that soldier guy something?"

Ruby opened and closed her mouth.

"Fine. Stay here. Get squashed because of some oversized penny,"

"I heard him," said Cade, "He said his gun wouldn't work anyway. He didn't even test it. He knew who you were and what you can do. And you," he pointed at Bee, "He spoke to you in a familiar fashion too! What did you tell him?!"

"What is this, twenty one questions day?"

An ear-shattering roar shut everyone up. Even Ice Storm quivered.

"Uh-oh," said Cade,

Crosshair's voice came over on the radio, "Guys we have a code, er, what colour is it again, er, you know, the bad one, the worst of the worst, burgundy, no, maroon, wait, RED!"

Cade and Ruby locked eyes. There was no time for I-told-you-so's.

"I'll create a distraction. You all go on ahead."

Ruby snatched up Ice Storm's reins.

"Autobots, code red protocol, go go go!"

Ruby rode back the way she had come. Cade and the autobots sped off in the other direction, making for a ghost town a few miles away.

Ice Storm ran straight between Grimlocks's giant feet like he did it every day. The humongous metal dinosaur crashed after the horse.

"No Grimlock!" cried Ruby, "Go with Cade!"

He kept following.

Police sirens sounded ahead, layered with alien tones. 

  The bracelet sealed itself against Ruby's skin.  

The decepticons were coming.