//------------------------------// // Season 1, Episode 6: Birthday Bash // Story: The Omnitrix Hero // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was another busy day in Canterlot and the citizens of the city were going about their daily lives. On one of the sidewalks, an old woman had just stepped up to some lights and was waiting for it to turn green. After a minute of so, the last car passed by and the road was clear. The light chose this moment to turn green and she began to calmly make her way across the road. But as she did, a loud screeching sound filled the air. She looked around and her old heart nearly gave out when she saw a bus rushing down the road at what was probably forty miles an hour. It swerved from side the side and as it got closer, it looked like it was about to hit the woman. But before it could, somebody rushed up to her. "Look out!" She was grabbed and lifted off her feet, the next thing she knew being she was now standing on the sidewalk as the bus zoomed passed. She looked around and saw a cream coloured teen with green dreadlocks was the one who had pulled her out of the way, the teen turning to her. "You okay ma'am?" "Oh yes," she nodded, "Thank you." She stared down the street and saw the bus was still zooming out of control, "what on earth is that driver thinking?" The teen looked like he was about to reply, but in that moment something else moving at incredible speed shot passed them. "Wow!" The wind almost knocked him off his feet, the teen named Sandalwood looking around and seeing a blue blur running passed. "Oh yeah, Rainbow!" But then he thought, "or is it one of those aliens?" It was an alien, the speed alien known as XLR8. The armoured velociraptor was zooming down the street and easily managed to catch up to the bus, looking through the window and seeing the driver appeared terrified. His fear only heightened when XLR8 tapped on the glass of the door, making him jump and look over to see him. The alien made a gesture and the driver seemed to understand, so opened the door and allowed him to jump on board. "Hey," his visor lifted to show his face, "what are you doing? You need to slow this bus down before you hurt somebody." "Don't you think I know that?" The man asked, showing him the peddle he was stepping on. "The breaks aren't working." "Oh," XLR8 nodded as he looked up the bus and saw six passengers that were all terrified. "Can't you just take you foot off the accelerator so it'll slow down." "We're going down hill," the driver pointed out. "And at these speeds trying to turn around could roll the bus." XLR8 nodded again as the driver had to turn sharply to avoid hitting another car, the alien slowly coming up with a plan. "Alright, keep the door open." "Why?" He asked, only for XLR8 to zip up the bus and grab someone before zooming out of the door with them. A moment later, he was back and grabbed someone else. For the next few moments, a blue blur would shoot out of the bus and deposit someone of the sidewalk. Eventually, this included the bus driver who went staggering when he was let go. "Hey!" He turned in time to see the blur fly back into the bus before it lost control, XLR8 sitting behind the wheel and doing his best to keep control of it. "Need to find a way to stop this thing before I hit someone," XLR8 cried as he tried to think. It was then that he noticed a camping store just ahead of him, an idea forming in his brain. "Hope this works!" He shot out of the bus and into the store, returning a moment later carrying several long pieces of tent lines. He rushed ahead of the bus to an area with two street lamps exactly opposite each other, the alien quickly tying the ends of the lines to each one. Soon enough, a web-like construct was made between the posts and all the people that were near them realised what the alien was doing and ran away. XLR8 returned to the bus and drove it straight for the centre of the web, then vacated the bus when it was inches from it. Everyone watching from a safe distance saw the bus hit the net, the elasticity of the rope causing it to stretch whilst the bus' windows cracked from the sudden stop. The lampposts buckled and bent but remained in place, though it was likely the rope would soon snap. Luckily, XLR8 rushed back into the vehicle and put the parking brake on before they did. The bus screeched as its wheels locked and had it been going any faster, it would have likely flipped over. But it came to a complete stop right as the ropes gave out. XLR8 quickly rushed out of the bus and caught the snapped wires before they hit anything, placing them at the foot of the lampposts before doing a quick check of everything else. As he made sure nothing else bad would happen with the bus, he heard people cheering at him. "Thank you," he waved. "Thank you. It was nothing, really." He then heard police sirens and decided to leave before he timed out, the superspeed raptor vanishing in a burst of wind back up the street. He quickly arrived at the area he had originally transformed in, spotting his car park at the side with a clearly bored Trixie leaning against it. Ducking into an alleyway before anyone could see him, he hid behind some dumpsters and waited for the Omnitrix to time out. As he did, Trixie stepped into the alleyway. She was carrying a pair of nicely wrapped presents and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Took you long enough," she told him. "The next time you decide to rush off to save the day, the least you could do is give Trixie your car keys so she can listen to the radio." XLR8 laughed at this, "like I'd trust you with my car. I heard what you did during your last drivers test." "Not my fault someone moved the one way sign." As she said that, the Omnitrix began to beep and transformed the alien back into Flash Sentry. The teen stretched, not wanting to cramp up after all that running. He then took out his keys and opened the car, letting him and Trixie get it. "Got the presents?" "Safe and sound," Trixie told him before placing them carefully on the back seat. Once they were safely secured, he started up the car and pulled on onto the street. "Good thing we decided to get them early, or else that little hero moment of yours would have made us late." "Always make extra time when you can," Flash stated. "It's better to be early then late I always say." "Unless you're a baby," Trixie pointed out with the pair laughing. As they drove, Flash thought back to the other week when Shining had invited him to the event they were heading towards. Flash had to admit, he was actually honoured Shining wanted him there for this event. Though it wasn't a big surprise considering how many times the pair had saved each other's lives over the last few weeks. However, this didn't stop him from feeling a bit nervous. A teenager going to a baby's birthday didn't sound like it would be much fun for the teenager. He had been to a lot of kids birthdays as the entertainment back when he was with Flash Drive, but that had been work and the kids there had been much older. What the heck did Shining expect him to do for the whole afternoon? As Flash pulled into Shining's street, he saw multiple cars on said street. If he didn't know where Shining's house was, he would have been able to tell by the decorations covering the place. "Pinkie outdid herself," Trixie chuckled as they pulled up to the curb. They got out and grabbed the presents before heading to the backyard, the music catching their ear as one of those horrible baby CDs parents buy because their children have no real taste in music. When they arrived, they found the backyard was full of many parents running around after young toddlers and babies. Balloons of multiple colours were floating around and they quickly spotted Pinkie Pie in one corner making balloon animals. "Here you go," she smiled as she handed the little girl her kitty. The toddler laughed and hugged the cat before running off, allowing another kid to step up and ask for an elephant. "Flash!" They looked around to see Twilight walking over to them, "Trixie. Glad you guys could make it." "Sure," Flash told her before holding out the present. "Sorry I couldn't get anything better. Wasn't really sure what to get for someone who hasn't even started potty training yet." Twilight laughed at this and took the present, Trixie handing hers over as well. "I'm sure she'll love it. Make yourself comfortable. I know a baby's birthday isn't the funnest place to be for someone our age, but I'm sure Flurry will appreciate you being here." Flash nodded before her and Trixie headed into the house, where the refreshments were being handed out. The one handing them out was Shining, who smirked seeing them. "Great. Glad you could make it." "Sorry we're a bit late," Flash scratched the back of his head. "We...ran into a bit of trouble on the way here." He slyly gestured to his watch, Shining nodding as he understood what that meant. "Want some help dishing stuff out?" "You're our guests." "Better then standing around doing nothing." Shining couldn't argue with that and agreed, Flash beginning to fill plastic cups with the soda asked for. Trixie snuck away before she could be roped into helping and the two men simply worked extra hard to make up for it. Soon enough, everyone had a drink and the two could rest and enjoy their own drinks. "Thanks," Shining smirked, "you made that a lot easier." "Happy to help," Flash smirked before taking a sip. "So, where is the birthday girl?" "Cadance is getting her ready," Shining replied. "She's been worrying over making this the best birthday Flurry's ever had." "But it's the only birthday she's ever had?" "That's what I told her. I know Flurry's not gonna remember this, but Cadance wants to videotape every second of it so Flurry can watch it back when she's older." "Really?" Flash looked around but didn't see anyone outside with a camera, "who's recording right now?" Shining smirked and pointed upwards, Flash looking to the sky and seeing a familiar looking drone. "Is that-" "My custom made selfie drone." He turned to Twilight as the girl smirked, "yes it is. When Cadance said she wanted footage of Flurry's party, I thought getting an aerial shot would be the best way to do it." "Makes sense," Flash smirked. "That way you can get a good view of everything without needing to shove a camera in someone's face." Twilight nodded at this and as the drone flew away, footsteps made them look around and see the rest of the Rainbooms arrive. "Hello everyone," Rarity waved and was dressed as one would expect her to be. She had chosen to wear a flowing blue summer dress with red ribbons and a large white hat on her head, obviously clothing of her own creation. "I hope we're not too late for everything." "Nope," Twilight smiled, "you're right on time." The Rainbooms each handed her a present that she took and carefully floated over to the table with the other one without anyone else noticing her magic. As she did, Sunset turned to Flash and Trixie. "Didn't expect to see you two here." Flash shrugged, "Shining invited us. Believe it or not, he and I have gotten on quite good terms lately." Sunset nodded at this, but wondered what the two of them would have in common to warrant a close enough relationship to earn an invite. She then turned to Trixie who was sipping her own drink, the girl wondering if she was only there because Flash was. "Alright everyone," they suddenly heard another woman speak. That woman was Twilight and Shining's mother, Twilight Velvet, who was walking out of the house with Cadance next to her. "Time to welcome the birthday girl," Cadance smiled. Everyone began to crowd around them, many parents holding up their kids to see, and looked down to see a young girl in question. She was dressed in a pink dress with a ribbon on the front and a bow in her hair. She looked around at all the people, all the while holding her mother and grandmother's hands. She appeared curious about the many people and tilted her head, making everyone who saw this go 'awe.' "That is just adorable," Trixie smirked as Cadance picked her daughter up and walked her into her garden. Twilight's drone was hovering silently above them, getting a great image of the family as Shining joined them. Flash smirked and wondered what his first birthday was like, having never thought to ask his parents. Maybe they had some videos of it. "Okay Flurry," Cadance put the little girl down on the blanket with the others children her age. "Have fun playing with the other kids. After that it'll be time to open presents, then some entertainment before the birthday cake." Rainbow leaned over to Applejack, "she knows that baby has no idea what she's saying, right?" "Doesn't mean she shouldn't talk ta her like a real person," Applejack pointed out. The others nodded as Flurry started playing with some of the other kids, though she seemed more concerned with nibbling on her own foot instead. Everyone watched the babies play and appeared so enraptured by it that nobody could look away. Nobody except Flash, who felt like the babies would ask them to stop gawking at them if they could. He moved over to a nearby table and sat down, feeling rather at unease due to simply being surrounded by a bunch of parents he didn't know watching a bunch of kids he didn't know. He had a feeling he was gonna spend a good portion of the day bored out of his skull. But he didn't want to feel rude after Shining happily invited him over. So he spent the next few minutes sitting there, watching as Shining's father named Night Light began playing peekaboo with Flurry and making her laugh. It was then that something happened as the speaker playing the kids music made a rather odd noise, Shining quickly switching it off before it upset the kids. "What happened?" Cadance asked him as he looked it over. "Ahhh," he groaned, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted this old thing. Gizmo really needs to invest in more up to date music systems." Twilight rushed over to look it over, whilst Shining unplugged the CD player from the speaker. Under its own power, however, the music it played wasn't loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "I can fix this," Twilight told them. "But it's gonna take some time." They didn't seem to have time, as the babies were starting to get annoyed their favourite music wasn't being played. Flurry especially, appeared close to a tantrum. The adults appeared to be panicking and as they did, Flash had an idea and quickly got up to run back to his car. A minute later, he returned and caught everyone's attention seeing he had his guitar and amp. Quickly plugging it in, he started strumming a few chords and got the kid's attention. They all stared at him until he started playing music similar to what had been playing before, though with a much more electric feel to it. They were quickly enraptured by said music and the tantrums were quickly averted. Flash played every kids song he knew, thankful he had been keeping up his guitar skills despite choosing to put his music career behind him. The kids laughed as he made funny faces whilst the parents were happy they weren't balling their eyes out. "Good thing Flash brought his instrument with him," Rarity smiled at the back of the garden. "I should have done that," Rainbow moaned as the others shook their heads. "And how would ya'h fit an amp onto ya'h bike?" Applejack asked, Rainbow shrugging and reply that she would have thought of something. "I'm just thankful Flash thought of a way to stop the children from being upset," Fluttershy smiled. "It's a good thing Shining invited him and Flash decided to help keep the kids entertained." "That's just who Flash is," Trixie told her. "Always looking for a way to help out when he can." They all nodded in agreement as Flash continued playing song after song, entertaining the children as Twilight worked. At this point, a man in a clown costume was driving down the street in a van. Said van had the words 'Slippy's Party Clown' written on the side. "Now where was the house I was going to?" He asked as he pulled up and checked his map, trying to find the address he had been given over the phone. "Am I looking for two eight four or four eight two?" He wondered, completely oblivious to anything else. Had he been paying more attention, he probably would have noticed something flying down towards his van. That something was a strange misty light, which flew down and managed to sneak through the gaps of the van's door. Once inside it swirled around completely unnoticed, then flew down and hit a machine that was part of the clown's act. "Huh?" The clown looked up from his map as he finally noticed a bright light behind him, but when he looked back the light was completely gone. He stared into the back of his van for a few moments, then shrugged assuming he had imagined it. Focusing back on the map, he seemed to find his destination and drove off. All the while, he was completely oblivious to the soft glow his device was giving off. "I think that should do it," Twilight announced as Flash came close to ending the last kids song he knew how to play. She plugged it into the CD player and hit play, the music beginning to boom out of the speaker better than it had before. "Great work sis." "Glad to be of help," Twilight smiled as Flash began to unhook his musical equipment. Once she was sure nobody was looking, she used her magic to help Flash lift his amp and he turned to smile at her. The pair headed back to his car, Twilight taking the amp fully in her magic once they were out of sight. "That was some pretty quick thinking back there," Twilight told him as they reached his car. "If you hadn't been there to distract them, I'd have probably been too distracted by them screaming to fix it." "Always happy to help," Flash smirked as he put his guitar in the back seat and Twilight put his amp in his boot. "I'm just glad I knew enough kids songs to keep them entertained. Guess all those kids birthdays I did with Flash Drive were more useful than I thought." "Yeah," Twilight nodded, "why did you stop playing with them? I know Ringo and Brawly were pretty hurt with you leaving." "I didn't leave," Flash told her. "They kicked me out, though I don't blame them. Life...just got too busy for me. I loved playing music, but I had to start focusing on my future. And as much as I hate to admit it, my future doesn't involve a world number one and a possible invitation to Eurovision." Twilight laughed at this and nodded, as Flash locked his car and they headed back into the house towards the kitchen in order to get a drink. "So what are you gonna do with your life if music isn't an option?" Flash wasn't sure how to answer that, knowing he couldn't tell her he was hoping to become a full time alien superhero. "Don't know," Flash finally replied as they grabbed a soda. "But I do wanna help people. Save those in need." "Like those aliens," Twilight smiled. "I can't believe how they just show up to save people and then vanish. I wonder why they chose to come here and focus on helping Canterlot? There hasn't been any other reports of alien activities in other cities." Flash shrugged, "maybe they like it here. Or maybe this is the only city they can operate in." "Or maybe they came here because of the Equestrian Magic," Twilight guessed. "It would make sense since they'd obviously have superior technology to us and be able to detect something like that." Flash couldn't deny that was a possibility, since some of the aliens he had met so far could possibly have that kind of technology. But hopefully, whoever was gonna show up next wouldn't try and capture them to drain away. "Anyway," Twilight then changed the subject, "which alien do you think is the best? Rainbow really likes XLR8 and Rarity thinks Diamondhead is simply stunning." She mimicked Rarity's voice at this and they both laughed as Flash thought about it. He went through all ten of his alien forms and tried to think, which alien would he pick if someone told him he could only keep one. Honestly, he had extra fond memories of all his alien alter-egos. Each one had been on he had a particularly important encounter as. Volt-Edge was his first, Diamondhead was the first alien he saved people as, XLR8's speed could get him out of a heck of a lot of jams. In all honesty, he couldn't pick one. It was like picking which of his teeth he wanted to keep in his mouth. They weren't just tools or shells he could step into. They were apart of him. "Flash?" He turned to Twilight, "you okay? You spaced out there for a second." "I'm fine," Flash told her. "Just trying to see which alien I like. Honestly, can't pick one. They're all super cool. Goop, Firefly, Molestache." "Molestache?" Twilight asked, "I don't think I know that one." Flash quickly realised he had never really used that particular alien in a public fight, despite how useful it could be given the right circumstances. "Little mole alien. Has a mustache that he can turn into fists and other tools. Shining's seen him, so he can give you a better lowdown." Twilight nodded at this and as she did, her phone buzzed and her attention was drawn to it before she smiled. "Someone send you something funny?" "Just Timber, asking to tell Flurry a happy birthday from him." For some reason, hearing that made Flash's stomach roll. He knew he shouldn't feel annoyed about Twilight and Timber, but even now it sometimes stung to hear their relationship was going so well. "Is he not coming? I would have thought you'd have invited him." "I did, but he said he had a lot of work at the camp and couldn't come." "How've things been going with you two? I know he sometimes comes to town, but long distance relationships are never easy." Twilight nodded at this as she finished texting Timber back. "It's hard. We have to plan dates way in advance to make sure we're both not busy on that day. And even then something comes up occasionally. We haven't had a chance to hang out in a while. Since before the aliens showed up. Even phone calls have taken a backseat to texts." "Well...don't let it get you down. Lots of relationships hit rough patches due to real life. The trick is to work through them, especially if that relationship is worth it." Twilight smiled at this and nodded, giving Flash her thanks. As she did, they heard a new voice appear over the sound of everyone outside. "Hey kids!" They stepped out and were surprised to find a man dressed as a clown, pulling a large cart behind him that was full of different things. "Who's ready to have some fun?" The clown began doing a funny dance and then pretended to hurt his back, making a funny face that got the older kids to start laughing. "Now, where's the birthday girl?" Cadance was sitting with Flurry on her lap and made her daughter wave, the clown waving back before reaching into his baggy clown pants. "That's just wrong," Rainbow moaned as she looked away. The other teens also looked away, not wanting to see what the clown was gonna pull out of his pants. Instead, they moved over to the furthest table so they could talk without disturbing the performance. "Did you guys see the newest update to the alien blog?" Sunset asked, showing them said update. The blog had been started by a bunch of people that wanted to learn more about the aliens, so had started posting any photo or footage that they could find of Flash in his other forms. This newest update had a video that Sunset played, everyone amazed seeing XLR8 save the bus. "Wow," Twilight smiled, "he's really good." "How do we even know it's a he?" Fluttershy asked, "maybe aliens like him don't have genders." "I'm willing to bet that horrible slime one doesn't," Rarity looked disgusted mentioning Goop. "But you have a point, he could be a she for all we know. Or some weird third gender that we can't even imagine. Who knows how those creatures evolved on their planet." "Like those ball things on XLR8's feet," Rainbow swiped to a still image of the speedster alien. "You think those things come off, or are they a part of the alien." Flash knew he could answer all their questions, but also knew he had to play it cool. "Do you think Firefly's always been like that?" Pinkie asked as she swiped to the fire bug alien's photo, "or was he a fire breathing caterpillar before." "He can shoot silk," Fluttershy pointed out. "There's so much we don't know about them," Twilight stared at the phone. "What I wouldn't give for five minutes alone with one of them." "Yeah," Rainbow nodded, "we can ask them why the heck they're here. They're cool and all, but they're totally stealing our thunder as superheroes." "Speak for yourself," Rarity huffed. "I'd much rather they do all the heroic stuff and let us live more normal lives." "But they can't be expected to deal with everything," Sunset told her. "We still need to be ready if Equestrian Magic shows up. I don't wanna know what might happen if one of those aliens gets their hands on it." Flash frowned, knowing him having Equestrian Magic would likely be a bad thing. As he thought about that, he looked down at the watch and wondered if it could be enchanted with magic given other electronic devices had been before. He took this moment to look back at the clown, who was now doing so card tricks despite Flurry likely not understanding what he was doing. He then flicked a card out of the deck and caught it before showing it to one of the kids. "Is this your card?" The kid looked at the card before shaking his head, the clown looking shocked. "Oh?" He flicked through the deck, trying to locate the real card. "That's strange. It doesn't seem to be here." He turned back to the boy, "maybe it fell in your pocket." The kid reached into his pockets and was shocked when he pulled out a card, "is that your card?" "No," the kid replied with everyone laughing as the clown's face fell. "Well," he corrected his bowtie, "magic was never really this clown's fotay." He reached over to his cart and picked something up off of it. "Why don't we have some bubble fun!" The kids cheered at this as the clown put it down on the table and pressed a button to bring it to life. As soon as the machine was on, the girls could tell something was wrong. Within seconds, the device started glowing a strange light they only knew from one thing. Equestrian Magic. "Turn it off!" Sunset cried, but it was too late. The device unleashed a bunch of bubbles that the kids all laughed at as they flew towards them. However, that amusement quickly vanished when the bubbles continued to grow. Within seconds, it was the size of a small child. "That can't be good," Flash gulped as one of the kids ran forward. "Don't!" Twilight cried, only for the boy to try and pop it with his hands. But it didn't pop, and instead the boy's hands were sucked inside. This was followed by the rest of him, the young boy soon trapped within the bubble as it started floating upwards. "Mint!" His mother screamed as everyone tried to grab him, but this simply distracted him from the other growing bubbles. As soon as the bubbles touched something, they would be pulled inside. Tables, chairs and, of course, people. Within seconds eight people and children were trapped within the soapy prisons, which began to float upwards as the other party goers grabbed the children not stolen by the bubbles and run. "Cadance!" Shining yelled as he saw his wife grab Flurry and try to run, only for a bubble to hit her back and pull her in. "NO!" Cadance tried to put Flurry down, but she didn't have time and soon both were inside and floating away. "Hang on!" Twilight cried as she and Rainbow grabbed their geodes, transforming into their pony-girl forms and taking off. But they were so focused on saving those captured, they didn't notice two bubbles floating near them until they floated between them and Cadance. "WOW!" Rainbow cried as she flew straight into hers, getting trapped within seconds as her pony form vanished. Twilight tried to stop, but her foot got caught inside. "No, no, no, no!" She tried to pull it out, but it was no use and she was soon enveloped and her pony form faded. "Not good." "Twilight!" Sunset yelled, "Rainbow!" "Turn that thing off!" Shining told the clown, who nodded and tried to switch off the machine. But as if the Equestrian Magic knew what he was doing, it shoot a bubble at him the second his hand reached for the switch. He cried out as his hand was enveloped and soon, he was trapped inside and floating away as well. "Ahhh!" Shining pulled out his gun and fired at the machine, but the bubbles were quickly caught in bubbles as well. "No way." During all this, Trixie and Flash had been watching in shock. Alien problems were one thing, but they knew better then to try and fight against Equestrian Magic. "We gotta get to safety!" Trixie told him. They both tried to escape but as they did, a bubble floated towards them. "Trixie!" Sunset rushed over and pushed her away, the bubble hitting her instead. "Sunset!" Trixie cried, Sunset banging against the inside of the bubble as she lifted into the air. She turned to the other Rainbooms, seeing Rarity try to shield them with her gems that did little to stop the bubble. Pinkie tried to blow them up, but the bubble simply absorbed the explosions. Applejack and Fluttershy could do nothing, since Applejack's strength was worthless against something that could absorb everything it touched. Up in the air, Rainbow was stomping on the bubble whilst those with short objects like keys and hairpins tried popping them with little success. "These things are indestructible!" Twilight tried using her magic to pry the bubbles open, but for some reason it refused to activate within it. "They're dampening our powers!" She cried, then heard Flurry start to cry. "It's okay," Cadance hugged her daughter. "It's okay. Daddy's gonna find a way to save us." She was saying that partly to try and calm herself down, as she had no idea how Shining planned to save them. Down on the ground, Flash, Trixie and Shining rushed around the back of the house. The remaining Rainbooms were trying to keep the bubbles at pay, throwing things into them that would stop them from catching anybody else. "We've gotta do something!" Shining cried, as Flash activated the Omnitrix. "I've got an idea, but it might not work." He found the alien he was looking for, "worth a try though!" He slammed the dial down and in a flash of green, Flash was replaced with the alien insect known as Firefly. The bug spread his flame patterned wings and shot into the air, nobody seeing where he came from but quickly noting his presence as he got closer and closer to the bubbles. He showed amazing aerial agility, allowing him to duck and dive around the bubbles in the air until he reached the ones holding Twilight and the others. "Firefly!" Twilight smiled, "you've gotta get us out of here." "Working on it," he told them as he raised his arm. But before he lit it aflame, he stopped as if he had a thought. "Hang on." He moved over to a bubble containing a chair, "better practise first." He launched a fireball from his gauntlet and it hit the bubble, but it did nothing. "Alright." He gauntlet unleashed a torch-like flame that he pushed towards the bubble, the tip of the flame hitting the orb but doing nothing. He then upped the power, preparing to memorise the heat needed to pop it. But still, nothing happened. "It's not working!" Rainbow cried. "How strong are these things?" Cadance asked as Firefly continued to increase the heat. As he did, he noticed the wood chair inside was starting to get darker and darker. "Ahh," he stopped burning it, "if I make the flame too hot it'll burn whatever's inside." "You've gotta do something!" Sunset told him, "maybe that bubble's just really strong. Try another one." Firefly nodded and flew to another bubble, repeating the process on that one with the only result being the table cloth inside catching fire. "Oh come on!" Rainbow cried as Firefly moved to another bubble and tried to same thing, then another and another. Each time it was the same. The bubble remained intact and whatever was inside became much more tanned. "Isn't there anything else you can do?" Firefly tried to think, then had an idea. "This is a long shot, but be ready to grab." Before Rainbow could ask what he was talking about, Firefly shot a string of sink from his mouth that shot towards Rainbow and flew into the bubble. "Eww," Rainbow cried as it hit her stomach. She then realised what he was doing and held on tight, as Firefly pulled the string tight. But all this did was pull the bubble around as it grew larger, sucking in more of the string as the silk inside didn't go taut. It was clear once something was inside, it couldn't be pulled out. Firefly cut the string with his teeth and Rainbow quickly pulled it all in to keep the bubble from expanding any more. Firefly felt bad at having failed, but couldn't think of anything else to do. What was worst was he wasn't sure how much longer he had before he changed back. "I'm sorry," he told them. "It's clear I'm not the alien that can help you." "Well which one can?" Cadance asked, continuing to comfort Flurry. Firefly wasn't sure, since the Equestrian Magic was proving tougher to deal with then he thought. "Sorry," he started flying away, "I promise one of my...teammates will show up to help once we've got a plan." With that, he flew off as fast as he could. The girls begged him not to go and he hated that he had too, but he was glad he did when the Omnitrix started beeping. Moving as fast as he could, he shot towards a house opposite Shining's that was currently vacant. This allowed him to land in the back garden just as the watch transformed him back, with nobody seeing him. He waited a minute or so in case Twilight or someone had been watching him fly behind the house, then rush around it and back over to Shining and Trixie. "What happened?" Shining asked, clearly unhappy his wife, sister and daughter were still trapped. "I'm sorry. My fire wouldn't work and I couldn't pull them out with my string." He looked up as the bubbles got higher, "I don't know which alien can help them." They then heard a scream and rushed back around the house. When they arrived, they spotted Velvet was now trapped within a bubble and being lifted into the air. Night Light tried to save his wife, but quickly found another bubble grabbing him. "NO!" Shining cried. "We've gotta do something about that machine!" Applejack cried, the lot turning towards the bubble blower that was constantly unleashing bubble. "We gotta turn it off!" "How?" Rarity asked, "anyone who gets near it is a sitting duck for getting captured." "There has to be something we can do!" Pinkie was still throwing sprinkles at the bubbles, the explosions being absorbed and sent into the air. As they did, Shining stared at the stupid machine and slowly formed a strategy. "Pinkie, try and get behind it. Applejack, be ready to throw whatever you can at it if needs be. Rarity, on my signal try and put up as many shields as you can around it. Flash, Trixie and Fluttershy, you guys stay back in case something bad happens." They all nodded at this and Pinkie rushed around the entire house, rushing into the neighbour's yard to get behind their fense right behind the machine. Applejack grabbed a table whilst Flash, Trixie and Fluttershy stepped back. Several bubbles flew out of it as they did, Shining throwing cups, streamers and whatever else was close to hand in order to get them out of the way. "Alright Pinkie...NOW!" Pinkie threw some sprinkles and hit the back of the machine, the explosion knocking it into the air. "Rarity!" The girls surrounded the machine with crystal shields, which moved with the machine as it flew through the air. As it did, bubbles started appearing and managed to capture each of the crystals. But as it did, Shining rushed forward much to everyone's shock. He then dove under the machine as it pointed upwards and grabbed it, stopping it from firing bubbles at him. It shot several into the air and as it did, Shining reached around and hit the off button. As soon as he did, the lights on it switched off and it stopped spraying bubbles. Everyone remained on alert in case the magic switch it back on, but after a few seconds of no activity they sighed in relief. "Great," Shining put it down, "now we don't have to worry about it spraying any more bubbles." It was then that one of the bubbles floated towards Pinkie as the girl jumped over the fence, Fluttershy seeing this and gasping. "Look out!" She ran over and tried to push Pinkie away, but doing so caused the bubble to hit her instead. "Fluttershy!" Pinkie cried as she grabbed the girls hand, trying to pull her out. But all this did was get her dragged inside the bubble with Fluttershy. "You okay?" Fluttershy nodded, though she quickly clung to Pinkie as the pair began to float upwards. "Oh no," Flash cried as they saw the two vanished. But as they did, Flash noticed something. Their geodes were glowing. "What?" He remembered what Twilight said, about how the bubbles dampened their magic so much they couldn't use their powers. But these two's magic appeared to be working, but why? "Something wrong?" Rarity asked, "other then the obvious." Flash wasn't sure, but knew he had to try and test it. He pulled his phone and called Pinkie, waiting for several seconds until it picked up. "Hello?" Pinkie's voice replied on the other line. "Pinkie, I want you to try and use your magic." "Whilst we're trapped in a bubble. Are you cray cray?" "It doesn't have to be a big one. Just a single sprinkle." Pinkie frowned but reached into her hair, pulling out a can of sprinkles that she opened up and took a single one out. It glowed and she quickly threw it at the bubble, an tiny explosion occurring as it made contact. "Alright," she called back to him, "I did it. Now what?" "Your magic worked?" "Yeah, why?" "I have an idea. Call you guys back soon." He then hung up, leaving Pinkie and Fluttershy very confused. "Their magic is working," Flash told the others as he called Twilight. "So?" Applejack asked, then remembered what Twilight had said before. "Oh, but why?" She would get her answer when Twilight picked up. "Twilight, I've figured it out. The bubbles can dampen your powers when your alone in a bubble, but they can't dampen them when they're unified." "Of course. I can't believe I didn't think of that. If we can combine our magic, it'll grow too strong for the bubble to contain. We'll be free." "But how are we gonna combine our magic?" Rarity asked, "five of you are trapped and only two are sharing a bubble." "Maybe if you and I drop into one of the bubbles," Applejack suggested. "Maybe three of us together will be enough." "How are you gonna do that?" Shining asked, "you two can't fly and the others are way too high up to get too. I could call in a helicopter, but by the time it got here they might be too high up." "And I don't think it's a good idea for all of us to get trapped," Twilight explained. "If Flash's plan doesn't work, you two will be our last hope to free us." Everyone frowned, wanting to come up with a way to combined their magic. Then, Trixie suddenly had an idea. "What if you all combined your bubbles?" They all turned to her, "these things absorb whatever they touch right? So what might happen if they touch each other." "It's possible they'll absorb each other," Twilight guess. "Or...they might combined and share everything inside the original bubbles. Trixie, you're a genius!" "Was that ever in doubt?" "But how are ya'll gonna get ya'h bubbles to merge?" Applejack asked as they tried to think, none of them having any idea what to do. In that moment, Flash's watch turned green and he realised he could save them. But he had to sneak away and transform without Applejack and Rarity noticing. "Look!" Trixie had seen the watch turn green as well, so had pointed to something. "I think I saw a bubble over there. You'd better put a gem in it before it catches someone." Rarity and Applejack moved to take a closer look, allowing Flash to carefully move away and run inside the house. After he was sure nobody was looking inside, he activated the Omnitrix and dialled up Firefly again. "Time to fly!" He slapped the dial down and in a flash of light, he transformed. But not into the alien he wanted. "I say," Molestache looked himself over and sighed. "Well this is a fine how'd you do. I need a flyer and I get a burrower." He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, "maybe I can work with this. But how?" He then had an idea and snapped his fingers, "that might work." With that, he ran for the front door and stepped through it. Once outside, he grew his mustache so that it moved up and around the back of his head. Once there, the two ends spiralled around one another and grew some more before they started spinning at incredible speeds. Eventually, they span so fast that Molestache was lifted off the ground and took to the air. "It works!" He cheered as he flew higher and higher, being sure to avoid the bubbles as soon as he reached them. As he did, Twilight and the rest of the captured Rainbooms noticed him. "What hoe!" He waved as he got closer, "my comrade Firefly said you were in a spot of bother." "Please help us!" Fluttershy cried. "We need Firefly," Twilight told him. "He can use his string to pull the bubbles together so they can combined." "I'm afraid he won't be able to come," Molestache frowned. "However, I am here and will do my best to help in any way I can. You need to move the bubbles?" "Can you get them to connect?" Sunset asked, as Molestache flew towards her and then spun around. His helicopter stache began unleashing winds that started blowing against the bubble, everyone watching and hoping it worked. And sure enough, Sunset's bubble started moving away from Molestache. They cheered as the alien rodent worked to maneuver the orb through the sky until it finally connected with Twilight's. Everyone prayed their plan would work and sure enough, the bubbles began to absorb each other and eventually merge. Twilight and Sunset found themselves together, both hugging one another as Molestache moved over to Rainbow's bubble. He repeated what he did before and managed to push this bubble towards Twilight and Sunset's, the bubble combining with the bigger one and throwing Rainbow in with them. "Now us! Now us!" Pinkie cried as Molestache flew over and pushed the bubbles closer together. As he did, Twilight, Sunset and Rainbow held hands and channelled their magic. Slowly, the power began to build in their geodes and they glowed. When Pinkie and Fluttershy's bubble merged with theirs, the two grabbed each others hands and then grabbed Rainbow and Sunset's. This caused their power to spike and slowly, the bubble began to shake. "It can't handle the power!" Twilight cried, as their bodies began to glow. "Keep going. As much power as you can muster!" They kept concentrating and soon enough, the bubble exploded and the five girls were suddenly transformed into their pony girl forms. "YES!" Rainbow cheered as she flew around at incredible speed, then grabbed Pinkie before she could fall. Twilight grabbed Sunset and the three winged girls began to fly down. Twilight glanced back at Cadance and Flurry, but Molestache floated next to their bubble. "Don't worry my dear, I'll stay by them. If the bubbles pop, I'll catch them. You have my word." Twilight smiled and nodded before flying down towards the ground, leaving Molestache to turn to Cadance. Flurry stared at the strange creature, clearly curious about what it was. "Hello my dear. I don't suppose you know what an alien like me is, do you? Don't worry, I'll keep you and your momma safe." The baby laughed at this, probably amused by his british accent. Down below, Applejack and Rarity watched as the rest of their friends flew down towards them. As they got closer, they entered their pony forms and grabbed each other's hand. Channelling their magic, their began to float into the air and held out their free hands. Pinkie and Fluttershy grabbed those hands and the girls formed a chain of power whilst turning their attention back to the machine. "Time to put an end to this party!" Sunset yelled as they glowed, then each unleashed an coloured energy blast that merged into a rainbow. The laser shot at the machine and spiralled around it, causing the machine to activate and try to defend itself. But any bubble it created was quickly burst by their magic as the magic inside was slowly sucked out. Once it was all gone, the tornado surrounding the machine exploded outwards in every direction. It flew into the air and when it struck the bubbles in the sky, they all popped and whatever was inside was free. This terrified the people as they thought they would fall, Molestache preparing to catch as many as he could, only to then realise they weren't falling. In fact, they remained where they were as a strange light covered them. Then, they slowly descended to the ground. "Well done girls," Molestache smiled before flying off someplace to wait out the rest of his transformation. When the formly trapped items and individuals reached the ground, the light faded away and their were gently dropped. "Cadance!" Shining rushed over to her, "Flurry!" He hugged them both and Cadance hugged him back, everyone else smiling at this before Shining turned to the Rainbooms. "Thank you." "Just doing our job," Rainbow smirked as Twilight moved over to take her niece and hug her. "It was nice to get to be the heroes for once." Everyone rolled their eyes at this, as Trixie spoke up. "You gotta give props to Molestache. If he hadn't shown up, you girls would still be stuck in there." They couldn't deny that and looked up at the sky, finding that the alien wasn't there. "I wish they would stick around," Twilight sighed before turning to Flurry. "I bet you'd like to have an alien at your birthday party. Not many kids would be able to say that." The baby laughed at this and everyone seemed to think this was a good time to end the party, with many of those who had been trapped in the bubbles going home since there didn't appear to be any injury done to them or their children. The clown apologised to them all, but the Rainbooms assured him it wasn't his fault since he didn't know that magic had infested his machine. He was a little hesitant to take the machine back after what had happened, but Pinkie had happily proved the bubbles it now created were the fun none-magical kind. As the clown packed his things up and left, Flash arrived and was holding his nose. "Hey!" Twilight called out to him, "there you are. Where'd you get too?" "I...thought I saw someone being carried away by a bubble. Didn't know if they were gonna be okay if it popped so I rushed after them." Flash could have come up with a better excuse, but his sore nose was distracting him too much to think of anything. Luckily, Twilight seemed to buy this and nodded as she used her magic to help clean everything up. Shining, Night, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity were also helping. Flash began to pitch in and noticed Cadance was in the kitchen with Flurry, Trixie, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Velvet. Flurry was constantly laughing, clearly having had the time of her life despite how terrifying it had been. "So," Flash turned to Twilight, "think Flurry will remember this whole event like Cadance wanted?" Twilight laughed, "I doubt it. But not to worry." She pointed at a nearby table, "my drone captured everything." Flash turned to see the machine was completely undamaged, making his eyes go wide as he realised it might have caught him transforming if it had been flying around the place. "Well, not everything. It was one of the first things that got caught by the bubbles. I'll need to re-edit the footage of it inside the bubble out so it doesn't get boring. But hopefully it'll have caught the aliens when they showed up." "Will it have anything on what we did on the ground?" Flash asked, Twilight shaking her head. "No, the camera's range is only twenty feet. I really need to improve on that limit." Flash sighed in relief, knowing there was no way Twilight could have caught him transforming. "Hey!" They heard Trixie cry out to those outside, "everything's ready!" They all headed inside and found the girls had been busy making the remaining food into a new dinner that they could all enjoy. As they did, they started handing Flurry the presents she didn't get to open before the insanity began. When it got to Flash's present, the teen looked uncomfortable as Cadance opened the present for Flurry and pulled out...a cuddly snail. "Seriously Flash?" Rainbow asked when they held the toy up to Flurry, "a snail?" "What?" He asked, "I thought it looked cute." He instantly regretted the choice, kicking himself for thinking a baby girl would like a snail. But to his shock, Flurry stared at the toy curiously before she took and hugged it. "Wha," she cried out, "wham!" She held it up and joyfully swung it around, "wham! Whammy!" Nobody could deny that was the cutest thing and as they continued opening the other toys, Flurry kept hold of the snail and didn't seem to want to be parted with it. By the end, it was clear what her favourite present was. "Nice going Flash," Shining smirked once the last one was open. "Looks like you get her the best present." Flash smirked at this and was a little embarrassed, but also happy Flurry loved his present so much. "Alright everyone," Velvet told them as she carried something towards the kitchen table. "All together now." She had a large cake in her hand with a lit number one candle, the lot of them smiling before. "Happy birthday to you," they sang. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Flurry Heart. Happy birthday to you." They put the cake down in front of her and Flurry stared at it, the lot of them making blowing gestures. She laughed and mimicked them, managing to blow out the candle and get a round of applause from everyone. Despite being too young for cake, Flurry still seemed happy about her cake and Flash was given the first piece since he had gotten the best present. Everyone continued to talk and laugh as Flurry played with her new toys, eventually falling asleep with her newly christened whammy clutched to her chest. As Flash and Trixie left to head home, the teen couldn't help but smile. Despite everything, he was glad he came to this party. It was definitely one he would never forget and he was looking forward to attending Flurry's second birthday.