> Flash Sentry One-Shots
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Need a Lift
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was not going well. 

That was the thought that rushed through Twilight Sparkle's head, as she ran down the street in the pouring rain on her way to school. She had missed the bus and was now racing at her top speed so as not to be late for her first class. 

Despite how much she loved learning and how much she doubly loved going to her new school, on days like today Twilight wished she could trade places with her dog Spike and spend her day lounging around doing nothing and snacking on doggy treats.

Looking down at her phone, Twilight grew concerned as the time ticked by. 

By her estimates, depending on her own knowledge of miles per hour speed and the distance between her house and school, she should arrive there approximately one minute and twenty seven seconds before the first bell. That is as long as there weren't any unforeseen obstacles in her way.



Unknown to her, a car was rolling down the road towards her. 

It was a custom painted Camaro sports car which was mainly painted black, with yellow lightning bolts painted down the sides and on the hood was the image of a shield with a lightning bolt running down it.  

The driver of the car was a teenage boy with yellowy orange skin and navy blue hair. He wore a black jacket over a white shirt that had the same lightning shield emblem as the cars hood.

The teen, Flash Sentry, was enjoying listening to a popular song over his car's radio when he spotted a certain someone running through the rain. Even from behind he recognised the girl almost instantly. 

Twilight Sparkle had shown up in his life like a tornado, appearing out of nowhere followed by a whirlwind of mayhem and anarchy, before disappearing back into thin air. However the Twilight he was thinking of wasn't the one currently getting soaked in the rain, but a shapeshifting princess from an alternative world. 

Flash still felt the pain of her not being around, not helped by the presence of a girl that looks almost exactly like her but had absolutely no interest in even looking at him. Then there was the fact that she was now in a relationship of sorts with a counsellor she had met while attending summer camp, something he was pretty sure broke camp etiquette, meaning that even if he could get her to notice him, there was no way anything special could come from it. 

A small section of his heart told him to simply keep driving and leave it at that, but it was quickly overpowered by every other section of his heart that told him to help those in need.



Twilight was once again looking down at the time, when she noticed a car she didn't recognise drive passed before pulling up to the curb a few feet infront of her. 

Moving up to the car, she noticed the passenger door open, causing her to look inside and see a boy she did recognise. Flash Sentry.

She remembered first bumping into him the first time she went to CHS, followed by a few more run ins afterwards. Back then she had been so focused on finding the unusual energy she now knew was magic, that she hadn't paid him much mind. That was until they had all gone to Camp Everfree, where her friend Sunset had explained how he had a crush on her pony counterpart. Hearing that had made her think back to the times he had tried to speak to her and made her realise how much that must have hurt him, but even so she could never find the right time to properly apologies to him. 

Now here he was, parked up and looking out at her from the dry confines of his admittedly pretty impressive sports car.

"Need a lift?" He asked, a sheepish grin plastered on his face. 

Twilight considered her options. Though she didn't know this guy all that well, she did know he wasn't someone bad. The few people she had heard talking about him, never had a bad word to say about him. He was also quite intelligent as whenever they had a pop quiz, she would see his name on the score board only a few places bellow hers. Plus he was offering her a way to school which would both get her there quicker and let her stay out of the rain.

Smiling, she nodded before closing her umbrella and climbing into the car. 

Once she was buckled in, Flash kicked the engine back into gear and drove off.

Some librarians would have been uncomfortable with the silence that hung in the air, as the two didn't dare say a word to one another and simply enjoyed the ride while listening to the sound of the rain taping against the car. 

Finally Twilight couldn't take it anymore and turned her head towards Flash. "Thank you," she said, unsure how to talk to him.

"Don't mention it," Flash said, "wouldn't be a Canterlot Wondercolt if I let one of my teammates catch pneumonia."

Twilight giggled at this, feeling herself loosen up enough for the idea of chatting with him not to be uncomfortable. "Still I appreciate it. I'd hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't come along."

"What were you doing walking to school in this weather anyway?" Flash asked her. 

"I didn't intend to," Twilight said, "but the bus was early and I missed it."   

Flash chuckled, a sound Twilight admitted was nice to hear. "I know that feeling."

"You do?" Twilight asked, before she realised that if Flash was driving to school from the city then it stands to reason he lived there. "Do you live around here?"

"Yeah," Flash said, "on Hoof Road."

Hoof Road, that was only a few blocks away from her house.

"So why do you go to CHS?" Twilight asked, "I've seen your grades and no doubt you would have gotten into Crystal Prep."

Flash looked a little uncomfortable talking about that. "My mom originally intended to enrol me there, but when I saw how uptight the place was I begged her to send my to CHS."

Twilight understood that, as memories flowed through her head of how focused on academics the students of her old school were, her included. But even so, the fact he would be willing to take a forty five minute bus ride out of the city was surprising. Sure she also did it, but she was almost seventeen and he must have been doing it since he started high school.

"So you took the bus to and from school everyday for at least two years?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Flash said, "until I passed my drivers test, then my mom got me this car."

That was understandable. 

"So what does your mom do?" Twilight asked.

"She a lawyer," Flash replied, "one of the best. She has this knack for knowing if someone is guilty or innocent."

"She ever been wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Nope," Flash said, "just last year she had a case where all the evidence pointed to the guy she was defending, but she was able to get him off. Three weeks later the real criminal was caught and sent down, but he would have gotten away if my mom hadn't been on the case."

"Impressive," Twilight asked, "what about your dad?"

Once again Flash's face turned sour, making Twilight realise she's just stumbled upon an uncomfortable topic.

"He died when I was ten," Flash said.

Twilight's heart almost stopped hearing this. "I'm sorry."

"No it's fine," he said as he forced a smile, "you didn't know."  

"How did it happen?"

"Heart attack," Flash said, "stress from work. He was an archaeologist working for the museum. Long hours and little relaxation, make anyone keel over." 

Twilight wasn't sure if that was a joke to liven the mood or not, so once again they were reduced to uncomfortable silence.

"What about your parents?" It was Flash's turn to try and get a conversation going, which Twilight appreciated.

"My mom's a book editor," she told him, "but she sometimes writes columns for magazines and newspapers."

"Cool," Flash replied, "she edit anything I might have read?"

"I don't know," Twilight said as a smirk appeared on her face, "you ever read Daring Do?"

It took ever ounce of willpower she had not to crack up at the sight of Flash's face as he turned to her.

"You serious?" He said in shock, "your mother edits Daring Do?"

"Yeap," Twilight replied with a smile, "I think that's what started my love of reading. Once I was curious about what she was doing so when she wasn't looking I took her laptop and read what was on it. I didn't give it back until I'd read the whole thing. Mom wasn't happy."

Flash chuckled again. "Still it's pretty impressive," he said, "to think I know someone who knows someone who knows AK Yearling."

"You're taking it better then Rainbow took it," Twilight explained, "she fainted when I told her that."

Flash snickered at this. "I can see that happening. So what about your dad?"

"He's an accountant," Twilight replied, "perfect job for him."

"Is he where you get your over organised neat freak nature from?" Flash joked, making Twilight roll her eyes.  

"I'll have you know there's no such thing as over organised," Twilight replied, "without being organised, life would be nothing but havoc and chaos." 

"Sounds like fun," Flash said. 

The two of them laughed at that comment, all the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings about the situation forgotten.

For the next several minutes they talked about anything that came to mind, learning new things about each other. 

Twilight learned that even though Flash was a talented guitar player and singer, he was actually training to eventually go into law enforcement with the dream of one day becoming a detective. Twilight was impressed by this, her brother Shining being a police captain taught her just how difficult a career path it was.

Flash meanwhile learned that Twilight was considering becoming a teacher. To Flash it made perfect sense, since learning everything she knew would be pointless without someone to later teach it to. Twilight smiled when he told her that, the thought of becoming a teacher suddenly becoming more appealing for some reason.

Twilight was having so much fun, that she didn't even realise they had arrived at school until Flash pulled into the parking lot and parked in his usual space.

"Oh," she said seeing the large building, "we're here."

"Yeap," Flash said as he cut the engine, before he looked up at the rain clouds and rolled his eyes. "Typical," he said, "looks like the rains about to stop."

"Seriously," Twilight said as she looked up at the sky.

"The forecast said it's suppose to be on and off all day," Flash told her.

"Really hope its off when school ends," Twilight said, "hate to have to stand in the rain waiting for the bus."

Flash smirked at that, knowing how that felt, when an idea popped into his head. "Well...I could um...drive you home."

Twilight turned to him, surprised by his offer.

"I don't mind," Flash said sheepishly, "we obviously live close by, so it wouldn't be that much of a detour to take you."

Twilight smiled at him, before nodding. "Sure," she told him, "I'd like that."

"Great," Flash said as he looked out the window at the still pouring rain, "so you wanna brave it or just sit here and wait to see if it stops?"

Twilight looked down at her phone and saw that there was now five minutes until the bell was to ring, before looking back at Flash. "Give it a few minutes," she said, "then brave it." And so they did, waiting for four of the five minutes until deciding they had to get wet or be late. 

They got out of the car and huddled together under Twilight's umbrella as they raced to the building. 

While doing so, they spotted Sunset Shimmer running to school from the opposite direction.

"Hey guys," Sunset said as she looked between them with a confused look. "Did you two come to school together?"

"Flash gave me a lift," Twilight said as she pulled the red and yellow haired girl under the umbrella, "way better then racing here in the rain."

"Tell me about it," Sunset said, obviously having just experienced that exact situation.

As the three made it to the front door, they noticed the rain finally stop and the sun come out.

"Oh come on," Flash said with a smile on his face, which Sunset and Twilight shared.

They headed inside and Flash finally separated from the girls, his homeroom being different from theirs, but before he left he told Twilight he'd be by his car after school.

"He's giving you a ride home too?" Sunset asked.

"It's no big deal," Twilight said, " he lives nearby and he offered to take me home so I wouldn't have to stand out in the rain."

"Sounds like something Flash would do," Sunset said with a smile.

Twilight returned it. Despite the rainy start, today was turning out like one of the best. She had gotten the chance to get to know Flash and even though she hadn't been able to apologies for how she acted during their first meeting, she knew she could definitely count him as a friend from now on. And though she wouldn't admit it to herself, there maybe a chance for something more between them in the future. Maybe.
> Romantic Chemistry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Science had always been Twilight's favourite subject, ask anyone and they would tell you Twilight Sparkle enjoyed spending her spare time wearing a lab coat and goggles. 

When she first transferred to Canterlot High School, the first thing she did was sign herself up for every science based club the school had. Back at Crystal Prep, they had a club for every type of science that existed. Unfortunately, as much as she loved Canterlot High, the school only had two science based clubs. 

Robotics Club and Chemistry Club. 

Though disappointed at first, she decide to simply take what she was given and signed herself up for both clubs. 

Now she was standing outside the chemistry lab, about to enter it though feeling a little nervous. That was how it always was whenever Twilight was doing something for the first time, even if it was something she absolutely loved.

There were bound to be lodes of students in there, working on their own little projects. What if she entered and there wasn't anyone she knew or who liked her, the whole Midnight Sparkle thing was still something she worried people would judge her for. What if everyone already had a partner and she was forced to work alone, something she wanted to avoid since she had been trying to learn about friendship. 

She was so focused worrying about all those things, that she did not notice someone walking up to her until they placed their hand on her shoulder. She cried out in surprise, before turning to see Rarity.

"Hello darling," she said with a smile on her face. "Have you come to join our little club."

"Um...yes," she said in an unsure voice. "But I'm a little nervous."

"Nervous?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why on earth would you be nervous?"

"Well," Twilight said, "I'm not very good when it comes to entering new, uncharted, territory." 

"Oh pish posh," Rarity told her as she started pushing the glasses wearing teen towards the door. "You have nothing to worry about darling. I'm sure our members will love having you around." 

"How can you be sure?" Twilight asked.

Rarity didn't reply and instead opened the door and pushed her inside.

Twilight looked around the room and saw it completely deserted, well almost. One girl, a blonde who she remembered from the first round of the Friendship Games, was sitting at the desk. She looked up and when she saw Twilight, she smiled and waved at her. 

Twilight was amazed, for two reasons. The first is that this girl was actually allowed in a chemistry lab, despite the fact she had somehow caused a noncombustible liquid to explode. The second was that there were so few members in this club, at least she didn't have to worry about all those people judging her.

"What's the matter darling?" Rarity asked as she walked up to the blonde haired girl.

"Is everyone else running late?" Twilight asked nervously, causing Rarity to look around. 

"Well yes, but I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"You mean there's only one person left to come?"

"That's right," the blonde haired girl said with a smile.

"So with me joining, this club only has four members?"

"I told you it was little," Rarity explained with a chuckled

"Yes but still."

"Chemistry isn't a very popular subject here at CHS," the blonde explained.

"I see," Twilight said as she walked over to their desk and placed her beg down, before opening it and pulling her science gear out.

"Oh I love your lab coat," Rarity said as she looked it over, seeing the purple pockets which had purple rubber gloves in them.

"Thanks," Twilight replied as she put it on. "It was a birthday present from my brother."

Rarity nodded, before turning to the blonde. "Derpy dear, could you get our lab coats please?"

"Sure," the girl now known as Derpy said as she moved over to a nearby locket. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, which she used to open it and reveal three lab coats. One was white while the other two were light blue. Derpy took out the white and smaller blue one, which she handed to Rarity before putting on the white one.

"So," Twilight asked as she put her own lab coat on and strapped on her gloves, "what are we working on?"

"Well Derpy and I are going to be finishing up our lab experiment," Rarity replied.

"Oh," Twilight said, the feeling of being left out once again welling up inside.

"But our other member just finished his last project and will be moving onto something new," Rarity continued. "I'm sure he'll be happy to have your help."

Before Twilight could wonder who this final club member was, she heard the sound of the door opened and someone walking in.

"Hey guys," a male voice called out, causing her to turn and see a teenage boy with blue hair step inside.

Twilight remembered him from her first day at Canterlot High, where she had literally run into him and he had help her up and placed her glasses back over her eyes. He seemed to know her, obviously she now knew he had mistaken her for her pony counterpart like everyone else. 

However, since then she had noticed him staring at her on occasion.

The boy moved across the room over to the locket, where he pulled out the remaining lab coat and placed it on himself, before turning towards the girls and when his eyes landed on Twilight they went wide.

"Flash darling," Rarity spoke as she placed her hands on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight here will be joining us from now on."

"Oh," Flash said in amazement, "that's cool. Welcome to the club."

"Thanks," Twilight said nervously. "Pleased to meet you again...Flash was it?" 

"Yeah," Flash replied.

Rarity could see the awkwardness between the two, so she decided to step in. "Flash, would it be okay if Twilight here partnered with you. She doesn't want to have to work on her own."

Twilight could tell Flash obviously did not feel comfortable with this idea, but then he nodded. "Sure, I don't mind. Derpy, wanna help with the equipment?"

"Sure," Derpy said as she got up and followed him over to another locket. 

Once they were out of earshot, Twilight turned to Rarity. "Did I do something to upset him?" She was really hoping she did not, especially with the whole Midnight Sparkle thing.

"Oh you didn't do anything darling," Rarity explained. "I think Flash is just feeling awkward because you look so much like Princess Twilight."

"Why?" 

"Well," Rarity's face became unsure as she tried to figure out what to say. "You see darling, Flash and Princess Twilight have an...attraction to each other."

"Their dating?"

"Oh no," Rarity said. "The thing is, they've only really been on one date and that was cut short because of Sunset and the fact she had to return to her world. Since then, the two of them haven't really gotten the chance to be around each other much."

"Oh," Twilight said.

"It doesn't help that the last time they saw each other, Flash was under the influence of some Equestrian magic which caused him to say somethings he didn't mean to her."

"I see," Twilight said, feeling sorry for the guy.

"I think the fact that you look so much like the girl he likes, but aren't, is making Flash unsure how to act around you."

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Well...I think just being friends with him will change that. Show him you'd like to be friends and get to know him, then maybe he'll open up around you."

Twilight thought about what Rarity had said and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Thanks."

"Any time darling," Rarity said. 

In that moment, Flash and Derpy returned to them with the equipment. They placed both trays on the table and began distributing stuff on them onto the table. Once that was done, Flash put the remaining equipment on his tray and took it over to the table he and Twilight were gonna work on.

Rarity gave Twilight a thumbs up, before the glasses wearing teen walked over to where Flash was standing.

"So," she asked nervously, "what are we working on?"

Flash pulled a chemistry book out of his bag and opened it up to a page showing a a formula. "I was thinking we could try making this. What do you think?"

Twilight looked over the formula and saw it was a compound she had never tried creating before, and it looked fun. She smiled and looked up at him. "Let's do it."

Flash smirked, obviously liking her enthusiasm, and held out a pair of goggles for her. "Let's get to it then."

Twilight took the goggles and strapped them around her eyes, as Flash did the same, before they sat down and started working on the mixture.

Despite the excitement of working on this formula, the two of them quickly found themselves in a uncomfortable silence. Twilight knew she had to say something to break the ice, or the two of them could never be able to work together comfortably. 

Stealing her nerve, she took a deep breath and spoke. "Flash?"

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know, Rarity told me about you and Princess Twilight."

Flash froze. He then slowly turned his gaze on Rarity who, upon noticing and realising why, hid her face behind her chemistry book. He then looked back at her. "Don't worry about it, I'm trying to get over it. My friend Micro Chips suggested I think of the two of you as identical siblings who names their parents liked so much, they gave it to both kids."

Twilight could not help it, she giggled. This caused Flash in turn to smile. "I guess I can accept that," she said as she started mixing different chemicals.

"Thanks," Flash replied.

"So," Twilight said, wanting to keep the conversation up. "You enjoy chemistry?"

"Yeah," Flash replied, "my mom suggested I join the club because it'd look good on a collage application."

"You want to take chemistry in college?"

"Forensic science," Flash replied. 

"That's what my brother took in college," Twilight told him. "Are you planning to join the force after college?"

"Hoping to," Flash replied. "I'm hoping to become a detective or CSI one day."

"That'll be hard," Twilight told him.

"That's why it's worth doing," Flash said with a smile.

Twilight giggled once again, as she watched Flash put the Sodium Chloride into the beaker. 

"What about you?" He asked her.

Twilight frowned at this question. "I'm not really sure. To be honest, after everything that happened at the Friendship Games, I think I still have a lot to learn before I can decide what I should do with my life." Twilight saw Flash's face become on of concern. She knew if someone she barely knew transformed into a winged demon, she would be a little concerned about it. She looked back at their experiment, until she heard Flash say something.

"You shouldn't worry about that."

Twilight looked back around at him, seeing he had a smile on his face. 

"So you messed up a little. It happens to everybody."

Twilight frowned. "Not everybody turns into a monster when they mess up."

"True," Flash said, "but that doesn't mean anything. Besides, it's not like you're the first one to have it happen to them. Sunset tell you what happened the first time Princess Twilight came here?"

"No, what happened?"

"She pretty much did the same thing you did, only instead of opening tears in the space time continuem she put everybody at school under hypnosis."

"Whoa," Twilight said. She suddenly remembered what Sunset had said to her before transforming. Had that been what she was talking about.

"After that happened, everyone in school was a little hostel towards her."

"Including you?"

"Yeah," Flash's face showed shame on it. He still felt bad about the things he had said to her during the siren incident. "But then she showed us how much she'd changed, so since then everyone at school agreed we shouldn't let what others do under magic influence effect how we feel about them." 

Twilight smiled hearing this, hoping the other students at school were in the same boat.

"Besides," Flash went on, "out of all the magical threats this school's had, you were definitely the least threatening."

"Least threatening?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "I almost ripped our world to shreds."

"Maybe," Flash said, "but at least you didn't have to be stopped by a rainbow blast. Plus you were just in over your head. The other two wanted to pretty much take over the world."

Twilight thought about what he had said and had to admit he was right. 

"And if anyone gives you any trouble because of what happened, just come to me."

Twilight's smile increased after that. "Rainbow already offered that, but I get the feeling asking you will result in less pain for the other party."

Flash laughed at this, which became infectious and caused Twilight to laugh as well. Once they had calmed down, Flash spoke once again.

"Let's talk about something else now. Like what other clubs you joined."

"Well," Twilight said. "I wanted to join as many science clubs has possible, but when I found out their were only two I was a little disappointed."

"Only two?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's lodes of science clubs as CHS."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"If you think about it, almost anything is science. Like the other club I'm in."

"Which is?"

"Molecular Gastronomy."

Twilight's eyebrow raised up, as she tried to remember if she had seen that clubs name of the signup sheet. 

"That's not it's real name, but that's its scientific name," Flash explained with a smirk on his face. "It's really called the baking club."

The second Twilight heard this, she almost dropped the beaker in her hand because she started laughing again. 

"Did you come up with that on the spot or have you been saving it for a special occasion?"

Flash just smirked and crossed his arms. "I'll have you know, I'm the king of coming up with jokes on the spot." 

Twilight jokingly rolled her eyes. "Alright your majesty. I'll be sure to come to you whenever I need a good quip."

"Be sure that you do peasant," Flash joked, causing the two to once again laugh out loud.

After that the two continued to converse as they worked, until they heard the sound of the bell. Chemistry Club was coming to a close and they had to pack up. 

As Flash and Derpy went to put the equipment away, Rarity moved over to Twilight.

"So, how'd it go?" 

"It was...fun. He's really nice and sweet and funny."

Rarity clapped in delight. "Oh, I think someone's got a crush."

"What," Twilight said as her face turned bright red. "No I don't."

"Oh don't be embarrassed darling. It makes sense considering your counterpart also likes him."

"Exactly. I can't do that. It'd be like stealing someone's boyfriend."

"Except he's not her boyfriend. Besides, the two of them are from completely different worlds...literally. It's perfectly understandable that Flash would want to move on."

"But what about Princess Twilight?"

"I'm sure there's a Flash Sentry there that she would like just as much as the one here. Don't worry about it."

"I don't know," Twilight said.

"You don't know what?" 

Twilight spun around to see Flash and Derpy had returned and Flash was looking at her expecting an answer.

"I don't know...how I'm gonna get home. The bus back won't be for another hour."

"Oh that's no worry," Rarity said with a devilish smile. "Flash can drive you home. He lives close to you I believe." 

"I do?" Flash said with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yes," Rarity agreed, "on Hoof Road. That's not far from her house at all."

Hoof Road, that was actually only a few blocks away from her house. The drive there would be less then a minutes detour.

"Sure," Flash said as he turned to her. "I don't mind. Come on." He turned towards the door and headed out with Derpy, leaving Twilight to frown at Rarity.

"Seriously?" She asked.

"What?" Rarity replied slyly.

"You know what," Twilight said. 

"Just keep doing what you were doing with him earlier and see where it goes."

Twilight sighed, but she could not refuse Flash's offer now. With a sigh she headed towards the door, though once she was out of Rarity's vision she could not help but smile. 

She spotted Flash by the door with a guitar case in his hand.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Sure am," Twilight said.

Flash smiled and opened the door, letting her walk passed and out before he directed her towards the car park.

Despite her nerves earlier, Twilight was happy she joined the chemistry club. Because she had, she had gotten to get to know Flash and make a new friend. She also felt a little better about what had happened at the Friendship Game, which she could thank Flash for.

Now she felt a little better about the future and she had her love of science to thank for it.
> After the Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Out of all the things that had happened to her over the last twenty four hours, discovering that there was another universe filled with magic, accidently stealing that magic and opening portals to that world, turning into a raging she-demon who wished to rip this world apart so she could travel to that other world, the thing that seemed to freak Twilight Sparkle out the most was that she was now sitting opposite a girl that look exactly like her. 

When 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle came out of the portal to Equestria and saw her, Twilight had been shocked to see a girl who looked almost exactly like her. Princess Twilight was also shocked at seeing her, but quickly got over it and was soon talking to her like she was just another person.

Sunset had suggested the two of them talk on their own, so she and the others had headed out and left the two on their own.

Now the two of them were sitting infront of the portal, simply staring at each other nervously. It seems Twilight previous enthusiasm about talking to her, had all but disappeared now that they were on their own. 

"So," Princess Twilight said as she scratched the back of her head, "tell me about yourself."

"Their's not much to tell," Twilight said. 

"Oh I'm sure there is," Princess Twilight said. "What do you like doing in your down time?"

"Well," Twilight said, "I like reading."

"Me too," Princess Twilight replied. "I guess no matter what world we're in, Twilight Sparkle is a bookworm." They both laughed at this, feeling the ice breaking between them.

"So what about you?" Twilight asked her. "Is it true you're really a pony princess?"

"Yes," Princess Twilight said, "I am. But I wasn't born a princess. I had to earn that title."

"Wow," Twilight said. "Is that how it works in your world? Royalty isn't a birthright?"    

"Well you can be born into royalty," Princess Twilight replied, her mind flashing back to Prince Blueblood. "But they don't get to lead unless they prove themselves like I did."

"What did you do?" Twilight asked her. "Becoming a princess, you must have done something incredible to earn that."

"I guess," Princess Twilight said as she blushed. "I earned it after learning and doing a number of things. I helped save my world a number of times, along with my friends and family. I finally earned my princesshood. after completing a spell that the greatest wizard in the history of Equestria couldn't complete." 

"Wow," Twilight said, before frowning. "You've done so much. Kinda makes me feel inferior."

Princess Twilight frowned at this, before moving closer to her and looking her dead in the eyes. "Don't say that. I'm sure you'll do something great too."

"Yeah right," Twilight told her. "You heard what I did when I unleashed all that magic I stole. I almost destroyed my own world, just because I wanted to learn more about magic."

Twilight was not sure how to respond to that, but her super computer mind quickly started thinking until it came up with an answer. "No one's perfect," she told her counterpart. "I may be a princess now, but I had to mess up a few times before I was ready to become one."

"Yeah right," Twilight said as she curled herself up and hid most of her face in her knees. "What could you possibly have done that so bad if you were chosen to lead an entire country?" She looked up at her doppelganger and when she did, her eyes went wide seeing she had a large smile on her face.

"Let me tell you a story," Princess Twilight told her.


<One Hour Later>


Flash Sentry felt exhausted after the day he had had. Not that he was complaining, if the girls who had actually saved the world were not complaining then he would not either.

There was only one thing he was mentally complaining about, Twilight. He felt like an idiot for not seeing that she was not his Twilight, but now that he did he could not help but compare the two. His Twilight always had this naive look to her, while the new Twilight seemed focused and inquisitive. Flash knew that was because his Twilight was in a completely new environment and was not sure what to make of it, while the new Twilight was on her own turf. No doubt if the roles were reversed, so would their reactions.

Flash continued to think about all that as he made his way through the halls and out of the front door, and as he did he was suddenly seeing double.

There, near where the Wondercolt statue had once stood, sat not one but two Twilights. One was the Twilight he had met earlier that day, while the other...was his Twilight. 

The two were so preoccupied with whatever they were talking about, they had not noticed him. Flash wanted nothing more then to rush over to her and talk, but had a feeling he would be interrupting something private. 

Instead he decided to simply stay back and wait to see what was going on between them.

Twilight had been listening to Princess Twilight's stories about her major mess ups. She could hardly believe her counterpart had travelled through time, hypnotised an entire town into chasing a doll and almost go stir crazy due to stress on several occasions.

"Wow," Twilight said.

"I know," Princess Twilight agreed. "I'm not prefect, I make mistakes just like you did."

"Not as big a mistake as the one I made," Twilight said.

"That's only because you didn't understand the magic you were using," Princess Twilight explained. "Once you learn how to control it, you won't have to fear it controlling it."

"But it's gone isn't it?" Twilight asked her, her face becoming one of fear and worry. "Are you saying I might transform again?"

Princess Twilight frowned. "I'm afraid in this world, magic has a tendency to...infect those who use it. Your use of the magic and the connection you formed with Equestria, means you might be able to use magic on your own like the other girls. As for the transformation, I'm not sure." 

When Princess Twilight saw her counterpart's eyes begin to grow more and more worried, she once again scooted closer to her. 

"Listen Twilight," she said as she took off the girls glasses and wiped them. "The magic you used was the Magic of Friendship, which can only be used by those who accept friendship into their hearts. If you're anything like I used to be, then I'm guessing you don't have any friends."

"Just Spike," Twilight replied.

"Then you need to make friends," Princess Twilight told her. "The more of them you have, the more control you'll gain over the magic. Understand?" 

Twilight nodded.

"Good," Princess Twilight replied  as she placed her glasses back on her counterpart's face. "Now you've already made some friends in Sunset and the others, but I'd suggest you try and make some more at school. The more friends you have, the better."

Twilight's frown once again worsened. "I don't think they'll want to be my friends after what I did."

"You'd be surprised who forgiving others can be," Princess Twilight told her.

"But what if their scared of me?" Twilight asked

Before Princess Twilight could say anything, another voice spoke. 

"They probably will be."

The two looked up to see a blue haired rocker they both recognised.

"Flash," Princess Twilight said happily, before raising an eyebrow. "Were you spying on us?"

"Just making sure everything was alright," Flash said as he slowly made his way closer to them. "I thought this might be a good time to step in, seeing as I was there and you weren't."

"I guess you have a point," Princess Twilight said.

Flash nodded and sat down across from the two. "Now, where were we?"

"You were saying how everyone will probably be scared of me," Twilight replied as she curled up again, causing Princess Twilight to glare at Flash.

"Well I wouldn't say scared of you," Flash told her. "They'll be...wary of you for a little while, but they'll get over it."

"How can you be so sure?" Twilight asked him.

"Because you're not the first person to turn into a raging she-demon," Flash explained. "Sunset did the same thing and turned us all into zombie mind slaves."

Twilight's eyes went wide at that. Obviously she had not known about that.

"After Princess Twilight and the others stopped her, everyone was unwilling to forgive her...including me."

Twilight saw a look of shame appear on Flash's face, but quickly vanished. "It took her saving us from a trio of singing diva's for us to forgive her. After that, everyone in school agreed that we wouldn't judge someone on how magic effects them. So yeah, they're gonna be a little distant at first but I promise you they'll open up if you just show them who you really are." He gave her an assuring smile. "Trust me."

Both Twilights gave him a smile back. "Thank you," Twilight said. 

"No problem," Flash said, before turning to Princess Twilight. "So I'm guessing you're not gonna be sticking around long either?"

"Sorry," Princess Twilight said.

"That's fine," Flash said. "I know you've got responsibilities in your world."

"But I also have a responsibility to make sure magic in this world doesn't get out of hand," Princess Twilight replied.

"I don't know," Flash joked. "Sunset and the rest of our friends seem to have it handled. Sure we almost had two worlds colliding, but aside from that they're doing a heck of a job."

That made both Twilight laugh at that, before watching Flash get up.

"Since you making friends seems to be important, why don't I introduce you to some of my friends? You and Micro Chips will hit it off right away." He held out a hand to them both, which they both nodded at and took to be pulled up to their feet.

"Thanks Flash," Princess Twilight said as they started walking down the street.

"Don't mention it," Flash replied. "Always happy to help a Twilight, not matter which world they come from."

The two girls nodded as they all walked off, hoping the future would be brighter.
> Driving Miss Shimmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash Sentry was walking down the corridors of Canterlot High. 

He arrived at his locker and opened it up, looking for the books he needed for his next class. As he did this he could not help overhearing a conversation happening only a few lockers down. 

"What do you mean you failed?"

He looked over and saw Fluttershy standing behind him with Sunset, Applejack and Rarity besides her. 

He watched as Sunset handed her a sheet of paper before sighing and leaning on a locker, which she then slid down. "Mr Cranky Doodle said I didn't have enough experience to pass the driving test. I have a retest on Monday, but...it's my last chance and he wants me to practise with someone more experienced."

Flash could not help feeling sorry for Sunset. He knew from experience how nervous Mr Cranky Doodle could make someone on the driving test, having failed three times himself due to nervous mistakes. 

He then heard Rarity make her standard brush the matter off sound. "Oh darling, is that all? I can take you anytime you like."

"Don't threat ya'h fritters," he then heard Applejack step in. "I can borrow Granny's truck."

"We could use my car," Fluttershy finished.

Closing his locker, Flash watched as Sunset stared at her friends while trying to decide which one to go with. Of course she did not seem to be able to pick one, making Flash smile as he stepped forwards.

"Hey," he said getting the four girls attention. "Sorry, couldn't help overhearing. If you want, I can take you. I know how Mr Cranky Doodle can be with the test, so I can show you exactly how to drive the way he wants you."

Sunset did not look convinced at this, but the other three girls smiled.

"Oh that'd be brilliant," Rarity said.

Applejack nodded. "Ya'h definitely the best driver outta the four of us."

Fluttershy smiled happily. "Thank you Flash."

They then all looked at Sunset.

"Well," she said, "I guess I don't mind. Sure let's do it." She picked herself up off the ground.

"Great," Flash said before turning to head to his next class. "Meet me outside school tomorrow at ten AM."

He saw Sunset node before he turned around. "Thanks Flash," he heard her say.



The Next Morning.

Sunset arrived at the agreed upon location fifteen minutes before Flash was meant to arrive, giving her time to look over her theoretical questions and try to memorise them. 

Fifteen minutes later, she heard the familiar sound of Flash's custom painted sports car and looked up to see it move down the road before coming to a stop infront of her. The engine cut before the driver door opened, revealing Sunset's teacher as he stepped onto the curb.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," she walked over to him and the car. She looked it over and could not help getting excited at the prospect of driving such an amazing car. "Alright," she jumped into the drivers seat, "let's do this thing. What's the first lesson."

Flash smirked at her enthusiasm as he sat in the passenger seat. "The first thing to do is prepare the controls, including the mirrors and seat." Sunset nodded and started adjusting everything the way she liked it when driving but when she went to position her rear view mirror, Flash stopped her. "Okay, first tip. When driving, you usually want to position the mirror so you can see it with a quick glance. But during the test, move so you can't do that."

Sunset gave him and confused look. "Why?"

Flash smiled. "A quick glance is easy to miss, so the teacher might think your neglecting the mirrors. But if you position it so you have to move your head to check, he'll see it."

Sunset realised what he was getting at and smirked. She then moved the mirror so it was showing the top of his back seats, meaning she would have to look down to see it. 

Flash nodded at this before looking ahead. "Okay, let's get going. First I want to see how you drive, so for now I'll direct you and see how you do things."

Sunset nodded and went to switch on the engine, only to get a jarring sound instead of the rumble. "What the?"

"Clutch."

Sunset blushed at that. Not even off the start block and already she had goofed. She put her foot on the clutch and tried again, this time getting the sound she was expecting before moving off.



Thirty minutes later, the two found themselves at a busy junction and trying to turn left. 

Flash watched as Sunset constantly looked from right to left, looking for an opening to allow her to make the turn. "Relax," he told her, "and just look right for now."

Sunset did as he was told, looking to the right and watching as the cars drove passed. Finally the flow died down and no cars came that way.

"Now look to the left and see if there's an opening you can get through."

Sunset did so and saw some cars coming passed, but then saw a gap three cars back that she could drive through.

"Take one last look to the right before you move."

She did as she was told and saw no cars coming from that way, so when the opening came up she hit the gas and drove through it before turning left and heading down the road. 

"Nice," Flash said. "Just remember, whenever you're turning you need to pay attention to the opposite direction. Make sure you can match the speed of the person driving behind you before they get close."

Sunset nodded with a smile as they continued down the road.



A little while later, they had moved off the main road onto a housing estate where they could practice some maneuvers. Currently they were doing parallel parking.

"The trick with this one is to imagine you're the hands of a clock," Flash explained. "Right now you're at twelve, so you'll want to position yourself at ten o'clock." 

Sunset nodded and slowly started to positioned herself the way Flash explained, eventually reaching the perfect angle.

"Good, now slowly reverse until you think you're close enough."

Sunset slowly started moving the car back, until finally they got close enough to the curb that she started turning until she found herself right behind the car she was parking behind. 

"Great. Now reverse back until you can see where the cars tyres touch the road."

And she did, coming to a perfect stop.

"Perfect."

"Thanks Flash."



As the sun began to set, Flash's car came to a rolling stop infront of Canterlot High. 

The engine came to a stop and two doors opened, with Flash and Sunset stepping out. After almost a full day of driving, Sunset's skill and confidence had slowly begun to grow. Now she was just as good a driver as anyone else she had seen.  

Flash turned to his pupil with a smirk. "All in all, not bad. As long as you stay calm and don't panic, I don't see why Mr Cranky Doodle will fail you." 

Sunset smiled hearing this. "Thanks Flash, and thanks for all your help today." 

"No problem," Flash replied. "Like I said, I know how tough it can be when it comes to your driving test. I should know, he failed me three times."

Sunset chuckled at this. "He did?"

"First time I was so nervous I messed up the hill start. Then on my second try, I went to fast and almost crashed into vice principle Luna's car." This got Sunset to laugh out loud. "Yeah yeah. Anyway, if there's one thing you need to remember it's this. Your test isn't about showing you can drive, it's about showing you can drive safely. So whenever you get nervous and feel like you're about to fail, take a deep breath and ask yourself what the safest course of action would be."

Sunset smiled hearing this and nodded. "I will. Thanks." 



Monday Afternoon.

Flash had just finished his last class of the day and was heading out, when suddenly he felt someone tackle him from behind and wrap their arms around him. Seeing a strand of yellow and red hair, he realised who it was. "So I'm guessing you passed?"

"With flying colours," Sunset replied before letting him go and stepping around him. 

"That's great." He took out his car keys and tossed them to her. "What's say we head to Sugarcube Corner and I treat you to a milkshake."

Sunset smiled at this before rushing off towards the parking lot, followed by Flash.
> Happy Birthday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Flash pulled up outside the house and cut the engine of his car, he took a moment to reminisce on the morning he had had so far. 

He had woken up to she smell of bacon, pancakes and orange juice, courtesy of his mother. It was a small tradition between the two of them, always making the other breakfast in bed on their special day. 

Yes, today was Flash's birthday, his seventeenth. One more year, and he would be an adult. 

He smiled at that thought. He wanted so much to be considered an adult, since he already felt like one. For the last seven years, he had been doing many adult like things to help his mom after his father had died. This included cooking, cleaning and keeping himself out of trouble. 

He still had loads of fun as a kid, but just not so much that his mother would have to be bothered while working on her next case.    

Now he was but one year away from being an official adult.

In that moment, he heard the sound of a door opening and looked over to see her step out of the house. Twilight Sparkle, who he had been driving to school over the last few weeks, smiled as she walked over and opened the door to the car. "Morning," she told him.

"Morning," Flash replied before starting the car again. "Get enough sleep last night?"

"Of course," Twilight replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

Flash smirked as he started driving down the street to school. "Because we've got that big physics test today and know you, you were up until the wee hours studying for it."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I was not up until the wee hours."

Flash turned to her, giving her a knowing look. "When'd you go to bed?" 

Twilight playfully frowned at this. "Ten," she saw his face did not change, "okay eleven." Still no change. "Alright twelve...Fine, two AM."

"Thought so," Flash replied as he looked away. "Don't come crying to me if you fall asleep during the test."

"I drank three cups of coffee," Twilight told him. "There's no chance of that."

"Then I hope you like taking tests with your legs crossed," Flash joked. Twilight responded to this by hitting him on the arm, but with her puny muscles he barely felt it. "Close the window, I think a light breeze just hit my arm."

"You're a jerk," Twilight told him. She tried to give him a pout, but it did not last long and soon enough the two of them were laughing their heads off.    

This was one of Flash's favourite things to do each day, he and Twilight simply talking. It always seemed to end with the two of them laughing, which they both enjoyed. 

The two of them had grown incredibly close over the last few weeks, almost as close as Twilight was with the rest of her friends. It was not just the drive to school when they were together. They were both in the chemistry club and sometimes hung out at Sugarcube Corner and the cafe that their friend, Pinkie, worked at. 

They had even been invited to each others house, Twilight and Flash's mom hitting it off right away. Flash had gotten along with all of Twilight's family, even her big brother. Though Shining had tried to be intimidating to him at first, Flash had quickly gotten on his good side when Twilight mentioned he was working to be a police officer. 

As the two of them talked, Flash did not mention that it was his birthday. He knew if he told her, she would make a big fuse and he did not want to be a bother. 

Soon enough the two of them arrived at school and Flash pulled into his parking spot before cutting the engine, Twilight unbuckling her seat belt. They got out of the car and walked over to the building, continuing to talk the whole time. 

"Hey guys." They turned to see Sunset rushing up to them. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Twilight said.

"Morning," Flash told her as they headed into the school. "I'll see you guys later," he walked down the hall to get to his homeroom.

As soon as he was gone, Twilight and Sunset smirked at one another. "You ready for this afternoon?" Sunset asked.

"Yeap," Twilight said. "He is gonna love this."

With that, the two of them rushed over to the homeroom.



Flash's day was like any other day. 

Homeroom, physics test, almost getting sent flying by Rainbow's speed wind, the usual stuff. Though there was one thing he noticed seemed different. Everybody in school seemed to be giving him odd looks, as if they were in on a secret he was not. It was strange, one moment they were staring at him, but when he turned to give them a second look they seemed to be looking elsewhere. Weird.

Now the final bell of the day had rung, and Flash was making his way out of the building towards his car. When he got there, he spotted Twilight standing next to it with a smile on her face. 

"Hey," she said, "good day?"

Flash shrugged. "No better or worse the any other day. You?"

"Pretty good," Twilight replied as Flash unlocked his car. 

They got in and buckled up before Flash started the car. But as they were pulling out of the lot, Twilight smacked her head. "Oh," she said, "idiot!"

Flash gave her a puzzled look. "What's up?"

"I borrowed a book from Pinkie and meant to give it back to her, but I spaced. She'll already be at Sugarcube Corner by now."

Flash smiled. Twilight might be a genius, but she could be really spacey sometimes. As they approached the junction that lead to either Sugarcube Corner or home, Flash indicated the direction of the bakery. 

"Thanks Flash," Twilight told him as they turned.

"No problem Twi," Flash replied. 

They rolled down the road in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, luckily not running into any traffic on the way. When they arrived outside of the bakery, Flash pulled up outside the building and parked. Twilight unbuckled and opened the door. "Thanks," she said, "I'll be ten seconds tops." She shut the door and rushed inside. 

Flash sat patiently and waited. But when the ten second mark arrived, Twilight had still not exited the building. Twenty seconds and the door remained closed. Thirty seconds, a minute, two minutes, five. "What is taking her so long?" 

When the ten minute mark finally rolled around, Flash had had enough and got out of the car. 

Rushing over to the door and pulling it open, Flash was about to call out to Twilight when he found the entire bakery was deserted. "What the?" Flash asked as he looked around. "Hello. Anyone he-"

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLASH!"        

From out of nowhere, all of Flash's friends appeared and cried out to him.

Flash was shocked at first, but as soon as the surprise was gone Flash realised what was going on. "Guys."

Pinkie and Derpy appeared besides him and put a party hat and birthday sash on him. "Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday silly?" Pinkie asked him. 

"Yeah," Rainbow told him. "You know we love an excuse to party."

"But how did you-" Flash then spotted Twilight standing at the front of the group, looking sheepish. "You did this didn't you?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Your mom told me. She guessed you wouldn't tell anyone."

Flash sighed as his head dropped. "Of course she did." 

"Oh lighten up man," Sandalwood told him. "We're here now, so why not party with us."

Flash looked up at them all and smiled. "Sure, why not. Let's party."

"YEAH!" They all cried before Mr and Mrs Cake brought out a large cake. Lemon Victoria Sponge, his favourite.



As the sun began to set, Flash and Twilight were driving home. 

Flash's trunk was jam packed with all the presents he had been given by his friends, several of which he had been planning to buy himself. Sweet, spare change.

As they got closer to Twilight's house, the bespectacled girl turned to him. "Why didn't you tell anyone it was your birthday?"

Flash just shrugged. "Didn't seem all that important. It's not like I'm against birthdays, I just figured everyone had better things to do then celebrate me being a year older."

"Flash," Twilight told him, "birthdays are about more then just that. There about celebrating all the years you've lived, and every amazing thing you've done in that time."

Flash just shrugged. "I haven't really done anything amazing."

"Of course you have," she told him. "Imagine how your mom would have felt after your dad died, if you hadn't been there for her?"

Okay, Flash would give her that.

"And then there's all your friends. You know when we were planning your party, everyone asked what they could do to help. They wanted to make it the best birthday you could ever have, because they wanted to thank you for everything you've done for them." 

"That's not exactly anything special," he told her. "All I've really done is help out now and again."

Twilight smiled at him. "There's no such thing as a small act of kindness."   

As they pulled up to Twilight's house, Twilight unbuckled herself. She then leaned over to his side and did something unexpected, she kissed him on the cheek.

As she pulled away, Flash turned towards her and saw she was blushing. "Twilight?"

Twilight's blush intensified. "Happy birthday Flash." With that she opened the door and rushed out, running back to her house and opening the door. Before shutting it, she glanced back at him and smiled.

Flash was still amazed by what had happened, but soon enough his shocked face broke out into a giant smile as he reached up and touched the cheek she had kissed. 

As he started up his car and drove off, Flash rolled down his window and cried out.

"BEST...BIRTHDAY...EVER!!!!!!"
> Future Story: Superheroes PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A wise man once said, that we are the ground. Our choices, the wind that blows. And destiny, a leaf falling from a tree. Every choice that's made, makes the wind shift and blows that leaf in a different direction. Eventually, the leaf lands on the ground. In the same way, the choice of every living thing alters the course of destiny. 

Your destiny might lead to you being a doctor, or a crossing guard, or a teacher. Destiny is not set in stone, but shaped by the choices you and everyone else makes. Some destinies are simple and easy, while some require great strength and will to complete. 

But some destinies...some are like nothing you can possibly imagine. And my destiny was one of those, no matter how much I didn't want it."



The vast cosmos

No light, no sound, no air. There was nothing there, except a ship. A black ship with red streaks covering it. The ship was decked out for battle, with guns sticking out of every side. The front was shaped like a giant V with a large lance-like weapon on the end. Below it was a series of long thin tubes and the back had a pair of squares that were emitting light. 

Inside the main bridge of the ship, multiple humanoid robots could be seen running around and working at consoles of on wiring sticking out of holes in the floor and walls. The only biological creature in the room was sitting in a throne in the very center of the bridge. 

This creature was humanoid with black scaly skin with red spots here and there. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and baggy pants. He was bold with bright red eyes and two large wavy horns above each eye that ended in a Y shape. "Report!" He growled out, one of the robots moving over to him. 

"Master Darklight," it said in a robotic manner. "All sensors indicate the opening will appear here." 

"Good," he smiled as he looked at the screen. All it was showing was space, nothing but stars filling it. "Finally, I will have what should have been mine a long time ago." Then it happened. 

In the middle of the screen, a spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared. It was then followed by another one, then another and another until they blended together into one large discharge. And after several seconds, the discharge exploded to form a whirling vortex of blue energy with the lightning sparking around the edge. 

"At last," Darklight turned to a robot. "Prepare for extraction." The robots nodded and turned to their stations, ready to do as they were ordered. 

But before anyone could do anything, the entire ship jerked as a loud boom and alarms filled their ears. "Report?" 

A robot turned to him, "we are under attack." 

"Thank you captain obvious! On-screen!" The screen changed to show the image of a much smaller jet-like ship flying around the larger one, firing its laser and causing several explosions. "Magna Guardians," he growled. "Return fire!" The robots did so, the larger ship's weapons turning to point at the smaller one before shooting. 

But the jet easily managed to outmaneuver the lasers while hitting the bigger target with its own. 

But as they traded blows, the vortex's sparking became more constant. This did not go unnoticed. "Master Darklight," the alien turned to the robot. "Sensors indicate the portal will close in fifteen seconds." 

"I will not be denied!" Darklight stood up. "Get us to the portal! Ignore the other ship!" The larger vessel flew forwards, the light coming from the back squares glowing brighter. 

The smaller ship continued to chase after it while firing, but Darklight didn't seem to even remember it was there. The two ships grew closer and closer to the portal. But as they got within only a few hundred feet of it, the vortex gave our one last mighty discharge before completely imploding. 

"NOOOOO!" Darklight screamed, it taking everything he had not to damage something in his rage. And as he was about to lose it, another beep filled the room. "Report!" 

"Master," a robot typed away at a console, "sensors indicate an object was propelled from the portal before it closed." 

"On screen!" The screen showed the area to portal had previously bee, with a small speck of blue light up the middle. "Magnify!" That area of the screen zoomed in until the image showed what the speck was. "A meteor?" Floating through space at incredible speeds, a small chunk of rock could be seen. And from it sparked the same blue lightning as the portal. 

"Scans indicate it is basic rock, not native to the MagnaZone. Theory indicates that it fell into another portal and has been absorbing MagnaForce. A MagnaForce core has formed within it. Unstable and likely to explode soon." 

"Not if I get it first," Darklight growled. But before he could order them to go after it, the other ship shot passed and headed for the meteor. "After him!" The larger ship flew forward, "charge the forward lance." The front-most weapon began to spark with lightning, ready to blast the smaller ship to kingdom come. 

But before it could fire, the smaller ship launched a torpedo made of light out of its back. The torpedo flew towards the larger ship before Darklight could react, hitting the forward lance and causing a chain reaction. 

KABOOM!

The entire front half of the ship exploded, including the bridge. The explosion pushed the ship backward as the light cut out, the vessel dead in the water. 

The smaller ship continued to fly towards the meteor, but the bigger one wasn't done yet. 

Its front weapons fired a blast right at the smaller ship, which saw it and quickly shifted out of the way. Doing so caused the blast to hit the meteor instead, causing it to mostly explode. But a much smaller junk still remained, continuing to fall through space. 

But something else happened. The energy from the blast seemed to mix with the energy around the meteor, causing a strange reaction. A cone of the energy began to form around meteor, appearing to cause the space around it to glitch and warp. Then, as the ship was inches away from it, there was a bright flash and the meteor vanished. 

The little ship pulled itself to a stop, the pilot scanning the area but finding no trace. 

One could only wonder where it had ended up and who's hands it would fall into.



Canterlot City.

The early morning sun beamed down onto the city, as many people were beginning to awaken for the start of the day. 

Said city was quite the metropolis, which was split into two parts. The first was the more city-like district, with hundreds of towering skyscrapers, stadiums, concert halls, and a giant harbour built into the side of a giant river that lead to an estuary and then the ocean. Then there was the suburban district, where many quaint houses were located along with parks, small establishments, and the several high credited schools. 

On the edge of the suburban city was a well-known farm known as Sweet Apple Acres, with multiple fields that eventually lead to a large woodland. And in the opposite corner of the city, there was a junkyard filled with many different vehicles. 

And it was the city area of Canterlot that our scene begins, within a three-bedroom apartment building. 

Inside one of the rooms, the sole inhabitant was fast asleep. He was a teenage boy of around sixteen, with yellow-orange skin and dark blue hair. His room was plastered with posters of different rock bands and in the corner of his room was a guitar case. 

The teen looked happy as he dozed there, but that happiness was soon shattered by the sound of his alarm. "Grah," he moaned before rolling over to slap his hand down on it. After a few more seconds, he got up and stretched. Five minutes later, he was exiting his room dressed in with a white shirt under a black jacket with blue jeans.

The teen poured himself some cereal and enjoyed his breakfast until the phone suddenly began to ring. "Answer," he said out loud before the home system answered it. 

"Brad?" He instantly knew that voice. It was his mother, Michelle Sengood.  

"Hey mom," the boy named Brad replied. "Let me guess, you and dad left something here?" His mother laughed in response. 

"You dad left the X-ray camera in our office. Do you think you could bring it to us after school?"

"No prob. X-ray camera. That's the blue one, right? 

"Red one." 

"Right. Well, I'll see you later." 

"Later hun." The phone beeped as the call was cut, Brad finishing his breakfast and washing his bowl before heading into his parents office. The room had many bookshelves, computers, files and different scientific equipment in it. On the desk were a bunch of cameras. He grabbed the blue one and headed back out to the living room, where his backpack was sitting.  

Once he made sure he had everything, he headed out of the apartment and rode the elevator down to the parking garage. 

He whistled while walking over to his family's lot, unlocking it and rolling it up to reveal a black camaro. Three minutes later, that car drove out of the garage and onto the busy street. Brad tuned his radio to his favourite station before turning on the inbuilt phone. "Call Micro." The phone rang for several seconds until it was finally picked up. 

"Morning Bradly!" A voice dripping with intellect replied, "I assume you're calling to inform me you're on your way." 

"You know it. Be there in five." 

"I'll be waiting." The call ended as Brad continued to drive, eventually arriving infront of another apartment building. And sending infront of it was a purple-skinned teen wearing black glasses, a yellow and green jumper with white suspenders holding up grey pants. This was one of Flash's best friends: Micheal Chambers, or Micro Chips as almost everyone called him. 

"You're late," he announced as Brad pulled up infront of him. "That took five minutes, twelve seconds." 

"Sorry," Brad laughed, "traffic." Micro got in and they pulled away, the bespectacled teen taking out his phone. 

"I hope Sandalwood hasn't gotten lost in zen mode again." 



On the roof of another apartment building, a beautiful garden had been built atop it. 

There were several potted plants, an indoor water fountain and a circle of rocks with sand inside of it. In the middle of the garden was a stone bench, where a teenage boy in the lotus position. He had cream-coloured skin and green hair, wearing a red shirt under a brown leather vest, blue jeans and a beanie hat. 

He let out a hum as he tried to become one with the universe, letting his mind fly free. But before he could do it again, his phone rang and he cracked an eye open to stare down at it. Seeing Micro's name on the screen, he stood up and answered it. "What's up homey?" Santiago Woods asked as he headed for the door. 

"Sandalwood, you'd better be ready when he come to pick you up in exactly seven minutes and twenty-four seconds." 

"Don't worry little buddy, I'll be there. You know, all that careful planning can't be good for your aura." 

"My aura's fine. Just be there or we're leaving you behind." Micro hung up as Sandal descended the stairway, eventually arriving at the front of the building to find Micro leaning against Brad's car. "You're twenty seconds later."

"Thought you said you were gonna leave without me?" 

Micro frowned before glancing at Brad, who was patting his hands against the wheel to the music. "He's too nice sometimes." Sandal laughed and climbed into the back while Micro got back in, Brad beginning the drive to school. "Would it kill you to be on time for once?" 

"I don't know," Sandal shrugged. "Never been on time, so it might. So it's probably a good idea to not start." 

"That doesn't make any sense."   

"It makes total sense.

Brad rolled his eyes at the two of them, knowing an argument was about to start. "Remind me again why I hang out with you two?" 

Micro laughed, "our personality differences are what make us such a good team. If we were all the same, we wouldn't be perfectly balanced. But in our current forms, we create equilibrium." The look on Brad and Sandal's face showed they didn't understand a word he was saying, Sandal turning to Brad. 

"There's always gonna be different types of people in a group." He reached into his backpack and pulled out several comics, showing them to Brad. "Look at the Justice Legion and Revengers. They're all completely different from one another, but they always manage to save the universe somehow."

"As unconventional as his analogy is, Sandalwood is correct. Different skills, personalities and ways of combating issues has more chance of succeeding against an obstacle that might get in the way."

Brad rolled his eyes. "Cute theory guys, but there's no such thing as superheroes. We live in the real world." 

Micro and Sandal rolled their eyes. "Do you ever let your imagination free?" 

"Only when I'm writing songs. Other than that, it's locked up tight so it doesn't run wild." This got a laugh from his friends as they left the metropolis sector, heading into the suburban section of Canterlot. As they did, their destination came into view. 

Canterlot High was stationed on the very edge of the suburban sector, a stones throw away from the city, making it the perfect place for a school that students from both sections could get to without issue.  

As Brad pulled into the parking lot, he looked out the window and saw many students walking around the grounds. Despite knowing all of them in a semi-personal manor, he only knew a few of their names. That was mainly because most students at CHS went by nicknames that everybody called them by. Brad was one of the few people in the school who didn't have one, mainly due to no name appearing to be a good fit for him. Other then him and a select few, everyone was known by their nicknames and those were the names Brad knew everyone he wasn't super close to by. 

They parked up and got on, moving towards the front of the school and spotting a group Brad knew all too well. 

The Rainbooms were a group of girls that formed the best band in all of CHS, though only because the band Brad had formed broke up after freshmen year due to his bandmate's parents being relocated. And like almost everyone else in school, they had their own nicknames due to their interests. 

The quote-unquote leader of the group was Riana Dawson, known as Rainbow Dash due to her rainbow-coloured hair and love of physical activity. There was also Jacqueline Orchard, a blond girl wearing a stetson whose family ran Sweet Apple Acres. This had lead to her earning the nickname, Applejack. 

Rachel Jewels was the most elegant of the group, always wearing some kind of fashionable clothing that she'd likely made herself. She had come to be known as Rarity, due to her love of one of a kind accessories and fashions. Then there was the group's wild child, Diane Pie. Due to her pink skin and puffy pink hair, she'd earned the nickname Pinkie and absolutely loved it. And in stark contrast to Pinkie was Felicity Shyer, known as Fluttershy due to her love of butterfly patterned clothing and her introverted nature. 

And last but not least was Summer Simpson, known as Sunset Shimmer and Brad's ex-girlfriend. 

Sunset had moved to Canterlot last year and it had been love at first sight for Brad when he met her, leading to a date that led to several more dates until they were an official item. At first, she'd been a sweet girl but Brad soon learned that was all an act she used to wrap him around her finger. 

She had just been using him to boost her own popularity, becoming queen of the school, but that just turned her into a conceited bully. Flash dumped her after finding her trying to intimidate Fluttershy, leading to the rest of the Rainbooms coming together and destroying her hold over the school.  

But for whatever reason, they chose to take Sunset in and help her change for the better after that. And it did seem to work, though a lot of the school had still not forgiven the girl. That partially included Brad, the two of them still not really talking to one another. 

"HEY GUYS!" Pinkie cried while waving at them frantically. 

"Hey girls," the three stepped up to them. "How's everyone's favourite band today?" 

"As awesome as always," Rainbow smirked with crossed arms. 

"Shouldn't you all be getting to class?" Micro checked the time and saw it was almost time for homeroom. 

"Oh," Rarity flicked her hair back, "we are. We're just keeping Sunset company as long as we can until the new girl arrives." 

"New girl?" Sandal asked. 

"Eyup," Applejack tipped her hat, "she's transferring in from Crystal Prep." That got the boys on edge, considering Crystal Prep was their school's biggest rival. "Sunset offered to show her around on her first day." 

Flash raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that usually Principal Celestia's job?" Principal Celestia and her sister, Vice-Principal Luna, had been running the school together for almost ten years now. I wasn't a stretch to call those ten years the school's golden decade, test scores and athletic accomplishments going up with trouble-making plummeting. 

"She would," Brad was surprised that Sunset was the one who said it. "But she's been called into court today. It's Sludger's trail." Everyone shuddered at the mention of that name, their mind remembering the creeping janitor that had been arrested several weeks ago. 

Turns out he'd been using the school as a place to stash drugs until he could distribute them to the many criminal gangs that littered the beautiful streets of their city. Celestia had grown suspicious of the janitor and had secretly looked into him, eventually managing to find the stash he'd hid in the school basement and getting him arrested. 

Rarity let out a sound of disgust. "I must say I'll be much happier once I know he's safely behind bars." 

"Me too," Fluttershy agreed while hiding behind her hair. "He used to look at me funny. Like he was undressing me." 

"He did that to everyone darling," Rarity patted her shoulder. "Well, every girl he found attractive." 

"Really?" Rainbow asked, "I don't remember seeing him look at me like that." 

"Or me," Applejack nodded. The two then shared a glance before realizing what that meant, "HEY!" 

"Let's forget about that meanie!" Pinkie jumped up and down, "we're getting a new friend today. Oooh, I hope she likes parties. I'm gonna throw her the bestest welcome party ever, as soon as I learn exactly what kind of parties she likes." Everyone smiled at this, knowing Pinkie's parties were always the best. 

It was then the bell rang, warning students they had five minutes before homeroom. 

"Well" Brad stepped up the stairs, "we'd better get going." The others nodded and everyone except Sunset stood up to head inside. 

"You sure you're gonna be okay on your own?" Rainbow asked the bacon haired girl. 

"Yeah," Sunset nodded, "I'll be fine. She shouldn't be that much longer." Rainbow nodded and soon Sunset was on her own, the girl huffing as she sat back to wait. 

It wasn't a minute before a bus pulled up to the school, Sunset watching while remembering the image Celestia had shown her. Three people stepped out of the bus, two of them being old people obviously heading for the nearby park. But the third was the girl Sunset was set to show around. 

She had light purple skin and a dark purple ponytail with a pink stripe running through it. She wore a blue button-up shirt under a pink vest with a pink bowtie, along with a dark purple skirt, knee-high blue socks and purple shoes. She also had a pair of black glasses on her face, which she pushed up her nose as she took in the school. 

"Hey," the girl flinched while turning to her, "welcome." 

"Err...hi," Sunset could tell the girl was nervous. 

"I'm Summer, but you can call me Sunset." The girl looked at her like she was insane, "I'll be showing you around the school today." 

"Oh, right. Sorry, little nervous being in a new school." 

"I get it. I was new here last year. Don't worry, the people here are really nice." 

"Can't be any worse then CPA," the girl whispered under her breath. 

"What was that." 

"Nothing. Anyway, I didn't introduce myself, did I?" Sunset shook her head, "I'm Tracy. Tracy Spencer."



Back in the city section, in the town's court of law, we find court was in session. 

Many people were in the room, but only three were of consequence. The first was a middle-aged woman with pinkish white skin and rainbow-coloured hair, wearing a gold jacket with purple pants. The second was a man in his early twenties, with white skin and blue hair. He wore a purple shirt and black tie under a white overcoat and black pants. 

Finally, the third man was the one in the prisoner's box. He was a brown-skinned man with greasy black hair. "All rise," the guard spoke as the judge entered. 

Once he was sat down, everyone else did the same with the judge speaking up. "Court is now in session. Case three eight six five-eight, the city of Canterlot against Nicolas Sludger." He turned to the man in the box, "how do you plead?" 

"Not guilty your honour," Sludger's lawyer replied.   

The judge nodded, "Then let us begin. Prosecution, call your first witness." 

"Thank you, your honour," the lawyer replied. "I call Detective Shawn Spencer to the stands." The white-skinned man got up and headed for the witness stand. After giving his pledge, the man sat down. 

"Please explain to the court exactly how Mr. Sludger's arrest went down." 

"Of course," Shawn replied. "We'd had several leads that lead us to believe the source of the drugs were coming from the Canterlot High area. It was then that Principal Celestia called us, explaining how she suspected Sludger of doing something illegal. We performed a raid on the school and found a secret stash, Sludger's prints being all over it." 

It was clear that the jury were believing him, causing the man in the box to glare at the woman who'd done this. If he went down for this, he was gonna make sure he got her back. 



The bell rang and everyone headed out for lunch, while Brad decided to head to the music room.  

He wasn't a big fan of sloppy joe, so he'd brought his own lunch and was planning to eat it in the music room while practising. He let out a sigh as he turned a corner, only to suddenly run into someone and fall to the ground with a loud "outh!"

Once the world stopped spinning, he looked around and saw who he'd bumped into and found it was a girl he didn't know. She was currently patting the floor, trying to find the glasses that had fallen from her face. 

"Sorry," he reached down to grab the glasses and place them in her hands. The girl put them on and when she saw who she was talking too, she suddenly grew very nervous. 

"It's fine. Completely my fault. I'm really sorry. It won't happen again." Brad looked at her in almost worry, getting a sense that she was almost scared of him. He might dress like a bad boy, but most people could tell he was a pussycat just by looking at his face. 

"It's fine." He noticed the books she'd dropped in their collision and began to pick them up, continuing to notice how worried she looked. "You're the new girl, right?" 

"Yes," she nodded while crouching down to pick up her books. 

"Well, I hope you're enjoying your first day here." 

"It's...good. Not as well equipped as my old school, but it's nice." 

Brad nodded and stood up, "I'm Brad. Bradly Sengood." 

"Tracy Spenser," she stood up as well before Brad handed her books over. 

"So what are you doing out here? Isn't Sunset supposed to be showing you around." 

"She was, but I was feeling a little...overwhelmed. She introduced me to a bunch of girls and this one girl kept asking me a million questions." 

"Yeah, Pinkie does that. So you escaped at the first chance you got?" She nodded, a blush appearing on her face that Brad couldn't help but find cute. "They're really nice you know. Sure, Pinkie can be a bit much but she'd understand if you tell her she's getting a bit close." 

"Maybe, but I'm more use to being alone." 

"Sounds lonely," he told her. "Did you not have any friends at your old school?" 

"No. Friendship wasn't really something Crystal Prep's known for. They say it gets in the way of academics." 

"Well that's stupid," she looked at him in absolute shock. "Sure, academics are important. But a life without friends, no matter how much you accomplish, is a waste in my opinion." He saw Tracy looking worried as she turned away. 

"You're alone right now. Why aren't you in the cafeteria right now, with all your friends?" 

Brad laughed, seeing she'd caught him out. "I'm not saying you have to spend every day with your friends. Most days I would be eating with them, but I'm not a fan of sloppy joes." He saw a disgusted look on her face, "exactly. So just this one day I'm eating while I practice in the music room." 

"Oh." 

"Trust me, you'll be surprised how much you enjoy other people's company if you just give them a chance." 

"But I don't have anything in common with any of those girls." 

"Well that's the thing about this school, it has a way of bringing people of different clicks together." Brad remembered back when Sunset was ruling the place. Everyone only stuck to their own groups, never wanting to interact with anyone who wasn't like them. That was until five vary different girls came together and decided they liked being friends. 

But Tracy still didn't look convinced. "I don't know." 

Brad then smiled when an idea popped into his head. "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal." He reached into his pocket, "spend the rest of the day and some time hanging out with the Rainbooms. If, after that, you still don't think you could be friends with them, I'll give you this." He held out a piece of paper with ten boxes, nine of which were filled up. 

Tracy's eyes went wide seeing this, drool appearing on the edge of her mouth. "Is that..."

"A Sugarcube Corner rewards card that's one stamp away from a free super-deluxe mega milkshake." 

"You'd really give me that?" 

"If you hang out with the Rainbooms and still think you can't be friends with them." 

Tracy raised an eyebrow. "And if I do decide I'd like to be friends with them, then what. What makes you think I won't just lie?" 

"You won't. Because that would mean you'd have to fake not being friends with them and I know that's not gonna happen." Tracy gave him a coy smile for a few seconds before turning to head back towards the cafeteria, glancing over at him before she turned a corner. 

"Say goodbye to your mega milkshake." 

"We'll see," he confirmed as she stepped around the corner and disappeared. Brad let out a laugh as he turned to head down the other corridor towards the music room. 



Back in the courtroom, Celestia had been called up to the stands. 

"And what made you suspect Mr Sludger was up to something illegal?" His lawyer asked her, the woman thinking carefully so he couldn't turn her words against her. 

"It's not like I suspected him right from the start. I just started noticing some odd things about him from time to time." 

"Such as?"

"He always seemed to be looking over his shoulder. And whenever someone got to close to the basement doors, he'd go ballistic on them and threatened to throw mop water on them." 

"So, he has a temper and he was paranoid. Well I guess it would be anger and suspicion inducing to have their boss constantly watching them like a dog." 

"Excuse me?" 

"You said you noticed this stuff, that meant you had to have been keeping an eye on him. Am I right." 

"I keep an eye on all my staff, it's my job." 

"Yet you spent a large amount of time surveying my client, almost as if you were singling him out."  

"I didn't single him out." 

"You call the police to investigate him and no one else." 

"Because he was acting suspicious. If anyone else on my staff had been doing the same thing, I'd have called the police After all, isn't that what you're supposed to do. That whole, 'If you see something say something' saying the force has." The lawyer didn't respond to that. 

"Besides, I only called the police because I was beginning to fear for my students safety. Everyone saw how protective he was of the basement, so much so that when I asked to take a look in it he kept coming up with a hundred excuses not to let me in and even had the locks changed. That's when I realized that if he was doing something illegal, I had to know before one of my students decided to be a rule-breaker and sneak into the basement. If Sludger was up to something illegal, which he was, then what was stopping him from doing something to make sure that student wouldn't tell anyone. As a teacher, it's my duty to protect my students from any harm. Even if I was wrong, I wouldn't have regretted calling the police." 

The lawyer remained silent and eventually turned to walk away, "no further questions." 



The bell rang to signal the end of the school day, with Brad heading off to his car so he could deliver the camera to his parents.

"Hey," he looked over and saw Micro and Sandal rush over to him. "Bro, we're gonna hit up Sugarcube Corner. Wanna hang?" 

"Can't," Flash explained what he needed to do. 

"Understood," Micro pushed his glasses back up his nose, "tell your parents we said hello." 

"Will do," Flash got into the car and started it up. "This should only take an hour. I'll head over to Sugarcube Corner after." 

"Great," Sandal smiled, "why don't you give us your rewards card. Then we can order your mega milkshake before you get there." 

Brad smirked, "nice try." The two pouted before Brad pulled away, turning out of the school. As he drove passed the front, he spotted Tracy and the Rainbooms walking along the street laughing at something Pinkie had said. Tracy looked around and spotted him driving passed, pouting when she saw the triumphant look on his face before he zoomed off. 



"Guilty." 

Celestia sighed in relief as he heard the jury's decision, while Sludger's eyes bugged out. After that, the judge sentenced Sludger to fifteen years imprisonment and a twenty thousand dollar fine. To say the man was angry would be an understatement. 

"YOU'D BETTER HOPE THEY NEVER LET ME OUT!" Sludger yelled at Celestia as the guards began to pull him away, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS. IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" The guards pulled him out of the room, off to be shipped to the nearest maximum security prison. 

Once he was gone, Detective Shawn stepped over to Celestia. "You gonna be okay?" 

"Yes," Celestia nodded, "I'm fine now that he's safely behind bars." 

"He seemed to be serious about what he said. Maybe it'd be better if we put you into protection." 

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving my life behind, just because of the ravings of a madman. Letting him intimidate me into giving up everything I love would mean he's won." Shawn nodded, having expected this. "Besides, he doesn't have the guts to really do anything."   

"You're right." The two began to make their way out of the courtroom, Shawn turning on his phone. "Can't wait to hear how my sister's first day went." 

"Oh, that's right. Your sister just transferred to CHS. I'm glad to see my school's recent...embarrassment, didn't put you off." 

"Tracy's smart. Even if the school was drug central, she wouldn't have anything to do with it. Besides, there was no way she could stay at Crystal Prep. With all the bullying that happened to her, my wife and I were scared she'd end up having a nervous breakdown or something." 

"Well don't worry, she won't have any problems like that at my school." 

"Hope you're right." 


 
Brad had just left the city limits and was now driving down the road that leads to the forest, several large empty fields surrounding him as he drove. 

After several minutes, he finally arrived at the entrance to the forest. The turn off to a track into the forest then came up and Brad drove through it, being careful as he drove down it so as to not damage his precious car. Several more minutes of driving had him coming out into a clearing, where several tents, holes, and trucks could be found.   

He spotted his dad's red, flame patterned pickup and parked next to it before getting out, heading into the tent, and spotting his parents looking over some photos. His father, Tray Sengood, looked like an older version of Brad who was wearing a yellow button-up shirt, grey pants and a red overcoat. His mother had silver skin and purple hair, wearing a white blouse and pink skirt.

The two parents heard his entrance and looking up, smiling at the sight of him.

"Special delivery." He held up the camera. placing it infront of them.

"Thanks, champ," Tray told him while Michelle gave him a hug. 

Brad smiled as he pulled away before looking over at the pictures on the table, seeing they showed different pots and arrowheads. "So, what did you need to X-ray camera for anyway?" 

"Over here," Michelle grabbed the camera before heading outside. Brad followed her out to a section of the clearing full of holes, watching as the woman held up the camera and pointed it to a bit of untouched earth. She pressed the button and the camera's lens shot out a red light that formed a square on the ground, Michelle keeping it there for several seconds until the light stopped. 

They both looked at the screen and watched as an X-ray image appeared on it. That image showed a fully intact clay pot. "Cool." 

"Yup. A discovery like that might even get your dad and I invited to a dig going on in Europe." Brad knew his parents had been hoping to get invited to that for a long time. Knowing their dream might soon be coming true made him just as happy as them.   

Brad didn't have as much interest in this stuff, but he didn't enjoy spending time with his parents. So he decided to stick around and listen to them talk about the pieces of history they and their team had unearthed while Brad told them about his day. They were both intrigued by his conversation with the new girl, but Brad saw where this was going and quickly chose this moment to leave the dig site. 

"Sure you'll be okay driving back alone?" His mother asked as he got into the car. She looked up at the clouds and saw several dark clouds beginning to form above them. "Looks like a storms coming." 

"I'll be fine," Brad assured her as he started up his car. "A bit of rain's never killed anyone." 

"Well call us when you get home," Tray told him. Brad agreed and headed out of the clearing, through the forest and out onto the road leading up to the field roads.    

He had to turn up the music from his radio since the clouds above him started rumbling. 

As he drove, he couldn't help but look up at the sky. The weather hadn't mentioned anything about rain. But as he looked up at the clouds, he couldn't help but notice the lightning that sparked within them had a dark bluish colour to them. 

Up in the clouds, they were spiralling around a single point in the sky. Around and around they swirled, as sparks of blue lightning pulsed in the eye. Quicker and quicker they fired, until eventually it was a single long discharge of energy. 

The discharge lasted several long seconds until, finally, the cloud exploded with the radiant boom of a firework. 

Brad saw this was and marvelled at the sight, only to see something solid suddenly fly out of the cloud. It moved in a downwards horizontal fashion, even flying passed the road and forcing Brad to stop as it shot by. It then flew into the field before finally crashing down with a loud crash, upturning a bunch of dirt and earth to creating a smoking crater. 

Brad sat in his car, completely shocked by what had just happened. 

He stared into the field, seeing the crater, his brain at war with himself. One side wanted to drive away as fast as he could, while the other half wanted to go investigate. And eventually, his curiosity got the best of him and he turned his car to drive into the field. 

Parking just a few feet away, Brad got out and moved over to the edge of the crater. The smoke began to fade, letting him see what was inside of it. And what was in the crater was a giant hunk of round rock. "A meteor?" He tried to lean in to get a better look, only for the edge of the crater to give way. "WHOA!" Brad felt the ground beneath him collapsed, causing him to roll into the crater, the ditch being just as tall as him. 

He managed to stop himself a few inches away from the meteor, his face a breath away from the rock.  

Picking himself up, he looked over it and saw how it seemed to have an aura to it. Then, out of nowhere, a spark of blue lightning erupted from it and Brad pulled himself away before it hit. "Yikes!" More lightning began to shoot off the rock, the blue aura growing brighter and brighter by the second. "Oh no," he was getting a very strong kablamo vibe from this thing. 

Not wanting to see what was about to happen, the teen turned to run up the crater. But the steep walls were making this difficult, Brad just managing to grab onto the edge as slowly pull himself up while the meteor's energy grew more and more volatile. 

He eventually managed to pull himself up onto the side of the crater and stand up, spotting what looked like a large grey bus rolling down the road he'd been on, then looked back at the meteor and saw the energy reach his peak. And before he could turn to run, it happened. 

KABOOOOOM!    

The energy exploded out of the meteor, creating a blue shockwave that flew out of the crater. It struck Brad and sent him flying backwards through the air, the shockwave continuing to fly through the field. It struck Brad's car and sent it flying too, while the teen crashed down on the ground a good hundred feet from the crater. 

Brad's entire body was burning, like goosebumps but a million times more painful. The world around him went dark as he slowly succumb to his unconsciousness, having no idea what was happening around him. 

All he could do was lay in the mud, all the while his body began sparking with the same lightning that had struck him.
> Future Story: Superheroes PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GONE!?" The growling voice of Darklight echoed through the remains of his damaged ship, "what do you mean it's gone!?" 

As we arrive at the bridge, we find that the place had almost been completely destroyed. Every console was sparking with smashed screens and randomly flashing buttons. And in the middle of the room, replacing the metal throne, was a large tube connected to the floor and ceiling. 

And inside the tube was Darklight, the mad alien's body almost entirely destroyed. His arms and legs had been turned to stubs and his body was badly burnt. He was wearing a rebreather over his face to allow him to breath in the liquid keeping him alive. 

And currently, he was talking to one of the few remaining robots still operational after the explosion that had destroyed Darklight's ship and wrecked his body. "Sensors indicate the last shot we fired hit the meteor, destroying all but a small junk of it. The remaining MagnaForce inside it then reacted with the energy from the blast. Combining that with the meteor's intense speed, a wormhole opened up that may have sent the meteor to another universe." 

Darklight growled. He had not been in his right mind when he ordered that last attack, the pain from his injuries causing him to act without thinking. "MagnaForce is an energy that can open up dimensional portals. Who knows what universe it may end up in." 

"Our computers were able to remain online long enough to track the energy signature. Once the ship has been repaired, we should be able to reopen the wormhole and travel to the other universe. However..."

"What?" 

"There may be some time differential due to the wormhole's effect. It has only been several hours since the meteor travelled through it, but on the other side many days may have passed." 

"Meaning the meteor could be on the other side for months, if not years before we can get there." 

"Correct. And even if we repair the ship at double, or even triple, the normal speed, you will not be able to survive travelling through the wormhole until your body has been repaired." 

"Then we have no choice. Prepare a retrieval robot to send through the wormhole. I will not be denied." 

"Yes, master. It will take several hours to complete this, but who knows how long that will before on the other side." 

"Then work quickly. And if anyone gets in the way of my goals, I will crush them into oblivion."



The first thing Brad noticed was music. And not just any music, but one of his favourite songs. 

The song seemed to get louder and louder by the second, though he quickly realised it was because he was growing more and more awake. Eventually, his eyes began to flutter open before shutting with a flinch due to the light that was above him.

He groaned as he tried to sit up, his entire body feeling stiff as he looked around. 

He quickly realised he was in a hospital room, the boringly painted walls, wooden desk and chairs with the old fashioned wall mounted television being dead giveaways to his location. Brad pulled his sheets off of him and looked down to see he was wearing blue hospital pyjamas. 

"Err," he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. His legs felt a bit weak, but they quickly adjusted and began to hold him up. 

It was then that the door opened and a nurse came in, only to gasp when she saw him and rush back out. 

As she was gone, Brad's stomach growled. He spotted a fruit basket next to him and grabbed an orange. But no sooner had he peeled, the door burst open with several doctors rushing in. One took the orange away while another pushed him back onto the bed before they started doing checks on him. 

"What's going on?" He asked, the doctors not saying anything and instead mumbling some medical mumbo jumbo to one another. "Where am I?" 

"You're at Canterlot Hospital," a doctor finally responded before another doctor handed him a cup. 

"I need you to urinate." 

"What?" 

"Maybe later," the first doctor took the cup before turning to the others. "prehaps we should give him some space." The others nodded and left the room, leaving Brad and him alone. "alright," he turned back to Brad, "here are the facts. You've been in a coma." 

Brad's eyes went wide in shock, "for how long?" 

"Nine months." 

"WHAT!?" Brad's scream echoed through the hospital, only for the doctor to smile. 

"I'm just kidding. It's only been a week." Brad sighed in relief, it being at that moment that he remembered what had happened. 

"The meteor." The doctor looked confused by this but decided to ignore it and continue to do the basic tests.  

"You've missed quite a week. There was a big blast that sent a shockwave out across the city, knocking out the power for two days. You were found at the blast site, so people have been pretty anxious for you to wake up and explain what happened." 

"I'm...not really sure myself." 

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out. I don't care what happened. I just care about making sure you're healthy. Now let's get these tests done before your parents arrive." Brad nodded and let the doctor do his job, even doing the whole peeing in a cup thing. 

By the time he finished the last test, the door burst open and his mother ran in with his dad behind her. "BRAD!" She rushed over and pulled Brad into a hug, the teen choking due to how tight she was holding him. 

"Good to see you up champ," Tray patted his shoulder. "You okay?" 

"Just...confused." 

"Makes sense," his dad sat down while his mother looked him in the eye. 

"What happened? When the power went off, your dad and I went to check on the city and then we found you in that field with your car rolled over." Brad quickly realised they had been the first to find him, likely both terrified for him. 

"I'm sorry I scared you." 

Tray stood up, "just tell us what happened." 

"I'd like to know that too." The three looked around and saw Detective Shawn Spencer in the doorway. He stepped inside and flashed his police badge to the teen before sitting next to him. "I asked to be notified when you woke up." 

"Why?" Brad felt very nervous, "I'm not under arrest, am I?" 

Shawn shook his head, "no. We just want to know what happened." He then frowned, "what do you remember about the explosion?" 

Brad sighed as sat back, remembering back to the last thing he remembered before waking up. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." 

"As long as you don't lie, I'll believe you." 

"Alright," he took a deep breath and explained everything to him and his parents. Shawn was intrigued by this while his parent's expressions shifted between curiosity and worry. "Then I woke up here. I don't remember anything between." 

"I see," Shawn sat back. "That's quite a story." 

"Told you you wouldn't believe me." 

"I didn't say I didn't believe you. I just said it was quite a story. Other officers would probably think you're making it up, but I don't think you're a liar." Brad looked surprised by this. "I looked into you after you were found. No criminal record. No incidents at all. I asked at your school and everyone said you were a good kid. Heck, you even helped my sister out during her first day. She said she made some pretty good friends thanks to you." 

Brad wondered what he meant until he remembered his second name. "Spencer? Like, Tracy Spencer." Shawn nodded. "Nice to hear she's making friends." 

"Thanks to your advice."

Michelle smiled. "She and the rest of your friends actually came to visit you while you were asleep." Brad smiled at this, "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear you're awake." 

Shawn then seemed to get serious as he continued with his question. "Alright kid, now I need to know if you remember anything else about the accident. Mainly, did you see anything driving down the road before you were knocked unconscious." 

Despite his confusion, Brad closed his eyes and thought about it. His memory was pretty focused on the meteor. But then a single, fuzzy, image appeared at the forefront of his mind. "Wait, I think I remember seeing something before I got blasted. Maybe...a bus. A big one, grey I think." 

"Was it still driving?" 

"Maybe." 

Shawn sat back, "so it was the explosion." 

"What's this about?" Shawn turned to give him a worried look. 

"That bus was actually a prison transport. It was carrying eight criminals that had been convicted guilty in court that day. We believe the explosion caused the bus to be knocked over, allowing the criminals to escape." 

"Seriously?" 

Shawn nodded. "There were five guards on that bus. Three we believe died due to the explosion, but the other two may have been killed by the escapees." Brad frowned hearing this, the thought of eight criminals on the loose kinda scaring him. "We were worried the explosion was caused just to free them, but by the looks of things it wasn't." He got up and headed for the door, "well I need to be off. My superiors will be interested in hearing about this. Hope you're feeling better kid." 

"Thanks," Brad nodded as Shawn left. Once he was gone, he and his parents talked about everything that had happened in the week he was asleep. The doctors soon came in with the results of his test, explaining that he was in absolutely perfect health.  

"Your body had a few bruises here and there and your head had some mild swelling, which went down overnight." The doctor smiled at him, "physically there's no reason you can't be discharged." 

"So soon?" Michelle asked, looking concerned. 

"When a coma patient wakes up, the amount of time they remain in the hospital is due to how long it'll take them to regain function in their body. According to the nurse, your son can already stand and walk." 

"Heck yeah I can," Brad pulled himself out of bed before anyone could stop him. Standing to full height, he walked around the room with no issue whatsoever. His parents looked a little concerned but the doctor smiled. 

"I'd like to keep him in overnight for observation. But if everything checks out, he can be released tomorrow." Brad and his parents all smiled at that before the doctor asked the older Sengoods to come and sign a few things. 

Brad sat back and tried to relax, only for his doors to open up again. But this time, he smiled seeing his friends step inside. "Dude!" Sandal and Micro stepped over to him, "you really are awake." 

"You had us worried," Micro told him. "What happened to you." 

"Sorry I worried you guys. But you won't believe what happened to me." Once again, he went over what had happened and the two of them looked just as amazed as Shawn was. "Then I woke up." 

"Awesome."  

"Not awesome," Micro frowned. "An unknown space rock exploded in his face. For all we know, it could have had some kind of radiation that he's been infected with." 

"The doctors didn't detect any radiation," Brad pointed out. "If they did, you really think they'd let anyone near me." 

"Just because they didn't detect it, doesn't mean it didn't affect you. It might have died down before anyone could scan you for it. You might have some kind of radiation sickness for all we know." 

"Guys, I'm fine. The doctors said I was okay. So relax. I'm not gonna drop dead any time soon." The two looked unsure, Brad seeing he'd need to prove it to them. But before he could-

"Knock knock," they looked around and saw the Rainbooms step into the room with Applejack holding another fruit basket. "Hey, partner. Heard ya'h were up." She threw him an apple, Brad catching it with barely a thought. 

Pinkie then rushed over before pulling him into the tightest hug he'd ever experienced, "I'm so happy you're up." She let him go. "So, what happened? Was it aliens, terrorists, wigglows?" 

"Wigglows?" 

"Mutant worms that glow in the dark and want to take over the world. I heard Texas's been having issues with them lately." 

"Riiiight," it's Pinkie Pie, don't question it. "Well, it wasn't wigglows."

"Then what was it?" Rainbow asked, Brad sighing since he really wasn't in the mood for telling this story again. 

"Micro, fill them in." He sat back and let the bespectacled teen repeat what he told them, the girls looking shocked by this.

"So it was aliens!" Pinkie cheered.

"I wouldn't call a meteor alien," Rarity told her. 

"Did it come from space?" 

"Yes." 

"Do aliens come from space?" 

"Yes." 

"Then the meteor was alien." 

Rarity was about to retort, but she decided to leave it and focus back on Brad. "We're just happy to see you're alright, darling." 

Fluttershy nodded, "we were worried when we heard what had happened." 

Rainbow then got up close to the teen, "is it true that a bunch of crooks escaped because of what happened?" 

"Apparently. If you're wanting details, don't ask me. I didn't even know about it until Detective Spencer told me." 

"You met my brother?" He turned to Tracy, seeing her looking at him curiously. 

He smirked. "Yeah. He wanted to know what happened, just like you guys. The police were worried the explosion was planned." 

"But it wasn't?" Sunset asked him. 

"As far as I can tell. Just some freak accident I was stupid enough to get into." He sat back, "I should have just kept driving." 

"I don't know," Tracy explained. The others turned to her. "I remember hearing my brother say your car got flipped by the explosion. If you'd been in it, you might have gotten hurt worse then you were." Brad hadn't considered that, nodding when he realised she could be right. 

Pinkie smiled as she put an arm around the glasses-wearing girl's neck, "that's our Twilight." 

"Twilight?" 

"Twilight Sparkle. It's her new nickname." 

Brad turned to Tracy...Twilight, smiling at her. "Great to hear. So by the looks go things, you made some good friends." 

"Yeah," Twilight nodded, "you were right that our differences wouldn't matter." 

Applejack smirked. "So it seems we got you to thank for getting her to open up to us." Brad just shrugged, the girl tipping her hat as his parents returned. Since the room was so crowded, most of them chose to leave so others could come to say their hellos. And it turned out a lot of people were wanting to see him. 

Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came and told him he didn't have to rush to return to school, though Brad didn't want to spend weeks doing nothing. Several more of his classmates showed up to give him their regards, such as Mary Derpin, Patricia Lulamoon, Heath Burns and many more. 

His parents, Micro and Sandal all stayed the whole time until the visiting hours finally came to an end and they had to leave. Once they were gone, Brad spent his time watching television until it was finally time for lights out.  

As the darkness overcame him, Brad sat back and tried to sleep. But it wasn't easy since he felt wide awake. That made sense, considering he'd been asleep for over a week. So he just laid there, his eyes closed as he tried to finally fall asleep. 

And as he slowly managed to drift off to a near sleep-like state, something happened. 

The veins on Brad's arms and neck were slowly turning light blue before they began to emit a weak glow. The light was so weak, it didn't awaken him or catch the attention of anyone outside his room. He just laid there, the light continuing radiate off of him for several long minutes until the light finally died down and his veins returned to normal. 

Seconds later, the door opened with a nurse stepping in to check on him. She checked his pulse oximeter and did several other overlooks until she confirmed everything was alright so left to continue her round.



The next day.

"Home sweet home," Brad sighed as he and his parents stepped into their apartment. Brad had just been discharged from the hospital as soon as he'd woken up, his parents picking him up to bring home. On the way home, they'd explained that Pinkie had prepared a party for his release that they were gonna head to once the teen had gotten a shower. 

"Better hurry up," Tray told him. "The guest of honour can't be late, can he." 

"Are you kidding? It's tradition to show up late to a party." 

"It's also rude," Michelle told him. "So hurry up." Brad huffed but did so anyway, enjoying one of his favourite downtime activities for a good twenty minutes before getting out and returning to his room. There he found some of his better casual clothes waiting for him, likely his mother's doing, which he changed into before heading out. 

But as he did, he heard his parents talking. "It's gonna be an awkward phone call," his father explained. 

"Though it would look bad if we did it by email." Brad heard his mother sigh, "I doubt we'll get another opportunity." 

"It's not like we could go." 

"I know. And we have to make sure Brad doesn't find out." 

"Make sure Brad doesn't find out what?" His parents yelled out as they turned to see him step out infront of them, "what's going on?" 

"Nothing!" They both explained before their eyes glanced over to a letter on the kitchen counter, Brad quickly rushing over and grabbing it before they could react. 

He read it over, his eyes going wide before looking up at his parents. "You got invited to Europe?"

Michelle sighed, "yes." 

"That's great." Brad knew how much his parents had been wanting to go on one of these. But then he remembered what they'd been talking about. "Wait. You're not going?" 

"Of course not," Tray told him. "We'd be gone for six months at the shortest, maybe a year. We can't leave you that long." 

"You were going to before." 

"That was before you were put in the hospital," his mother explained. 

"What kind of parents would we be if we left you for that long when something might happen to you." Brad rolled his eyes, hating the idea of people treating him like he was made out of tinfoil. 

"Guys, I'm fine. Look at me. I'm completely fine. In fact, I feel better then I've ever felt before." 

"It's still wouldn't be a good idea to leave you on your own," Michelle told him. 

"I see," Brad put the paper on the counter before turning away from them. "So I'm the reason you might never get to live your dream." The two looked shocked that he'd say that. 

"That's not true." 

"Isn't it?" He turned back to them. "I got into an accident and now you have to turn down something you've been waiting years for. Feels like it too me." They both stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a suspicious look. 

"Are you trying to guilt-trip us?" 

"No," Brad shook his head, "I'm just stating the fact. I now have to spend the rest of my life knowing I'm the reason your dream will go unfulfilled." He watched as the two of them glared at him, trying his best to do the best kicked puppy expression he can muster. And eventually, they gave up. 

"Alright!" Michelle sighed, "we'll go." She then gave Brad a stern look, "but if something happens then you call us right away." Brad nodded. 

Tray continued. "Even so much as a head cold, you tell us." Brad nodded again. 

"And you need to eat proper food. Don't spend every day eating pizza and takeout." 

"I won't, promise." The teen smiled at the lot of them, "so when are you leaving." 

Michelle sighed, "They want us at the site debrief on Sunday. So we'll be flying out Saturday." Brad did the math, today being Wednesday, realising there were two free days before they had to leave. 

"Principal Celestia said I don't have to go back to school right away. I could start back up on Monday and maybe we could..."

"Spend today, tomorrow and Friday together," Michelle smiled. 

"I like that," Tray agreed. Brad smiled at them all before his parents sent the email to confirm their joining of the dig. Once that was done, the three headed out to his party. 



The next three days seemed to pass in a blur. 

During his party, Brad's parents talked to Micro and Sandal's. Both families agreed to be there for him while they were away, even promising to invite him over for dinner whenever they could. The next day, the three enjoyed a day out that included a movie, mini-golf and checking up on Brad's car. 

Despite what had happened, the vehicle was mostly in one piece. Most of the damage was to the bodywork, though that wouldn't be too difficult to repair. 

On Friday, Brad helped his parents pack up everything they needed while in Europe. By the time they were done, their living room was so full of boxes they had to sit on them and use them as tables because they couldn't get to the real ones through the maze of boxes. 

Despite spending the day moving multiple heavy pieces of machinery, Brad didn't feel tired at all. He'd been expecting to feel sore all over, but he felt completely fine.  

And so Saturday came around, his parents plane set to take off at three. That allowed them to enjoy brunch at the family's favourite restaurant before arriving at the airport. And after two gruelling hours of airport security, the three found themselves at the boarding gate. 

"Be good," Michelle told her son after giving him several forehead kisses. "You've got all the numbers you need to contact us, so don't hesitate the call the minute something happens." 

"Alright," Brad nodded as she finally let him go. This allowed Tray to pull him into a hug, both patting one another on the back until it was finally time for them to board. His parents were the last to board since Michelle wanted to fit in a year's worth of hugs and kisses until she was finally forced to get on the plane. 

Brad chose to stay at the gate until he watched their plane finally take off, wanting to make sure they actually stayed on it until it was in the air. But eventually, the plane ascended and his parents were gone. Brad was no all on his own for a whole year.  

A whole year of having an apartment all to himself. If he had the guts, he could throw a party every week. But he didn't. His boring, mundane life would continue the same way it had always had. Brad Sengood, the kid that had nothing interesting about him.



That night.

Brad laid in his bed, fast asleep yet he kept shifting from side to side. The look on his face wasn't one of pain or discomfort, but it could hardly be called one of serenity. And as he slept, something began to happen.

Once again, his veins began to turn blue with an aura too them. The light was so bright it was a miracle he wasn't awakened by it. Brad slowly began to pant, his heart rate increasing every second. And then, blue sparks of lightning began to fly off his body. But despite hitting almost everything in the room, it didn't do any damage to them.

His breath and heart increased into a constant stream as his eyes suddenly shot open and unleashed a blinding blue light.

The light filled the room but did nothing else, last for almost a whole minute until it finally ceased and Brad's body returned to normal as he fell back to the bed. His breath and heart rate returned to normal and his shifting around stopped, Brad appearing completely at peace.

But despite that, a few stray bolts of blue lightning sparked off of him.



The next morning.

The first thing Brad heard that morning was the alarm, the same as any morning.

He let out a yawn as he slowly reached out to press down on the kill button. But that name would come to have new meaning as when Brad pressed down upon it, the entire clock suddenly shattered under the pressure. The cracking sound caused Brad to look around, his eyes going wide at the sight of what he'd just done.

Once he'd picked up all the pieces of his destroyed alarm, he headed into the bathroom to wash up.

He grabbed his toothbrush and a tube of paste. But when he squirted it out, the whole front of the tube exploded and sent the goop splatting all over the mirror. To say Brad was shocked by this was an understatement, the teen staring at it while reaching for the tap. But once again, he seemed to apply too much pressure and ended up completely breaking the tap off and causing water to spray everywhere.

"Gyah!" He stepped back to keep the water from getting on him, trying his best to stop the squirting and eventually managed to turn it off. "What the?" He grabbed a towel to dry off but ended up pulling the whole railing off, making him cry out again and decide to just get the heck out of there.

After only using two fingers to open the door, he rushed back to his room to get dressed before leaving the apartment to keep from breaking anything else.

So he just started walking through the city, all the while thinking about what had just happened. "Okay," he told himself, "relax. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation to all of this. I've had my alarm for years and I always smack it, so of course it'd eventually give out. The toothpaste bottle was obviously just defective and the tap and railing must have become rusted. Yeah, that's it. A bunch of totally normal reasons to explain-"

He didn't get to finish as in that moment, the sound of a loud horn caught his ears and made him look around to see a van racing towards him. He'd accidentally wandered into the road and was about to be hit.

"WHOA!" His instincts kicked in, causing him to leap away from the oncoming vehicle. But instead of jumping back, he jumped up. And too his shock, he ended up sailing straight upwards and over the truck.

Time seemed to slow down for him, the whole world moving in slow motions as he flipped around the truck. "What's...happening." After he asked, time sped back up and he suddenly found his body moving on its own. The next thing he knew, he was doing several flips and spin until he landed Spider-man style on the ground.

To say his little stunt attracted an audience to an understatement, many people staring at him in shock before pulling out their phones. "Nope!" He turned to rush down an alley, not wanting his face plastered all over the internet.

But as he rushed into the alley, he suddenly found himself presented by a ten-foot wall.

Still wanting to escape, his body picked up speed as he got closer and closer until he jumped. He'd only wanted to get high enough to get a hand on the top, but to his surprise he found himself sailing over the wall. Well, almost. He was so shocked by this sudden development, he didn't notice his foot catching on the wall.

"GYAH!" He cried as he shifted midair and found himself heading front first to the ground. "AUGH!" He grunted as he belly-flopped the ground. "Urrr," he slowly rolled over before looking up at the sky, "ow." Then he noticed something, "wait a minute." He sat up and looked himself over, "not ow." He did a quick mental scan and found his body didn't hurt at all. He might not have fallen far, but he figured he'd at least have a broken nose.

But no, had didn't have a single solitary scratch on him.

"What is happening?" He picked himself up and looked his body over, a million thought a moment racing through his head about how he could be doing all this. Then it happened.

The veins on his arms were beginning to glow blue, making Brad grasp before looking over himself. His shoulders, chest, stomach and leg veins were all glowing like his arms. And it didn't stop there.

Before Brad could even comprehend this, a spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared and circled his wrist before vanishing. Then another appeared, followed by another and another as they spread up his arms and completely surrounded his body.

"Stop!" He yelled, staggering back and shaking his arms to try and get the lightning to go away. Doing so caused him to trip and hit a wall, almost falling to the ground until he caught onto a drainpipe. But as soon as he had a firm grip on it, the pipe was crushed in his grasp and Brad jumped away while knocking over a trashcan.

"Is someone there?" He heard a voice call into the alley, making him panic as the lightning was still surging around him. He couldn't be seen like this.

He began to look for someplace to hide, but couldn't see anything. Then he remembered how he'd gotten into the alley and an idea formed in his head. So, digging deep, Brad ran towards the far wall before jumping halfway between the two.

He quickly found himself flying up a good ten feet as he reached the wall, only to turn half and plant his feet onto it before thrusting out and pushing himself off. This sent him flying diagonally towards the opposite wall, where he repeated the performance. After the third jump, he found himself in arms reach of the roof and grabbed the edge before pulling himself up.

It had taken less than five seconds and Brad had no idea how he did it, but he'd managed to scale a building without killing himself.

He looked down at himself and saw the lightning and glowing veins were gone. But as soon as the thought entered his head, they both returned and he slowly started to think. "Maybe." He closed his eyes and focused, "switch off." He opened his eyes but the lightning was still there, so he tried again and doubled his focus. "Switch...OFF!" The crackling from the lightning vanished, Brad opening his eyes to see he was back to normal. "I did it." Another thought then entered his head, "on." The lightning returned, "off." It vanished, "on." It turned on, "off." Gone again, "on." The lightning reappeared and Brad let himself feel it.

As the lightning surged around him, his body felt more pumped up than ever before. He felt like he could run a marathon and still have enough energy to keep going.

He opened his eyes again and looked forward, seeing the rows of apartments standing at equal heights.

"Alright." He got into a runners position as the energy returned, sparking around him until he shot off.

The world's fastest runner could hit a speed of twenty-eight miles an hour. Brad wasn't that fast, but he was pretty close, a trail of lightning following him as he reached the edge and leapt off it, zipping across the gap and landing on the next roof before continuing to run. "YEAH!" He cried, racing across the roof and leaping off the other edge to land down on another roof.

This kept up for several more rooftops until Brad finally landed on the final roof of the line and slid to a stop.

He looked back at the roofs he'd just jumped over, unable to believe he's actually done all that, then back down at his hands to see the lightning. Now that he'd gotten used to it, his brain was starting to catch up with him and finally booted up a memory. He'd seen this lightning before, around the meteor that had exploded in his face.

And just like that, everything clicked into place. The energy that had hit him had had an effect on his body, a very unbelievable effect. "I...I gotta tell someone."





Micro Chips was busy burning the early morning oil.

By the looks of things, he was inside some kind of garage working on something. His hands moved in a flurry as he grabbed tools, used them on whatever he was making, then put them down to grab another tool.

But his works were interrupted when his phone went off.

"Hello?" He was now working with one hand while the other held his phone. Given his friend had just gotten out of the hospital and his parents were out of state, hearing the anxiousness in Brad's voice put Micro on edge.

"Micro, you there?"

The nerd's work complete stopped as he focused on the phone call. "Brad, what's wrong? Do you need a doc-"

"NO!" Micro had to pull his ear away from the phone, "I really don't want to think about seeing a doctor about this. I just...please meet me at the junkyard."

"The junkyard? Why'd you wanna meet at a junkyard?"

"Just...please, I'm kinda freaking out right now." The call was cut, the teen's face showing how worried this call had made him.





It took an hour for Micro to reach the junkyard, peddling down the road on his bike.

As he approached the junkyard, he spotted another bike coming down the opposite end. "Sandal?" He pulled himself to a stop infront of the gate as the other bike got closer, Micro realising it was his friend that was riding it. "Did Brad call you too?"

"Yeah, and he sounded totally freaked out."

"He sounded like that to me too. And why would he want us to meet at the junkyard?" They both turned to look up at the entryway, both thinking the same thing. "He's clearly suffering from some kind of hallucination. We should find him and get him to a doctor as soon as possible." Sandal nodded and they headed inside.

Travelling through the canyons of metal, they looked around for any sign of their friend. "BRAD!"

"YO, BRAD! You here little man?" There was no answer as they arrived in the middle of the yard, a circle of car towers surrounding them. "Is he even here?"

"I don't know," a terrifying thought suddenly occurred to him. "What if he was on his way here but then he collapsed and is now unconscious somewhere. Oooooh, I hope there was someone there to phone an ambulance for him." But before they could get any more paranoid, something happened.

The sound of clanking metal caused the two to spin around and see the top car of a stack begin to move before finally being slowly lifted straight up. And as it was, the two gasped seeing something under it.

Brad stood atop the second-highest car, holding the vehicle above his head with only his brute strength while the lightning surged around his body. "Brad?" The teen opened his eyes and smiled down at them, seeing the gobsmacked looks they were both wielding. "How...how are you-"

"Not sure," he grunted as he gave one more push. He straightened up his arms and held the two-ton vehicle right up without any issue. "But check this out." He lowered the car again before thrusting back upwards, the car flying out of his grip and soaring through the air.

It flew over the two's head before crashing on its wheels a good ten meters away from the teen that had thrown it. "Wicked," Sandal laughed while Micro was still slack-jawed.

"There's more," they turned back to Brad just in time to watch him jump straight up. Like the car, he flew right over their heads before he came crashing down atop the car. Doing so completely crushed it beneath his feet, kicking up a cloud of dust that flew up around them.

"BRAD!" The two rushed over as the dust began to settle, revealing their friend jumping down off the car's remains looking completely fine.

"I know," he saw there faces. "This is a lot to take in." He looked himself over, "I'm kinda freaking out over it too."

"But...how?" Was still the question repeating through Micro's mind. Brad stepped over to them and held up his arms, the two seeing the lightning coming off him. "How are you doing that?"

"It was the meteor?" The two looked confused, "it had the same blue energy sparking off it. When it blew, it must have done something to me. I must have absorbed the energy. It's made me stronger, faster, more durable."

"Seriously?" Sandal asked.

"I just lifted a two-ton car and threw it over your heads. Then I leapt over to that car and crushed it underfoot, without even breaking a toe."

"Fascinating," Micro began to circle him, "so you've absorbed the energy and now it's supercharged your body."

"I guess," Brad wasn't sure if that was right but it sounded so.

"Incredible. This is a scientific first. Do you know what this means?"

"I do," Sandal reached into his bag while Brad looked at them both in confusion.

"What?" His question was met by Sandal holding a bunch of comics into his face.

"YOU'VE BECOME A SUPERHERO!" They both cheered, looks of glee appearing on their faces while Brad's face became one of utter shock. He definitely had not been expecting that.




"I didn't know it at the time, but that was just the start of an incredible adventure. My life would never be the same. I met many amazing people. Made many dangerous enemies and made bonds with many incredible allies.

There would be good times, hard times and strange times, but I'd rise to meet the challenge. And eventually, I'd come to be known as one of the first superheroes of our world: Flash Sentry."
> Future Story: Mega-Man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot, a city known for its many otherworldly situations. Protected by seven girls with incredible magical abilities. These girls had faced magical anomalies that most people would think were impossible. But now, a threat will appear and a new hero must rise to fight against it. 



It was another peaceful day in Canterlot City. Well...as peaceful as it can get in a city that's filled to the brim with magic that could turn anything it touched into a source of great chaos. 

At CHS, the students were arriving for another day of school. That included the school's best musician, Flash Sentry. The guitar player had just parked his car outside the school and got out, someone else getting out the other side. This was a boy of around thirteen with slightly darker skin and hair then Flash, wearing a black T-shirt under a white open shirt and brown pants. His shirt had the mark of a bat and ball on it. 

They grabbed their bags and headed for the door, Flash having his nose in a book. The younger boy looked up and rolled his eyes, "don't you think you've read enough. That's all you've been doing since last night. 

Flash shot him a glare, the teen knowing that meant leave me be. Flash had a big math test that day and it was not a subject he did great in, so he was cramming as much as he could. 

"Alright," the kid walked away while pulling a baseball and mitt out of his bag. The teen, known as First Base to his brother, rushed over to where he spotted his friends hanging and threw his ball at them. With the distraction gone, Flash got back to studying and was making good progress...for about five seconds. 

"Hey Flash!" He looked up from his book and saw his two closest friends standing outside the entrance. Micro Chips and Sandalwood smirked as he reached them, Micro Chip spotting the book and smirking. "Still worried about the test?" 

"Maybe," Flash replied. "I just wanna make sure I get at least a passing grade. If I don't, my mom's gonna kill me." 

"I doubt she'd kill you," Sandal said. "Maim...maybe." He and Micro laughed as Flash rolled his eyes. "Seriously dude, lighten up. I'm sure you'll be fine. With all the help Twilight's been giving you, you'll have this test in the bag." Flash smirked, unable to stop himself from doing so at the mention of those enjoyable occasions.

Despite knowing she wasn't the Twilight he had first crushed on, Flash still held a soft spot for the purple skinned magi-girl. He had actually learned more about her then he had the original Twilight, though that may be because he'd spent less then ten hours around the original Twilight since she lived in an entirely other dimension. 

"Speaking of Twilight," Micro looked between the two. "Did you hear she and the rest of the Rainbooms managed to save a bus that went out of control the other day." This caught the two's attention. "Apparently, it's breaks failed and it couldn't stop. So Rainbow used her super-speed to rush the passengers out of it before Twilight and Applejack stopped the bus. Meanwhile, Rarity used her magic to shield any pedestrians the bus almost hit while Pinkie used her magic to blast anything out of the way that might make the bus flip or crash." 

"Awesome!" Sandal smirked, "they're so lucky. Getting to have superpowers like that. I wish we could have powers so we could save the day." 

"Indeed," Micro adjusted his glasses, "it would be an interesting experience to be sure." 

Though Flash didn't say anything, he too wished he had some form of superpower. That way, he wouldn't just have to sit on the sidelines and let the girls do all the work. He remembered a few months back, when he had sung a song commemorating the girls and even managed to help them when Micro's machine went haywire. But despite the words he had sang, he was envious of their abilities. 

"FLASH!" The teen was pulled from his thoughts when his brother called out to him, making him turn to see something flying at him at high speed. 

Before Flash even knew what was happening, his arm shot up and caught it inches before it hit his face. The impact didn't even hurt, Flash's brain still rebooting after the shock of what had happened. By the time it was back online, Base and his friends had rushed over to him. 

"You okay?" He asked his brother, who finally brought his hand down. 

"I'm fine," he assured him. 

"Sorry about that," a kid he new as Rumble apologised. "I guess the ball just...got away from me. Cool reflexes though." 

"Thanks," he tossed the ball back to him, "just be careful next time." They all nodded and rushed back to where they were, Micro and Sandal smirking at Flash. 

"Man, why are you not on the baseball team?" Sandal asked, "you'd be great. Or maybe the dodgeball team." 

Flash shrugged, "not really something I'm interested in." 

They nodded before Micro spoke up again, though this time he was more cautious of his words. "Have you...heard anything from your dad?" This made Flash frown, the teen looking down at the ground. 

Three months ago, his father had vanished. 

Trail Blazer was a pilot and often took journeys to other countries, whether carrying passengers or cargo. He had flown all over the world and never had any problems. Bust suddenly, on his last voyage, his ship vanished for it never arrived at his destined airport. 

His family had been devastated to learn about his disappearance. His mother, Misty Vail, had refused to accept that he was gone and her sons were equally defiant. They knew that Trail was alive somewhere, but so far there hadn't been any sign of him. 

"No," Flash shook his head, "but he will contact us." Micro and Sandal smirked, nodding their agreement before the bell rang. 

The three stepped into the school and headed for their lockers, which were close to each other by luck. They grabbed their books and headed for their first class, the three expecting another normal day at CHS. 

But what they didn't know, was that this particular day wouldn't be normal in the slightest.  



In a dark place, a single dim light illuminated the shadows. 

This dim light came from a computer screen, which had multiple windows showing images from CCTV cameras all around Canterlot. That light also illuminated the face of the one watching, the figure being in a large robotic throne. 

It was a middle aged man with greying blonde hair. The entire left side of his face was covered with a robotic mask, while his left eye appeared to have been completely replaced with a red cybernetic one. He wore a black metal suit and his right arm appeared to have been replaced by a robotic one. His entire mouth could be seen and it was not smiling. 

"Pathetic mortals," the man whispered. "Going about their lives without a care in the world. Completely unaware that their lives are about to change." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair, causing it to turn a hundred and eighty degrees before coming to a stop. "It's time to show these fools the power of my genius. Uni-Troopers. Helicondors. Bulldozers. Awaken!" 

Suddenly, the place he was in was illuminated by spotlights. This allowed the rest of the room to be revealed as a giant metal hanger-like area filled with groups of mechanical monstrosities. 

The first group looked like the cross between a unicycle and a suit of armor. The top half was the armor, which was white and the hands were replaced with short blades, but from the waist down, it was a motorised unicycle.

The second group looked like a blue osprey marine helicopter that was about the size of an actual osprey. Only the central body looked like an actual bird, with a head in place of a cockpit with a yellow beak and a bird tail instead of a helicopter one. Connected to the bottom of its body was a single gatling gun turret. The whole thing was also covered in yellow strips

The third group looked like your standard bulldozer, though it was the size of a quad-bike. Only instead of a shovel it had an actual bull's head. It was black in colour with with red horns that had holes in the end of them. 

One by one, the eyes of the machines lit up as they started moving. The engines revved up on the Uni-Troopers, the blades began to spin on the Helicondors and fire shot out of the horns of the Bulldozers. 

"Go," he told them, "unleash your wrath on Canterlot. Show them the power of machines over organics." That was all the instruction they needed, as a large set of doors opened at the back of the room to reveal a tunnel that the machine army flew through. "Metall!"

Seconds later, something appeared out of the darkness. That something was a small robot that appeared to be a gray head with yellow feet, wearing a yellow mining helmet with a green cross on it. "You summoned me master," he said as the cyborg pressed a few buttons. 

"The time as come to begin my assault." As he said that, something came out of the table. A glass baby bottle filled with a strange purple liquid, which the man took and lowered to Metall's level. "But for this to be successful, I require a general to lead my army. Take these nanobots and go find something that can become that general. Something with a little...flare." 

"Yes master." Metall scampered forward and took the end of the bottle into his mouth, the robot sucking the purple liquid into itself. Once the liquid was gone, it let go and scurried along the ground. "I won't let you down." 

The man turned to him and watched him slowly make his way along the ground, a sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head. He pressed a few buttons and suddenly, one of the Bulldozers returned and drove up in front of Metall. "GO!" Metall took this as his cue and suddenly, burst of fire exploded out of his feet. Enough to propel him into the air before dying, the little robot landing on the Bulldozer before it drove back out of the hanger. 

He turned back to the screen and let out a chuckle before looking over at a picture that sat on the side of the desk. It was broken and parts of the picture looked burnt, but the image was clear. Two men were in the picture, standing side by side wearing lab-coats. One was the figure, only this version was completely human. And the other man...

"Well, Trail. It seems all your efforts were in vain. Now nothing can stop my rightful conquest. Nothing!" 



Back at CHS, Flash let out a sigh as he closed his locker. 

He had just finished his math test and was now on his way to lunch, wanting to quench his frustrations with a grilled cheese. He arrived at the cafeteria and quickly got in line to grab his food. Once that was done, he moved over to a table and sat down. 

He was usually the first one of his friends to arrive at the cafeteria, so would need to wait for them to arrive. As he did, he took out a notebook and pen. Now that he had completed his math test, he could let his brain work on other things. One such think was his music, the teen beginning to write notes with one hand while eating with another. He then got thirsty, so put his food down and swapped which hand he was writing with as he took a drink with the other. 

As he did, he noticed a group enter the cafeteria. That group was the famous Rainbooms, the magical protectors of their town. The girls got in line for their food before heading for their table, the seven laughing at something Pinkie said as they did. 

Flash couldn't help but smile at them, wishing the friendships he had could be as close as their's. 

At this moment, Micro, Sandal and his band-mates, Ringo and Brawly, arrived and had their food. And so the lot continued to enjoy their lunch while talking about their own interests, completely unaware of what was coming their way. 



In the streets of Canterlot, the people were enjoying their everyday lives. 

But then, something appeared on the streets of the town. Robots. They rolled down the streets at high speed, the Bulldozers leading the pack and ramming whatever car or vehicle got in their way. At the same time, the Helicondors soared through the air and began firing lasers out of their gatling guns. 

The lasers caused whatever they struck to explode, while the Bulldozers unleashed jets of fire from their horns. The Uni-Troopers were at the back of the pack, though they quickly split up and began crashing into the buildings that the other robots were blowing open. They used their metal blades and slash at anything they could find, destroying them. 

The people were quickly thrown into a panic and began to run for their lives, but the Uni-Troopers were hot on their tails. 

After a few minutes, the police arrived with SWAT vehicles. They parked up and the officers leapt out of the vans, being lead by a man with white skin and blue hair wearing a black shirt and gray pants with a long white overcoat. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest. "Get the civilians to safety!" He cried before focusing on the robots, "what the heck are these things?" 

Before he could get an answer, the Helicondors flew up and started firing. 

The SWAT soldiers raised their shields to try and defend, but those shield were soon destroyed the same way the other things hit by the laser were. The men found themselves getting blasted backwards, the lead officers growling at this as more robots charged forward. 

"You're not getting passed me!" He cried while taking out his gun and firing at them, but the shots just bounced right off. "No way." He was then forced to leap out of the way as a Bulldozer charged, managing to avoid it and duck behind a car before it could spot him. 

The man looked around and gasped seeing the robots continue down the street, barely slowed down by this officers. Fear then gripped him as he realised something. "Oh no. They're heading for Canterlot High." He got out and pulled out his phone, "Twily." 



Everyone had just completed their lunch and were enjoying the remainder of their break. 

At the Rainboom table, the girls laughed at another joke while Sunset took out her journal and began writing in it. "What'cha writing?" Pinkie asked her, Sunset look up. 

"Just letting Princess Twilight know everything's fine," the Equestrian turned human explained. "Ever since the music festival, there hasn't been any magical anomalies." 

"I guess it would be a stretch to suggest that was the last one we have to deal with?" Rarity asked. 

"We should always be on guard," Twilight told her. "It could be months or even years before the next magical issue, but we should still be ready." They all nodded in agreement, Rarity then smiling. 

"So, deary. How have things been going with you and Timber?" Twilight blushed at that, unsure how to respond. She and Timber hung out from time to time, but the two of them hadn't been able to spend a huge amount of time together lately. 

She was soon saved from needing to come up with something when he phone rang and she took it out, "it's my brother." She answered the call, "hey BBBFF. What's-"

"TWILIGHT!" She was forced the pull the phone away from her ear, her brother was shouting so loud. "You have to run!" Everyone who heard him raised an eyebrow. 

"Run?" Twilight asked, "why?" She soon got her answer when the building suddenly shook, knocking almost everyone out of their seats or off their feet. The cause was a giant explosion that occurred outside, many students quickly getting up and rushing towards the windows to see what had happened. 

And what they saw terrified them. 

"Robots?" Rainbow asked, looking both confused and in love. The love quickly vanished when they spotted a flying one fire a bunch of lasers and cause more explosions. 

"What the hey are they doin?" Applejack asked as several Uni-Troopers appeared and turned towards the school. 

"ATTACKING!" Sunset yelled as the robots charged, the many students quickly turning to run off as fast as they could. 

It was a mass exodus, as the crowd of teenagers rushed towards the nearest exit. Flash found himself getting swept away by the crowd, only able to look towards the back and see seven students remaining where they were. 

"LET'S DO THIS GUYS!" Rainbow cried as she and the Rainbooms each grasped their geodes and were consumed by a light, which faded to reveal them wearing their magical outfits. 

As the robots got closer to the school, they suddenly found themselves facing a large wall made of blue hexagons. They fired at this wall but it didn't seem phased by it, this giving the Rainbooms an opening to rush outside. "Where did these things come from?" Sunset asked, turning to Twilight. 

"I've never seen anything like them," she explained. "But they appear very well designed." She turned to the others, "I don't suppose you could leave one of each in tact so I can study them?" As she asked that, one of the Helicondor flew above Rarity's magical wall and fired at the school. 

The laser struck and caused part of the roof to explode, scaring the girls. "Sorry Twi," Applejack cracked her knuckles. "But a'h don't intend to hold back while these things try and hurt our friends." 

Twilight sighed, "understood." She and the others got into a fighting stance as Rarity made an opening in her defences. Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow rushed outside. Rainbow started zipping all over the place, avoiding the attacks from the Helicondor while searching for a way to take them down. 

Pinkie threw several explosive treats at the machines, but they exploded off the metal and barely left a scratch. 

Applejack was having a tough time, the farm girl's super strength useless since she couldn't get close enough to use it on the robots without getting struck. 

The only one who seemed able to do anything against the robots was Twilight, who was able to grab them in her magic and pull the robots apart. She crushed the Helicondor's gun barrel and pulled its rotors off, twisted the Bulldozer's horns and ripped the caterpillars off and turned the Uni-Troopers at one another as they tried to slash at her. The only problem was Twilight could only grab so many things at once and there were a lot of robots. 

Whenever she managed to disable on, another charged at her and she was forced to take evasive manoeuvres to avoid getting hurt. If this kept up, the city would be half destroyed by the time she managed to disarm the last robot. 

"This is taking forever!" Rainbow cried as she ran back behind the shield, "I can't find any way to shut these things down." 

"Seriously?" Sunset asked. 

"I thought I could find something I could pull off, but these things are completely sealed. Not a loose wire or anything." As she said that, Applejack and Pinkie found themselves blasted backwards and hit the ground in front of the shield wall. Rarity gasped and created another shield around the two as Twilight flew over and landed besides them. 

"This is nuts," Applejack groaned as she picked herself up. "We're barely slowin'em down!" 

"What do you expect?" Sunset asked, "we've only ever faced one robot before and that one wasn't as advanced as this." 

"So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked, looking worried. 

Sunset shared this expression, "I don't know." 



Back inside the school, Flash, Micro and Sandalwood had escaped the fleeing crowd and rushed through the school. He wanted to escape, but he couldn't yet. 

"BASE!" He cried, "where are you!" He took out his phone and called his brother, preying he was okay. 

"Flash!" Base's voice called out from the other side, "where are you?" 

"Where are you?" Flash asked, Base and his friends replying that they had gotten out of the school and were heading off to try and find a place they could hide from the robots. "Good. Don't come back here. Get as far from these robots as you can." 

"Alright. But what about you?" Flash and his friends arrived at an exit leading to the parking lot. 

"We'll do the same. Call me as soon as you've found someplace safe. Be careful." 

"I will," he replied before hanging up. At that moment, the three jumped outside and found the parking lot was deserted.

"Alright," Micro pointed to Flash's car, "let's get out while the getting's good." They other two nodded and rushed for the car. But before they could get close to it-

KABOOM!

The three were thrown backwards as Flash's car blew up, pieces flying everywhere. Flash's reflexes allowed him to roll back to his feet and look up to see a Helicondor above them, now pointing its weapon towards them. "RUN!" He yelled as Micro and Sandal jumped up to do so, the Helicondor's rapid fire cutting Flash off from them. 

"FLASH!" They yelled as Flash was forced into a corner. 

"Just go!" He told them as more Helicondor flew around the building, "I'll be fine." The two wanted to tell him no, but the sudden fire from the robot bird caused them to run or be blown up. Flash wasn't much better, soon finding himself in a corner as the Helicondor re-aimed. 

But then, Flash noticed something on the floor besides him. One of his car's hubcaps. 

"Here goes nothing!" He said as he grabbed the piece of metal and threw it at the robot with all his strength. And too his surprise, when it struck the metal disk actually cut off the robot's head. "Wow." He watched as the robot sparked and thrashed around before dropping dead. "I can't believe that worked." He didn't have much more time to wonder how it worked, as more robots began to come around the side of the building. 

Flash quickly rushed towards one of the fences and hopped over it, landing and running in the least robot populated direction. As he did, he looked back and spotted the girls continuing to fight against the robots but weren't having much luck. 



In the laboratory, the figure was watching as his robots caused more and more destruction and smiled. 

"Yes," he whispered, "that's it. Level this city so I might rebuild it in my image." The screen changed to show the police trying bigger and better weapons on his troops, but they had little to no effect on them. But despite this, there was one thing that made him frown.  

An area where his robot signals were being lost. Something was destroying his robots, slowly but assuredly. 

The caused appeared on screen, showing the man the Rainbooms using their powers to defeat his robots. "So, these are the famous magical girls." He chuckled when he saw the challenge they were giving his robots as they moved through the town away from the school they had been protecting. But one thing was clear. "My robots will win." He zoomed in on the girls and saw them all panting, clearly beginning to tire. "They'll exhaust themselves long before they finish my army off." He sat back in his chair and put his hands together, "maybe I should have my troops capture them. Their strange powers would be interesting to study." He hummed, "could they have nanobot enhancements?" 

He was so focused on the girls that he didn't notice another section of the screen showing the image of a blue haired teen running through the city. 



Flash ran as fast as he could, but found that the entire street was in chaos. 

Several store windows had been shattered and multiple vehicles had been turned over, ripped apart or crushed. The teen knew whatever did all this was likely still close by. He had to escape before they found him. 

But before he could search for an escape route, he suddenly heard something. "HELP!" He stopped in his tracks and turned towards the scream, looking around an overturned car and seeing a woman cowering up against a wall as one of the humanoid robots slowly approached her. Flash gasped when he realised the women was holding something in her arm. A baby. 

Without even thinking, Flash rushed out from behind the care. "HEY!" This caught the machine's attention, making it turn to Flash only to see him pick up a rock off the ground and throw it. It bounced off its head but appeared to do no damage. "Run!" He told the woman, who took his advice and got up to rush to safety. 

With its prey escaped, the robot focused entirely on Flash and charged while the teen ran. It rolled up to the car between them and sliced it with a single swing of its bladed arm, cutting it in half and giving it free rain to chance Flash. The teen felt himself begin to panic and as the robot drew near, he suddenly leapt to the left down an alleyway and caused the robot to miss him. 

"Ha!" Flash cheered while running down the alley, only to come to a stop when he found it was a dead end. "No, no, no, no, no!" He turned back the way he came, only to see the robot had recovered and now blocked his way. Flash and it stared one another down, the robot revving its engine as it prepared to attack. 

Flash's heart was beating a mile a minute, the teen rocker knowing he was as good as dead. But he refused to show this thing fear. "If this is how it ends," Flash's hands tightened into fists as the robot charged. "Then I'll go down FIGHTING!" He rushed forward, raising his fist and letting out a might roar. 

The two closed the gap and met in the center of the alleyway, Flash being the first to attack by throwing his fist forward. All he expected was a broken hand, but he didn't care. However, what he got was a very different outcome. 

When Flash's fist slammed into the robot's chest, the metal actually crumbled beneath it. The entire chest was suddenly crushed, the force of the punch knocking the robot backwards before it could attack back. 

Flash was shocked to see this, and even more shocked when he realised his hand wasn't broken or even hurt. All he could do was watch as the machine fell to the floor while sparks came out of its crushed chest. It thrashed around for several seconds until it finally stopped, its lights switching off. 

"What..." Flash stared at his fist as a million questions flew through his mind. 

But before he could try and figure any of them out, his entire body sudden froze. "Ahh!" He cried as his arms and legs went stiff, though his neck and head could still move. "What's...happening?" He tried everything, but his arms and legs refused to move. He couldn't even wiggle and finger or a toe. 

That soon changed however, when his arms and legs began to move in ways other then how he wanted them too. He turned towards the wall that had blocked his path before running forward. "Wait!" He cried as he got closer and closer, feeling like he was about to jump. "I'll never make-" He couldn't finish as he leapt forward, only to find himself flying higher then he had ever jumped before. 

But not high enough to completely clear the wall. 

Gravity took its toll as he was level with the wall's top, the teen hitting it and grabbing the top with his hands. His finger strength had somehow become that of a rock climber, as he felt himself grip the wall before pulling himself up and onto it. 

Flash didn't get the chance to really absorb this information as he soon found himself leaping off the wall and began to parkour upwards until he reached the roof. Once he was on said roof, his legs began moving and he ran faster then he had ever run before. So fast that when he reached the edge of the building, he jumped with enough momentum to reach the next roof over and land perfectly. 

And this continued, Flash remaining a prisoner of his own body as he jumped from one roof to the next. All the while, more screams and explosions filled the air from the robot attack. "Where the heck am I going?"



Back in the main city, Metall was riding a Bulldozer as it and several more caused mayhem. 

The Uni-Troopers continued to race around and high speed and slash at anything that moved, while the Helicondor surveyed the area from above and sent any info they obtained to the others. 

Metall hummed as he looked around, "master wants something with flare." He had the Bulldozer come to a stop so he could look inside one of the blown apart buildings. But all he found inside was a fire extinguisher and a couple of broken phones, none of which looked like they would give his master what he want. "Come on!" He cried as the robots rolled down the street, "isn't there anything in this city that has flare!?" 



"Raaah!" Applejack cried as she threw the remains of a care at a Uni-Trooper, crushing it only for several more to show up. "Ahh, come on! Where are these things even comin' from?" 

"I wish I could tell you!" Twilight told her as she picked up a Bulldozer and threw it at some Helicondor. 

"Who cares!" Rainbow cried as she sped onto one of the Bulldozers, looking for an opening she could use to pull out some wires. "Just keep fighting!" She spotted some Helicondor turning towards her before firing, the blasts slamming down on the robot. But to Rainbow's annoyance, the machine was undamaged by them. "Oh come on!"

"Hurry," Fluttershy told a little girl that she and Sunset helped out of hiding while Rarity kept them covered with her shields. Pinkie was also throwing explosive treats at the robots, but it was requiring large amounts of the confectionery to damage one of them. 

"I'm running low on ammo guys!" She cried before jumping behind Rarity's shield to avoid a Uni-Trooper's slash. 

"And I can't keep these shields up forever," the fashionista announced. 

"Me neither," Applejack grabbed a Uni-Trooper's arm and pulled it off before beating the robot with it. "Easy enough for Rainbow to say to just keep fightin, but we're not the machines. A'm starting to run out of juice."

"We all are," Twilight agreed as Rainbow came to a stop. "There's just too many of them." 

"I'm fine," Rainbow assured before she bent over and panted. "Just...give me a minute." A blast besides her caused the rainbow haired girl to cry out and leap behind the shield. "Never mind. You're right. We can't keep this up." 

Sunset frowned, knowing they needed to stop the robots. But there was no way the seven of them could do it alone. They needed help.



Flash's insane body had brought him to the warehouse section of the city, the teen leaping onto the roof off a warehouse and moving over to the edge. 

He then jumped down, Flash bracing himself since he expected this to hurt. But when he slammed into the ground, superhero style, he didn't feel anything. "Wow," he said as he stood up and moved over to one of the warehouses. "Why would...I bring me here?" He got his answer when he placed a hand up against the wall of the warehouse, a square of red light suddenly appearing around it as some kind of scanner went over his hand. 

After a few seconds, the scanner beeped before the warehouse doors opened up. 

As they did, Flash's body moved into the warehouse but the place was completely pitch black. The doors closed as soon as he was inside, the lights then illuminating the building and allowing him to see what was in front of him. The what it was made him gasp in amazement. 

A laboratory, the likes of which Twilight Sparkle would drool at. 

Multiple computers and machines were littered about the place, along with tubes and other strange objects he had no idea what was. And at the back of the room was the largest computer of all. And as Flash moved towards it, the screen lit up and a bunch of coding appeared that Flash didn't understand. 

In that moment, Flash's body finally returned control to him and he almost fell over as his legs were suddenly jelly. "Wow!" He quickly regained his balance and looked himself over, testing to find he was back in complete control. "Finally. Now why the heck was I brought here?" As he said that, the computer suddenly changed to show words. 

State name and birth-date.

"What?" Flash raised an eyebrow, but decided to humour the computer. He placed his name and birthday in before pressing enter, the computer beeping before more words appeared. 

Security question. When you and your father went camping, how big was the fish the two of you caught?

Flash was amazed by this, his brain flashing back to that day. It was one of the happiest memories he had with his dad, catching the giant fish and eating it for dinner. But before they ate it, they used his dad's measuring tape to see how big it was. 

He typed the answer into the computer and pressed enter, the computer beeping for several seconds before it finally showed new worlds. 

Access granted. Now activating Cybernetic-Analysis-Support-System.

"What?" Flash asked before he suddenly heard a new voice. 

"Hello Flash-"

"WAH!" Flash jumped and looked around, but couldn't find anyone in the room. "Who said that?" 

"I did," the voice replied from nowhere. Flash then turned back to the computer, realising where the voice was coming from. "I am the Cybernetic-Analysis-Support-System. Cass for short." 

"Cass," Flash replied, "you're a computer?" 

"Artificial intelligence," the computer corrected. "I was developed by your father, Trail Blazer." 

"What?" Flash asked, "my dad made you?" 

"That is correct." 

"But...my dad wasn't a scientist. He was a pilot. He was good with machines, sure, but not some kind of super genius." 

"That is where you are wrong. While he was a pilot in his youth, his travels lead him all over the world. Those travels allowed him to meet people and learn from them, Trail using what he learned to slowly become a master of programming and robotics. He was eventually approached by the government to work on a secret project, which he could not even discuss with his own family. That is why he continued to explain he was a pilot, to cover for his true work." 

"What government project?" Flash asked, "and why am I even here? One minute I'm getting attacking by some crazy robot and the next, I'm crushing it with my bare hands before my body suddenly goes nuts and brings me here." 

"You are here because of the protocol your father left behind," Cass replied. "But maybe it is better if he explains it to you himself." 

"What?" Flash asked, wondering what she meant until a new light flickered in the corner of his eye. 

That light was projected down from the ceiling and slowly took shape, forming a human body that Flash recognised. It was a man that looked just like him, but was taller and older with a blue beard around his face. Trail Blazer. 

"Dad!" Flash rushed over to him, Trail looking down as his son stepped in front of him. "Is it really you? How are you-" He stopped as he reached out to grab his father, only for his hand to go right through his body. He pulled back and realised what was going on, "you're a hologram." 

"That's right," Trail nodded. "I developed this hologram to explain everything to you should the need arise." 

"The need for what?" 

"The need for you to know what you really are." Flash felt confused, but also a little scared that his father was about to say something to him that would change his whole life. 

"What are you talking about?" 

Trail took a deep breath, despite only being a hologram. "Do you remember the story your mother and I once told you, about when she was pregnant with you." 

Flash's mind clicked an he remembered. "You said mom was in a car accident and hit pretty badly. But when the doctors checked her out, they found the two of us were fine." Trail frowned at this, "we were both fine...right?" 

Trail sighed, "your mother was. But you...were affected." 

"What?" 

"The accident caused some fetal damage." 

"What kind of damage?" Flash asked, "does mom know about that?" 

"No. Neither did the doctors. I scanned you before they had the chance and when I realised what had happened, I acted instantly." 

"What happened to me!?" Flash was really starting to get on edge now. 

Trail sighed again. "Basically, yours arms and legs were badly damaged. Had I not acted, you would have been born crippled and likely would have spent your life in a wheelchair...if you had even survived." Flash looked down at his arms and legs, unable to believe what he had just heard. 

"But...but I look fine." He looked up at him, "what did you do?" 

Trail frowned. "Cass has already told you about my work for the government?" Flash nodded. "What I was working on was a super solider project, designed to create men that are stronger, faster and more resilient then most men. It involved using specialised microscopic robots. Nanobots." 

"Nanobots?" 

"Yes. They would be injected into the body and then rebuild that body, replacing tissue and bone with machinery. It could be used to make soldiers more powerful, or to help those who had lost limbs in wars or accidents. Though it was originally designed for warfare, I knew the practical applications for it were infinite. I worked hard on the nanobots until, finally, I had perfected a batch. But that's when your mother was in the accident." 

Flash's brain slowly put the pieces together, once again looking down at his hands. "You used them on me." 

"Yes," Trail nodded. "When nobody was looking, I injected your mother with the nanobots and programmed them to enter you through her. Once inside, they began repairing the damage. You arms and legs were reconstructed using mechanical bones that they grafted onto your real ones. They also embedded a microscopic chip into your brain that would allow you to control them like you would any other appendage." 

"So I'm am robot?" 

"No," Trail shook his head, "of course not." He thought for a moment, "I guess the technical term would be...cyborg." 

"I'm a cyborg!" 

"Yes. But this doesn't make you any less human." 

"Except for the parts of me that aren't human!" Flash told him, "how much of me is robotic? Am I more machine then man?" 

Trail shook his head, "no. The nanobots were able to repair your body and left fifty-two percent of it unchanged." 

"But the other forty-eight percent is robotic?" Trail nodded. "So my entire life, I've been half machine." He continued to stare at his arms, "but I've grown? If my arms and legs are mechanical, how have they grown with me?" 

"The nanobots are still within you. They've continued to increase the length of your arms and legs in proportion to your natural growth. I wanted you to be like any other kid." 

"But I'm not!" Flash cried, "I'm...some kind of freak. Other kids can't crush metal with their bare hands!" It was then he realised something, "how did I do that? I'm suddenly so much stronger. I've had trouble carrying heavy boxes up the stairs. How did I destroy a killer robot?" 

"Because you've finally awakened your true strength." Flash gave Trail a questioning look. "Your robotic arms and legs are incredibly powerful. At full strength, you could lift a bus full of people over your head. But of course, this isn't something normal people can do. So I installed a program to limit your natural strength to that of a normal person. Had you ever done any weight training, the nanobots would have known about this and undo the limit enough to match how strong you should have been with real arms and legs. But today, those limits were completely removed." 

"Why?" Flash asked, seeing a frown appear on Trail's face before he turned to the computer. Flash turned to it as well and the screen flashed on, showing images from CCTV cameras all over the city. They showed the robots attacking the city, attacking people and destroying everything they came across. 

"Mechano." 

"Mecha-who?" Flash asked. 

"Mechano was the other person working on the nanobot project. But he had...other plans for it. Plans I only found out after we completed the nanobots. Those robots have the same nanobots you have, which is what activated the protocol that removed your limits and brought you here."

"He wants to destroy Canterlot?" Flash turned back to the screen, anger welling up at the sight of his home being attacked.

"Not destroy. Conquer. He must be planning to turn the city into his own personal fortress, which will allow him to create even more robots. If that happens, he'll begin to spread his clutches out through the rest of the country. And after that, the world." 

"How do you know this?" 

"The real me discovered Mechano's plans not long after you were born, when we had mastered the mass production of nanobots. I found evidence that they were being used to build something. When I confronted him about it, he didn't deny it." He let out a sigh, "he was a brilliant scientist but I always sensed there was something...wrong with him. But I didn't know how unhinged he was until I discovered what he was doing. And when I confronted him, he set one of his machines on me." Flash's eyes went wide. "But before it could hurt me, it began to malfunction and destroyed our lab. I managed to escape, but Mechano appeared to be lost." 

"But he wasn't," Flash pointed to the screen. "He's back and he's causing mayhem." 

"I knew he wasn't gone," Trail explained. "They never discovered a body and a man like him wouldn't use something that could malfunction if he didn't have an escape plan. I knew he was licking his wounds and working on perfecting his creations, so I had to counter with my own."  

Flash wondered what he meant, but quickly realised what he was getting at and looked down at his arms. "Me?" 

Trail nodded. "Cass, bring up file titled Project Mega-Man." The computer beeped before several windows opened, revealing blueprints of a humanoid figure in a set of strange armour. 

"What is this?" 

"The fruits of my research. The government wanted a super soldier and I created one. However, the project was shut down after Mechano's mad attack on me. But I knew he would be back and that we would need some way to fight back." 

"So you want to turn me into a super weapon?" Flash turned to his father in horror. 

Trail looked back at him, a grim look on his face. "I never wanted you to be anything other then a normal boy. And even now, I won't force this on you. But there is no one else that can possibly protect this city from Mechano. Only the power of the nanobots can stop the ones Mechano created. And you are the only one with them." 

"You had years to do all this," Flash told him. "Why didn't you make some more nanobots and give them to someone else...like the police or the government?" 

"We both know they wouldn't just use them to stop Mechano. They would create millions of new weapons that could cause great suffering around the world. They can't be trusted."

"But I can?" 

Trail nodded, moving to put his hand on the boy's shoulder only to stop upon realising what he was. "I know you, son. You're a good person. You wouldn't let power like this change you or use it for your own desires. You'd only ever use it to help people, like right now. But it's your decision." They turned towards the screen, watching as more and more of their city was ripped apart. "You can call your mother and tell her to bring Base here. You'll be safe until the heat dies down, then get out of the city." 

"But then Mechano would win," Flash told him. 

Trail nodded. "If you want Mechano to be stopped, it means you must embrace who you are. You are Flash Sentry, a cyborg." As he said this, his image began to flicker and crack. 

"Dad?" Flash looked worried as Trail looked himself over. 

"I created this hologram in a hurry. I was only able to make it last so long." 

"But where are you?" He asked, "the real you?" 

"I do not know," Trail replied as his image grew weaker and flickered more. "I created this hologram in case anything should ever happen to me. So that I could explain all this too you myself. It appears it was the right call." His form started to turn see through. "Now it's up to you Flash. If you chose to do this, Cass will be here to help you with everything you need. And hopefully, I'll eventually return and help you as well." His form was almost completely gone, "goodbye son." 

"Dad!" Flash rushed forward, but his father's hologram completely vanished. 

"Hologram records have failed," Cass explained. "I am sorry Flash." 

The teen let out a sigh as he stared at where his father had once been, many more questions filling his mind. But then a scream made him turn to the computer and see several Helicondor chasing after some people. His father's words echoed through his head and he stepped forward. 

"Cass, how do I do this? Become this...Mega-Man?" His answer came when the keyboard flipped up and revealed a hole beneath it, where a strange metal bracelet sat. 

"This is the Mega-Band. Using the activation phrase while wearing it will allow me to transfer the data to your nanobots, which will do the rest. But be warned, this will not work unless you are mentally open to the fact that you are part machine." 

Flash grabbed the bracelet and held it in his hands, then clutched it tight. The day's events were spiralling in his head, especially the information he had just learned. But he knew he had to do this and placed the bracelet on his wrist. "What's the phrase?" 

"The phrase is a word your father created so it would not be used accidently. Megamorph."

Flash took a deep breath and closed his eyes, readying himself. "Alright," his eyes shot open, "Megamorph!" The Mega-Band flashed before unleashing a blue light that completely engulfed him. 

Within the light, Flash felt himself beginning to change. His clothes were slowly beginning to change as they were covered in a white light that then exploded off of him to reveal his new suit. Said suit was some kind of skin-tight leather jumpsuit that was blue around his chest and arms and black from his waist down. A black metal belt appeared around his waist with a large blue buckle, while a white strip went up the sides of his legs and waist before ending at his armpits. Another flash of white light appeared around his chest, arms, legs and feet, which then exploded off to reveal blue football armour-like metal around his chest, blue metal gauntlets around his arms and blue metal boots around his feet and legs. His head was then enveloped by the light that exploded off of him, revealing a blue helmet with circles over the ears that had a light blue band running up the helmet to give it a headphone appearance. The helmet also had a red visor covering his eyes and a black mask covering his mouth and chin. 

The light faded to reveal Flash in his new appearance, the teen looking himself over and being amazed by the sudden transformation. "Wow," his muffled voice spoke. When the thought of taking his helmet off entered his head, both his visor and mask retracted into the helmet. "This feels...incredible." 

"I know what's happening is a lot to take in," Cass told him. "But right now, your city is in danger." 

Flash nodded, "you're right." He turned towards the door as it began to open, the cyborg rushing forward as his helmet closed back up. "Wish me luck!" With that, he ran out of the warehouse and turned towards the city. He felt himself run faster then he had ever run before and as he got close to the edge of the warehouse area, he jumped and got a good fifteen meters before falling back down and landing atop one of the warehouse roofs. He then rushed forward and jumped over to another building, easily making the distance and continuing to move forward. "Watch out Mechano," he cried while jumping into the air again. "Mega-Man's coming for ya!"



Back in the main city, Metall and his group soon arrived at a building sight.

The construction crew soon spotted them and all panicked as the robots caused havoc. At the same time, Metall looked around. "Something with flare," he told himself until he spotted a man drop a welding torch as he tried to escape from an attacking Uni-Trooper. "Ooh." 

The Bulldozer came to a stop in front of the torch and Metall jumped down. "You look like you have flare." As he said that, the green cross on his head opened up before a long clear tube with a needle on the end came out. It slithered over to the torch and the needle was injected into the metal. 

The purple liquid flew through the tube and into the needle, then was injected into the torch. 

After a few seconds, the liquid was all used and Metall retracted the hose into his head. He stepped back as the torch began to glow purple and shake, the entire device soon being consumed by the light before it form changed. 

It slowly grew large and took a more humanoid form until, finally, the light faded to reveal the new creation. A humanoid robot with red armour. Its head looked like a knight's helmet with a plume made entirely out of fire. Its shoulders were large orbs with a hole in them, while its arms ended in large welding torches. 

The visor lit up, signalling the robot's activation. And as soon as it did, it let out a mighty roar as the torches ignited and burst of fire exploded out of its shoulder holes. "I...am...BLAZE-MAN!"
> Future Story: Kamen Rider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot, a city of many amazing individuals. 

The people of the city were living their lives, wondering what insane situation might happen next in the crazy city. Over the last year, many strange things had occurred in Canterlot. Most of it was situated around Canterlot High, but over time the strangeness began to spread out. But what nobody knew was that on that day, the most unusual thing ever seen was about to occur. 

At Canterlot High, the students were all arriving at the building ready for another day of education. 

This included a blue haired orange skinned boy named Flash Sentry, who had just arrived to the school on his pedal bike. The teen huffed in exhaustion, having not gotten used to needing to get up earlier now that he couldn't drive his car. Why, you ask? 



Three days ago.

Flash let out a moan as he felt himself beginning to come around. His head was completely fuzzy but he knew one thing: He wasn't currently asleep on his bed. 

Instead, he felt himself laid out on something hard. He opened his eyes and found himself looking directly up at the sky. His body ached as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked around and found he was actually in an alleyway, one he frequently walked through when he was heading home from where he parked his car. 

He pushed himself to his feet, but ended up staggering slightly as his legs felt like jelly. He managed to regain his strength and looked around, trying to figure out what he was doing sleeping in an alleyway. "What happened to me last night?" He tried to think back, but the last thing he remembered was getting out of the car after parking it and heading towards his house. But everything after that was a total blank.

He reached into his pocket to grab his phone to check the time, but when he did he found it wasn't there. "What?" He began checking his other pockets but they were empty too. His phone, keys, wallet, all of it were missing. "I've been robbed!"



The police believed that Flash had been snuck up on from behind and knocked out, though he didn't appear to have any injuries that would result in a KO. 

Despite his keys being taken, Flash's car remained where it was and nothing from it seemed to be taken. However, with his only key set gone he had no way to use it. So until he could get himself a new set, Flash was stuck riding his old bike to school. 

Pulling up to the side of the building where the bikes were kept, he put it into place and used his bike lock to keep it from being stolen. He then swung his bag over his back and headed into the building. 

"Flash!" He turned to see his friend Derpy heading towards him, "hey. You doing okay after what happened?" 

"I'm fine," he told her. "Just wish I knew who it was that got the jump on me." Derpy nodded as they headed for their lockers and started getting what they needed, Flash placing his bag inside and taking out his books whilst Derpy grabbed everything she needed. 

"I heard the Rainbooms managed to stop another magic attack the other day." 

"Really?" Flash asked, "what was it this time. Did magic infect a coffee maker and turn anyone who drank from it into a magical being with super powers?" Derpy laughed at this, but shrugged telling him she didn't know what it was that they beat. 

"All I know is it was pretty dangerous and the girls barely managed to stop it." 

Flash sighed, "man I wish I could be like that. If I had magic, I could help those that need it like the girls." He imagined what life would be like if he had one of the girl's powers, even the slightly less useful ones like animal speak and reading minds. If he had something like that, he could help people like he always wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely something like that would ever happen to him.

"I bet it's not as great as the girls make it seem," Derpy told him. "I mean, they're constantly on guard for anything that might happen around him. That sounds really stressful if you ask me."

"Maybe," Flash nodded as Derpy headed off for her homeroom. Flash closed his locker and as he did, he turned to put his back against it to think about what Derpy had said. His hand then reached into his pocket and took something out of it. A device that he had found three days ago. 



Three days ago.

"I've been robbed." But then, he felt something in his jacket pocket. Something that was too heavy for his keys and wallet and to big to be his phone. 

He reached inside and felt some kind of glass screen in his pocket, which was connected to something thick. He pulled it out and looked it over, seeing it was just like Flash had felt. It was a glass rectangle with multiple dots covering it, which looked like they were actually lights. The glass was big enough that Flash could put his entire hand on it and be completely inside it. On the left side of it, there was a thick square-shaped rod of metal that ran up the side of it and hand a button on the top of it. On the left side, between the rod and the dots, letters could be seen one on top of the other to make a word. S, T, R, I, K, E.

Flash looked the device over and pressed the button on top of the rod, which caused it to come to life. "STRIKE!" It cried, surprising him as several dots in the middle of the screen lit up and glowed orange. Doing so caused them to make the outline of an insect, which appeared to have a light on its rear end. Flash realised it was a lightning bug, the lights suddenly going out before other came on to make the same animal shape but in a different pose. It did this several more time, the lights flash on and off to make it look like the insect was flying all around the screen. It didn't stop until Flash pressed the button again, confusing him. "What is this thing?" 



Present.

Flash stared at the device, still wondering what the heck it was. He wanted to show it to somebody, but every time he thought about doing so he got a strange feeling that made him think again. He was completely clueless about what the heck was going on, but he knew whatever this device was, it was important. 

He put the device back into his pocket and began to make his way to his homeroom, the teen trying to get the unusual item out of his mind. But what he didn't realised was that the item in question would prove rather important to him in the coming days and weeks. Rather important to the entire town in fact, as time would soon demonstrate. 



In the suburbs of Canterlot, inside a quint little home, a man was busy getting ready for work. 

His wife and children were all laughing around the table, since it was there day off from work and school so they didn't have to hurry to get anywhere. "Daddy!" A two year old girl called out, showing her father a picture she had just drawn of the family together. 

"Wow," he told her as he knotted his tie. "That's great honey. You're a young Leonardo." The girl looked confused by the statement, but could tell it was a compliment and smiled. "Well," he turned to his wife, "I'd better get to work." She nodded and reached up to kiss him, the kids letting out several disgusted looks as they did. 

He headed out the front door, grabbing his briefcase and coat as he left. He stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air before heading to his car. As he did, he noticed a tiny spider had made a home for itself on his wing mirror. He smiled, happy to see his car could keep a living thing safe and shot it the world. 

But before he could get in the car, he heard something that made him spin around. Movement coming from around the side of his house, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Whose there?" He asked, putting his briefcase down and taking out his phone. "Whoever you are, show yourself before I call the cops." 

After a few moments, somebody stepped out from behind the house. He couldn't see who it was they were, since their entire body was hidden from view by a dark brown cloak with a deep hood that hid their entire face. The figure stepped around the house and slowly made its way towards him, the man feeling very weary about the figure. 

"Who are you?" He asked, as the figure got right in front of him. "Why are you here?" 

"I am here to remind you," the figure explained. "The time has come for our people to attack and claim this world." He lifted his hood and the man was met with a pair of green eyes. "Awaken and remember what you truly are." These words combined with the eyes caused the man's head to suddenly explode with information, making him grab his head and fall to his knees as he cried out.  

"Gyah!" He was in tears as the information flowed through his head, his brain running on overdrive as he remembered everything. After a few seconds, he stopped crying out and looked up at the cloaked figure. "I am...Keel-Tra-Vull. Ready to receive orders." 

"Good," the cloaked figure nodded. "Attack and destroy. Let all those in this world know that their time is up." With that, he turned to walk off whilst the man calling himself Keel stood back up. The figure vanished around the side of the house as Keel turned to the spider that was crawling on his wing mirror, the man reaching out and grabbing it in his hands. 

As soon as he did, his entire body began to transform. His skin began to melt into a strange dark orange liquid, which consumed his entire form before it started reshaping. 

Eventually, the reshaping finished and the liquid began to solidify and be absorbed by the body within it. And in doing so, a new creature was revealed. It was a fusion of a man and a spider, the creature's body being grey in colour with green stripes covering it. Its head was round and had eight bright red eyes, along with a pair of mandibles where its mouth should be. Its arms and legs were normal, but from out of its back had sprouted four spider legs that were large and spindly.

The creature looked its new body over before releasing the hand that had grabbed the spider. From it, a lump of orange amber-like substance fell to the ground. Inside the amber, the spider from before was trapped. 

The door of the house opened up and the woman stepped out. "Honey, I thought I heard yelling and-" She stopped when she saw the creature, which turned towards her and let out a roar. The woman screamed as ran back into the house, the spider creature chasing after her but getting stopped when she slammed the door shut. 

It pounded against the door, threatening to rip it down any second. But before it could, the sound of a motor filled its eyes and made it turn to see a motor bike rolling down the road. The rider looked over at the house and spotted the creature, almost losing balance from the shock of seeing it. The monster began to charge towards him and the rider let out a scream, riding away as fast as possible. 

The monster chased after him as as it did, it let out a hiss as a chord of white sticky string shot out of its mouth. It barely missed the back wheel, the rider crying out and increasing speed. The spider kept up and the pair arrived at the more populated area of the city, the people of Canterlot hearing the man's screams and turning to see him being chased by the monster. 

They wondered if this was some kind of performance, until the spider fired out a bunch of webbing that grabbed the wheel of the bike and caused the rider to be thrown from the vehicle. The beast then grabbed the webbing in its humanoid hands and began swinging it and the bike around before throwing it, the bike flying through the air towards a group of people. 

They screamed and barely managed to leap out of the way to avoid getting crushed. As they did, the spider monster leapt up onto a parked car and let out a kiss roar combo that made everyone scream. 

"Freeze!" A police officer cried as he rushed up and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the monster. "But your hands in the air where I can see them!" The spider did so, raising its arms and the four spider-like legs. But then it spat out a glob of webbing that struck the gun and knocked it out of his hand. "Augh!" He cried as it fell to the ground, whilst the spider leapt into the air and landed in front of them. One of its spider legs swung down and slashed him down the front, the cop screaming as his cloths were torn and a large gash appeared on his chest. 

He fell to the floor, whilst the monster turned to the people still remaining there. It hissed one more time and charged, the people screaming as they rushed off. The monster gained on them and as they ran, they preyed that somebody would show up to save them. 



Flash was in class, his mind still on the strange device he had in his pocket. 

He barely seemed to notice when the bell rang and everyone began to pack up, Flash remaining seated staring at his book. That was until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "Flash?" He jolted back to earth and turned to see Twilight Sparkle, the glasses wearing girl looking at him curiously. "You okay?" 

"Yeah?" He nodded, looking around and seeing they were the only ones in the classroom. "I'm fine." He started packing up before getting to his feet. 

"You sure?" She asked as they headed for the door. "You looked a little...distracted." 

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just...got a lot on my mind." 

"Well try not to let it effect your school work," she told him. "I'd hate all the work I put into tutoring you to go to waste because you're not paying attention in class. You still up for our session later?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Flash told her as they made their way through the halls. "I need a lot of help if I wanna pass math and history...and science...and geography...and...you get the picture." Twilight laughed at this. "So I heard you and the girls ended up saving the day again a few days back." 

"Yeah. Nothing to big. A little kid got their hands on a bubble blower that was enchanted with magic. Every time she blew a bubble, it was grow larger and larger until it touched something. When it did, it sucked it inside before lifting it into the air. We were able to stop it before she sent her whole school into orbit." Flash laughed at this. 

"Man I wish I could do stuff like you girls. Super speed, super strength, telekinesis. I'd love to have one of those powers." 

"Well you've got a lot of skills most would kill for," Twilight reminded him. "Even Rainbow would have to admit you're guitar skills are the best around. And you're the best driver in school. You're the only one who has a licence and hasn't gotten a parking or speeding ticket." 

"Still not as cool as you what you girls can do," Flash pointed out. Twilight was about to argue back, but before she could...something happened. 

All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over Flash. The teen suddenly staggered to the side and had to lean against the locker, moaning as he did so. "Flash?" Twilight asked as he held a hand to his head. "Are you okay?" 

Flash tried to block out the dizziness, but as he did he felt images appear on the forefront of his head. Images of down town Canterlot, which was being destroyed by something. A creature he had never seen before. He shook his head and when he did, the images vanished but the dizziness continued. 

"Flash?" He blinked and his eyes began to focus again, allowing him to see Twilight looking at him worriedly. Several other students who were moving between classes were also looking at him, some looking worried whilst others seemed confused. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," he told her. "Just...got dizzy for a moment." But as he said that, he suddenly got a very powerful urge. And urge to go see if what he had seen was real or not. He couldn't explain it, but it was like a hunger. A thirst begging to be quenched. 

"Maybe you should go see the nurse?" Twilight suggested. Flash wanted to deny it, but he would rather do that then have everyone continue to look at him. 

"Maybe you're right," he told her. "I'll head over there. You go get to your next class." 

"Are you sure?" She asked, "I could come with." Flash shook his head. 

"Naw, you go on. I'm just a little dizzy. I can survive on my own long enough to get to the nurse." Twilight frowned, but seemed to buy it. 

"Alright." She began to walk away, "I'll come check on you at lunch." Flash nodded and began making his way towards the the nurses office whilst Twilight headed to her next class. But as he drew closer to the room in question, the drive to leave and go to the area he saw grew stronger and stronger. 

He eventually arrived at the office and was about to knock, but once again the dizziness overcame him and his clutched his head as images of the monster attacking flash through his mind. He wanted to ignore them, but he could no longer fight the urge he felt. The urge to go to this creature and do...something. 

Before his mind could make him stop, he pulled away from the nurses office and rushed down the hall towards the exit out to the parking lot. He jumped through the door and ran to his bike, unchaining the vehicle before pulling it out of the bike lock. 

By the time his mind finally caught up with his body, he was already racing down the road on his bike and peddling like a madman. "This is nuts," he told himself. "Why am I doing this. I'm not gonna find anything there. And even if what I saw is true, what the heck can I do about it. I'm nothing special." What Flash didn't realise was that the device in his pocket was starting to glow, its power beginning to influence him. Whatever happened when he arrived downtown was gonna be big. Whether Flash realised it or not. 



In a dark area, the figure in the brown cloak was watching something. A screen that appeared to have been projected into midair. 

The figure stared at the screen, which was showing footage of the spider monster as it ran a muck in the city. "Perfect," he chuckled whilst watching. "Do more damage. Destroy everything you see." Sure enough, the spider monster used its four spindly legs to stab into a car and throw it towards some people. Nobody had been hurt yet, but they were running out of places to hide. 

As the figure continued to watch, he was soon greeted by two more figures in the exact same cloaks. One was taller then the first and appeared more thin, whilst the second was a little shorter then the first but had more bulk filling out the cloak. 

"Gule," the taller one said with a female voice, "how goes our first operation?" 

The cloak known as Gule laughed. "Excellent Maya. I knew activating this monster would be a good start. The humans don't know what to think of him."

"Don't get to overconfident," the bulkier figure stated. "If we believe we've won before the final strike lands, then we'll only be inviting our own doom." 

"Relax Frill," Gule told him. "We've been studying this world long enough to know the human's capabilities. There's nothing here that could destroy us, not even those seven magical girls." 

Maya nodded. "And once this world has been conquered and purged, we'll move onto the world that the magic they wield came from. I look forward to wielding it myself once I've found a strong enough host." 

Frill let out an uninterested hmm. "Let's stay focused on our main goal for now. Even if their weapons do little to no damage to us, a lucky hit could still spell our untimely demise." 



Back at school, Twilight sat in her geology class taking notes. 

But that stopped when the overhead speaker came on and Principal Celestia's voice echoed out of it. "Will Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity please come to my office." Twilight frowned and turned to Rarity, who looked just as confused, but both got up and left the room. 

They headed down the hallway and met up with Fluttershy and Pinkie. "What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, "did we do something to get in trouble?" 

"I don't remember doing anything," Pinkie stated. 

Rarity also looked worried, but did her best to hide it. "I'm sure whatever it is, it's nothing to sever. And I'm sure we can talk ourselves out of it if we are." They arrived outside the hallway and found Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset coming from the other way. "Rainbow, did you do something to get us in trouble." 

"Not me," she assured them. "I've been on my best behaviour lately." Before the girls could say anything else, the door opened and Celestia stepped out. 

"Good, girls, you're here." 

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked, Celestia gesturing for them to come in. Luna was also in the room, which made the girls worry more since she wouldn't be there if this wasn't serious. 

"Are we in trouble?" Applejack asked. 

"No," Celestia told her before turning her computer towards them. "I called you in because I just received a news report." The girls stared at the image on the screen and their eyes went wide seeing photos and a few videos of some kind of spider creature attacking people.  

"What the heck?" Rainbow asked when they looked closer, "what is that thing?" 

"We're not sure," Celestia told them. "It just showed up and started attacking people. But one thing's clear, it's not something you would find in this world. So I figured it could only mean one thing." 

"It's from Equestria," Twilight caught on before they all turned to Sunset. 

She took a closer look at the creature, a frown appearing on her lips. "I've never seen anything like that back home. It must have been a normal person or object that was enchanted with magic and transformed, like Gloriosa and Juniper."

"Does that mean we have to go fight it?" Fluttershy asked. 

"What are the chances of it being a hoax?" Luna asked, Sunset shrugging. 

"It's possible, but I'd rather not take that chance." She turned to Celestia, "permission to leave school early and go check it out." Celestia nodded, "thanks. Let's go girls!" 

"YEAH!" All but Fluttershy cried out, the pink haired girl letting a whisper version of the cry free. They all rushed out the office, Celestia telling them to be careful. 

"I'll run ahead," Rainbow told them as they reached the doors. "I'll beat that thing to a pulp until you show up, then we can finish it off with a rainbow blast." 

"No way," Twilight told her. "If this thing is using Equestrian Magic, it's not safe to fight it alone. Remember what happened with the mirror and the phone." Rainbow frowned at that, not wanting to get sucked away by the villain a third time. "We should all go together and attack with the rainbow blast as soon as we see it." The others nodded, agreeing that was the smartest move. 

So, when they got out of the school, they rushed to their vehicles and began to drive down towards the lower city. All the while, they hoped nobody was gonna be hurt by whatever was attacking. 



The spider monster had gotten a lot done since it first showed up. Vehicles had been destroyed, buildings had been trashed and even parts of the street had been demolished. 

Several humans had been injured but still managed to escape, the spider looking for its next victim. But as it marched down the street, a sound filled its ears and made it stop in its tracks. That sound came from a bunch of sirens, which were connected to the police SWAT vans that had just driven up to the street. 

They pulled themselves to a stop before multiple highly armed officers rushed out with shields and guns at the ready. The spider stared at them as they got in formation. "Surrender or you will be fired upon," the leader of the group called out as they loaded their guns and pointed them through the gaps in the shield wall. 

The spider hissed before spitting out a load of webbing and hitting one of the shields. 

The officers all let the shots fly, but the monster leapt into the air to avoid them and pulled the webs back. The shield was pulled from the officer holding it and the monster grabbed it, just in time as the police pointed their guns up at it and fired. But the shield protected the spider as it fell and landed in the middle of the ground. It pinned a cop to the ground and swung its legs around, sending those around it flying. 

The lead cop pointed his gun at the monster, but the beast spun around and fired a blast of webbing at him that knocked him backwards until he hit the ground. It then fired another stream of sticky silk to pin him to the ground, the man crying out as he was trapped and probably left for a snack later. 

The monster continued battling the cops, it only being sheer luck that none of them had been gravely injured. When the last one was knocked to the ground and thrown unconscious, the spider turned towards the lead cop. "No," he struggled against the webs but couldn't get free, "stay back." The beast snarled as it got closer, "HELP!" It reached out with its clawed hand and got closer and closer to his face.

Both were so focused on each other, they didn't notice the sound of a bike rolling down the street. 

Flash looked around the destroyed street in amazement, carefully swerving around the destroyed vehicles littering it. The teen then spotted the monster and his eyes went wide when he saw it, pulling his bike to a stop and staring at the spider. "No way," he whispered. The beast looked just like the one he had seen in that vision and as he looked around, he realised he was in the same spot the vision had shown him as well. The urge to come here completely vanished, replaced with a new urge. Getting the heck out of there.

But as he was about to turn to leave, he heard someone cry out. He focused back on the monster and saw the man it had trapped, then looked around to see the other police officers scattered around. If he left, then they would all...

"No," he shook his head, "I can't let that happen." He looked around and spotted a piece of broken care, the teen reaching down and grabbing it before throwing it as hard as he could. The metal spun through the air and slammed into the monster's head, though it didn't even seem to scratch it. 

The spider looked up form its pray and spotted Flash, the teen completely terrified but putting up a brave front. "Come and get me!" He cried, the cop turning to him before fainting in terror. The teen turned to ride away on his bike, but the monster was faster and spit out a blast of webbing that hit the wheel and locked it to the ground. "No!" Flash turned back to see the monster coming, the guitar player leaping off his bike and running. 

The spider gave chase and slowly managed to catch up to him. 

It tried to slash at him with its spiked leg, but Flash managed to leap to the side to avoid it. This caused the leg to stab into the floor, causing it to dig into the ground and get stuck. He then ran as fast as he could, as the spider tried to pull its leg free. When it wasn't looking, he ducked down one of the alleyways between a pair of tall buildings.

The spider finally pulled its leg free and looked up, seeing no sign of Flash. 

The teen ran as fast as he could down the alleyway. But as he got about halfway down, he realised he had made a mistake when he saw a large wall in front of him. "No!" He cried, reaching the wall and looking up at it. There was no way to climb it and when he looked back, down the alleyway, he spotted only a single door going into each of the buildings. 

He ran to the closest and tried to pull it open, but it was locked. It was the same with the other door. He was trapped. 

A hissing made him freeze and slowly turn to see the spider monster glaring at him from the end of the alley. He stepped away from the door and the pair stared one another down, Flash's heart beating a million beat a minute. The beast let out a snarl before it charge, claws and spikes ready to impale him. 

Flash's body acted before he could think, rushing forward as fast as he could run towards the monster. It seemed to think he had gone nuts and prepared to kill him. But at the last minute, he leapt down and slid along the ground under the monsters legs and claws.

He slid to the other side of the monster and leapt back to his feet, attempting to escape by running as fast as he could. But the monster quickly spun around and fired a blast of webbing that struck Flash in the back. "Gah!" He cried at the impact, making him stagger forwards before the line went taught. The next thing Flash knew, he was being pulled backwards with enough force that he was thrown upwards. "GYAH!" He cried as he swung up in an arch and came crashing into the ground, crying out as he landed on the other side of the spider monster. 

Flash rolled along the ground as something fell out of his jacket. He let out several moans as he laid on the ground, rolling to his front and looking forwards and seeing he was once again trapped between the monster and the wall. He beast hissed, looking ready to kill him any moment. And it was not going to fall for the same trick as before. 

Flash then noticed what had fallen to the ground from his pocket: The device from before. 

He didn't know why, but he was suddenly overcome by the sudden urge to grab it. And so, his body still aching, he reached out and grasped the screen in his hand. As he did, he felt the pain from before slowly begin to fade and he began to pick himself up. 

The spider watched as he stood up and focused on the object in his hands.

He continued to stare at it and as he did, something happened. A sudden pulse flew through his head, causing him to flinch and clutch his head. "Ahh!" He cried, whilst the device began to glow. "Gyah!" Both hands grasped his head as he swung it around. "RAAAAAH!" Then, suddenly, his mind went blank and his body froze. 

The spider watched as Flash's arms fell to his side, the device still in his grasp, as his head fell towards the ground and his eyes closed. He almost appeared unconscious whilst remaining on his feet, the teen just standing there limply. 

The beast snarled at the boy, having had enough of being ignored. It charged forward, clawed hand raised ready to slash at him. But as it got closer, Flash's eyes shot open and let out a slight glow before turning serious. 

And as the spider slashed at him, Flash's left hand reached up and grabbed its wrist. The spider was surprised by this, especially when the grip became so strong it actually hurt. And before it could attempt to attack him with something else, Flash threw its arm to the side before slamming a foot into its chest with enough strength to send it flying.

It hissed when it hit the ground, whilst Flash stood tall and raised his head to show a serious expression. All the fear he had been hiding before had completely vanished. 

Suddenly, a bright light appeared around his waist that circled him until it created a ring. The light quickly took shape before fading to reveal a strange looking belt, which was bulky with a large metal case for a buckle that had a glass front. Lights ran around the sides of the belt and three small pipes were on the spot below his arms and on his back that pointed towards the sky. 

Flash then held up the black screen-like object and pressed the button on the side, "STRIKE!" The dots appeared to create the images of the lightning bug in motion, whilst Flash reached up and pressed a switch on the left side of the buckle. Doing so caused the other side of the buckle to slide open like a draw, with the side of the buckle still connected to the buckle by a long piece of metal. 

Flash placed the screen down so it was resting on the metal, then began to wave his arms around until he struck a pose. "HENSHIN!" With that, he thrust his right hand into the side and pushed the buckle back into place. Doing so locked the thick piece of the screen between the buckle's side and the glass. Now the screen could be seen through the glass, whilst the lights on the belt lit up and glowed orange. 

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" From out of the pipes, a strange dark orange liquid shot out and flew into the air. It then began to rain down on Flash and when it hit him or the ground, it solidified. Within seconds, his body was completely encased in a strange amber-like cocoon.

The creature stared at it in confusion, until the cocoon started to crack before completely exploding. The amber flew off before stopping in midair, whilst Flash's form was revealed. 

He was wearing a black body suit, with a white circle in the center of his chest that had white lines that went to his arms and legs and eventually reaching reached white circles on the backs of his hands and the tips of his boots. His head was covered in a round helmet with a pair of black round glass eyes. 

The amber then shot back towards him and hit his body, melting back into the liquid form that changed colour to become a much brighter orange. The liquid struck his arms, legs chest and head before solidifying and becoming transparent armour. His boots became orange whilst a pair of armoured orange gauntlets materialised around his arm from his wrists to his elbows, his chest getting covered by orange armour. On his shoulders, back of his wrists and top of his boots were flat round lights that glowed orange. 

The amber of his head morphed into an orange mask that resembled an insect's head that covered the front of his helmet, with a pair of orange antenna that formed a V-shape above his eyes. Finally, the while lines covering his body changed to the same orange as his armour, whilst his eyes changed to a blue colour. 

As the armour settled, the belt unleashed new words. "Illuminate the light, striking through the darkness!"

The spider monster hissed at the newly suited individual, clearly confused by his suddenly transformation. This confusion soon vanished and the creature rushed forward, its four spider-legs primed to stab him. But before it could reach him, the lights around Flash's suit glowed brightly. 

One of the legs shot forward to stab him, but Flash suddenly leaned out of the way with so much speed that the monster couldn't track him. It then tried to randomly stab him again and again, but Flash kept managing to shift out of the way with ease. As he did, the orange lights around his body created trails of light that slightly blinded the monster. 

Then, the armoured teen leapt forward and threw a punch that struck the beast's chest and knocked it flying backwards. It cried out whilst staggering back, then regained its balance before glaring at Flash. It then let out a hiss, firing a blast of webbing at him.

But once again, Flash managed to avoid the attack and rushed forward. He zigged, he zagged, he was an incredible orange blur. The spider fired a blast of webbing and hit a large section of the ground, hoping to get Flash stuck. But to its surprise, he leapt over it and did several flips before landing in front of the monster and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks that caused the beast incredible pain. With each strike, the energy from the lights on Flash's energy was sent into the beast and burned it. 

It leapt back and fired another web stream, but Flash simply reached out and grabbed the end and the energy from his arm light increased and made the string melt. He then leapt up and flew over to the wall of one of the building and bounced off it to charged towards the spider, flying forward and smashing a foot into it. 



Back on the destroyed street, the Rainbooms had arrived to find the place in ruins. 

"What happened here?" Rainbow asked, the others unable to figure it out. They then spotted one of the police officers laying on the ground and rushed over to him. 

"You okay?" Fluttershy asked, the lot rolling him onto his back. He moaned and opened his eyes, sitting himself up but flinching in pain. 

"What happened?" Sunset asked, but the cop didn't appear to be in any state to answer question. Instead, she reached out and touched him as her magic activated. Within second, her mind was filled with images of what caused the destruction. A horrifying monster that she had never seen before. 

She gasped before pulling away, the others turning to her. "Well?" Applejack asked, Sunset unsure how to answer. 

But before she could, an explosion from a nearby alleyway caught their attention. Rainbow was the first to react. "Come on!" Rainbow cried, rushing towards it whilst the others followed after her. The seven reached the entrance of the alleyway and when they did, they were met with the most bizarre sight they had ever seen. And that was saying a lot. 

The spider monster Sunset had seen in her vision, staring down a strangely suited figure. And by the looks of things, the monster was in trouble. 

Once again, the monster fired a blast of webbing at the armoured figure. But once again, he caught it in his hands. Only this time, he grabbed it in both hands and pulled it harshly. This pulled the beast towards him, as he slammed his right hand into the side of his belt. This pushed the device inwards, causing the belt to announce something. 

"CLIMACTIC STRIKE!"

The light on his right boot glowed, the energy unleashed from it surrounding the entire boot. 

And as the spider monster reached him, he swung his leg upwards and struck the beast with enough force the send it flying into the air. After that, he stomped his foot into the ground and propelled himself upwards. He shot passed the spider, which became suspended in the air, then somehow shifted directions and shot towards the monster. 

Silently, he thrust his glowing foot forward and smashed it into the beast's chest. The monster screamed in pain as the pair flew towards the ground and slammed into it, causing an explosion that filled the entire alleyway. 

The Rainbooms cried out at this, covering their faces from the smoke until Rarity put up a shield that blocked it. They opened their eyes and looked into the alley, the smoke slowly fading to reveal the armoured figure. He stood in the path of the smoke, whilst the spider monster was nowhere to be seen. It had been destroyed.

The girls stared at the figure in amazement, clearly missing something as they slowly moved towards him. The figure heard their approach and slowly turned towards them, Sunset being the one to ask the question they all had. "Who...are you?" 

The figure remained silent for a moment before speaking rather quickly. "Sheave-Far-Tar!" As he said that, Flash's brain seemed to reboot and he suddenly realised where he was, what he had just done and what he had told the girls. 

"Come again?" Applejack asked, not having properly heard him. They watched as the figure looked around and seemed confused, then focused back on the girls. He then raised his arms and the girls were worried he was about to attack, but instead the lights on his armor unleashed a bright light that blinded them. 

They all cried out and closed their eyes, forced to look away from the bright orange illumination. And when the light finally faded, they looked back and found the figure had vanished. "Where'd he go?" Rainbow asked, trying to see if she could spot him in any direction. But the figure was completely gone without a trace. 

"What did he call himself?" Rarity asked the others, who hummed before Twilight spoke up. 

"It sounded kind of like he said...Shifter." This name confused the girls, but they weren't sure what else he could have said. They were completely clueless about what had happened here, what that monster was and where they masked character was. "What's going on?" 



Several streets over, Flash panted as he landed in another alleyway and looked himself over. He was completely lost about everything that had just happened and started looking his body over. 

He then spotted the belt on his waist that had the device he had been carrying. After a little fiddling, he managed to get the belt open and pulled the device out of it. When he did, the armor he was wearing began to melt off of him and disappear into nothingness. 

Once he was back in his normal cloths, he stared at the device and then at the belt on his waist. Said belt suddenly vanished, phasing out of existence and leaving him just as confused. "What happening to me?" He asked no one, terrified beyond belief. What Flash didn't know, what that he was currently being watched. 

Up atop on of the buildings, a figure wearing a white hooded cloak stared down at the scared teen. Their face was completely hidden by the cloak, but a pair of green eyes glowing from beneath it. "So," the figure spoke with a male voice, "it has begun."
> Future Story: Skylanders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot City, a place of wonder. In the last year, many magical events had occurred. From a demon girl taking of the inhabitants of a school, to a supermodel themed monster woman parading through a mall and so many other insanities between them. Things were never boring in Canterlot. 

So when something weird happens that can't be explained by magic, many people grow confused. 

That was how the citizens felt one night, when a bright flash of light filled the sky. Everyone, both awake and asleep, found themselves staring up at the sky in wonder. They were then filled with fear, when every single electrical system in the city started going haywire. Nothing exploded, but TVs flipped through a hundred channels a second, phones began ringing with no one on the other line and those who were using an electric shave had better have been using it on their face. 

But as soon as it started, it all stopped. The light faded and the machines stopped going nuts, leaving many people scared and confused. But what none of them knew was that this was just the start of an all new adventure.



Three months later.

The park's amphitheatre, where the Rainbooms had defeated the Dazzlings, was priming with activity. The students of Canterlot High were all going to be performing a charity event in a few days, the lot of them wanting to get the place ready for then. 

"Testing, testing," Flash Sentry spoke as he stood up on the stage speaking into the microphone. "One, two. One, two." He looked offstage, where Micro Chips was working on the sound system. 

"Looks good," he told him. "No feedback." 

"Great," Flash smirked as he began strumming his guitar. "Maybe I should play a few power ballads to see if everything's alright." 

"Why not let the best band do that," Flash frowned as he slowly turned to see Rainbow Dash step out onto the stag with her guitar. The rest of the Rainbooms were behind her off stage, all adjusting their instruments. "I mean, we are the ones playing the concert off." 

"You're just the last band to play," Derpy explained as she walked passed the stage carrying a bunch of chairs. "That doesn't mean you're the best band." 

"Duh," Rainbow smirked, "you always save the best for last. The Rainbooms are gonna be what everyone comes to this concert to see. Of course we'd be last. Everyone would leave when we're done if we went first." The non-members of the Rainbooms rolled their eyes, Flash stepping up to her. 

"You guys might be the last band, but everyone knows a concert needs a great opening act to get everyone riled up and pumped for the rest of the show. That's why the Flash Drives are the opening act. Because we can get the crowd pumped to enjoy the rest of the concert." 

"Sure," Rainbow patted him on the shoulder, "keep telling yourself that." Flash frowned, hating how big Rainbow's ego had gotten in the last few weeks. With how many magical villains they had beaten, coupled with how popular the Rainbooms had gotten, her head had grown so big it was a miracle she could fit it into the theatre. It had gotten more and more annoying as time went on, making Flash want to knock her down a peg. 

And he planned on it, preparing to challenge her to a jam off. But before he could-

"Help...me." Flash's head shot up and he looked around, Rainbow raising an eyebrow at this. 

"What?" She asked, Flash frowning. 

"Nothing," he took his guitar off and placed it back into its case. "Whatever, the stage is yours." He jumped down and headed off, leaving a very confused Rainbow behind. Micro and Derpy also frowned when he walked off, both expecting Flash to challenge the egotistical sports girl. 

Flash moved over to an area of the park that was being set up to be a refreshment area. Several students who weren't helping set up, were practising their instruments. This included Lyra Heartstrings, who was gently strumming her handheld harp. But then she noticed Flash move up to a table an pick up a drink. 

"It's never been that clear before," he told himself as he sipped on his water. 

Lyra put her harp in its casing and moved over to him, "something wrong?" He turned to her, "you look like someone just told you they sent your guitar to mars." 

"I'm fine," Flash assured her. "Just...having a bit of an off day." Lyra raised an eyebrow at this, as Derpy ran up to them. 

"Flash," she called out, "what's wrong. Why'd you storm off like that." Now Lyra was giving him a suspicious look. "You looked like you were about to challenge Rainbow or something, but then you just walked off." 

"What?" Flash asked, "I decided I didn't wanna get into it. This is supposed to be a charity event, not a battle of the bands like before." Both girls gave him a look, telling him he wasn't fooling either of them. Flash eventually sighed, "fine." He looked around, making sure nobody else was listening before leaning in close. "I've been...hearing things." The girl's reaction to that was pure confusion. 

"Hearing things?" Derpy asked, "what things?" 

"A voice," he explained. "It started a few months back. Every now and then I'd hear this voice calling out to me. At first it was super weak, so I couldn't make out what it was saying. But the more I hear it, the clearer and louder it gets." 

"What kind of voice?" Lyra asked, sounding shocked and a little relieved. "Was it a gargly voice, like somebody trying to say something under water." 

"What?" Flash shook his head, "no. It's just a normal, though kind of worried, voice." Lyra frowned at this, making Flash slowly put the pieces together. "Have you been hearing it too?"

"Not the one you described. Like I said, mine was more garbled. And I haven't been hearing it as long as you. Just over the last two weeks or so." Both frowned, wondering what the heck they were hearing. Derpy looked at them in worry, clearly fearing something bad might be happening to them. 

"Maybe you should talk to Sunset and the others," Derpy suggested. "If this is a magic thing, they'll want to know." The teens knew she might be right, but Flash wasn't so happy about letting the Rainbooms butt in on something he was involved in. But he also didn't want to get in over his head and turn into a magical monster. Maybe telling them was the right-

"Help." Flash and Lyra both went wide-eyed and looked around, making Derpy's worries spike. 

"You hear that?" Flash asked, Lyra nodding. They waited for another call out, but nothing appeared to be happening again. 

"I don't know where I am." Flash gasped and turned towards the voice's source and ran towards it, Lyra and Derpy following him. 

"It's this way." 

"You sure?" Lyra asked, "I didn't-" She stopped and gasped, "just now." Flash didn't hear anything, but kept focus on trying to find the voice. 

"Where are you?" He asked before hearing a snapping sound, the three spinning around and seeing Micro Chips walking towards them. "Micro. What are you doing here?" Micro frowned, a worried look appearing on his face. One Derpy recognised. 

"You've been hearing a voice, haven't you?" Micro surprised by this, but nodded. 

"Yeah. How's you know?" Flash and Lyra were surprised by this and told him about their voice hearings, Micro's surprise escalating. "I started hearing mine just a few days ago. But it's never been this clear before." 

"What's your sound like?" Derpy asked. 

"Well sometimes they're asking for help. But other times, all I hear is a chuckle." Now they were confused, but that confusion stopped when Flash heard it. 

"Help me. Somebody, help." Flash looked around, the voice clearer then ever. 

"I'm here!" He called out, "can you hear me?" 

"Hello?" Flash followed his voice, as Lyra and Micro seemed to hear something. 

"Keep talking," Flash told it. "Let me hear you." The other two said the same thing, with the voices they were all hearing getting louder and louder. They followed it for a few more moments before something finally appeared in front of them. "Wow!" Flash cried as he leapt back, the cause being a glowing ball of light. "What the?" 

"What is this thing?" Micro asked, taking a step back as Lyra stood still. Derpy, meanwhile, just looked confused. 

"What thing?" She asked, clearly no seeing the light ball. That ball began to expand, zigzagging to look like a crack in the very universe itself.

"Please help," the voice told Flash. "I can feel you. You're so close. But...I can't go any further." Flash stared at the crack, an idea appearing in his head that his brain told him was crazy. 

"What are you doing?" Micro asked as Flash rolled up his sleeve. "You're not thinking of putting your hand in that thing, are you?" 

"Someone's in there," Flash stepped up to the crack. "They're trapped and I can't just leave them." Lyra and Micro were gonna tell him he was crazy, but then they heard the voices again. Hearing their pleas, they sighed and stepped up too. Micro rolled his sleeve up as well and each of them shared one final look before taking a deep breath and reaching into the light crack. 

Derpy's eyes went wide when the three's arms disappeared, as Flash spoke up. "Can you hear me? If you see my hand, grab it." The others did the same, but they didn't feel anything. So they reached in deeper and when they reached their shoulders, they felt a presence besides their hands. Carefully, they closed their fists around the presence and felt something. It was a pulsing, like a heartbeat. They didn't let go however, the three quickly pulling their arms out. 

Derpy watched as their arms reappeared with a strange glow breaking out from between their fingers. When they opened their hands, they found a white light flowing out of them. And one by one, they each took shape before the light faded to reveal a strange small creature. 

Flash was holding a hamster-sized purple lizard, with a pair of wings, orange horns and a spear tipped tail. Lyra was holding the fusion of a fish and a man, carrying a strange device on its back. And Micro was holding a tiny orange gremlin with big ears, sharp fangs and an extra long tongue. 

"What are those things?" Derpy asked as the creatures began to open their eyes and look around. 

"Wha...where am I?" The lizard asked, surprising Flash when he realised-

"You're the voice I heard." The lizard looked up at him, surprised by his size. 

"You're the voice I heard," he replied. He looked around and spotted the other two creatures. "Gill, Trig!" They turned to him and gasped with a smile, as the lizard...dragon, turned to Flash "Who are you. And where are we?" 

"Canterlot," Flash replied as the others creatures looked up at them. "But what the heck are you. Are you from Equestria?" They looked confused by this. 

"Equestria?" The fish-man asked, "no way. We're from the Skylands." 

"Skylands?" Lyra asked, as the gremlin began to laugh. 

"Yeah, where else would Skylanders live?" Micro adjust his glasses at this, as the gremlin looked up at him. "So, are you the one that pulled me out of that nowhere place." Micro wasn't sure, but nodded anyway. "Thanks for that. That place sucked." 

"Yes," the lizard nodded, "you have our thanks. My name is Spyro. I'm the leader of the Skylanders." He gestured to the others, "the blue one is called Gill Grunt." 

"You can call me Gill," he told Lyra as the girl slowly nodded whilst grimacing at the feel of his weird fishy body on her hand. 

"And the orange one calls himself Trigger Happy."  

"Or Trig," the gremlin smirked. "Nice to meet yah!" 

"Likewise," Micro held out a finger for him to shake. But Trig opened his mouth and extended his tongue to use that to shake, freaking Micro out. 

"I'm Flash," the rocker told the dragon. "This is Micro and Lyra." They gave their hellos as he turned to the last member of the group, "and this is our friend, Derpy." 

Derpy smiled as he stepped up to them, "it's very nice to meet you." She reached forward and patted Spyro on the head, the dragon not appearing to like that. "So...what were you doing in that light...whatever it was." 

"I don't know," Spyro told her. "One minute, we were battling in Skylands and the next thing, we got blasted." 

"I remember flying through space," Gill told them. "And...I started shrinking." 

"Yeah," Trig nodded. "And then I spotted something in front of me. A large blue and green planet. And right before I landed, everything went white and I was nowhere. I couldn't see anything. I was just floating around, completely alone." He then looked up at Micro, "but then I heard your voice. And now you've saved me." 

Micro hummed as he pushed his glasses up, "sounds to me like you were trapped inside a dimensional void." The others had no idea what he was talking about, "there are some theories the each world has a section of empty space between them, which act like a washer on a bolt. If this Skylands place you come from is a world close to ours, it's possible you were thrown into the void between them." 

"Well I'm just glad to be out of there," Gill stated. 

"Yeah," Spyro nodded, "but we need to get back to Skylands. Who knows how bad things have gotten since we left." He turned to Flash, "where's your nearest portal?" The humans were surprised by this question. 

"Well...there's one over at the school, but that'll take you to a world populated by magical ponies." The Skylanders frowned at this. "Sorry, but this world isn't like yours. I'm guessing it's got a lot of magic." They nodded, "well ours doesn't. There wasn't any magic here until last year, and even now it's only in this one city. I don't think there's a way for us to get you home."

"So we're trapped here," Spyro and the others looked down. "I can't believe we failed. Who knows what Kaos is doing now." None of the humans knew who Kaos was, but they had a feeling there weren't a good guy. "Master Eon, I'm sorry." But in that moment, something happened. The wind began to blow and as it did, Spyro heard something whisper in his ear. 

"Spyro." 

"Huh?" His eyes shot open and he looked around. "Master Eon?" The others looked confused as he continued to listen. 

"Follow my voice. And bring your young friends." 

"This way!" Spyro cried as he leapt into the air, flying forward. Gill leapt off Lyra's hand as the device on his back suddenly began firing water out the bottom, which propelled him into the air. Trig couldn't fly, so grabbed Micro's finger and pointed forwards. 

The humans shared a look and decided they had come this far, so all followed after Spyro and Gill. The little dragon flew as fast as he could, but at his size was wasn't getting very far. "Where we going?" Flash asked as he let the dragon land on his hands but kept going. Spyro pointed in the direction, as the voice kept speaking up. 

They made their way through the park, going deeper and deeper into it. They eventually arrived at an area full of trees, making it difficult to see what was ahead or behind them. "Does anyone else think things are getting weird?" Lyra asked as her foot got caught on a spiky bush.

"We're following a dragon we just pulled out of a crack in the universe," Micro explained. "Things got weird a long time ago." 

"There!" They turned to see Spyro pointing at a giant rock in the of a small clearing in the trees. It was the size of a car, sticking out of the ground and pointing at the sky. As they got closer, they noticed something was carved into the rock. It was a series of ten symbols that were arranged in a circle. At the top there was an eight pointed star, along with an image of fire, water, wind, a mountain, leaves, a gear, a skull, a sun and a crescent moon. 

"What are those symbols?" Micro asked, as the Skylanders looked closer. 

"They're the elemental symbols that make up all life in Skylanders," Trig explained. Micro gave him a curious look as Gill explained. 

"All living things in Skylands, falls under one of these elements." He pointed at them, "Magic, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Life, Tech, Undead, Light and Dark." 

"But what are they doing here?" Flash asked, the Skylanders shrugging. Flash stared at the rock for several moments, then slowly stepped forward. He held out a hand and carefully, pushed it onto the rock. And what happened shocked everyone. 

It was like the rock wasn't even there. Flash's hand passed right through it, everyone gasping at this. Flash could feel a space behind the rock and kept pushing, with his whole arm soon moving into the rock followed by the rest of his body. 

"Flash!" They all cried as he and Spyro disappeared into the stone. They panicked, until Flash's head stuck back out of it. 

"Guys! You've gotta see this!" He retreated into the rock and his friends all looked worried, but each took a deep breath and stepped forward. Derpy was the first to step through the rock, followed by Lyra and Micro. Each of them found themselves walking down a stone staircase, which took them about ten feet deep. And when they reached the bottom, they were amazed by what they saw.

It was a large room, filled with many odd looking crystals. Something about those crystals that they noticed was that they seemed to come in pairs, with one sticking out of the ground and another sticking out of the ceiling that pointed to each other with a five foot gap between the points. 

In the back of the chamber, they spotted what looked like a giant computer. It had a large crescent moon keyboard that was suspended five feet of the ground, with a swivel chair located under it. To the computer's right were a trio of strange looking devices. They were large glass tubes that looked big enough to fit a person within, and besides each one was a strange looking pedestal with something glowing on top of it. 

"What is this place?" Micro whispered as the Skylanders looked around. 

"I'm...I'm not sure," Spyro told them. "Never seen anything like it. But," he focused on the strange devices, "over there!" He leapt off Flash's shoulder and flew over to it, landing on the pedestal and looking at the strange looking table that was glowing a myriad of colours. "A portal." 

"A portal?" Flash asked, setting up next to him. "What are you talking about?" 

"In Skylands, these portals are how we get around. Portal Masters can use them to transport Skylanders into battle." 

"But what's one doing here?" Gill asked as Trig leapt off Micro's shoulder and landed on the portal. 

"Back to Skylands!" He cried, but nothing happened. "Did somebody unplug it?" 

"It won't work without a portal master," Spyro told him before letting out a sigh. "If only Master Eon was here." 

"Did somebody say my name?" The lot of them jumped at the voice, turning towards it only to scream again when they saw what it was. A giant head, which was floating between two of the crystals with a smile on its face. The head was that of an old man, with a long white beard and a strange viking helmet on his head. 

"Master Eon!" The Skylanders cried, whilst the humans kept looking at the head. "Is it really you?" Spyro asked, looking like someone who hadn't seen their parents in a long time. 

"Yes Spyro," the man named Eon smiled. "It's good to see you are alright. I had hoped someone on this planet would be able to free you all. Is it just you three?" 

"Yes master," Spyro nodded before flying over to Flash. "These three were able to pull us out of the void." The head turned to the still shocked humans and smiled. 

"Greetings, young portal masters. I have been waiting for you." 

"For us?" Lyra asked, "but why us?" 

"You were able to find these Skylanders," Eon explained. "Hearing their voice from within the void must mean you three share a link with them." 

"Share a link?" Micro asked, "what are you talking about?" 

"I think it'll make more sense if I explain everything to you," the head replied before disappearing. They were about to ask where he went, but a light made them look over and see the head was now between two crystals located besides the computer. They moved over to it as the computer came alive, showing ten unusual symbols that were moving around the screen and bouncing off the edges. They then vanished when the screen changed to show a new image. 

"This...is Skylands." The screen showed an open sky that the monitor was flying through, making them wonder what was going on until they saw something come into view. An island, which was floating in the sky. Another one then came into view, then another and another and so on until the screen was full of them. Some of the islands have buildings atop them, whilst more had trees, animals and even rivers that flew off the edge and fell into the void below. "It is an ancient world of wonder and mystery." 

"So Micro was right about it being in another universe?" Flash asked, with Eon nodding. 

"Guess that explains why islands can just float in the sky," Micro frowned. "Different laws of physics." 

"Exactly," Eon nodded. "For generations, the Portal Masters and the Skylanders kept peace and balance in this world so that all creatures could thrive. Magic flows through everything here. Every rock, every tree, every beast. And that includes the Skylanders that protect it. That magic in unique for every being, taking shape and forming in such a way that no two auras are exactly alike. But if the two being's aura are formed in such a way that they can unify, it creates a link between them." 

"I don't get it," Derpy told Flash. The teen had a basic understand and was trying to think of how to explain it. 

He then snapped his fingers, "it's like a jigsaw puzzles." The others gave him a confused look, "you can have one piece that's got a particular shape. If you try to fit it into another piece with a different shape, it won't work. You need just the right two pieces, which as shaped just right to be compatible." Now they understood, whilst Eon chuckled. 

"Not a bad explanation. Yes, it's something similar to that. And long ago, the Portal Masters discovered that their magic was fluid and could take on any shape. This meant they could create a link with any creature, allowing them to share their powers and grant the Skylanders they bonded with increased strength. And that is where you three come in." 

Spyro turned to Flash, "you're inner aura isn't fluid. But it could link with mine enough to let you find me. Same with the others." 

"And it can do more," Eon explained before a serious expression appeared on his face. "Young Portal Masters, I require your assistance. Skylands is in grave peril." As he said that, the skies on the screen started turning dark. "The darkness is spreading. Skylands needs your help. A great adventure awaits you all, if you are willing to help." 

"How can we help?" Lyra asked. 

"By sending us back to Skylands," Gill Grunt explained. "We've got portals and you portal masters. We can return home and save it." 

"I'm afraid it's not that easy," Eon told them. "The portals I was able to construct do not work like they do in Skylands. Being able to transport you to different areas of the same dimension is easy, but transporting you into an entirely different world is another." 

Spyro frowned. "So then, what do we do master?" Eon's reply was to turn to Flash and the others, the three teens sharing a worried look. 

"Us?" Micro pointed at himself. 

"You can help the Skylanders," Eon explained. "The devices I constructed with the last of my power will allow you and your Skylander partners to transport yourselves into Skylands. Through astral projection." 

"Astral projection?" Derpy raised an eyebrow. 

"By stepping inside the tubes and onto the portal, the two's consciousnesses will be sent to Skylands. In the process, it'll use the link you share to construct a new body based on the Skylanders, with all their powers and abilities. You Portal Masters will be the ones in control, with your partners helping by giving advice." 

"Wait, wait, wait!" Micro called out, "so you want us to step into an unknown machine and let it zap our minds into another world. And in this world, we'll end up turning into a dragon, a fish man and a gremlin." 

"Exactly," Eon smiled as the teen all turned to one another. 

"I'm out," Micro turned towards the exit. "I'm done. I am out of here." Flash quickly ran up to him. 

"Wait a minute. We should hear him out." 

"I was okay with magic being a thing," Micro pushed his glasses. "That still has some scientific bases. But now you expect me to believe that I'm supposed to travel to another world in the body of a gremlin?" 

"I'm with Micro," Lyra told him. "It sounds kind of...dangerous." 

"You won't be in any danger," Eon told her. "Any damage dealt to you will be dealt to the avatar you and your Skylander create. If the avatar takes to much damage, you'll be ejected from Skylands and sent back here. The worst you could suffer is a mild headache." 

"It sounds like these guys could really use your help," Derpy told them. "I mean, you were able to find the Skylanders." 

"Yeah," Trig stated. "Come on guys. This is your destiny." 

"I don't believe in destiny," Micro told him. "I believe the universe is what we chose to make of it. And I didn't sign up to become a world saving hero." 

Flash frowned, thinking about what Eon had said. He turned towards the computer as it showed more images of Skylands, focusing in on a small village that had been built atop a bunch of close together rocks. There were a bunch of creatures moving around on the rocks, the lot of them being strange looking mammal creatures dressed in different types of clothing. 

"Those are the mabu," Eon told him. "They are some of the most wide spread inhabitants of Skylands. They are a peaceful race, just trying to live their lives. But if the darkness grows, they will never know peace." Flash wanted to help, but did he have what it took to be a hero. 

Suddenly, an alarm filled the room that surprised the four. "What's that?" Flash asked, as Eon frowned. 

"The system is picking something up. There must be an incoming threat to this area of the Skylands." They watched the monitor and soon enough, something appeared a ways off from the village. "Ahh," Eon sighed, "I can't get a closer view. I may have created this machine, but operating it isn't my greatest talent." 

"Let me try," Derpy moved over to the chair and got in it. As she did, it was suddenly raised off the ground and floated up so she was level with the keyboard. 

"Do you know what you're doing?" Micro asked, thinking maybe he should have done it. But then Derpy managed to get the image to zoom in on the spot in question. "Oh, never mind." They focused on the monitor, trying to see what might be causing the alert. Then they noticed a nearby cloud suddenly get pulled into something, the cloud beginning to spiral around until it was ripped apart. 

"Did you see that?" Flash asked, Eon frowning. 

"Only one thing can cause that kind of reaction." And sure enough, more clouds were sucked up and spiralled out of existence. And slowly, the wind in that area began to grow faster and faster. "A tornado." The air vortex formed and quickly grew larger and larger, as it began to move towards the village. 

"It's gonna rip the place apart!" Spyro cried, as the mabu saw the tornado and began to panic. 

"They can escape, right?" Lyra asked Eon, as Derpy zoomed in on an area of the town that had a bunch of hot air balloons. Many mabu quickly climbed on and started to fly away, but others appeared to be having trouble. "What's happening?" 

Derpy zoomed in on another area and when she did, she found that a bunch of mabu were being attacked by something. Whatever it was, it was small, green, had massive teeth and numbered in the dozens. "Chompies," Gill Grunt looked mad. 

"Those things are gonna devour any mabu they come across," Spyro explained. "We have to do something." Flash thought the same thing. Those mabu needed someone to help them. They needed a Skylander. 

"Flash?" Micro asked as the teen rushed over to one of the devices. 

"This thing can send me to Skylands?" He asked as Eon appeared behind him, "and it'll turn me into Spyro?" 

"That's right," Eon nodded. "All you have to do is step inside, whilst Spyro steps onto the portal. When they're activated, you'll be merged and transported into Skylands." Flash stared at the machine for a few more seconds before opening the tube. 

"I'm going!"

"Flash!" Micro and Lyra rushed to stop him, "this is nuts. You step into that thing and you might turn inside out. This is magic and people who aren't the Rainbooms have a bad habit of making things bad when they mess with it." 

"Has this thing even been tested?" Lyra asked Eon, who chose this moment to become very interested in a speck on the ceiling. 

"I can't just leave them," Flash exclaimed. "Those mabu need help and we're the only ones that can do it." Spyro flew onto his shoulder and smiled at him, "I'm going." Lyra and Micro frowned, but then glanced over at their Skylanders who looked at them hopefully. 

Lyra sighed, "alright." She opened another tube, "let's do this." Micro frowned as Gill flew over on his water jet-pack, as Trigger Happy continued to silently plead. 

"Ahhh, peer pressure. Alright, I'm in." He got into the final tube as the Skylanders jumped onto the portal. As they did, Derpy sighed. 

"Wish I could help." 

"Oh," Eon appeared besides her, "but you can. Someone needs to activate the device. They also need to find a safe place for them to warp into. You seem quite skilled at this console, so I don't think you being here was an accident." Derpy smiled at this and turned back to the monitor, Eon explaining how to select and area for transport. 

Once she picked one that was a safe distance away from the tornado's area of destruction, a section of the console opened up to reveal a large red button. 

Eon moved over to the teens in the portals. "Portal Masters, Skylanders. I wish you luck. Spyro, you and the others must help your partners understand their new powers. It won't be easy for them at first, so please be patient."

Spyro, Trig and Gill nodded, "we won't let you down master." 

Eon nodded, "then it is time. Skylanders...UNITE!" As soon as he said that, Derpy slammed down on the button and the machines powered up. Light filled the tubes as the Skylanders closed their eyes, the three teens being blinded for a moment. 

When they opened their eyes, they were each alone in a strange void that appeared to be full of dark blue clouds. Suddenly, a strange symbol appeared in front of them. Flash saw an eight pointed star, Lyra saw a water droplet and Micro a gear. The symbols then exploded and the light surged towards them, wrapping them up in light. 

The cocoons shook for several seconds before exploding. Flash's exploded with a burst of purple light, which filled the void as he flew around. The young teen now looked exactly like Spyro, the dragon soaring through the void. "All fired up!" He yelled for some reason. 

Lyra's cocoon exploded with a bunch of bubbles flying out, which filled the void as she stood there in the body of Gill Grunt. "Fear the fish!" She cried, holding out her harpoon cannon. 

Micro's cocoon exploded with orange light, which filled the void and created images of gears all around him. "No gold, no glory!" He cried in the body of Trigger Happy, taking out a pair of golden pistols that he spun around. 

Transformations complete, the three new Skylanders suddenly shot up into the air. They saw a bright light above them and for some reason, they were compelled to move towards it. 



In the currently getting destroyed village, many mabu were screaming as they tried to get to the nearest balloon as the giant twister sucked up more and more of the town. 

One of those mabu was one wearing large round glasses, a thick green coat and a large green rucksack on his back. "Not good, not good, oh not good at all!" He yelled as he hobbled through the destroyed town in an attempt to get away. He then arrived at an area of the town that had something blocking the only route he had to go further. "Not a monster gate!" 

Said monster gate was a bunch of tall wooden posts sticking out of the ground between two large rocks that blocked the rest of the path forward. On the other side of the posts, connecting them all, was a large bronze shield with two crossed sword in front of it and a pair of bat wings sticking out the side. 

"No, no, no!" He cried, trying to shake the gate open. But it remained where it was and as he shook it, the creatures the gates belonged to suddenly appeared. "AHHHH!" He cried as a chompy leapt at the gate and tried to bite his fingers off, the mabu staggering back and looking at the fifteen or so chompies that he could see. He then looked back at the twister, which was getting closer and closer to him. "Ahhh, stuck between a tornado and a horde of ravenous monsters. If I go back, I'm dead. If I manage to make it over the gate, I'm dead. If I just stay here, I'M DEAD!" He fell to his knees, "CAN'T SOMEBODY SAVE ME!" At that moment, the sky suddenly flashed. "Huh?" 

From out of nowhere, three beams of light shot down towards the village. They crashed onto the ground and with a burst of light, exploded to reveal three figures. 

Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy stood there, looking as powerful as they had always been within Skylands. But as soon as they were aware they had landed, they started looking themselves over. "Wow!" Spyro, who as actually Flash, cried. "Look at us!"

"I'm looking," Lyra's voice came out of Gill's mouth and appeared disgusted. "This is weird." 

"Very weird," Micro's voice stated as it came out of Trig's voice. "So what do we do now?" 

"Now you've gotta save the mabu!" Flash looked around in shock, having heard Spyro's voice but not being able to see him. "I'm in here," Spyro explained. "I can see and hear everything you can see and hear, but I can't move anything. That'll be on you." He glanced over at the others and had a feeling they were getting the same lecture. "Alright, time to get to work." 

"Got it!" Flash opened his wings and took to the air, though flying proved harder then her thought and his flight wasn't exactly smooth. 

"Spyro!" He heard, making him look down to see a mabu staring up at him with amazing. "You've returned." 

"It's Hue!" 

"Who?" 

"No...Hue. Hugo. He's Master Eon's assistant. And it looks like he's trapped. We gotta help him and the others evacuate!" 

"Right!" Flash nodded as he dived down, "how do we do that. Maybe I can blast that gate down." 

"Won't work. That's a monster gate. It's indestructible. Won't open until all the monsters that infused their magic into it are destroyed." Flash nodded as he landed on the other side of the gate, causing the chompies to turn and growl at him before they started charging. "Fire blast!" 

"How?" Flash asked, jumping to the side to avoid one chompy. He then spun around, using his tail to smack another into a rock wall. This caused it to explode into a trio of light orbs. 

"Grab those orbs. They'll make you stronger!" Flash didn't argue and ran over, using his horns to ram through three more chompies as he did. They too created orbs and as Spyro grabbed the first lot, they followed him and were absorbed into his body. 



Back on earth, Derpy spotted three things that had appeared on the monitor. Images of Spyro, Gill and Trig's heads, which each had a number one to their left and two bars to their right. The top one was full of a green colouring whilst the bottom ones were empty, at least until Spyro grabbed the orbs and caused it to gain a few inches of yellow. 

"What are these?" 

"Their health and power," Eon explained. "This will let us know when the Skylander avatars are about to reach their limits." 

"This is just like a video game," Derpy smiled as Gill and Trig arrived on the scene. Gill was the first to jump into the action, launching harpoons from his gun that struck a chompy and exploded. A moment later, a new harpoon appeared out of the gun and she fired that too. 

Micro seemed to be a little scared, but when a chompy charged at him he quickly fired his gun. From it, a large golden coin shot out and bonked the chompy into exploding. Micro seemed amazed by this and as more chompies charged, he kept firing. 

"That's it guys," she smiled as the Skylanders fought their way through the monsters and collected the orbs to increase the blue bars. "You can do this." Eon smiled and nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.



Micro fired several more coins whilst Lyra had figured out how to use were water jet-pack and flew over several, landing behind them as the harpoon retracted into the gun before it launched a barrage of water that knocked several chompies back. 

"This is kind of fun!" Flash cheered as he rammed into another chompy, only to then feel something bite down on his tail. "Ow!" He looked around and saw a chompy, the dragon swinging his tail around and smashing it against a rock. "I thought we couldn't get hurt." 

"Your human body can't be hurt," Spyro told him. "You're still connected to your avatar, so you feel whatever it feels." Flash frowned at this and headbutted another chompy. 

Micro jumped over two chompies and hit the ground rolling, the teen hearing Trig laugh in the back of his head. "Now do a charge blast." 

"Charge blast?" Trig explained how and as the chompies charged, Micro brought this two pistols together and they unleashed an energy that formed a ball between them. When the beasts got close enough, he let it rip and the energy launched a giant coin at the two that destroyed them. 

"Just three more left," Lyra cried as the three chompies charged, with Flash landing in front of her. 

"Let me try something." He dug deep and felt his chest heat up, and as the chompies got closer he let rip a fireball that struck the ground and exploded. All three chompies were destroyed by the flames, Flash smirking as he flew over to collect the orbs. As he did, the shield keeping the monster gate in place suddenly exploded and the gates fell apart. 

"Yes!" Hugo cheered as he rushed over to them, "Spyro, it's so good to see you again." 

"Err..." Spyro scratched the back of his head, "I'm not Spyro. But he is here." Hugo looked confused, "it's a long story." 

"One we'll have to save for later," Lyra cried. "We need to help the rest of the mabu escape." They all nodded and rushed towards the area that still remained behind Hugo, though it wouldn't last long since the twister was getting closer and closer. 

Flash flew ahead and grabbed any mabu on an area of rock that the twister had destroyed the bridges too, flying them over to the main area. Lyra and Micro used their weapons to destroy pieces of rubble and broken wood that had fallen and blocked the path for the other mabu. Hugo remained with them, against his better judgement, telling the mabu where to go. 

"Is that everyone?" Spyro asked as he dropped another mabu, right as the twister ripped a large building off the edge of an island. Suddenly, a ball of light appeared above them with Derpy's face appearing within it. 

"Guys, that was the town's royal palace. I'm detecting three life signs in that area."

"That must be the royal family," a mabu named Blobber cried before running off. "You must save them!" The Skylanders frowned but quickly rushed towards the area being destroyed by the twister, Hugo choosing to stay where he was. They rushed up a stone walkway towards an area that was likely supposed to be a courtyard when the palace was up. They then noticed a large gate that had a lock on it, with three mabu behind it. 

"Help us!" A mabu wearing a crown yelled, trying to force open the gate. "Our key to the front gate was blown away." 

"Hold on!" Flash cried as he flew in front of the gate. But before he could shoot a fireball, a familiar cry caught his attention. They looked up and saw several chompies on the walls either side of them, who all leapt down in an attempt to feast on dragon chow. Luckily, Lyra and Micro were there to help. 

They both fired at the chompies, destroying them before they could get close to Flash. This allowed him the launch the flames at the lock, which didn't melt like he had hoped. 

"What?" He asked, firing again with the same effect. "Come on!" He fired, the lock getting red hot but not breaking. 

Lyra noticed this and quickly turned her cannon of the lock, firing a jet of water that quickly cooled it down. Flash turned to her in shock, but she was one step ahead of him. "Fire again!" Flash did so, heating the lock up before Lyra cooled it down, "Again!" Flash did so and heated up the lock, only for Lyra to spray it once again. 

Flash was about to ask what she was thinking, but then heard a creaking noise and remembered what happened to metal that was rapidly heated and cooled. "Nice!" He saw Micro take down the last chompy, absorbing the orbs as he did so, and pointed at the lock. "Let this thing have it!" Micro nodded and charged up his pistols, as the twister got closer and closer. 

"Hurry!" The king mabu cried, the three holding onto the gate as they felt the pull of the tornado. Then Micro fired, hitting the lock with a fully charged coin that shattered it. The gate flew open and the royal family cheered as they pulled themselves forward along the gate. But as the young prince let go, he suddenly found himself being pulled backwards. 

"No!" His parents cried as he was pulled towards the tornado, the Skylanders gasping as well. Flash acted with thinking and shot after him, flying towards the tornado and grabbing the young prince before he could be pulled into to cyclone. 

"Hold on!" He told him, pumping his wings with all his might. The others watched in worry, but Flash was able to pull away from the twister and fly back to them. "Let's go!" He yelled, the others not needing to be told twice. 

They all ran as fast as they could, Hugo joining them as they headed for the balloon docks. But when they got there, they found there was only one balloon left. And it was only big enough for three. "What do we do?" Lyra asked. 

"I can portal you guys back here," Derpy told them. 

"But what about them?" Flash pointed at the mabu, with the royal family jumping into the balloon only to find there was no more room for Hugo. "I'll fly you to safety." 

"There's no way you can carry him that long," Spyro told him. 

"You won't be able to carry me for very long," Hugo stated. 

"So what do we do?" Micro asked. 

"Hey down there!" Another voice called out, making them look up and see another balloon approaching. Leaning out of the basket was a mabu that looked a lot taller then the others, wearing a bunch of aviator clothing. "Looks like I showed up just in time." 

"Flynn!" Hugo cheered, as the balloon drifted down and landed next to the other one. This balloon was bigger then the other, meaning it could fit some extra passengers. "I've never been more happy to see you my friend." Hugo got into the balloon, Micro and Lyra doing the same. And as they did, the twister ripped more and more of the island apart. 

"Let's go!" Micro cried as Flash pushed the balloons up into the air, allowing them to float away before they could be grabbed by the tornado. 

"Flynn's the name," the mabu told the Skylanders. "Master pilot, at your service." The Skylanders gave their introductions as they flew further and further away, all the while looking back at the village as the tornado finished ripping through it. 

"It's all gone," Lyra whispered. 

"Maybe," Hugo turned to them, "but thanks to you the villagers all managed to evacuate just in time." The monster embodied humans turned to smile at one another, all of them glad they had chosen to come and help. "But this is only the beginning," Hugo continued. "There are reports of terrible disasters all throughout Skylands." 

"And I'm guessing only the Skylanders can stop them," Flash guess with Hugo nodding. Lyra and Micro both frowned, still unsure if doing this again and again was something they wanted. "Maybe you should explain how this all started, help us get up to speed. We weren't exactly given all the details when we learned about this." 

Hugo raised an eyebrow, but nodded and began his tail. The three new Portal Masters had no idea, that this was the start of a grand adventure for them. One that would change their lives forever.
> Future Story: Transformers PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot City. A peaceful place, if you didn't count the nearly constant magical insanities that seemed to occur there. But other then that, it was a great place to live.

It was the dead of night in the busy city, with many places still operational despite the late hour. The people down in the streets were hard at work, doing whatever it took to make a living. But that work all stopped when a sudden bright light filled the sky.

A light that was like a second sun, illuminating the entire city. Those already awake were almost blinded, which caused a couple of near misses on the roads, whilst those asleep were suddenly awakened. When they looked up at the sky, many grabbing whatever they could to darken the light. As they looked, they saw what appeared to be hundreds of shooting stars coming off of it.

What this was and what it was launching towards the city were unknown, but many people were awestruck by it.

The new sun seemed to be moving closer to the town but before anyone could panic, it suddenly vanished along with the lights that had been flying towards the ground. The people of the city continued to stare at the now darker skies, completely lost about what the heck they had just seen.

Over the next few weeks, scientists of all kinds would attempt to figure out what had happened. Many of the citizens, who knew about a certain portal to a certain world, wondered if it had anything to do with that. But when they asked the experts, who had seen it and wondered the same thing, they couldn't find any proof that Equestrian Magic was playing a part in the strange light show.

Eventually, the event was written off as one of those weird things that happened without explanation. Many continued to try and figure out the truth, but most of the city wrote it off and got on with their lives. The event went from big news, to interesting news, to something that happened and was almost forgotten.

If only they knew the truth, that what they had seen was just the start of what was to come.





Six months later.

In the house of Twilight Sparkle, the girl in question had just gotten up and dressed.

She did her hair, checked her clothes and nodded when she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Once she finished brushing her hair, she dropped her brush. But instead of falling to the ground, the brush floated as it glowed purple and headed over to a nearby nightstand. It dropped next to her charging phone, which then glowed and floated up after magically unplugging itself.

The phone flew into Twilight's hand as she left her room, heading downstairs and finding both her parents and someone else in the kitchen.

That someone was her brother, Shining Armor, who was wearing a purple shirt and black pants. A white overcoat with silver trim was folded over the back of his chair, as he was reading a newspaper and eating some toast. He looked up and smiled at his sister, "hey Twily."

"Hey BBBFF," Twilight smiled as she sat down next to him. "Cadance not around this morning?"

"She had a principal meeting in another city," Shining explained. "So I thought I'd come have breakfast with you guys this morning." Shining Armor had moved out a year after leaving High School, having saved up enough money as a police officer to get his own place. That place eventually became his first home with his girlfriend, now fiance, Cadance. "I've got some paperwork I need to get finished today, so I can't hang around long."

"That's fine," Twilight started eating the meal she had put in front of her by her mother. "I was gonna be hanging out with Sunset and Rarity today." Shining smiled at this, happy his sister had finally started making friends. He finished off the last of his food and got up, jumping over the small dog currently chowing down on a bowl of dog food.

"Well, I'll see you guys later."

"You just got here," Twilight told him.

"I've been here an hour. You just take forever to get up and get dressed." Twilight pouted at him. "Besides, I might be able to come for dinner. Depends on how work turns out." They nodded and Shining rushed off, flinging his coat on as he did so. This motion revealed an item on his wrist that none of them noticed.

This item looked like a silver watch, with a red face surrounded by a silver outline. Instead of numbers and hands on the face, a bunch of black lines could be seen on it. These lines created a series of shapes that, when shown together, formed a face image in the metal.

He pulled his sleeve down to hide this bracelet, as he rushed out the house and headed for his car. As he did, he stopped and looked up. He could feel something. A stiffness in the air. Something was going to happen that day, he just knew it.





And Shining wasn't the only one who felt it.

In the centre of the city, a large skyscraper could be seen overlooking the whole place. And inside that skyscraper's top room, a man was sitting and looking out at the entire city through a large glass window that made up the entire back of his office.

This was a middle-aged man with gray skin and black hair, a pair of red eyes looking out at the city. He was wearing a black suit with red trim and a red tie. Her leaned back in his chair and as he did, it his left wrist was revealed and showed a device similar to Shining's. However, this one was purple in place of red and the face created by the shapes looked a lot more jaggard and dangerous.

A beeping caught his attention and made him look around to see his intercom, which he activated. "Mr Sombra. The meeting we had scheduled for today might have to be cancelled. The other group just called and stated they're having some issues on their end that need to be dealt with personally."

"Thank you," he nodded. "Is there anything else I need to look into today?"

"No, that was your only important meeting. Anything else can be dealt with by the lower-downs." Sombra nodded and thanked her before announcing he was not to be distrubbed. "Yes sir." He hung up and got up, then moved over to a wall that had a large bookcase covering the whole thing.

He reached out and pulled three very different books out until they all clicked. When the last one clicked, part of the bookshelf suddenly moved backwards into the wall before sliding to the side. Doing so revealed a small metal tube-like room barely big enough to fit a person inside. He stepped into it and turned towards the office before a bunch of lights surrounded him and he vanished.

For Sombra, everything went white for a moment before being replaced by the darkness. He stepped out into a dark room and as he moved, spotlights appeared above him that illuminated some of it. He kept moving forward until he arrived at a section of the room that had a large C-shaped desk covered in computer keys.

He sat at it and pressed a single button, causing every key to light up along with a screen so large it that it wouldn't be able to fit in a normal person's house. The screen showed the same purple insignia that was on Sombra's bracelet, then changed to show a map of the entire city.

He pressed a button and an expanding circle appeared on the map, starting at his skyscraper and spreading throughout the rest of the map. He then growled, as nothing appeared on the screen. "When will one appear?" He then heard the sound of heavy boots behind him, as someone was approaching.

"Problem?" A female voice asked.

Sombra looked around, spotting a figure standing in the darkness between two light sources. "It's been three months since the last Cyber-Former activated. Only one should remain and after that, all that'll be left are the fragments. We must find them before the others do."

"We don't even know if there are any others," the female replied. "Us picking up two active signal, only to lose them again could mean anything."

"It could also mean there are two out there that are in someone else's hands. And the less in my hands, the more chances they'll end up in someone else's. I need as many Cyber-Formers as possible. If I don't, our robotic benefactor will not be happy." He turned back to the computer and frowned. "It's going to happen soon. Go tell Jammer and Typhoon to be ready. We need to prepare to head out as soon as possible."

"Yes sir," she nodded before walking off. As she did, Sombra stared at the computer some more. "Where are you?"





Once she had finished her breakfast, Twilight headed out into town on her bike.

Spike was riding in the basket, enjoying the feel of the wind on his face. "Yeah!" He cheered, "awesome!" Twilight smiled as she looked ahead and saw a crosswalk was coming up. A crosswalk that someone was walking across as the light was green.

She tried to make it before the light changed, but had to put the breaks on seconds before hitting the road as it turned red. "Oh," she heard someone cry from the road, "so close." She looked at the car waiting at the light and realised she knew it.

Flash Sentry was sitting in his custom sports car, having seen Twilight attempt to make the light and chuckling when she had to stop. "Funny," she smirked with a roll of her eyes. She and Flash had grown closer over the last few months, having worked together to study for multiple tests Flash needed help with along with being co-stars in the school production. "Where are you going today?"

"Gotta pick up a few things in town," he told her. "You?"

"Hanging out with Sunset and Rarity?"

"What about the others?"

"All busy. But that's okay." Flash nodded as another car came up behind him, meaning he could no longer wait around and talk.

"See you later." Twilight waved as Flash drove off, whilst Flash held his left arm out the window with it tapping against the door. As he did, his wrist was shown to have a familiar silver and red device attached to it. He began to sing along to the music, all the while wonder what the day had in store for him.





Meanwhile, Sunset was making her way through the middle of town whilst listening to her own music.

She was bouncing her head up and down as she mentally sang along, whilst heading towards the meeting point she had agreed upon with Twilight and Rarity. But when she turned a corner, she found herself slamming into someone and falling towards the ground.

They both cried out as they hit the floor and let out a moan, the one Sunset ran into frowning. "Watch it!"

Sunset turned towards the person, about to apologise, when she realised who it was. "Trixie." It was Trixie, her school's resident magician seeing who it was and rolling her eyes. Sunset picked herself up and held out a hand. "I am sorry, but I don't think this was entirely my fault."

"Are you insinuating that Trixie is to blame?"

"Partly," Sunset told her. "I'll take some of the blame if you take the rest."

"Trixie is willing to accept ten percent of the blame," the girl flicked her hair out of her face.

"Make it fifty and you've got yourself a deal." Trixie looked insulted by this.

"Fifteen."

"Fifty."

"You're supposed to go down in number."

"Fifty."

"Twenty five."

"Fifty."

"Ahhhh!" Trixie stomped her foot and Sunset laughed, the girl rolling her eyes. "I'm through with you. Where were you running off to that was so important you forgot your manners back home."

"I wasn't running anywhere. I was heading out to meet Twilight and Rarity." Trixie rolled her eyes at this, "what about you. Where are you heading?"

"Trixie needs to go and refill her smoke bombs. She ended up using more than she realised during her last big performance. And now, thanks to you, she's late." She rushed off before Sunset could say anything else, the red and yellow haired girl shrugging as she left. Meanwhile, Trixie was dusting off her jacket. As she did, she was revealed to have the same silver and red device as Shining Armor and Flash Sentry.





Rarity was waiting patiently for her friends to arrive, as she sat on a street bench across the street from where she, Sunset and Twilight were going to be spending the day.

That happened to be a spa, which she had booked them an appointment at. Rarity loved the spa and she was glad she had manage to convince the two to come, since they were both in serious need of some TLC. Rarity remembered back to half a year ago, when that odd flash of light appeared in the sky.

She had been terrified when it happened and instantly rang Sunset to ask if it was Equestrian Magic, but Sunset had no idea.

After that event, she and Twilight were constantly working to try and figure out what the heck it was. There had been a couple of magic incidents since then, but nothing too big to be called a serious emergency. That coupled with school, their part time jobs, Rainbooms practise and a bunch more stuff, Twilight and Sunset were starting to build up so much stress Rarity could almost smell it on them.

She was hoping those two would be able to get some rest and relaxation today, before the pair of them exploded from overdoing it. That is...if they actually got there.

"What's taking them?" Rarity asked, looking around for any sign of them. She was worried they had gotten distracted, or simply forgotten about it. But then, Twilight rolled down the street on her bike. "Oh good," she smiled as the girl rolled to a stop besides her. "I was worried you would miss the appointment."

"Sorry," Twilight told her, "got caught up at some lights." She got off her bike as Spike leapt onto Rarity's lap, the girl scratching him behind the ear as Twilight used her bike chain to lock it up so she wouldn't need to worry about it being stolen. As she did, Sunset ran up to them.

"Did I make it?" She panted, the pair nodding as Rarity stood up.

"Yes dear. Now we can head in and enjoy ourselves. Prepare for the pampering of a lifetime, darlings."

"Do they allow dogs inside?" Spike asked, worried he was gonna have to wait outside or something.

"Don't you worry Spikey Wikey," she scratched his chin. "I've made special arrangements for you. This facility doesn't just cater to humans, but animals too. You'll be getting the grooming of the century." Spike looked excited about that, as they headed into the building.

Checking in, they could only hope their day of rest and relaxation didn't end up getting ruined by something. Oh, if only they knew.





In an unknown place, something was beginning to beep.

That something was a computer that was almost as big as the one Sombra had been using. As it activated, the rest of the room was suddenly illuminated by bright overhead lighting. This revealed the place to be a giant metal hanger-sized room, with multiple large glass tubes lining the wall.

The computer activated and showed the red face symbol before it was replaced by another face. This one showed a gray robotic face with what looked like a metal mustache under its nose, that went down its face and off the edge, along with a long metal goatee that was even longer than the mustache. Finally, it was wearing a red helmet with a pair of horns on the front along with a short spike between them that gave it the appearance of a sharp W.

The face frowned as an alarm went off and a map appeared around it. "A fragment is beginning to dephase," he stated as he tried to narrow it down. "Where are you?"





Three streets away from the spa, people were doing their daily business. Then it happened.

Someone was taking a drink out of a vending machine, when a flash of light suddenly appeared on the ground catching the people around it by surprise.

They turned towards the light and saw some kind of glowing metal shard laying on the ground, which was giving of some kind of lightning. Nobody wanted to get close enough to investigate and simply stared at it, until the shard suddenly shot into the air and flew towards the person who had just gotten a drink. But it wasn't them it was aiming for.

They all leapt out of the way as the shard slammed into the vending machine, which caused the lightning to surge around the drinks dispenser. Everyone feared the machine would explode, but it didn't. Instead, the device suddenly started changing shape. Parts of it shifted around with mechanical clicks and in a few moment, it started taking a humanoid appearance.

Soon enough, a ten foot robot was standing in place of the machine. It let out a beastial roar as it raised one of its arms, which looked like a automatic T-shirt cannon, and started firing cans of soda at the people.





"There you are!" The robotic face cried as he picked up a signal. "Gotta be quick." He put away the map and brought up a trio of windows.

The windows showed a bunch of strange symbols on them besides a line in each of them. "Calling all Autobots. Calling all Autobots." The windows continued to remain as they were before one of them, with a white line, glowed before the line started wobbling as a voice spoke up.

"Magna Convoy here! Alpha Trion, is it happening?"

"It's happening," the face nodded. "I'm picking up a fragment's energy signature. If we don't hurry, the others might get it before we do. Where are Hotshot and Cascade?"

"Here!" The second window cried with a male voice, said window having an orange line. "Sorry, I was in a crowded place and didn't hear your call. Give me a minute to find someplace out of the way."

"Cascade here," the female voice announced through the window with the blue line. "I'm ready to move whenever you guys are."

Alpha Trion nodded as he locked onto their signatures, whilst also watching the fragment's signature moving around. "I hope they can get to it before the Decepticons can. If they get any more Cyber-Formers, we might not be able to stop them."





The three girls sighed as they all laid back in the massage chairs, wearing nothing but gowns as the spa workers did their nails.

Spike was in the next room, enjoying a highly skilled brush that would make him feel like an entirely new dog. "This is the life," Sunset told them. "Thanks for making us do this, Rarity."

"Of course darling," Rarity smiled. "I couldn't let you keep carrying that stress. You girls work way too hard for your own good. You needed a day of fun before you snapped." She turned to Twilight, "and you need to spend some time with that boyfriend of yours."

"I know," Twilight nodded. "But Timber's been busy with helping at camp. It's gotten pretty busy there. And I've been busy working on my own projects. But I'm hitting a slump with a lot of them. I just can't seem to get seem to make any headway with them. "

Rarity nodded. "Hopefully, this'll relax you enough to figure out whatever you're working on. I bet once you've finished here, the answer to your question with come crashing down on you like a lightning bolt."

"So long as nothing happens to ruin it," Twilight laughed. She would come to regret those words, for in that moment a loud banging sound could be heard coming from outside followed by screams.

The girls sat up and Rarity looked like she was about to cry, as more and more screams filled the air. They rushed for the exit and as they did, they saw several people running passed the window in a hurry. "What's going on?" Sunset asked someone that was running passed, the person saying a bunch of terrified gibberish about killer soda and lightning bolts from the ground before running off.

The three of them had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but they got a basic idea when another loud banging caught their attention and made them spin around to see giant robot come around the corner. The robot was green and they could see parts of it that had the name of a well know soda on it.

The robot pointed its cannon arm and fired a bunch of cans flying in all directions, including at the girls.

Rarity screamed as she put up a wall of shields that blocked the cans, the girl looking at her friends in panic. "What on earth is happening?"

"I don't know," Sunset told her. "I don't think this is Equestrian Magic though."

"Even if it isn't," Twilight frowned when she saw the robot firing more soda at people trying to get away. "That thing's gonna hurt somebody if we don't do something." As she said that, Spike rushed out the spa.

"Twilight!" His loud voice caught the machine's attention and caused it to fire at him, but Twilight managed to pull her dog behind the shield with them. It then tried to fire again, only to find nothing happened.

"I think it's out of cans," Sunset hoped. But as she said that, the monster turned to a nearby wall and punch it. The ruble fell to the ground as a compartment in its chest opened up, the machine grabbing the rocks and lifting them into the opening. Once it was full, it shut the compartment and turned back towards the girls.

"What did it just do?" Spike asked, still completely lost about what the heck was even happening. He got his answer when the machine pointed its blaster at them.

"Reloaded!" Twilight realised as it started firing compacted rocks towards them. Rarity kept the shield up and as it fired, the power of the rocks flying out of it caused it to lose control. It suddenly fell backwards and the rocks smashed into the building behind the girls, causing huge chunks of it to explode off.

"Look out!" Sunset cried, Rarity spreading the shield to form a dome around them. The rocks came crashing down and in seconds, they were all completely buried.

The machine stared at the pile, pointing its weapon at it and waiting to see if its prey had survived. But then, suddenly, a burst of light caught the creature's attention and made it look around to see three odd looking portals appear in front of it.

From out of those portals, a trio of figures stepped forth and began walking towards the machine as the portals vanished. Shining Armor, Flash Sentry and Trixie Lulamoon. The three walked side by side, as Shining took something out of his coat and pointed it at the creature.

"Doesn't look like anything too strong," he told the younger pair. "Only a seven percent shard."

"Good," Trixie nodded, "wouldn't want our first fight to be too tricky."

"Speak for yourself," Flash smirked. "I was hoping to start this off with a serious bang." He then cracked his knuckles, "oh well. Beggars can't be choosers." The machine looked ready to start attacking, so Shining stepped forward.

"Let's get this done." He raised his left arm and his sleeve fell back to reveal the silver and red bracelet. "You guys ready?"

"Ready!" The other two cried as they held up their wrists to show the same device on them. The trio swung their arms around and slammed their fingers onto the red disks whilst yelling out, "EXECUTE!" The disks lit up before they threw their arms forwards, "CYBER EVOLUTION!" With that, the devices unleashed the light and they exploded around the three to form cocoons of light.

As this was happening, the collapsed part of the building began to glow purple before it lifted up. Doing so revealed the three girls, who had been protected by Rarity's magic whilst Twilight worked to lift the rubble up. Once the rubble was high enough, Rarity extended her shields to keep them up so the trio could run out from under it without fear of being crushed.

But as they did, they noticed the light and turned to see the cocoons. "What the?" Sunset asked, as the light began to take shape.

When the shapes were completed, the light faded to reveal a trio of vehicles. One was a rather strange looking semi-truck. Its main body was white, with the bottom and sides around the wheels being blue. Silver pipes could be seen along the front bumper, whilst its fifth wheel was blue and looked rather long compared to the rest of the vehicle. One said fifth wheel, was some kind of large gun. 

The second was a chevrolet camaro that was a mixture of black and yellow orange. The main colour was orange with black lines running along the sides and on the top. A black pentagon with parallel sides were at the very back of its car bonnet, with the insignia on that shape.

Finally, the last one was a light blue motorcycle with thick wheels that were white in colour and looked like they were made of metal. Its seat was white along with a section under its fuel tanker. On the back, behind the seat, was a blue and white containment box. The insignia was on the glass of its windscreen.

"Where did those things come from?" Twilight asked, as the three vehicles all revved up despite none of them having anyone in the driver's seat.

Then, a voice spoke up from the truck that Twilight felt she recognised. "Autobots, TRANSFORM!" With that, the three drove forward and somehow leapt into the air.

"Hotshot!" The camero roared, "Transform!" A pair of arms folded out from under the car, both having the front wheel where the shoulders would be, whilst the doors opened up. The back of the car then folded downwards and split apart to reveal legs, as a pair of feet folded out with the back wheels being next to the ankles. The arms they folded upwards from under the bonnet, causing the tires to fold backwards as the windscreen and roof folded behind the body. This allowed the bonnet to properly snap down into place and open up, allowing a head to fold out. 

Said head was mostly orange with a blue streak running from the forehead to the back, whilst a metal band with goggle-holes were covering its eyes. The goggle visor folded up to reveal his eyes as his body completed its transformation.

The car was now an seven meter tall black robot wearing orange armor on the chest, shoulders and lower legs, with streaks of blue in certain spots and the orange doors on its back like wings.

"Cascade!" The bike cried in a female voice, "Transform!" The compartment box flew off as the front wheel spun ninety degrees, whilst the back wheel split in half and folded onto the sides of the bike. That area of the bike then folded downwards and split down the middle with a pair of feet folding out. The gas tank and seat of the vehicle also split down the middle and folded sideways before the seats folded down. This gave it a now humanoid appearance whilst a head folded out of the main body of the vehicle. 

From out of that back of the head, an opening appeared that allowed a bunch of silver metal cables to extend outwards to form flowing metal locks. The compartment box also transformed, folding out into a gun-like weapon the she caught

The bike was now a five meter tall, female looking robot, that was mostly blue with white arms and long flowing metal cable hair.

"Magna Convoy!" The semi-truck roared, "Transform!" The gun flew off the fifth wheel, which then split down the middle before the ends folded backwards to connect to the bottom. At the same time, a pair of black feet folded out to complete the transformation into legs. 

Meanwhile, the cab also began to transform. The two back wheels folded around, whilst the cab moved ninety degrees. In the space that this freed up, a grill folded down to resemble abs, whilst the side windows folded around to the front and connected to form pecks. 

A section from the fifth wheel folded upwards, forming a crotch guard, as the back wheel folded down to either side of it. Then, the front of the cab split down the middle before sliding ninety degrees in either direction. The blue parts then folded downwards, morphing into a pair of arms that black hands folded out of. As the parts of the cab's front shifted to form shoulder-pads, a white head with a blue streak running along the top appeared out the top to complete the transformation. 

The truck was now an nine meter tall white and blue bulky looking robot, carrying a large futuristic shotgun.

The three robots landed on the ground, shaking it as they stood in line and stared the machine down. Each of them had the same red insignia somewhere on their bodies and they looked ready for action. Meanwhile, the three girls could hardly believe what they were seeing.

Spike had stars in his eyes. "That...was...AWESOME!"

The vending robot finally decided to stop watching and attack, as it pointed its weapon at them and started firing rocks. Before before those rocks could get close, the ones named Magna Convoy and Cascade pointed their weapons at them and fired. Lasers shot from the blasters and blew up the rocks, whilst the bot named Hotshot rushed forward.

As he did, the visor came down to cover his eyes as his hands folded into his arms and were replaced by a pair of blaster barrels.

He pointed them at the machine and started firing, the lasers slamming into the vending bot and knocking it backwards. It roared in pain, as Cascade also ran forward. She proved to be faster then Hotshot and managed to leap over him and the machine. As she did, her hair cables extended and started wrapping around it.

It tried to fight against its binds, but Hotshot fired a few more blasts that knocked it off its feet and allowed the cables to completely tie it up. Hotshot pointed a blaster at its head before turning to the largest robot, "ready for extraction."

Magna Convoy nodded and pressed the part of his head that would have an ear, "send the Extractor." As he walked forward, a light appeared in front of him. From it, a strange looking gun appeared that was a long glass tube that had a gun handle and four claws on the end.

Magna grabbed the device and moved over to machine before thrusting the claws into it, pulling the trigger and causing a light to fly out and hit it. The machine roared as it tried to fight against the cables holding it, even attempting to fire its weapon. But Hotshot fired several shots into the arm and destroyed the weapon, whilst the laser pulled something out of it.

That something was the small metal shard that had originally transformed it into what it was now, the laser sucking it out of the machine and pulling it into the chamber. This caused the vending robot's eyes to go dark and it stopped moving, Cascade letting it go as it did.

It fell to the ground and was, for lack of a better word, dead. Magna Convoy stared at the remains, then down at the shard currently floating and glowing inside the tube. "One down, probably a million more to go."

"You killed it." The machine's eyes went wide before they spun around and saw the three humans staring at them, the six all looking shocked.

"Ah," Hotshot gulped, "how...much of that did you see?"

"Where did you even come from?" Cascade asked.

"We were fighting that thing," Twilight explained. "But we got trapped under some rubble. When we escaped, the three of you were there and you...transformed from those cars." The robots appeared to sigh in relief, the girls having a feeling they had missed something these three didn't want them to see.

"Just pretend you never saw anything," Magna told them. "Trust us, you'll be doing yourself a favour."

"Like that's gonna happen," Sunset rolled her eyes before turning to the remains of the machine. "Is it dead?"

"It was never alive," Hotshot explained. "Well...not in the same way we are." The girls looked at them in confusion, wondering how they could be alive since they were machines. "It was just a mindless beast. A human machine given the ability to transform. But without a spark, it was just doing whatever its random computer told it to do." Now they were just full of more questions, but Magna turned to him.

"That's enough, Hotshot." The sports car robot frowned as Magna turned to leave. But as he reached for his coms, something happened that surprised the lot of them.

Another flash of light caught their attention, as a large portal appeared. The three wondered for a minute if it was Alpha Trion, but then something flew out of the portal. It was a black armoured tumbler tank with red trim, which had two large wheels at the front and two pairs of even larger wheels at the back. Between the back wheels was an exhaust that looked like something off of a space rocket, with a bunch of wing flaps located above the wheels. At the very front, in front of the cockpit and between the front wheels, a purple insignia could be found that was similar to the robots but different as well.

After it, a purple F-Twenty-One lockheed with yellow coloured missiles shot out and flew up into the air. On the wings and tail fin were white circles with the purple insignia on them.

After that came a dark green Boeing AH-Sixty-Four Apache, with the purple insignia on either side of the tail.

Then, finally, came a dark grey OTR-23 Oka missile launcher. But instead of a rocket launcher, it had what appeared to be a silver crane arm. And on the very end of the arm was a satellite dish.

The two ground vehicles hit the ground rolling and came to a stop, whilst the flying vehicles hovered above them. The robots all looked angry at the sight of them and stepped in front of the humans, whilst the vehicles revved up. "Decepticons!" The tank then roared, "TRANSFORM!" Like the first three, they shot forward before the ground vehicles leapt into the air.

"Jammer!" The missile launcher roared, "Transform!" The back sides of the tank suddenly folded forwards and connected to the front, hiding the wheels of the vehicle. The top of the front then opened up and allowed the hole thing to fold down ninety degrees, revealing something that was hidden within it before the open sections closed. It then split down the middle and the ends reshaped themselves to become feet. The parts that had been hidden inside then split and folded backwards, revealing them to be a pair of dark blue arms and shoulders. As this happened, the satellite arm slid to the side and created enough space for a dark blue head to pop out.

It was now a nine meter tall gray robot whose head, arms, chest and upper legs were dark blue, with a large satellite cannon hanging over its right shoulder. On its chest was a purple spiky face emblem.

"Typhoon!" The helicopter cried, "Transform!" The front cockpit and underside disconnected from the rest and folded downwards, then spun around and split in half before reshaping into a pair of legs. The tail then split down the middle and folded forwards into a pair of metal wing like appendages, whilst the rotor moved backwards and folded back to morph into a backpack that locked the wings in place. The rest of it folded apart and reshaped itself into a pair of arms, as a head folded out and completed the transformation.

It was now a seven meter tall green robot with black arms and upper legs, with the split tail acting like wings and the four rotor blades on its back folding down to act like a cape.

"Air-Raid!" The jet cried out in a female voice, "Transform!" The cockpit and nosecone detached from the rest of the body and folded forwards, whilst the wings suddenly rotated a hundred and eighty degrees. Once they did that, the tail and engine folded upwards so it attached to the top right between the wings. The underside of the vehicle then folded down and split apart, revealing a pair of legs whilst a pair of arms folded out from beneath where they had been. This left a space for the cockpit and nosecone to folded downwards to form the chest, whilst a head popped out that had a feminine look to it.

It was now a seven meter tall purple female robot, who had black arms and a black fin sticking out of her head that made it look like it had long hair.

"Shadow-Lord!" The tumbler tank yelled, "Transform!" The front and back split apart, with the front folding downwards and splitting again to reshape into a pair of legs, with the wheels acting at the balls of the feet. The back half also reshaped itself in a myriad of ways, forming a pair of arms with the four wheels moving around to become the shoulders whilst the booster rocket connected to the back. A large black head also folded out, who had a green visor over his red eyes that had purple coming off the sides and a bunch of spikes stuck out the top of his head to form a crown or sorts.

It was now an eight meter tall black and red robot with sharp claws on the ends of his hands and looked like you could get a cut just by looking at him. The emblem was on his chest

Transformations over, the four robots landed in the middle of the street and stared the first three down. The one who called himself Shadow-Lord stared at them. "So," he finally spoke, "there were three of you and not just two. I guess you got your Cyber-Former not long after the arrival."

"Cyber-Former?" Twilight asked, as Shadow-Lord pointed at them.

"Autobots, hand over the fragment."

"I don't think so," the tallest of these Autobots stated. "And I don't think we've been properly introduced."

"How rude of me," the black robot stated. "I am Shadow-Lord, future ruler of this planet."

"Magna Convoy," the white robot replied. "And if you want to conquer this planet, you'll first have to step over my cold, sparkless body."

"That can be arranged," Shadow-Lord announced before pointing at them. "Decepticons, ATTACK!" The other three charged as the Autobots raised their weapons.

"Autobots, stop them no matter what!" They charged forward as well, whilst the girls ran for cover. The Autobots fired their weapons, but the Decepticons didn't seem at all phased.

Shadow-Lord stopped charging and allowed the other three to collide with the Autobots, Magna Convoy fighting against Jammer whilst Hotshot and Air-Raid started duking it out. Cascade went on the offensive, dodging the blasts that Typhoon started firing at her.

Cascade rolled along the ground and her hair cables shot forward, grabbing Typhoon's leg. She then pulled as hard as she could, pulling the leg out from under the robot and causing him to fall to the ground. She then released his leg and leapt onto his chest, pointing her blaster at him.

But before she could fire, the rotors on each of his tail halves started spinning before they unleashed a power blast of air. These twin tornadoes slammed into Cascade and knocked her flying backwards. She cried out until she hit the ground next to Hotshot, who was fighting it out with Air-Raid.

Hotshot dodged her attempt to punch her and readied his weapon, raising it to try and blast her. But she managed to lean back and the laser hit part of a building instead. "Too obvious," she told him with a chuckle. Her claws hands then sparked with lightning, which she thrust forward.

"AUGH!" Hotshot cried, his body jolting with pain from being electrified. She then pushed him backwards and spun around to kick him in the chest. Hotshot staggered backwards and fell next to Cascade, as Air-Raid and Typhoon moved in to finish them off.

"Raaaah!" Magna Convoy threw a punch into Jammer's face and knocked him backwards, the tank robot staggering backwards but managing to regain his footing as Convoy raised his blaster to shoot him. But before the laser could hit him, the satellite on his shoulder sparked and unleashed a light that formed an energy wall in front of him.

The laser bounced off the wall and Jammer chuckled before raising both his arms. Doing so caused his hands to be replaced by guns and as the energy wall vanished, he started firing at the Autobot. But Magna Convoy managed to avoid the lasers by rolling to the side, firing his own blasts in response.

Jammer was struck several times, unable to raise his shield due to shooting himself. He cried out as the blasts knocked him backwards and off his feet, Magna picking himself up only to see his teammates at the mercy of the other two Decepticons.

But before Air-Raid or Typhoon could attack, he ran forward before transforming into his vehicle mode. The Extractor had shifted to the back of his cab, looking like it was magnetized to him, as he rushed in to save his teammates.

Air-Raid noticed him coming and managed to ignite the jet on her back at the last second, blasting her into the air as Convoy slammed into Typhoon. The helicopter robot cried out as he was knocked flying until he crashed into a building, whilst Magna Convoy transformed again and started firing at Air-Raid.

The jet robot managed to avoid all the blasts, as Magna turned to his teammates. "You two okay?"

Hotshot and Cascade moaned as they picked themselves up, but looked pretty badly beat up. "Yeah," Hotshot nodded, "but be careful. She can use an electrical attack that'll scramble your circuits." Magna nodded and kept firing at Air-Raid, whilst Shadow-Lord frowned at them.

"Enough of this." His claws suddenly sparked with purple energy, which he thrust forward before Magna Convoy could notice him.

Cascade saw this and gasped, "look out!" But the beam struck Convoy before he could react, making him cry out and fall to his knees. 

"NO!" Hotshot cried, as Spike and the humans gasped. Magna Convoy fell to his knees and groaned, the other two rushing to help only for the other three Decepticons to fire at them and force them back.

The purple energy spread around Magna Convoy, who groaned as he felt it trying to hack into his systems.

Shadow-Lord chuckled. "Now you will serve me." But then, the energy reached the emblem on Magna Convoy's shoulder. That emblem suddenly started glowing red, which fought against the purple energy and started to erase it. "What?"

"RAAAAAH!" Convoy roared, as he stood up and the purple energy exploded off of him. The energy knocked Shadow-Lord and his grew back, whilst Magna panted and almost fell over.

Luckily, Hotshot was able to catch him. "Ha!" He laughed, "sorry Decepti-creeps! But we've got software protecting us from your shell program."

Shadow-Lord growled at this. "Fine. Then we'll just destroy you!" As he said that, both his arms remolded themselves into a pair of large cannon blasters. He pointed them at the three as his flunkies did the same, the lot of them unleashing their attacks that rocketed towards the Autobots.

Spike and the girls gasped as all three of them were surrounded by explosions, which sent them flying backwards and screaming as parts of their body were damaged. As they fell back, the Extractor Magna Convoy was carrying was thrown into the air and likely would have been damaged if it hit the ground.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Air-Raid shot down and caught the Extractor before it hit the ground.

Magna Convoy moaned as he laid on the ground, but fought through the pain as he turned back to the Decepticons. And to his shock and horror, he saw Air-Raid land next to Shadow-Lord carrying the Extractor and its contents. "NO!" Shadow-Lord took the device and laughed at the sight before turning to the downed Autobots.

"Thank you," he told them. "This would have been so much easier if you hadn't been so stubborn." Jammer and Typhoon pointed their weapons at them, but the black Decepticon shook his head. "No." They looked at him in shock. "We need to leave before the authorities get here. They're not worth wasting our time finishing off." His team looked shocked by this, as Shadow-Lord turned to walk away.

"This isn't over!" Magna Convoy roared, as a portal opened up in front of the Decepticons.

Shadow-Lord turned to him and smirked, "oh no. It's just barely begun." With that, he disappeared through the portal along with the other three. The portal then vanished as the Autobots picked themselves up and stared at the portal, each of them wallowing in their failure.





Back in the dark space, the Decepticons marged through the portal and looked pleased with themselves.

Shadow-Lord stepped over to one of the walls, holding up the Extractor. "We have what you want...master Megatron." The wall opened up and revealed a glass tank filled with water. And inside that water, a bunch of wires sticking out of it, was a silver robot head that just screamed evil as he stared at the Extractor.

"Good," he stated in a hissing voice before laughing at his servant's success. Soon, he would have the key to dominating this world. And after that, he would move onto a greater prize. Cybertron.
> Future Story: Transformers PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a peaceful night in the city of Canterlot and one of the many people still awake was currently driving his police car through the city. 

Shining Armor, a detective in the CCPD, sighed as he looked around the city with no sign of any danger. It looked like it was going to be an easy patrol night, but he knew to never let appearance deceive him. And sure enough, his radio sounded as the captain of his precinct called into him. 

"Armor, we've got a suspected break in at the truck yard near your location. Something tripped the alarm and the security guard isn't responding." 

"Roger that," Shining replied. "Heading there now." He turned a corner and picked up speed, reaching the truck yard in record time. Arriving at the yard, he pulled up in front of it before getting out. Heading over to the main gate, he found it open and the lock undone.

Heading inside and taking out his gun, he looked around but couldn't find anything that told him the place was dangerous. So why hadn't the guard responded to the tripped alarm? 

He got his answer when he arrived a the security office and looked inside, where he was shocked to see the guard in question asleep at his desk with headphones and an eye-mask on. "You've got to be kidding me." He was about to tap on the glass, but in that moment something happened. 

A blinding light exploded above the city, startling Shining as he turned towards it. 

The light was coming from some kind sun that was floating above the city, making it look like day all over again. Shining could barely see anything through the bright light, wishing he had brought his sunglasses with him. But then he noticed a nearby semi-truck, an older square model with tinted windows. 

He rushed over to it, managing to get behind it and look through its windows. They managed to dim the light enough for him to see the light, the police officer wondering what the heck was going on. 

Then, something shot out of the light. Some kind of meteorite, which flew towards the ground. Then another flew out, then another and another and another. Soon, tons of these lights were flying out and Shining had no idea what they were. And before he could try calling someone to ask what was happening, one of the meteors flew down towards the truck yard. 

Shining gasped at the sight and braced himself, as the meteor smashed into the ground. 

The impact caused a small earthquake and ripped up the ground a bit, but nothing major happened. 

Shining opened his eyes and looked at the crater that had formed, moving over to it to take a look. And when he arrived, he saw something smoking at the bottom of it. That something was glowing a strange colour, making him wonder what the heck it was. 



Six months later.

Magna Convoy moaned as he stood in the middle of the destroyed street, having been utterly crushed by the Decepticons that had come. Not only had they whooped the Autobots' rears, but they had made off with the Extractor that held the Cyber-Former fragment. 

"Well that sucked," Hotshot moaned as he was still feeling numb in areas Air-Raid had struck. 

"I can't believe they beat us," Cascade sighed. "Now what do we do?" As she said that, sirens were going off. The authorities had finally arrived and when they got here, the Autobots didn't want to be around to give them something to shoot at. 

"Let's get back to base," Magna announced as he pressed his finger to his ear. "Alpha Trion. We need a space bridge." He then turned to where Twilight, Sunset, Rarity and Spike had been hiding, his sister staring at them with worry and wonder. "You three stay here. Don't follow us." 

"But what the heck is happening?" Twilight asked. "Who are those robots? Why did they attack you?" 

"You don't need to know that," Magna Convoy told her. "Just forget you ever saw us." The portal opened up and the other two Autobots transformed into their vehicles forms before driving off. Convoy gave her a serious look before transforming and driving into the portal behind his teammates. 

Once he was through, the portal began to close and Twilight was tempted to try and run through it. But instead, she stood there until it completely vanished. The police arrived a moment later and the girls knew they were gonna have a lot of questions to answer. 



Inside the metal room, Alpha Trion watched as Hotshot flew through a portal in the wall. Cascade followed with Magna Convoy bringing up the rear. 

As soon as they were all through, he shut the space bridge and watched as the Autobots all returned to bot-mode. When they did, they groaned at the damage done to them. "Autobots, step into the CR Chambers." They sighed, but moved over to the tubes at the side of the room. Three of them suddenly opened up as they stepped inside, all looking utterly defeated. "I know your first mission didn't go as planned." 

"I'll say," Hotshot growled as the tanks filled with smoke. "I thought we had the fight locked. We caught the Transformer, extracted the fragment and didn't even break a sweat. But then those Decepticons showed up and beat us six ways to Sunday." 

Cascade nodded. "And they took the Extractor. Now not only do they have the fragment, they've got what they need to take the others as well." 

Magna Convoy sighed, "we knew this was a possibility. We need to train harder so we stand a better chance next time." 

"Is that even gonna matter?" Hotshot asked. "They've got four members on their team to our three. How are we supposed to beat them when three of them can keep us busy whilst the fourth gets the fragment?"

"And it's not just their numbers," Cascade pointed. "Their vehicles-modes are all military vehicles. They have weapons in that state and we don't." 

"Ahhh!" Hotshot moaned, "stupid Cyber-Formers. If I had known I'd be stuck with it, I wouldn't have scanned my car." 

"It's not like we had a choice," Cascade told him. "But you're right. Not being able to rescan isn't great. Now the Decepticons can overwhelm us without evening to transform. How as we supposed to fight that?" 

"I don't know," Magna Convoy sighed. "For now, let's not think about it. Focus on repairing ourselves. We can't return to human form until we're fixed up. Once we're healed up, we'll start working on strategies to deal with more opponents and their higher fire power. Until then...rest up." The other two didn't want to stop talking about this disaster, but they knew better then to argue with him. 

They all went silent and let the gas do its work on them, the damaged and dented parts of their bodies slowly repairing themselves as the gas seeped through them. As they did, Magna Convoy thought about the battle. 

He was just as upset as the others about their defeat, but he didn't want to show them it was bothering him. The points they had brought up were good ones. The Decepticons had them outnumbered and outgunned. How were they supposed to overcome that? 

He couldn't help but think back to when he had first been pulled into this whole crazy situation. Things had seemed so much simpler back then. 



Six months ago.

Shining was staring into the crater, the light from whatever it was like nothing Shining had ever seen. As he stared at it, the light in the sky and the meteors it was firing vanished. That left Shining to only focus on the meteorite. But it was like no meteorite he had ever seen before. 

It was a round coin-like object that was a white crystal surrounded by a metal band. The crystal was the cause of the light, which Shining knelt down to take a closer look at. But no sooner had he done this, the device seemed to activate and leapt from the crater. 

Shining gasped as it flew towards him, his reflexes making him leap back and swing his arm around. But as soon as the device hit his wrist, a metal strap flew out of it and bound itself to his arm. "Augh!" He cried out, feeling a sensation like the device was binding itself to him. 

He staggered back and as he did, he accidently slammed into the semi-truck. This caused the device to send out a light, which struck the truck and completely enveloped it. Once it covered the entire vehicle, it retracted back into the bracelet and the crystal exploded with energy that wrapped around Shining. 

In the blink of an eye, the police office felt completely different. His body felt stiff and hard and when he opened his eyes, he felt like he was looking from a VR headset as everything looked like he was staring at a computer screen. "Er," he moaned, "what happened?" He tried to turn his head, but he couldn't. He tried to move, but he couldn't. "Did that thing paralyse me?" But then he realised he wasn't lying down. 

He was standing, or at least he thought he was standing, up straight and facing the truck. And when he focused, his vision zoomed in on the truck's reflective parts. And what he saw terrified him. 

The only thing being reflected in the truck...was another truck. "What?" He couldn't see himself and only saw the truck. He felt himself begin to panic, screaming as he did so. But nobody was around to hear him. 

The security guard's mask and headphones were clearly meant to block out everything, so Shining continued to scream and panic for a good while. When that while passed, Shining began to calm down. "Alright," he told himself, "I've somehow turned into a truck. That device must have done this. So what do I do?" 

He thought for a few moments, trying to think of a way to get someone to help him. 

"If I'm a truck, that means I can't move unless my engine is working. I need to think of a way to-" He stopped when his engine suddenly revved up, Shining surprised by this but happy it was so easy. "Alright," he tried to think of how to drive. As he did, new images appeared in his cybernetic vision. It was like a mini dashboard, showing his revs, temperature and everything else found of a truck's dashboard. 

Next to it were a line of numbers and a capital R on the very end, Shining realising he was looking at the gears. "Didn't know trucks had this many." He focused on the R and it glowed, Shining thinking to go and sure enough he started rolling backwards. 

He didn't know why, but actually driving himself was amazing. He drove backwards and as he did, he vision changed to show everything behind him. Somehow, he was seeing where he was reversing. Good thing because he almost slammed into another truck, but he was able to put on the breaks and switch to first gear. 

It took a little getting used to, but he slowly started figuring out how everything worked. Gear shifting was tricky, but he managed to get the hang of it to and was soon beginning to pick up speed. 

He laughed, enjoying himself, but he didn't let that distract him from what he needed to do. Find someone to help him. 

However, as he rolled forward, something appeared in front of him. A large round portal of some kind, which opened up close enough to him that Shining didn't have time to break. He cried out as he flew through it and found himself driving on something metal. "WOW!" He cried, sliding to a stop as he found himself in a large metal room that was poorly lit. 

The portal shut behind him, trapping him there. He began to panic and wished he could see around himself more. 

"Welcome," a voice spoke up from every direction, "I see you managed to find a complete Cyber-Former. It appears one didn't become out of phase." 

"Who said that?" Shining asked, "where are you?" 

"All around you. You're talking to the ship itself." 

"Ship? I'm on a boat?" 

"Not exactly. Give me a moment." The room lit up more and allowed Shining to see he was in a large metal room with glass tubes along the side and a large computer-like device on another wall. That computer suddenly showed a metal face, which stared down at him. "Welcome. I am Alpha Trion." 

"Shining Armor," he replied. "I'd shake your hand, but neither of us seem to have one." This got Trion to laugh. 

"Indeed. So...you are a human. I wondered what your species was like." 

"This isn't what I usually look like," Shining explained. "I'm usually more...fleshy. This...thing, shot down from the sky and stuck to my arm. The next thing I knew, I was this truck." 

"That was a Cyber-Former. A powerful device that has allowed you to evolve into a Cybertronian. Here, allow me." A laser suddenly shot down from the ceiling and struck Shining, causing him to be consumed by light.  

When the light faded, he blinked and realised he had his normal eyes. He looked himself over and was shocked to see he was back to normal, making him laugh. "I'm me again!"

"I was able to shut off your Cyber-Former. With practise, you should be able to do that yourself." Shining raised an eyebrow as he looked at his wrist, seeing the strange device still locked to it. He tried to take it off, but it wouldn't come loose. It was like it was fused to his wrist. "Careful. You don't want to damage that."

"What is this?" He asked. 

"The Cyber-Former. A device from my home planet that has found its way to your planet. And it isn't the only one." Shining let this info sink in and he realised what this Alpha Trion was talking about. 

"You're an alien?" The head nodded, "what are you doing here?" 

Alpha Trion didn't answer and instead, he did something that caused the computer he was in to fire a beam at the ground. In doing so, the area around Shining suddenly began to transform. Pixels materialised around him and before Shining could say anything, he was on an entirely different planet. 

A metal planet, with a bunch of vehicles that looked nothing like those seen on earth. One vehicle suddenly transformed into a humanoid figure, surprising Shining before several others did the same. "This is Cybertron, my home. It was once a peaceful planet, but then something changed." 

In the blink on an eye, the planet changed. Gone was the peaceful utopia, being replaced by a battlefield with destroyed buildings and scrap metal covering the battlefield. He spotted several robots fighting, some in hand to hand whilst others were shooting at each other.  

"A group of Cybertronians decided they had had enough of how things were run and wanted to rule the planet themselves. They deceived and betrayed. These Decepticons, started a war that ripped out planet apart. Leading them was a Decepticon with nothing but evil in his spark" One robot then appeared. A large silver one with a massive black gun barrel on his right arm, "Megatron." 

The robot named Megatron roared as he started firing at a bunch of robots, blowing them up with a single hit. He laughed maniacally at this, only for another robot to suddenly appear. 

This was a large red and blue one, who was carrying a large black gun in his hands. "But to counter them, another faction of Cybertronians banded together. The Autobots. Led by my greatest student. Optimus Prime." Optimus charged and began to do battle against Megatron, the two being even as more robots appeared around them and did battle. "The war raged on, neither side able to get an advantage over the other. The battles went on for centuries in a perfect stalemate, until Megatron found a way to tip the balance." 

The image suddenly changed again, this time to a dark room with a bunch of different science devices. On one side of the room, Shining saw a large purple robot whose head was nothing like the others. This robot was working on something. 

"The Decepticon Scientist, Shockwave, created a way to convert organic life into Cybertronian life." Shockwave stepped back and Shining saw the same device on his arm on the table, "the Cyber-Former." Shining looked closer and saw the Cyber-Former's crystal part was purple in colour with the same emblem as the Decepticons.

The image changed again, this time to show a large ship just like where he had been. The walls of the ship were lined with hundreds, maybe thousands, of these Cyber-Formers. A bunch of Decepticons were stacking the ship and Shining found himself flying through it until he reached what he assumed was the main bridge. 

There, Megatron was sitting in a chair waiting for blastoff. "Megatron's plan was simple. Find a planet overflowing with organic life and drop the Cyber-Formers down onto it. Each Cyber-Former was equipped with a Decepticon Shell Program, which would override the host's mind and make them into a Decepticon loyal to Megatron. Once he had a new army, he would return to Cybertron and overwhelm the Autobots with superior numbers. And he had found the perfect planet for his plan." 

"Earth," Shining realised as he was suddenly warped to outside the ship. "He's gonna do that to our planet." 

"He would have. But we Autobots discovered what he was planning and set out to stop him." Shining watched as the ship took off, only to be attacked by Autobot ships. They blasted at it, attempting to bring it down, but the ship managed to stay in the air and flying Decepticons came in to keep the ship safe. 

The ship's tip then fires a beam or energy, which formed a portal just like the one Shining had driven through. However, before the ship could get through the portal, something flew up to it and managed to fire something. 

That something was a robot that grabbed onto the side of the ship, Shining looking closer and realising it had the same head he had seen on the computer. Alpha Trion. He managed to get into the ship just before it entered the portal and Shining was once again inside the bridge, where Megatron was piloting. 

But he suddenly got an alert and rushed out into the back of the ship, where he found Alpha Trion plugging his beard-like chin cable into one of the ship's computer. "What are you doing?" Megatron pointed his blaster at Trion, who glared at him. 

"You're too late." As he said that, the Cyber-Formers around them changed. The purple parts all turned clear. "I've deleted your Decepticon Shell Programs from these devices. If you release them, those that connect to them will get to pick for themselves what they want to be." 

"Fool!" Megatron fired his blaster and caused the computer to explode, resulting in many system failures. 

Alpha Trion unplugged himself and rushed forward, pulling out a sword that he started swinging around. The pair fought as the ship suffered more and more malfunctions, eventually reaching the other side of the portal they had been passing through.

Trion managed to slash at Megatron's neck and damage it, but this made Megatron roar as he fired several shots. This blasted Alpha Trion backwards, damaging his body significantly whilst Megatron staggered back against the wall. He saw Trion was in a bad way and one more blast would end him. But before he could, an explosion occurred that completely consumed him. 

Megatron disappeared in the explosion, which shot towards Trion as well. The old-looking transformer quickly plugged his beard into the computer again, right before the explosion consumed him. 

Shining wanted to see more, but the image faded away and he was soon back in the metal room. "What happened?" 

"The ship exited the space bridge and exploded. I knew I wouldn't survive, so in a last ditch effort I uploaded my mind into the ship's computer. This allowed me to completely wipe the Decepticon Shell program from all the Cyber-Formers, but then the ship split into three pieces due to the explosion." 

Shining realised what that had to have been. "The light I saw. The one that illuminated the sky above Canterlot. That was your ship?"

"Yes," Trion nodded. 

"So where are the other two pieces?" 

"I don't know. But I was able to send out a command to phase shift them out of focus. They'll have likely crashed somewhere. The phasing will only last a little while, so it's likely they sank into the ground and were buried someplace until the cloak deactivated. But we have a bigger issue. The explosion flew through an area of the ship containing the Cyber-Formers. And before the ship phased, they were pushed out and sent flying down to the city." 

Shining remembered what had happened to him, along with the many meteors he had seen. "Are you saying there are gonna be a bunch of these things crashing down and turning humans into...you guys?" 

"No." Alpha Trion looked like he was doing some calculations, as multiple formulas appeared in front of him. "According to my sensor logs...seven Cyber-Formers managed to survive the explosion. You have one, but the other six have likely gone into phase along with the ships. But we have a bigger problem. The Cyber-Formers that were destroyed." 

"What about them?" 

"Shockwave knew what he was doing. When he created them, he made it so that they were able to repair themselves. Fragments of these Cyber-Formers would have survived and if enough of these fragments come together, a new Cyber-Former will be forged. And even if they can't find each other, the fragments will be able to do a lot of damage on their own." 

"How so?" 

"They'll likely search for the nearest piece of technology that can handle their power and merge with it. Once that happens, the tech will be transformed into a transformer that will be nothing but a mindless beast." 

Shining gulped, "that's not good." 

"Luckily, we have time. From what my sensors can tell, the fragments have also gone into phase. They won't be as out of phase as the ships were, but they'll be phased enough to not be able to connect to any technology. But it'll take time for them to re-sync with this plain. When that happens..." 

"Merge with tech, got it. So what do we do?" 

"That depends on you." Shining raised an eyebrow at this. "I brought you here to stop you from revealing too much to the world before I could come up with a plan. If you want, I should be able to unbind you from the Cyber-Former. You can return to your own life and never have to think about this again." 

"Or..." 

"Or, you can help me. I can see that you are a good person. Someone who won't abuse the power you now have. As you can see, I'm limited about what I can do in this current situation. So I need someone to go out and gather the fragments when they emerge. I originally thought about contacting the government of this planet, but whilst we were talking I logged onto your world wide web. Let's just say...I don't trust your government to not try and use the Cyber-Former tech for their own purposes." 

"That's...fair. So you want me to become your muscle." 

"That is up to you." 

Shining stared down at the device on his arm and thought about it, then smirked. "I'm in." Trion looked surprised by this. "I've always wanted to help people. That's why I became a police officer. If these fragments are gonna cause problems and I'm the only one that can stop them, then sign me up. I'll do whatever I need to stop them." 

Trion smiled at this, "then welcome to the Autobots." With that, the computer launched out a beam that struck his Cyber-Former. When Shining looked at it, the crystal had turned red with the Autobot emblem on it. "Now, we have a lot of work to do. First, we have to find the Cyber-Formers that remained whole before someone else does. We'll also need to find you some teammates, since it's likely you won't be able to do this all on your own." 

"Right," Shining nodded as he stepped up to the computer. 

"But before all that, there's something else we'll need to do." The computer showed the image of the truck he had scanned, which wasn't exactly nice to look at. It's brown paint was faded and rusted in area. "If you're gonna be a Cybertronian, you'll need to look the part. Unfortunately, I don't know how to replace the vehicle data the Cyber-Former scanned. However, I can tweak it to look more your style." 

"Oh, I'm liking this." 

"Also, I'll you'll need a new name. Something that won't give away who you are if you ever need to talk to a teammate out loud. Something a little more...Cybertronian." Shining nodded and tried to think, then got an idea. 

"I think I might have one. From now on, call me..."



"Magna Convoy." The robot's eyes shot open as he saw the gas had vanished and the CR Chambers had opened. 

Hotshot and Cascade were already out and checking themselves over, Magna stepping out and doing the same. Everything looked and felt fine with them, so the other two deactivated their Cyber-Formers. Flash and Trixie replaced the giant robots, sighing when they saw they didn't have a scratch on them. 

Magna Convoy transformed back as well, Shining Armor stepping out of the light and feeling fine as well. "You guys okay?" 

"Been better," Flash sighed. "So, what do we do now?" 

"I guess we need another Extractor," Trixie pointed out. "And we've gotta be sure not to lose it this time." 

"I've already begun working on a new one," Alpha Trion explained. "And you're right. We don't have the parts to replace this one if we lose it. Luckily, I'm going to be adding a few extra features to this one. Instant teleportation back to the base whenever it get at least five feet away from an Autobot signature. I can only wonder what the Decepticons are doing with the one that they stole." 



In the dark area, Shadow-Lord smiled as his master examined the Extractor. 

"Excellent," Megatron laughed. "With this, we will be able to require my Cyber-Formers before they fall into the hands of those foolish Autobots." He looked up at Shadow-Lord. "And you're sure you couldn't infect them?"

"Yes," Shadow-Lord nodded. "They have some kind of protection from the Decepticon Shell Program. And they have knowledge and technology that they couldn't have gotten on their own. Someone's helping them. Someone Cybertronian." 

"Alpha Trion," Megatron growled. "But it matters not. Those fools will not be able to defeat us. We Decepticons shall collect the Cyber-Formers and use them to build our army." He looked down at the Extractor as his eyes glowed purple. "And the first step, is to make sure all future Pretenders are under my command." With that, the eyes launched the light at the Extractor. When it struck, the Decepticon Emblem began to imprint itself onto the device. 

As this happened, Shadow-Lord stepped away from him and over to the other Decepticons. As he did, he started glowing and was suddenly surrounded in a sphere of light. Said sphere shrank down until it was the size of a person, with a person stepping out of it. Sombra. 

The man straightened his tie and looked up at the other three, who were all surrounded with light and shrank down as well. 

Air-Raid turned into a woman in her early twenties, with dark purple skin and dark pink hair. She was wearing a black leather overcoat over black clothing, with black fingerless gloves on her hands. A large scar could be seen on her face, running down from her forehead and over her right eye.

Jammer became a bulky man with gray skin and dark blue hair and a goatee, wearing a black shirt and brown cargo pants over a sleeveless blue leather jacket. He was also wearing black shades and a pair of headphones over his ears. 

Typhoon became a lean man with green skin and spiked silver hair. He was wearing a brown aviator jacket over a white shirt and black jeans. The lot of them were all wearing a Cyber-Former on their arms. 

Sombra looked smug as he moved over to the computer, typing away at it and pulling up images of the battle that had taken place. He watched as Magna Convoy overpowered Jammer, whilst Hotshot and Cascade were overwhelmed by their opponents. "The leader is clearly someone with combat training. But the rest of them are amateurs at best." 

The woman moved up behind him, watching as she blasted Hotshot with lightning. "Those two are kids. I can tell by the way they're acting. I don't know what this Alpha Trion was thinking, but clearly he just recurreted whoever found the Cyber-Formers." 

Jammer moved over to a section of the base that had more seats and sat down, adjusting a dial on the side of his headphones. "Doesn't matter who they are. We'll take em down next time." 

"We should have taken them down back there," Typhoon stated. "Haven't you guys ever seen movies? The villains let the heroes go, but regrets it later when that hero's gotten stronger and manages to defeat them. What if that happens with these guys?"

"This isn't a movie," Sombra chuckled. "This is real life and in real life, victory always goes to the stronger opponent." He smirked watching the three in their vehicle forms, all everyday vehicles that had no weapons upon them. "We outnumber them. Outgun them and out power them. They're just a bunch of civilians that lucked into these powers. You three...well two, are highly trained mercenaries with years of experience. Against that, they don't stand a chance." 

As he said that, Megatron finished his work on the Extractor. The metal had turned dark gray and the Decepticon Emblem now glowed proudly on the side of the glass. They had everything they needed. Now, they just had to wait for the next fragment to appear.



Shining Armor sighed as he stepped through the door of his apartment. Switching on the light, he looked around and found the place was exactly how he had left it that morning.

He threw his coat over a chair, knowing Cadance didn't like that but was too tired and demoralised to care. He then moved over to the couch and dropped down upon it, sighing as he let everything that had happened that day wash over him. But before he could get any sleep, his phone started beeping. 

Taking it out, he saw it was his sister and put it on speaker. "Hey sis. What's up?" 

"Shining. You are not gonna believe what happened to me today." He had a feeling he knew, "I met real life aliens."

"Really?" Shining tried to act shocked, "how the heck did you do that?" 

"It's was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen." Twilight started recounting everything that Shining had already experienced, her brother doing his best to act like he hadn't. "Then, the ones that called themselves Decepticons walked through a portal and the Autobots looked demoralised." 

"Well...I'm sure being beaten like that would feel bad. But I bet they're preparing themselves for the next time they face off." 

"You think they'll fight again?" Twilight sound suspicious, whilst Shining flinched and couldn't believe he had let himself slip up like that. 

"Well...it's possible. You said the white one told the black one it wasn't over. So maybe they'll meet up somewhere else." 

"I wonder if I can meet them again," Twilight sounded hopeful. "Imagine the technology a race like that must have. If they showed me some of it, I bet I could learn a bunch." 

"Twilight," Shining frowned, "promise me you're not gonna go out looking for these things. They're clearly dangerous and I doubt they're just gonna had over their technology." Twilight was quiet. "Twilight." 

"Alright. I promise I won't go looking for them. But I reserve the right ask questions if I happen to run into them again." Shining rolled his eyes, but knew that was the best he was gonna get. 

"Fine. Just...be careful, alright." 

"I will. Promise. I'd better get going. Rainbow's been wanting me to tell her about this all day. Oh, I put a video online if you want to see what happened yourself." She hung up before Shining could ask more and the man quickly went online and typed in a bunch of words he thought might help him find something. 

And sure enough, he found the video and quickly hit play. It showed him and his team fighting against the vending machine and extracting the fragment, followed by Twilight asking a bunch of question. Shining didn't remember her having a camera and by the looks of things, Twilight was filming this at eye level. Had she put a camera in her glasses? 

The video then showed the arrival of the Decepticons and the fight that had ensued, Shining flinching when he saw Hotshot and Cascade be taken down. Those two really needed to work on their fighting techniques. The video ended with the Decepticons leaving and taking the Extractor, followed by the Autobot's departure.

"What am I gonna do?" Shining asked. He needed to think of a way to get stronger. If he couldn't, the Decepticons would steamroll them each and every time.



The next day.

The only thing people were talking about that day were the killer robots. Twilight had already met up with her friends and they were watching the video once again, Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike looking excited to see a bunch of humanoid robots slugging it out against each other. 

"Ow!" Rainbow flinched when Hotshot got zapped, "that had to hurt. This is the coolest thing I've ever seen."

Rarity didn't look so excited. "I assure you, actually being there isn't as cool as you think it is. All the stress we managed to get rid of came back at ten times the amount." As she said that, the Autobots were all blasted and the Extractor lost. 

"Oh," Fluttershy frowned, "why do they have to fight like this? Can't they talk their problems out?" 

"A'h don't think those four are up to talkin," Applejack told her. The others nodded as the Decepticons left, "ya'h really think they're aliens?" 

"They're definitely not Equestrian," Sunset confirmed. "And there's no way something like that could be made on this planet. At least, not yet. Aliens are the only possible explanation." 

"Wow!" Pinkie cried, "can you imagine getting to meet an actual alien? I wish I was there when they showed up. You think they'd take us for a ride on their spaceship?" 

Twilight smirked, wishing she could be there right now. But she had promised her brother she wouldn't try and seek out these robots. So all she could do was wonder where they were and what they were doing. 



Explosions filled the ship as Hotshot and Cascade ran through a maze of metal box, avoiding lasers that were being fired at them. 

Hotshot managed to roll out of the path of a laser and took cover behind a box, both his hands in blaster mode whilst his goggles were positioned over his eyes. He looked around, as Cascade jumped over another explosion and landed next to him.

Hotshot jumped out from behind the box and started firing at the laser blaster in the ceiling, keeping its attention as Cascade leapt out from behind the box. She did several flips and cartwheels, allowing her to get bunder the blaster. Due to its design, it couldn't fire beneath it. This allowed her to use her hair tendrils to grab it and pulled the weapon out, destroying it. 

They both sighed in relief, as Magna Convoy stepped into the room. "Not bad," he told them. "See, you guys have what it takes to win." 

"Yeah," Hotshot sighed, "when we outnumber them. We need to train against multiple opponents. That's the only way we're gonna be able to figure out how to fight against the Decepticons." 

"I'm with hot head," Cascade agreed as Hotshot frowned at her. "How's Alpha Trion coming with the holodeck?" 

"Slowly," Magna Convoy told her. "And he's too focused on the new Extractor to continue working on it. For now, we'll have to use what we can to practise. Alright, Hotshot. Cascade and I will fight against you and you'll try your best beat us." Hotshot's eyes went wide whilst Cascade smirked, holding up her blaster ready to shoot him. "Blasters on their lowest levels. Don't wanna hurt anyone." He raised his blaster, "you've got ten seconds." 

Cascade started counting as Hotshot quickly rushed towards one of the boxes, reaching it as she got to ten and started blasting at him. He dived behind the box and prepared his own blasters, whilst Magna Convoy ran towards the box. 

Hotshot transformed and shot out from behind the box, Cascade's blaster fire following him as he tried to get away. Magna Convoy also fired at him and managed to hit the spot right in front of him, making it explode and knocking him flying. "Augh!" He hit the ground on his roof, forcing him to transform as Magna ran forward. 

Cascade fired some more, Hotshot rolling along the ground and firing back at her as she did so. The blaster fire forced Cascade to stop shooting and avoid the lasers, but Magna Convoy got in close and threw a punch at him. Hotshot dodged the first punch, then managed to grab the second punch at the wrist. He quickly spun around and tried to judo flip Magna, but it didn't work and the larger robot remained in place. 

"Ah man." 

Magna chuckled. "Did you forget what I told you about flipping a larger opponent?" 

"It requires you to use their own momentum to do it." 

"Exactly," Magna Convoy then grabbed him with his free arm and swung him around. Hotshot cried out as he was sent flying through the room until he crashed into several boxes, the orange and black robot falling in a heap with a groan. Magna rolled his eyes as he moved over to him, Hotshot attempting to pick himself up. 

But before he could, something grabbed him by the legs and pulled him backwards. "WOW!" He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't. He eventually stopped and found a blaster pointed right at his head. 

"Boom," he heard Cascade tell him. "You're dead." Hotshot looked up at the female Autobot, who smirked as she uncoiled her hair cables from around his legs. Hotshot moaned, knowing he was beaten as Maga moved over to them. 

"Remember guys. Winning a fight isn't about being stronger, smarter or faster. It's about using all of your abilities together in the right way." He reached down and helped Hotshot to his feet. "You gotta think of your powers for what they are. One tool in your tool belt. If you only use them in a single way, you become predictable to any wiser opponent." 

Hotshot moaned as he cracked his back, "you couldn't have reminded me about that before you whooped my butt?" 

"Where'd the fun in that be?" Magna Convoy chuckled. "The Decepticons might have seen what your robot forms can do, but they don't know you. They don't know what you're capable of. That's your biggest advantage right now." 

In that moment, an alarm sounded that caught the Autobot's attention. Magna Convoy turned to rush out the training room, Hotshot and Cascade following behind him. They ran through the halls of the base and came to the main control room, where Alpha Trion was staring at a map. 

"What's going on?" Magna asked, "is it another fragment?" 

"It is," Trion nodded. "However, it hasn't appeared yet." This confused the Transformers, wondering how he had detected it if it hadn't appeared yet. "Thanks to the sensor data I acquired yesterday, I've been able to program the computer to detect the energy signature of a fragment that's about to unphase." 

"So you know where the fragments gonna show up before it does?" Hotshot asked, Trion nodding. "That's great. If we can get to it before it appears, we can grab it before it connects to anything." 

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. I have a general location, but no exact coordinates. That means you'll have to investigate the area on your own and hope it shows up where you are."  

They all sighed, but knew it was better than nothing. "Alright," Magna Convoy turned to the others, "time to roll out!" They nodded and were about to head over to the Space Bridge, only for Trion to speak up. 

"Hold on," he told them. "I have something for you. I've been working on this for a while and given what happened yesterday, I decided I needed to finish it." Suddenly, part of the floor opened up and something was lifted up into the room. 

The Autobots were excited to see whatever it was, expecting some awesome new weapon. But they were disappointed to see that what Trion had created...was a trailer. It was mostly blue with a few streaks of white and the Autobot Emblem on the sides. 

"Seriously?" Hotshot asked, "what is that?" 

"A trailer for Magna Convoy to tow behind him," Alpha Trion replied. "That is the function of his vehicle form after all." The white and blue robot looked the trailer over. "It has a space in it to allow you to carry your weapon out of sight." A part of the trailer's roof opened up and Convoy was able to put his blaster inside. "Plus, it has something else I think'll come in handy in a pinch." 

"What?" Magna Convoy asked, but Alpha Trion simply smirked. 

"You'll see. Now you'd better get going. Can't be wasting any more time before the fragment activates." The trio frowned, but didn't argue. They all transformed into their vehicle forms and Magna Convoy hooked the trailer onto his back. 

"Activate camo-mode." The truck announced before all three Autobots began to change colour. Magna Convoy changed into a standard gray truck along with his trailer, the Autobot Emblems vanishing. Hotshot turned entirely blue and Cascade turned entirely black, whilst holographic drivers appeared in the driver's seat. "Activate the space bridge!" 

"Activating!" Alpha Trion announced as the machine that made it began to power up. "Locking on to suitable drop site. Site found. Now activating space bridge!" The portal appeared and all three revved up their engines. 

"Autobots...ROLL OUT!" Magna Convoy drove forward and pulled the trailer along behind him, whilst Hotshot and Cascade followed him through. Once all three were through the portal, Alpha Trion shut down the portal. Once it closed, Trion sighed. 

"Good luck...Autobots."