The City of Canterlot. A place that had been in the news on several occasions in recent months, mainly due to a single connecting factor.

It was the home of the legendary Flash Sentry, who kept it safe using a mysterious alien device that gave him the power to transform into a great many number of alien superheroes. With it, he had defended his home and the people there from threats of both the human and alien variety.

It hadn't been so long ago, that Canterlot found itself under attack by robots. This was followed by a portal in the sky, where a strange space ship had flown through and tried to crash their universe into another universe. However, Flash Sentry and his friends had managed to stop it, saving their world and everyone in it.

Since then, things in Canterlot had been rather quiet. There had been an occasional crime, but nothing that was of note. However, that all changed on one particular day.

It was utter chaos on a Canterlot street. A train had derailed whilst crossing a bridge and smashed through the side of it, crashing into a small building and sending rocks and debris flying everywhere. This caused several cars to get hit and a few fires had started.

The police, fire brigade and paramedics were trying their best to save everyone, but it was proving harder than they had hoped. "The fire's too out of control!" A fireman cried, "we don't have enough water and foam to stop it."

"There are still people trapped in their cars!" Another fireman cried, looking through the flames and seeing the people currently trapped in their cars surrounded by the fire.

"We have people trapped under the rubble," a paramedic cried. "If we don't get them out soon, they'll run out of air!" As this was going on, the paramedics were working tirelessly to keep some of the people they had saved alive.

The ones in charge felt overwhelmed. It was starting to look like everything was going to go to hell. There had to be something they could do.

"Look!" Someone cried, pointing at something down the street.

Everyone turned to see a very familiar car, racing down the street towards the accident site. "Flash Sentry!" One of the paramedics cried, as the car suddenly skidded to a stop. As it did, someone slid out the passenger seat and looked around.

The blue haired teen glanced around, seeing everything that had happened and what needed to be dealt with first. Once he had, he activated the gauntlet on his arm and a hologram appeared on the dial. "Hold on!" He announced, as he jumped up onto a car. "Everything's gonna be alright. Because it's Hero Time!" With that, he leapt into the air and slammed the dial down.

A brilliant green flash filled the air, as the teen transformed.

When the light faded, Flash had been replaced by a humanoid alien wearing red and black armor. The armor was covered in a bunch of nodes, which looked like they could spray something out of them. His head was inside a large metal hood, whilst the Ultimatrix symbol was on his chest.

"Water Hazard!" He cried, as he landed on the ground. As soon as he did, the front of the hood was suddenly blocked by a gray metal cover that had four blue glass-filled holes. As soon as he was on the ground, he raised his hands before water exploded out of them.

This high pressure water slammed into the areas that were blazing out of control, dousing the flames and keeping them from spreading out of control. He ran around, spraying as much of the location as he could. Making sure areas that were at risk were dampened so they couldn't burn and set a new fire.

Within a minute, the fires had been brought under control. The firefighters would be able to deal with the rest of the flames without issue.

"Flash!" He turned to a police officer, who pointed at a bunch of cars. "There are people trapped in there. But it's so hot, nobody can get close enough to save them."

"No problem," Water Hazard announced before hitting the Ultimatrix. In a flash of light, he changed into another alien. This one appeared to be a large gray and black suit of armor, that had three holes where the head should be. On his chest was a large latch, which had the Ultimatrix on it.

"NRG!" He turned to the paramedic and spoke with a Russian accent. "Don't worry. I'll get them out of there."

"Good luck," he nodded before Flash walked towards the large pile of cars and rubble that were filling the street.

This new alien was clearly fireproof, as the heat from the burning cars and other things weren't affecting him. He walked towards the pile and spotted a mother and her child, both trapped inside a car that was stuck between two other cars. "Hold on." He marched over to them and grabbed the car trapping them, pulling it away so she could open the door.

As he did, he spotted another man who appeared to be unconscious in his car.

"Stay here." He moved over to the man in the car and ripped the door off, picking up the man and finding him non-responsive. NRG marched back to the woman and placed him on the ground, as the woman appeared to be feeling the heat. And her child wasn't doing much better.

NRG hit the Ultimatrix and in another flash, he transformed into a large turtle alien. His arms were large flippers and on the bottom of his shell were a bunch of vents, with the Ultimatrix in the very centre.

"Terraspin!" He grabbed the man and placed him on the back of his shell, then held his fins out whilst his legs seemed to merge to form a third fin. These three fins began to spin, turning him into a shell with a buzzsaw around it. And once he unleashed a bunch of air from his chest, he was propelled upwards and floated above the woman.

This caused a cooling breeze to wash down on her and her child, making her sigh in relief.

"Let's go," Terraspin announced. She nodded and they ran back to where the paramedics and other forces were being kept, Terraspin keeping the man balanced on his back. They eventually got there and as soon as the woman was out of the danger zone, he flew ahead and landed next to a paramedic. "He needs medical attention."

"Okay," he took the man off of the alien. As he did, a firefighter ran up to him.

"There are people trapped under the rubble." He pointed at the building that had been destroyed by the train. "We have to get them out of there."

"Okay," Terraspin moved over to the rubble and saw it was perilously positioned. Moving a single brick even an inch could cause it to crash down on the people inside.

He slammed the Ultimatrix and in a flash, he disappeared. But then, the firefighter saw he had actually turned into a super tiny alien. This one was some kind of robotic humanoid. Its body was made of silver metal, with green glowing wires wrapped around his body and under the joints of his armor. His face had a single blue eye in the centre and a pair of green wings on his back, whilst his legs split into three thinner legs after the knees. A tiny Ultimatrix was on his chest.

"Nanomech." He probably yelled that, but he was so small the paramedic could barely hear it.

The little alien flew towards the rubble, turning into nothing but a green light as he got further away. After a few moments, he flew into a gap in the rubble and disappeared.

The paramedics shared a look, wondering what he would do in order to get them out. Unless he had a teleporting alien, there was no way he could get them out without crushing them.

But then, the ground started shaking as the rubble began to vibrate. And suddenly, a bunch of it flew into the air before falling back down towards the pile. As it did, something big and yellow flew out of the hole and smashed the debris to pieces. "ARMODRILLO!" It was a large yellow and black robot, with arms that looked like jackhammers.

The robot was carrying a bunch of people in his arms and as he landed, he carried them over to the paramedic. "Make sure they're okay." They nodded and led them away, as Armodrillo looked around to see if there was anything else he needed to help with.

Then, he heard a woman yell out. "He's flat-lining!" He saw the woman was a paramedic, trying to keep someone alive. "I need a defibrillator!"

"There aren't any spares!" Another paramedic cried, as all the defibrillators were currently being used. The woman tried to see if there were any that had finished being needed, but they were all in the middle of treatment. And without it, there was no way to save the man on the floor.

A green flash then caught her attention, making her look around and see a large blue jellyfish alien floating towards her. Its body was split into three sections, with the top sections acting as its head whilst the other two almost appeared like a poncho. From beneath the bottom layer, six tentacles could be seen sticking out of it. Two acted as legs, whilst the other four were arms. The Ultimatrix was on the centre section.

"Ampfibian!" He announced, almost sounding like he was speaking underwater. "Can I help?" His body sparked and the woman caught on.

"Yes." She reached up and grabbed him before she could think he might shock her, pulling his tentacles down and placing them on a certain part of the man. "Start with two hundred volts!" Ampfibian nodded, as she leaned back. "Clear!" The alien unleashed the electrical energy into the man, causing his body to jolt up.

The woman checked him, but shook her head.

"Four hundred volts. Clear!" He zapped the man again, but got the same results. "Five fifty!" Ampfibian needed all the focus he could, to not go any higher and zapped him once more. And this time, the man's heart started and the woman got him breathing in no time. "Thank you."

"No problem," Ampfibian smiled. He looked around and found that everything else seemed to be going well. The casualties had all been saved, the fires were under control and there didn't seem to be anyone in need of saving. "Hope you guys don't need me for anything else. With all these quick changes, my Ultimatrix will probably time out any second."

"We can handle things from here," a cop stated. "Can't let you do all the work for us." They nodded, as the paramedics worked on getting the injured off to hospital. The fires were close to dealt with and soon the construction crews would be there to fix everything up.

Ampfibian hit the Ultimatrix and transformed back to normal, Flash heading back to the car as everyone thanked him. He smiled, happy to be of help. But then he saw what time it was. "Oh, man! I'M LATE!" He leapt into his car and quickly raced off, the others wondering what he was late for.

At Canterlot's Plumber Base, Twilight Sparkle was waiting with a tapping foot.

She was dressed in a blue dress, which went down to just before he knees. Over it was a pink cardigan, whilst her hair was up in its usual ponytail. She was also wearing pink boots, which went up to just below her knees. And on her back was her backpack, which had Spike the dog's head sticking out of it.

"How much longer is he gonna be?" Spike asked, Twilight shrugging as Flash's car finally turned a corner onto the base's street.

"There he is." She watched, as the car pulled up to the gate. Flash rolled down the window and gave her a sheepish look. "Let me guess. Something came up."

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm not that late." The gate opened and he drove up to the base's new parking section, which was full of cars. Twilight headed up to the entrance and Flash quickly ran up to catch her, still looking apologetic.

"If we missed our meeting with him..."

"It'll be fine," Flash assured her. "He invited us, so he'll probably be willing to wait another few minutes." They entered the base and found the place was full of people.

In the time between now and the battle with Vilgax and Eon, the base's force had seriously expanded. Many of the police officers in the city, who were sick of not being able to do anything, had applied to enter the Plumber ranks. After a few weeks of training, those officers returned to Earth as full fledged Plumbers. Now the base was bustling with activity, as the new Plumbers did the same kind of work they had done as cops. Only now, they were allowed to use better gear.

Flash and Twilight walked towards the elevator, the Plumbers not giving them a second look as they walked through the building. They were there so often, seeing them there wasn't something to take a second glance at.

They reached the elevator and used the transporters in it to warp down to the main control room. The place had once again been rebuilt, after Eon had destroyed the place with accelerated time. Now, the control room had working computers stationed around the entire circular wall. Plumbers were working at these monitors, keeping an eye on the entire city to make sure nothing was wrong.

As they stepped up towards a computer, someone was standing behind them staring at the monitors.

That someone was Shining Armor, who was currently dressed in his Plumber outfit. The same outfit the rest of the Plumbers were dressed in, these ones being a newly upgraded version of the suit. Though they didn't look that different, they were stronger and self repairing. Plus, they had helmets that could be taken off and on in a second.

Shining spotted the pair and smiled. "Hey. Saw your work. You've really mastered those new aliens."

"Thanks," Flash smiled. "I think they're ready to be put in the field. But hopefully, I won't need to use them for the rest of the day. Is the teleporter ready?"

"Yup," Shining gestured for them to follow. "The coordinates are set. Let's just hope nobody's standing there when you warp in." Flash and Twilight knew he was joking, but they still didn't like the idea of that happening.

As they made their way through the base, more and more Plumbers could be seen. Some of them weren't even human, instead being alien Plumbers that were stationed there to boost the numbers until more human Plumbers could be trained.

"So," Twilight smiled, "how do you like being in charge?"

"It's okay," Shining smirked. "Lot of paperwork. Luckily, the Magister that'll be running this base will be here soon. Then, I can get back on the streets." They nodded at this, as they arrived at a room where the transporter was located.

An alien Plumber was working the machine, which was some kind of large blaster-like device. Flash and Twilight stood in front of it. Spike being placed on the ground out of the bag. Shining turned to them and smiled. "Be back at the teleport site by eight o'clock. Got it?" They nodded and the alien began to power it up. "Have fun. And if you see any frat parties, steer clear of them."

They rolled their eyes, as the blaster fired a beam of energy. That beam hit the three and surrounded them before unleashing a flash of light, blinding Shining and the Plumber. When the light faded, the three were gone.

"Did it work?" Shining asked, with the alien nodding. "Good. Have a nice college tour, guys."

Flash had been blinded by the light and when his eyes adjusted, he found himself standing in front of a gate leading into a large college campus.

Twilight was right beside him, Spike jumping into her bag as she knelt down. They looked up at the campus entrance and were really impressed. The place was huge, with many different kinds of buildings within the perimeter. As they walked through the gates, they saw many college students currently making their way across the campus.

"Amazing," Twilight smiled, "this place is incredible. Just imagine what college life here would be like."

"Yeah," Flash nodded. "I could totally see myself spending four years here. So long as I can keep up with the school work."

Spike continued to poke his head out of the bag and turned to him. "Why are you planning on coming to college? I thought you'd enter the Plumbers as soon as you graduated."

Flash sighed. "Wish I could. But the Plumbers don't just accept anyone into their ranks. Not even me. On Earth, Plumber applicants have to have four years of police or military training before they can try to apply. Or have a degree in criminal justice administration. Plus, my parents want me to have some kind of college education." He looked around. "I heard this place has a great course for police hopefuls."

"And the science department is supposed to be one of the best in the country," Twilight smiled. "Too bad it's so far across the country. If Shining didn't let us teleport here, we would never have been able to get here in time for the tour."

"Speaking of the tour." Flash looked around. "Shouldn't we be meeting someone who's supposed to show us around?" As if on cue, a man appeared and began heading towards them. He was a well dressed man, having gray skin and combed back hair along with a moustache. He was dressed in a red blazer, over a white shirt, black pants and red bow-tie.

He strode over to them with a smile on his face. "Ah, Flash Sentry. It is such an honour to meet you." He shook Flash's hand, then turned to Twilight. "And Ms. Sparkle. I've heard so many amazing things about you. I'm Dean Rightsworth, the man in charge at this college."

"It's a pleasure," Twilight smiled. "We have to say, it was quite a surprise when you sent us both an offer to take a college tour today."

"Oh, I've had my eye on you for a while. Your work at such a young age is quite amazing. And when I heard that Flash Sentry was looking into criminal law studies, I knew I had to snatch him up for myself before the other schools tried to get him." He turned to Twilight. "And Ms. Sparkle. How could I risk losing such a bright potential student? You both being here will do wonders for the school."

"Thanks," Flash smiled. "And your school looks amazing. Can't wait to see the rest of it."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll love it." He turned to walk off, the two following him as they started giving a speech about the school's history. It's founding and the many influential individuals that graduated from it, was a long drawn out story.

Flash had trouble keeping his focus on Rightsworth, whilst Twilight eagerly listened to the history whilst keeping her eyes out on the school all around them. They visited many different parts of the college campus. From the meal hall, to the dorms, several lecture halls and even the sports fields.

"And, of course, our school's accomplishments aren't just in the educational system." They arrived at a large wall that had a massive trophy case. Inside were awards for multiple different sporting events. "Our students are some of the best athletes to ever go pro. Maybe you would like to join one of our teams, Mr. Sentry. I'm sure you'd be able to increase our already amazing odds in any event you compete in."

"Sure," Flash smirked. "But you do realise, I won't be allowed to use the Ultimatrix in any of these sports. That would just be cheating."

"Yes," Rightsworth looked away, "I guess it would." As he said that, a large group of students were heading out of a nearby building. One of them glanced over at them and spotted Flash, a look of surprise being on their face.

"It's Flash Sentry!" The other students turned to them and realised it was Flash, the lot rushing over to him.

"Should of figured," Flash stated as they were suddenly surrounded. Several individuals asked for an autograph and his phone number, whilst others told Flash he should go to a party they were throwing. "Please, one at a time. Give me some room. Not the face!"

Dean Rightsworth quickly grew tired of this and bellowed out. "SILENCE!" The students jumped away from Flash, seeing their dean did not look happy. "People, Mr. Sentry is here to see our campus. He will not be able to see a thing if you all crowd around him. And I'm sure many of you have classes to go to, so I suggest you all get to them."

The crowd started to disperse, Rightsworth turning back to them.

"I'm sorry about that. Word of you coming to campus got out and everyone has been really excited to meet you. I'm sure many hope to see you in your alien form."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. But I'm actually hoping to go alien free today." Rightsworth nodded, understanding completely. "So, where to next? I noticed we haven't seen the library yet. And I'm betting Twilight will be eager to see the science lab." Twilight smiled, Flash knowing she was mentally thanking him right now.

"Of course," Rightsworth nodded. "Please, follow me." They headed towards the science building, Twilight looking like a kid on Christmas Eve.

But as they got close, an alarm suddenly sounded. "What's that?" Twilight asked, as Rightsworth frowned.

"Evacuation alarm. Goes off whenever something dangerous is happening. But what could-" A high up window suddenly shattered, as something flew out of it. That something fell towards the ground, where another student was standing.

That student saw something falling towards them and flinched, bracing themselves as they turned away. But a green flash filled the air around him and he heard the object shatter against something, the student opening his eyes and seeing a multi-coloured forcefield around him.

He then spotted Gemini, the alien rabbit turning to him as the shield faded. "You okay?" The student nodded, as they looked over at the computer that had been thrown out the window. They then heard more smashing sounds, making them look up at the window.

Gemini leapt up towards the window, as Twilight and Rightsworth ran into the building.

When Gemini reached the room, he was surprised to find a large lab that was in total disarray. The desks had been thrown about, machine parts littered the floor and computers were smashed on the ground.

In the centre of the room was a humanoid robot, the machine's upper body spinning around whilst its left hand burned as a welding torch. Its other hand had three claws and was holding some kind of laptop, whilst the students around it screamed.

Gemini quickly summoned his six clones and they all leapt over to the students, putting up shields to protect them.

"What?" A girl asked, only to notice the Ultimatrix. "You're Flash Sentry!" Gemini nodded, as the robot stopped spinning and tried to use its torch on Blue's shield. Luckily, it didn't work and the shield held.

"How do I shut this thing off?" He asked, as a boy pointed at its head.

"Manual override! Back of the head!" The Gemini all nodded and as the robot pulled back, they lowered their shields and leapt at the machine. They tackled it and started fighting against the machine's limbs, Orange and Pink wrapping their arms around its welding arm to keep it from attacking. Blue and Yellow grabbed its other arm, whilst Violet and Green grabbed its shoulders and tried to keep it from spinning around.

Red leapt onto its back and saw the button on the back of it, the rabbit pressing it only for nothing to happen. "Keep it held down for ten seconds."

"Seriously!?" Red cried, holding the button down. "Emergency override is supposed to be quick and EASY!" He cried out, as the machine started spinning around and around. Then, they were all thrown off of him.

They slammed into walls and desks, all except Red exploding with the light returning to him. He moaned, holding his head in pain, whilst the robot prepared to attack again. But before it could, it suddenly froze before powering down.

"Huh?" Gemini frowned, as someone stepped into the room.

He was a pink skinned man with spiky blonde hair, who looked to be in his late eighties. He was dressed in a white lab coat, with a black shirt and pants underneath. He was even wearing black rubber clothes and on his forehead, were a pair of old fashioned welding goggles that looked older than Flash's parents.

"Doctor Mechano!" A student cried, as Gemini picked himself up. They saw that the man was holding a remote, which they assumed had deactivated the robot.

At that moment, Twilight and Rightsworth arrived and looked around. "Mechano," Rightsworth cried, "what happened here?"

"That's what I would like to know," Mechano stated. "I was grading papers in my office, when I suddenly heard a smashing sound and rushed over here." He suddenly started coughing, holding the side of the table as he did.

"Are you okay?" Gemini asked, moving over to help him.

"I'm fine!" Mechano stated, not looking the least bit surprised that he was talking to an alien. "You're that alien boy, aren't you?"

"The one and only," Gemini smirked as he changed back to human. "Flash Sentry." He held out a hand, but Mechano just turned to one of the students.

"You were in charge of programming this robot. Clearly, you made a mistake. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut you from this program right now."

"I'm sorry," the student looked heartbroken. "The programming for it was so complicated. I worked all day yesterday, trying to get it done in time." They all noticed the bags under his eyes, clearly showing he hadn't gotten much sleep. "I guess I got so tired, I made an error in the programming. I'm sorry."

Mechano sighed. "That is always how it is." He turned to the students. "Let this be a lesson to you, students. The human mind is the greatest computer on the planet. But its need for rest and recuperation is its greatest flaw. One that will hopefully become a thing of the past very soon." Flash didn't like the way that sounded.

Mechano started coughing again, as Twilight stepped over to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Mechano stated before realising who he was talking about. "Twilight Sparkle. I heard you were coming to this college for a tour. I just didn't realise it was today."

"Hello, Doctor Mechano. I've heard so much about you. The work you've done in the field of robotics is revolutionary. You changed the way people see the field entirely."

"And I've heard much about you. You're certainly one of the brightest members of your generations. I've read what you've posted online, about the different alien technologies that you've come up against."

"You've been posting alien stuff online?" Flash asked, Twilight shrugging.

"Nothing to do with the Plumbers. But I did get to take a look at some of the robots Vilgax sent at you, along with some of the gear Tirek had available. Stuff that might help inspire people to come up with the next great piece of machinery."

"Indeed," Mechano nodded. "I myself was inspired by some of the images she posted online. I'm close to a great breakthrough." He coughed again, Rightsworth frowning.

"Doctor. Maybe you should head back to your office and get some rest. You have a big class tomorrow. You'll need all your strength for that." Mechano frowned at him, but nodded.

"Very well." He turned to Twilight. "I look forward to hopefully seeing you in one of my future classes." Twilight smiled, but then she heard Rightsworth whisper something under his breath.

"I doubt that'll happen." Twilight's smile vanished, as she feared she might have suddenly been cut from the program.

Mechano also seemed to hear this and grew angry, the older man glaring at him whilst Rightsworth raised an eyebrow. After a moment of intensive glaring, Mechano turned to leave. He stopped down the hallway, a cough echoing behind him as he did.

"What was that about?" Flash asked, as Rightsworth sighed.

"Mechano is a brilliant man, but he's also a nightmare to work with. Demanding funds from other departments be given to him instead. If he had it his way, any department that wasn't connected to science and technology would have been shut down years ago."

"And he's impossible to work under," the student that had programmed the robot stated. "He wanted the programming on this thing done before today. That's why I was up so late. If you ask for a deadline extension, he asks you to clear your stuff out of the lab before the day's over."

"Ouch," Spike hissed. "Kind of harsh."

"You have no idea," Rightsworth nodded before realising he had just replied to a dog. Spike smiled and pulled his head back into the bag. "Anyway, the board of directors have all agreed to end his employment at the end of the school year. Officially, he'll go into retirement because of his increasingly poor health. That's why you won't be in any of his classes, Ms. Sparkle."

"So you haven't changed your mind about letting me attend?"

"Are you kidding? After meeting you, I'm more determined than ever to have you and Mr. Sentry join us here." The two smiled at this, whilst Rightsworth tells the students to clean up the lab. They then headed out, their tour far from over.

In some unknown location, Mechano was walking down a flight of stairs.

His angry expression continued to grow more and more deranged, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Terminate my employment, will they? FOOL!" He punched a wall, but flinched at the pain he felt. "Useless old body. You won't hold me back for much longer." He headed towards the back of the lab, where something massive was hidden under a large tarp. "Once this has been completed, those fools will rue the day they ever crossed me."

He picked up some tools and lowered his goggles, beginning to work on whatever he was constructing.

He worked tirelessly for two hours, never stopping no matter how much his old body wanted him to. He was constantly moving around under the tarp, working on different parts of his great invention. And eventually, he managed to finish what he had been working on.

Stepping out from under the tarp, he raised his goggles before clutching his chest. "Augh!" He groaned before beginning to cough, the man covering his mouth only to feel something on his hands.

Pulling them away, he saw blood on his gloves. "No. Not yet. I won't fall so close to the finish line." He pulled himself over to a console near the wall. He leaned against it, getting his breath back, whilst typing away at it. "Beginning charging sequence."

Twilight and Flash had just finished their tour and they had to admit, this place was amazing.

"And whenever you're not in class, all the college's facilities will be available to you. So long as a class isn't actually in session there, you can do anything you wish on campus. Wish to take a swim? The campus pool is open to all. Need to do some repairs to a vehicle, the campus's garage always has space and tools available. And aside from the mess hall, there are many eating venues within walking distance of the college."

"Wow," Flash smiled, "this place really does have everything."

"Yeah," Twilight nodded as they entered the mess. "It's almost too perfect." Rightsworth smiled, as Flash turned to her.

"And if we go here, we can hang out when we're not in class. Maybe we'll get lucky and our classes will be at the same time." Twilight smiled at this, only for the room to suddenly fall into darkness.

The lights had gone off and the only light in the room, was coming from the small windows up high and the open door. "What's going on?" Twilight turned to Rightsworth, who looked just as confused.

He took out his phone and quickly called someone. "Hardwired. What's happening?" He listened and frowned, "what? Where's it all going?" Whatever he heard made him growl. "Mechano."

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, as he hung up and started dialling someone else.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'll have campus security deal with this. Please, stay and enjoy the fine food we have here. You must be starving after your long tour." He left, Flash, Twilight and Spike sharing a look before shrugging and heading off to the buffet.

Rightsworth strode across the green, towards the science labs that were drawing all the college's power.

As he approached, a bunch of men in security uniforms rushed up. "Get in there and unplug whatever Mechano's using. And bring him to me!" The men charged into the building and headed for Mechano's personal lab.

Rightsworth was right behind them and as they entered the lab, they started searching the place. They unplugged everything they could find, whilst looking for any sign of him. But he was nowhere to be found. "He's not here, sir. And there's nothing in here that could be drawing all that power."

"The energy has to be going somewhere!" Rightsworth claimed. "Rip this place apart, if you have to." The men nodded and started pulling draws and cupboards open. But they found nothing that could explain the college's sudden power outage.

However, one man suddenly noticed something behind one of the bookshelves.

He stepped up and placed his hand behind it, pulling it away from the wall and finding a hidden door behind it. "Sir!" He pushed the bookcase aside, revealing the door. "Did you know this was here?"

"No," Rightsworth frowned. "Mechano's been at this college longer than anyone else. He must have found a way to keep this a secret from everyone." He tried to open it, with no luck. "Break it down!" The strongest guard rushed up and slammed his foot into it, ripping the door off its hinges. "Mechano. Whatever you're doing in there, it stops now!"

Inside the lab, Mechano glared at the sound of Rightsworth's voice. "Meddling fool!"

He could hear the guards beginning to descend the staircase and rushed into action, climbing a ladder up towards the top of his creation. And as the first guard arrived, he spotted the console and ran over to find it was what was drawing the power away.

He turned it off, as more guards arrived on the scene. And as they did, the object below the tarp started moving.

Rightsworth was halfway down the stairs, when he saw what was under the tarp. Horror appeared on his face, as whatever it was started moving. "Mechano, you mad fool!" Suddenly, the object moved part of it and slammed it up into the roof. This caused the whole thing to start shaking.

The security guards cried out, as the ceiling began to break apart and collapse.

Rightsworth ran back up the stairs, and more and more the secret lab started falling apart on top of them. As he got closer to the door, the roof caved in completely and fell towards him. He screamed, as it dropped down.

Back at the mess hall, Flash and Twilight had finished their meal and had to admit the food there was great.

Even Spike enjoyed it, the puppy licking his lips to get the peanut butter and crumbs off of them. "Man, I could eat here every day." The two smirked, also thinking the same thing. So far, they had no reason not to agree to attend this place.

But as they got up, Twilight seemed to have a bit of a worried look on her face. Flash noticed and frowned, wondering what was up with her. He was about to ask what was wrong, but something happened that caught his attention first.

The ground started shaking, the students in the mess hall looking worried whilst Flash turned to Twilight. They both headed outside and looked around, Flash wanting to be ready in case any of the buildings started to collapse. But the college's buildings had been extra reinforced, to make sure no form of natural disaster could destroy them.

But an unnatural disaster, appeared to be something they hadn't found a way to defend against. The science building began to break apart, the whole thing starting to collapse as part of the ground in front of it broke apart. And as Flash and Twilight ran towards it, something broke free of the earth and started pulling itself up.

It was a massive robot, roughly twenty meters in height. It was humanoid in appearance, made of black metal with gray in the sections between the joints. Its body was cone shaped, with the tip pointing towards the ground whilst the flat surface held a large dome-like head on its top.

It had orb-like shoulders and tube-like arms, with orbular elbows to allow freedom of motion, whilst its legs had the same tube and orb makeup. On the ends of the arms were large robotic hands, that looked pretty impressive. Meanwhile, the feet were large rectangles.

"What the heck is that?" Spike asked, as the domed head slowly turned towards them.

They got a better look at the robot's head and strangely, it appeared to look familiar. There were robotic spikes, sticking out out of the dome, which gave it the appearance of having hair. "Wait," Twilight tilted her head. "Is it just me, or does that thing look like Mechano?"

"Oh yeah," Flash nodded. "Now that you mention it." Their realisation made them both unprepared, as the robot suddenly moved its large hand towards them. "Look out!" Flash grabbed Twilight and pushed her out of the way, the hand missing them by inches.

The two fell to the ground and as they did, Twilight's geode unknowingly snapped off from around her neck and flew away.

Flash quickly rolled to his feet and reached for the Ultimatrix. But as he did, the hand swung around and slammed into him. "Augh!" He was sent flying back, Twilight and Spike gasping.

"Flash!" She turned back to the machine and tried to pull its legs out from under it, only to discover her magic wasn't working. "What?" She looked down and gasped, seeing her geode was gone. "Where is it?" But as she looked around, the hand reached down to grab her.

"Twilight, look out!" But Spike's warning came too late and the robot managed to get them both.

They screamed, as they were lifted into the air. "Let me go!" But when the hand opened up, Twilight slid down onto the palm. And as she did, it opened and a hole was in the very middle. One that Twilight suddenly fell into. She and Spike screamed, as they tried to escape. But the hole started making a sucking force that Twilight couldn't escape.

Their screams caught Flash's attention and as he looked up, he saw the robot turn away. With its larger strides, it started running and left the campus in just a few steps. It kept running and disappeared, Flash shaking his head as he stood up.

"You're not getting away." He was about to activate his watch, only to notice something on the ground.

Looking down, he saw Twilight's geode on the ground. He quickly picked it up and frowned. Without it, Twilight would be in serious trouble. But Flash wasn't gonna let that thing keep her.

"Hold on!" He activated the gauntlet and cycled through the aliens until he found one he wanted, slapping the hologram down and creating a bright flash of light. "XLR8!" He cried, having become his fastest alien.

He suddenly shot forward, picking up speed to chase after the robot.

The people of the city had been doing their everyday activities, enjoying life in the college town.

But then, that peaceful day was shattered by a giant robot that had suddenly appeared. It marched down the street, pushing its way through buildings and anything else that got in its way. Down on the ground, several cops saw it coming and tried to shoot it, but the machine's metal body was impervious to their bullets.

At that moment, Twilight had finished sliding through a slide-like tunnel and fell straight down through another hole.

"Ahh!" She cried, landing on her butt and flinching in pain. Spike jumped out of her bag, whilst she opened her eyes and looked around. Spike did the same, the pair finding they were in some kind of glass tube. Said tube had disconnected from the slide and the top was quickly sealed, as the tube slid along the ground.

And at the front of the room was a large throne, where the one responsible for all of this could be seen.

"Mechano!" The man turned to her, his arms surrounded by metal tubes connected to the controls. "What are you doing? Why did you do all this and capture me?"

"Ms. Sparkle." Mechano laughed, as he turned back to stare at the display screen. "You should feel honoured. You're the first one to be saved by me and become a part of mankind's future." He then spotted Spike and frowned. "You should know. Mankind's future doesn't include owning pets."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, as she looked behind her and saw multiple glass tubes behind her. One of these tubes had replaced the one she had been in. "Are you going to kidnap more people?"

"Not just any people. The chosen ones. Those worthy of becoming part of mankind's next stage. Those like you, my dear. The smart ones who can actually help our race flourish."

Twilight wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling this guy had some insane plan. "What do you mean, becoming part of mankind's next stage? The last time I heard someone say that, he tied me to a tower and almost mixed my DNA with a random assortment of animals."

Mechano puffed. "You must be talking about that Animac idiot. What a fool. Mankind's future isn't becoming more animalistic. It's to become less organic."

"What?" Twilight asked, "how can we be less organic?"

Mechano laughed. "I'm close to completing my ultimate invention. A device that will download the human brain into a computer server. Once it's complete, I'll be able to free us from these accursed organic forms and place us in bodies that are more...mechanical."

Twilight and Spike's eyes widened. "You're going to turn us into robots?"

"Of course!" Mechano laughed. "Think of all the brilliant minds that have been lost forever. Einstein. Tesla. Benjamin Franklin. Imagine everything they could have accomplished, if they weren't forced to grow old and die. Mankind's only hope of unlocking its true potential, is for the minds of our best and brightest to be freed from the shackles of the organic prisons we call bodies."

"You're insane," Spike told him. Mechano looked back at Spike, a raised eyebrow on his face as the dog growled.

"He's right," Twilight told him. "This is madness. We'll be just as vulnerable in a robotic form. Machines break down faster than human bodies do. Glitches can occur all the time and if the machines lose power, we'll be dead."

"All problems that can be fixed easier than a human body can. You can't simply make a new lung or replace a broken leg with a new one. Humanity's future lies in the mechanical form. A life without pain, disease and suffering."

"A life without pleasure," Twilight told him. "The last I checked, a robot can't feel the wind of their skin. They can't enjoy the taste of their favourite food and the touch of those they love. If you do this, you'll be condemning the world to cold and pointless existence."

"Better that than no existence at all," Mechano stated. It was then that he heard an alarm and checked, as a screen popped up and showed something flying towards the robot. Something fast.

"Flash," Twilight realised it was XLR8. "It's not too late. Give up now and Flash won't kick your butt!" But Mechano just laughed, as the controls beeped.

"He won't even get close to us. Activate flight mode."

On the ground, XLR8 charged towards the robot as fast as he could.

He was catching up and would be on it within seconds. But before he could, the robot stopped running and its feet started to open up. And the next thing XLR8 knew, fire was exploding out of its feet.

"WOW!" He skidded to a stop and ran the other way, as the smoke and flames filled the street and almost engulfed him. "Not good." He watched, as the robot was propelled upwards. But it was a slow rise and XLR8 was able to easily run up a building before leaping off the top.

He flew through the air, planning to land on the robot and run up its body towards the head. He was sure that was where Twilight was.

But as he landed on the machine, his entire body was suddenly electrified. "GYAH!" He leapt off of it and fell back towards the ground, crashing into the roof of a building and sliding along it. "Ow." He hears laughing as he picks himself up, Mechano's voice echoing out of the robot's head.

"Nice try, but your pathetic organic alien form won't stand a chance against my amazing robot. Give it up and leave me to my work. Your friend will be much better off, once I've freed her from her organic confines."

"What?" XLR8 asked, as he watched the robot's back open up and shoot a blast of fire from it. This propelled it along, the robot picking up speed and shooting off over the city. "Not good!"

He thought about changing aliens to fly after it, but realised none of his flyers were fast enough to catch up with it. Even Firefly's jet propulsion wouldn't catch up with it.

"Maybe Ultimate Firefly..." His eyes widened, as he realised there was another way he could catch it and fight against the machine. "Alright!" He reached up and twisted the dial on his chest. "Time to go...ULTIMATE!" He slapped the dial down and it quickly changed, to have the three spikes before a green light flowed out and spread across his body.

In a flash, XLR8's body grew taller. He quickly became over eight feet tall, whilst his body gained many more changes. His skin changed to a brownish colour, with his suit disappearing at the arms and legs. But it was his tail that changed the most, as it grew longer and also overtook his entire body. Now XLR8 was one long tail, with arms, legs and his head sticking out of it.

The tail was a mix of black and orange, the area of XLR8's arms, legs and head were sticking out being black with an orange stripe right under it. It kept swapping from orange to black until the very tip of the tail, which was orange and had a large orange spearhead on the end of it. The area of his tail that would be his chest was white, where the Ultimatrix was located.

His head was pretty much the same, except the top of his helmet bent backwards ninety degrees. The section of his body beneath the helmet looked like the helmet could slot into it, whilst his mouth had a more refined lower jaw.

Transformation complete, the new Ultimate swung its larger tail around as he announced who he was to the world. "ULTIMATE XLR8!" The speedster stared at the robot that was flying off and lowered his visor, shooting off the side of the building and flying down it towards the ground.

As he did, he used his tail's new rock hard tip to pierce into the side of the building to slow himself down.

Once close to the bottom, he pulled it out and dropped the last few feet. And as soon as he touched down, he shot off towards the robot. He felt heavier and not as fast as he once was, but he was still faster than the eye could follow.

Within the robot, Twilight, Spike and Mechano saw Ultimate XLR8 chasing after them.

Mechano frowned, clearly not impressed by the sudden transformation. But Twilight was amazed by XLR8's new form and wondered what it could do. From what she knew of the Ultimates, they always had some kind of trade off power wise. Gaining a new ability, but losing an old one. The only ability XLR8 had was his speed and by the looks of things, he hadn't lost that. Was this Ultimate different?

"Transforming your pathetic aliens won't save you!" Mechano stated. "You couldn't touch my robot before and now won't be any different."

"We'll see about that!" Ultimate XLR8 announced, as he caught up to the robot and began running up the side of a building to get to its height.

And before Mechano could try and stop him, he leapt off the side of the building and shot towards it. As he did, his head retracted backwards and slotted into his body, his arms curling up into slots in the armor as well. He straightened out his body and turned into a super fast missile, his hammer-like forehead smashing into the robot at over three hundred miles an hour.

And to Mechano's shock, the impact sent the robot flying in the other direction. "WHAT!?" He cried, as he smashed into the side of a building.

Ultimate XLR8 fell back towards the ground and used his long black claws to dig into the ground, as the robot slid down the building and hit the ground. XLR8 had expected that to hurt, but he hadn't felt a thing. His new body was completely resistant to high velocity impacts.

"Awesome!" He smirked, as the robot began to pick itself up. He shot forward again, picking up speed before leaping off the ground. He once again folded himself up into a missile and before the robot could get its balance, he smashed into it again and knocked it down onto its back.

"Augh!" Mechano cried, whilst Twilight did her best to keep herself stable.

Luckily, the tube she was in was small. So by holding her arms and legs out, she was able to keep herself from getting thrown about when the robot hit the ground. Spike had leapt back into her backpack, zipping it up to keep himself safe. "Nice one, Flash."

"That worm!" Mechano pushed the robot up. "I'll show him why messing with me is a mistake!" He started powering the robot's jets up again, planning to fly straight up and out of Ultimate XLR8's range.

The alien spotted this and realised he needed to get rid of its jet propulsion.

He glanced back at his tail, seeing the hook-like end made of hard material. An idea popped into his head and he smirked, as he picked up speed and shot straight towards the robot. "Time to see if this works." He leapt up and flew towards the mech, then spun around moments before he reached its metal body.

This caused his tail to swing around and smashed into the robot's leg, the hook on the end of it ripping through the metal connecting the foot to the ankle.

He kept going until he cut through the entire leg, having gouged out half the foot's metal before flying out the other side and landed behind the machine. Moments later, the damaged part of the robot exploded and the foot hung off the leg before breaking off completely.

"WHAT!?" Mechano screamed, as his console brought up a warning light. "Impossible!"

His mech's other foot continued to try and lift it off the ground, but only one thruster wasn't enough to carry the machine's weight. As such, he was forced to deactivate the thrusters to prevent issues from occurring. But when the mech landed back on the ground, it had trouble balancing.

"That little brat!" He spun around and spotted Ultimate XLR8, then reached down to try and catch him. "I'll crush you like a grape!" But the alien managed to dodge the attack and spun his tail around, the pick-axe end slamming into the wrist and ripping it off.

As the robot pulled back, Ultimate XLR8 leapt over to another building and used his powerful legs to propel himself forward. He folded up and slammed his head into its chest, the loss of its foot and hand keeping it from falling backwards. It smashed into the ground and Ultimate XLR8 used its chest to leap straight up towards the machine's head.

He then fell back and spun around, his tail slamming down onto the head and ripping right through it.

Twilight cheered, as the alien broke into the cockpit and spotted her in the tube. Mechano roared, as his robot's controls went haywire. But Ultimate XLR8 was more focused on saving Twilight, so swung his claws around and cut through the glass.

He reached inside and pulled Twilight free, then used his legs to propel himself back out. "I'll be back for you next!" Mechano roared, as more of his console exploded. The flames slammed into the side of his face as it did, making him scream as some of his hair was burned away.

He screamed, as he pulled his arm out of the control tube and threw it into an area that was on fire. Despite the pain, he slammed a fist down on the button and his chair moved away from the console and into a tube in the back.

Ultimate XLR8 had leapt out of the robot, shielding Twilight as he did so. He flew through the air and managed to land on the ground, his sharp claws digging into the pavement as he came to a stop.

Once they were clear of the robot, he looked down at Twilight. "You alright?" Twilight smiled and nodded, Spike leaving the bag's safety as they turned back to the machine. "I'm going back in for techno freak!" But before he could, something shot out of the robot's head. It was some kind of missile, which shot up into the sky and flew away at an incredible speed. "What's that?"

"Best guess. Some kind of escape pod. His machine was badly damaged when you destroyed its foot, hand and control console. He must be trying to get away."

"Well he's not gonna get far." But before Ultimate XLR8 could chase after him, the Ultimatrix beeped and he transformed into Flash. "Great," he sighed, "perfect timing." Sirens filled the air and the two realised they would need to talk to the police about what happened.

But to their amazement, another car appeared before the police. This one had Rightsworth in it, the man's suit being covered in dirt whilst scratches and cuts covered his face. "Mr. Sentry," he stepped over to him. "Ms. Sparkle. You're here. I assume you're the ones who stopped this contraption."

"That's right," Flash nodded. "And what happened to you?"

Rightsworth sighed. "When Mechano made his escape in this thing, he brought his underground lab down on the rest of us. But a miracle, I managed to get out before I was buried alive. My men weren't so lucky. Now, where Mechano?"

"Gone," Flash sighed. "After I toasted his robot, he escaped in a rocket of some kind. Sorry. I ran out of power, so I couldn't follow him."

Rightsworth sighed. "So long as nobody else got hurt. I'll be sure to alert the authorities to Mechano's crimes. He'll be on the most wanted list before the day is out." They nodded, as they turned to the machine.

"What are you gonna do with that thing?" Twilight asked.

"Take it back to the college and take it apart, piece by piece." The teens looked at him in shock. "It was built using college funds. So technically, it still belongs to the college. I intend to strip it of everything I can use to make that money back, then funnel it back into the projects that actually deserve funding." The two nodded, as the police began asking questions.

It took a while, but Flash and Twilight told them everything that happened.

Once that was done, the two were left alone as Rightsworth made preparations to get the robot back to campus. Flash and Twilight soon found themselves free to do whatever they wanted, even though they doubted they could do anything back at the college.

Still having a few hours before Shining was set to warp them back, the pair chose to check out the city.

The place was just like Canterlot, with movie theatres, arcades, parks and so much more. It was definitely a place Flash and Twilight would enjoy spending time at. "Giant robots aside," Flash stated. "This city is great."

"Yeah," Twilight nodded. "And mad scientist teacher aside, the college is great as well. Imagine all we could learn there. My science studies could really excel here and you could learn everything you need to be a full on Plumber." They were both sat on a park bench, enjoying some ice cream they had gotten from a local vendor. Spike was running around the park, chasing a butterfly. "Although..."

"Although?" Flash looked at her, "what's up?"

"It's so far away. I doubt we could teleport back and forth from here to Canterlot. We'd only be able to visit home on holidays. I don't wanna be away from my family that long. I wanna see Flurry go into pre-school. And what if Shining and Cadance have another child? I won't get to see it grow up for four years."

"Good point," Flash sat back. "And we wouldn't be able to see our friends for a long time." That seemed to make Twilight feel even worse. "I get it. You've only had close friends for a relatively short time. You don't want to say goodbye to them yet."

"Exactly," Twilight nodded. "Remember when you went to the future and learned we had all drifted apart?" Flash nodded. "What if it happens again? What if I go here and never get to see them again?"

"That's up to you," Flash stated. Twilight looked confused. "I get it. Staying friends when you don't get to be with each other everyday, can be really hard. But...do Sunset and the others matter to you?"

"Of course," Twilight nodded. "They're one of the most important things in my life."

"Then don't let your friendship die," Flash stated. "If it's important to you, make it last. Who cares if you don't get to physically see each other every day? You can still talk to them over the phone or on the computer. They're not just gonna go stay in Canterlot whilst you go here. They'll probably be going to their own colleges, maybe in another state. They'll be doing the exact same thing you'll be doing."

"Yeah," Twilight nodded, "you're right. They will be going to college somewhere."

"They'll be facing challenges of their own," Flash told her. "And they might find themselves overwhelmed, just like you might be overwhelmed by everything you're gonna learn."

"You're right," Twilight nodded. "And when that happens, we'll need to be there for each other. To support one another."

"Exactly," Flash nodded. "And you'll probably find that doing that will strengthen your bond, better than hanging out with one another every day. Just watch. When we all graduate college, you girls will be just as close as before. Closer, even."

Twilight smiled at him. "Thanks Flash."

"No problem." Flash finished off his ice cream and got up, Twilight following suit with Spike running up to them. "But you know, it's possible we won't go to this college. Maybe we'll get another offer somewhere better." Twilight nodded, as they walked side by side. "But there will be one upside to coming here."

"What's that?"

Flash smiled at her. "We'll get to come together. We'll get to see each other every day." Twilight suddenly blushed at this, as Flash looked up at the sky. "Though I guess that kind of goes against what I said before. If we do end up going to different colleges, I hope our friendship stays as strong."

Twilight smiles with him and nods. "I'm sure it will. After everything we've been through together, how could it not." Flash nodded, as they headed out of the park to find something else to do until it was time for them to warp back to Canterlot.

They didn't know what the future had in store for them. But they knew as long as they stuck by one another, nothing thrown at them could stop their quest to become the best they could be. No matter what the universe threw at them, they would overcome it and charge forward to a brighter tomorrow.

Night had fallen in the middle of the desert and there, someone was busy working on something.

That someone was Mechano, who had cannibalised the escape pod that had crashed into the desert. Sparks filled the night sky and illuminated the man, who was shaking in both pain and rage. But eventually, the sparks ceased and he looked over his creation.

"Flash Sentry." He raised what he had created, doing so revealing that his burned arm had been replaced by a robotic one. "You will pay for what you've done to me. My destiny cannot be stopped. I will help humanity evolve." He placed what he had made onto his face, connecting it so that it was covering the entire left side of his head.

He spun around and revealed his new appearance. Alongside his robotic arm, he had a metal mask covering the left side of his head and face. In place of his normal human eye, he had a large tube-like eye sticking out of the mask. The tube had a red lens inside of it, which allowed him to zoom in and out to see things easier.

He clutched his robotic arm with his real one, only to then cough. He would still be reliant on his useless organic lungs. But eventually, he would find a way to free himself from his damaged body. Until then, he would work on making Flash Sentry pay. He would come to regret ever crossing the most brilliant man alive.

Author's Note

Welcome, my friends, to the next instalment of Flash Sentry with the Omnitrix. In this case, it's the Ultimatrix, but you get my point. Flash and his aliens are back and kicking off this story with a bang, showing all his new aliens and a new Ultimate.

Speaking of Ultimates, this particular one was taken from the Ink Tank's drawing matrix. For those who want to see what it looks like, here.

Whilst this Ultimate was made by the Ink Tank, all the other ones will be of my own design. Hope you enjoy what's to come.