School was back in session and everyone was ready to start classes again.

Despite this, Flash and his friends found themselves in the gym along with a group from a lower grade. As he sat on the bleachers, he looked towards the younger students and spotted Rarity and Applejack's sisters.

Despite Flash not having science with anyone except Trixie, his entire grade was there. And soon enough, Celestia and Luna stepped into the gym with the science teachers. "Hello everyone. Welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed your vacation." They nodded, as Celestia explained what they were doing there. "As you know, our city has recently undergone a bit of a technological shift. Thanks to Cosmic Town's creation, the technology brought here from other planets is beginning to bleed into Canterlot."

"It is?" Rainbow asked, everyone turning to Flash as if asking if that was true.

"Well," Flash frowned, "the Plumbers have been finding a lot of guys that managed to get their hands on alien tech."

"Not just them," Twilight told him. "The hospital was given a generator that makes producing clean and efficient energy simple. A ton of people are alive thanks to that."

"Indeed," Celestia nodded. "But we can't allow ourselves to get lazy and let our new neighbours just give us technology. We need to show we have what it takes to advance ourselves. That's why we'll be holding a special event. An inventing competition. Students from both grades will team up and work together to try and make a new piece of technology. It can be whatever you want, the more out there the better."

The crowd seemed interested by this, many getting excited as Trixie turned to Twilight.

"I wonder who's gonna win this?" She smirked, as Twilight rolled her eyes. As she did, the two science teachers stepped forward carrying boxes in their hands.

"Now," Celestia reached into the first box, "the first team will be..." She took out a piece of paper, as Luna did the same with the other box. "Diamond Tiara..."

"And Pinkie Pie," Luna finished." The two girls looked at one another, as the teachers wrote the names down and the principals repeated the process.

One by one, the students were paired off. By some coincidence, Rarity and Applejack ended up teamed up with the other's sister. Twilight got stuck with a boy named Pipsqueak and the others were soon paired up as well.

"Rainbow Dash," Luna stated as the girl in question smiled.

As Celestia reached into the next box, another girl was crossing her fingers. "Come on," she prayed. "Please." She was Scootaloo, the orange skinned girl with purple hair, wearing a leather hoodie and green shorts. As a big fan of Rainbow, so much so that Rainbow even acted like a big sister to her, she hoped they would be paired up.

But alas... "And Silver Spoon."

Scootaloo's heart sank, as she watched Rainbow stand up and move to sit with one of the most spoiled girls in the school. She sighed, wondering what the two of them would end up making. She would be sure it would be cool.

"And Scootaloo."

"Huh," she lifted her head and realised she had missed who she had been paired with. "Wait. Who's my partner?"

"That would be me." Scootaloo's eyes widened before she looked up and saw Flash, smiling at her as he stood next to her seat. "I know you're probably wanting Rainbow, but hopefully I can be a good substitute."

Scootaloo smiled at him, as the principals called out the last few names. As the pairs all came together, Scootaloo imagined what she and Flash would be able to create.

Whilst she still thought Rainbow was cooler, she had been a fan of Flash's ever since his identity was revealed. She knew all of his aliens, including the smart ones like Grey Matter and U-Reek-Ah. "This is gonna be awesome. I can't wait to see what you come up with."

Celestia cleared her throat. "Now that the teams have been decided, I look forward to seeing what you all manage to come up with. Remember. Science is built on trial and error. If you make a mistake, don't let it stop you from going on. Learn from it and help it make you a better inventor."

The students all nodded as they were dismissed, the groups heading out of the gym and beginning to come up with ideas.

"So what are we gonna make?" Scootaloo heard Applebloom ask Rarity, who didn't seem to have any idea. "I guess coming up with da'h idea will be da'h hard part."

"Not true," Twilight told her. "Inventing is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Rarity frowned. "I don't enjoy sweating. This might be more difficult than I thought."

Scootaloo turned to Flash, a smirk on her face. "We've got this in the bag. You and me are gonna crush this competition." Flash smirked, nodding in agreement. But before he could say anything, Scootaloo continued. "I can't wait to see what Grey Matter or U-Reek-Ah come up with."

"Huh?" Flash tilted his head, "Grey Matter or U-Reek-Ah?"

"Oh. Are you gonna use another alien? I know those two are the really smart ones. But do you have anything else that might come up with something?"

"Who said I was gonna use one of my aliens to come up with something?"

"Aren't you?" Flash frowned, seeing Scootaloo's worried face.

"What? Do you think I can't do it on my own? I'm smart enough without going alien, you know."

"Are you?" Flash was really getting annoyed.

"Yes. And to prove it, I'm not gonna use any of my aliens during this contest." Scootaloo looked worried. "Probably be considered cheating, anyway. Win or lose. I'm doing this human." The others nodded, agreeing with him. But Scootaloo looked very worried.

As soon as school ended, the students who didn't have an after school activity were heading home.

Those working on their projects paired up with their partners and headed off to think of ideas, though some were still looking for theirs. "Cheer up," Applebloom told Scootaloo as they stepped out of the school. "So what if Flash isn't gonna use his aliens? I bet ya'll still come up with an idea."

"I doubt it. The guy wasn't exactly super human before he could turn into an alien."

"Lots of people can't turn into aliens," Sweetie pointed out. "That doesn't make us any less special."

"But he can turn into aliens. So why not do that and come up with an idea?" Before she could say anything, a particular car pulled up in front of the school and stopped. The girls stared at the Omni-Cruiser, as the canopy opened and Flash was shown in the drivers seat.

"Come on," he told her. "Figured we could brainstorm ideas whilst I'm on patrol."

Scootaloo looked impressed by this and after bidding her friends goodbye, she climbed in behind Flash as the glass returned and Chip drove off. She quickly realised that Flash wasn't steering. He looked out the window, clearly keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble.

"So what happens if we run into trouble?" Scootaloo asked, sounding excited. "Am I gonna get to watch you beat a bad guy up?"

"No," Flash told her. "If we do find ourselves in that situation, I'm jumping out whilst Chip takes you somewhere safe." Scootaloo pouted and crossed her arms, finding her partnership with this guy wasn't turning out as fun as she had hoped. "Anyway. We need to start coming up with ideas for our invention. Any suggestions?"

"We could make a hover scooter," Scootaloo imagined herself flying through the street on a scooter with no wheels. She smirked, as she envisioned herself at the skate park doing several tricks. Landing would be so much easier without wheels to land on. "That would be so cool."

Flash frowned, "I think that might be a little outside our wheel house."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked. "We could totally make one."

"Really? You know how to make a propulsion device small enough to fit on a scooter?" She frowned, "thought so. And before you say anything, no. I'm not turning into Grey Matter to make such a thing."

"Fine," Scootaloo sighed. "So what do you know how to make without being aliens?"

"Lots of things," Flash told her. "I might not be turning alien for this, but that doesn't mean I can't use what I've learned as an alien to make something."

"Huh?" Scootaloo frowned. "Wait. I thought when you turn back from Grey Matter or the other aliens, you lose all your super smarts."

"Yes. But it's not like I forget all the thoughts I had during that time. I just have a harder time understanding what the heck it means. But some of the stuff I'm able to remember. I might need to double check some of the stuff, but I'm sure I can use what I learned to make something. We just need to come up with something and I'll know if I can make it or not."

"Alright," Scootaloo hummed as she looked out the window. But she couldn't think of anything.

The car soon arrived at Cosmic Town and after a while, came to a stop so Flash and Scootaloo could get out. "Maybe we can find something here that'll give us some inspiration." Flash looked around, but couldn't find anything that looked all that different from stuff that was already a thing.

"Will this even count?" Scootaloo asked. "If we just remake something we see here, does that count as inventing something?"

Flash frowned, realising she might be right.

They soon arrived at an alien hardware store, where a bunch of different alien technologies were located. "Hello there," the alien at the desk smiled.

He was one of the more interesting aliens that Flash had seen. He was literally a large ball with arms and a head. His body seemed to be made up of two sections. A sphere that was surrounded by a bigger sphere that had its bottom missing. This allowed the inner sphere to touch the ground and roll, allowing him to move around.

"What can I do for you two today?"

"We're looking for ideas," Flash explained. "There's a contest at school and we need to come up with an invention that's completely new and original. But we have no idea what to make that hasn't already been done."

"I see," the alien nodded. "Well I happen to be somewhat of an inventor myself."

"Really?" Scootaloo looked impressed, "what have you invented?"

"Just a few little things that make everyday life easier." The alien reached behind the counter and took out a few things. "None of them have really taken off yet, but I'm sure they'll be a hit one day." He held one of them out to Flash, the teen taking it and finding it was a hammer.

But it wasn't just any hammer, as the end seemed to be held to the handle by a metal pole that went through them both. There was also a white sticking out of it, that connected to a small blue canister connected to the side. "Is this..."

"An electric hammer," the alien nodded. "Makes hammering nails so much simpler." Flash found the switch and as he pressed it, the hammer's end started moving back and forth at a fairly fast rate.

"Cool." But then the hammer started going faster and Flash felt that if he placed it against a nail, it would knock that nail through six feet of concrete. "Wow!" He felt it getting even faster and almost lost control of it, the teen barely turning it off in time.

"Still needs a little work," the alien chuckled before taking something else out of the box. "Now this is my everything's okay alarm." It looked like a regular smoke detector and when he pressed the button the side, it let out a super loud noise that forced Flash and Scootaloo to cover their ears. "THIS WILL SOUND...EVERY THREE SECONDS...SO LONG AS EVERYTHING'S OKAY!"

"Turn it off!" Flash yelled back, the noise driving him nuts.

"IT CAN'T BE TURNED OFF!" But then the device stopped and began to smoke. "But it does break easily."

"Right," Flash's ears were still ringing. "What else do you have?"

"Lots of stuff." He looked around before leaning in close, the other two doing the same. "Don't tell anyone this, but I've been working on designing an easy boy chair that doubles as a toilet." The pair frowned, unsure how they felt about such an invention.

"How do you come up with all these ideas?" Scootaloo asked, as she inspected the electric hammer.

"Coming up with ideas is the easy part," he explained. "it's making that idea a reality that's the issue. Inventing is one percent inspiration-"

"And ninety-nine percent perspiration," Flash nodded. "Yeah, a friend of ours told us the same thing."

"Well, it's true. But the trick with inventing is to think simple. Not every invention has to change the world. Just making something that makes life easier is all you need to do." The teens still didn't know what they were supposed to make. "Think of all the inventions that exist now. Like cars. How do you think the idea for a car came about?"

"I guess it came about because people were sick of needing to rely on a horse and carriage to get everywhere."

"And where do you think the carriage came from?" The teens wondered where this was going and tried to think.

Flash scratched his head. "I guess...someone needed to take several people somewhere and only had one horse. So they made something the horse could pull and they could ride in?"

"Exactly," the alien smiled. "The key word was in that sentence. Need. Someone needed something, so they invented a device to help fill that need. And that's how inventing works. Look around for a need and try to think of a way to fill that need. One idea will lead to another and before you know it, you've got it. See a need. Fill a need. That's been my motto."

"Huh," Flash hadn't thought of it like that. "Okay. Thanks. Do you mind if we still take a look around?"

"Of course," he nodded. "And if you come up with an idea, feel free to come and let me know. I might be able to help you with what you need to make and avoid some of the issues inventors face." The pair nodded and spent the next thirty minutes looking through the store.

Once they were done looking, they left and continued to walk down the street.

"A need," Scootaloo repeated. "What do people need?"

"Good question," Flash hummed. "I guess this is why people these days are always just making new versions of the same thing. Almost everything that needs to be invented has been invented." The two eventually found themselves outside a very familiar convenience store, where a certain someone was sweeping up.

Telsa looked up from her work and smiled when she saw the alien hero. "Flash!" She waved at him and Flash finally noticed where he was.

"Hey, Telsa. How've you been?"

"Great," Telsa smiled before noticing Scootaloo. "Oh, I didn't know you had a little sister." The pair seemed surprised by this, both looking at one another as if trying to figure out why she thought they were siblings. "She's cute."

"Cute!?" Scootaloo pouted, "I'm not cute."

Flash chuckled. "She's not my sister. We're just working on a school project together." He smiled, as an idea came to mind. "Hey, quick question. Is there anything you think could help your day to day life that doesn't exist yet?" Telsa tilted her head. "Is there anything in your life that you wish had an easy solution to it?"

"Oh." She hummed for a moment, "not really. Things are pretty great in my life right now. Don't even have anything that annoys me." Flash and Scootaloo sighed. "Though a neighbour of mine could probably answer that question."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked. "What happened?"

"It's terrible. He parked his car on the street and a van hit it. It tried to park behind his and when it pulled in, it ended up hitting the car's side and scrapped it up. The back left side is really dented and covered in scratches. And instead of taking responsibility, the driver raced off. Luckily, the store's CCTV caught the van's licence plate, so he's filing a police report."

"Ouch," Flash hissed. "I know the feeling. Back before I had the Omni-Cruiser, I was always scared whenever I left my car anywhere that wasn't my driveway. I was terrified someone would steal it or crash into it. My dad once took me to the park when I was a kid and when we got back, the car had been hit by a baseball someone had home run into the windscreen."

"Yikes," Scootaloo nodded before an idea formed in her head. "That's it. That's what we'll make."

"Huh?"

"Something you can use to protect your car when you're away from it." She turned to Flash and smiled. "You said you remembered a bunch of stuff from when you were Grey Matter. Is one of those things a force-field maker."

Flash thought for a moment and slowly, he realised he did have a basic idea on how to generate a force-field. He would definitely need to look through the Plumber computers to refresh himself, but he was sure he could make something like that. "Scootaloo, you're a genius." Scootaloo smiled as Flash turned to Telsa. "Thanks for the idea. We're bound to win this thing now."

"Don't mention it," Telsa smiled. "I hope your invention turns out okay." They nodded before Flash gestured for Scootaloo to follow. Now that they had an idea, they would need to do some research. The pair said their goodbyes to Telsa before heading off back to the Omni-Cruiser.

Telsa watched them leave and smiled before getting back to work. As she did, she thought about how happy Flash had been and felt her heart flutter at the memory.

The next day.

As soon as school was over the next day, Flash took Scootaloo to his house.

Since his parents didn't use the garage for their cars, the place was almost entirely empty. Just a lawnmower and a few extra bits and bobs filled the room, with Flash having placed a table there for them to work on.

The two stared down at the table, which currently had a bunch of blueprints on it. "Alright," Flash smiled, "I grabbed these designs from the Plumber database."

"Really?" Scootaloo frowned. "You're not gonna use your alien forms, but you will use alien tech?"

"Well it's not like we're gonna be making it entirely out of alien parts. We'll be using our own tools and materials. These will just be an Earth version of those things put together." Scootaloo nodded, as Flash turned to a box of junk parts he had gotten from the junkyard. "We should have everything we need to make this thing on our own."

"Okay," Scootaloo nodded. "What's the first step?" Flash smirked and pulled out a remote, hitting it and causing music to start playing. Scootaloo smirked, liking the idea of working to a beat. And thus, the pair began their work.

They quickly put on protective gear before Flash powered up his dad's blow torch, Scootaloo holding a fire extinguisher as he started welding the pieces together.

Later on, Scootaloo was busy doing some careful wiring whilst following the instructions carefully. Flash was hammering away at something and the pair seemed to be progressing well.

Even later, Flash and Scootaloo were hiding behind a large metal sheet. They stared at the device on the table and Flash hits a remote button, causing it to switch on. But moments later, the device sparked before smoke came off the top. The pair frowned at this, then panicked when it caught fire.

The two found themselves at the junkyard, looking through it for materials that they can use on the device. Flash pulled a piece from the top and inspects it, whilst Scootaloo took a piece from the bottom. But when she did, the whole pile started to shake with Flash on top of it.

The next thing Flash knew, he was falling on an avalanche and getting buried by the junk. Scootaloo looked terrified, until the pile moved and The Worst pulled himself out. He frowned, spitting out a few bolts as Scootaloo gave him a nervous smile.

Flash and Scootaloo were back in the garage, the pair carefully soldering two pieces together. Flash was acting like a surgeon, carefully working whilst Scootaloo handed him the tools and wiped his brow.

Scootaloo was at the hardware store, showing the alien their idea and impressing him. He smiled before rolling out from under the counter and moving to a shelf, looking through multiple boxes until he found what he was looking for. He handed it over to Scootaloo and the girl smiled at it.

Night had fallen and Flash is looking over the blueprints, having an idea. "If we moved this part over to-" He stopped when he saw Scootaloo, who was leaning over the table whilst sleeping on the stool. He smirked and grabbed a nearby blanket before placing it over her.

The pair kept working and after much testing, the device appeared to be complete. They smirked at one another and bumped fists, as Flash turned the music off.

Afterwards, the pair stepped out of the garage and sighed at the fresh air. Scootaloo moved over to Flash's yard whilst he went inside, returning a minute later with a pair of sodas in hand.

He offered one of them to Scootaloo, who was sitting on a patio chair, then sat next to her and opened his drink. "You think it's gonna work?" Scootaloo asked before taking a swig.

"I don't see why not. It worked when we tested it. So long as nobody messes with it, it should be fine." Scootaloo nodded, as Flash looked smug. "And I did it without using my aliens."

"Why is that so important?" Scootaloo asked. "You've been so adamant about not using your aliens. But why?"

Flash sighed, "you were really excited about having me as a partner. But I got the feeling you were only excited because I can turn into aliens. But there's more to me than that, you know." Scootaloo frowned. "Would you have been excited if I didn't have the Ultimatrix?"

"I...I don't know."

"Exactly." He took another drink. "I love having the Ultimatrix. I love being able to turn into aliens. I love having all these super powers. But that's not the only thing about me that you should care about."

"I know," Scootaloo nodded. "But you gotta admit, when someone says your name the first thing they think of is your aliens."

"That's fine. But there's more to me than just my aliens. Before I had the Omnitrix, I was the best guitar player at Canterlot High. I was the first guy in my year to get my licence. And whilst math has always been my Achilles heel, Science and Chemistry's where I shine."

"Okay, I get it. You're more than just your aliens. But all those amazing things you've done. You were only able to do them because of all your alien forms."

"I won't deny that. I never would have gotten where I am today without them. But half the time, it wasn't just my aliens that was able to help me win the fight or save a life. The aliens might give me powers. But it's not the power that makes me a hero. It's me. How I use the power. That's the deciding fact when it comes to me saving the day."

Scootaloo said nothing and just took another ship of her drink. Flash did the same and knew she was still having trouble believing him. But he would prove her wrong, once the competition arrived. When their invention won first prize, she would see he was just as awesome without his aliens.

Eventually, the day of the contest had arrived.

The gym had been set up much the same way a science fair would be set up, with many tables filling the room for the students to house their inventions on. And every invention was very different from the one next to it.

Currently, Celestia, Luna and Cranky Doodle were walking through the gym with clipboards. As they looked at the inventions, they could tell a lot of them had been made using alien components. "Did we make that against the rules?" Luna asked her sister, who shook her head.

"No. So long as they used those components to make something new, they can use whatever equipment they want." They came up to a table that had Pinkie and Diamond Tiara. Their invention didn't look very technical, as it was just two pieces of wood that had handles on them. "So, what's this?"

"We're glad you asked," Pinkie smiled as Diamond Tiara picked the device up. "How often have you been to a party, only for the mood to take a sudden nosedive because everyone has to wait for a piece of cake to be cut for them?"

"More times than I realised," Cranky replied.

"Well those days are over," Diamond stated as Pinkie pulled a square cake out from under the table. "With the Piece of Cake cutting system." She pulled the wood apart and revealed a bunch of wire unfurling from within. The wires crossed to form a bunch of squares, each exactly the same size.

"Watch and be amazed." Pinkie held the device over the cake and pushed it down, slicing through the square desert and cutting it into multiple perfectly even pieces. "Tadaa. Multiple slices of cake, all the same size and ready to be handed out to everyone."

"Impressive," Celestia smiled. "I'm surprised nobody's thought of that before." The judges quickly found themselves being given a piece of the cake and enjoying it, the other contestants worried the girls had just bribed the judges with Pinkie's delicious baking.

"An excellent invention," Luna told her. "You two should think about trying to sell these. I'm sure you'd make a fortune." Pinkie and Diamond smiled, as they finished off the cake and moved onto the next table.

They kept examining the many different items, each one appearing rather different from the other. Some were high tech. Others were not so high tech. Some looked really impressive and some looked rather simple by comparison.

"Not bad," Luna told Twilight as the girl and Pipsqueak were showing off their invention. Said invention was a headset and visor one wore whilst driving. It was designed to act as a GPS, which highlighted the road in front of them and showed which way they had to go without the annoying voice. "And this actually works."

"Indeed," Twilight nodded. "I test it out myself on my bike. It even connects to your radio or phone, so you can listen to music whilst driving." They nodded, impressed by it as Cranky tried it on.

He switched it on and sure enough, the visor's display showed him how to get home from the school.

"Impressive," Celestia told her before turning to the table next to hers. This one had Flash and Scootaloo on it, the two looking nervous as the judges stepped up to them. "Flash. I'm told you decided to do this project without the help of your aliens. I trust that statement has not been reneged."

"Yup," Flash nodded. "We made this device completely on our own, with human components. But don't be surprised by what it's able to do."

"Is that so," Luna nodded. "Well, we're waiting." Everyone else was watching and Flash took a deep breath.

"Car owners. Who here has parked their vehicles and gone into a building, all the while worried something might happen to your precious vehicles?" Those who owned cars nodded. "Clumsy drivers. Car thieves. Those idiots who think playing golf on a roof is a good idea. These things have been the bane of car owners since the dawn of time."

"But not anymore." Scootaloo grabbed the sheet and pulled on it. "For now, we have the Car Defender Two-Thousand!" The device was revealed to be a round object that looked like three large metal coins stacked one on top of the other. In the middle of the top coin was a red button, whilst a remote was sitting down besides it.

Flash picked up the remote. "Using several alien schematics, we've combined an energy field generator with a super powered locking system. These devices create a machine that will connect to any vehicle and create a force field around it that will protect it from anything." He gestured for everyone to step back and when they did, he pointed the remote at the device and activated it.

Doing so caused the lights on the machine to glow before they heard some kind of sucking sound. Within seconds, the device was connected to the table before it unleashed a light that slowly spread around it.

Within moments, the table was surrounded by a light blue energy field. The table was lifted off the floor a few inches and completely enshrouded, everyone staring at it in amazement. "Incredible," Celestia whispered. "So this device will protect anything it's placed upon?"

"Yup," Scootaloo nodded. "You can just attach it to your car's roof or bonnet and switch it on. It'll stay put and keep it protected from anything that might try and damage it."

Luna reached out and touched the table, only for her finger to pull back as she hissed. "Did it hurt?" Celestia asked, but Luna shook her head.

"Kind of. Felt like I put my finger on a hot stove." But when she checked her finger, she saw that it wasn't burned of even singed.

"We were careful with the energy it generates," Flash explained. "It might sting to touch, but exposure shouldn't cause any serious injury."

"Looks like you've taken everything into account," Celestia nodded. "This is quite a remarkable invention. Especially given you didn't use any of your aliens to make it." She took a closer look and noticed the button in the centre. "What's this for?"

"In case you lose the remote," Scootaloo pressed the button and the device activated. "It would be more protected if this thing were made public. Some kind of cover and lock to keep anyone from turning it off and taking it."

"Impressive," Cranky looked ready to pick it up and glanced over at them. They nodded and he lifted it, amazed by how light it was. "What if it rains? Is the device waterproof?" Scootaloo and Flash shared a look, clearly having a mental conversation.

"We don't know," Flash finally admitted. "Probably not. Like Scootaloo said. This is a prototype. It probably needs some more work before it can be made public."

"Even so," Celestia smiled. "This is truly amazing. I can see many applications for this. Not just for protecting cars. How big does the object have to be before the shield can't cover it?"

"We're not sure," Scootaloo frowned. "It's pretty strong, so it can probably cover something really big." Flash agreed, as Cranky kept holding it.

There were times when the universe decided to make one the butt of a joke. To make something that had a million in one chance of happening happen. And today, that something was going to happen to Cranky Doodle.

Someone else had gotten themselves a piece of Pinkie and Diamond's cake. And when he stepped up to take a closer look at the device, he happened to trip over someone's foot. In doing so, his cake was accidently thrown to the ground at Cranky's feet.

The commotion had drawn everyone's attention and when Cranky turned to him, he stepped on the cake smeared ground. And with the gym floor being so slick, the cake made it extra slippery. So slippery, that Cranky felt his foot fly out from under him.

"WOW!" He yelled, as he fell to the ground whilst his arms were thrown upwards.

Flash and Scootaloo gasped, as their invention flew up into the air and somehow reached all the way to the ceiling. And when it collided with it, it somehow activated. The bottom's suction latched the device onto the roof and soon, it powered up and started generating the energy. Energy that quickly started spreading across the room.

Thinking fast, Flash activate the Ultimatrix and cycled through his aliens until he found the one he wanted.

Slamming it down, he transformed and quickly grabbed Scootaloo. "XLR8!" The alien raced through the school until he was outside, where he dropped Scootaloo before shooting back in.

Scootaloo barely realised what was happening, as she turned towards the school and saw XLR8 return carrying Celestia and Luna. This was followed by Cranky, who appeared to have hurt his back, with Twilight and Pip soon to follow.

Rainbow Dash had also started evacuating everyone and with their combined speed, they got everyone out in less than ten seconds. "Flash!" Twilight told him, "grab the remote!" XLR8 seemed to have forgotten he could do that, the alien slapping his head and running back inside.

In less than a second, he was back at the gym. But before he could get inside, he found the place was completely covered by the energy. The walls, ceiling and floor were all shielded by the power, with XLR8 huffing. "So what. It doesn't hurt." But just as he took a step forward, the energy shot into him and his eyes went wide. "GYAH!" He pulled away and staggered back, as the energy kept spreading out from the room and started covering the hallway. "Not good!" He ran off, as the energy chased after him.

He eventually made it back outside and stopped, the others watching him clutching his feet with a wince.

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked, only for everyone to see a light coming from the school.

When they looked up, they were greeted with the sight of the school being completely surrounded by the energy field. Soon, the whole place was shielded. "That's not good," Celestia frowned before turning to XLR8. "Did you get the remote?"

XLR8 sighed and shook his head. "Sorry. I tried. But the energy's somehow intensified. I can't touch it without getting a few thousand bolts running through me."

"That's not good," Twilight frowned. They looked up at the school and were glad to see the energy wasn't spreading. "The entire school's been covered in it."

"So nobody can go in?" Applejack asked, as they moved around the back of the building. They all tried to look through the windows of the gym, hoping to see what was happening in there. But the energy was making it impossible to see through it.

"There's gotta be a way to turn it off without the remote," Celestia stated. "What if we waited for its batteries to run out? Creating a force field like that must take a lot of power. Something this big will likely drain it completely."

"Um..." They all turned to Scootaloo, who rubbed the back of her neck. "I really wanted this to be impressive, so I put a power cell in it that I got from Cosmic Town. The guy at the store said it had enough power to light a house for a week."

"Oh boy," Twilight gulped. "I think I know what kind of power cell she's talking about. And if it is that one, it could take that long for this thing to go away."

"Are you serious?" Rainbow turned to Flash, "why didn't you just grab the remote and turn it off?"

"I forgot, alright. I'm not perfect."

"Obviously," Rainbow rolled her eyes. "So what do we do?"

"We have to get the remote," Rarity stated. "Which means going in there."

"How?" Fluttershy asked. "The energy's stronger than it should be. If we touch it..."

"Can't you just fly in there?" Pinkie asked Flash, who frowned. "So long as you don't touch the walls and floor, you'll be fine."

"Maybe. But I'm pretty sure all my flying aliens, are too big to fit in there without at least the tips of their wings hitting the walls." This made them frown, as Trixie smirked.

"I got this." She grabbed Flash and pulled him towards a door, the others following. Celestia decided to leave the situation to them, taking Scootaloo and the others back to the main crowd. Once they were out of sight of the group, Trixie let herself transform into her Iron Serpent form.

"You sure that'll work?" Sunset asked, as Twilight used her magic to open the door.

"Only one way to find out." Trixie covered herself, Flash and Twilight in her shield. The three nodded before heading forwards, the three watching as the bottom of the shield touched the force-field. The two energies sparked when they made contact, but stabilised after a moment or two.

The three kept moving forward and walked on top of the energy field, Trixie doing her best to keep hers as strong as possible.

"So we just get to the gym, grab the remote and switch it off." Flash turned to Twilight, "but we might need your magic to bring the remote too us."

"Right," Twilight nodded. "And you need to be ready to catch the device once it falls. Hitting the ceiling might have damaged it. Who knows what hitting the floor will do."

"Right," Flash nodded. And as they turned a corner, they found themselves at the entrance of the gym. But there was one small problem. "What the heck?" Flash stared at the open doors, only to find the opening was filled with the force-field energy. "How did that happen? The energy wasn't supposed to fill midair."

"Looks like your invention isn't as complete as you thought," Trixie stated. "This is a problem. How the heck are we supposed to get through?"

"You think maybe your energy shield could break through?" Flash asked, as Trixie hummed and stepped forward. The bubble pushed against the force-field and she tried to push through, but all that happened was the bubble bounced back.

"That's a no."

"Great," Flash groaned. "There's no way in."

"There might be." The two turned to Twilight, who didn't look so sure. "If a strong enough energy blast hits it, it might be able to create a small opening. But it really will be small and only last a few seconds."

"Small...fast." Flash smirked, as he activated the Ultimatrix. "I can do that." He cycled through his aliens until he found the one he was looking for. "It's hero time!" He slammed the device down and in a flash of light, he transformed into his smallest alien. "Nanomech."

Trixie giggled, this alien always making her laugh whilst Nanomech frowned.

"Just let me out." Trixie nodded and created an opening in her shield, Nanomech flying out as his hands sparked. He thrust them forwards and unleashed a tiny energy bolt, which struck the shield and began to push against it. The energy fought against Nanomech's attack, but it slowly began to weaken in the spot he was aiming at.

Eventually, the energy couldn't take anymore and the attack broke through to create a small hole.

Nanomech acted fast, stopping his attack and flying forward. The hole quickly began to close, but he shrunk himself down as small as he could go. So small that the girls couldn't even see him.

"Flash?" Twilight asked, praying he didn't get crushed inside the energy when it filled.

But then, Nanomech grew to his full inch high size. "I'm through. Now I just gotta find the remote?" They sighed, as Nanomech began to fly into the gym.

"Good luck," Twilight gulped as they watched him look around.

As Nanomech scanned the area, he was almost hit by a bolt of lightning. "WOW!" He pulled away and the bolt hit the ground, which was almost melted as Nanomech looked up at the device on the ceiling.

It was shooting out stray bolts of energy, which made him gulp as he realised how unstable the device must be. "If it keeps building power like that, the whole thing could explode." He looked around and finally spotted the remote. But when he did, his eye went wide seeing it was destroyed. "NO!"

He flew down and looked it over, feeling how hot it was. The casing was partly melted and the buttons were chard black.

"Did it get hit by a stray bolt?" He looked around and saw that several other projects had been destroyed. Guilt washed over him, seeing all the hard work his friends had put in be wasted. "Sorry guys."

He quickly shook his head, as Twilight called out to him. "What's wrong?" Nanomech tried to say something, but he was too far for his little voice to reach her. "What?" Nanomech spoke again, but still she couldn't make it out. "Hang on." She took out her phone and connected it to the Ultimatrix's call system.

A few moments later, Nanomech beeped and he answered. "The remote's been destroyed," he told her. "I can't switch it off." The girls frowned at this, whilst Nanomech looked up at the device. "Maybe I can still turn it off manually." He flew up towards the device, which kept sparking and shot out a blast of lightning.

Nanomech fired his own energy blast, countering the lightning before it could hit him. But when the energy depleted, another bolt fired and Nanomech was forced to shoot back. But there was only so much power he could make at once and soon, he was overwhelmed and the bolt slammed into him.

"Augh!" He slammed into a table and let out a groan, as the girls flinched.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, still connected through the phone. Another bolt then flew down and almost hit him, but he got up and flew under the table.

"This is bad," he gulped. "Nanomech can't fight off that energy forever. I'll never get to that thing."

"Maybe you should switch aliens," Trixie suggested. "Gemini could probably handle that energy."

"But Gemini can't fly. He might be able to jump that high, but if it sparks then he'll have to shield himself and he'll fall back down." Nanomech agreed and tried to come up with an alien that could help him, but none of the ones he had could help him. They either couldn't fly or couldn't protect themselves from the energy.

"Maybe I should try going Ultimate?" He suggested. "Ultimate Nanomech might be able to handle the energy."

"Might, being the key word there. Do you really wanna waste energy on an Ultimate you don't know the power of?" Nanomech frowned, knowing she might be right. "Come on Flash. You can do this. It doesn't matter which alien you are. You can find a way to stop that thing."

Nanomech suddenly remembered the word that he had told Scootaloo. "The aliens might give me powers. But it's not the power that makes me a hero. It's me. How I use the power. That's the deciding fact when it comes to me saving the day."

Nanomech nodded, as he realised he needed to listen to his own advice. "Time to live up to my words." He looked around, now properly looking at everything around him. "What do I need? I need a way to hit that button without getting zapped. Maybe there's something I can use to defend myself." He properly analysed everything around him and slowly, he realised an issue. "Everything that could protect me is too big. I won't be able to lift any of it."

It was then that another bolt flew down and struck one of the projects. But unlike everything else, it didn't melt or get burned. This project was a load of plastic that was shaped into something, though he didn't know what.

As he stared at the object, he slowly started coming up with an idea. "I might not be able to protect myself with it. But I can still use it." His mind was working a mile a minute and soon, he had a plan. "Let's do this!" He flew out from under the table and hit the Omnitrix, transforming into another Alien. "CAT-APULT!" The cat-like alien landed on the table before leaping off and landed on another.

Twilight and Trixie watched as he grabbed the plastic science project and stuffed it into his tail.

"Brilliant!" Twilight laughed. "Go, Flash!"

"What's he doing?" Trixie asked, as she watched Cat-Apult aim his tail at the device. "He's gonna shoot it? Won't the lightning destroy it?"

"Nope," Twilight smiled. "You really need to pay more attention in science. Plastic is a really poor conductor of electricity. That's what makes it perfect ammunition."

"Okay. So he's gonna try and hit the off button. But do you think it'll work?"

"I don't know," Twilight frowned. "It all depends on his aim." They watched him fire and the plastic ball he had made shot up towards the device. A bolt of lightning flew out of it and struck the ball, but it did nothing against it.

However, when it reached the device, it hit slightly to the left of the button. Cat-Apult frowned and tried again, but realised he only had so much ammo. If he missed too many times, he would need to come up with another plan. "Come on." He aimed at the device, only for it to send out a bolt that flew straight at him.

Twilight and Trixie gasped, as he leapt towards another table. But he had overshot and would end up landing behind it on the energy field.

Realising this was his only chance, he turned back to the machine and fired. His second shot flew up and the girls couldn't watch, knowing Cat-Apult would be seriously hurt if he missed. Cat-Apult also closed his eyes, bracing himself if he missed.

The bullet flew up and shot through the lightning. And by some miracle, it hit the button.

Force-field around it vanished, the rest of the room also losing the energy on the walls, ceiling and floors. Cat-Apult landed milliseconds after the energy on the ground vanished, the alien grunting as he hit it. He moaned, but realised what had happened.

He looked back around and saw the device coming unstuck from the ceiling.

It began to fall and would hit the ground button first, Cat-Apult gasping and leaping at it. He managed to get under the device and catch it before it hit the ground, he and the girls sighing in relief. He then opened up the back and removed the power cell, as Twilight and Trixie ran into the room.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, as Cat-Apult nodded. "Good." They looked around, seeing all the destroyed projects around them. Cat-Apult looked around and frowned, fearing he and Scootaloo would be in serious trouble.

It wasn't long before everyone returned to the gym, many of them seeing their destroyed projects and looking disheartened. And when Scootaloo arrived, she and Flash had a lot of apologising to do. "We're sorry!" The teens yelled in unison, bowing as they did.

Celestia smiled at them. "No need to apologise. You did nothing wrong."

"But our invention caused all that trouble," Scootaloo pointed out. "How could that not be wrong?"

"You didn't design it to do that," Luna pointed out. "And every new invention has the potential to cause trouble, if it's not used right. Look at how hard it was to get the first flying plane."

"Exactly," Celestia nodded. "So don't feel guilty for what happened. You'll just have to work on refining the device, so this doesn't happen again. And maybe make sure you don't lose the remote." Everyone laughed at this, as they started cleaning up the gym. Despite not being blamed, Flash and Scootaloo still felt bad about all the destroyed inventions.

As they started sweeping up, Flash turned to Scootaloo. "I know things turned out a little more extreme than you thought, but what did you think of everything?"

Scootaloo smirked. "I think everything was awesome. Including you." Flash smiled. "I still think the alien thing is the coolest thing about you, but you're still pretty awesome on your own." Flash rolled his eyes and gave her a playful push, Scootaloo giggling and pushing him back.

As the pair messed around whilst cleaning, the others watched and smiled at how they were acting.

As they were watching this, Pinkie skipped over to Rainbow. "Are you excited?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, as Pinkie giggled. "Those two are getting along great. Maybe Scootaloo will see Flash as her brother, the same way she sees you as her sister. Won't that mean you and Flash are also siblings?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Pinkie. I think you're exaggerating. That's not how it works." Pinkie shrugged, as Rainbow watched the pair continue to laugh at something. And even though Rainbow knew that wasn't how it worked, she smirked at the idea of Flash as her step-brother.

Earth was on the precipice of a great technological revolution. But the events of the day had shown everyone just how careful they had to be with new technology. Many times someone would need to ask if they should try and do something, instead of can they do something.

The true level of a society's evolution wasn't the great technology that existed, but the attitude of those that used it.

Author's Note

Bit of a filler chapter, but a nice one I think. Hope you enjoyed the dynamic between Flash and Scootaloo here.