//------------------------------// // Zapped // Story: My Little Universe: Season 4 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// The early morning was in the middle of a rough time in Equestria. over between Ponyville and the nearby Everfree Forest, the area was being the place for a night shower. It wasn't the biggest shower in Equestria, but it was quite a strong one, with rain drenching the area. Animals amongst the everfree forest had to hunker down, as none of them wanted to get themselves wet from the rain. Many small animals and birds got themselves in either tree holes or burrows to avoid the rain, but not all the animals could really avoid it. One of these creatures started to move around the forest floor in a sluggish manor, its large feet dragging in the mud. The shadows made it hard to make out the full body easily, though it kept making a sort of wheezing noise as it moved along, its main source of singularity amongst the dark woods. No animal got out to see what the thing was, finding the wheezing a bit creepy and unnatural. As for the creature, it began moving further away from the depths of the forest, and over to the forest's edge. The groggy and weak animal began to see a small cottage further away from the clearing, a small light on as the owner inside was working out her morning routine. After seeing it, the animal started to drag itself over. As for inside the cottage, Fluttershy was busy going along with morning breakfast for herself, and her animal friends. Since it was raining since last night, Fluttershy had many animals stay inside her home to avoid the rain, at least for those who couldn't find any home to stick into. Fluttershy wasn't fond of heavy rain, but the care for her animals had her forgetting about her fears. As for the animals inside her cottage, they included squirrels, raccoons, ferrets, chipmunks, rabbits, and a number of small birds (she was used to it). Fluttershy hummed a nice tune, similar to what Sapphire would sing, as she filled a bowl of pet food for her animal friends. While many of the animals started having their breakfast, Fluttershy made an extra salad for one particular pet, her bunny Angel. The Pegasus made a good salad for Angel, who was impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. "Here you go, Angel," Fluttershy said, smiling as she placed the bowl down in front of him. Angel looked over the salad for a bit, and only after making sure it was made correctly, he hopped up on Fluttershy's sofa, and started eating his salad. The Pegasus was glad the animals were enjoying themselves. Fluttershy's attention to the animal's care kept her mind occupied, unaware of what was looming outside her cottage. However, one of the ferrets paused for a moment, glancing outside the window. Just outside, it saw something tall looming just outside the window. The ferret just stared for a bit until the thing began to move to the door in a slumped over manor. Freaked out, the ferret backed up, and rushed over to hide behind Fluttershy's hooves. "What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. The critter pointed a finger over to the door frantically, bringing Fluttershy's attention to the door. Suddenly. *BANG* *BANG* All the animals stopped at once when hearing the banging on the door, making some of the animals back up. Fluttershy got spooked as well, as the animals started to hide close to Fluttershy except for Angel, who hopped up to the door window. It wasn't easy for a bunny to do, but he just managed to hop up high enough to grip the window to see. Right in front of his face was a set of wide eyes, enough to make him hop down and towards Fluttershy. The Pegasus gave a scared gulp. "H-Hello?" Fluttershy quietly asked (though for her, that was almost completely silent. She could only hear a weak sort of breathing just on the otherside of the door. Fluttershy couldn't see what actually was outside. Could it be another pony? Another animal wanting a place to dry off? Fluttershy, ever so slowly, began to raise her hoof up to her door handle. She gave another nervous gulp, cold sweat dripping off her fur, as she slowly move the handle for the door to open ... Seconds after she did that, the door swung open, and something big stumbled inside, landing flat on the floor, making every animal bolt off and hide. Everything in the room found a hiding place behind the sofa, peeking out to see what had stumbled into the cottage. The odd creature wasn't anything normal from Equestria, as far as Fluttershy knew; it had a long neck, ending in a oddly shaped head with a bird-like beak that made it almost look like some weird sock puppet. It's body was stout, and its arms ended in fleshy pinchers, with its huge feet looking like those of a duck. It had basic clothes, with a green shirt and red pants, with shaggy (yet combed), black hair. It raised its head up to see where it ended up, its eyes not exactly focusing on anything at first. Fluttershy didn't know what it was, or what it wanted. Steadily, it got up to its feet, looking around the room until it looked up to a lantern hung on the wall. It didn't seem to have any teeth, but it tried to eat the lantern (apparently), but with no luck. All it seemed to do was gum the thing, and it did no damage whatsoever. After failing to do anything, it made a sort of odd quack, which was longer than a normal quack. After trying to do that, it then saw Fluttershy and the other animals. It didn't do much at first, other than just staring at them, but they all saw that it had no teeth inside its spongy beak. Amongst them, Angel hopped over first, the tall thing looking down at him tiredly. Angel found this thing odd, of course, but not exactly threatening. In fact, after a bit, the animal fell back, sitting on the ground in front of them. It looked tired, and even a little bit dazed. It took a while, but the other animals began to relax a bit around this newcomer, along with Fluttershy. "He doesn't seem dangerous," Fluttershy noted. Angel hopped up onto the rim of the couch, and waved his small paw in front of his face, but the creature didn't seem to respond to it. Angel poked it in the side of the head, but got nothing else other than a wheeze-filled quack, like a worn out squeaky toy. Fluttershy's fear began to turn to concern for the odd animal. She knew a weak creature when she saw one, that was for sure. His head slumped to the side, landing on the rim of the bed, Angel having to hop out of the way to avoid getting himself knocked off. After a little bit, with some coaxing and moving, the thing was placed down on the couch, only Angel having some resentment. It will be sometime before the rain would pass, so Fluttershy figured it could stay a while until the rain passed. "There, that feel better?" Fluttershy asked, gently stroking his black hair. The only response she got was a wheezing quack from the creature's beak. He didn't seemed to be bothered much by the animals around him, some sniffing his face, while others looked him over. "You must be hungry. Here, I was just making breakfast for my animal friends, but if you want a salad, then -" Before Fluttershy could finish, Fluttershy heard a distinct sound of her lantern being removed from the wall. The creature was trying to shove the thing in his mouth, gnawing on it with his gums and spongy beak. Again, it didn't seem satisfied, and after a bit, the light went out on it. It gave a quack-like groan, and threw it aside. Fluttershy just catching it before it broke. Angel didn't seem to find this newcomer really enjoyable, as Fluttershy made a smaller salad for the creature, using a part of Angel's salad to do so. The creature looked to the bowl, and got his beak inside the bowl, but not really eating any of it. It lifted the bowl up, and shook about, making quite a mess, some bits of leaves landing on Fluttershy and Angel. Angel looked to Fluttershy with a mix of annoyance and uncertainty, Fluttershy just blushing. She got off some salad bits off her head and mane before trying something else, heading into the kitchen. She opened up her fridge to see what there was that the guest could eat. However, the light in the fridge got the creature on its webbed feet, and moving into the kitchen. Fluttershy, not noticing the creature moving, turned back to find it not on the sofa. Instead, he was in the fridge, its spongy beak wrapped around the fridge light. After a little bit, the light went out, and was pulled out of the fridge. Fluttershy didn't expect that to happen, and when she saw it about to eat it, Fluttershy quickly grabbed it out of the grip. "No, no, no, don't eat that," Fluttershy advised, the creature groaning slightly as Fluttershy puts back in the fridge light bulb. It tried again, but Fluttershy managed to push him back as Angel shut the fridge door. Instead, Fluttershy had grabbed an apple from the fridge, so, she gave him that instead. "Here you go, this'll taste a lot better." The creature looked curiously at the apple in his pinchers, and eventually placed the apple in his mouth. Fluttershy was pleased that he was liking the apple... At least, she was, until it spat out the apple at her. The apple bounced off her nose, and landed on the floor, not even moist or bitten into. This was starting to worry Fluttershy a bit, since it refused to eat much of the usual food. It obviously wasn't a herbivore like she was, so she decided to try one more thing; tuna. She went through some drawers until she pulled out a can of tuna for it. She knew some animals preferred meat over plants, like foxes, and cats, and so on. So, she opened up the tuna can, got it in a small bowl, and gave that to the creature. However, the smell alone was enough to have him chuck the tuna in a conveniently placed garbage can. This just made things feel a little more troublesome; so he didn't like plants or meat? Fluttershy's ears folded back in concern, not sure what else to feed him. If he doesn't like plants or meat, then what does he like to eat? She might need some help with this. ~~~~~~ It was about ten in the morning when the Pegesi moved away the rainclouds, and the weather nice enough to let the animals come out again. For Fluttershy though, while she would happily play with her animal friends, she still had this odd guest to figure out. So, Fluttershy, with Angel on her back, and bringing the creature on a leash (something Angel insisted on), they went off to Ponyville with the odd creature moving behind them. The residents on Ponyville gave the creature some odd stares, but the creature didn't seem to notice them as they went along. Fluttershy tried her best to keep him from wandering off on them, and get himself into trouble. As for who she brought the creature to, she got the rest of her friends along over to Twilight's house, the rest of the mane six seeing what the creature was with similarly confused expressions on their faces. "Well I'll be hogtied. What is this thing?" Applejack wondered, as the animal looked around Twilight's bookshelves. "Do you know anything about him, Twilight? I tried feeding him, but he won't eat anything I gave him," Fluttershy asked, hoping for a good answer. The alicorn looked over the creature up and down, but couldn't make heads or tails of him. "I'm not sure really; never read any books about this creature," Twilight replied, one of his eyes staring right at her as the other one looked off to the shelves. "So you found this thing at your door? Must be one of those creatures from the Everfree or something," Rainbow Dash figured. After trying to eat some of the books, the creature looked over to Rainbow Dash, and both eyes focused on Rainbow's cutie mark ... "Maybe. You should put him back there soon, Fluttershy," Twilight advised. "What? B-But he was so weak when I found him, I -" "AH!" Everypony in the room turned to Rainbow Dash, and the creature in question had his beak wide open, clamped down on Rainbow's flank! Its pinchers gripped her wings for leverage, Rainbow Dash red in the face. Apparently, the creature didn't feel satisfied with his attempt, and got his mouth off of Rainbow's hips, groaning ... Next thing he knew, his beak was indented, and his back to the wall in a daze, notable hoofprint on his face. No one takes a bite out of Rainbow and gets away with it. The creature quickly recovered though, pulling his beak back into place. "Keep that thing away from me!" Rainbow snapped, angry and embarrassed. As for the creature, he looked up to Twilight's staircase, and saw another light source. he quickly got up, and got his mouth over the light piece, not pulling it off this time. Fluttershy wanted to get him to stop, but soon, the light went dim, and short-circuited. After that was done, he let go, looking much more satisfied, and they even saw a tiny bit of sparks coming from his beak. "It eats ... electricity?" Questioned Twilight. "Cool! He's a sparky eater!" Pinkie said. He felt a bit better, and at least Fluttershy got her answer on what to feed him. "Oh, let him stay around, please? At least until he's better?" "NO! WAY!" Rainbow snapped, a bit more aggressive than she anticipated. Fluttershy coward away a bit, and then did Rainbow saw her mistake. "Sorry. But, I'm not taking him in," Rainbow corrected. As if not learning anything, he started to move over to Rainbow's flank again. This time Rainbow caught him quicker, and spun around, growling at him. Fluttershy got in the way before he could get hurt again. "You sure about this, Fluttershy? I mean, you have so many other animals already," Rarity said. "I'll be alright, I promise. It's just until he gets all better," Fluttershy promised, the creature putting his head on her head, a quack popping out of his mouth. The others didn't know how long it was going to be, but, at least he was in good hooves. ~~~~~~ For the next few days, Fluttershy had been trying to regain her guest's strength. Now with the knowledge of what it can eat, there wasn't much issues with what she fed him anymore. Of course, finding, and getting the food source for him was odd, but simple to get - a visit to the hardware store was as good of place as any. It took a while to figure it out, but feeding him batteries seemed to do him well moreover, and in time, he began to show signs of recovery. The more batteries fed to him over the days staying, the more fit he became. Even with his large webbed feet, he began to move faster, and was basically more alive after a while. It was great to see for Fluttershy and the others. Even with the improvement, Fluttershy still wasn't sure if he was ready to go just yet; even if faster, he was still a bit slow compared to a usual animal, and he still sounded a bit wheezy. She figured when the wheezing stops, and he breathes correctly, then he'll be ready to go back to the Everfree. At one point, Fluttershy left her cottage to get her friends, to get their opinion if she should get him back into the wild or not just yet. She'd worked with many animals, that may be, but it couldn't hurt for a second opinion especially if the animal wasn't anything familiar. "He's been doing a lot better. I'm just not sure if I should let him go just yet," Fluttershy said, as they were walking back. "Don't you worry, sugarcube. I'm sure everything's fine," Applejack assured her. "I hope so. Zappy still has that wheezing sound though." "Zappy?" Rainbow asked, eyebrow raised. Fluttershy blushed a little. "W-Well, I just thought I should give him a name. Since he likes to eat electric things, I just thought it'll fit him," Fluttershy admitted. It wasn't the first time she named a random wild animal, to be honest. Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head as she added; "And he always looks a little ... well 'zapped', after eating." "Zapped? You mean like this?" Pinkie asked. She suddenly began to hop up and down very quickly, her teeth grit, and her eyes bulging out. After a few seconds, she stopped. "Oh, oh, or like this!" She suddenly shivered, and stood stiff as a board, falling to her side as she did with her legs stiff and straight. She popped back to movement though seconds after. "Oh, oh, oh, or maybe you mean like this!" Pinkie Pie then hopped up on her hind legs, and acted like she'd been tasered. Before she could try anything else, Rarity quickly stopped her. "Eh, let's just go over and maybe we'll see what she's talking about dear," Rarity advised. Pinkie nodded, and started hopping towards Fluttershy's cottage. Everypony else followed her until they reached the cottage in question, everything seemingly normal on the outside. When Fluttershy opened up the door though, the results were different to say the least. Just inside, Fluttershy looked downright shocked; the place was kinda tossed about. The sofa was knocked over, drawers were pulled out, and Zappy was nowhere to be seen. Angel was still in a slight daze on the floor, telling them that this was rather recent. As for Zappy, the main thing that told them he left was a window swung open. Fluttershy looked extremely shocked. Her scream was just above that of a mouse - loud for Flutters. ~~~~~~ Farther off, back in the Everfree Forest, Zappy was still moving along the trail. He wasn't as sluggish as before, but still slow, and the amount of electric stuff around Ponyville wasn't doing him justice. After all, he's a big animal, and a big animal needs a good amount of food, so simple double A's won't cut the mustard for him. Animals amongst the trees looked at Zappy with curiosity as he moved along, his duck feet leaving huge footprints in the dirt as he went like those of a scuba diver's flippers. As for where Zappy was going, while Fluttershy was away, the hungry creature had seen something off in the Everfree forest that appeared to resemble some sort of electrical source. In short, he went out to eat. Little Angel was no match for him, and while going through the window was a dull move, it was a quicker method than through the door (make of that what you will). He didn't seem to be thinking about what consequences came to just ditching Fluttershy, or how worried Fluttershy must be. All he was thinking about was finding more electricity to eat. His wandering got him deep into the Everfree forest, and eventually he moved off to a clearing, right to the sights of the old Everfree Castle. Zappy moved off right for it, and began to search the area for sources of electricity. However, for the place being old stone, the chances were zero to none. As Zappy went on inside the castle though, the main room soon showed Zappy the Warp Pad. It was still as clean, and as operational since its creation, and Zappy decided to go and investigate. He looked to the buttons on the Warp Pad, getting his spongy beak over the "Earth" button, trying to get some electricity. However, the Warp Pad wasn't working with electricity in mind, so Zappy didn't get much of anything out of it. Zappy got himself on the Warp Pad to get his bearings, and see if there was anything else to try. However, with two buttons activating, and two worlds connecting, the Warp Pad activated, and sent Zappy out of Equestria! Zappy was stuck in the Warp Stream for a good minute, him trying to keep himself straight, until he ended up on Earth, landing upside down on his head. After another quack, he got up to his feet, both eyes looking around at where he ended up. It was then that he caught sight of Beach City ... ....... "Can't catch me!" In a game of tag by the boardwalk, Fulgurite was giving the chaser a run for her money. With a few of the Gems off on mission, and fewer actually wanting to play, this left Fulgurite with Emerald, Diopside, Flint, Jade, and Steven. At this point, Emerald was the one chasing, but even with his telekinesis getting him to fly around after her, Fulgurite's super speed kept her out of his reach. Fulgurite honestly was used to it, and a game of tag was just a walk in the park. "Of course I can't catch you - you got MPH for days," Emerald groaned, getting more than bugged after a while. Fulgurite skidded to a stop. "Oh what's that? You give up? HA! Even with all of you it, I'm the best!" Fulgurite gloated. Yes, her cocky attitude got her as the only one needing to be caught, and even after five minutes, it wasn't any good. The others stopped a while ago before this was decided. However ... "Tag." Fulgurite looked down when she felt a hand on her leg, only to find Jade had tagged her. Guess her moment of gloating got the quiet Jade some needed time to actually tag her. Guess that battered Fulgurite's pride a little. Diopside and Steven shared a hyped expression as Flint (a rare occurrence) smirked. "Eh, yea, you got me," Fulgurite admitted, bashfully. Jade only smiled, as the others went over to her. "You caught the fastest Gem, Jade! That's amazing!" Diopside beamed. Jade blushed up on hearing the praise. "S-She was standing still, you know," Jade said, more bashful. "But you still tagged her!" Steven said, equally happy as Diopside. Flint hadn't seen this much merit for Jade in a long time. Fulgurite though could go without rubbing it in. "Yeah well that was fun. You guys do what you want, I'm gonna go out," Fulgurite said. "Aww, already?" Diopside and Steven said. "Hey, even speedsters need to practice, otherwise I'd loose some MPH. So anyway, see ya later. Gotta blast!" And before anyone could stop the speeding Gem, Fulgurite bolted off in the blink of an eye. Emerald, being on his hexagon platform, ended up in a 360 spin for a little bit. It left Emerald in a daze, and Fulgurite was gone. ~~~~~~ After a few minutes, Fulgurite was out of Beach City. She had her own little plan, but it wasn't exactly practice she had in mind, and she was trying to do it for a while now, yet it wasn't exactly training as she had told Steven. She was going to use her super speed, naturally, but not just for any training. Before she started, she found a nice tree to do this under, and marked it with an X in the dirt; her spot to remember. "Alright. Ready. Set." She looked up to the tree, seeing one green leaf looking ready to fall. Using her hair to stretch out, a strand went on ahead and knocked the leaf loose. "Go!" Suddenly, Fulgurite bolted off to get her supplies. As the leaf gently floated down to the ground, Fulgurite rushed to and fro from different points of Beach City to get the stuff she needed. The leaf continued floating down, undisturbed by Fulgurite's rush-about. Soon, just before the leaf could land on the ground, a gentle hand from Fulgurite caught the leaf, holding it with a satisfied smile. As for what she got, she had grabbed a checkered blanket, a cherry soda from the Big Donut, some fry bits, a nice pillow, and even a boom box from Amethyst's room. All of that between the leaf's release, and now. "Sweet," Fulgurite said, proud of herself, as she kicked back and relaxed on the blanket. Fulgurite looked to the boom box, which looked a bit outdated really. Still, after some electric charge from Fulgurite's hair, she got the boom box working, and a catchy beat of street music played through its speakers. Fulgurite sighed, and took a sip of the fizzy soda. It was a drink she's been hyped on for a while thanks to some introduction by Emerald, and it was as much of a kickstarter to her mouth as a electric shock would do to her body, and she loved it. "That's the stuff," sighed Fulgurite happily. Although the rush of missions were nice, it was fun to just relax time to time, even for a speedster like her. Nodding her head to the beat, she placed the drink down, and listened to the tunes play out. Fulgurite gave a good stretch, hands behind her head, but just as she was getting comfortable ... *FZZT* "Hey, what gives?" Fulgurite groaned. Once she turned to look, the boom box was gone, and inside the mouth of Zappy! Far as finding her out goes, Zappy had figured out where she was the minute she showed up to the spot, but it wasn't until after Fulgurite got the radio working with her electrical charge did Zappy decide to come out and investigate. "What the?!" Fulgurite immediately jumped to her feet, as Zappy sucked the energy out of the boom box. It wasn't much, but it was a nice snack for him. Fulgurite didn't plan on any otherworldly visitors coming about to visit her. Corrupted Gem? No; there's no gemstone on him. Equestrian creature? Well maybe. After all, she never seen anything like him here before during her year here, and if it didn't had a gemstone located anywhere, that should point his origins back to Equestria, right? Anyway, Zappy had finished up his snack at this point, tossing the broken boom box aside, as his eyes focused on Fulgurite. He saw her two gemstones on her knees, the lightning mark in her hair. His mouth hanged open, both eyes locked on her, making Fulgurite more than uncomfortable to say the least. "Uh ... You're staring a little bit." Before Fulgurite could do anything else, Zappy lunged for her, mouth wide open. His beak clamped down on her hair, and as an almost instinctive response, gave a huge electric shock to Zappy. However, not only did it not so much effect to hurt him, but it was what Zappy actually wanted! The shockwave lasted ten full seconds, until Fulgurite stopped for a break, yet Zappy looked even more odd. The pupils in his eyes spun around like beed eyes on a doll, his body straight and shivering. At first, Zappy didn't do much, but he felt the energy Fulgurite had given him grow inside him, and his body shuttered and shook more and more, Fulgurite backing up a little bit. Finally, Zappy could no longer stand still anymore, and with a loud honk, he suddenly (and comically) bolted off! He rushed off so quickly, and with so much force, Fulgurite was knocked off her feet. Zappy meanwhile was going hyper speed at this point. His running was more with his feet in front, while the rest of him trailed behind. He raced all over Beach City, too fast for anyone to get a good view on who it really was. Fulgurite got to her feet, and was seeing the blur of Zappy racing all over town. It didn't help that Zappy began to rush back to her! Quickly, Fulgurite decided to call it quits, and raced off towards the Temple. Fulgurite was very fast, but Zappy was equally fast at this point, and by the time she made it half way to the Temple, Zappy caught up with her. Zappy grabbed her by her back, both of them stumbling on the sandy beach for a good twenty feet. At the end of it, Fulgurite was on her back, a bit bruised, but okay. She tried to get up, but Zappy was holding onto her hair, gnawing on it. Even if inactive, Zappy still tasted the sparks of her lightning, and didn't want to give her up so easily. "Let go will you?!" Fulgurite demanded, trying to pull Zappy off of her, and trying to get him to let her go. However, the creature wasn't going anywhere. It didn't hurt, but she can't run fast with this thing weighing her down. She was super fast, but not super strong like Jasper or Flint. Fulgurite was stuck with him. "Great; he's clingy," Fulgurite groaned, Zappy's response being a content quack. Fulgurite did manage to get up, but Zappy didn't bother to even move, leaving Fulgurite to drag him the rest of the way (as much as she didn't want to. The others better have an answer to her problem ... Back at the Warp Pad, after failing to find Zappy in the Everfree Forest, the mane six ended up going to Earth. It was purely a guess, but after they found it recently used, they tried their luck there anyway. At the point though, Fluttershy looked completely freaked out, worried over what might happen to Zappy. "Oh dear, oh dear, where is he?" Fluttershy wondered, looking around. The Pegasus didn't had a clue if he was perfectly healthy or what, but he didn't seem good enough to go yet, and finding him disappearing still sickly was a worrying thought. The others, though taking it into account, weren't as worried as Fluttershy about the situation. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, we'll find him," Twilight assured her. However, Fluttershy still looked freaked out about it, so Twilight decided to try something else. "Here, Fluttershy, watch and follow me," Twilight instructed, sitting down next to her. First, Twilight took a deep breath, bringing her hoof to her chest. And then as she exhaled, her hoof moved forward, and aimed ahead. Fluttershy followed Twilight's movements, and copied Twilight's method. It was a long time ago, but Twilight still remembered Cadance's method to calm down during one of her visits to the Crystal Empire, and it seemed to work for Fluttershy. "There, feel better now?" Twilight asked. "Well ... A little ..." "Good. Now we should be going then," Twilight said, trotting ahead. After a bit, the others followed her back towards Beach City. ~~~~~~ "I'M CALLING HACKS!" In a humiliating defeat back at the Beach House, Peridot chuckled cheekily in victory, as Emerald sat there in defeat. After the game of tag was done, Emerald found Peridot with Star Quartz, and tried to get a win from a video game match. It didn't work out too well. "These human games are too easy," Peridot chuckled. "... They are fun," Star Quartz added. Emerald groaned slightly, and got up to his feet. He didn't do well in tag, and somehow he didn't do well in video games. "Is Garnet doing anything?" Emerald sighed. "... Garnet's with Blue Pearl by the lighthouse," Star answered. Emerald didn't realize that, and the fact it was Blue Pearl Garnet was with made it more surprising. "Blue Pearl? But she's Blue Diamond's Pearl, right?" Emerald asked. "... Blue Diamond allowed her to come and visit." While it was surprising Blue Diamond allowed her own Pearl to visit for a while, Emerald didn't think sitting around with her would be any fun. However, before this could go any further, they all heard something at the door. Star Quartz decided to answer the door this time, walking down quietly, and opening the door. As for what was there, standing there was Fulgurite. She was worn out, grumpy, and Zappy was still gumming her hair with his spongy beak. Star Quartz simply stated in confusion as Peridot and Emerald peeked over, Emerald looking ready to laugh at her situation. "Nobody says a word. And nobody gets hurt," Fulgurite made clear, as she dragged herself and Zappy inside. Fulgurite wanted to go to Garnet for help, her being the leader and all, and the last thing she needed was insult over injury. At least not everyone was there to see her. However, unfortunately for her, Emerald couldn't help himself, and laughed up a storm. Fulgurite quickly got him quiet, a strand of her hair zapping him to shut him up. The shock was quick, but packed a good punch. However, the zap on Emerald got Zappy's attention, letting of Fulgurite for the first time in fifty minutes. "Hey, get away from me!" Emerald demanded. Zappy didn't listen though, and got his beak around Emerald, sucking the electricity out of him like he was some lollypop or sucker. Now it was Peridot and Fulgurite's turn to laugh. "It's not my day," Emerald sighed. All Zappy said in response was a content quack. Before they could continue, there was a noticeable sound of the door opening up. They turned towards the door, and soon enough, there was Garnet and Blue Pearl coming in to see Zappy gnawing on Emerald. Blue Pearl seemed worried, though Garnet wasn't too fazed by the newcomer. Zappy gave another quack, as Garnet moved over, and pulled Emerald out of Zappy's mouth. "Not a word about this," Emerald firmly stated. Garnet just nodded, and set him down. "What's this?" Garnet questioned. "I don't know, it just found me, and kept trying to eat my hair," Fulgurite groaned. As if on cue, Zappy moved over, and tried to grab her hair again, Garnet getting in between her and Zappy's awaiting beak. Blue Pearl, out of all of them, not only knew more about Zappy, but was shocked to find Zappy here in Earth. "W-Wha? ... B-But it ... But she ..." "Something you want to tell us, Pearl?" Emerald asked. Blue Pearl gulped, and needed a moment before speaking. "H-How is it here? It isn't supposed to be here," Blue Pearl got out, hushed in tone but still worried. "... What's wrong?" Star asked. "T-That's a Sentient Sponge Battery. There's only one I know of, and - ... and -" Garnet, seeing how stressed Blue Pearl was getting, kneeled down, and brought her finger to her mouth. "Sshh. There, Pearl, everything will be okay. Fulgurite, keep an eye on it for a while. It won't be long." "Are you sure I have -" Fulgurite was cut off when Zappy got her hair, and started gumming it again. "- to? LET GO!" "It likes you, anyway. Come, Pearl. I think it's time to get you back, anyway," Garnet said. Blue Pearl, though worried, could only nod. After all, Garnet was made up of Sapphire, and Sapphire knew what the future can hold, so, why argue with that? Fulgurite was stuck with Zappy, no matter what. ~~~~~~ Meanwhile, back with the Mane six, they were still looking around as best they could for Zappy, and where he ended up. Since Zappy was stuck in the Temple though, the others couldn't find him around the city well either. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle covered the most ground, but couldn't find him anywhere from the sky. Rainbow and Twilight landed by the others. "Nothing. How could such a big thing just disappear like that?" Rainbow groaned, feeling annoyed with the lack of results. How hard could finding Zappy really be. Nearby, Pinkie Pie was sniffing the ground like a dog for a bit, trying to track down Zappy. "Oh, where could he be?" Fluttershy said. "Now, hold on there, Sugarcube. I'm sure you know same as anypony that he wasn't going to stay around forever," Applejack suddenly said, trying to be more realistic with her friend. Fluttershy still wasn't so sure. "B-But he wasn't feeling better yet. He's still sick, and he's run away!" Applejack placed her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. As she was, Pinkie suddenly pointed to the right direction. However, no pony noticed her just yet. Pinkie tried to get their attention. "We all know he ran away, but maybe that wheezing and stuff's just natural for him," Applejack figured. Pinkie tried even more so, but still no pony noticed. "You think so? Well -" "HELLO!!" Everypony jumped, and turned to Pinkie, pointing as sharp as a arrow could be, her face looking overly-upset. Her hoof kept pointing off towards where the Temple could be seen. "Yes ... Pinkie?" "He went this way, over there, to the Temple! I'M GIVING ALL THE SIGNALS HERE!" Pinkie yelled, childishly but still loud. The others were used to Pinkie's spasms at this point, so, they looked off to where she was pointing. They didn't see Zappy exactly, but they could just see the lighthouse where the Beach House was. A good thing to see, and they were on the right track. "Okay, everypony, let's -" "WAAIT!" Pinkie suddenly shrieked, this time pointing like a dog pointer in a different direction, back to the Warp Pad. "What now?" Rainbow asked, getting bugged. Pinkie, hoof to forehead, couldn't believe they weren't getting it. Pinkie Pie stomped towards the direction, making sure everypony was watching her, and then pointed a hoof off in the same direction again. When they looked, they noticed the Warp Pad was actually in the middle of activation! Who was coming through this time? After a little bit, there was a figure standing on the Warp Pad, visiting from Homeworld this time around. To the Mane Six's surprise, this was actually Blue Peridot from Homeworld! Strange to see her just show up on Earth, and it didn't take long before she noticed the Mane Six standing ten feet away. "Peridot?" Twilight asked. "See you're here as well," Blue Peridot stated, stepping off of the Warp Pad, and walking over to the ponies. "What're you doing here?" "Strictly on retrieval business. Nothing to concern any of you," Blue Peridot informed, as she began to investigate the area around her for some sort of clue. Fluttershy started to worry again. "Retrieval? Retrieval of what?" Fluttershy asked. Blue Peridot didn't think it would matter much if they knew or not, so she turned back to them. "One of Yellow Diamond's organisms had escaped its cell back on Homeworld, and I'm tasked with retrieving it back. Evidence points it using the new Warp Pad a while back, after failing to locate it on Homeworld security." "And what're you looking for, exactly?" "Gemkind refers to it as a 'sentient sponge battery'. It's most notable for its electrical properties, and habit for consuming electrical energy from many assorted objects." Sentient. Sponge. Battery. Oh no. The ponies didn't need much to figure out what she was talking about, but if they just said straight out, what'll Yellow Diamond think exactly of them? The ponies knew where he went (kinda), and what if Yellow Diamond considered them the reason Zappy ran off in the first place for saying so? They may be better with Blue Diamond, but this was Yellow Diamond's issue, and they were still questionable with her to say the least. After some thinking, Twilight got an idea that might help everyone. "Maybe we can help you look for it," Twilight decided. They were technically looking for Zappy anyway, so, it could help both them and Blue Peridot out. "I appreciate the offer," Blue Peridot replied, "But, I'll be fine on my own, thank you." "Sure about that?" "Affirmative. Now, if you excuse me, I got a creature to obtain." And with that, Blue Peridot began heading off on her way, leaving the Mane Six unsure what to do now. In the end, there was only one thing they could do; go to the Crystal Gems for some help. If they can at least find Zappy first, then they can figure out what to do next. ~~~~~~ Rushing off without Blue Peridot's knowledge, the Mane Six rushed off as fast as they could from the Warp Pad, and right off towards the Temple. If they can get there in a hurry, and before Blue Peridot, then they should be able to pull this off. Pinkie and Rainbow were the first to arrive at the Beach House, Rainbow Dash landing first. "Okay, he better be in - Whoa, Pinkie! Slow down, WHOA!" Pinkie's speed made Pinkie Pie almost a blur. Before Rainbow Dash could end up dodging, the pink mare slammed into her, and the Beach House door. The door opened up beforehand, so the door wasn't wrecked by Pinkie's crash. Rainbow and Pinkie tumbled head over hooves until they both hit the very back of the house, into the actual Temple cave. Pinkie hopped up onto her hooves, as Rainbow Dash tried to regain her head first. "Hi everypony, we gotta - oh there he is," Pinkie said, realizing who was in the room. It was only Fulgurite at the moment, Zappy still gnawing on her hair. Fulgurite didn't look happy at all, arms crossed and simply grumpy with the whole thing. Zappy didn't seem to care. "This clinger yours?" Fulgurite asked, unamused by the experience. Zappy took a moment or two before he noticed Pinkie and Rainbow in the same room. "AWW, he likes you," Pinkie beamed. Zappy quacked again, Fulgurite grumbling under her breath. She honestly didn't want to keep dealing with this thing. It wasn't until this point when the rest of the Mane Six showed up, and saw Zappy next to Fulgurite. Luckily, he didn't seem too fazed, or hurt. "Oh, thank Celestia; you're okay!" Fluttershy sighed, hugging Zappy. "Cool, you know it, so can you get it to let go of me?" Fulgurite groaned. Twilight fixed that with some of her magic, levitating Zappy away from Fulgurite. Luckily, Zappy was overly content, so, his grip wasn't too strong. Fulgurite, finally free from the grip and extra weight, moved further away from Zappy. "Thanks." "Good, now maybe you can help us with something?" ....... Sometime later, with Zappy following the group for some help, the Mane six and Fulgurite moved off back to where they found Blue Peridot the first time around. Luckily for them, Blue Peridot didn't roam off too far from where they previously saw her. Blue Peridot was still trying to get some clue on where Zappy had gone off to. Hidden off just out of sight, the ponies and Fulgurite had gotten Zappy to sit still in the bushes for a moment. They managed by Fulgurite's hair, which she stretched out so she was far enough away to just yank it back at any point. Fluttershy stayed by Zappy's side as the other members of the Mane Six stayed out of the way. "Okay, Zappy. Just stay here, and the nice Gem will bring you back, and take care of you, okay?" Fluttershy said, rubbing his side. Zappy looked down to Fluttershy, and gave another quack to her. The sound caught Blue Peridot's attention, and after a quick hug, Fluttershy then moved off out of sight just as Blue Peridot came in. Fulgurite got her hair back seconds beforehand, to make it appear that Zappy was just sitting there the whole time. Zappy looked over to Blue Peridot. "Finally," Blue Peridot sighed, happy to find him. Blue Peridot grabbed Zappy's arm, the creature seemingly oblivious to her, and Blue Peridot began moving Zappy back to the Warp Pad. Zappy, despite being able to bolt around everywhere, didn't seem to resist being moved back to the Warp Pad. Guess the Sentient Sponge Battery knew it couldn't just keep running around forever. With a quick teleport, Blue Peridot got Zappy back to Homeworld, and things were good. Fluttershy felt a little unsure still, but she knew that it could be the best option for Zappy. After all, the Gems knew more about Zappy than the ponies do, so, giving Zappy to someone who actually knew what Zappy was, was the best option in the long run. Fluttershy smiled, as she watched him go.