> G5 Adventures in Muppets from Space
>  by ponydog127
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Is Allura Still A Threat?/Some New Adventures Begin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few weeks since the Mane 6, Alphabittle and Queen Haven returned from their last Unity Quest in the Himalayas with Mystery Incorporated, Vincent Van Ghoul and some more new friends in order to stop an evil demon from opening the Chest of Demons and releasing the 13 ghosts within. 

Vincent Van Ghoul's loyal assistant and apprentice, a flying leopard named Kova, gave them the necklace that was once worn by her brother and a scroll, depicting some more things that the Mane 6 should know about the flying leopard species...

...including the evil Allura herself. 

According to Kova, Allura and her brother once led over their colony with hatred and cruelty until they were banished to seperate realms. And now, Allura was after a star that could not only release her brother from his otherworldly prison, but it could also open portals to other realms and time periods.

But then again... Allura was defeated back in Starlight Ridge... right?

She wouldn't bother them anymore... would she?

That is what we will soon find out, right before our heroes will be sent on their next extraordinary adventure. 

XXXXXXXX

“Come on, come on... there has to be more information on winged snow leopards in these old books!”

Zipp had been in the Maretime Bay library for the past few days, trying to find any other information about Allura’s species other than in the scroll that she was given...

...and so far? Nothing.

She was about to give up and put her books back on the shelf when a voice stopped her. 

“You wanted to find some information too, huh?”

Zipp turned and saw Sunny coming over to her with a smile. “Oh... hey, Sunny. Yeah, I appreciated the information that Kova was able to give, but... I wanted to see if there was any info on the Equestrian side of things too.”

“I understand why too,” Sunny said as she sat next to her friend. “I personally don't want another run in with Allura... she came so close to brainwashing you and taking over Starlight Ridge for good last time.”

“Yeah... I agree,” Zipp nodded. “And if we ever did run into her again, we wouldn’t have the magic snow to snap everypony out of the brainwashing... so, that would be a 11 on the 10 scale of badness.”

Sunny sighed and got a book from the stack. “Maybe we should get back to searching... just in case there's something we missed.”

Zipp nodded at this. “Good idea... better to be safe than sorry.”

XXXXXXXX 

“...and then, your dad managed to win be the last bunnicorn stuffy at the Bridlewood Fair, throwing out his shoulder in the process,” Paradise said with a laugh as she and Misty had their weekly lunch date. “Oh my... the good times that I had with your father were some of the best in my life, and now I get to know my baby girl all over again.”

“I'm really glad we started doing this, Mom,” Misty smiled. “Pipp and Zipp said that maybe we could all go for a mother-daughter picnic next week too-- just the five of us.”

“Aww, Misty, that sounds wonderful!” Paradise beamed. “That would be a great way for us to spend time with our friends and each other!”

Then, Paradise sighed and rubbed her shoulder with an uneasy expression. “Especially after... all those years I missed.”

“Mom, stop. I told you that me and Dad don't blame you for anything-- Opaline manipulated you, just like she manipulated me,” Misty said comfortingly. “That’s something we have in common, and it connects us in a way that nopony else could ever imagine. And I love you and Dad more than anything.”

Paradise sighed and hugged her daughter warmly. “I love you too, my little butterfly...”

Misty leaned into the warm embrace before suddenly wanting to ask a question. “Mom? Do you ever remember Opaline mentioning winged  leopards like Ciela and Kova being in Equestria during the old eras of Equestria? Or of any magical stars other than the Wishing Star?”

“Well... not that I've ever heard. Most of her rants were about her defeat and wishing that magic would return,” Paradise hummed in thought. “If there were any leopards like that, they probably would have shown themselves to pony kind about now. Why do you ask?”

“It's just... Zipp and Sunny have been really curious on learning more about them,” Misty explained. “Just in case that Allura were to show herself again in one of our Unity Quests.”

“Oh, good thinking,” Paradise nodded. “I may be able to find something about the subject in the Bridlewood archives, and if I do, I'll let you know immediately.”

Misty smiled at this. “Thanks, Mom. Hey, I have an idea for what we can do next.”

“Oh? What's that?”

“...feel like getting a matching spa treatment?”

XXXXXXXX

“So,” said Sunny after a long while of searching through books, “what DID it say on that scroll Kova gave you?”

“Basically of how winged leopards descended from the mortal world, and there were a lot of different colonies of them before Allura took over and forced all of them under her and her brothers’ rule,” Zipp explained. “They each have a distinct power, and it says here that Allura and her brother were obsessed with possessing a star that could open portals to other realms.”

“That must be the star that Allura had been forcing the auroricorns to search for!” Sunny realized. “Does it say which star?”

“No,” Zipp shook her head. “It doesn’t point to any star in particular.”

“Well… I just thought of something,” said Sunny. “If we were to find that star before Allura, maybe we could prevent her from ever attacking again.” 

“That would be great,” Zipp shrugged, “but where would we even start looking? It’s not like the star’s gonna fall from space or anything.”

“Well…”

Suddenly, Sunny and Zipp's cutie marks began to glow brightly, prompting Zipp to chuckle a bit excitedly. “Looks like we’re gonna go on a Unity Quest! Maybe this will provide us with the answers we’ve been looking for!”

“We better stop by Hitch’s office and Mane Melody,” Sunny said as she got up. “I overheard Izzy say she was gonna get her mane trimmed, and Misty said she might take her mom there.”

“And I’ll go to Hitch’s office,” said Zipp, “and get Hitch and Sparky. We’ll meet you at the Brighthouse?”

“Sounds good!”

XXXXXXXX

“And…” Pipp said quietly as she finished up with Izzy’s mane trimming, “that… should… do it! There!”

“Ooh! Thanks, Pipperdoodle!” Izzy said as she got up. “Now my mane doesn’t feel like a huge weight on my head!”

“You look amazing, Izzy,” smiled Paradise as Jazz worked on her wave-themed hooficure. “And I love the design you created for me, Jazz.”

“Aww, thanks!” Jazz smiled. “I love the butterfly theme you gave Misty, too. You two are gonna be the hottest mother-daughter duo in town!”

Paradise and Misty laughed at this before Misty, Pipp and Izzy felt a glow coming from their cutie marks. “Ooh, yay!” Izzy cheered. “Unity Quest time!”

Misty sighed and got down from her chair. “Don’t worry, Mom. We should be back soon, and then we can finish our mother-daughter day like we planned.”

“Of course, honey,” Paradise smiled. “Jazz and I will finish here and I’ll wait for you in front of the movie theater to watch the one you’ve been wanting to see.”

“The Wizard of Hooves!” Misty cheered. “Yes!”

“Girls! Unity Quest time!” Sunny said as she poked her head through the door. “Zipp went to get Hitch, and once Hitch finds a dragon-sitter for Sparky, we’re gonna meet them at the Brighthouse!”

“You got it, Sunny!” Pipp smiled as she flew up and spiraled around for a few moments. “Unity Crystals, heeeeeeere weeeeee coooooooommmmeee, YEAH!!!” 

Misty chuckled at this. “Leave it to Pipp to leave in style!”

That’s when the mares all sped off toward the Brighthouse and meet their friends for their next adventure.
> Meeting the Muppets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mane 6 had met up in front of the Crystal Brighthouse before going inside, gathering their things and heading up to the Crystal Room, letting the Unity Crystals take them away on their next adventure… but they were unsure of where they would be going.

XXXXXXXX

A calm, cool breeze blew through the air in a small, coastal North Carolina town, just as the sun set over the horizon, which brought forth the end to another day...

...that is, until a certain portal opened up on the end of one of the streets, allowing the Mane 6 to hop out of it, letting them look around at their surroundings. “Huh… feels pretty warm,” Sunny said to her friends, her ears flickering. “And I think I can hear waves in the distance. We must be in some sort of beach community.”

“But… which one? And which house do we go to in order to find a place to stay?” Hitch asked, looking around. “There are a lot of houses around, you know!”

“I guess we better split up and survey the area,” Zipp supposed as she and Pipp took to the air. “Everypony head in a different direction and let us know if you find something or somewhere we can stay for the night!”

And so, the pegasus sisters took to the air and the other ponies went in different directions to find a place to rest for a while.

Misty went off on her own, a lot of different things on her mind... especially the fact that Zipp was still concerned that Allura could still be a threat, somewhere out in the world. 

They had to keep an eye out for anything suspicious... especially since they were in an unknown area.

Suddenly, something caused Misty to stop and look up at a house that she had stopped in front of... a rather large beachhouse, with three floors and a large porch. 

Seeing this caused Misty to hum in thought. “Maybe we can find a place to rest here... it looks cozy enough.”

She lit her horn and opened the gate, moving into the front yard before going up the small staircase and up onto the front porch. But before she could knock on the door, however, a red, furry creature pounced at the door, letting Misty shriek and rumble backwards! “AHHHH!!!”

“HORSEY WOMAN!!!” the creature roared. “HORSEY WOMAN!!!”

“Animal, stop that!” said a voice as several figures dragged the red creature away from the door. “You already startled her half to death!”

The figure to whom this voice belonged to was in fact a walking, talking frog with a kind smile, and he opened the door to step out and check on her. “I-I'm really sorry about that, are you okay?”

“Yeah... yeah, I'm fine,” Misty said, brushing herself off. “I guess that was kinda my fault, knocking on other people's doors without knowing what to expect. Oh, my name is Misty, by the way-- Misty Brightdawn.”

“Kermit,” the frog said, shaking her hoof. “Kermit the Frog-- nice to meet you.”

“You know, I've never met a talking frog before,” Misty said with a chuckle. “That must sound pretty weird, though, right?”

“Misty!!”

Both Kermit and Misty turned to see the rest of the Mane 6 come running to the front steps before screeching to a halt. “Are you okay?!” Zipp asked. “We heard a scream and came galloping!”

“I’m fine, just got a little startled,” Misty explained before deciding to start with introductions. “Uh, Kermit? These are my friends-- Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp and Hitch. Guys, this is Kermit the Frog, and… I’m assuming this is his house?” 

“Just the beach house me and the rest of the gang are renting,” Kermit explained. “So… where are you all staying?” 

“Well, that’s the thing,” Sunny said, stepping forward. “You see, we’re from the realm of Equestria, and we get sent to this world on missions, but we don’t really have a place to stay. So… if you could recommend a place in this area, we’d be more than happy to get out of your mane.” 

“Kermie, who’s at the door?” said a feminine voice. “Dinner is almost ready!”

“Just a second, Piggy!” Kermit responded. “I’m talking to some guests!”

“Ooh, guests? Did they come to see moi?”

At that moment, a pig with big blue eyes and blonde hair, wearing a pink dress and matching gloves came forward, and upon seeing the ponies and dragon before her… she frowned. “What? You were talking to some horses with large horns and wings? I thought you may have been talking to the press!”

“Uh, please excuse Miss Piggy,” Kermit said politely. “She’s… well… sort of a diva when it comes to the press and getting attention.”

Pipp gasped deeply. “You’re a diva too?! Oh, I think we’re going to get along just fine!” she said, flying forward. “Pipp Petals, at your service.”

“A pleasure to meet such a fine looking little pony!” Miss Piggy said, eagerly shaking Pipp’s hoof. “Kermit, why don’t we invite our little guests inside for dinner and then we can chat?”

“Sounds good to us,” Hitch smiled. “Anyplace with dinner is my kind of place!”

XXXXXXXX

The dinner scene was… let’s just say… different than what the ponies were expecting. Instead of a small group of friends, there was a large group of different creatures, animals and people gathered around one small table… not that the ponies minded.

The more people around, the more friends they could potentially make.

A few minutes after everyone settled down to eat dinner, two more members of the group (who was identified earlier as the Muppets) came down to the dinner table-- one was a rat for certain, but the other… nopony was too certain of what he was.

He was blue, a darker shade than Misty, with a long curved nose, but… he seemed quite friendly. “Sorry we’re late, guys,” the blue creature apologized. “Rizzo left his moldy cheese collection under my bed for a little too long and I didn’t want the smell to linger.”

“Hey hey, those cheeses were classics,” the rat, now known as Rizzo, responded back. “I had to put ‘em somewhere!” 

“Uh, Gonzo? Rizzo?” Kermit called to them. “I want you to meet Sunny, Misty, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Hitch and Sparky. They’re gonna be staying with us for a little while, at least until they find their mission and get back to their home-world.”

“Hi new friends!” Izzy waved cheerfully. “Nice to meet you too!”

“Heh heh… yeah, sure, whatever you say, cotton candy,” Rizzo said as he sat down next to her. “Where’d ya find this bunch, Kerm?”

“Animal kinda startled me before I knocked on your door, and Kermit invited us for dinner,” Misty said before taking a bite of salad. “Wow, whoever cooked this has some serious talent.”

“Uh, yes, that would be me,” said Pepe the King Prawn with a smirk. “The, uh, the chefs that usually do this… is out of commission for the time being.”

“Good thing, too,” Gonzo said. “Swedish Chef would have had the kitchen in flames by now.”

This caused many of the Muppets to laugh, but the ponies merely shrugged, not sure what to say or think. “So, Gonzo,” said Zipp, breaking the silence, “Kermit told me that you’re really big into stunts. So am I!”

“Really? Oh, that’s terrific!” Gonzo said. “Have you ever tried to eat a tire to the tune of ‘Flight of the Bumblebees’?”

Zipp blinked for a few moments, trying to process what he just said. “Uh… I don’t think so.”

“Or get shot out of a cannon?”

“Not that one either.”

Misty chuckled nervously. “Zipp deals with mostly stunts she can do in the air, like loop-de-loops and drawing pegasus designs in the clouds,” she explained. “But, your stunts sound really… out-of-the-box.”

“Oh, really? Wow, thanks!” Gonzo smiled. “Hey, are you guys going to stay in the neighborhood?” Fozzie Bear asked from across the table. “I’d love to share some of my latest jokes with you!”

“Trust me,” Sam Eagle whispered to Hitch in a quiet voice, “his jokes aren’t always that funny.”

“Well, I wish we could stay, but you guys have such a full house already,” Sunny frowned. “We wouldn’t wanna impose.” 

“Oh, no! You wouldn’t be imposing at all!” Kermit reassured. “We have a guest room at the very end of the hallway upstairs that no one is using-- you guys can stay there until you find your mission.” 

“Wow… that’s so nice of you!” Sunny smiled. “Thanks!”

“After dinner, we’ll check out the room and settle in,” Zipp smiled. “Then, I think we all need a nap.”

“Good idea,” Hitch yawned. “It’s bound to be a pretty interesting-- AAAGH!!”

Animal had fallen asleep right on his shoulder, causing Pipp to chuckle. “Looks like scaring the wits out of Misty earlier tired him out.”

This caused everyone in the room to laugh before they resumed their meal. But… Misty could tell that something was not right in Gonzo’s heart.

And that got her to wondering… what if Gonzo was the group’s next mission?
> Dreams and Muppet Mornings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room that the Mane 6 was given wasn’t much (basically just a couple of spare mattresses, a few windows and a dresser), but to the ponies, it was a lot better than staying out in the streets.

After the ponies had gotten settled, Sunny had gotten an idea, and the Mane 6 gathered all their new friends downstairs to tell them about the adventures they had gone on in the past year and a half or so.

There was a lot, and there wouldn't be enough time in a day to tell their friends EVERYTHING, so they stuck to a lot of the important parts-- Misty getting her cutie mark, Opaline's first and second defeats, and how they brought all magic back to Equestria.

Everyone seemed really intrigued by their tales, but every once in a while, when the subject of family was brought up, Misty noticed that Gonzo seemed… well, a little down and out.

She wasn’t sure if it was just her or not, so she decided to keep quiet for a while, just in case.

Soon, it seemed to be time to retire for the night, and everyone ventured up into their rooms to get some good dreams for the day ahead…

…well, almost everyone would have some good dreams for the day ahead.

And you can probably guess who it was that DIDN'T have the most satisfying slumber.

XXXXXXXX

Darkness in the form of thundering clouds showered the earth, and within just a few moments, a huge storm was about to cover the entire planet, washing everything away…

…well, everything and everyone that wasn’t on Noah’s ark, that is.

Gonzo panted tiredly as he crossed the harsh desert landscape, trying to reach the huge ark getting ready to leave before the huge thunderstorm hit. “H-H-Hey, wait for me! Hold the boat!” 

Knowing that the ark was getting ready to leave prompted Gonzo to run that much faster, and sooner rather than later, he reached the boat as the last of the animals were getting onboard. “Noah! Mr. The Ark! I'm here!” he called to the man leading the animals onboard, panting from exhaustion. “Barely made it. For a minute there I thought you were gonna leave without…” 

But as Noah turned to face him, his face turned completely serious, making Gonzo a little uneasy. “Gee, Mr. Noah, sir,” he said. “I'm gonna come too.” 

“What are you, anyway?” Noah asked him, closely inspecting him. “Oh, uh… good question,” Gonzo said, a little nervously, I might add. “Now, technically speaking, uh, let's say, put me down as a ‘whatever’.” 

“What do you mean?” Noah asked him again, this time more sternly. “What is your species?” 

This time… Gonzo was unsure of how to respond. Even he wasn’t sure what his species was, so... how was he supposed to tell this figure of Biblical history? “I-I don’t know,” he answered honestly with a shrug. “I guess there's only one of me.” 

That’s when Noah stood up, tapping his staff against the ground and pointing at Gonzo. “Then you are DOOMED!!” 

Gonzo gasped in horror at this as Noah closed the ark door, getting ready to leave him behind… at least for a small moment, and Gonzo stepped forward when he opened it again, hoping Noah had changed his mind about letting him aboard. “Yes, sir?” 

“You may need this,” Noah handed him an umbrella before closing the door again, just as the rain began to pour, leaving Gonzo out in the open and vulnerable. “No! NOOO!!!” Gonzo cried out along with the pouring rain. “I don't wanna be alone! NOOO!!!!”

XXXXXXXX

Gonzo didn’t realize he was dreaming as he continued to shout. “I don’t wanna be alone…” he murmured. “No no… NOOO!!!” 

Gonzo immediately shot straight up in his bed and sent Rizzo flying out of his hammock (which hung right above his bed) and out the window, causing the rat to scream before Gonzo panted again. “I DON’T WANNA BE ALONE!!!”  

“You’re not alone,” Rizzo told him from outside the window, causing Gonzo to look around for the source of the voice. “W-Who said that?”  

“Gee, I don’t know,” Rizzo responded back sarcastically. “Maybe it’s the RAT WHO’S HANGING OUT OF THE WINDOW!!”

Gonzo bolted out of bed to the window, seeing Rizzo hanging on the very edge. “Rizzo?” 

“No, it’s Santa,” Rizzo said sarcastically. “But I forgot my reindeer.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Rizzo,” Gonzo apologized, frowning as he helped Rizzo back into the safety of the bedroom. “I had that weird dream again.” 

“Really?” Rizzo asked curiously, Gonzo telling him earlier about some dreams he had been having recently. “The one with the goat and the dwarf and the jar of peanut butter?” 

“No, it was the one where…” Gonzo began to tell it before changing his mind. “Ah, forget it. You guys wouldn’t understand.”

“I’d understand. We’re roommates,” Rizzo said before moving his... er, paw to hold his best friend's hand. “Hey, hey hey… I’m here for you, man.”

“Okay…” Gonzo took a breath before beginning to explain his dream. “It's the one where I'm talking to this Noah guy, and he won't let me on his boat because I'm all…”

When Gonzo had turned around, Rizzo was already fast asleep again, causing Gonzo to sigh. “...alone,” he finished sadly. “Good night, Rizzo…”

Gonzo turned back to the window and gazed out at the seemingly endless sky of stars, and only a few moments later, Misty knocked on the door and entered the room. “Gonzo, is everything okay? I heard screaming coming from in here, and it sounded pretty intense.”

“No, no... it's okay, Misty,” Gonzo tried to reassure her. “Just a... a dumb dream.”

Misty frowned at this. “Sounds like anything but a dumb dream to me. You can talk to me, you know... I won't judge.”

Gonzo was just about to protest, but something about Misty's loving eyes and gentle smile made him sigh, relenting after a few moments. “I guess... have... have you ever felt like you were completely alone in the world, not knowing who you were or... where you came from?”

“Actually... yeah,” Misty nodded after a few moments. “I felt like that for a long time, and... I'm guessing you do too?”

“I've been feeling like that a lot lately. Ever since I can remember... I've been on my own, and... I guess I wonder if there's anyone else out there like me,” Gonzo admitted, “or... if someone out there knows where I came from.”

“...believe me, I know how it feels to feel completely alone in the world. While I was living with Opaline, I had no idea if I actually had parents and if they were looking for me,” Misty said, approaching Gonzo and standing next to him at the window as they looked out at the stars. “But... I have friends to help me, and so do you. If you want, maybe you and I can look for info about where you might have come from. What do you think?”

“You would do that for me?” Gonzo asked. “But we just met earlier today, and... I hate to get in the way if you finding your mission.”

“Helping you is the only mission on my mind,” Misty told her friend. “Now we better get some sleep-- Kermit says it might be hectic when we first get up, and I wanna wash my mane before the bathroom gets too crowded.”

Gonzo chuckled at that. “Yeah... good idea. Good night, Misty.”

“Night, Gonzo.”

XXXXXXXX 

The next morning, alarm clocks were ringing as the Muppets and the ponies woke up and tried to prepare themselves for the day ahead. 

Many felt the need to start their day with a shower or brushing their teeth... even though the bathroom was already crowded, making it almost impossible for Zipp and Animal to have the room or the water source that they needed.

Pipp flew into Miss Piggy's room immediately after she woke up, and decided to help Piggy choose her outfit for the day, as well as Piggy offer Pipp the chance to come with her for her first day at her new job.

Of course, when Pipp learned that the job was at the nearby TV studio, she agreed, making her put that much more work into choosing Piggy's outfit.

Hitch, Zipp and Izzy were joining Sam the Eagle's workout session and found it quite enjoyable... even if there was a bunch of chickens at their hooves that they had to look out for.

Finally, Sunny was the pony helping out in the kitchen, making raspberry-flavored pancakes for everyone to enjoy, along with her friends' favorite smoothies (thank hoofness for earth pony powers).

After most everyone was done with their morning routines, they all met at the dining room table for breakfast. “Ah… good morning, everyone,” Kermit greeted cheerfully, and everyone responded back, just before Pipp and Miss Piggy barged through the door, knocking Bean Bunny into the wall behind it, causing him to fall over. “Hello, little people!” Miss Piggy called out. “What an absolutely splendid day!” 

“Oh brother…” Zipp muttered to herself. “Now we have two times the diva trouble!” 

“Zipp, that’s not nice!” Sunny scolded in a whisper before turning to her friends. “So, how are you and Piggy this morning, Pipp?”

“Actually, we’re late,” Pipp said as she quickly brushed her mane. “Piggy said I could come with her to new pony-tastic job today.”

“Oh, yes,” Miss Piggy agreed. “We megastar TV journalists have to be punctual, you know.” 

This caused Sunny and Kermit to look at each other in confusion. “TV journalist…?”

“Well, gotta run! Bye, Kermie. Kissy-kissy!” Piggy bid farewell before she and Pipp ran out the door, Statler and Waldorf joking to each other about 'how the bacon just ran out'. But it wasn’t a moment or two later that Pepe came into the dining room. The raspberry flapovers will be out in a moment.”

“Hey, Uncle Kermit. What are you gonna do now that you’re on vacation?” asked Robin, Kermit’s froggy nephew. “Well, Robin,” said Kermit, pulling out his newspaper, “once I get those house painters started, I’m gonna kick back and relax.”

“Hey, Kermit, when will you fix the oven, okay?” asked Pepe, causing Hitch’s face to scrunch up. “What’s wrong with the oven?” 

But before Pepe could respond, an explosion came from the kitchen, causing everyone to scream and duck for cover. “That,” Pepe answered, just before the Swedish Chef came in with a pan of burnt food, and complaining in another language the others couldn’t understand. “Yeah, I-I’ll put it at the top of my list,” Kermit said with a frown as he tried to go back to his newspaper. “There is a menu correction, okay,” Pepe announced to everyone at the table. “We will now be serving bologna sandwiches.”

This made most everyone groan in disappointment, but a statement from the Swedish Chef made Pepe add something to his announcement. “But no bread.” 

“Ewww…” Hitch groaned. “I can’t believe that almost sounded good for a minute!”

“Come on, ponies, let’s go for a walk outside and survey the neighborhood,” Zipp said. “You guys go ahead,” Misty told her friends. “I wanna finish what I do have for breakfast first.”

“I’ll stay with you too,” Sunny added. “And try and help clean the kitchen up.”

After that, most everybody at the table left, leaving Sunny, Misty and Kermit by themselves… and when they heard a sigh coming from the stairs, they turned to see Gonzo finally coming to join them. “Hey, Gonzo? Aren’t you performing at that Bar Mitzvah today?” Kermit asked as he sat down at the table. “Nah,” Gonzo shook his head. “The Electric Mayhem’s covering for me.” 

True to his word, the Electric Mayhem was indeed going out the door, with Animal pushing the heavy cannon.

But, something about how dejected Gonzo looked made Sunny think something was wrong. “But Kermit told me last night that you never miss the chance to get shot out of a cannon,” she pointed out. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Gonzo shook his head, but eventually sighed and decided to spill the beans about what had been bothering him. “It's just that I'm sick and tired of being a one-of-a-kind freak, that's all.”

“Gonzo, you are NOT a one-of-a-kind freak,” Kermit told him in a stern tone. “You’re a… a…”  

To be honest, Kermit couldn’t find the right word to describe Gonzo, so Gonzo decided to finish his sentence for him. “A whatever?” 

“Well… yeah.”

Unfortunately, this made Gonzo that much more down and out. “You see?! See what I mean?” he asked, sighing in frustration. “I don't even know where I came from, or who I am!”  

“Gonzo… it’s gonna be okay,” Sunny tried to comfort. “I know it isn’t as easy being different than everypony else, but… we’ll help you through it.” 

But before anything else could be said about Gonzo's frustration, Clifford peeked his head around the corner. “Yo, Kerm?” Clifford called to Kermit, causing the group to look their way. “You weren't expecting some house painters, were you?”

Kermit nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, they’re just drivin’ away.”

“What?!”

“Animal bit one of ‘em!”

“Oh no…” Kermit muttered, getting down from his chair. “Hey, wait, guys! Don’t let them go!”

“I’ll help you catch ‘em, hop on,” Sunny offered her back to the frog, and before  they left, Kermit turned to look at Gonzo. “You know what you are, Gonzo?”

Gonzo turned to look at his friend in surprise. “What?”

“Distinct,” Kermit concluded before he guided Sunny and she ran outside to see if they could catch the house painters before they left for good.  After they left, Gonzo looked at all the pictures of the Muppets and their biological relatives before he looked at a picture of himself… on a beach… all alone. 

That only seemed to make him feel worse about himself, making him sigh heavily. “Distinct, huh…?” he muttered sadly. “More like extinct.”

Misty frowned and got down from her chair, putting a gentle hoof on his hand. “Until we go back to Equestria, you have us ponies as your family, and I don't care what anypony else says-- no one ever deserves to feel alone. Ever. We wanna make sure you know you're loved.”

At this, Gonzo thought about it for a brief moment, but then he smiled and rubbed Misty’s head affectionately. “Thanks, Misty,” he said to his new unicorn friend. “You always know the right thing to say. Now, come on-- let’s get some breakfast.”

Misty nodded and took a bite out of the waffle on her plate. At the same time, Gonzo poured some Kap’n Alphabet cereal into the bowl in front of him. When he spilled a couple of letters on the table, he put the box beside him and went to go clean them up, but when he prepared to do such, it was like the letters were moving, all on their own, making words.

And the weirdest part was... Misty wasn't doing anything with her magic!

Gonzo and Misty watched it all in shock as the letters made a phrase. “Watch the sky?” Misty recited, and when Rizzo passed by with Zipp, Gonzo ushered them over. “Hey! Zipp, Rizzo, come here!” he exclaimed. “I think my Kap'n Alphabet is sending me a message!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Zipp said with a shudder as Rizzo set his bologna on the table. “I had some guacamole at dinner last night and it’s still speaking to me.”

“Well, it wasn't the best guacamole in the business,” Misty said, “but that's not what we called you over here for! Look!”

But before she and Gonzo could show them the message, the letters had all jumbled up and were lifeless again. “It was there just a second ago,” Gonzo said, completely baffled. “I-I swear, Rizzo. It said ‘Watch the sky’.”

“Are you sure it didn't say ‘You need help’?” Rizzo asked cockily, not believing a word of this, despite Misty and Gonzo trying to protest and find an explanation. “Look, maybe you and your cereal would like to be alone.”

“Rizzo, come on, maybe they did see something!” Zipp cried as Rizzo walked away, causing her to heavily sigh. “Sorry, guys, I'll go after him, and then we can talk about whatever you saw.”

“Great,” Misty nodded. “Thanks, Zipp.”

As the white pegasus flew off after Rizzo, this Misty and Gonzo completely confused. 

Had it all been their imagination? Or was something else going on here?

Or was something else going on here? Gonzo decided to pour more of his cereal into the bowl, thinking it was all in their heads, but as he poured, a small plastic telescope fell into his bowl. “Cool,” he commented, handling the item, before their eyes fell on something else-- the letters were moving again, and now they formed another message: ‘R U there?’. 

Now Gonzo knew he wasn’t crazy. “RIZZOOOO!!!!” he cried, and after Misty used her phone to take a picture of such, she and Gonzo rushed off to find Rizzo and Zipp, hoping that the former would believe them upon seeing this.
> Welcome to C.O.V.N.E.T/General Luft's Visit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, in an undisclosed location, sat C.O.V.N.E.T-- a top secret facility that specializes in extraterrestrials. This facility was run by Ed Singer-- a no-nonsense man determined to find alien life on other planets. 

On this particular day, three ponies were on their way for an internship position that they had been waiting weeks for...

...and the day had finally arrived. “This is it, girls! Our first day at C.O.V.N.E.T!”

“I know, I know! I can't believe it either!”

“This is gonna be the biggest story of my entire career!”

Persephone was one out of two unicorns in the group, and her golden eyes radiated in excitement. Her mane was long and braided with colors of light blue, dark blue and black, along with star-shaped glitter in them, and had those same colors and features in her tail. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon and a small star behind it, demonstrating her love of the stars.

Caramel Wish was a pegasus named such because of her caramel-colored coat, along with her light purple eyes. Her cutie mark was a heart over a pencil, because she loved to write an most amazing fantasy series for her friends to enjoy, and she might be able to gain some inspiration for a space-inspired series by being here. 

Lastly, there was Journal Heart, an investigative and loyal unicorn with a creamish-white coat, orange-amber eyes, a reddish mane and tail and a cutie mark of a newspaper and a pencil. And since her deceased father had been a photographer for a big newspaper company for many moons, she wanted to take up after him and be a reporter, and she was at C.O.V.N.E.T with her best friends to find the biggest story of her career. 

The three mares approached the security gate that morning, and Caramel Wish cleared her throat so the guard could hear her. “Excuse me? Mr. Security Guard?”

“No tourists are allowed here,” the guard said, flipping through the newspaper he was reading. “Go away.”

“But, we’re not tourists,” Persephone clarified. “We’re the interns that Ed Singer brought onboard. A-And we start today.”

“See?” Journal said, lifting her pass. “We have our almost-all-access passes right here.”

The guard came out of the guardhouse and studied the three for a moment before scanning their passes, and the three mares were who they said they were. “All right then,” he sighed reluctantly, opening the gate. “Have a great day, ladies.” 

“Thank you!” Caramel said as they stepped through the gate. “Come on, girls-- Mr. Singer said on the phone that General Luft is supposed to be here at 9:30, and that’s in 10 minutes! So we gotta hurry and get to his office before he and the general get there!” 

“Well, we know that you’re a wiz with directions, Persephone,” said Journal, “so where’s your intuition telling us to go?” 

Persephone closed her eyes and illuminated her horn for a few moments, shifting direction until she felt her horn illuminate brightest down the path they were meant to go. “That way!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Caramel asked. “Let’s go!”

XXXXXXXX 

“I'm glad you three got here before Mr. Singer got back,” Rentro the bear told the trio of ponies as they walked into Mr. Singer's office. “He's been kind of on an edge lately with the general coming and all.”

“Thanks, Mr. Rentro, sir,” said Journal Heart. “We never would have gotten here without Persephone's intuition.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it intuition,” Persephone smiled nervously. “I just... use my magic to tell me which way I need to go. Nothing really special.”

Suddenly, the doors to the office opened, and General Luft and Ed Singer emerged from the outside, causing the three ponies to stand off to the side. “General Luft, welcome,” Ed said to the general. “I’m on a schedule,” said the general. “What do you got?”

“Hard evidence. We’ve finally got them,” said Ed, just before going to the speaker on his desk to talk to Rentro in the next room over. “Rentro?” 

“Yes, sir?” answered the bear at the receptionist desk. “The remote,” Ed said simply, hoping that Rentro would get what he wanted, but the bear misunderstood. “The goat?”

“The remote!” Ed emphasized what he said, clearly annoyed by the misunderstanding. “The remote! I thought you said ‘the goat’,” Rentro chuckled as he and Jino looked for the remote. “Over the past few months, we have received some unusual communications-- communications, sir, that are not of this Earth,” Ed explained. The general feigned surprise when he heard this. “Really?”

“Incoming. Ooh. Sorry about that, general. Here's your remote,” Rentro spoke politely as he gave the remote to Ed. “Thank you, Rentro,” Ed spoke, just as he pressed a button on the remote, activating several screens to appear and show different places around the globe, each having the same message imprinted in each image. “We believe that aliens are using a contact on Earth to plan their invasion. Now, this same message, ‘R U there’ has appeared all over the world. We've been lucky enough to capture these instances on film-- the pyramids at Giza… Stonehenge…”

The next photo had an ‘R U three’ instead of an ‘R U there’, confusing the intern ponies for a few moments. “Okay, now this one says, ‘R U three’,” Ed spoke, “but we believe that to be a simple spelling error.”

“This could be vandalism, a practical joke,” argued the general, and Rentro chuckled. “Now, you see that? Ha-ha-ha. That’s what i said, general,” he said. “These photos are, uh... um…” 

Feeling the cold stare of his boss on his neck, Rentro moved out of the way while Ed moved the general over to a globe nearby, a spiral pattern forming in red light. “When I plotted these anomalies sequentially, a pattern emerged-- a spiral. Do you see the spiral? Sir, they are out there. They are coming here.”

“Do you have any idea what you have here, Singer?” asked the general seriously. “Sir, I have an inkling,” Ed said, but the general wouldn’t hear it, thinking it to be bubkes (which is another term for having absolutely nothing) before starting to walk out of the room, causing Ed to begin to follow him. “But, sir, we have to take action now.” 

“I hired you to find me an alien,” the general told Ed in a threatening tone. “And you bring me doctored photos and a spiral? You are on thin ice, boy.” 

With that, the general took his leave, and Rentro and the interns walked over to Ed again. “I gotta hand it to you, sir,” said Rentro, “I thought your presentation was just wonderful.” 

But, Ed wasn’t listening-- he was gonna find that alien if it was the last thing he ever did. 

That's when Persephone spoke up. “Uh... Mr. Singer? Hi, my name is Persephone, and this is Journal Heart and Caramel--”

“Ah, the interns, great,” Ed rudely interrupted. “One of you can go get my coffee-- milk and two sugars. The rest of you can clean up the office a bit.”

“Oh, uh... sure thing, sir,” Journal spoke with a hesitant nod as Ed turned to go back to his desk. “But, uh... when are we gonna get to the alien part of the C.O.V.N.E.T operation?”

Ed angrily slapped his hand down on the table, causing the three mares to jump in surprise. “Here's the thing, little horses... in my line of work, you have to work at the bottom and slowly rise to the top. For you, that includes small chores that I should be able to do myself, but choose to leave to you. Now... I suggest you get to work while I'm out of the office.”

Caramel gulped nervously. “Uh... y-yes, sir! Right away, sir!”

Ed and Rentro walked out of the office, leaving the three mares alone and quite shaken. “Wow, I didn't expect that to be the demeanor of our new employer,” Journal said with a concerned expression. “Do you... think we made a mistake choosing this as our internship?”

“No... maybe we just showed up on an off day,” said Persephone as she cleared her throat. “Like he said... we have to work our way up to the top in order to be respected around here, especially by Mr. Singer and the general, someday. So... who wants to do what?”

“I can go to get Mr. Singer's coffee,” Caramel offered. “Why don't you two start on cleaning the office before Mr. Singer and Rentro get back?”

“Sounds good to me,” Journal said with a deep breath. “We’re gonna make our mark here, girls... I just know it!”
> Gonzo's Alien Discoveries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the beach house, Kermit had gotten to work painting the outside of the house, since the painters he had hired earlier had been scared off by Animal. Nonetheless, he was determined to get the job done right.

Sunny, Hitch, Zipp and Izzy decided to help out so Kermit wouldn't have to paint the entire exterior of the house by himself... besides, Izzy really wanted to display her creativity so that way the Muppets could remember the Mane 6, even after they leave to head back to Equestria. 

While the group was busy painting the house, Clifford opened the mailbox, got a series of letters out of it and was busy looking through them. “Robera… Dolores… mmm… ooh! Shannanay,” he chuckled before looking toward the Muppets’ amphibian leader. “Yo, Kerm, what should I do with the bills?”

“Just leave them inside,” Kermit responded. “All right,” Clifford nodded before calling out to someone else. “Hey, Gonzo, you want your new edition of Insanity Fare?”

“No, I’ll get it later,” came Gonzo’s reply, and Hitch blinked in surprise at where Gonzo’s voice sounded like it was coming from. “Why is Gonzo on the roof? Is he okay?”

“Not too sure,” Sunny honestly said as she and Hitch used their earth pony powers to secure the ladder that Kermit was currently standing on. “We found him up there when we came back from chasing the house painters.”

“I think it has something to do with what he claimed happened with his breakfast cereal earlier,” Zipp hummed. “But then again, cereal letters that can make words without the help of unicorn magic? That seems a little weird, even for us.” 

No sooner than she had said that, Misty came out the front door, holding a tray of food and a juice box in her magic as she turned to her friends. “Hey, guys. Is Gonzo still on the roof?” 

“Yeah, we just heard him up there a minute or two ago,” Kermit nodded with concern. “Is he okay, Misty? Did something happen?” 

“It’s sort of a long and… somewhat crazy story,” Misty said with some hesitancy. “I’ll explain it to you later. Hitch, you think you can help me get Gonzo’s lunch to him? Levitating a tray of food and myself at the same time feels like a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Sure thing, Misty,” Hitch nodded and got off of the porch. “Operation 'Plant path to the top of the house' is officially in progress!”

With one stomp of his hoof, Hitch created some large vines that twisted together into a large path that stretched from the ground all the way to the rooftop. 

But before Misty could get moving, Izzy spoke up. “Misty-Twisty? Pipp is gonna be back soon, and we wanna spend some quality time together before dinner, maybe play a board game or two.”

“Will you be joining us?” Sunny asked. “Sure. I wanna sit with Gonzo for a minute or two and then I’ll catch up,” Misty told her. “Okay… see you inside!” Sunny said with a smile. Misty finished climbing to the roof, and set the tray of food next to Gonzo before approaching.  “Hey, Gonzo,” the blue unicorn greeted. “I brought you some lunch.”

“Oh, thank you, Misty,” Gonzo said, setting his telescope down and grabbing an apple from the tray. “I was actually getting pretty hungry up here.”

“Did you manage to see anything yet? Anything that might tell you why your cereal was acting up?” Misty asked, sitting down. “No, nothing yet,” Gonzo sighed, setting his apple off to the side. “I just have to keep watching.”

“Well... I can stay up here if you want,” said Misty. “And I'm sure that my friends would be eager to do the same if we just ask them. I don't want you to be by yourself up here in the dark.”

Gonzo chuckled and noogied the unicorn on the head, making her giggle. “I’ll be fine, Butterfly. Besides, it’s gonna be cold tonight and I don’t want you to catch a chill. Go back down and catch up with your friends-- I’ll be okay for now.”

Misty smiled at the nickname that Gonzo had made for her, but wanted to make sure that he knew that he could call for her if he needed her. “...you will call me if you need anything, right?”

“I promise,” Gonzo gave her one final hug before she departed down the side of the house and inside to meet up with her friends. As she disappeared from his view, Gonzo thought about how beneficial the ponies were to the group ever since they showed up the day before...

...especially to him. 

Misty actually understood what he was going through, and he finally had someone to relate to... even if their situations were a little bit different. 

That got him to thinking...

...what would happen when the ponies left? Who would he connect with then?

XXXXXXXX 

Later that night, at dinner, Gonzo was still up on the roof, looking at the night sky, and Kermit couldn’t help but be worried. “What is he doing up there?”

“Based on what happened earlier,” Zipp said, “his breakfast cereal told him to watch the sky on the roof.”

“Ooh… talk about whole grain and nuts!” Clifford said jokingly, leading many of the Muppets to laugh… that is, until Sunny spoke up. “Guys, stop it!” she scolded, much to the group’s surprise. “I can’t believe you all would act this… this immature about one of your own!”

“But, Sunny, Clifford made a funny joke!” Fozzie tried to defend the Muppets from the earth pony mare's scolding gaze. “But it was a joke at Gonzo’s expense,” Hitch frowned. “I know a lot of you know who your families are, but… Gonzo doesn’t. At least… not now. He’s confused and he just wants to find out who he is and where he comes from.”

“And I know more than anypony else how it feels to be completely alone in the world without anypony else to turn to. Me and my friends do anything to help Gonzo find where his family is, but… not if you all will just laugh at Gonzo for his… unorthadox methods,” Misty said sternly. “Are we clear?”

“...yeah, sorry, everypony,” Rizzo apologized with a bit of an ashamed look. “Yeah,” Robin agreed. “We don’t want to make Gonzo feel bad.”

“I know… we accept your apology,” Sunny smiled. “Besides,” said Misty, “I’m sure Gonzo will come inside in a little while. Like he said, it’s gonna get cold tonight, and I don’t want him or anyone else, for that matter, to get sick from being in the cold too long.”

Suddenly, a strange rumbling came from up above the house, causing those at the dinner table to look up in worry. “That's peculiar,” Bunsen hummed in thought. “Beaker, did the weather system say if there was going to be any precipitation this evening?”

His narrow, almost-pencil like assistant 'meeped' and shook his head in protest, causing Bunsen to frown. “Hmmm... just like I assumed.”

“Actually, the science guys are right. I just checked my always-reliable weather tracker,” Pipp said, handing her phone to Sunny as Kermit leaned in to get a closer look, “and there isn't a single storm cloud in sight!”

“Okay... now I'm getting worried,” Misty frowned. “And I know Gonzo said he'll be fine, but I better get him and bring him inside in case it does rain.”

“You go on ahead, Misty,” Zipp told her friend. “We’ll rinse off our dinner dishes and we'll be right behind you.”

XXXXXXXX 

Back on the roof (while Misty was preparing herself for whatever weather was coming), Gonzo was still watching the sky when his telescope fell on something peculiar-- a ball of light, leaving a trail across the sky… almost looking like a shooting star. “Cool!”

He stood up to get a closer look, but lightning struck right near him, electrocuting him into unconsciousness… just as Misty got up to the rooftop, only to witness what had happened. “GONZO!!!”

Horrified, the blue unicorn ran to her friend and tried to wake him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently. “Gonzo! Gonzo, please! You have to wake up!” Misty begged. “It can't end like this! You have to wake up! And you have to wake up now!”

As Misty begged and begged some more for her friend to wake up, she could only imagine what Gonzo might have been experiencing in his head... 

...for better or for worse. 

XXXXXXXX 

In his hallucinated fantasy (while Misty was breaking down sobbing and trying to wake him up, Gonzo was flying through vast space, dodging asteroids and nebulas until his flight was slowed down as he came down to two fish floating in the vast galaxy. “Greetings, Mr. Gonzo! Greetings!” 

“Whoa. What are you guys? Space fish?” Gonzo asked, impressed but still confused as to what was going on. “We are cosmic knowledge fish,” the first fish said.  “We know many, many things.”

“Would you like some tea?” asked the second fish. “Oh, no thanks,” Gonzo politely declined. “Little Gonzo,” said the first fish, swimming closer to him, “your people have been trying to reach you.”

This got Gonzo’s attention immediately-- did these fish know what he was and where he came from? Maybe that was why his morning cereal said to watch the sky. “My people?” he asked the fish excitedly. “Are they fish too?”

“No no no no no no,” the fish shook their heads. “We're not the same as you,” said the second fish, and the first fish nodded. “We are highly evolved beings. Now, if… uh… what was I saying?”

“My people?” Gonzo tried to remind them, and the fish suddenly got back on track. “You must mow the lawn if you wish to find what you seek,” said the first fish, and this got Gonzo confused. “I should mow the lawn?” 

“A lawn that is cut in your own words, Gonzo,” said the first fish. “A message that can be seen from space.”

“Space! So trim it well,” said the second fish. “Goodbye, Gonzo,” the first fish bid him farewell. “And may the fish be with you.” 

“Oh, well thanks, guys!” Gonzo said to the fish as a gravitational pull seemed to pull him back the way he came. “And thanks for the cosmic knowledge!”

“Goodbye, Gonzo!”

“BYEEEE!!! GOODBYE!!!”

XXXXXXXX 

Misty had finally stopped shaking Gonzo’s shoulders, sobbing to herself when electricity scaled across Gonzo’s body and bringing him back to reality, causing Misty to shriek and fall backwards. “Gonzo? Is... is that really you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” 

Gonzo didn’t seem to answer Misty right away after that. And while he was seriously burned from the lightning (from head to toe, in fact), he was laughing joyously, as if he was in no pain at all. 

He finally knew where he was from and what he was-- he was an alien, an actual alien from outer space! “That’s it!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

“Wha... what's it? What are you--? Gonzo, wait!” Misty cried as Gonzo ran over to the ladder and began to descend. “Oh no... I better go after him and try and figure out what just happened!”

XXXXXXXX 

While Gonzo was in his hallucinated fantasy and Misty had been trying to wake him, Sunny felt an uneasy feeling wash over her body...

...and it was strange. 

Almost like... an electrical sensation. 

Hitch frowned in concern as Izzy and Pipp continued to watch Clifford, Rizzo, Kermit and Pepe play poker nearby. “Sunny, what's wrong? You look... well... a little flushed.”

“It was... it was weird. It's like I had this tingle run through me, but...” Sunny looked around before sighing. “I don't know, I guess I got the feeling that something was wrong.”

“Huh... I didn’t feel anything tingly,” Hitch hummed in thought. “Did anyone else feel a tingle?”

“Hmmm... actually... nope!” Izzy chirped with a wide grin. “All I feel is the tingle of excitement coming with the fact that Rizzo is gonna win this next bet!”

“Normally, I wouldn’t be into betting and poker,” Pipp said, fluttering beside the group, “but this could be the one round of poker I could get into!”

“Come on, Rizzo, it’s time to bet, okay,” Pepe said to the rat across the table. “All right, prawn cracker,” Rizzo challenged his friend. “I'll see your Maryland crab cakes, and I'll raise you a 1958 cheddar cheese, never been sniffed.”

“Ewww…” the ponies chorused in disgust. “Crab cake and cheese, huh?” Kermit asked, just as Clifford chuckled. “Can’t beat that.”

“HEY, GUYS!!” 

Most everyone turned to see where the sudden voice had come from, and there was Gonzo, charred up and standing at the door, and seeing Gonzo’s current state caused Pipp to shriek and put both front hooves over her mouth to partially muffle it. “The cosmic fish have spoken to me!” Gonzo told his friends in excitement. “I’M FROM OUTER SPACE!!!”

“Yeah, yeah yeah. That’s great. Pepe, are you in or out?” Rizzo asked, not paying attention to Gonzo’s state. “Si, I’m in,” Pepe nodded as Gonzo came up to the table. “I’m an alien!”

It was now that Rizzo finally noticed how charred up Gonzo looked, and glanced at his body in a confused manner. “Have you been tap-dancing on the barbeque again?”

“No no no, Rizzo. I’m just fine,” Gonzo patted Rizzo on the back, accidentally electrocuting the rat and causing him to scream in pain and surprise. When the zaps of electricity finally stopped, Rizzo panted for a few seconds before suddenly, his playing cards lit up on fire. “GAH, MY CARDS!!!”

“Izzy, get the fire extinguisher!” Hitch cried. “It’s in the kitchen!”

The lavender unicorn ran into the kitchen and grabbed the fire extinguisher in her magic, but by the time she rushed back and put out the fire, Rizzo's cards had withered away into smoldering ash. “Oh, no… no no no…”

While Rizzo was deeply upset by the loss of his hand of cards, Gonzo quickly went to the nearby side table and began digging through the small drawer. “Gonzo, are you sure you’re okay?” Sunny asked. “Yeah, yeah, absolutely!” Gonzo nodded, still a tad distracted as Misty collapsed after she had walked into the room. “But I have to respond. Gotta make contact!”

Once he found a set of keys in the drawer, Gonzo quickly ran outside and into the night. “Where’s he going with those keys?” Hitch wondered in confusion. “Who cares? Flying saucer, maybe,” Pepe shrugged their worries off before laying his cards on the table. “Dos deuces.” 

“Huh?” Rizzo looked up from his apparent sobbing. “The prawn cracker wins,” Pepe smugly told Rizzo before laughing. “Pair of twos?! I swear, I had four aces!” Rizzo shouted. “I really did!”

But, Pepe ignored this desperate plea and began to sing to Rizzo tauntingly.

You got to know when to hold it
Know when to fold it, know when to--

Suddenly, before Pepe could sing anymore of the song, the sound of an engine beginning to run outside got their attention, making them instantly confused. “Okay, that's weird,” Pipp blinked. “Who would be outside on a lawnmower at this time of night?”

“I think I know who...” Misty muttered just as she and Kermit got up and walked toward the window to look outside. Turns out, Gonzo was using the lawn mower to create a response to his people that could be seen from space, just like the cosmic fish had told him to… 

...and nothing was gonna get in the way of that.

Misty's thoughts of worry were subsided when she was approached by the rest of her friends, looking clearly worried. “Misty, what happened up there?” Sunny asked in concern. “Is Gonzo all right?”

“Well... I don't really know,” Misty shook her head. “I went up there to check on him, only to find him being struck by a bolt of lightning!”

Pipp gasped deeply at such a fact. “Oh my pony, was he okay?!”

Misty shook her head again. “Not for a minute or two. I shook him and shook him, and when I thought that he was... you know... gone... he woke up and started laughing, muttering about him being an alien and he needed to... mow a message into the lawn?”

“Well, now we know why he's mowing the lawn,” Hitch said, “but... I'm getting really worried about him nonetheless.”

“Me too, Hitch,” Kermit nodded with a frown. “In all the years I've known Gonzo, I've never seen him act like this before.”

“Eh,” Pepe shrugged. “I’ve seen him act weirder.”

Izzy looked around at her friends with a concerned glance. “Do you think we need to rid him of the jinxies? You have no idea how those things can affect somepony.”

“Maybe... I think the best thing is to talk to Gonzo tomorrow morning, when the electricity is out of his system,” Sunny advised. “Give him a little time to recover.”

“Yeah... good idea, Sunny,” Kermit nodded. “Didn’t Zipp head upstairs already?”

“Yeah, she wanted to get some research done before it got too dark,” Pipp nodded. “We better go up and check on her.”

“Um... if you don't mind,” said Misty, “I'll sleep down here and wait for Gonzo to come back inside... just in case.”

“Yeah... sure, Misty,” Sunny nodded. “All right, everypony... let's get some rest. I have a feeling we'll need it when we talk to Gonzo tomorrow morning.”
> Ed Finds Evidence/The Alien Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misty stayed by that window practically all night, fighting sleep as she watched Gonzo go around and around the yard on the lawnmower, over and over again.

This caused her worry to immediately spike.

Was Gonzo really an alien? If he was, she didn’t mind it-- she thought it was really cool to meet an alien, and especially an alien that she shared so much in common with.

But then again... she knew that Gonzo being an alien would raise a whole bunch of other questions for him.

Like... why was he on Earth to begin with? Where was his family? How would Gonzo make contact with them after all this time?

Whatever the future brought for Gonzo, Misty promised herself that she would be there for him no matter what...

...and no matter what dangers came their way.

XXXXXXXX

Ever since their arrival at C.O.V.N.E.T yesterday, Persephone and her two best friends, Caramel Wish and Journal Heart, had been trying their very best to please Mr. Ed Singer and try to prove that they were worthy of their internship...

...even if their way if pleasing Ed was to bring him his coffee, keep the office clean and... well... just stay out of his way while he continued to search for any signs of alien life.

But at least they had Rentro-- he was a lot of fun to be around, and he made the trio feel so welcome when Ed was being hard on them or ignoring them altogether.

However... things were about to get a lot more complicated in the next coming days.

Rentro entered the office that morning with an envelope or two in his paws, while Caramel was dusting around the office while Persephone and Journal were sweeping around the office. “Well, just a few things for today, sir,” he said, laying them out on the desk as he went through them. “Let's see... Oh, here's a winner. Your Platinum Buns workout tape. Huh? Ha ha ha... and let's see, ooh! That new satellite photo is here. My Captain Kangaroo pajamas...”

Suddenly, something that Rentro had said caught Persephone offguard, as well as her friends. “Wait a second...” said the purplish-colored unicorn. “What was that you just said?”

“My Captain Kangaroo pajamas?”

“No no, what you said before that.”

“The new satellite photo is here?”

Journal heard this and stepped forward, her curiosity peaking to new levels. “Can I see that photo?”

Rentro nodded and handed her the envelope, causing Journal to levitate the photo out for her to study it. It looked to be an overhead view of someone's yard, and... it looked like there was some sort of message mowed out in the grass.

But before she could get a good look at it, Ed snatched it from her magical aura and studied it himself, his eyes widening in shock. “I am here...” he muttered the message before looking to Rentro and the interns. “Who did this...?”

“Umm... I-I'm not totally sure, sir,” Journal said with the shake of her head. “But... I am wondering the same thing.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Pepe and Rizzo had gone outside with Zipp and Misty to check on Gonzo, only to find him tired and exhausted... not to mention, the lawnmower had crashed into a bunch of bushes near the side of the house.

Zipp looked over at her friends with worry laced in her tone. “Misty was right, guys... this is NOT good for Gonzo.”

“Poor guy... he's hallucinating!” Rizzo said as they raced toward the lawnmower so Zipp could take the keys out of the lawnmower. “Gettin' weird messages. Hearing things, you know?”

“I don't know if he's hallucinating or not, Rizzo, but I do know one thing,” Zipp said as Misty levitated Gonzo onto her back. “Something is definitely going on, and we have to figure out what so we can try to help him.”

“What is the point?” Pepe asked her as they began to walk toward the house, with Pepe and Rizzo at Zipp’s side and Misty flanking Zipp so they could make sure Gonzo didn't fall off. “He listens to voices and does what they say.”

Suddenly, the wheels in Pepe's brain began to immediately turn. “Hold your horses,” he said, stopping the group and causing Gonzo to begin to stir. “I think I got an idea...”

Misty sighed to herself as Zipp, Rizzo and Pepe continued to lead Gonzo inside. “Why do I feel that this 'idea' is gonna do more harm than good here...?”

Nevertheless, she followed her friends inside the house in order to make sure that Gonzo was stable.

XXXXXXXX

“So... what does this mean?” Persephone asked in confusion as she held the satellite photo in her hooves. “Does this mean that there could be some sort of alien life out there?”

However, Ed chose not to respond, for there were too many things running through his mind to focus on his lowly interns. “I have to call Luft,” he started to say. “Wait... careful.”

Rentro nodded in agreement. “Careful.”

“Baby steps.”

“Baby steps.”

“We need more evidence.”

“Uh... uh, yeah,” Caramel said nervously. “More evidence.”

“Remember,” Ed told them. “We’re watching.”

Rentro nodded at this again. “Watching.”

“And waiting.”

“Right... waiting,” Persephone nodded before clearing her throat. “Caramel? Journal? Can I speak to you for a second... alone?”

Her best friends immediately nodded and they trotted into the hallway to have a more private discussion... away from Ed's hearing. “What did you two make of that?” Persephone asked. “Do you really think…?”

“That there might be an alien out there?” Journal interrupted. “Living in our world alongside us? Pretty crazy if you ask me.”

“The only thing to do now,” said Caramel, “is to investigate.”

Persephone and Journal looked at each other with worry. “Is that really the best idea?” Journal asked. “I mean… a reporter always gets to the bottom of a case, but… are we even in the right jurisdiction?” 

“Look… this might be our one chance to prove to Ed that we have what it takes,” Caramel said. “To be part of this operation. If we find that alien and make friends with it, maybe we can accomplish what we’ve always dreamed of!”

“That sounds great,” Persephone spoke. “But… I’m still not too sure.”

“I mean… we are already at C.O.V.N.E.T,” Journal pointed out, “and we have access to the satellite image and a bunch of other equipment, so… what do we have to lose?” 

Persephone considered everything that her best friends were saying, eventually finding no harm in trying, and this caused her to sigh. “I guess we could always try. But we can’t let Ed know about it. At least… not until we have a solid lead.”

XXXXXXXX

Misty, at the same time, was tucking Gonzo into bed while Rizzo and Pepe stood nearby. “Okay, he’s finally in bed,” she whispered as she turned to the rat and king prawn next to her. “Can you two keep an eye on him while I go meet up with my friends?”

“Sure, Misty,” Rizzo nodded. “You go ahead and go.”

“Thanks, guys,” Misty smiled. “Sweet dreams, Gonzo.”

No sooner than when Misty left the room, Pepe stood in front of a blowing van and spoke into it. “Build it… and we will come…”

Gonzo began to stir for a moment, eventually waking him up. “B-Build what…?”

“Build a Jacuzzi,” Pepe spoke through the fan again, “and we will come, okay…”

Rizzo silenced Pepe’s snickering just in time to see Gonzo get up from bed, as if he was in a daze. “I’m up… I’m up…” he yawned. “Must build… Jacuzzi…” 

As soon as Gonzo left the room, Pepe and Rizzo chuckled to themselves, proud of what they had tricked Gonzo to do. 

“Well done, pal.”

“Gracias, amigo.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the Mane 6 were in their room, discussing everything they knew so far about Gonzo’s situation, and all the ways they knew of to help. “Okay, Misty,” said Zipp. “You said Gonzo was struck by a lightning bolt and from the way he was talking, he was in some sort of hallucinated fantasy about cosmic knowledge fish? And that’s when he started mowing that message entitled ‘I am here’ in the lawn?” 

“Yes, Zipp,” Misty sighed. “For the millionth time!”

“And he believes he’s some sort of alien too,” said Sunny. “Which honestly wouldn’t be the worst thing. I’ve never met an alien before.” 

“But why is he on this planet anyway?” Zipp asked. “Where’s his family? And where did he come from?”

“I feel bad for Gonzo… all these unanswered questions must be driving him crazy!” said Hitch. “Once Sparky is old enough, I’m gonna make sure he knows about how I found him.” 

Izzy turned to Sunny with a look of sadness on her face. “Is there any way to help him find his family, Sunny?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Sunny frowned. “Maybe we need to keep an eye on Gonzo for a little while longer, maybe his next actions can give us a clue as to what we can do next.” 

“Uh… guys?” Pipp looked out the window in concern. “Is it just me, or is Gonzo building a Jacuzzi in the backyard?”

“But that’s impossible!” Misty frowned. “He was sound asleep when I tucked him in a few minutes ago!”

But as the group looked outside, they were stunned to discover that Pipp was telling the truth-- Gonzo was outside, steady and determined to build the Jacuzzi and bring his alien brethren to him.

Sunny hummed in thought, thinking of something that could prompt Gonzo to do this. “Misty, was Rizzo and Pepe anywhere around when you tucked Gonzo in?”

“Yeah, they were right beside the bed,” Misty nodded. “Why?”

“Just a theory I’m building in my head,” Sunny clarified. “You, me and Zipp will go out and kee[ an eye on him. The rest of you stay here with the other Muppets… just in case.”

XXXXXXXX

“Oh, hey girls!” Gonzo smiled as the three mares walked over to him. “Grab some tools and we can get this Jacuzzi done!”

“Gonzo… what exactly did the voices in your head tell you?” Zipp asked. “Or, uh… what did the cosmic fish tell you?”

“They told me that if I build this Jacuzzi,” said Gonzo, steadily focused on his task, “that my alien family were gonna come for me!”

“They told you that?” Sunny asked before humming. “Interesting…”

“But, we’d be happy to help out,” Misty interrupted. “As long as we get to spend some time with you. Right, guys?”

“...right.”

“Absolutely!”

But, as they began to work, they began to suspect that Rizzo and Pepe had more of a hand in this than they could ever have imagined.

XXXXXXXX

Later that night, the party that Gonzo had planned to welcome his alien family was in full swing. 

A large buffet, cooked by Sunny instead of the Swedish Chef, was laid out on the table, Pipp was preparing a live music performance, and the Jacuzzi that Gonzo had been working on earlier was full of hot, bubbling water...

...truly a party to remember.

Rizzo hopped into the hot tub with Izzy and Pepe, and the two boys talked to themselves while Izzy was too into the relaxation of the hot tub. 

“Yep, he built it.”

“And we came!”

That's when Gonzo approached the Jacuzzi with Misty in tow, a checklist in her magic aura. “All right now, remember everybody. I built this new Jacuzzi for my alien family, so please no eating in the spa.”

“That includes you too, Izzy,” Misty said with a frown. “No Unicorny Flakes.”

Izzy set down the box before she could ear some cereal, allowing herself to whine. “But the bubbles feel so good on my rear!”

As Izzy climbed out of the hot tub, Rizzo turned toward the king prawn next to him with a concerned look. “We gotta tell them the truth, Pepe.”

However, Pepe's response to him trying to do the right thing was not what Rizzo expected. “You tell him, and I will smack you. I will smack you like a bad, bad donkey, okay!”

“Tell who what? And who's gonna smack who?”

Fearfully, Rizzo and Pepe turned to see Hitch and Zipp raising an eyebrow at them, and the two tried to find the words to protest and defend themselves...

...all while Zipp and Hitch secretly enjoyed the entire thing.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Johnny Fiama and his best friend Sal the monkey were hitting it up on the buffet.

“Uh, Sal?”

“Yeah, Johnny?”

“There are no cannolis here.”

Sal turned to his friend with a large slice of cake in his hands. “Yeah, but try this cake. This is a beauty.”

“That is nice! Would you-- Gonzo, Gonzo and Misty!”

Johnny and Sal immediately turned away as soon as Gonzo and Misty approached. “Everything looks like it's in order here,” Misty said as she checked the food off the list. “Hey, go easy on the buffet, fellas. I just want--”

Suddenly, her eyes fell upon the cake with one slice missing, causing her to grow nervous to Gonzo’s potential reaction. “Uh... Gonzo? Don't freak out on me, but...”

As soon as Gonzo laid eyes on the cake, his eyes widened in panic and anger. “Who cut the cake? Who cut the cake?! Who cut it?!”

That's when Sal and Johnny tried to cover up what they did... even though they were doing a horrible job at it. 

“Oh, look at that!”

“I don't believe that!”

“Who cut this cake?”

“Who would've-- that's awful.”

Gonzo groaned to himself as Sal and Johnny proceeded to walk away. “I don't believe it. The guests of honor aren't even here yet!”

“Gonzo, calm down,” Sunny said gently as she approached. “I know you want this party to he special, but being here with the friends and family you have here can make it even more special... trust me on that.”

“I guess you're right...” Gonzo muttered before looking up at the sky. “I just wish they'd get here.”

“Maybe,” said Pipp, fluttering over to the group, “the way to get your alien relatives here is with the power of... muuuuuuuuuuusiiiiiiiiic!!! Hit it, Zipp!”

Zipp activated the nearby speaker, allowing one of Pipp's songs to play and direct others' attention toward her. 

Pipp: First things first, you gotta look for the spark
That bit of magic way deep down in your heart
It's the rhythm that connects us
When you find it, yeah, now that's a great start (Start, start)

Hey!

You gotta follow your beat (Beat, beat)
And then soon you will see (See, see)
You won't have that far to go
Until your song starts to grow
All you need is your beat (Your beat, your beat)

All you need is your groove (Groove, groove)
(Hey, come on!)
To get them stompin' their hooves
And then the next thing you'll know
Imagination will flow
All you need is your beat
All you need is your beat

Whoo!

Bah-dah-dah, bah-dah-dah
All you need is your beat
Bah-dah-dah, bah-dah-dah!

Everyone cheered as Pipp finished her song, but while he clapped for the performance, Gonzo couldn’t help but think about his family.

Where were they? And... would they even show up at all?
> TV Station Turmoil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party lasted halfway through the night as Gonzo waited for his family to arrive... at least so he could learn where he was from.

But unfortunately... they never came.

The Mane 6 had assumed Rizzo and Pepe were to blame for the whole Jacuzzi deal, but it absolutely crushed them in so many ways to see that Gonzo himself was crushed. 

He didn’t deserve this... and deep in the bottom of their hearts, the ponies knew that Rizzo and Pepe felt guilty for letting Gonzo down. 

But... no one realized that the events that would come next would matter more than ever... especially in the attempt for finding Gonzo’s alien family.

XXXXXXXX

Misty found herself unable to sleep again... but it wasn't because of Gonzo having a nightmare.

It was because she knew that Gonzo was crushed that his family didn’t show up... a feeling that she could somehow understand. 

That left Misty with only one option... she had to go and check on Gonzo... just to make sure he was alright.

After climbing out of bed and past her sleeping friends, Misty tiptoed down the hall and gently opened the door to Gonzo and Rizzo's room. “Psst... Gonzo? Rizzo? Are either of you awake?”

The blue unicorn listed for a moment, but only Rizzo's light snoring could be heard... and Gonzo’s could not.

Luckily, Misty had a pretty good idea of where to check next. 

XXXXXXXX

Gonzo stared at the sky, a worried and saddening expression on his face.

He didn't understand... where was his family? The voices said that if he built the Jacuzzi, they would come!

So... why weren’t they here?

Suddenly, the sound of someone climbing up to the roof caught Gonzo's attention, causing him to look and see Misty tiredly scaling the house, finally reaching the roof. “You know… you really gotta stop climbing the roof when there isn’t a pegasus or a reliable ladder around.” 

“Sorry, Misty,” Gonzo apologized before looking up at the stars again. “I just… needed some time to think.”

“...I’m sorry your family didn’t show. Really, I am,” Misty said as she sat next to him, despite figuring out what Rizzo and Pepe had planned earlier. “I can’t begin to imagine how painful that must’ve been.”

“But it couldn’t have been as painful as living with Opaline all those years,” Gonzo countered… just before he decided to ask a question. “How… how did you survive all that time of being locked away in her lair?” 

“Where do I begin…?” Misty asked herself before turning to him. “To be honest… before I had my friends, I just survived by what Opaline told me to do. But after I made friends with some of the most amazing ponies I had ever met, I started gaining confidence against her evilness. And… then, one day, I finally stood up for myself, and confronted Opaline for the evil she had done.”

“Wow,” Gonzo said in an impressed tone. “You’ve got guts. And… did you defeat her?”

“A few times, but only temporarily. It wasn’t until about… a year and a half ago in the Himalayas where we defeated her for the first time.”

Gonzo immediately paused at this. “Wait… the first time?” 

Misty then decided to clarify. “You know how I mentioned my mom was Opaline’s adopted daughter for a long time? Well… before we were able to reform her, she… she used a magic amulet to bring Opaline back from the dead.”

“Yikes…” Gonzo grimaced. “I bet she was bent on revenge.”

“She was,” Misty nodded. “She came after my cutie mark, my friends’ cutie marks… any cutie marks in Norville o’er Morgania that she could get a hold of. And she brainwashed and kidnapped Mom too, after learning that Mom had betrayed her to help us. She was so close to opening a portal and getting back to Equestria so she could take over.”

“...and? What happened then?” Gonzo asked. “Did she manage to get back to Equestria?”

“No, thank goodness,” Misty shook her head. “All the ponies in Camelot and Norville o’er Morgania began to sing in unity, pouring what magic they had into the Together Trees. Then, Sunny’s locket shot out a rainbow beam of magic that trapped Opaline, and Sparky used the Dragonstone to help return the cutie marks. And as the Together Tree in Morgan’s lair began to grow out of control, the tree’s roots took Opaline’s cutie mark, and the tree sealed Opaline inside of it when she went to retrieve it. And now that she’s in there… there’s no way she’s coming back.” 

“Wow… that’s a crazy story,” Gonzo said. “A lot better than my stunt stories.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Misty chuckled. “What I’m trying to say is that there’s a good part to every story… and I know that someday, that good part is gonna come in your direction.”

Gonzo sighed and wrapped his arms around the unicorn in a hug. “Thanks, Misty… I’ll try my best to remember that.” 

“No problem. Now, let’s get to bed,” Misty said. “Maybe Bunsen and Beaker can help us make contact with your alien tribe in the morning.” 

XXXXXXXX

By the next morning, Miss Piggy and Pipp had left for the TV studio again, leaving everyone else to watch some TV, and since Gonzo was still determined to get in contact with his alien family, the Mane 6 switched it to a show called UFO Mania Live, to see if they could get any insight. “Earth, are you ready? The Galaxy Channel presents: UFO Mania Live, with close-encounter expert Shelley Snipes.”

That’s when a woman with brown curly hair appeared on the screen. “Hello, I’m Shelley Snipes. Coming up on UFO Mania Live, I'll be taking a hard look at some compelling new data. Have you seen something in the sky but were afraid to talk about it…?”

“Hey, where’s Sunny and Misty?” Hitch asked, looking around for the blue unicorn and apricot earth pony. “I thought we were gonna watch this together.”

“Misty is with Gonzo and Sunny is trying to convince Pepe and Rizzo to do the right thing,” said Zipp in a quiet whisper. “They should be up soon.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, in the basement, Gonzo and Misty were in the basement with Bunsen and Beaker, with Gonzo wrapped in a suit of tin foil and a metal strainer on his head as part of an experiment to contact Gonzo’s family. “I don't understand why they didn't show up last night,” Gonzo admitted. “I thought I did everything right.”

“Well, perhaps we can be of assistance,” Bunsen said, hooking several wires up to a machine. “I think we can help you contact your alien brethren by boosting your newly enhanced conductivity. Okay, Beakie. Let her rip.”

Beaker nodded and began to charge up the device, getting an electric shock in the process. But thanks to the electricity in his veins, Gonzo began to feel something different. “Wait a minute. I think I'm picking up a signal!”

“Oh, what is it?” Misty asked, rushing to his side. “Is it alien related?”

Gonzo listened for a moment, and after a moment, began to get the signal from the TV, but didn’t realize it at first. “If you've had contact with an alien, or if you are an alien and want to tell your story, write to us or come to our studio at 6577 Broadcast Lane now.”

After hearing this, Gonzo immediately realized that he had to get to that address to contact his family. “The mothership is calling me home!”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Misty said as Bunsen gasped in excitement. “Thanks a lot, guys!”

“The mothership! It worked. The mothership!” cried Bunsen in excitement… just before Beaker fainted from all the electricity he had endured. “B-Beaker?” 

XXXXXXXX

In the kitchen, Sunny was trying to get Pepe and Rizzo to decide who was going to tell Gonzo the truth… and it was not going well. “You said you going to tell him, okay,” Pepe argued, causing Sunny to eventually sigh. “Pepe, the Jacuzzi thing was your idea, and you have to tell him. Please.” 

Pepe sighed reluctantly at Sunny’s plea. “Sí, I will tell him, okay. Right.”

“They’re calling meeeeeeee!!”

“Get ready, boys!” Sunny said. “Here he comes!”

Then, Gonzo and Misty burst out of the basement, prompting Rizzo to try and speak. “Gonzo…”

“Can’t talk now, guys!” Misty cried. “Sunny, we have a lead! We’ll send you the address once we get there!”

“Uh, sure, guys!” Sunny nodded. “Be careful!”

But by the time Gonzo and Misty had disappeared from sight, Pepe and Rizzo went at it again. 

“You should've told him.”

“I wasn’t supposed to!”

“You said you'd tell him.”

“I said you. I meant you!”

Sunny sighed in deep disappointment… there was a clear message she needed to send… and quickly too, for all their sakes.

XXXXXXXX

Gonzo had chosen the lawnmower he had used to mow his message as his mode of transportation, while Misty ran ahead of him and used her phone as a way to figure out where the address was. 

But when she saw it was a television studio, she frowned. “Wait… Gonzo, don’t you think that this might be a little weird?” she began to ask, only for Gonzo to rush by her on the lawnmower and put it into park, much to the shock of several civilians. “Hi, guys. I'm here. I'll just leave the tractor here in front, okay?”

“G-Gonzo!” Misty tried to call after him to stop him, but this ultimately failed, causing her to sigh deeply and follow him inside.

XXXXXXXX

“All right, Piggy,” Pipp said to her new friend. “Let’s practice those lines of yours one more time, just to be safe.”

Miss Piggy nodded and turned to face the mirror before speaking. “And that's the way it is. This is Miss Piggy saying good night, and have a great…”

“Hey!” a man’s voice interrupted. “Where’s my coffee?!”

Pipp sighed as she heard the voice. “Showbiz is never over for some people… come on, we better take the producer his cappuccino.”

“Oh, uh… coming! Coming!” Miss Piggy said as they ran across the TV studio. “Coming!”

“I’ll take one,” said a crew member, causing Piggy to nod. “In a minute.”

“Light, no sugar.”

“Yeah yeah yeah yeah,” Pipp said. “She said in a minute!”

At the same time, the TV manager and the TV producer were in the middle of heated discussion to a very serious problem. “Shelley's still stuck at the airport,” said the manager. “She'll never make it back on time.”

“Okay, I am not gonna panic. Who am I kidding? Yes, I am!” the producer cried out. “No. No, I'm not. Okay, I'm panicking. Who can we possibly get at the last minute? Who?”

Miss Piggy quickly shoved the manager aside, clearing her throat. “Cappuccino? Heh heh heh...” 

“Believe me, sir,” said Pipp, fluttering up to the producer, “I know that making someone the temporary host of the show is a little out-of-the-box, but… what choice do you guys have?” 

The producer and the manager looked at each other for a few moments, debating on whether they could go with Miss Piggy as the temporary hostess...

...and eventually, the producer sighed heavily. “All right, all right…” he said. “Miss Piggy goes on in two minutes.” 

Miss Piggy squealed and hugged Pipp excitedly. “Thank you thank you thank you, Pipp!”

“Don’t thank me,” Pipp said. “You have natural talent. Now get out there and strut your stuff!”

XXXXXXXX

“Stand by, everybody.”

“Roll tape, please.”

“And… cue I.D.”

“We're on in five, four, three, two…”

All the lights in the TV station came on, revealing Miss Piggy at the front desk. However, she felt speechless as she gasped from complete shock.

Pipp groaned to herself. “Come on, Piggy… you can do this!”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the others were watching the television when Fozzie noticed Piggy on the screen. “Hey, look! It's Piggy's new show!”

“But… she looks terrified,” Hitch frowned. “Why isn’t she doing anything?” 

Zipp hummed in thought. “I wonder if this is what Piggy meant by ‘TV journalist’ the day after we arrived…”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the producer held up a sign for Piggy to read, and Pipp whispered out to her. “Piggy, read the sign! Read the sign!”

Miss Piggy chuckled nervously before clearing her throat and beginning to read. “Oh, oh, oh! ‘Hello again, I'm Shelley Snipes’.”

Pipp groaned as Miss Piggy continued to speak. “Uh… ‘Today on U.F.O Mania: Flying saucers and their extraterrestrial pilots’.”

XXXXXXXX 

“I just don't get it, Kermit,” Sunny told her friend as they walked. “Pepe and Rizzo knew how much Gonzo’s family meant to him, and they still did what they did.”

“They can be really stubborn sometimes, Sunny,” said Kermit. “The sooner you learn that, the better.”

“Uh... Kermit? Sunny?” Zipp called from the living room. “You guys better come and see this.”

Kermit and Sunny walked into the living room, and seeing Miss Piggy on the TV caused them a great deal of surprise, Kermit especially. “Piggy!”

“That means Pipp can’t be too far away,” Sunny said as they sat down. “But where…?”

But before Piggy could continue, Gonzo and Misty (the latter looking rather panicked) appeared on the screen. “People of Earth, do not be alarmed!” Gonzo advised, much to the shock of the others. “My message will be brief. I am Gonzo, and this is my friend Misty.”

Piggy looked at Gonzo in shock as Pipp came and stood next to her. “Gonzo?”

“Misty?!” Pipp cried, causing the blue unicorn and Gonzo to turn to the two in surprise. “Pipp?” Misty questioned. “Piggy?”

Pipp found the need to chuckle nervously and turned to the audience. “Don’t worry, folks, there-- there has to have been some sort of mistake!” 

“Dang…” Clifford said in a worried tone. “You and Sunny better get down there, Kerm.”

“Relax,” said Kermit. “No one's going anywhere, okay?”

“Misty, why don’t you tell everybody what we have been finding out the past few days?” Gonzo asked her, only for her to make a squeak sound and hunker down below the cameras. “Okay then… I’ll do it. You see, I was contacted through my breakfast cereal, and later it was confirmed to me by the cosmic fish that I am definitely from outer space.” 

As Gonzo continued to speak, Zipp turned toward Kermit and Sunny with a skeptic and ‘I told you so’ look. “So do you guys wanna go NOW or wait for a commercial?”

Sunny groaned audibly at this. “Now… come on. Izzy and Hitch, stay here until we get back,” she said, and she, Zipp, Kermit and Rizzo quickly walked out the door. 

XXXXXXXX

Back at the TV station, Pipp got Gonzo and Misty’s attention again. “What are you guys doing here?!”

“Gonzo’s trying to make contact,” Misty assumed. “What are you doing?”

Piggy tried to think of a response to such. “Um…”

That’s when Pipp caught sight of the producer mouthing ‘Interview them’, and instantly caught onto an idea. “We’re interviewing-- we’re interviewing you!”

“Interview?” Misty gulped nervously. “Oh, this is great!” Gonzo said, grabbing Misty by the tail. “Come on, Misty!”

“Uh, Gonzo, this may be a bad time,” said Misty, “but I don’t enjoy people staring at-- WHOA!!”

Misty was dragged behind the desk before she could finish, and Gonzo turned toward Piggy. “What would you like to know?”

“The whole tearful tale of your inner struggle, Gonzo.”

XXXXXXXX

Back at C.O.V.N.E.T, Ed and Rentro were watching the TV when Gonzo and Misty revealed themselves, and Gonzo began speaking, unknowingly putting them in serious danger. “Oh. I want my people to know that I've received their messages. And my response to them is: I am here!”

“I am here…” Ed repeated the message with a smirk. “Bingo.”

“I’m at 44 Bronson Lane,” Gonzo continued, “and I can't wait to meet you.”

“And I can't wait to meet you,” said Ed, only for Rentro to speak right after. “Me too. He's very charismatic, don't you think?”

“Freeze the screen!” Ed commanded, and Rentro did so while Ed focused on the image of Gonzo and a worried Misty. “I want him and his pony friend here and I want them here now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ed smirked and poked at the image of Gonzo on the TV. “So you're our fancy little landscaper… and you have a little pet…”

“Mr. Singer!”

Ed groaned to himself as Persephone, Caramel and Journal came into the office. “Look, they didn’t have anymore creamer, so we thought we’d get you some whole milk,” Caramel said. “Is that--?” 

Upon seeing the image of Gonzo and Misty on TV, the three mares let out a stunned gasp. “Is… is that…?” Journal began to ask when Persephone interrupted her. “An alien with an Equestrian unicorn?!”

“Yes… yes, it is,” Ed nodded. “And I want Caramel Wish to go with the agents and bring them back here.”

Caramel blinked in surprise. “Me? But… why don’t all three of us go?”

“Well, we don’t want a whole posse giving away our whole operation, do we? Now, go Caramel. Make me proud.”

Caramel turned to her friends and hugged them. “Don’t worry… we’ll figure this out as soon as I get back,” she told her friends before flying out of the office.

XXXXXXXX

“Piggy, Piggy!” Pipp whispered to her friend upon seeing several signals from the manager. “We’re gonna take a break!”

Miss Piggy, upon hearing that, nodded and turned back to the cameras. “Oh, oh, oh! Ha-ha-ha. Yes. We are going to pause here, and we'll be right back with Gonzo, the geek who fell to Earth, with moi, Miss…”

“Aaaaaand we’re out,” the manager said, cutting off the feed. “90 seconds folks.”

Miss Piggy growled in annoyance just as the producer came over. “Now that is TV. The phones are lighting up like Vegas. What power, what heat. You're a hit!”

“Thank you, thank you!” Piggy began to say. “Not you,” the producer said to her before turning to Gonzo. “Him.”

Gonzo blinked in surprise. “Me?”

“Him?” Misty asked. “Uh… I’m not so sure that--” 

“Gonzo,” said the producer, ignoring Misty’s warning, “you’ve got it.”

Suddenly, Rizzo’s voice caused them all to turn. “Sure wish we could find a cure for it.”

That’s when the two groups began to acknowledge each other in confusion.

“Rizzo?”

“Gonzo?”

“Kermie?”

“Piggy?”

“Zipp?”

“Pipp.”

“Misty?”

“Sunny?”

However, the producer was immediately confused. “What the heck’s going on here?”

“Sunny, I don’t know what you just saw, but I did NOT know this was a TV studio at first!” Misty spoke. “I just went by what Gonzo told me to put in the GPS!”

“I know, Misty, I know,” Sunny said. “We just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”

“Listen, Gonzo,” said Kermit, “aren't you taking this alien thing just a little too far?”

“Kermit,” Gonzo spoke, approaching them, “I realize that it may be hard for you to accept me as an alien, but I didn't choose to be one.”

“He’s got a point, Kerm,” Zipp shrugged. “He kinda does have alien tendencies.” 

“Yeah,” Gonzo agreed. “The ponies get it. This just makes sense to me.”

“Beautiful, big G!” the producer told Gonzo. “I see a follow-up episode here.”

“Me too!” Miss Piggy agreed. “The Alien in my Life. A Miss Piggy special report.”

“What are you talking about?” the producer asked. “You’re the coffee pig, and Pipp is your helper.”

Kermit and Sunny turned toward the two with confusion. “Huh?”

“Pipp…” Zipp crossed her hooves. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”

Miss Piggy roughly elbowed the producer as she gave a nervous chuckle. “Kermit, he’s such a joker! Ha ha ha…”

“We’ll take it from here.”

Everyone gasped and turned to see two agents in tuxedos, along with Caramel Wish behind them, standing off to the side. “We're with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Aliens,” said the first agent. “We feel your pain, Gonzo.”

“They feel my pain!” Gonzo wrapped his arms around Sunny and Zipp. “I got a paper cut that's a doozy. You feel my pain too?” Rizzo asked, and Gonzo disregarded the rat’s question and asked one of his own. “Can you help me make contact with my alien tribe?”

“Sure we can, Gonzo,” Caramel nodded. “You and Misty just have to come with us.”

“Me?” Misty asked. “Why me?”

“Well… we want to get an Equestrian’s point of view, and you seem like an honest unicorn... you know?”

Misty hummed in thought, but was still worried. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Well, at least SOMEONE besides you ponies believes me. Come on, fellas!” Gonzo said as he and Misty eagerly followed them. “Take me and Misty to my leader.”

“Misty, Gonzo!” Kermit tried to call out, but to no avail. That’s when Rizzo shook his head. “I don't like the look of them. This rat smells a rat.” 

But upon hearing of a limo, Rizzo easily went to join Misty and Gonzo. “Wait a second-- I'm Misty's personal assistant and his translator!” 

“I better take Kermit home,” Sunny sighed. “You and Pipp coming, Zipp?”

“We’ll be right there,” said Zipp. And as Kermit and Sunny walked off, the producer turned toward Piggy and Pipp. “Wait… you two know this unicorn and Gonzo guy, right?”

“Um…” Miss Piggy began. “If the price is right.”

Zipp raised an eyebrow at this. “Price?”

“Don’t ruin this, Zipp!” said Pipp in a whisper. “This could be big for Piggy’s career!”

Miss Piggy proceeded to pull the producer down to her level. “Look, I deliver Gonzo's exclusive life story, okay, if you make moi your new anchorwoman.”

“We’re back in 15 seconds!”

Miss Piggy turned toward the producer. “Well?”

“What about Shelley?”

“Shelley’s smelly.”

“...yes, yes! Go!”

“All right!” Pipp cheered. “Come on, girls, we’re on a roll!”

Zipp and Miss Piggy followed after Pipp, with Piggy being first to notice the agents and Caramel taking their friends away. “Excuse me. Ho, ho, yo. Ho, ho. Hey, studmuffin, hold it.”

“I’ll deal with them,” the second agent told the first one, stopping to talk to them. “You’ll deal with us?” Pipp chuckled. “Listen, pal. We’re just trying to get a story.”

Suddenly, the agent blocked them from moving forward. “How about this story? It's about a big bad wolf, two little ponies and a little pig.”

“No no. That’s three pigs, okay?” Miss Piggy said and tried to get past, only for the agent to block them again. “Not in this version.” 

Zipp immediately caught onto something, eyes narrowing in anger. “Wait just a minute… you’re not from an alien protection agency? Who are you? And where are you taking Gonzo and Misty?!”

The agent threw Pipp and Zipp back into some supplies, which fell on their wings, leaving them unable to fly. That’s when Piggy prepared a ready stance, ready to fight. “I’m impressed,” said the agent before kicking down a wooden support post. “Black belt, third degree.” 

Miss Piggy then chopped down a pole, cutting it in half and causing Pipp to yelp in surprise. “Platinum belt, with an unlimited line of credit.”

“I like this party.”

“Get him, Miss Piggy!” Zipp strained as she and her sister tried to get free. “Get him!”

And that’s what Miss Piggy set out to do. At first, the agent took out a few hits, but when he started to noogie her, she chopped him right in the privates, causing Pipp and Zipp to wince as they got themselves free from the rubble and Miss Piggy continued to attack again. “Pipp, grab some rope!” Zipp cried to her sister. “We gotta tie this agent up before Miss Piggy chops his head off!”
> A Rescue Mission Begins/Things Escalate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunny couldn't help but shake the feeling that she got back at the TV studio... like something bad was about to happen to Gonzo, Rizzo and Misty. 

But why?

And should she inform the others in case some sort of action needed to be taken?

Suddenly, Kermit’s stunned gasp brought her out of her train of thought. “What the hey…?”

“Kermit? What is it?” Sunny asked… just before she gasped upon seeing a huge crowd of people in front of the beach house, all chanting ‘Gonzo’ over and over. “There are no aliens here!” Sam the Eagle said as Hitch and Izzy tried to keep the crowd back. “Only good, old-fashioned, hard-working Americans.”

“Oh, good grief…” Sunny sighed as they tried to make their way through the crowd. “Excuse us! Pardon us, please!”

“Hey, look!” cried a boy from the crowd. “It’s a little green man and an orange horse!”

Many eyes turned toward Kermit and Sunny as they walked toward the front steps, and while Sunny felt a little uncomfortable, Kermit seemed to find his voice in the uneasy circumstance. “Excuse me, but what are all you people doing here?”

“We were drawn here by the alien,” said a woman, showing them a giant lump of clay that looked strangely like Gonzo’s head. Sunny shuddered at this, trying to keep her composure. But then again, they were all wondering…

…could this day get any weirder?

XXXXXXXX

“...that’s all I know!”

Agent Barker had been tied up with the rope Pipp and Zipp found earlier, and he had just finished telling them everything he had known about what Singer was planning. “Okay, let me get this straight, now,” said Miss Piggy. “This government agency, C.O.V.N.E.T, has abducted Gonzo and Misty, and taken them to its top-secret facility?”

“Yes, Miss Piggy.”

“Well, thank you, darling. You've been most helpful. AT LAST!!” Miss Piggy leapt up, startling Pipp and Zipp and causing Agent Barker to fall off the desk. “A real story! Intrigue, danger, new outfits, and it's mine, mine, mine! All mine!”

As she began to jump up and down in celebration, she caught sight of Pipp and Zipp staring at her with a mix of disgust and confusion. “Come on. Please. You think Ted Koppel never gets excited?” 

Pipp blinked in confusion at this. “Ted who?”

“It doesn’t matter! We have to tell Sunny, Kermit and the others!” Zipp said to her sister and her new friend. “They may be able to help us with a rescue mission!”

“Oh…” Pipp whimpered. “I sure hope Gonzo, Rizzo and Misty are all right…”

XXXXXXXX

“No way!” Misty said to Caramel as they drove to C.O.V.N.E.T. “You got your cutie mark by writing your own play?” 

“Yeah, when I was a filly,” said Caramel with a nod. “It was a lot of work, but that inspired me to start writing my own stories.” 

“Wow… I actually got my cutie mark for helping my friends,” Misty smiled. “Cutie marks really make you special, inside and out and in our own way, don't you think?”

“Huh… I never thought of a cutie mark that way,” Caramel hummed. “That’s a really good way of thinking.”

“Trust me,” said Gonzo. “Misty has had loads of experience.”

Soon, the limousine pulled up to the front entrance, allowing the group to get out and head inside. And after they walked through the doors, Persephone and Journal galloped toward their friend. “Caramel! You’re back!” Journal said as the three friends hugged. “We were wondering what had been taking you guys so long!” 

“I’m okay, guys,” Caramel said. “Gonzo, Misty and Rizzo? I’d like you to meet Journal Heart and Persephone-- my best friends since I was a filly. Guys, this is the alien Mr. Singer wanted to meet with, his rat friend and the pony that was on TV with him.” 

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Gonzo!” cried Persephone, eagerly shaking his hand. “I’ve never met an alien before! Wow, okay… uh, does my mane look okay?” 

“Oh, uh… you look great,” Gonzo said. “Wow… okay, thanks!” Persephone smiled. “Come on… Mr. Singer is waiting in his office.” 

XXXXXXXX

The three ponies and the remaining agent guided Rizzo, Misty and Gonzo to Ed’s office, where he eagerly awaited their arrival. “As ambassador of Earth, I welcome you,” he said to Gonzo slowly. “I'm Edgar, but I want you to call me Ed.”

“Oh… nice to meet you, Ed,” Misty nodded. “My name is Misty, and this is Gonzo and--”

However, Ed interrupted her before turning to Gonzo again. “And it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Gonzo.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Rentro, holding a plate. “Me too.”

“Hors d'oeuvres! Ha-ha-ha!” Rizzo said eagerly before diving into the cheese and crackers on the plate. “Oh, please,” said Journal as she pushed some chairs over. “Take a seat.”

“Oh, wow, thanks!” Misty said, sitting down in the chair right next to Gonzo’s. “So when do we begin, Ed?” Gonzo asked. “I'm very excited about all this.”

“Me too, my friend,” Ed smirked, pushing Gonzo’s chair away from Misty. “Me too…”

Misty didn’t like the tone Ed was speaking in, but when she looked at her new friends, the three mares tried not to look nervous… 

…but with the situation at hand, it was hard NOT to be.

XXXXXXXX

Sunny and Kermit were doing some research on alien protection agencies when Miss Piggy, Zipp and Pipp came through the doors, the two pegasi looking worried while Miss Piggy didn’t seem the least bit concerned. “Kermie, Kermie, Kermie! Kermie!” Miss Piggy cried, slamming the door closed as. “Kermie! Yes! Yoo-hoo! Kermie! Everybody! Come here. Come here. Oh, oh, oh. Listen, everyone, listen. I've got great news.”

“Great news?! Piggy, be serious!” Zipp cried as Animal, Fozzie and Pepe approached with Izzy and Hitch. “Exactly!” Pipp nodded. “Gonzo, Misty and Rizzo have been kidnapped by the government, and it could be a life-threatening situation!”

“What?!” Hitch cried in panic. “Piggy, how in the world could you think that’s great news?!”

“Because… I've got the story! I've got the story!” Miss Piggy sang to herself, causing Izzy and Pepe to sigh before Piggy realized something. “Oh! I need to change. Something that says journalistic integrity. Oh! Oh! Oh! I've gotta pee!” 

As Piggy darted upstairs, Zipp sighed and turned toward the others with a tired expression on her face. “She’s been like that the whole way here-- Pipp and I can’t convince her to think otherwise!”

“That’s Piggy for you,” sighed Kermit. “She loves the spotlight… a little too much.”

“Ohh…” Fozzie groaned in worry. “What are we gonna do?”

“Okay, guys, it’s up to us,” Kermit told the others. “We have to save Gonzo, Rizzo and Misty from a whole army of government agents!”

“And we have to be as careful as possible so we don’t get captured,” Sunny said. “So, do we have anything that might help?”

“Well,” said Fozzie, “I have a joke book.”

“Drumsticks!” Animal chanted. “Drumsticks!”

Pepe pulled out some Jello from out of nowhere. “I have some loose Jell-O, okay.”

“Okay… that settles that,” Kermit said before looking toward the basement. “In circumstances like this, there's only one place to turn.”

XXXXXXXX

Everyone ventured down into the basement where Bunsen and Beaker were working, and Kermit was the first to speak. “What do you got, Bunsen?”

“Well, Mr. Kermit, here at Muppet Labs, we've come up with many devices that should aid you in your covert operations,” Bunsen said before bringing out a rubber ducky… a strange device choice in the ponies’ opinion. “This seemingly ordinary rubber ducky actually contains invisibility spray. However, the effect is, sadly, temporary.”

Beaker muttered under his breath with the sad shake of his head. “Uh-huh,” Hitch nodded. “The old rubber-ducky-with- invisibility-spray trick. Check.”

“And, Beaker, if you would,” said Bunsen as Beaker turned to get something. “Here is something that we're very excited about.”

“Mee-mee!” Beaker announced as he let Zipp see a jar of glowing green slime. “Door in a jar?” she questioned. “What?”

Beaker nodded and placed the jar in Zipp’s hoof. “That's absolutely right, Beakie,” said Bunsen. “All you do is open up the jar, fling the contents onto the wall, and poof! Instant door.”

“Wow. What is this? A secret communication device?” Fozzie asked, picking up a roll of tape. “Uh, actually, Fozzie, that’s scotch tape,” Izzy responded with a cheerful shrug. “Useful if something tears.”

Suddenly, a female clearing her throat was heard by the door, and everyone turned to see Miss Piggy standing by the door, dressed in a dark blue dress and matching gloves. “And... what do you have for... moi?”

Zipp rolled her eyes at this. “Oh brother...”

“Well, Miss Piggy, for you we have Muppet Labs Mind Mist,” Bunsen said, getting out a perfume bottle of the substance. “Simply spray it on the subject, and they will obey your every command.”

Miss Piggy strutted down the steps to meet up with them, but tripped over her own two feet and fell face first in front of Beaker. But once she got up, she snatched the Mind Mist from Beaker’s grasp. “I doubt I'll need any.” 

“...should we really bring her along?” Zipp whispered to Sunny. “If we want any chance at saving our friends,” said Sunny, “we need all hooves/hands/paws on deck.” 

“All right then, everyone,” said Kermit, “let’s go get out friends!”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go go go!”

“Leeeeet’s dooooo iiiiiiit, ow!!”

“Vamanos, vamanos!”

“Gonzo, Rizzo and Misty need us!”

XXXXXXXX

Back at C.O.V.N.E.T, the bad feeling she had gotten about Ed and even this facility grew more on Misty than ever before... but seeing Journal, Persephone and Caramel try not to act nervous seemed to tip her nervous scale.

Their actions sort of reminded her of... how she used to be when she served Opaline.

Maybe… they just needed a nudge in the right direction? Like her friends did for her?

But before she could talk to them, Ed was already getting on some gloves to examine Gonzo more… personally. “I've been looking for something like you all my life. And now, at last, my search has come to an end. May I?” 

“Before you answer that, Gonzo,” said Rizzo, “he better be clear on the final destination of that finger.”

Ignoring the statement from Rizzo, Ed continued to poke and twist Gonzo’s nose around, humming in thought. “No nostrils...”

“Wait a second...” Journal stopped the conversation. “If you don't have any nostrils, then how do you smell?”

“Awful,” Rizzo quickly responded. “Trust me-- I'm his roommate.”

Rizzo and Rentro burst out laughing, and even Gonzo and the ponies giggled a bit. However... Ed had a livid expression on his face, and his next shout caused immediate silence and fear. “DON'T... LAUGH... AT ME!!!!”

Misty shuddered in complete and total terror, her heart racing at a million miles an hour as she clung to Gonzo, who was just as terrified. When she glanced over at the three intern ponies, they were hunkered down with pinned ears, as if they were trying to keep out of sight. 

As Ed was trying his best to calm down, Rentro turned toward Gonzo and Misty for a moment. “I uh, I hope I'm not imposing but uh...I thought you were just great on TV. Do you think I could get your autograph?”

“Rentro?”

“Yes sir?”

“It’s not a good time.”

Rentro turned toward Gonzo and the frightened unicorn with a nod. “This is probably not a good time. Yeah.”

That's when Ed finally managed to calm down and turned back to the alien and unicorn duo sitting side by side. “Forgive me my earthly manners. But uh, do you have any idea what it's like to feel... heh... to be laughed at?”

Gonzo nodded at this. “Sure, I do.”

“I mean, uh... I've never been laughed at personally, but... it does sound awful,” Misty then stammered in agreement. That’s when Ed turned his attention to Gonzo again. “To be called names like wacko?”

Misty cleared her throat after a moment. “I, uh... actually have a friend named Wakko Warner who would take offense to that.”

“Freak boy?”

Gonzo nodded at this. “Oh yeah.”

“A paranoid delusional psychopath?”

Gonzo found this rather specific, but shook his head in response. “You got us there.”

Ed cracked his neck in an intimidating form. “To feel... completely alone in this world?”

“Uh, yeah, I think we're starting to get the general idea, Ed,” Rizzo interrupted. Annoyed by the smart-alleck attitude coming from the rat, Ed pushed a button which caused a large burly man to enter the room... a man that Rentro seemed to recognize. “It's wrestling legend: Hollywood Hulk Hogan?”

As the ponies gasped in shock, Ed turned toward the wrestling legend. “Have the rat sent down to Dr. Tucker for some tests.”

However, Rizzo was immediately confused. “Tests? But I haven't studied. I don't even have a number-two pencil!”

However, Hogan picked Rizzo up by the tail and the wrestler began to speak to no one in particular. “This is all for my N.W.O.ites out there. I will continue to dominate wrestling. I will continue to make your back crack, your knees freeze and your liver quiver. I will continue to so much pain on you, you'll become my 'painac'.”

But before the wrestler could continue, Ed spoke up. “Hollywood, Hollywood, would you mind? The rat.”

“Wait a second,” Misty said, getting up from her chair. “Where are you taking our friend?”

But before anymore actions could be done, Rizzo was sent screaming down a tube, much to the shock of Gonzo and the three ponies. 

Ed only smirked. “He's gonna be fine.”

“...I just remembered, I'm supposed to head down to the lab,” Journal whispered to Misty and Gonzo. “I can go check on your friend while I'm down there.”

“Thank you...” Misty whispered just before Journal galloped out of the room.

XXXXXXXX 

Rizzo screamed as he swerved through the tubes until he landed in a room with a few other rats. After Rizzo got his bearings together, a larger rat approached him in an intimidating way, and as Rizzo whimpered nervously, the larger rat stuck out his hand... er, paw for Rizzo to shake. “How you doing? I'm Bubba.”

Rizzo, after regaining his nerves, shook Bubba's paw. “Hey. Rizzo. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you. How'd you like to meet some of the boys here?”

“Uh... sure.”

Bubba then turned toward a rat on one of the bunk beds with a harmonica within reach. “That up there, that's Fast Eddie, harmonica extraordinaire.”

Rizzo nodded in acknowledgement. “How you doing, Ed?”

“Well, I ain't dead.”

Bubba then turned toward a weightlifting rat nearby. “That's Troy,” he introduced before looking toward a shaking rat. “This back here, that's Shakes.”

“Hi. Hello. How you doing? Welcome,” Shakes seemed to say repeatedly. “They're doing a new caffeine substitute on him,” Bubba explained before turning to another rat calling for someone named Gladys. “And that there is the Birdman. He don't bother nobody. He's been here forever.”

That's when a pigeon came in and landed right on the Birdman himself. “Gladys! Come on, the guys are watching.”

“He just likes to hang out with his birds. Know what I mean?” Bubba whispered. “So, er, that about does it for all of us here at the Medical Research.”

That remark seemed to catch Rizzo immediately offguard. “Medical Research? B-But that would mean that we're… lab rats!”

That's when Rizzo let out an ear-piercing shout, hoping Gonzo and his unicorn friend would hear his desperate plea. “GONZO, MISTY, GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEERE!!!!!”

XXXXXXXX

“Here, try some of this tea,” Persephone said to Misty, levitating a cup of tea toward the shaken blue unicorn. “It might make you feel better.”

“Oh... thank you,” Misty said, taking the tea cup. “So... do you think Rizzo is gonna be okay?”

“Sure, totally!” Caramel quickly tried to reassure. “Journal and I have been to where he's going, and there are plenty of rats down there to hang out with. Well... when they're not doing all those tests...”

Persephone cleared her throat, causing Caramel to chuckle nervously. “Your friend will be fine, I'm sure of it.”

That's when Ed decided to approach. “Now, Mr. Gonzo. What can you and your little friend tell me about these?”

Ed quickly turned their chairs toward the TV screens behind them, revealing all of the 'R U There' messages that Ed had showed the general a few days before. “Whoa, Gonzo, you were right!” Misty cried. “They really have been looking for you!”

Caramel approached them with Persephone, wanting to ask something. “And they are coming to Earth, right?”

Gonzo shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“How many are there?”

“I don't know.”

“When will they be here? And don't you dare tell me that you don't know,” Ed spoke before grabbing Misty by the mane. “Unless you want your little friend to get hurt.”

Misty gasped in fear upon him saying such, and Caramel and Persephone grew terrified immediately.

They had only known Ed for a few days and now he was a violent monster?

What had they gotten themselves into?

Gonzo gulped nervously, fearing that Misty would be hurt if he said the wrong thing. “I know not...? But I'm sure I could find out!”

“...could you?”

Ed let go of Misty, causing her to dart to Gonzo’s side as he got down from his chair. “Okay, then. I'll keep in touch. Thanks.”

But, before they could leave, two very stiff agents blocked their path. “Oh. Heh. So back to the limo?” Gonzo asked, just before Ed came up from behind and placed his hands on Gonzo and Misty's shoulders. “It's a shame, really. I really need that information. So I'm afraid we'll have to perform an invasive quadra-lobal brain probe on you and pluck it from your head.”

Persephone blinked in confusion when he said such. “You're gonna pluck the information from their heads?”

“No... his brains and her magic, so Butterfly Girl here can't fight back.”

Misty gasped immediately. “Wait, what?!”

“Take them away.”

Misty immediately lit her horn to protect Gonzo, but the agents immediately grabbed her, tied her up in ropes and held her close to them as they drug her and Gonzo away while they screamed for help, much to the horror of Persephone and Caramel. 

When their new friends were drug out of sight, Caramel finally found his voice. “Mr. Singer, are you crazy?! Gonzo and Misty are so sweet! They don't deserve to have their brains and maguc sucked out!”

“I agree wholeheartedly!” Persephone agreed. “This isn’t right, no matter what sick thing you're trying to prove!”

“Well, if you don't stop your rambling and don't do anything stupid, you can join them!” Ed snapped at the duo. “How do you like those apples, horses?!”

Caramel and Persephone didn’t have to think twice to know what they were going to do next.

First, get back to Journal and tell her what had happened.

Then... they break Gonzo and Misty out of this creep-zone and get them back to their friends and families... if they could get to them in time.
> Secret C.O.V.N.E.T Operations (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Immediately after getting all the required tools they needed from Bunsen and Beaker, the Mane 6 and the rest of their Muppet friends set off in the bus the Muppets used for their tours to rescue Misty, Gonzo and Rizzo before any more bad things could happen. 

Luckily, Pipp used her social media talents to get the location of C.O.V.N.E.T's top secret facility, and directed Fozzie on which way to go.

But along the ride, Pepe turned toward Zipp, who was sitting next to him and polishing her visor. “Hey, Zippers. Tell me again. Why are we doing this?”

“Pepe, don’t you get it yet?” Zipp asked in exasperation. “We’re doing this to save Rizzo, Misty and Gonzo!”

“Misty!” Animal chanted. “Gonzo!”

“Right. Because you ponies and Gonzo are some of us,” Kermit declared. “No matter what happens, no matter what obstacles we face, we never forget one of our own.”

“I love it when you take charge!” Miss Piggy told Kermit. “I do too,” Sunny smiled. “As long as we stick together, we can do anything!”

“Uh… well, I don’t think all of us are together,” said Hitch from the back window of the bus. “We left Bunsen and Beaker back at the gas station!”

“Oh darn it!” Zipp growled to herself. “Well… I guess we’re doing this mission without science guys to help.”

“Well… at least we have one another,” Izzy shrugged. “And we can still do this!”

“You’re right,” Sunny said before sighing. “I just hope our friends are okay…”

XXXXXXXX

Journal had arrived in the Medical Research lab a few minutes after Rizzo arrived, and was just about to go over and get him without anyone noticing when Dr. Tucker, the lead research scientist, turned on the light in front of the rats before turning to her. “Oh, Journal. Singer told me you’d be down here. Get over here and meet the new guy.”

“Uh… no need, Dr. Tucker. I met him a little while ago,” Journal said as she approached, and then leaned over to whisper. “Rizzo, are you okay?”

“What do you mean, ‘am I okay’?! Where’s Gonzo and Misty?!” Rizzo whispered back. “I’m not sure,” Journal whispered, “but as soon as I find out, I’ll…”

Dr. Tucker raised an eyebrow at her, letting her chuckle and move aside so he could talk to Rizzo personally. “From this moment on, if I say you're hungry, you eat. If I say you're sleepy…” 

“I eat?” Rizzo asked, causing Dr. Tucker to chuckle. “Well, well, well. We got a funny boy here.”

“Is that bad?” Rizzo asked Bubba. “Very bad,” Bubba muttered back. “Looks like funny boy's going to the maze,” Dr. Tucker said snootily, adjusting Rizzo’s cap. “Since we don't want funny boy to get lonely, you'll all do time in the maze.”

The other rats groaned, muttering to themselves and making Rizzo just a tad bit nervous. “I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

That’s when Dr. Tucker immediately grabbed Rizzo by the jacket and pulled him forward so their noses were an inch apart. “See, no one's ever escaped from the maze, funny boy. Even if you did, it's four feet to the ground, 12 feet to the door and four feet to the doorknob.”

Rizzo panted and turned to Bubba as he was let go. “That’s eighteen feet!”

“Twenty,” Journal whispered back before Dr. Tucker continued. “Funny thing about doorknobs: Rats can't turn them. No opposable thumb.”

Journal whimpered nervously while looking at the rats… no doubt that this session wasn’t going to be easy for them.

XXXXXXXX

The first task Journal had to do was watch the rats run round and round the maze helplessly, and Rizzo kept hitting dead ends more than anyone else. “This is ridiculous!!” 

“Hey, Rizzo!” Journal whispered. “Just might wanna warn you-- watch out for those red circles.”

“Yeah? What's wrong with the red...?”

Rizzo then screamed as he was electrically shocked by the red circles, getting charred up in the process. “Red circles. Right…” he groaned before falling over. 

Journal sighed... the new rats never seemed to listen to a warning. Suddenly, her phone rang causing her to step away and answer it. “Hello?”

“Journal, it’s Caramel! We have a situation up here! Gonzo is about to have his brain removed, and Misty's getting ready to be magic drained and we gotta stop these lunatics before then!” Caramel said desperately on the other end of the line. “Meet us in the break room upstairs!”

“I’m on my way,” Journal hung up before turning to Bubba. “Think you and the other rats can keep an eye on Rizzo for a while? I gotta go meet up with the girls to take of an emergency.”

“Hey, you got it, baby,” Bubba told her. “You go ahead.”

“Thanks, Big B. I owe you one!” Journal smiled before rushing out to meet up with her best friends/fellow interns.

XXXXXXXX

Misty had been bashing and kicking the door to her and Gonzo’s cell for the past 10 minutes, trying to get them out before her magic was drained and before Gonzo had his brain removed.

Unfortunately, all her attempts were in vain, making the unicorn that much more distraught. “Gonzo, I’m so sorry I led you into this mess…” she muttered, trying to wipe her eyes and clear the incoming tears. “I guess I was so focused on helping you find your family that I didn’t see all the danger in front of my face…” 

“Hey, hey, hey… this isn’t your fault. If anything, it’s mine,” Gonzo said comfortingly. “I shouldn’t have been so quick to trust complete strangers. We’re gonna find a way out of this, don’t you worry.” 

“But how?” Misty asked. “It’s not like answers are gonna pop right through the door!”

Suddenly, there came a light knock at the door, and Rentro came into the cell with a couple of sandwiches on a paper plate in his paws. “Room service,” he said with a chuckle. “While they're warming up the brain sucker, I brought you both a sandwich. And I cut off the crusts there for you. There you go.” 

Gonzo was surprised that someone beside the interns was being so nice to them, and… it honestly made him smile a little bit. “Gee, that’s nice. Thanks.” 

“Anything for a duo of celebrities,” said Rentro before suddenly thinking of something. “Ooh… do you guys like jalapenos?”

“Uh… Gonzo does, but I could go for something a little more subtle,” Misty admitted. “Do you have any bell peppers instead?”

“Coming right up!”

Rentro immediately chuckled and left the room, leaving Misty to sigh and set her sandwich aside. “I know we’re supposed to have a good last meal, but… I guess I’m not in the mood to eat.” 

“Hey, mopies!”

Gonzo and Misty shrieked and leapt a foot in the air when they heard an unfamiliar voice, and Gonzo looked around, seeing only them in the cell. “W-Who said that?”

“I did!”

Misty looked toward where the voice was coming from, and it… seemed to be coming from Gonzo’s sandwich! “But… wait a second. You’re a sandwich!”

“I'm channeling my voice through this sandwich,” said the voice, “to deliver this message.”

“Great! What's the message?” Gonzo asked, leading the sandwich to clear his throat. “We arrive at midnight tonight.”

But what they didn’t know was that outside their door, Rentro returned with the peppers they requested and was listening to the whole thing. “So here's the plan,” the voice in the sandwich continued. “We’re landing at your house.”

“No no no, wait!” Misty argued. “Those guys know where Gonzo lives with the Muppets! And they're not the best examples of earthlings. If you guys land there, you could put our friends in danger!”

“Gosh, where else can we land?”

Misty turned to her alien friend with a frown. “Gonzo, is there a place far away from here that the aliens could go to? Someplace that Ed wouldn’t be able to figure out?”

“Let's see, uh... I know! At the beach!” Gonzo said, turning to the sandwich. “Go to Cape Doom. Just look for the lighthouse.”

“All right!” said the sandwich. “The lighthouse at Cape Doom it is.”

“I didn’t hear that… I didn’t hear that…” Rentro muttered to himself as he quickly walked away. “This is fantastic!” Misty cheered just before she remembered one very important detail. “But… ugh, how are we gonna get out of here?” 

“Hey, I'm just a sandwich. Some things you gotta figure out for yourself,” the sandwich told them. “But… I do have one piece of advice for you, Misty.”

“Me?” Misty asked. “Whoa… a sandwich just said my name! So... what advice do you have for me?”

The sandwich cleared its throat again before speaking. “Those new interns out there may surprise you with what they’re about to do next… they just need a push in the right direction.” 

“Persephone, Caramel Wish and Journal Heart?” Gonzo asked. “Why would they need a push?” 

“Because, like me, they serve someone with malevolent intentions,” Misty said. “If they can see the light, and I think they do, they’ll find a way to get us out of here.” 

“Exactly!” the sandwich agreed. “By the way, you go ahead and eat me now. You're gonna need the energy.” 

Gonzo picked up his sandwich with a worried look. “But won't that hurt?”

“No, it's fine. I'm going away now. Cape Doom, right?”

“Yeah,” Gonzo nodded. “Cape Doom.”

Once the sandwich had stopped speaking, Gonzo took a bite out of it, while Misty gulped down her entire sandwich in one bite, not realizing how hungry she was. That's when the door opened, and two scientists and some agents came in, wheeling in a large bed with leather straps and a large, magic-proof chain for Misty. 

Misty flared up her horn and stood in front of Gonzo in a final attempt to scare the agents away, but as she made a leap forward, the agents grabbed her and held her tightly while they strapped Gonzo to the bed. 

But before they could get moving…

“HEY!! STOP!!!”

“LEAVE THEM ALONE!!”

The scientists and agents turned just in time to see Persephone, Caramel and Journal standing behind the group, the two unicorns having their horns lit in anger. “Hey, what are you three doing here?” asked one of the scientists. “You have no authority to be here!”

“We do when you’re about to hurt out friends!” Caramel said. “So step away from them and let them go free!”

But instead of answering, the agents leapt at the three, causing them to try and fight to get to their friends. However, Misty could see that they weren’t doing well and could get hurt. 

Therefore, she knew what she had to do. “Girls, run! Find our friends! They’ll know what to do!” 

“On it!” Persephone said, blasting an agent away. “Let’s go go go!”

That’s when the three ran down the hall with a new mission in mind, and Misty prayed in her heart that they would be all right as she and Gonzo were imprisoned once again.
> Secret C.O.V.N.E.T Operations (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long while of driving, the group finally managed to reach C.O.V.N.E.T’s top-secret location, but they needed to hurry-- Gonzo and Misty could be in real trouble by now!

Once they parked the van, they crept out into the shadows that some trees were giving off and noticed a guard station right in front of the entrance. 

After a moment of spying, Zipp decided to speak up to her friends about something. “Okay, so... how are we gonna get in there without the guard seeing us?”

Sunny looked around, noticing a small shrub not too far away from her, causing her to smile. “I think I have an idea!”

She stomped her hoof, allowing her earth pony magic to make the shrub grow to a size that they could all hide behind, but wasn't too high to where they couldn’t see over it. “Great idea!” Kermit told his earth pony friend. “All right, everyone, let's move!”

Everyone got behind the bush and began to move it closer and closer to the guard house, pausing whenever the guard glanced in their direction, and finally settled on a spot near the sidewalk.

But while the group popped up from behind the bush, Animal was the only one who popped up out in the open. “Psst, Animal!” Hitch whispered. “Get back here!”

“Sorry...” Animal apologized before moving back behind the bushes with the others. But, the security guard was still standing in front of the gate, and a bush walking past would drive his senses through the roof. Luckily, Miss Piggy seemed to have a plan of her own in mind. “Stand back, boys. This is a job for a woman.” 

“Huh?” many of the ponies whispered to themselves as Miss Piggy walked away, leaving Sunny to follow her and make sure no extreme measures were taken while the others ducked out of sight. “Hello,” Miss Piggy said smoothly as they approached the security guard. “What's a nice man like you doing in a guardhouse like this?” 

However, the guard didn’t seem to be amused. “I'm buffalo hunting. What's it look like I'm doing? This is a restricted area. You gotta go. Both of you.” 

“Uh-oh… Piggy, maybe we should go,” Sunny whispered. “We need to think of another plan!” 

But, however, Miss Piggy wouldn’t budge, continuing to try and sway the cop. “Look deeply into my eyes and tell me you want me to go.”

“I… want… you… both… to… go!” the guard barked. “Understand?! Now!”

Sunny was just about to advise Piggy that they needed to leave again, but then, Piggy patted her pocket where the Mind Mist was hidden, and Sunny suddenly realized what her plan was.  

When Miss Piggy turned, she got the bottle out of her pocket and turned around quickly, spraying the guard and letting its effects fall on him. “What was I saying…?”

“Um…” Miss Piggy began speaking. “You were saying you were going to open the gate. Ha-ha-ha.” 

And instead of being hostile, the guard smiled and did as he was told. “Open the gate. Open the gate. Of course, open the gate. Come on in. Welcome.”

“Come on, guys!” Pipp whispered. “Piggy and Sunny scored in our entrance!”

As the group approached the front gate, Piggy turned to the guard again. “Now, tell me I'm beautiful, sweetheart.”

“You are beautiful, sweetheart.”

“Aww… thank you.”

“Oh, boy,” Pepe lightly punched Piggy’s shoulder. “He fell on you like a ton of bricks, okay!”

“Naturally, I guess,” Sunny said with a shrug. “Have a nice time. I like your tie,” said the guard to Fozzie. “Very nice.”

“Thank you!”

“Bye bye!” Animal said to the guard. “Bye bye,” the guard bid farewell. “Ha-ha-ha. What a handsome family.”

As soon as the group was out of sight, Zipp sighed in relief. “Good work, Piggy. But we gotta be super careful moving forward. Come on… we better keep moving.” 

XXXXXXXX

After Journal had left the lab, Dr. Tucker made all the rats, especially Rizzo, go through many tests, and it left them all tired and exhausted.

But at least Dr. Tucker had promised them a large amount of cheese afterwards… or so they thought.

When they were all trying to rest in the cage, Dr. Tucker approached them with a sinister look. “Hey, rodents. You know the cheese I promised you after you ran that maze and took those tests?”

“Yeah,” the rats nodded. “Yeah yeah.”

“It was delicious. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!”

As Dr. Tucker walked away, that seemed to be Rizzo’s breaking point. “No cheese…? No cheese?!” he screeched, getting off of one of the beds. “All right! That does it! We're busting out of this joint, boys.”

“Riz,” Bubba sighed, “even if we got over the wall, we couldn't turn the doorknob.”

“Who needs doorknobs?”

Rizzo removed his Mice Girls poster to reveal a hole he had been digging in the wall, much to the shock of the other rats.

This was genius! Now they could finally escape!

So, with Rizzo taking the lead, the rats escaped through the hole before Dr. Tucker took notice. 

XXXXXXXX

Back outside, the rest of the Mane 6 led their Muppet friends further into the facility before reaching a heavily guarded building, causing them to hide again.

And once they were all in hiding, Kermit turned toward the others. “Guys, we gotta get through that door.”

“Should we just ask permission from those nice men with the rifles?” Fozzie asked innocently, causing Zipp to sigh. “Fozzie, those are the bad guys! Besides, Pipp and I can’t fly everybody past them-- our wings beating would give us away!”

“So… we need to find someway to creep past them,” Hitch said. “Do we have anything that can help?”

“...yes! Yes, we do!” Izzy said, getting out the rubber ducky from earlier. “We have this!”

“Good thinking, Izzy!” Kermit whispered. “Now, start spraying everyone with it, even yourself.” 

Izzy did so, taking the rubber ducky into her aura and spraying the invisibility spray all over the group before turning and spraying it on herself. And then, after everyone had been sprayed, Izzy hid the rubber ducky inside a nearby bush. “All right, guys,” said Zipp, “this stuff doesn’t last long, so let’s go!”

But, since they were ALL invisible, they ended up crashing into a huge pile on the ground, quietly groaning… and two of which were Kermit and Miss Piggy, making the situation that much more awkward.

“Ugh! You're squashing me!”

“Oh, sorry, Kermie!”

“Come on. I will help you up, okay,” Pepe said before feeling something rather… peculiar about Kermit that he never noticed before. “Oh, Kermit… you’re so soft and plump, okay.”

But, when Piggy next spoke… she did NOT sound happy. “You got one second to get your hands off me, shrimp.”

“Ooh, sorry, Piggy!”

So, the group began to slowly walk past the security guards, making sure that the invisibility spray was intact, allowing them full access to the entire building at last.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Misty had been chained right next to the bed where Gonzo was being held, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get loose, and her unicorn magic had no affect on it. 

During her struggles, the doctor cheerfully walked in, as if he wasn’t scared of Gonzo and his species. “Hello!” he said, earning their attention. “I'm Dr. Van Neuter. I'll be your brain surgeon today, if you don't mind. Get it? Brain surgeon? Mind?”

As he laughed, Gonzo sighed out of boredom and worry, and Dr. Van Neuter seemed to sense this. “Feeling a little nervous, are we?”

“Of course we’re nervous!” Misty spat. “Wouldn’t you be nervous if you were tied down to a table or have a magic-proof chain around your neck?!”

“Well, don’t worry,” the doctor said. “Everyone’s nervous before having their brain and magic sucked out. Now, don't you go away.”

As the doctor went to check something on the computer, Misty tried again to break the chain, but this proved useless as she was once again met with failure. “Oh, Sunny… where are you guys…?”

“Don’t worry, Misty,” Gonzo whispered. “I have a feeling Persephone, Caramel and Journal won’t let us down.” 

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, the group stopped at the bathroom to let Fozzie use it, but when the bear came out, the invisibility spray on his hands had been washed off! “Okay, Kermit. I'm ready.”

Zipp internally slapped herself at the question she asked next. “Fozzie, you didn't wash your hands… did you?”

“Of course I did,” Fozzie answered. “Mom said, ‘Always wash your hands’.”

“Not when you're wearing invisibility spray!” Kermit pointed out. “Mom said ‘no exceptions’,” Fozzie insisted… and he soon regretted these words as soon as a security guard came into view. “Stop! You! Hands up!” she told Fozzie as she approached. “All right, remain calm. I'm gonna have to take you two into custody.”

“Wait!” Fozzie tried to plead. “Let me explain, lady.”

But before she could place the handcuffs on Fozzie, the guard was chased away by an invisible Animal biting her rear end. “Animal!” Sunny cried as Animal chased the guard down the hall. “Animal, come back!”

But after Animal chased the guard out of sight, Kermit began to think. “Give me a second to think. He doesn't seem to be on this floor…”

“Kermit…?!” Sunny looked down at her hooves, and soon, the others began to appear out of thin air as well. “Uh oh,” Pipp gulped. “I think the invisibility spray is wearing off!”

This was clearly shown through the fact that Pepe was now visible in a pink ballet costume, dancing ballet right in front of them. After seeing their stunned faces, Pepe immediately realized that he was now visible and clearly embarrassed. “I should uh… go change, okay.”

Within a few minutes, he zipped away and returned wearing his normal clothes. “Okay, guys,” said Sunny. “We just need to find better cover… but where is the big question.”

“Psst… hey! Over here!”

Everyone looked toward the source of the voice to see Journal, Persephone and Caramel peeking out from a nearby closet. “Oh, hey there,” Zipp smiled. “Is there any way we can help you?”

“Well, we actually need your help,” Caramel admitted. “Our friends Gonzo and Misty told us to find their friends, and… we assume that’s you guys, right?”

“Yes, that’s us!” Fozzie nodded. “Are they okay?”

“Well… they’ve been taken away to have Gonzo’s brain and Misty’s magic ripped out,” Journal said, “so… I’d go with no.”

“Oh my pony!” Pipp gasped. “Sunny, we have to hurry!”

“Do you know where they’re being kept?” Kermit asked. “Alien Surgery Number 5,” Persephone spoke. “But you guys are gonna need disguises. Luckily, there’s a closet full of spare coats, and we could get you guys there no problem.”

“Thank you all so much!” Sunny smiled. “We’ll follow your lead.”

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Rentro was bringing General Luft to Singer’s office, and put his face onto a scanner to scan his eyes. However, the light was extremely bright, ending up blinding Rentro as the doors opened. “General Luft, sir.”

“This better be good,” the general said as he walked inside, and Ed prepared himself… this was his time, whether anyone else liked it or not.

At the same time, Rizzo and the rest of the rats were traversing through the air vents to escape the facility when Rizzo began to veer in another direction, earning Bubba’s attention. “Hey, Riz. Where's Riz? Where you going?”

“Listen. You guys go ahead,” Rizzo told the others. “I gotta go find my friends.”

“What?”

“You could get caught.”

“What are you, nuts?” 

Rizzo sighed at the final remark. “I guess I'll take my chances. It was nice meeting you guys. See you later.”

And so, Rizzo set out on his own, hoping to reach Gonzo and Misty before they were operated on... unaware that the others were on the same mission.

XXXXXXXX

“All right, let’s start with the questionaire portion,” Dr. Van Neuter spoke. “Let’s see… unicorn, how would you describe any pain that you’re feeling right now?”

“...a 4, I guess,” Misty muttered. “Only with this chain around my neck.”

“Good good good…” Dr. Van Neuter wrote this down before moving onto Gonzo. “Have you ever experienced any achiness in your tentacles?”

“I don't have tentacles,” Gonzo answered. “Good, no achy tentacles. Good,” the doctor nodded. “Either of your heads ever come off?”

“No,” Misty shook her head, “I don’t think so.”

“Good good good… any gingivitis from either of you?”

“No,” Gonzo answered. “I don’t think Equestrians even get gingivitis, do they, Misty?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Great!” said the doctor before moving on. “What about your horn and your beaky thing? Ever had problems with that? Itching, swelling, flaking?” 

“Well,” Gonzo said, “there was some flaking on my nose a few years back, but…”

“Oh, who cares? It’s showtime!”

Dr. Van Neuter tossed his clipboard aside before sticking a device that looked like a funnel to Gonzo’s head, and stuck a hose to Misty’s horn before firing it up. “No no no!” Misty strained to get free, but, she did begin feeling weak.

She hoped that her friends came soon… otherwise, she and Gonzo would be in even worse trouble than they thought.

XXXXXXXX

Journal peeked her head out of the nearby storage room and looked around, seeing the empty hallway. “All right, all clear. Everyone follow my head and move slowly.”

The ponies followed after her, followed by the Kermit and Pepe, who were standing on Fozzie and Miss Piggy’s shoulders and wearing large lab coats. And needless to say… they were trying to walk and manage, but it wasn’t easy.

Izzy and Hitch walked beside them to help keep balance, and then Persephone pointed down the hall. “There. We take a right and then turn left at the end of the hall.”

“Then let’s hurry!” Zipp spoke. “Who knows what Gonzo and Misty are going through right now!”

XXXXXXXX

Misty was beginning to know how Sparky felt when Opaline drained his dragonfire... having your cutie mark taken away and then having it ripped out of you by force were two very different things... but it was very painful.

But, Gonzo suddenly thought of something to relieve Misty of that pain. “Wait, wait!”

This shout caused the doctor to turn. “What is it?”

“...a-are you sure this is covered by our HMO?”

“Oh. Good question. I'll check.”

Misty sighed in relief as she felt the machine shut off. Now… she and Gonzo just needed a way out of here.

Well, they got their wish when Rizzo climbed up onto the table beside Gonzo while Dr. Van Neuter was away at the computer. “Psst, Gonzo, Misty.”

“Rizzo!” Misty whispered in relief. “Rizzo, you’re alive!” Gonzo exclaimed. “Where have you been?”

“You don't even want to know, guys,” Rizzo shuddered. “Just sit tight while I see if I can chew through these leather straps and then handle that leash on Misty.”

“Please, hurry!” Misty pleaded, and Rizzo immediately got to work. By the time that Rizzo had ducked under the blanket to undo Gonzo’s straps, Dr. Van Neuter returned. “Good news. You're covered with a $10 co-pay. Okay, hold still. And remember, if you experience any unpleasantness, please let me know. I'd hate to miss it.” 

Misty groaned to herself as she felt her magic begin to drain again… just as Dr. Van Neuter lifted the sheet Rizzo was hiding under, revealing what he was doing. “Do you mind?”

“Oh, excuse me.”

Dr. Van Neuter immediately covered up Rizzo again, making Misty blink in surprise. Did he seriously just do that without thinking?

Upon realizing what he had done, Dr. Van Neuter pulled back the covers to reveal Rizzo again, his eyes widening in panic. “Oh, good Lord! A rat! I hate rats!”

“Then today ain't your lucky day... doc.”

Misty gasped and quickly turned to see Rizzo’s new rat friends ganging up on Dr. Van Neuter, quickly getting ready to attack. 

This was DEFINITELY going to be interesting. 

XXXXXXXX

“This way,” Journal said as the group continued down the hall. “We’re almost there.” 

But, the second she said this, a doctor emerged from the door next to them, causing the ponies to hide wherever they could while Miss Piggy and Fozzie banged into the call, which caused Kermit and Pepe to take casual positions beside the door and tried to act natural. 

“Doctor.”

“Doctor.”

“Doctor.”

“Oh, doctor.”

“Just a couple of doctors.”

“Doctors in the hallway.”

Fortunately, this was enough to fool the other doctor and she walked off, leaving the others to sigh in relief. “That was too close,” Caramel sighed. “You guys should really do comedy stuff for a living.”

Miss Piggy chuckled from underneath Pepe. “You have NO idea, sister.”

Suddenly, some loud banging and yelling came from a couple of rooms over, causing Zipp to gasp. “This looks like Alien Surgery Number 5 to me!”

“Go, Fozzie, go!”

“Forward, Piggy!”

“Let’s move!”

The group approached the doors, and while Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Persephone and Journal kept watch for other doctors, the pegasi and Pepe and Kermit witnessed the rats attacking Dr. Van Neuter, and an alarm was going off inside the lab, along with a large amount of smoke.  

Pipp was the first to speak after a few moments. “What in the pony world?!”

But before anything else could be said, Fozzie and Piggy tossed Kermit and Pepe aside so they could get a closer look, and the group burst into the room to witness the chaos first hand...

...and Gonzo and Misty still tied up. 

“Guys! We’re so happy to see you!” Gonzo sighed. “Quick!” Misty cried. “Get us out of here!”

“We’ll take Gonzo!” Journal told Sunny. “You guys help Misty!”

Caramel began to help Rizzo with the straps while Persephone kicked the machine away from Gonzo, but not before Zipp was able to restore Misty’s stolent magic by shifting the gears to reverse and letting Misty loose from her chains. 

Misty sighed in relief. “Thanks, girls. Come on! We don’t have a lot of time to get out of here before Ed realizes what happened!”

XXXXXXXX

At that moment, Ed was leading the general to the room where Gonzo was held, ready to showcase his discovery. “This is big, general. I think we should notify the president.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“As always, sir. Today, sir, we must think with a big mind. Behold. Irrefutable evidence of extraterrestrial life.”

But when the window opened so the general could peek inside, the Mane 6 and all their new friends had already escaped, leaving Dr. Van Neuter with the rats.

Ed looked completely mortified at this, and turned to the general to explain. “This looks worse than it is, general. Obviously, the… the alien is loose in the building with those…”

Suddenly, his mind thought of three ponies who might be able to pull a stunt like this. “...those interns!” he growled. “But not to worry, because…”

“Don’t bother,” the general sneered. “You’re terminated.”

“When you say ‘terminated’...

“YOU NEED HELP, SINGER!!” the general finally cried. “FIND SOME!!”

And with that, he stormed off, just as Rentro took the time to approach. “Well, how'd that go for you, then? Okay?”

But, Ed was too enraged to think about anything else.

He would find that alien and he would make those interns pay for their deception… if it was the last thing he EVER did.
> The Grand Escape/Ready As I'll Ever Be
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After helping Gonzo and Misty escape from the lab, everyone piled into a nearby elevator and let it take them to the ground level. 

But when the doors opened, Gonzo finally got over his nerves to speak. “So sorry I got you into this mess. Thanks for coming to save me and Misty.”

“Yeah… thanks, guys,” Misty smiled. “I was right to trust that sandwich.”

Izzy blinked in confusion. “Uh… what?”

“No thanks needed right now,” Sunny said to the duo. “You can thank us once we're out of here. All right, everybody, quietly.”

The group carefully began to exit the elevator, but immediately backed up against the wall when Animal’s cries were heard. “HELP!! HELP!! MOMMY!!”

But all of a sudden, the same security guard he had chased off earlier grabbed him harshly, as if… trying to plead with him. “Please, please. Listen to me. You can't leave me. I need you…!!”

And then… she kissed him.

Kissed his furry face as if it were a sexy man’s.

The others weren’t sure what to make of this, other than the shocked looks on their faces and Pipp nearly wanting to puke.

After the kiss was over, Animal turned to look at the guard. “I go now.”

“Fine… fine, go on, go!” the guard said, as if she were about to cry. “You're all alike… animals!”

Sobbing, she left, and Rizzo finally turned to Animal with rolled eyes. “Way to go, Romeo,” he said as the group came out of hiding. “Now let's get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Misty said, and she and her friends were about to leave… when they noticed the Equestrian C.O.V.N.E.T interns not following them. “Aren’t you guys coming too?”

“...can we, though?” Persephone asked. “We did kinda get Gonzo and Misty into this mess.”

Sunny smiled and approached them. “But, you guys worked with us to save them, and that speaks a lot about your character. And besides… we insist.”

“...since you’re insisting… we’re in!” Caramel smiled. “Come on, let’s get out of this alien-related creep-zone. No offense, Gonzo.”

“None taken!”

XXXXXXXX

“I’m gonna kill somebody…” Ed growled as he walked, and this left Rentro to try and calm him down. “Whoa. Now, now. Remember, calm blue ocean. You let it go. Baby steps, remember? Baby…”

“FIND THE ALIEN!!!” Ed finally shrieked in the bear’s face. “AND THOSE MEDDLING HORSES!! NOW!!!”

“Y-Y-Yes sir…” Rentro stammered. He honestly hoped that his little friends were okay… if Ed got hold of them, no doubt he would end them for sure.

XXXXXXXX

Alarms were ringing all throughout the halls...

...security guards were everywhere...

...doors became sealed.

It wasn't going to be easy for our heroes to find a way out. 

The group ran down the hall, trying to avoid as many security guards as they could when Zipp spotted a door to their right. “Quick, try that door!”

Gonzo and Hitch pushed against it, the former straining, but it seemed to have no effect. “It won’t budge!”

“Forget that door, come on, run!” Pipp urged, and they tried two different hallways, but before they reached the end, they noticed the shadows of guards at the end of each one.

They were trapped!

As the others began to panic, Kermit suddenly thought of an idea. “Fozzie, quick! The door in a jar!”

“Oh, I got it right here!” Fozzie got the jar out and began reading the instructions. “Um… ‘Open jar away from face’...”

“Fozzie, we don’t have time for this!” Zipp groaned and grabbed the jar. “Give me that and let me do it!”

“Hurry, Zipp!” Caramel shrieked. “They’re coming!”

Zipp opened the jar and let the contents fling onto the wall before forming a door in front of them. However, the door was so small, not all of them could fit through it. “Gee,” Kermit muttered, “that’s disappointing.”

“Perfect…” Miss Piggy rolled her eyes. “Yeah,” Pipp agreed. “Somepony knock and see if Barbie and the breezies are home.”

“Works for me!” Pepe cried. “Adios!” 

He immediately went through the door, but when Rizzo tried to follow him, the door was locked, much to the rat's frustration. “Oh, I cannot believe that little shrimp left us behind!”

“Uh... guys?”

Journal pointed behind them to see that Pepe had gotten another door open, much to their surprise. “I am not a shrimp! I am a king PRAWN!!”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Persephone urged. “Come on!”

Everyone screamed at seeing many of the guards on their tail, and immediately followed Pepe through the door and to the outside. “Keep going, everybody, don’t look back!” Sunny cried. “RUN!!!”

They passed the security guard from earlier, who bid them farewell and a nice night, but no sooner as the group were out of sight, he took notice of all the alarms going off. “What the heck is going on…?” 

XXXXXXXX

Everyone cheered happily as the bus sailed down the road, happy that they were all safe and out of harm’s way… at least for now. “See that? Sunny was right!” Kermit declared. “When we pull together, we can do anything!”

“Yeah!” Gonzo agreed. “Now we can go meet my alien brothers at Cape Doom!”

“Huh?” Hitch tilted his head. “What makes you think the aliens are landing there, Gonzo?”

“Oh,” Misty giggled. “A sandwich told us, nothing big.”

While the other ponies looked surprised, the other Muppets seemed hesitant and unsure of what to think… and this upset Gonzo to see many of them have doubts. “Do you mean after all that, no one except the ponies believe me?” he asked in frustration before he got out of his seat. “All right, fine. Stop the bus. I'll get there by myself.”

“Gonzo, no!” Misty said, getting in front of him. “We’ll be safer if we all go together!”

“Yeah! If Ed gets his hands on you or your alien family,” said Persephone, “well… me and my friends might never forgive ourselves…”

“You know, Misty’s right, Gonzo,” Kermit added, still unsure, but he still wanted to be there for his friend. “It doesn't matter what we believe. All that matters is what you believe… you and the Equestrians. And if you guys believe that you need to go and meet your alien brothers, then I say… well, I say we're going to the beach. Right, guys?”

“The beach, okay.”

“To the beach!”

“Beach ball, beach ball!”

“See, Gonzo?” Pipp smiled. “I don’t think anything can ruin this good mood now!” 

Suddenly, the bus began to rattle, causing Fozzie to pull over and making Zipp look down at her sister with a deadpan look. “Pipp, haven't you learned by now that you HAVE to stop saying that?!”

XXXXXXXX 

“Where are they?” Ed asked Rentro, who fidgeted under his boss’s gaze. “Well, I didn't overhear anything…”

“Did I ask you if you overheard anything?”

Rentro shook his head immediately. “No, sir.”

“Because if you did overhear anything, I'm sure you would tell me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Or do I have to remind you of Mr. Jumbo's Circus Town and Wild Animal Revue? WHERE’S HE GOING WITH THOSE PONIES?!”

However, Rentro was too scared to speak, prompting Ed to sigh and shrug. “Oh, look. Sunday's half price at the petting zoo.”

“Okay, okay!” Rentro finally gave in. “They’re going to Cape Doom!”

“Good, good,” Ed smiled. “Get me the subatomic neutro-destabilizer.”

“Hmm? The subatomic neutro…”

“The really big gun.”

“The really big gun. Yes, sir. The really big gun.”

Rentro opened the safe immediately, handing the clip and the gun to Ed, who chuckled mercilessly as he smirked. “Any moment now, Rentro… get ready.”

Ed: Believe me, I know
I’ve sunk pretty low
But whatever I’ve done, they deserve

Rentro: Uh, sir…

Ed: Quiet!
I’m the bad guy, that’s fine
It’s no fault of mine
That some justice at last will be served

Rentro: If you would just listen… 

Ed: Now it’s time to step up
Or it's time to back down
And there's only one answer for me
And I'll stand up and fight
'Cause I know that I'm right

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready
Ready as I'll ever be…

And so, Ed and Rentro set off out of the office and to the company car.

XXXXXXXX

The bus had broken down, and Misty knew that the C.O.V.N.E.T people would be coming a lot faster than they would ever suspect. “How are we going to get to Cape Doom now? Midnight is only 45 minutes away!”

“We won’t drive to Cape Doom,” said Journal, getting an idea. “We’ll ride!”

As the others looked at the interns in confusion, it was time for them to add their own separate verse.

Persephone: Now it’s time to rise up
Or it’s time to stand down

Journal: And the answer is easy to see

Caramel: And we swear by the sword
If you're in, get on board

Journal, Persephone and Caramel: Are you ready?

Zipp: I’m ready!

Ponies: We’re ready!

Muppets: We’re ready!

Journal, Persephone and Caramel: Ready as I’ll ever be 

Sunny prepared to lead the group after the interns, since they seemed to know the way to Cape Doom, when Kermit sat upon her back with worry plastered onto his face as the other Muppets got onto some of the other ponies. 

Kermit: Are you quite sure we can do this?

Sunny: Together, we will guarantee!

Sunny activated her alicorn form as the interns led the charge, causing the other ponies to follow suit with the Muppets on their backs...

...unaware of what Ed was planning.

Ed: I'll make them hear me

Muppets and Ponies: Now it's time to redeem
Or it's time to resolve

Caramel, Persephone and Journal: Proof they can trust me...

Muppets and Ponies: And the outcome will hardly come free

Misty: We'll save our friends and family

All: Now the line's in the sand
And our moment's at hand

Hitch: And we're ready

Pipp, Izzy and Zipp: We're ready

Sunny, Misty, Kermit and Gonzo: We're ready...

However, Ed was currently on his way to Cape Doom in the slow company car... murderous intentions in mind.

Ed: Ready as I'll ever be...

As the song comes to a close, let's hope and pray that our heroes make it to Cape Doom in time... for Gonzo, his alien brethren and themselves.
> An Alien Celebration!/Goodbye, Gonzo?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the Muppets’ bus had broken down, the pony interns had the idea to gallop all the way to Cape Doom (which wasn’t really that far), and they set off, unaware that Ed and Rentro were on their way there as well… but were slowed down due to traffic.

At least our heroes have a little time to spare before trouble arrives.

Soon, they arrived at the beach with only a half an hour to spare, and found a large crowd waiting for them, chanting Gonzo's name. “Whoa…” Izzy gasped with wide eyes, looking at the large amount of people around them. “What’s with all the people here?”

“Can I help it if moi has such devoted fans?” Miss Piggy asked with a chuckle. “All right, everybody, back off!” cried Rizzo as Misty and Gonzo took the lead through the crowd. “Let Misty and His Royal Weirdness through.”

Gonzo couldn't believe what he was saying... people, chanting for him, believing that the aliens were going to come and he was going to meet his family at last!

And for once, Misty didn't even care that she was in a large crowd of people potentially staring at her. What mattered most... was making sure that Gonzo was happy.

Only a few minutes after the group had arrived at the beach, it was midnight-- all eyes were on the sky, and Piggy's new cameraman was here to record her story on the aliens touching down, with Pipp standing not too far away for moral support.

Sunny shuddered after a few moments, glancing toward her friends. “It got kinda cold.”

“Yeah…” Gonzo nodded, not taking his eyes off the sky. “Sure did.”

“Midnight,” Miss Piggy looked into the camera as she spoke. “The lone alien stands before a naked sky. The mood is tense. My hair looks great.” 

“What?!”

Pipp gasped as Miss Piggy turned, wide eyed to see Shelley marching over, clearly furious. “I don’t believe this!”

“Oh… Shelley,” Miss Piggy chuckled. “Bonjour.”

However, Shelley wasn’t in the mood. “You pink, prissy pegasus! And you backstabbing, underhanded little coffee pig!”

Pipp gulped nervously, backing away slightly. “Uh-oh…”

“This is my show! My story, my microphone!”

Shelley immediately pulled the microphone toward her, and the cameraman turned toward her. “This is Shelley Snipes reporting. Please ignore the little sow.”

Miss Piggy then pushed herself into the line of the camera. “Disregard this woman--”  

Suddenly, Shelley pulled Miss Piggy's ear, causing her to scream in pain... right before she gut-punched Shelley right to the ground, much to the shock of a few bystanders. 

Hitch immediately saw the commotion and ran over, trying to stop the feuding. “Ladies, ladies! Can’t we settle this in a calm, peaceful MAAAAANNEEEEEER?!!!!!”

Miss Piggy and Shelly fell right on top of him during their feud, causing Persephone to pull Hitch out of the pile while Pipp tried to stop the feuding herself. “Hitch!” Persephone cried. “Are you okay?!”

“Ugh… I think so,” Hitch groaned, eventually getting back onto his hooves. “But is that what chairs feel like when people sit on them?”

Miss Piggy eventually got away from Shelley (thanks to Pipp’s help), and once Pipp was safely out of the way, Miss Piggy sprayed Shelley with the Mind Mist, making Shelley immediately confused. “What am I doing?”

“Um…” Miss Piggy got her attention. “You are about to give me your job and get everyone here a cup of coffee.” 

“Oh, of course,” Shelley smiled and handed over the microphone. “Right away.”

As soon as she left, Pipp chuckled and flew to Miss Piggy’s side. “Nice work!” she commented. “I gotta get Bunsen and Beaker to make me some of that stuff.”

XXXXXXXX

“Excuse us! Pardon us!” Zipp spoke as she and Rizzo tried to navigate through the crowd. “Excuse us, buddy,” Rizzo sneered as he went under a man. “And a happy Halloween to you as well.”

Suddenly, he bumped into someone, and it was revealed to be Dr. Van Neuter, causing him to scream. “Hang on, Rizzo! I got you!” Zipp said, picking up the rat and keeping him close. “You’re not gonna experiment on Rizzo again, you half-baked veterinarian!”

Suddenly, Bubba came over to stop the event before anyone got hurt. “Riz, Riz, you and your friend take it easy, it’s all right.”

“All right?” Zipp blinked. “You know this guy, Rizzo?”

“Yeah, he’s one of the rats I told ya about,” Rizzo nodded before turning to Bubba again. “What do you mean, it's all right?”

“You don't understand. We let him slide, and he gave us a ride.”

Dr. Van Neuter nodded with a smile at this. “Yeah, yeah. I love all my new rat friends now,” he said before turning to the other rats sitting around a small fire. “Come on. Who wants this next marshmallow?”

“You go on and catch up with your friends, Rizzo,” Zipp smiled as they walked over to the rats as well. “I’m gonna go see if Pipp and the others need anything.”

XXXXXXXX

It had been an hour since midnight, and Miss Piggy began to tiredly look into the camera, just as exhausted as everyone else. “One… a.m,” she spoke. “The alien is still standing over there. My hair still looks great. One can only wonder what Gonzo's feeling right now.”

Misty and Sunny were still with Gonzo and Kermit, looking up at the sky for any sign of life… or at least, a spaceship heading their way.

However, every minute that passed, Gonzo began to get even more discouraged, until... he sighed and shook his head. “They're not coming.”

“Gonzo, you don’t know that,” Sunny frowned. “Maybe they’re just running late… hey, do you guys know if aliens run into traffic?”

“Hey, you got me,” Misty shrugged. “Maybe we could just wait another 10 minutes?”

However, Gonzo's mind seemed to be made up by this point. “It’s a no-show,” he sighed, turning to the crowd. “It’s a no-show!”

“What?” asked a teenage boy sitting with his friends, causing him to stand up and look at Gonzo in anger and frustration. “Hey, wait a second. I believed you, man. Yeah. I stayed up all night dancing and didn't study for finals because of you. I'm cold. Come on, let's go.”

Several others began to agree with him, and the ponies were heartbroken at the sight of Gonzo so sad… his only chance to find his family, gone. 

And he wasn't sure if another chance like this was going to come up again.

Misty looked at her friend with a solemn look. “We’re so sorry, Gonzo. I really thought your family was going to be here by now.”

Gonzo sighed and rubbed her head. “It's not your fault, Misty... if I hadn't let us be captured, maybe we would have gotten here on time.”

“Hey, but we’re not gonna give up,” Caramel said. “We can find some other way to contact your family.”

“I just…” Hitch spoke with a yawn. “I just can’t think straight when I’m sleepy… let’s head back to your house for the night and we’ll come up with something tomorrow.”

“Yeah…” Gonzo sighed. “Sure.”

The ponies began to guide their Muppet friends after the crowd and get them home… when all of a sudden, a little girl gasped and pointed to the sky. “Look!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“What’s going on?”

A cloud of deep smoke came from the sky immediately after the girl pointed to the sky, and from that cloud came a brown, egg-like object that settled into the sand, only about six feet away from the crowd.

After it had settled, the Muppets, the Mane 6 and the pony interns carefully approached it, unsure of what they were getting themselves into. “Boy… they’re really tiny,” Gonzo observed the object. “But tiny's not a bad thing, right?”

“No no no, of course not,” Misty shook her head. “We actually have a few tiny friends. Smurfs, mice… you name it.”

“Wait a minute,” Rizzo interrupted. “We came out here in the middle of the night for a stupid egg?”

“Shh, don’t say that!” Caramel said. “That egg could be full of chocolate!”

“Or it could be some sort of cosmic defense weapon,” Zipp spoke. “It never hurts to be too careful.”

As the ponies began to creep closer, the egg opened before releasing a bright light into the sky, blinding the group for a moment. When they looked up at the sky after a moment, their eyes widened at what they saw.

A giant spacecraft, the size of two football fields or more, was slowly descending toward the beach. “Everypony, back away slowly!” Sunny advised the crowd. “We need to give them plenty of space!”

Everyone began to back away, with Caramel wrapping a wing around her best friends and Rizzo praying out loud while in Fozzie’s arms. “Please, big boss. I never disobeyed my mother. And I never carried the plague. Not even once! Oh…!!!” 

Slowly, but surely, the space-craft began to descend on the beach as many people began to murmur in confusion and awe, all mixed into one.

Sunny gently touched Gonzo’s shoulder, trying to check on him during this crucial moment. “Are you okay, Gonzo?”

“G-Great!” Gonzo stammered quickly. “N-Never felt better.”

Slowly, the doors of the spacecraft began to open, revealing a tall figure against a backdrop of white light. “Let the one who is called Gonzo step forward.” 

“That’s me!” Gonzo immediately raised his arm. “I-I mean… I’m Gonzo.”

“Step a little closer.”

“Go ahead, Gonzo,” Misty nodded. “It’s okay.”

Gonzo nodded and stepped forward, but… the figure couldn’t see Gonzo all the way yet. “Come a little further forward.”

Gonzo did so, but the figure still couldn’t see. “Now, could you lean into the light? There you go. Lean in a little further. A little further. Yeah.” 

After Gonzo stepped into the light just enough, the figure immediately recognized him. “Oh, that’s him!”

The figure immediately ran into the white light, and after a moment, the doors closed. “Ooooookaaaay…?” Zipp blinked. “That was officially weird.”

“Why did they want to see if Gonzo was who he said he was?” asked Hitch. “Aren’t they supposed to look just like him?”

“Maybe,” Sunny whispered. “But I guess it’s good to be cautious.”

Suddenly, a different voice spoke up from the spacecraft. “Gonzo… many zotons ago, you were lost to us. We've come a long way looking for you, little brother.” 

Suddenly, tethers from the ship broke off, causing Gonzo to gasp in shock as the cover on the top of the ship began to open. “We know of but one way to express our happiness at having found you.” 

The ponies looked at each other in confusion, wondering what this could mean as lights began to flash, music began to play, and... aliens that looked just like Gonzo began to sing! 

Aliens: WHOO-HOO!!

Singer Alien: Ha ha ha!

Now there's a party going on right here (Right here)
A celebration to last throughout the year...

“That’s my family!” Gonzo cried with wide eyes. “Gonzo!” Misty cried. “That’s your family!”

Singer Alien: So bring your good times
And your laughter too
We're gonna celebrate your party with you

As the song continued, everyone in the crowd began to dance around and have a joyous time. 

Backup Singers: Celebration

Singer Alien: Let’s all celebrate
And have a good time, come on

Backup Singers: Celebration

Singer Alien: We’re gonna celebrate
And have a good time

It’s time to come together
It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure?

Aliens: Everyone around the world, come on
Celebrate good times, come on!

UberGonzo: It’s a celebration (Whoo-hoo!)
It’s a celebration

Come on! 

Celebrate good times, come on!

“Come on, Gonzo!” said the lead singer. “Wanna see you up here on the stage!”

“Me?!” Gonzo cried. “Yeah, you boy!” the lead singer laughed, and several aliens guided Gonzo up onstage to sing the final verse as the ponies cheered.

“Look at ‘em go, guys! Look at him up there!”

“Go Gonzo!”

“Yeah!”

“Glitter-tastic!”

Gonzo and Aliens: Celebrate good times, come on!

At the end of the song, Gonzo laughed joyously as the entire crowd cheered for the performance... even the ponies were surprised at how friendly these aliens seemed.

Following the song, a few aliens guided Gonzo into a cannon and gave him a helmet, just as UberGonzo spoke up again. “Gonzo,” he began as a drumroll began to play, “it is time to take your righteous place amongst your brothers. By surviving and thriving alone on this alien planet, you have proven yourself audacious, courageous and distinctly one of a kind. We welcome you back with our most ceremonious of ceremonies.”

As the cannon tilted up to a vertical level, Gonzo wondered what this ceremony would include. “What’s that?”

“We’re gonna blow you up, baby!”

“Uh… I’m sorry,” said Hitch, “but did he say, ‘blow Gonzo up’?!”

Before anyone could answer Hitch’s question, the cannon fired Gonzo high up into the air, at least to the height of the tallest skyscraper in Zephyr Heights before Gonzo began to fall back down. “ARRRRRRIBA!!!!” he cried with a laugh. “I love these people! WHOA!! Coming down!!” 

A group of aliens prepared a net to catch Gonzo during his fall, and as he got closer to the ground, Misty and Izzy moved the aliens with their magic to make sure they were in the right spot.

And they were…

…before Gonzo tore through the netting and fell right through the floor!

Rizzo clung to Persephone in terror upon seeing this. “Oh no!!”

The Mane 6 rushed to where Gonzo had fallen through the floor, looking for him with the aliens, and as they were about to say something, Gonzo appeared from a nearby tunnel, definitely unharmed and actually looking quite exilerated. “TADA!!!”

Everyone cheered at the sight of Gonzo alive and well, and even UberGonzo was impressed. “Now, that is what I call the Great Gonzo.” 

The aliens lifted Gonzo onto their shoulders as the cheering grew to be at its loudest, and even the ponies cheered their friend on... well, for a moment at least. 

“HOLD IIIIIT!!! Hold it!”

All cheering stopped at the sight of Ed with his large gun, and the pony interns froze in their tracks, hoping not to be seen. Ed kept his line of sight on Gonzo and his family, getting ready to annihilate them if they made a movement. “Very, very moving, my little alien friend. But I'm afraid your timing is off. Now, you're coming back with me in my cement truck.”

“Cement truck?” Journal asked with curiosity. “What about the company car?”

Rentro cleared his throat from behind her. “Broke down and we had to hitch-hike.”

At the words 'cement truck', many people including some of the aliens, began to laugh at Ed, bringing back the anger he showed back at C.O.V.N.E.T, steadily growing to new levels. “Don’t laugh at me… don’t laugh… all right,” he said, getting ready to fire the gun. “I’LL SHOW YOU LAUGHTER!!”

“NO!!!” Misty shrieked, getting in front of Gonzo and his family in anger. “Ponies! Get in front of Gonzo’s family! NOW!!”

“You heard her!” Caramel shouted. “Let’s move move move!”

All the ponies stood in front of Gonzo and his family at Misty's orders, with Sunny in her alicorn form, and their cutie marks charged with magic, just in case Ed tried anything.

But as Ed prepared to fire his weapon...

“Please load weapon. Please load weapon.”

Everyone paused at this, but then the laughter resumed as Ed tried to get his weapon to work properly. Back on the Muppets' side, Kermit sighed in complete relief. “That was a close one...”

“Not as close as you think, my friend,” Rento said, holding up a clip of ammunition that went with the weapon. “Please load weapon...” 

“Good job, Rentro!” Sunny smiled in relief. “At least he isn’t a threat to the aliens anymore.”

“But… we still gotta do something with him,” Pipp spoke. “We just gotta figure out what.”

Luckily, UberGonzo found the courage to approach Gonzo and stand in front of Ed, pleased. “We are honored to meet you. A most extraordinary performance.”

“What are you talking about?” Ed muttered in defeat. “Gonzo of Earth, who is this most entertaining friend of yours?” UberGonzo asked, leaving Gonzo to shrug. “Oh… that’s Ed.”

“Hi, Ed.”

“Hello, Ed.”

“The cape!” UberGonzo commanded, and several aliens came forward and put a cape around Ed, much to his confusion. “Ed, because of your comic instincts, we have chosen you as ambassador to our planet.”

Ed immediately stood up in surprise. “You mean you want me to go with you? To boldly go where no man has gone before?”

“It would be our great privilege, Ed. Uh... may I call you Zongo?”

However, Ed wasn’t even paying attention, still in his space-obsessed fantasy. “To travel the stars like a modern-day Magellan? To be up there with John Glenn, Neil Armstrong.”

“Uh…” Rentro walked up to him gently. “I think you better get going. They're waiting for you. Run along now.”

“Yeah, good idea,” said Zipp. “For all our sakes…”

“Zipp!” Sunny scolded. “Shh!”

As Ed (or now known as Zongo) began to move toward the ship, UberGonzo turned to his newly-found brethren. “Time to beat feet. Come along, little brother.”

“Oh… oh boy… this is all happening so fast,” Gonzo said to himself before trying to turn to his friends, who seemed happy for him, but… sad to see him leave. “Well, guys, you know, I'm gonna miss you. And I'll be thinking about you.”

Then, he turned toward Rizzo, who was turned away from him, trying not to cry. “Rizzo, buddy…”

“No no no,” Rizzo spoke. “Not me. I do not do goodbyes.” 

“Well...” said Gonzo slowly, “I just want to tell you… I just want you to take care of yourself.”

“...hey, don’t worry about me,” Rizzo said tearfully. “I… I can always get another roommate.”

Rizzo and Gonzo pulled each other into a hug, wishing each other a final farewell before turning to the ponies… even the former pony C.O.V.N.E.T interns. “Thank you all for… for everything. I’ll never forget how you guys helped me find my family.”

“Hey… all we ask is that you be careful, and try to visit,” Sunny smiled. “Maybe we might be in the neighborhood on the next Unity Quest.”

“...we’re gonna miss you so much,” Misty whimpered, pulling him into a hug. “Promise me that you’ll never forget us…?”

“I promise,” Gonzo said, wiping her tears before slowly moving toward Kermit. “And Kermit? You’re the best friend any alien could ask for.”

“Oh…” Kermit felt himself tense up with emotion at this. “We love you, Gonzo.”

With that, Kermit and Gonzo exchanged a saddening final farewell before they pulled apart. “So…” Kermit said, “...you’ll write?”

Gonzo nodded at this. “Yeah, sure, I'll write. There's probably a mailbox every couple of light-years.”

Izzy chuckled at this, trying her best not to cry as well. “Heh... space joke. Funny, Gonzo...”

“Adios, Mr. Space Man, okay,” Pepe said with a sad smile. “Hey, man,” said Clifford. “If you keep saying goodbye, you'll never get home.” 

Gonzo nodded at this, slowly turning toward the ship. “Oh, yeah. Home. Home. Time to go home.”

Gonzo slowly stepped onboard the ramp of the ship, following Ed, Rentro, UberGonzo and his fellow aliens, and once he reached the top, UberGonzo turned to him with a smile. “The stars beckon. Shall we go home?”

For a moment, Gonzo looked down at the crowd gathered for him, and his friends... all gathered there for him to see him off. 

He couldn't leave this... not now.

He wanted to know his family, but... he couldn't leave his Earth family... or his pony family. “I don’t think so,” Gonzo said, taking off his helmet and taking it back to UberGonzo, who seemed surprised by such an action. “Thank you for going to so much trouble to find me. But I can't go.”

As the other aliens grew confused, Gonzo looked toward the crowd and all his friends, old and new. “I love these guys. My life is here. This is my home.”

UberGonzo seemed to understand, nodding his head toward his long-lost relative. “If that is your decision, then we shall abide by it. We will miss you. So good luck, Gonzo,” he said, touching Gonzo’s hand before Gonzo walked down the ramp again. “People of Earth! Later…”

“Yes!” Rizzo laughed, running toward Gonzo as Gonzo waved to his family. “Oh, boy… goodbye!”

“HA HA!!” Izzy laughed as she and Rizzo toppled Gonzo to the ground. “You’re back! You’re back!”

“You’re not leaving!”

“We love you, Gonzo!”

“Welcome home!”

Misty was slightly relieved as she hugged Gonzo… sure, she was happy that he found his family, but… she would have missed him dearly.

And now… they had a chance to meet each other once again.

As the group celebrated in Gonzo’s decision, Ed raised a hand as the spaceship doors began to close. “People of Earth, this is one small step for man and one giant step for…” he began to say, when the doors finally closed. “Forget it…” 

The jet engines began to fire as the spacecraft lifted off the ground, causing many to wave them goodbye before it flew off the surface of the Earth from out of sight.

As Gonzo watched it go, Caramel turned toward Gonzo. “You're gonna miss them... aren't you?” 

“Sure, I am,” Gonzo admitted after a moment. “But... I have you guys, just like I always have. And... that's all I really need anyway. Come on... let's head home. There's something I want us all to do together.”
> Heading Home/A Dragon Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zipp sighed, looking up at the night sky as she stretched her wings out. “You’re right, Gonzo... this is pretty amazing.”

Sunny smiled at this. “Yeah… the perfect ending to a great day.”

Gonzo had the idea to gather everyone on the roof to gaze at the stars, which would become a monthly Muppet tradition. “This was probably the greatest day of my life,” Gonzo agreed, just before something came to his mind. “But there’s still one thing I don’t understand.”

Kermit turned to look at him. “What’s that, Gonzo?”

“Why did they want me to build a Jacuzzi?”

Zipp nudged Pepe, who was chuckling, causing the pegasus to clear her throat. “We may never know,” she said, just before a portal appeared not too far away. “But I do know what that means… we have to get going, ponies.”

“Awww, do you have to?” Journal asked as she and her friends got up. “We were hoping you could stay and be Muppets, like us!”

“Kermit just asked us to join the group today!” Persephone squealed. “It’s so awesome!”

“I’m sorry, but we have families back home to get back to,” said Sunny. “But I promise, next time we’re in this area for a Unity Quest, we’ll look you up.”

“Wait!” Caramel stopped them from leaving. “Before you leave… we have some things we wanted to give you.”

She reached into her mane and pulled out a brown piece of paper. “I found this map last year, but… it’s so faded out I can’t figure out what it leads to. Maybe Zipp can take it back and figure it out?”

“Definitely,” Zipp smiled. “Thanks.”

“And… here’s a gift from me,” Persephone pulled out a glowing object from her saddlebag. “I found this a long time ago, but… I think it belongs to you. You helped me and my friends find a family of our own, where we can be ourselves. That’s the greatest gift we could ever recieve.”

“Thank you,” Sunny smiled gently. “We’ll take great care of them.”

“Bye, Gonzo. Bye, Kermit,” Misty hugged them. “Take care of each other.”

“See you later!” Pipp waved just before the Mane 6 left through the portal before it closed. 

XXXXXXXX

It was a few hours after the Mane 6 returned from their Unity Quest, and they met Paradise in town, where Hitch was happily cuddling Sparky, having not seen him in days. “Sparky, I’m never gonna let you be taken by an evil government facility-- never.” 

Sparky just gurgled, not understanding what his father was saying, but he didn't care-- he was just happy to see him.

Misty was showing her mother the piece that Persephone had given them, leading her to hum in thought. “This may just be me, but… it looks almost… star-like,” spoke Paradise. “Don’t you think?”

“...yeah! It does!” Sunny realized. “This must have some form of importance, otherwise Persephone wouldn’t have given it to us.”

“Speaking of gifts, I can’t figure out what this map leads to either,” Zipp sighed, putting her magnifying glass away. “If only it weren’t so faded…”

Suddenly, Sparky sneezed, sending a burst of dragon fire onto the map, rejuvenating it and causing its true location to be revealed. “Wait… dragon fire activating a map? Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark being on it?” Zipp gasped. “This can only mean one thing!”

Izzy raised an eyebrow. “And that is…?”

“This… this is a map to the Isle of Scaly! Otherwise known as... the Dragon Lands!”