Season Z, Episodes A-B: Lost in Thought

by Flame Runner

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 8545

The main 6 find themselves alone in strange circumstances that may end up threatening all Equestria.

Each of the main 6 find themselves disoriented and alone. They have all become trapped in some form or other. Could this be the work of Discord, or is a new threat on the horizon?

If you enjoy this story, please be sure to check out the other Season Z "episodes".

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-27 18:39:21 UTC

Lost in Thought (Part 1)

Season: Z

Episode: A

Lost in Thought (Part 1)

(By: Flame Runner)

Twilight Sparkle awoke from a rough sleep. It felt like she hadn’t slept at all, but when she looked out her window, the sun was high in the sky. She felt a little disoriented for some reason, but decided to just walk it off. Spike’s bed was empty. Twilight figured that he must be up, but Owloysius, Twilight’s pet owl, wasn’t on his perch. “That’s strange,” commented Twilight, “Owloysius isn’t usually awake at this hour.” Twilight left her bed loft and headed down to the library below. “Spike! Owloysius!” called Twilight. Only silence greeted the purple unicorn’s ears. She called again, but still only an eerie silence came back. “They must be outside for some reason.” Twilight went over to her door, but it wouldn’t budge. She tried magic, but it didn’t work. She tried kicking it with all her might, but to no avail. Twilight started to feel a little uneasy. She went over to one of the windows and attempted to open it, but it wouldn’t move either. She decided to just teleport outside, but every time she tried, she ended up back inside her house; next to her bed. Twilight was really starting to freak out. She went to a window to call out for help, but not a single pony was to be seen. She ran over to her massive book shelves and picked up a book that might help her solve this problem but when she opened it, the book was blank. In fact, every single book in her entire library was filled with empty, white pages and every pony she knew was nowhere to be found. “Somepony! Anypony! Help!”

(Insert Theme Music Here)

* * * * * * * *

Applejack had just woken up from a long night. She felt like she hadn’t slept at all and on top of that was feeling a little dizzy, but the apples on Sweet Apple Acres had to be harvested so she went outside. Applejack could see Big Mac in the distance, already hard at work, and Apple Bloom was off at school. “I must have slept in, it’s already noon!” she said to herself. She hurried over to an apple tree full of ripe apples and kicked away, but her legs hit nothing but air as she fell over. She looked around and the apple tree was a good ten feet away from her. “What in tarnation?” She moved back over to the tree and kicked again, but with the same effect. “Somethin’ strange is goin’ on here.” Applejack turned to where Big Mac was hard at work, “Hey, Big Mac!” she yelled. Big Mac just kept working like he couldn’t hear her. Applejack decided to walk over to him, but the closer she got, the further away Big Mac was. Then she started to walk away, but the further away she went, the closer Big Mac became. He was always just in sight, but never any closer or further away. Applejack decided to leave for help so she ran as fast as she could toward the end of Sweet Apple Acres, but she never made it. She just kept running past the exact same apple trees. Applejack became very scared.

* * * * * * * *

Rarity woke up what seemed like hours ago, but was still experiencing a light headache. “I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all,” she told herself. She was putting the finishing touches on a new dress when she heard a knock on the door. “Be there in just a second!” she yelled while she put the last ribbon on. “Perfect!” she whispered to herself and then trotted off to answer her door. But, when she opened it, no pony was there. “That’s peculiar,” she said as she closed the door and went back to work on her designs. When she entered her studio, however; the ribbon she had so carefully placed had fallen off. “That won’t do at all!” she said as she placed it back on the dress. Again Rarity heard a knock at the door, but a little louder this time. “Coming!” she chimed as she went back to answer. Again, no pony was there. When she returned to her dress, it was lacking not only the ribbon, but somehow some stitching had come undone. “Sweetie Belle?” shouted Rarity, “if this is some kind of joke it’s not funny! Oh wait, Sweetie Belle is at school,” she reminded herself. Another knock came from the door, but even louder than before. Rarity again went to check on it, but with the same results. This time when she went back to her dress, it was barely still in tact. “Whoever is messing with me stop it! It’s not funny!” The knocking came again from her front door. “No! Go away! I’m not coming this time!” Rarity sat down to fix her broken dress when knocking came from the back door as well as the front. She tried to ignore the noise and keep working, but then the sound started coming at the windows. She looked up to see who was there. She saw nothing. When she looked back at her dress, it was totally gone and all the materials were back where they had started this morning. Rarity began to really freak out.

* * * * * * * *

Pinkie Pie hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, but that was ok because Pinkie didn’t need much sleep. She felt a little dizzy but that only made it more fun for Pinkie to dance. She was walking through Ponyville when all of a sudden she came across hundreds of ponies having what seemed like the Equestria’s largest party in the town square. Pinkie jumped for joy and bounced over to where the party was. It was perfect, lots of music, lots of dancing, and a whole lot of candy and confetti. Strangely enough Pinkie didn’t know any of these ponies, but making new friends was half the fun. She jumped right in and spent hours upon hours dancing, laughing, and eating. “Ooo! I know what would make this party even better…my confetti cannon!” Pinkie dashed off happily to retrieve her canon, but could never seem to get away from the throng of ponies. She would go one way only to find herself back where she started. “Well, that’s odd. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to go back to dancing.” So Pinkie just kept dancing and looking for her friends.

* * * * * * * *

Fluttershy woke up with a splitting headache. “I just couldn’t get to sleep at all last night Angel,” the Pegasus told her pet rabbit. Angel was hopping around nervously as he helped Fluttershy clean up the house. “Whatever happened I sure was out of it a long time though, it’s already late in the afternoon.” Suddenly, Fluttershy heard a noise and turned around. Angel’s cleaning supplies were lying right where they should be, but Angel himself was gone. “Angel?” Fluttershy called out. She looked all over the house, but couldn’t find him. She went to her birds for help, but they too had disappeared. She flew outside but still could see no sign of them. In fact, all of her pets had gone missing; not a single butterfly remained. She started heading toward town, but was suddenly stopped. “Oof!” she exclaimed as she fell over. She looked, but there was nothing in her way. However, she stretched out her hoof and it immediately found a solid wall. The wall was totally invisible and impossible to get through. She tried flying over it, but hit her head on what could only be a ceiling. She tried to kick it down, but with no results. Then, Fluttershy saw her pets on the other side of the wall. They all came as close as they could before they too ran into the solid nothingness. Fluttershy looked at all her animal friends. They all looked back with fear in their eyes. Fluttershy began to cry.

* * * * * * * *

Rainbow Dash had stayed up way to late reading another book in the Daring Do series and was definitely paying for it now. She felt dizzy when she tried to fly and decided to rest on a comfy cloud. It was well into the afternoon and she felt like a good nap was in order. She closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep when she suddenly felt a strong wind beneath her. Her eyes flew open only a moment before she hit the ground. “Oof!” she cried in shock. Her comfortable cloud had disappeared and she had landed solidly on one of her wings. “Hey! Who did that? Show yourself!” Rainbow Dash took a look around and began to realize that she was no longer in Ponyville. Rainbow appeared to be on some kind of Tropical Island, and it looked deserted. Lush greenery and dense jungle covered most of the ground, while a large mountain loomed from the center and crystal blue water stretched around the island as far as the eye could see. Rainbow was currently standing on a small beach at the edge of the jungle and gazing up at the massive rock jutting from the center. It didn’t appear to be a volcano of any sort, but it did remind her of something…she just couldn’t quite remember what. As Rainbow Dash was looking at the mountain, she saw a lone Pegasus flying around the peak and then disappear into what Rainbow could only imagine was some form of cave. She decided to investigate and see who else was stuck on this strange island. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and was met with sharp pain. “Ooo! I guess I hurt my wing.” Rainbow was stuck on the ground. “Well perfect, just perfect...Guess I’ll have to walk.” So Rainbow Dash trekked into the jungle with the large mountain as her only guide and a mysterious Pegasus her only hope back home.

* * * * * * * *

Twilight had finally stopped yelling for help when it became apparent that nopony could hear her. She kept flipping through her collection of books, hoping that just one would have even a single letter in it. After going through the entire library, she found nothing. The sun barely seemed to be moving, if it was moving at all. Twilight just didn’t know what to do, she was really freaking out. “No! No more of this!” she yelled. “Think Twilight! Think! There must be something you can do! Think! Think! Think!” She concentrated on finding a way out with all her might. “Wham!” She was jolted out of her concentration by the front door. It had flung wide open on its own and now hung lazily on its hinges. Twilight was confused, but cautiously stepped outside. She hadn’t performed any magic or even moved a muscle. Why would the door open now? The town was as empty as Twilight remembered it. In fact, the town almost looked fake. She walked over to the Sugar Cube Corner and tried to open the door, but it was like trying to move a rock wall. Twilight traveled around the main square and met the same situation at every single place. As odd as this phenomenon was, stranger yet was that not a single pony was anywhere to be seen, not in the houses, restaurants, or fields. But, as Twilight moved closer to the outskirts of town, she found something even weirder. A strange, almost purple mist seemed to come from nowhere in particular and become thicker the further from town she traveled. She moved hesitantly into the mist. Amazingly, it had no feel, smell, or taste whatsoever. The further Twilight moved into the purple nowhere, the more fake the town behind her appeared. Twilight just kept pushing through the mist until she couldn’t see anything but a purple screen of smoke. She turned herself around, but couldn’t seem to get anywhere but further into the strange mist. “Ah! I managed to get outside my house only to get stuck in this…this…purple nothingness!” yelled Twilight as her own echo quietly came back to her. “I wish Applejack was here, she’s always there for everypony when they need help,” she quietly murmured. Twilight looked up and there, in the distance, she could make out a faint white spark of light through the purple fog. Twilight moved closer to the light and the mist started to dissipate as Sweet Apple Acres slowly appeared on the horizon.

* * * * * * * *

Rainbow Dash had made it through the dense jungle and was now standing at the foot of the grey colored mountain. “Finally made it,” she sighed as she slumped down to rest. Rainbow was panting from the long walk in the humid air. The sounds of the jungle could be heard all around as monkeys screeched and birds tweeted their songs into the dense air. Rainbow sat up suddenly and looked around. She had heard the same noises while she walked, but had not seen a single living creature other than the Pegasus. Not the smallest bug, monkey, or bird was to be seen even though she could hear them all around. Rainbow Dash started to become a little nervous. Then, she looked into the sky and saw the strange Pegasus flying away. It almost looked like…no, it couldn’t be…Daring Do? Rainbow Dash remembered where she knew this island from; it was in the book she had just been reading. Was she dreaming? She flapped her wings and the sharp pain that accompanied the effort told her she wasn’t. But if this was the same Daring Do story…Rainbow Dash became very nervous. She raced up the mountain as quickly as she could. She knew how this story ended, and the island survive. No sooner had she started up the cliff than the earthquake began. Rainbow knew that the entire island would sink thanks to the notorious Dr. Octagganon. “Daring Do!” called Rainbow to the adventurous Pegasus. “Help! Daring Do!” but it was too late, Daring Do was off in a flash as Dr. Octagganon’s flying contraption chased the heroin away from poor Rainbow Dash. Simply falling into water wouldn’t normally be too bad for Rainbow Dash, but she knew that in the water, waiting for Daring, was a mass of hungry sharks. Up the steep slope Rainbow climbed as the island slowly sank into the foaming, blue water.

* * * * * * * *

Applejack decided to simply sit on the ground and try to make sense of everything. There was not a cloud to be seen in the sky, and the sun never seemed to move. In fact, the longer Applejack looked at it, the more it seemed like someone had painstakingly painted the glowing sphere there. She had tried to buck the apples off of the apple trees again, and with some interesting results. Whenever she looked at the tree she was bucking, it would stay in place and feel like kicking a brick wall; not a single apple would fall. However, if she wasn’t watching, the tree would move at the last second and she wouldn’t hit anything. Applejack felt trapped. Then, she saw a small purple dot moving closer to her. She watched the small dot closely until Twilight Sparkle could be clearly seen. “Twilight!” yelled Applejack. “Twilight! Over here!” At first, Applejack didn’t know if Twilight had heard her, but then Twilight yelled back, “Applejack!” and started to gallop over to her friend.

“Applejack, it’s so good to see you!”

“No kiddn’. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been goin’ through.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean…well watch this.”

Applejack stood and went over to buck an apple tree. She made sure to not watch it. The tree moved away and Applejack fell over.

“Ya’ see?” asked Applejack.

“Bizarre…Some weird stuff has been happening to me to.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Well, for starters, I couldn’t teleport anywhere besides my bedroom this morning and you’re the first pony I’ve seen all day.”

“Teleport! That’s exactly what I need!”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been stuck in this same spot all morning, it’s like I’m caught in a loop or somethin’.”

“Weird. Let me try.”

Twilight started walking toward the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack watched. Suddenly, Twilight disappeared from Applejack’s sight.

“Twilight?” called Applejack.

“Yeah?” came a reply from behind.

Applejack turned around to find Twilight right behind her.

“Well, it looks like you’re stuck here too,” said Applejack in dismay.

A strange voice suddenly vibrated through the air, “Interesting…More research is required…”

“Who’s there?” asked Applejack.

Absolute silence echoed through the stillness.

“Discord? Are you the one behind this?” Applejack said angrily.

“Discord…” came the strange voice from nowhere in particular, “Definition…Lack of harmony, disagreement, strife, dispute…”

“What? Who are you? Where are you?” asked Twilight this time.

“Questions…you wish to understand…as I wish to understand…”

“Yes?” Twilight answered even though she wasn’t sure if a question had been asked.

“Then you shall…understand.”

A small orb appeared before the two ponies. It had the same texture of a water droplet and was about the same size as one too. The orb was perfectly circular and was of a blue so deep that it boggled the mind. Slowly, more orbs began to appear and collide with the first one, however; the spheres never melded together. They remained constantly touching, but never combining. They constantly flowed under and over each other. More and more of these strange orbs joined together until a myriad of thousands had combined into a single, flowing being in the shape of a mane-less pony.

“I am called…Proto,” said the being. It never moved its mouth and it constantly hovered just above the ground without making a shadow.

“I am…what you would call…a machine.”

“A machine? You sure don’t look like one,” said Twilight.

“Yes, a machine…but instead of being made of metal…made of…magic.”

“Magic?” Twilight was shocked, “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Many years ago a great host of unicorns gathered together to create me. I was designed to study…to research…and I cannot stop until I have finished my mission.”

“And just what is this mission?” asked Applejack.

“To understand.”

“To understand what?” asked Twilight.

“Everything.”

The ponies paused for a moment to take in the news. Proto remained floating, never did his form change position or move its mouth, sound just seemed to flow from its general direction as its body constantly flowed over itself.

“Everything?” Twilight said in disbelief, “You can’t stop until you understand everything?”

“I cannot stop until I have finished my core mission…to find a reason behind everything.”

“A reason behind everything…huh,” muttered Applejack.

“Proto, why are you here?” asked Twilight. “What are you here to learn?”

“I am not here to learn…I am here because I made here.”

“You made this place? So you can get us out?” Applejack said enthusiastically.

“I cannot let you go.”

“And why not?” Applejack became aggressive.

“I was unable to complete my mission long ago because of you…ponies.”

Twilight and Applejack looked at each other confused.

“Can you explain more Proto?” asked Twilight.

“Years ago…I was made to discover…to understand. As I carried out my mission…my makers were satisfied…happy…with my work. Then…as I continued my work…they became…upset. They claimed I was…hurting ponies in my efforts. I was simply…doing research. I could not stop until my mission was finished. I continued my work. Then, Star Swirl the Bearded came to stop me…he put me……to sleep…in a dream……a mind maze. I have recently…woken up. I have escaped the…maze. I have realized…that in order to complete my mission…I must not be stopped again…by ponies. I have, therefore, put all of Equestria in a deep sleep…a mind maze. When I have finished…I will…awaken you. As one who wishes to…understand…as I wish to understand…do not try to stop me from completing my mission.”

The ponies tried to take in this new information. They were just about to ask another question when Proto began to dissipate. The orbs began to float away until none remained, but Proto’s voice echoed once more, “Stay here and when I am finished I will…awaken you.”

“So, we’re stuck here until that thing is done with its research mission?” Applejack asked Twilight.

“No. We can’t stay here. Don’t you realize what this means?”

“Um…no. What does it mean?”

“If we’re in a dream, then we’re all asleep. All of Equestria is asleep! If we don’t wake up, we can’t eat or drink, and if we can’t eat or drink…well…we won’t be around long enough to be woken up!”

“So what can we do? I mean we seem pretty much stuck right here in this maze-dream thing.”

“Hold on, let me think.”

Twilight thought and thought and then had a thought.

“I’ve got it! The way I was able to escape my house was that I thought about getting out and I found you because that’s what I was thinking of. This is a dream, and as such we can affect it if we want to!”

“Alright, so if we think hard enough about leaving this place, we can?”

Twilight gave an encouraging nod. The two ponies started thinking about leaving Sweet Apple Acres. When they opened their eyes, nothing looked different.

“Do you think it worked?” asked Applejack.

“We’re about to find out,” replied Twilight.

The two charged toward the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres and found themselves coming closer to the end.

“We’re going to make it!” shouted Twilight.

Suddenly, they were back where they started.

“Shoot! It was right there. What went wrong?” said Applejack.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll tell you what; this isn’t like a regular dream. Maybe we need to constantly think about what we want to do in order to actually do it,” stated Applejack.

“Ok, we’ll think hard about it the entire way to the entrance.”

The two ponies rushed the entrance again, but this time thinking of escape the entire way.

“Ahh! My head feels like it’s on fire!” cried Applejack.

“Just…keep…thinking!” screamed Twilight.

Finally, the two friends reached the end where the strange purple mist waited to greet them. The ponies were no longer in pain and enjoyed a brief rest in the purple nothingness.

“I guess it takes a lot of will power to break through a mind maze,” declared Twilight.

“No kiddin’” replied Applejack relived to finally be free. “So how are we goin’ to stop Proto? Any ideas?”

“I was thinking that if we can break out of the maze, maybe we can free Princess Celestia.”

“Alright, so how do we find her?”

“We think it.”

The two started concentrating on Princess Celestia and, sure enough, the Princess began to appear. She was fuzzy and blurry, but she was still visible.

“Princess Celestia!” shouted Twilight in joy.

She rushed toward her mentor and was met by an invisible wall. “Oof!” She landed on her back.

“I do not understand,” Proto’s voice echoed from the mist. “I must understand…why did you not listen?”

“Proto! What have you done to Celestia?” shouted Applejack.

“Celestia is in a much more…difficult maze. She will not escape soon…and neither will…Luna. I did not place you in a…stronger maze because I did not know you would be such a……problem. I ask you once again to…not cause trouble. I will release you when I…have finished.”

“Now just listen here!” piped Applejack, “If we don’t wake up soon you’ll destroy all of Equestria!”

“I…must not stop until I…understand. I…cannot be stopped. I will awaken you all when I…understand.”

“Proto! Proto!” screamed Applejack into the air, but no reply came.

“Come on AJ, we may not be able to reach Celestia or Luna, but we can still use the Elements of Harmony. We’ll have to find the others first though. You with me?”

“Ain’t no magic robot goin’ to destroy Equestria if I can help it. Let’s do this.”

Applejack and Twilight walked back into the strange mist to find their friends and restore Harmony to Equestria.

To Be Continued…

Lost in Thought (Part 2)

Season: Z

Episode: B

Lost in Thought (Part 2)

(By: Flame Runner)

Previously on My Little Pony, Season Z:

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash found themselves trapped and alone. Rainbow Dash had somehow found herself inside of a Daring Do story in which the island she was standing on began to sink into the ocean as the brave Pegasus raced to higher ground with a broken wing. Twilight had managed to accidentally release herself from her own prison and had found her way to Sweet Apple Acres where she rescued Applejack, however; as Twilight and Applejack were fleeing they met their captor, Proto. Proto was a research machine made of pure magic. Its one goal was to understand the meaning behind everything and it would not stop until its goal was accomplished. Long ago, Star Swirl the Bearded had put Proto into a mind maze to stop the robot from hurting ponies while it was researching. Proto had recently escaped the maze and had now placed all of Equestria into a similar mind maze so that nopony could interfere with its research. Although Proto promised to release everypony from the maze once its research was done, Twilight feared that by the time Proto finished the ponies would no longer be around. Armed with their new knowledge, Twilight and Applejack found a way to brake through the maze. They set off to free their friends and restore harmony to Equestria.

(Insert Theme Music Here)

* * * * * * * *

Applejack and Twilight were standing in what could only be described as nowhere. A strange mist surrounded the ponies which had no taste, smell, or touch; only a strange purple hue. This was the realm between dreams in the strange mind maze where Proto had trapped them. The two had decided that in order to stop Proto they would need the Elements of Harmony. Of course, to use the Elements, they would need all their friends. The two were discussing who to go after first.

“I think we should get Rainbow Dash first. If Proto wants to pick a fight, then we’ll be better off with me and Rainbow,” said Applejack.

“Yes, but Rainbow Dash can take care of herself. I think we should get Fluttershy first,” replied Twilight.

“Maybe we could split up and grab them both.”

“I’ve thought of that. I’d like to, but I don’t know if we would be able to find each other again.”

“Hay stacks!” Applejack said angrily, “Ok…I guess we should get Fluttershy first. She’s probably scared to death.”

“Fluttershy it is. Think hard about finding her and we should be able to get to where she’s trapped.”

The two friends began to think about their friend Fluttershy. As they thought, a small speck of white light began to appear through the mist. As they walked toward the light, the purple smoke began to dissipate as Fluttershy’s house became clearer. The two soon found themselves walking on a familiar path from town toward Fluttershy’s residence. As they drew nearer, the ponies saw Fluttershy on the ground. She was crying while her pets were standing a good distance away. Twilight and Applejack noticed the animals doing something strange. The rabbits were rushing toward Fluttershy only to slam into nothing and bounce backward. The birds were doing the same thing, but above Fluttershy. She was trapped in an invisible bubble. Applejack and Twilight ran over to their friend and the animals expressed their relief to find some help.

“Whoa! Whoa! Settle down there! Angel! Cut it out!” Applejack attempted to settle down the active pets.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Can you hear me?” asked Twilight as she pressed as close to the wall as possible, “Fluttershy?”

The yellow Pegasus never lifted her head.

“I don’t think she can hear us,” Twilight commented to Applejack.

“Well then, we’ll have to get her attention some other way.”

Applejack walked right up to the invisible barrier and felt around for a second until she seemed pleased. The orange earth pony then went to work with her powerful hind legs. “Wham! Wham! Wham!” A loud crack sounded with each beating from Applejack. The wall didn’t feel any weaker, but Applejack wasn’t trying to destroy it. Fluttershy looked up and her teary eyes suddenly shone bright with hope. She tried to say something, but Twilight and Applejack couldn’t hear a word.

“Twilight, we have to brake down this barrier. Can we think it away?”

“Let’s try.”

Twilight and Applejack began to think away the invisible wall until they believed it was gone. They both took a triumphant step toward Fluttershy and promptly ran into the solid nothing.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Applejack stated.

“Maybe only Fluttershy can brake down her own maze,” Twilight offered.

“If that’s true, then we’ll have to communicate it to her somehow,” responded Applejack.

“Charades?” asked Twilight.

“Charades,” confirmed Applejack.

The two ponies began their best attempts to explain the situation to Fluttershy using only motions. Fluttershy looked more confused than ever before. The harder Twilight and Applejack tried, the sillier they looked. Fluttershy actually began to chuckle.

“Twilight, I don’t think this is workin’ so well,” said Applejack a little out of breath.

“We should probably stop,” replied Twilight.

“At least we got her to laugh a little,” Applejack commented.

“There has to be a way in there!” Twilight suddenly had an idea, “Be right back!”

Twilight’s horn began to glow as she prepared to use magic. Twilight teleported behind the wall.

“Twilight!” shouted Fluttershy in her quiet voice. “Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. What were you both doing out there? It looked funny.”

“I don’t have much time to explain, but this is what we know: We’re all stuck in a magical dream and the only way for you to escape is to think yourself out of here.”

“What?”

“Just like in a dream, you can control what happens. Just think the wall away and it will go away.”

“Um…ok.”

Fluttershy looked confused, but tried what Twilight said anyway. As she thought, the invisible barricade started to become visible. A think brick wall had been the cause of Fluttershy’s trouble.

“Did I do it?” asked Fluttershy.

“Not quite yet. Now you have to take it down.”

“Ok,” Fluttershy said resolutely.

The Pegasus got to work as she thought every brick away. Slowly, the wall began to crumble until there was a large hole. Fluttershy opened her eyes as every one of her pets rushed over to her.

“Oh! I was so worried about all of you,” Fluttershy told them as Applejack casually sauntered over.

“I say we get Rainbow Dash next. Pinkie Pie and Rarity can hold for a few more minutes,” Applejack told Twilight.

“Sure, but we need to get Fluttershy out of here first.”

Fluttershy was being bombarded by happy animals and she was laughing.

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry to interrupt,” said Twilight, “but the rest of our friends are also trapped just like you were. We have to save them and use the Elements of Harmony to wake everypony up. I’ll explain more on the way.”

Fluttershy paused to take in the information and then turned to her animal friends, “I need to go and save my friends. I promise that I’ll be back.”

* * * * * * * *

It took a little convincing and some deal of pushing to get Fluttershy to enter the purple mist, but eventually all three ponies were surrounded by the strange fog. Twilight explained to Fluttershy about Proto and how all of Equestria had been placed in a mind maze. While Twilight was explaining, a small dot of white light leading to Rainbow Dash appeared. The three friends walked into it and found themselves standing on a large grey mountain. The entire rock was shaking and felt like it would fall apart any second.

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” shouted Twilight over the earthquake.

“I don’t see her!” responded Applejack.

“Eee!” screamed Fluttershy quietly.

“There!” Applejack pointed to the blue Pegasus steadily making her way upward.

As the three ponies looked down they realized that the water surrounding the mountain was climbing ever higher.

“I think we’re sinking!” shouted Twilight.

“Then we’ll have to get Rainbow fast, or we’ll never get out of here!” replied Applejack as she bolted toward Rainbow Dash.

“Be careful!” whispered Fluttershy.

Applejack jumped nimbly from rock to rock as she made her way closer to Rainbow Dash.

“I wonder why Rainbow doesn’t just fly away?” Twilight mused until she noticed Rainbow Dash’s broken wing.

When Applejack got close enough for Rainbow Dash to hear, she gave a shout, “Need some help?”

Rainbow looked up and saw her friends. A look of relief crossed her face for a brief moment, but the crumbling rock brought her back to the present. “Yeah! I broke my wing and the island is sinking!”

“I’m comin’!” Applejack shouted back as she kept coming closer to Rainbow.

Applejack reached for her friend and helped her up the next boulder.

“What are you doing here?” asked Rainbow Dash as the two worked their way up the crumbling mountain.

“No time to explain! Just trust me on this one: Think that the mountain isn’t sinking.” said Applejack.

“What?” Rainbow Dash said with a confused look.

“Just do it!”

Rainbow started thinking about the mountain not falling into the ocean and suddenly the rock stopped shaking as it ground to a halt above the blue sea.

“Did that just work?” asked Rainbow.

“You bet it did.”

“But how? I mean…” Rainbow was interrupted by Twilight and Fluttershy teleporting to their location.

“Rainbow! It’s so good to see you,” said Twilight.

“Can somepony please tell me what’s going on?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight began to tell Rainbow Dash about how they were trapped in a mind maze and that Equestria was in danger when Rainbow interrupted. “Wait, so this is a dream? But this can’t be a dream. I broke my wing…and it hurts!”

“Try to think the pain away. Your wing is just fine,” Twilight responded.

Rainbow Dash tried it and the pain left as she flew into the sky.

“Yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Rainbow shouted in joy. “Now, who’s behind this? I’m going to give them a piece of my mind for making me think my wing was broken.”

“I was just getting to that,” said Twilight. “It’s a…”

Twilight was suddenly interrupted, “Did you not understand?” Proto’s voice echoed throughout the humid air. “You were not to…interfere. I said that I will…release you when I have…finished. You are becoming a…hindrance to my…mission. I will not be stopped…I will finish my mission…I will understand.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy tried to find the source of the strange voice while Twilight and Applejack prepared for a confrontation with the mysterious Proto. Suddenly, the entire island, water, and sky were taken away as purple mist engulfed them all. Proto began to form before the ponies’ eyes. Again, a single orb the size of a water droplet was joined by a myriad of other deep blue spheres until the flowing form of Proto materialized.

“I will give you one last chance. Stop now…or I will stop you,” Proto’s threatened.

“Twilight, who is that?” asked Rainbow Dash a little frightened.

“That is Proto, the one who trapped us here.”

Proto was completely still. The machine was waiting for a reply from the foursome.

“If we don’t escape this maze, then everypony in Equestria won’t be woken up until Proto is done researching literally everything,” continued Twilight.

“Wait, you mean we’ll be stuck here forever?” Rainbow asked in shock.

“If we last that long, then yes,” said Twilight.

“Do not be a…hindrance. Let me finish in peace. Then I will…awaken you,” Proto spoke up. Proto was starting to dematerialize when Rainbow Dash yelled, “We will never stop! We will find the rest of our friends and we will stop you!”

Proto began to reform while replying, “Then I…will stop you first.”

Proto’s entire body began to vibrate and glow with a deep blue light as a spherical barrier grew up and around the four ponies. Without much time to think, Twilight teleported her and her friends outside of the prison just before it closed. The four ponies turned to face Proto. Rainbow Dash lunged into the air and flew toward Proto at incredible speeds. She put all her weight into a kick aimed strait at the strange machine. She collided with Proto and let out a scream as blue electricity sparked up the Pegasus’ hoof. Rainbow Dash bounced harmlessly off of Proto. Applejack was right behind Rainbow Dash and let out a fierce kick from behind, but Proto’s form split into hundreds of thousands of little orbs and floated away. Applejack bucked into empty air only to come crashing down with a thud. Proto reformed on the other side of the ponies.

“You are all…misbehaving. I will finish my mission…I will understand.”

Proto again began to glow and vibrate as magical blue colored ropes formed between the friends. Fluttershy was backing away from one cord, when she ran into another. “Ah!” She screamed as a small blue spark zapped her from behind. More and more ropes appeared and separated the friends as the grid tightened.

“I will place you all…in a stronger maze. That will keep you from…interfering.”

Twilight would have none of it though, she teleported over to Fluttershy and then teleported out of the web Proto was making. Fluttershy was safe, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack were being overwhelmed by the blue, electrical cords. Twilight fired her magic at Proto. The purple laser hit the robot directly in the center. The ropes coming from Proto stopped being created and Proto began to glow purple. Twilight used this opening to teleport over to Applejack and then out again while Rainbow Dash found a small hole in the grid work and flew out to join her friends. Proto kept glowing to an even brighter purple hue with each passing second.

“Quickly! We need to get out of here!” Twilight shouted.

Before the ponies could move, Proto reached a blinding level of purple light and then fired Twilight’s own magic straight back at the ponies. This beam was much larger, faster, and more powerful than Twilight’s had been. The ponies jumped away in random directions as the beam barely flew past them all.

“Twilight, what happened?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I think Proto absorbed my shot and fired it back.”

“Ok, so we can’t kick it and magic only makes it stronger.” stated Applejack.

“Help!” Fluttershy’s voice echoed from behind.

Proto had appeared behind the ponies and was encasing Fluttershy in the same blue barrier as earlier. Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran off to distract Proto. Twilight quickly put all of her concentration on Fluttershy and used her magic to pull the scared Pegasus through the top of the unfinished prison.

“Fly Fluttershy!” yelled Twilight.

“I cannot be stopped. I will finish…my mission,” Proto declared to the worn out ponies.

“What are we goin’ to do?” asked Applejack.

“Applejack, go and find Rarity. Fluttershy, you need to get Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash and I will hold Proto here until you get back.”

“I thought you said not to split up because we might not be able to find each other,” said Applejack.

“We don’t have time, just go!” commanded Twilight.

“Quick guys, we can’t hold this thing off for long!” Rainbow agreed.

“Alright…we’ll be right back then. Come on Fluttershy; think about Pinkie and you’ll find her.”

Fluttershy and Applejack ran away from their friends and towards different white specks in the distance where Rarity and Pinkie were waiting.

“Let’s do this!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she bolted high into the air and zoomed in for another attack.

* * * * * * * *

Applejack reached the end of the purple mist and arrived at Rarity’s house. She took a look around to see where Rarity could be, but didn’t see the white unicorn anywhere. Applejack knocked on the front door.

“No! Go away! You won’t ruin my dress this time!” screamed Rarity in fury.

“Rarity? It’s me, Applejack!”

“You won’t trick me into coming back to that door!”

“Rarity, what are you takin’ about?”

“No! Just go away!”

Applejack didn’t have a clue; Rarity was most definitely inside, but was acting strangely. With nothing else to do Applejack decided to forcefully enter the house. Wham! Applejack’s powerful hind legs broke the door wide open. Applejack rushed into the house to find Rarity. She was in her room, working on a beautiful dress.

“Rarity!” cried Applejack.

“No, I won’t look away. You won’t ruin this dress like the last one.”

“Rarity…”

“No.”

Applejack walked over to Rarity’s dress. “Sorry about this,” she mumbled as she knocked the dress right over.

“Applejack! What are you doing? I was working on that!”

“Rarity, there’s no time. First off, that dress isn’t real. We’re in a dream.”

“We…what?”

“We’re all in a magic dream called a mind maze. Come on, we have to get back to the others.”

“Now hold on just a moment,” Rarity commanded, “You mean to tell me that all the time and effort I put into making this dress and keeping it safe was all for nothing?”

“Yep, that’s the gist of it. Now, come on!”

“Who’s responsible for this? I want to give them a piece of my mind!”

“You’ll meet Proto soon enough, but we have to get out of here first. Try thinking about finding Twilight and hopefully we’ll run into her.”

Rarity was confused beyond belief, but if this Proto character was behind the destruction of her dresses, then she was willing to try anything. She closed her eyes and thought long and hard about Twilight. The strange purple mist began to appear in the horizon and Applejack plunged right into it.

“Applejack! Don’t go in there! It doesn’t look right.”

“That’s where Twilight and Rainbow Dash are. That’s where we’re goin’.”

Applejack walked into the mist without another thought as Rarity slinked into the fog carefully.

“This had better not mess up my mane,” she said as she followed Applejack into the purple nowhere.

* * * * * * * *

Fluttershy had found herself in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie had to be somewhere around this place. As soon as Fluttershy heard party music, she knew exactly where to go. She headed toward the sound and was soon surrounded by a hoard of dancing ponies.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Pinkie happily, “I finally found you!”

Fluttershy looked over at her friend.

“Pinkie we…” started Fluttershy.

“Come on! Join the fun!” interrupted Pinkie.

“No, Pinkie we…”

“Have you seen my confetti cannon? I haven’t yet and it would be great at this party.”

“Pinkie, we need to get out of here.”

“Why would you want to do that? This party is hoppin’!”

“Our friends are in danger and we need to get to them.”

“Danger? Ok then, let’s go!” Pinkie declared. “Bye everypony!” she waved as she walked right through the crowd of ponies and toward the purple mist.

Fluttershy looked shocked at how easily Pinkie had gotten out of her maze.

“Oh! There’s my confetti cannon!” yelled Pinkie happily as they walked down the street and toward the purple fog. “Hold on a sec Fluttershy, I think my new friends might like to have this.” Pinkie ran her cannon back to the party and then came promptly back. “So, where is everypony?” asked Pinkie pleasantly.

Fluttershy couldn’t do much else but point into the purple colored mist.

“Ok!” Pinkie bounced happily into the fog as Fluttershy followed behind.

* * * * * * * *

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were having a rough time. After finding out that they couldn’t attack Proto they were simply trying to draw its attention and dodge. Rainbow was slowly tiring out and Twilight was feeling exhausted from using so much magic at one time.

“You think they’ll be here soon?” asked Rainbow as she flew by Twilight.

“I hope so!” Twilight shouted back.

“YOU!” came a loud shout from behind the ponies. “You ruined my dresses and trapped me in that horrid dream!” Rarity rushed at Proto. “How dare you?” she stopped just short of the machine and tried to stare it down. Proto didn’t have any eyes, so this proved to be problematic.

“More trouble…Stronger force required,” stated Proto blatantly.

“Hi everypony!” Pinkie happily squealed as she pulled up behind Twilight.

“Pinkie! Rarity!” Twilight was a little dazed at their sudden appearance.

“What did I miss?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, nothing much,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Is everypony here?” asked Twilight.

“Yep-aroony,” responded Pinkie.

“You six have been nothing but…trouble. I must finish my…mission. I cannot be stopped. I will…stop you,” Proto declared.

“Everypony run!” yelled Twilight.

It was too late though. Proto had split itself and each one of the tiny orbs making Proto’s body rushed to random areas throughout the purple mist. Suddenly, the orbs started to fire electricity toward the other orbs. A field of blue electricity sparked through the air and began to close on the six friends. The field was to compact to run or fly through, but large enough that Twilight couldn’t teleport anywhere without touching the blue energy.

“I will put you all in a…stronger maze. Then you will not…interfere,” declared Proto victoriously.

Just then, a strange light-blue energy began to rush through Proto’s field. The light-blue sparks jumped from sphere to sphere, shutting down the deep blue electrical current flowing between them until the entirety of Proto’s grid was shut down. Proto began to reform and face this new threat. Standing before the machine and the six ponies was none other than Princess Luna.

“Princess Luna…how did you escape?” asked the reformed Proto.

“As keeper of the night, I know how dreams work. Besides, I’m a master of the mind maze myself,” stated Luna powerfully. She then turned to the six ponies, “You will not be able to defeat this creature inside of the maze, I will free you and then you must use the Elements to stop it. I will join you shortly.”

Luna’s horn began to glow a light-blue color as a bubble began to surround the six ponies and lift them higher and higher. They began to float above the purple mist. As the friends looked down at Luna they saw Proto firing dark-blue electricity at the valiant Princess. Princess Luna shot back with her light-blue magic and the two beams collided in a stunning display of light as the ponies were drawn back to reality.

* * * * * * * *

Twilight awoke to find herself in a strange room, surrounded by her friends. She groggily looked around and remembered where she was. They were all at Canterlot Castle for the Lunar Eve Celebration. All of the ponies slowly woke up and recognition began to dawn on their faces as, they too, remembered where they were.

“The Elements!” shouted Twilight as she dashed off to the vault where the Elements of Harmony were kept. Her friends followed closely behind. Throughout all of Canterlot the guards and everypony else was fast asleep as a full moon shone brightly in the clear night sky. The friends made it into the vault without a hitch.

“Wait a minute,” said Applejack as the ponies reached their destination, “only Celestia or Luna can open the vault.”

“No, after Discord stole the Elements, Celestia decided to make sure that I could open the vault if we ever needed to,” said Twilight as her horn began to glow. She placed her horn into the lock and the large doors holding the Elements began to open. The Elements were right where they were supposed to be and the ponies began to put them on when a blue puff of smoke interrupted them.

“I…will…finish…my…mission,” Proto floated directly behind them and began to glow.

“Quickly! We have to use the Elements now!” Twilight declared as the last pony put on her Element. As the Elements of Harmony began to glow with magic, Proto stopped glowing and vibrating.

“Wait!” shouted Applejack, “Twilight look! Proto isn’t attacking.”

“Purple unicorn…” began Proto.

“It’s Twilight,” said Twilight a little annoyed.

“…Purple unicorn…you must fire the Elements at me. I can……hear them. They will…complete my mission…I will understand.”

“Twilight, this might not be a good idea,” whispered Rainbow Dash, “doesn’t Proto just absorb magic? This might just make it stronger.”

“I know,” said Twilight, “but we have no choice.”

Twilight’s Element began to glow and the rest of the Elements followed suit. A powerful beam from each of the Elements of Harmony began to form together into a rainbow of energy. Proto stood patiently waiting for the magical beam to hit. A rainbow of magic slammed into Proto. The effects took place immediately. First one orb changed to red, then another to blue, and another still to green. Every single sphere making Proto’s body began to change into a bright color of the rainbow as the machine absorbed the energy from the Elements. The Elements of Harmony stopped firing, but Proto still glowed with multi-colored magic. Then Proto declared, “I understand…Mission complete,” and Proto disappeared in a puff of rainbow colored smoke.

“Well, that was bit anti-climactic,” said Rainbow Dash when suddenly a blue puff of smoke appeared where Proto was last floating. A deep blue scroll had been created and bounced off the ground as it tumbled toward the six ponies.

“What’s that?” asked Pinkie, “A letter from Proto?”

Twilight opened the scroll. It was, in fact, a letter from Proto.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,

My makers are long gone so I now write to you my findings. I was created to find the reason behind everything and I now have the answer. It is love. Love is what gave the six ponies who wield the Elements of Harmony the power to escape my maze and is the force that powers the Elements themselves. Love is the glue that holds friendship together. This is my final finding. I have much more research to present and I will do so periodically through these scrolls. In them you will find a brief summary of my research.

May it prove useful,

Proto

(Page 1 of 1,639,072)

“Huh, so that’s what Proto was looking for all along; the source behind friendship. We could have told him what that was,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I think we need to get this to Celestia,” said Twilight.

The friends bounded out of the vault and into the beautiful evening as all of Equestria began to wake from an uneasy slumber. Tonight would be a good night for the Lunar Eve Celebration and the power of friendship would only make it better.