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…

Next Chapter: Lost in Thought (Part 2) Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes