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.