“Thank you! Thank you! You have been a wonderful audience, but unfortunately, Trixie’s performance must come to an end! If you wish to see more, you will have to come back at the same time tomorrow!”
Trixie bowed for her audience, took a moment to wave at her adoring fans, and then unleashed a smokescreen, allowing her to exit the stage unseen.
Once Trixie was back in her trailer, she started the least favourite part of her performances: packing up her stage. She had to use her magic to fold it back up, and because of the lack of space in her trailer, putting away her props and gadgets and such was quite a challenge.
Once everything was packed up, she counted the money that she had received from her performance, and was quite pleased with the total. “Well, it looks like the Great and Powerful Trixie will be eating and bathing tonight. If Trixie had known Manehattens were so willing to throw their bits away, she would have performed here much sooner.”
Trixie split the money that she had earned into three piles. One for tonight’s meal, one for a trip to the local bathhouse, and one for replenishing her stage supplies, such as fireworks. She placed each pile into its own pouch, and prepared to leave her trailer.
When she neared the door, she opened it slightly to peer outside. She could tell that she was being followed, but she wasn’t sure who it was. ‘The shops aren’t too far. If I stay on the streets amongst the crowds, I should be fine.’
Trixie exited her trailer, and locked it with her magic. She was immediately ambushed by a group of foals and, presumably, their carers. The foals wanted Trixie’s autograph, and to hear more of Trixie’s stories.
Trixie wanted to hurry up and get her shopping done, but with this many fans asking for her autograph, she couldn’t simply turn them down. It would look bad. She began signing the autographs, but told the foals that she didn’t have enough time to tell anymore stories tonight.
Once she was done, and the crowd had died down, Trixie began moving down the street, heading towards the bathhouse first. ‘They’re right behind me…Surely they wouldn’t attack me out in public, would they?’
“Princess, please calm down!” one of the Royal Guards begged as Celestia stormed into Luna’s room, an angry look on her face.
“Luna!? Where are you!? Answer me!” Celestia lit up Luna’s room, and searched practically every single spot. But in the end, she was unable to find any trace of her sister. “Paradox…How could you do this?”
“Princess.” Celestia turned to see a guard approaching her, holding a scroll in her magic. “This message was left by the attacker.”
Celestia grabbed the scroll into her own magic and unrolled it.
Dear Celestia,
Don’t worry about your sister. I’m simply borrowing her for a bit. I need some company, after all.
If you would like her back, I would be willing to make a trade. Your sister, for Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour. Naturally I want them bound, and their magic suppressed. If you agree to this, then meet me at the Frozen Wastelands, in the old watchtower, tomorrow at 16:45. And no funny business. Your sister’s life is in my hooves, after all.
Paradox
Celestia stared at the letter in shock, horror, and disbelief. She fell down onto her haunches, and simply stared into space for a few minutes.
“Princess?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she entered the room, he friends standing outside. “Are you ok? Is there anything I can do?”
“…Please…Just leave me be, Twilight,” Celestia answered.
“But I-”
“LEAVE! NOW!” Celestia shouted, startling everypony in and just outside of the room. Celestia brought a hoof to her face, and let out a deep sigh. “I want to be alone for awhile.”
Twilight stared at her teacher for a moment, before nodding and turning to leave. The guards inside the room followed suit, and once the Princess was the only one left in the room, she slammed the door shut with her magic.
“Is she gonna be ok?” Applejack asked with a concerned look on her face.
“Of course she will be,” Twilight said confidently, although that confidence dropped fairly quickly. “At least, I hope so. I’ve never seen her like that.”
“I’m sure she’ll be just fine, Twilight,” Rarity assured, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and shooting her a comforting gaze. “It’s understandable that she’s upset, with her sister taken by that dangerous Unicorn, but she is Princess Celestia, after all. I’m sure she’ll be just fine after a moment to herself.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.” Twilight pulled Rarity into a hug as she thanked her, with Pinkie Pie joining in, and pulling the others in with her, forming a big group hug.
A moment later, Luna’s door swung open quickly, and everypony outside immediately turned their attention to the regal white Alicorn that emerged from inside. She looked down at the group of friends with a serious look on her face, her expression a mixture of anger and determination.
“Twilight Sparkle, your friends will stay here. I want you to come with me.” Celestia immediately began moving down the hallway, only stopping to tell Twilight to follow her.
“Wait! What’s going on? Where are we going? And why-”
“I will answer your questions later. But we have to act now. We only have one chance to stop Paradox, and we need to reach Manehatten before he does.”
Twilight turned to face her friends, and saw that they all shared the same look of uncertainty. “…You heard her, girls. I’ll be going on this trip alone.”
“But Twilight-”
“No buts,” Twilight interrupted, “I trust the Princess’ judgement, and I know that everything will be just fine if she says so.”
Applejack stepped forward and extended a forehoof towards Twilight. “Well, it seems we ain’t got much choice. Just promise you’ll be alright, ‘kay?”
Twilight smiled at her friend, and extended her own hoof to meet Applejack’s. “Of course.”
Celestia remained silent as she watched Twilight say her goodbyes to her friends, a grim look on her face as she was forced to turn away from the scene. ‘I hope this works…I’m out of options. This is my last choice if I don’t want to bring in them.’
“That’ll be 55 bits, ma’am,” the store clerk said as she finished placing Trixie’s items into a paper bag. Trixie levitated the small pouch of bits onto the counter, and handed the store clerk her 55 bits. “Thank you ma’am.”
Trixie exited the surprisingly varied-items store with a bag full of various props and tools that she could use in her shows.
“Well, that’s about it for Trixie’s shopping today. Now Trixie can go home and get her beauty…” Trixie stopped and turned around to look behind her. “…Sleep.”
Trixie continued walking down the street, slowly increasing her pace as she moved down the street. After a while, she turned to move down one of the alleyways, and broke into a gallop. ‘They’re really persistent! Well, Trixie knows some street tricks she can use.’
Trixie navigated through the alleyway, using her magic to create illusions designed to slow her stalker down. Once she was far enough in, she spotted a group of ponies sitting around a fire, looking up at Trixie with disgruntled looks. Trixie placed a few bits near them with her magic, and quickly passed by them. “See to it that Trixie is not followed, and this money is yours,” Trixie said, before resuming into a full gallop.
The three ponies happily took the money, and when a second pony appeared before, they were happy to pick up some nearby lead pipes and stand in his way. “Alright boys, you heard the fine lady. She doesn’t wanna be followed.”
Shining Armour sighed, and took out a small knife concealed in his shirt. “Why does she have to make this so hard for me?”
Trixie continued running as fast as she could through the alleyways, until she eventually came out into the Manehatten shipyard. She walked out towards a crowd gathering around some kind of event, panting heavily from running so hard.
‘Well, I seem to have lost them for now. I’d better hurry up and return to my trailer before they do. I’ll set up a few diversions here, to keep my pursuer busy.’
Trixie horn lit up, and unleashed a bright flash of light, startling nearby ponies. When the light died down, Trixie galloped off down the shipyard, leaving a fake Trixie sitting on a nearby bench, panting heavily as if it were worn out.
Trixie continued to set up these fake Trixies all throughout Manehatten as she moved closer to her trailer, until she was getting too tired to carry it on any longer. ‘Well, looks like my next show won’t be having that performance.’
When Trixie had finally made it back to her trailer, she was completely tired out. She was not only panting heavily, but she felt like her horn was going to fall off. Her entire body was covered in sweat, making the bath that she had earlier that day a complete waste.
She attempted to unlock her trailer, but discovered that it was already unlocked. She backed away from her trailer, eyeing it suspiciously. However, before she could assess the situation, she saw something coming towards her out of the corner of her eye. She quickly ducked, causing the incoming assailant to fly over her, and crash into a mailbox on the side of the street.
Trixie turned to face her assailant, and saw some strange dog-like creature trying to remove its head from a mailbox. “Who are you?” she demanded, glaring at the creature in front of her. Two more dogs came and helped out their friend out. “Answer Trixie!”
“Silence, pony!” Rover said once his head was free, after shaking off a slight headache. “You will come with us, right now!”
“Is that right? Sorry, but Trixie is busy right now. If you want Trixie’s autograph, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
“NO!” Rover shouted, charging at Trixie once again. Trixie dodged the incoming attack and retaliated with a spin kick to Rover’s back, knocking him down. She saw the other two coming at her from both sides, and quickly jumped back to distance herself from them. “Get her!”
“On it!” Fido shouted, running up to Trixie with his claws extended. Trixie dodged to her left, batted Fido’s arm away, and knocked Fido back by kicking his stomach.
Spot attempted to take Trixie by surprise by sneaking up on her from behind, but Trixie was able to notice him, and bucked Spot with her hind legs, sending him flying across the street and landing on painfully on his back.
Rover tried to get up, but his back was in too much pain. “H-Hurry! Get the pony! GET HER, HURRY!”
Trixie raised an eyebrow at what she assumed to be the leader of this pack of dogs. ‘Why is he so freaked out? Did I do something to him at some point? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before…’
Trixie decided to make her way to her trailer and leave, but as soon as she turned her head to face her trailer, she felt a painful shock throughout her body, and before she could process what had just happened, her body fell completely limp, and she passed out in the middle of the empty street.
“Good work,” she heard a voice say in her last moments of consciousness, “You guys made wonderful diversion tools. I assure you that you’ll be well rewarded for this.”
Shining Armour made his way out of the alleyway as quickly as he could. Fending off those three ruffians without seriously harming them proved to be a difficult task, even for a Captain of the Royal Guard.
“Alright, now where is she?” he asked himself, before noticing a familiar blue Unicorn resting on a nearby bench. “…Seriously? She puts me through all that, and then makes it so easy to catch her?” Shining Armour sighed and rubbed a hoof against his forehead. “Well, whatever, let’s just get this over with. I’ll try not to get spotted this time.”
Shining Armour walked over to a nearby restaurant, and took a seat at one of the tables outside, keeping his eyes fixed on Trixie.
“Sir? Your order?”
“At ease,” Shining Armour responded on reflexively, but then immediately realised what he said and quickly corrected himself. “I-I mean, I’ll just have a glass of water please!” The waiter raised his eyebrow, but Shining Armour simply smiled back.
“Just water, sir?”
“Yep!” Shining Armour’s smile grew wider, and he began sweating nervously.
“…Very well then.” The waiter moved away from the seemingly crazy pony to fetch his order.
Shining Armour breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned back to face Trixie…Who was now lying on her side, her right cheek in a pile of ice-cream on the floor, and her left cheek being pecked at by pigeons.
Shining Armour raised an eyebrow, and slowly walked over to the bench, taking care not to be noticed by Trixie. When he got close enough to properly see her body, his eyes widened, and he had to do his very best not to curse out loud right there and then. “OH COME ON!” he shouted, before taking off down the shipyard, not caring about the odd looks that he was getting from everypony.
‘This mare is unbelievable! A dummy to throw me off!? REALLY!?´Shining Armour’s thought process stopped as he saw the blue Unicorn he was chasing at a store’s window, staring at the jewellery inside. ‘Forget doing this secretly! I’m just gonna explain why I’m here! It’ll definitely make this easier.’
Shining Armour approached Trixie with that thought in mind, but as soon as he was close enough to talk to her, once again, he realised that it was a dummy, and almost lost his temper yet again.
“TRIXIIIIIIIE!” he shouted out loud, before once again taking off down the shipyard.
This same routine happened a few more times. Shining Armour would see Trixie, approach her, and then find out that it was just a dummy. And each time, it wouldn’t be any better. Of course, he couldn’t just ignore any of the Trixies that he had passed. There was a chance that she was disguising herself as one of these dummies further along the line, thinking that Shining Armour would just pass by her after encountering so many dummies.
Eventually, after running past enough Trixies, he realised that they were actually leading towards where Trixie’s trailer was. Shining Armour considered his options, and realised that Trixie would either return to her trailer later, or has already returned. So really, skipping the dummies and just going there now would be the best option for him.
If she’s already left, then he’ll need to know sooner, so that he can organise a search party. Whereas if she’s going to return there later, then he’ll be ready for when she goes back.
Shining Armour cut through a nearby alleyway, and began galloping as fast as he could to where he remembered Trixie’s trailer was parked.
“Pandora’s Box?” Twilight asked. Celestia and Twilight were on their way to Manehatten, and Celestia decided to take this time to explain things to Twilight. “What’s that?”
Celestia simply shook her head at her pupil. “I’m afraid that even I do not know, Twilight. All I know is that that is what resides within the Ancient Tomb.”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, trying to recall if she had ever come across the term before. “And it’s what Paradox is after?”
“I have no doubts. And to accomplish this, he stole the Key of the Ancient Tomb from the Alicorn kingdom.”
Twilight looked up at her mentor. “But he needs me and Shining Armour, right? Why?”
“In order to release the seal placed on the tomb, Paradox needs two things: knowledge of the spell needed to release the seal, and a Unicorn with a lot of raw magic power, who can offer their energy for him. Two, if they’re not co-operative, since forcing their energy out only yields about half of their energy.”
Twilight nodded her head in understanding. “I see…So that’s why he wanted me and Trixie…And why he’s also after Shining Armour.”
“That’s right,” Celestia confirmed, “And now, he’s taken Luna, and is using her as a bargaining tool to get what he wants.” A tear fell down Celestia’s cheek. “He’s…No longer the son I once knew. The Paradox I once knew would never do something like this.” Twilight moved over to Celestia and rubbed her head against her neck comfortingly. Twilight heard Celestia mumble: “It’s like Nightmare Moon all over again…”
A heavy silence passed between the two, with Twilight holding her mentor in an attempt to comfort her, and Celestia trying to hold back her tears. “Why couldn’t I have just accepted his love? Why did I have to try and keep him at a distance?”
“You thought you were doing what was right, Princess…And I think you were right.”
“…I sacrifice so much for my kingdom. To keep my subjects alive and happy, I give up so much of my life, and devote my entire being to being Equestria’s ruler. So why? Why can I not choose to keep a hold of one thing without it causing a disaster? If I had just paid no attention to my own heart…If I just put his needs before my own…None of this would have ever happened.”
“…But that’s just wrong, Princess.” Celestia looked down at Twilight, who was staring up into her mentor’s eyes. “You’re an Alicorn, but you’re still just an ordinary, mortal pony. It’s perfectly fine for you to feel love, and fear, and pain, and all sorts of things. And it’s understandable that you’d want to act on those feelings.
“Personally, I think it’s unreasonable to ask anypony to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of others. And if Paradox loved you…Really loved you, then he should have seen that you couldn’t accept his love because it was too hard for you. And he should have tried to make it easier for you, not…Do all this.”
Another silence passed for a few minutes, and then Celestia spoke up once more. “Twilight. Paradox has gone way too far, hasn’t he?”
“…Yeah…”
“He has endangered innocent lives, attacked Royal Guards, committed murder, foalnapped my sister, and, he is threatening all of Equestria.” Another silence, and then Celestia, after finding her resolve, continued. “He must be stopped. At any cost.”
“…”
“Twilight, I’m not going to force you to do anything, but-”
“I’ll do it,” she answered, before Celestia could finish. “But you’ll have to discuss this with the others, too. After all, if we use the Elements on him, then he’ll…”
“He’ll die,” Celestia said, wrapping her wings around Twilight, who flinched at her words. “I know. I’ll make sure to discuss this with each one of them. But, this will still only be a last resort. I still want to believe that Paradox can be reasoned with…But I won’t be blinded by faith anymore. He gets one more chance, and just one.”
The rest of the trip was spent in complete silence, and after another 30 minutes, the chariot finally landed just outside of Manehatten. Celestia was surprised to see Shining Armour waiting for them on the ground, panting heavily as he saluted his Princess. “Princess! It’s, uh, pleasant to see you again! I happened to see your chariot approaching, and came to greet you!”
Celestia exited the chariot, leaving Twilight inside. She approached Shining Armour, and looked around, before fixing her gaze on the white Unicorn. “And what about your mission? Where is Trixie?”
Shining Armour looked down at the ground dejectedly, before raising his head back up and swallowing hard. “I-I lost her, Princess.” He closed his eyes and waited for a scolding from the Princess, but when he received nothing, he opened his eyes again, and saw the Princess standing in front of him with her eyes closed. She seemed to be deep in thought. “Um…Princess?”
Celestia opened her eyes, and then turned back to face the chariot. “I see…She was taken by the enemy?”
“I-I don’t know. She tried to shake me off, and…Did…”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed by Trixie’s ability to shake off a Captain of the Royal Guard. “Well, that’s unsettling…But there’s not much we can do about it now. Let’s just hope she escaped on her own.”
Celestia boarded the chariot, and then turned back to Shining Armour. “Captain, I came here to give you new orders. You are to return to the castle with us right now.”
“But…Trixie…”
“If Trixie is in danger, then there is nothing that we can do for her right now,” Celestia said, a hint of impatience in her voice. “Tomorrow, we are going to end this whole thing. And you, Captain, will play the most vital role in our plan.”
“Which is?”
Celestia narrowed her eyes at Shining Armour, and levitated him onto the chariot. “I will explain that when we are back in Canterlot.” And with that, the chariot took off into the sky, heading back towards Canterlot Castle.
Trixie awoke in a dark room, her legs chain against a rocky wall, and her magic bound in some way. “Ugh…Where am I?” she asked nopony in particular.
“Good. You’re awake.” Trixie turned her face up to see the cloaked pony that she recognised as Paradox. “I hope you’re happy. Thanks to you, I was unable to capture both of my targets!”
Trixie tried to remember what happened.
“Hey, what is pony doing?”
Paradox turned to face Trixie, who was now standing on her hooves, though she looked like a puppet dangling from its strings. “She’s moving unconsciously? This reminds me of Twilight’s performance back then…Survival instincts kicking in?”
Trixie’s head lifted so that she was facing Paradox, and she propelled herself forward with her magic. The speed was surprising to Paradox, and he was only just able to avoid it, although Trixie did manage to knock off his cloak.
Paradox let out a loud yelp, and unleashed a powerful attack at Trixie, throwing her across the street and into a building. He quickly picked up his cloak with his magic, and put it back on. “PICK HER UP AND PUT HER IN THE TRAILER!” he shouted to the Diamond Dogs, more out of fear than anger. “HURRY!”
The Diamond Dogs quickly nodded, and rushed over to Trixie, who was surprisingly still alive, although she was bleeding very badly.
Paradox wanted nothing more than to grab Trixie’s mane and slam her head into the wall behind her. But he still had plans for her, and so, he held off on his desire for revenge for now. Instead, he leaned down to talk to Trixie at eyelevel, who stared back at him with venom in her eyes.
“Trixie, let’s have a talk. Last time, you never really got to hear me out.”
“Trixie’s not joining you,” Trixie said, spitting into Paradox’s face.
Paradox once again had to suppress his anger, and took a deep, calming breath. “Trixie…Aren’t you tired of your whole life being a lie?” Trixie didn’t answer. “I can make you great and powerful, for real.”
“HA! Trixie is already great and powerful! It’s literally her name! You’re wasting your time, Trixie is not-”
“How would you like to have the power to actually be able to defeat an Ursa Major?”