vworrrrrrrrp... vworrrrrrrrrp...vworrrrrrrrrrp
The door to the TARDIS opened, and Twilight and the Doctor cautiously peered out. They both glanced first at the moon; pristine and white.
“Well, Luna hasn't been banished yet,” said Twilight. “We seem to be right on time.”
“Of course,” said the Doctor. “Now, how can Paradox prevent Nightmare Moon's defeat?”
“The easiest way is probably to somehow sabotage the Elements of Harmony,” said Twilight. “Celestia was reluctant to fight against her sister, while Nightmare Moon was more than willing to injure Celestia; without the Elements, I'm not sure Celestia could have made it.”
“That makes sense,” agreed the Doctor. “Do you know where the Elements are in this time?”
“Under the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight said, promptly. She pointed at a nearby building.
The Doctor nodded. “Then let's go check up on them,” he said. “Does it have tapestries?”
“Yes,” said Twilight. “It's famous for them.”
“Good,” said the Doctor. He cantered along the side of the building, until he reached a door. He knocked, and the door instantly opened.
“Tapestry inspector,” said the Doctor, not paying attention to the pony who had opened the door, “come to inspect your – oh.”
Paradox grinned at the Doctor. He was wearing a bulging pair of saddlebags.
Twlight, who had been paying attention when Paradox had opened the door, had her wings spread slightly, her head lowered, and her magic ready.
“Well, hello, Doctor,” said Paradox. “I must say, I really thought I'd lost you with that last jump.” He stepped outside the palace, closing the door behind him. “Not that it really matters,” he continued. “You're not going to exist for long. Oh, and do tell your pet alicorn to stand down, would you? There's nothing either of you can do now to save yourselves.”
“I doubt that,” said the Doctor. “I doubt that very much indeed. Let me guess – you've sabotaged the Elements in some way?”
Paradox smirked. “I've stolen Laughter,” he said. “Without one of the Elements, their power is weakened; Celestia will die, and by the time you arrive, Doctor, injured and alone, your TARDIS weakened and damaged, there won't be anypony left alive. Without a safe place to rest and recover, you will die, Doctor. You will die, and then I... I will never have existed.”
Twilight frowned. “You... you want to not exist?” she asked.
Paradox's expression darkened. “Do you know how I escaped from Discord?” he asked. “He never took away my time machine, no. He just activated it, sending me back to the beginning, time and time again. There was no escape through time, Princess. So I did the only thing I could.” Paradox strode forward, forcing Twilight back. “I waited.” said Paradox. “I was his plaything, Princess. I was the toy that never broke. But just because I can't be injured doesn't mean I can't feel pain, Princess. I had to wait him out, Princess, destroy my time machine and rebuild it after his defeat. I had to wait, I don't know how long, it must have been at least three hundred years. And not just once, Princess. Time and time again. And every time, there's only one thing that keeps me sane, Princess. Knowing that when I get out, I am going to make it not have happened. The first thing I do when I get out, Princess, every time – I try to kill you. And this time – I'm going to succeed.”
“No, you're not,” said the Doctor. “I'm... sorry. I really am. But you can't win here. It's temporally impossible. You'd know that... if you were honest with yourself.”
“I'LL KILL YOU!” yelled Paradox, leaping for the Doctor. Before he could reach his target, though, Twilight grabbed him in her magic, and lifted him up and away.
“So we just need to take Laughter out of his saddlebags, and put it back with the other Elements?” asked Twilight. “This should be easy.” The left saddlebag opened, and Twilight pulled out a familiar blue crystal.
...a whole series of familiar, and identical, blue crystals.
Paradox laughed maniacally. “It doesn't matter!” he cried, triumphantly. “There's no way you can tell the real from the fakes in time! Even if you manage to get one in place, it'll never be the right one!”
“Telling a real Element of Harmony from an inert sapphire is a fairly simple spell,” said Twilight. “It only takes a minute or so to cast.”
“And just how many minutes do you think you have?” snarled Paradox.
* * *
“There can only be one Princess in Equestria! And that Princess,” Luna said, stomping her forelegs, and destroying the bridge that symbolically connected her and Celestia's thrones, “will be ME!”
* * *
Twilight looked up as a window in the Castle of the Two Sisters suddenly blew inward. And then she looked further up, as the moon moved directly in front of the sun, and an unnatural night fell over the city.
“...not enough minutes,” she admitted.
A triumphant burst of evil laughter sounded from inside the Castle.
“Look, Paradox,” said the Doctor, “it's still possible to help you. We don't have to fight. You don't have to kill anypony.”
Paradox grinned. “Too late, Doctor,” he said. “I've killed you all already. And if it doesn't stick then I'll do it AGAIN and AGAIN until you're DEAD!”
Twilight shook her head. “No,” she said. “I think I know how to fix this.” She glanced up, as a beam of cyan light sliced out through the roof of the Castle.
Paradox screamed incoherently, legs flailing as he struggled against Twilight's magic. “I'LL KILL YOU!” he yelled. “I'LL KILL YOU I'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOU! I'LL KILL YOUR PARENTS BEFORE YOU WERE BORN! YOUR GRANDPARENTS! GREAT-GRANDPARENTS! I'LL GO UP AND UP THE FAMILY TREE UNTIL I SUCCEED!”
Twilight calmly put the crystals – all of them – back into Paradox's backpack. And then she pressed one hoof down on the bulge at the bottom of the flower that Discord had given her.
A stream of strawberry milk spat out at Paradox, and immediately grabbed his time machine. The milk hit several buttons, and with an even louder scream of rage, Paradox vanished.
One single blue crystal remained where he had been. From its position, Twilight guessed that Paradox had swallowed it.
“The Elements of Harmony,” said the Doctor, recalling their earlier conversation with Discord. “Can't travel through time.”
“Exactly,” nodded Twilight. “I've got to -”
“Put that back and then get out here so I can yell at you!” said the Doctor. “Do you have any conception of what you just did?”
Twilight may have saved Celestia and Equestria, but now they have absolutely no idea when Paradox has gone, or what he'll do there. That... could've gone better.
In any case, Paradox is clearly insane. He's actually something of a tragic figure. Omnicidal, yes, but tragic.
5573109
Actually, that's the only time that'll get mentioned in this story
My reasons for including it go back to the Season One premiere. Do you remember seeing the Crusaders, all huddled together behind a table, when Nightmare Moon appeared? Yet that was before they had met each other (in Call of the Cutie).
Therefore, I decided, the clear and simple explanation of that scene was that the Crusaders had travelled through time at some point. And since I was writing a time travel story in any case, I thought I'd slip them in as a brief cameo...
5599319
On the contrary, the Doctor knows precisely when the strawberry milk sent Paradox to. After all, the Doctor's already been then, and quite recently, too. Paradox is not experiencing events in the same order as our heroes...
Problem. You said Paradox can't learn. He is retaining experiences and allowing them to influence his behavior. That's learning.
5617306
I'm sure I can think of scarier. How about "Cutie mark crusader draconequuses!"?
...though you're right, CMC time travellers is a scary thought.
5617317
...Hmmm. He remembers stuff, yes, and can comment on his memories (which counts as letting them influence his behaviour, I guess), but I'm pretty sure he's not learning from it (if he is, it's be a plot hole, partially for the reason you mention, and partially because he's not experiencing events in the same order as our heroes).
Can you give an example?
5617993
His experience with Discord is guiding his goals. There's also an implication that each cycle of this process ends with him making an attempt on Twilight's life, but a different attempt each time. Trial and error is one of the most basic forms of learning.
As to the Crusaders, no, Discord hasn't shown the sheer level of chaos that is possible with time travel. Yeah, I just said that. Discord's predictable and his magic violates causality, minimizing the effect other factors have on his actions. Cutie Mark Crusaders draconequuses has a worst case scenario roughly on par with the Sorcerer's Apprentice piece out of Fantasia.
5618167
You make two very good points, and I do have answers for them. However, I think these points will be best answered in the story itself (because answering them goes right to the heart of what Paradox is - I'm pretty sure I've put in enough hints for a reader to work that out, and I'd like to see if anyone can).
So what I will do is, when the Doctor does his big reveal and explains Paradox's nature to Twilight (probably next chapter or maaaaybe the one after that, if the first scene runs long), I'll have Twilight ask about these points.
Hmmm. Cutie Mark Crusader Alicorn?
...no, that's got an even lower bar of Chaos than the draconequuses one.
Cutie Mark Crusader Dark Magic Artifact Securers?
Cutie Mark Crusader Manticore Tamers?
I'm sure that Cutie Mark Crusader Dragonslayers will have Spike running and hiding, at least...
So lets see if I can tell what she just did.
Paradox complained about being time-looped.
Twilight just sent him on a time loop.
Twilight has just done the event that forces him to relive the same sequence over and over, driving him insane.
Paradox complained that Discord forced him back in time. We just saw Discord's "magic fluid" manipulate the time device. Paradox wants to kill twilight, prevent her from existing, to stop him from being looped -- because she was the one who activated Discord's loop-causing-effect.
So now, who or what is Paradox?
We know that The Doctor could have manipulated the time travel spell to make the poison stay behind. If anything, I'm thinking that after this is all done, The Doctor has Twilight cast the time travel spell on him so that he can close the last loop.
And, The Doctor has said that Paradox is not him. Nor were his memories used for the dodging.
The only one who saw the dodging was Discord.
The only character not accounted for at this point is Spike.
In this last season of Dr. Who (TV), we saw an example of something that only existed in a loop -- I think it was the pair of the graveyard city and then "before the flood", I think was the second half. The episodes started with The Doctor posing the question of something that only existed because it was in a time loop. During the episode, The Doctor repeated some names in a certain order only because that order was given earlier in a time loop.
I'm beginning to think that Paradox is only a time loop figure.
7301710
Yes! Exactly right!
You. Are. Brilliant.
I knew it was possible to get that before it was explicitly confirmed in-story, and you have just proven it!
Thank you.