Paradox [NaPoWriMo]

by Yukito

Chapter 6

“No way! Not a chance!” Trixie protested, stopping dead in her tracks. The rest of the group also stopped, and turned to face her. “Trixie is not doing that! That would mean giving up her life as the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Trixie,” Celestia said sternly, looking into Trixie’s eyes with a serious look on her face, “For whatever reason, Paradox asked you to join him. He also asked Twilight, and even went so far as to take an entire town hostage when he asked her.”

“Seriously?” Trixie asked, her eyes widening in amazement. “Wow, that guy means business, huh?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. And he only asked you quickly, because he was in a rush. He didn’t take the time to explain anything to you. There’s a chance that he may target you once again. If not to recruit you, then maybe even to kill you, since your illusionary magic was strong enough to beat his.”

Trixie remained silent, and Celestia continued. “The Witness Protection Programme will ensure that you remain safe. You will be given a new name, a new look, and even a new background. We’ll even post a Captain to watch over you, given what kind of criminal we’re dealing with at the moment.”

“But that’s exactly why Trixie doesn’t want to do this! Trixie is happy being Trixie! She doesn’t want to be somepony else! That would be horrible! It would be a fate worse than death!”

“Come on, Trixie,” Applejack said, “You can’t honestly be so egotistical that ya’d rather risk bein’ killed than accept the Princess’ protection.”

“Would you be willing to abandon your entire life – everything and everyone you know – if you were in Trixie’s shoes?” Applejack didn’t answer, and Trixie turned to face everypony else. “Well? Any of you? Would any of you be willing to leave behind everything, and start a new, fake life!?”

“…”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Celestia said as she turned back around and continued walking. “Please at least think about it, Trixie.”

---

Upon returning to Canterlot Castle, Celestia immediately had the guards deliver a message to Luna, and had the injured guard taken to the infirmary immediately. She also made a note in her schedule to honour Morning Star’s sacrifice once all of this was over. But for now, she and the six Spirits of Harmony needed their rest. Trixie had already stormed off to her prepared bedroom, skipping the nice dinner that was waiting for them upon their return.

Once everypony had settled down in their rooms, Luna emerged from her own room to perform her duties, the first of which involved raising the moon. Once she was done, she intended to move on to the Night Court. However, a message that was brought to her by one of her sister’s Royal Guards stopped her.

Luna,

You may have received a letter earlier from the Alicorn Elders about the stolen Alicorn artefacts. I have confirmed today that the thief is Paradox. After my encounters with him today, it has become apparent that Paradox is indeed a high-level threat to Equestria, and I have no idea what exactly it is that he is planning.

Tonight, I have cancelled the Night Court, and instead request that you look into the Ancient Tomb. Bring me whatever information you can find. We must stop Paradox at once.

Celestia

Luna rolled the letter up and put it away, and then dismissed the guard that had delivered it. ‘The Ancient Tomb? I’ll have to look in the Royal Archives to find any information about it…’

---

Underneath the quarry just outside of Ponyville, Rover, Fido, and Spot, were finishing up with sorting out the day’s bounty of gemstones. They had struck a few gemstone veins whilst digging, and had completely lost track of time trying to mine out as much as they could.

They realised how late it had gotten when Fido let out a loud yawn, prompting Rover to stop and check outside. Deciding that they could just continue tomorrow, the three Diamond Dogs decided to simply turn in for the night.

However, once they had returned to the main mineshaft, they found their guards lying on the floor, all either unconscious or dead, depending on how badly the blows to their heads against the cave walls were.

“Interesting,” a voice called out in front of them, “Who would have thought that there’d be such a large, complex tunnel system, right underneath Ponyville? This would certainly make for a good hideout.”

“Who are you!?” Rover demanded, pointing a finger at the intruder. The intruder turned around and stepped forward, revealing himself to be a cloaked Unicorn pony. “Did pony do this? What do you want!?”

Paradox chuckled as his horn lit up, and within seconds, magical tendrils shot forth from around his body, aimed at the three Diamond Dogs. They tried to dodge, but the sudden attack caught them completely by surprise, and they were all captured with ease. They could feel the tendrils pressing against their throats, suspending them in the air, threatening to crush their windpipes at any second.

“I’m in need of a new hideout, and also, some servants to help me carry out my plans,” Paradox said, looking up at the three Diamond Dogs, who were struggling against their magical bonds. He tightened his grip on them, causing them to slow down to an eventual stop. “Here’s my offer: you can work for me, and be generously rewarded with all the gems you could ever want, or you could die, right here and now. I’ll give you a minute to think it over, before I choose for you.”

The three dogs were sweating nervously, and their bodies were shaking as they stared into this pony’s eyes. The fact that they knew he could them any second now didn’t help them, either. They looked at their fallen comrades, and then back at the pony.

“Oh, them,” Paradox started, realising that they were angry about him taking out their guards, “I offered them a similar choice. They chose poorly.” He grinned as his grip on the dogs’ throats tightened. “Well? What will it be?”

“AH! O-Ok, we’ll work with pony! Just…Let go! Please!” Rover shouted, with Fido and Spot agreeing quickly enough.

Paradox laughed as he released his magic, allowing the three dogs to fall to the floor. “Very good. I assure you, you will not be disappointed. Now, I suggest you treat whatever dogs are still alive, and convince them join me too…Next time, I won’t be so merciful.” The three dogs picked themselves up, and growled at Paradox, but were silenced by a cold glare from him. “And then I want you to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, and I need you all to be in top condition.”

Rover was the first to stand up, but as soon as he did, he fell back down again as he and his two companions felt something pushing their bodies. Rover stood back up again, and faced Paradox, who was now walking away. “What was that?” he asked, fear evident in his voice.

“Just a little insurance,” Paradox replied, “This way, I know you won’t betray me. Because if you do, I’ll kill you, immediately.” The last three words sent cold chills down the dogs’ spines, and it wasn’t until Paradox was out of sight that they were able to move and breathe once again.

---

Once Paradox was sure that no one was eavesdropping, he approached the desk in the room that he had commandeered from the Diamond Dogs, and levitated a map out of his bag. “Alright, so now Twilight is under the Princess’ personal protection, and that other one…Trixie, I think her name was…She’ll probably be entered into the Witness Protection Programme, meaning it’ll be difficult to acquire either one of them.

“I need a Unicorn with lots of raw magic. Two, if they’re uncooperative. So far, I’ve found three candidates…But I can’t get close to them with Celestia protecting them. The trouble is that most Unicorns with high levels of magic are usually found by Celestia fairly quickly. If I’m going to get a hold of any of these Unicorns, I’ll need to find Celestia’s weakness and take advantage of it…”

“What about her family?”

“Her family?” Paradox put a hoof to his chin. “Hm…Would that work? Is she really the type to hesitate when her family is in danger?”

“There is one. One who Celestia cannot bear to lose again.”

“…Luna?” Paradox thought for a moment, before grinning to himself. “Yes, that could work…That could work very well! But I’ll need a good location…Somewhere that would be hard to pull off a hostage rescue, yet easy to make a quick escape once I have my Unicorns…”

“How about the frozen wastelands to the north?”

“I’m not good with cold places.”

“But you are good at manipulating the terrain around you to your advantage.”

Paradox sighed, and reluctantly picked up a marker pen from his bag, marking the area on the map with a big circle. “I’ll consider it. And I’ll think up the rest tomorrow, but for now,” Paradox said, before letting out a loud yawn, “I’m exhausted, and need to get some sleep.”

---

The following morning, Celestia woke up extra early, so that she could talk to Luna before meeting with everypony. She hastily fixed up her mane and tail, and donned her Royal attire, before leaving her room and making her way towards her sister’s. When she got there, and discovered that it was locked with magic, Celestia decided to check the Royal Archives.

She arrived to find her sister staring sleepily at a book resting on a table, mumbling something quietly to herself. Celestia let out a sigh, and approached her sister. “Good morning,” she called out.

Luna jumped and turned around quickly. “S-Sister? Oh no! Is it morning already!? Oh, we stayed up far too late!” Luna began to panic, and Celestia, whilst giggling, put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, to calm her down.

“Relax, Luna. I simply got up early so that I could talk to you for a bit.” Luna let out a sigh of relief, and then scolded her sister for scaring her. “Sorry about that,” Celestia apologized, before looking over Luna’s shoulder to see all of the books scattered around the place. “So, did you find anything?”

“Not much,” Luna admitted, turning back and resuming her reading. “We’ve discovered the exact location of the tomb, and also that the key that was stolen is the only means of entering. But we could not uncover its purpose, or how one uses the key to gain entry.”

Celestia raised a brow as she looked at her sister with a confused look on her face. “It’s a key. Keys generally unlock things all on their own.”

“Yes, but as it turns out, there is a certain method to using the key. A spell, we think, that ensures that no ordinary pony can ever get inside, even with the key.”

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. “Is that why he wanted Twilight and Trixie? Did he think they could pull off this spell?”

Luna shrugged. “Quite possibly, but we can’t be sure yet. Anyway, one name has come up fairly often during my research: Moondancer.”

““Moondancer”?” Celestia asked, with a look of surprise.

“Indeed. Apparently, Moondancer was a pony who had researched the Ancient Tomb quite thoroughly.” Luna levitated a book from a nearby pile over to her sister. “This one in particular references her a lot. But all they ever do is reference her, with the occasional quote or experiment that came directly from Moondancer. Apparently, she travelled with a human companion, so we guess that this must have been a very long time ago.”

Celestia sighed, placing the book down on the table. “So it won’t be easy tracking down her descendents. And even if we do, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have anything that can help us.”

“Let’s not give up hope just yet, sister,” Luna said, flashing her older sister a smile, “For there is one place worth checking.”

“Where?”

“Well, Moondancer had a human companion, right? Think back to when humans still walked this world. At that time, the pony race was still very small. There were only three places where ponies lived: Flutter Valley, bodies of water, if they were Sea Ponies, and Paradise Estate.”

Celestia realised where was going. “You think there might be something at Paradise Estate?” Celestia asked, receiving a nod from Luna. “But that place is a protected historical landmark.”

“If Equestria’s in danger, I don’t think the High Council will have many objections,” Luna said, “And if they do, we can always request help from the Alico-”

“No!” Celestia shouted. Luna turned to her sister with wide eyes. “I don’t want to bring them into this! I want to find Paradox before they do! Please understand, Luna…It’s my fault that Paradox has become what he is, and I want to save him if I can.”

“But sister…” Luna wanted to object, but then she remembered her time as Nightmare Moon. How she herself was wanted by the Alicorn Elders, but was protected by Celestia, and saved by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. ‘I had fallen into darkness too…So I guess I’m the last pony to be saying “no second chances”.’

“Luna?” Celestia looked at her sister with growing concern. “Are you ok? You must be exhausted after reading all night. Why don’t you go to bed? I’ll take things over from here.”

Luna slowly nodded to her sister, and then rose to her hooves. As she left the room, she took a moment to turn back to her sister. She opened her mouth to say something, but remained silent instead.

---

Twilight Sparkle entered the dining room, and saw her friends waiting for her. “Good morning, everypony,” she said as she moved towards one of the empty seats, next to Rarity. “Did you all sleep well last night?”

“Ah coulda slept better,” Applejack said, “Ah ain’t used tah sleeping in such fancy conditions. And those beds are way too soft for mah tastes.”

“I prefer clouds,” Rainbow Dash said, “But I guess a real bed every now and then isn’t so bad.”

The group’s attention was drawn to the doors as they opened. They saw Princess Celestia entering the room, flanked by two Royal Guards. She made her way to her seat at the far of the table, and looked over the group. “Where’s Trixie? Is she not up yet?”

The group of ponies exchanged looks, and then each of them shrugged in unison.

Celestia turned to one of the guards by her side. “Would you mind bringing Trixie to us? I would like to speak with her before we leave.”

The guard saluted, and went off to complete his task. “Princess, when you say we’re leaving, does that mean we already know Paradox’s next location?” Twilight asked.

“No, we do not,” Celestia said with a sigh. “But we do have an idea on where we can find out about what he’s planning. Twilight, have you ever heard of Paradise Estate?”

Twilight thought for a second, and then nodded. “Yes, but only bits and pieces. What about it?”

“It’s where ponies used to live, long, long ago, before even the three pony tribes were formed.”

“Before then?” Rarity asked incredulously. “My, that was a long time ago. And you think it has something to do with whatever it is that Paradox is planning?”

Celestia shook her head, confusing the other ponies. “Not directly, but I believe that there may be something there that we can use. A pony named Moondancer may have left a document there about the Ancient Tomb.”

“The Ancient Tomb?” Pinkie Pie asked. “What’s that?”

Twilight scratched her chin with her hoof as she searched her brain, but couldn’t recall ever hearing of such a thing. “I’ll admit, even I have no knowledge of this ‘Ancient Tomb’.”

“And that doesn’t surprise me, Twilight,” Celestia said flatly, “After all, it is one of the greatest Alicorn secrets ever. It is classified, on a need to know only basis.”

“An’ yah think that’s what Paradox is after?” Applejack guessed.

Celestia nodded, but before she could explain, she was interrupted by two maids brining the group their breakfast. “Let’s talk further after we eat. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I certainly can’t think straight on an empty stomach,” she said with a little chuckle.

“Yeah, I hear that!” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Looks a lil’ fancy, but hey, who’m ah tah complain 'bout free food?”

Celestia couldn’t help but notice that Trixie had still not arrived, but before she could ask her other guard to find out what was going on, the first guard returned and ran up to the Princess’ side, sweating heavily and panicking. He saluted and tried to regain his composure, before reporting to the Princess.

“P-Princess. Our guest, Miss Trixie, is gone,” he said, trying to remain calm.

“What do you mean, “gone”?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the guard, which caused him to flinch.

“Um, well…I checked her room, but she wasn’t there, and all of her things had been packed. All that was left was this note…”

Celestia took the note from the guard.

I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided that a life as anypony except Trixie will simply not do. Despite all of the hardships, I did not come this far to throw everything away. I am Trixie, and I will not let you change that.

I still expect payment. I will be waiting in the Beat Box in Manehatten in three days time, at noon. Here is a map to help you find it. I want my payment there and then, and nothing more.

Below the writing was what Celestia assumed to be a map, though it was completely indecipherable to her.

Celestia furrowed her brow and let out a frustrated sigh. “She left? That’s not good…How did she even get past the guards assigned to protect her, anyway?”

“Uh, Princess?” Applejack said, “There’s something else on the back.”

Celestia flipped the paper to reveal more writing.

P.S. I may have incapacitated some of your guards and tied them up in the closet in my room. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine. I think.

Celestia told the guard that had found the note to search the room for the two guards, a task he reluctantly obeyed, having already been tired out from running back from the room not too long ago.

“That fool…Why would she do that? That just makes things harder for us,” Celestia said, putting a hoof to her forehead as she thought about what to do next.

“Actually,” Applejack spoke up, but was slightly nervous about what she had to say. “Ah kinda understand what she’s sayin’.”

“You do?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, sure. Ah mean, I stayed up last night thinkin’ ‘bout it, an’ ah thought, “what if ah was forced tah leave Sweet Apple Acres an’ live mah life as ‘Sunbeam’ or ‘Cherry Pie’ or somethin’?”. Well, Sweet Apple Acres is mah home. It’s where mah friends are, and mah family, an’ the thought of never seein’ any of ‘em again is just…Scary.”

“But does Trixie even have any friends that she would miss?” Rainbow Dash asked as she placed a forkful of pancakes into her mouth.

“Even if she doesn’t, she still has her special talent, and her travelling show is how she expresses it. If it were me, ah could probably still buck trees for a livin’, but with Trixie, she’d be forced to quit all forms of show business, since they would just draw attention to her.”

“So it would be like if Rainbow Dash was forced to give up flying,” Rarity said, “Or if I were forced to give up dressmaking.”

“Or if I was forced to give up partying!” Pinkie Pie chimed in happily, before a frown formed on her face. “Oh wow, that does sound bad.”

Twilight looked down at her Cutie Mark with a look of sympathy. “Giving up who you…Your very reason for living…Just so you can be safe…As crazy as it sounds, I think I agree with Trixie. I would never be able to give up my magic, even if continuing to use it could one day cost me my life.”

As the group of friends continued their discussion, Celestia looked down at her plate of food, staring at it, but not really noticing it. She was in her own little world, thoughts racing through her head. ‘Is it really worth it though? Risking your life, just to pursue a dream? The only dream I’ve ever had is to live a long, happy life with my sister. But when Luna became Nightmare Moon, I didn’t hesitate to seal her away in order to protect myself…Is that because I’m weak? Is it wrong to want to keep living, no matter what the cost? Is it wrong…To be so afraid of death?’

“Anyway, even if ah agree with her, ah still think we should find her,” Applejack said, breaking Celestia from her thoughts. “She’s in danger, so we should do what we can for her.”

“Well, she did help us out with that whole dragon thing…And escaping from the collapsing cave…” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Um, I think we should help her, too,” Fluttershy added.

“Yes, we should definitely assign somepony to watch over her,” Celestia said, joining back into the conversation. “But we need to assign somepony who can watch her in secret, so that she doesn’t try to move around so much. Somepony strong, who has an excellent grasp of magic.”

“You don’t mean-”

“I do, Twilight,” Celestia said, before writing a letter and handing it to her guard. “Deliver this to Captain Shining Armour, with all haste.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the guard said as he saluted, before running out of the room with the letter in his mouth.

“The rest of us shall leave for Paradise Estate right after breakfast. The sooner we can end this, the better.” The group of friends nodded, and resumed their eating. ‘And we need to end this soon, before the Alicorns do.’

---

Shining Armour’s eye twitched as he read over the note that he had just received for the 10th time, trying desperately to find some key bit of information that he had missed.

Captain Shining Armour,

I’m sure that you remember Trixie Lulamoon, the charming young mare that you watched over yesterday. Well, good news! I’m assigning you to watch over her. She left the castle earlier today, and although her exact location is unknown at the present, we know that she will be at the Beat Box in Manehatten in three days. Chances are that she will return to Trottingham for her trailer. If she does, let her go, but keep a close eye on her. From a distance. We have reason to believe that Paradox may target her, and so, we need a strong, reliable stallion such as yourself to keep her safe.

This means that you will have to watch any shows that she puts on. In order to not blow your cover, please do not hesitate to ask for bits to cover any ticket fees, instead of using your status to gain free entry. If Paradox is targeting Trixie, he will undoubtedly be looking for Royal Guards nearby. Therefore, you are to perform this mission undercover, as a regular citizen of Equestria.

Have fun!

Princess Celestia of Equestria

Shining Armour let out a rather loud groan, followed by taking a big sip of his morning coffee. “You gotta be kidding me…I was supposed to go to the movies with Cadance today,” he said as he lowered his head down onto the table in front of him. “And instead I get a date with the pony who gave me a migraine yesterday…Great.”