//------------------------------//
// Paradox 
// Story: Out of Time 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

The stars shined down from where they were hung in the heavens, providing a source of light for those upon the planet beneath them in the absence of the moon. A quiet had finally settled over the land as all that ran, snarled and fought during the day had laid their heads down to sleep. The land of magic and harmony was, for a time, at peace.

But then, almost as if to make a mockery at the attempt at quiet, a vortex of energy erupted in the center of a field empty of anything aside from flowers. The light from the vortex of energy dwarfed the light of the stars, while the power and energy generated from the vortex ripped the flowers from their spots and scattered them to the winds. 

Yet as soon as the tempest of energy had begun, it was silenced and peace reigned supreme once more. Only this time the field of flowers was not as empty as it had been moments before. Upon the spot of land that had been made barren by the vortex of energy stood a lone figure, one that was both alien and bizarre. In a land of mostly ponies, dragons and other creatures of myth, this two legged being did not belong.

The being stood tall and silent, gazing over the still land with narrowed eyes, on the lookout for anything that would might provide a problem. The winds blew over him and tried to chill his body, but the long, black coat he wore kept the cold at bay, while the fur near the collar provided extra warmth. He began to walk forward, his orange boots crushing the flowers underfoot, yet he barely paid any mind to the foliage he was stepping on. One of his arms was bent over his shoulder and his hand gripped the hilt of a sword that was sheathed upon his back. His other hand was holding a small, beeping device in front of him, a device that scanned the area around him.

Realizing that it could not chill his body, the wind blew once more this time through the young man's blue-purple hair. The breeze caused the man to lift his eyes from his device and look towards the stars and their constellations, none of which he could recognize. And for him, that was a good thing.

"Alright, teleportation was a success," he muttered to himself as he glanced back down at the device he held in his hand. It pointed towards the north and every few seconds gave off a small beep. The man turned towards the east and waited for a moment to hear the device beep. Once it did, he turned towards the south and repeated the procedure. It was only when he turned towards the west that the device began to beep rapidly, telling him that the Kai had been right. Time had been messed with in this land. And whoever had messed with it had not repaired it properly.

'She was right once again,' the man thought to himself, letting out a sigh of disappointment. 'Would it kill her to be wrong about time spiraling out of control every once in a while?' he asked as he thought back to his discussion with the Supreme Kai of Time.

( * )

"Bout time you showed up Trunks," a small, purple woman with pinkish hair yelled up at a man with blue-purple hair, who had just entered into a room filled with scrolls. Trunks quickly glanced around the room to look for what the problem was, but to the Time Patrollers surprise, there wasn't a single scroll covered in darkness to be seen. "You know, for someone who's a member of the Time Patrollers, you're often very late."

"What's the problem? From the way you were screaming for me it sounded like time as we know it was about to come to an end," Trunks asked the Kai, taking in a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat. "So what's the problem in the timeline this time? Goku turned evil? Vegeta landing on Earth instead of Goku? Majin Buu ate Beerus?"

"None of those. In fact, the past and future of your world is fairly safe at the moment," the Supreme Kai told him.

"Then what's the problem?"

"We've discovered a temporal anomaly in the universe. In the current universe," Kai replied, getting Trunk's eyes to widen with shock. She snapped her fingers and a map of the universe appeared in front of the both of them, before it zoomed in a small section of the universe that was far out of the way of anything. "This is where it's radiating from. This planet called...Equestria."

"There have been numerous temporal distortions and all within a short period of time. Almost like someone was breaking time repeatedly and only put it back together with scotch tape," the Kai informed Trunks. "And that can lead to paradoxes in the time stream, people vanishing from the timeline and all other sorts of problems. It can even affect your world if the timestream isn't properly corrected. Hence, where you come in."

"Okay, that sounds like a problem, but why do you need me for it?" Trunks asked. "Mai and I are busy trying to repair the future where Cell killed me and turn it into a world that can be at peace again. Aren't there other Time Patrollers that can handle this?"

For a moment the Supreme Kai adverted her eyes and instantly Trunks realized there was more that she was not telling him. When the two locked eyes again, she let out a sigh and brought up the images of three other Time Patrollers.

"I thought the same way as you. That's why I sent these three before hand. And all of them were killed," Kai revealed to Trunks, who narrowed his eyes. "When the first was killed, I sent the second. He was the strongest of the three. When he died I sent the third, whose powers are supposed to be able to handle any threat. He was killed as well. So now I'm sending you. Our strongest Time Patroller."

"Find out what's causing the temporal collapse. Fix the timeline no matter the cost. And find out who is killing the Time Patrollers," Supreme Kai of Time instructed to Trunks, who nodded before he turned to leave. "And Trunks...be careful. There is something about this place that feels...different. Like there's something there that doesn't belong."

"Don't worry, I've dealt with plenty of things that shouldn't have been. What's one more?"

( * )

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, Trunks had taken to the air to begin his search for where the timestream had been damaged. Following the beeps of the device the Supreme Kai of Time had given him, Trunks sailed across the sky with the wind in his hair. As he had to wait every once in a while for the device to lock onto the source of the time anomaly, he would take that time to enjoy the landscape.

"Gotta admit, this place is a lot nicer than most of the time periods I end up at," Trunks said aloud as he came to a stop high above the lands, gazing down at the world below him. Equestria, as it was called, was filled with trees, grass and foliage, but what drew Trunks full attention was the bizarre and strange lifeforms that he could see from above.

Wolves with skin made of bark prowled through the underbrush, hunting on little creatures that Trunks didn't completely recognize. A five headed hydra stomped through a mudpit in the east, roaring every once in a while to make out it's territory. And even a manticore had flown up to examine Trunks, but after the two studied each other the beast had decided that he wasn't worth the trouble.

The device let out a beep to let Trunks know that it had locked onto the disturbance once more and a moment later Trunks was rocketing across the sky, closing in on his destination. Yet while he flew he couldn't help but think about the three other Time Patrol members that had been terminated while exploring this world. According to the Supreme Kai of Time, the local inhabitants on this world were mostly peaceful. There were a few villains, as with every world, but only one of them came close to the power that Trunks was used to fighting and, according to Yenma, he was trapped in the underworld.

'So who could be responsible for their deaths?' Trunks asked himself as he flew. 'And why, if they're so strong, can't I feel their power? They would have no idea I was coming, so their power level wouldn't be hidden. Or maybe they're something that I've never faced before, like a being that doesn't have a power level like what I'm used to.'

Trunks train of thought came to a halt when he spied a small town resting below him. The device that he held in his hands began to beep like crazy, informing him that he had found the place he was looking for. But instead of finding a place filled with paradoxes and some sort of monster that he was ready to fight to the death, all he found were ponies. Ponies of a magnitude of colors and sizes and shapes. Some had wings, some had horns and others were just basic, but from above it looked like they had all been painted with a rainbow.

"Heh, talking, magical horses. She was right once again," Trunks said with a smile as he pocketed the device. "This is clearly the place, so I guess now I just have to start asking around. Okay, how should I do this? Don't want to suddenly show up and terrify them. That won't help anyone. Should I walk into town and greet them? Or maybe it would be best to meet with a leader of there's and try to explain myself?"

"I believe the second option to be the better once."

Trunks glanced over his shoulder to see a pony floating on a cloud next to him. The pony had both a horn and a set of wings, but her entire body was painted like the night sky. She had a large, crescent moon on her flank and an interested look in her eyes, one that Trunks shared.

"Hello there, strange, flying human. I am princess Luna, one of the rulers that you were thinking about meeting," Luna introduced herself with a small yawn. "I will admit, when I heard a voice talking and waking me from my nap upon this soft cloud I had expected it to be some rude pony. I was not expecting a human that can fly."

"Well, you're mostly right. My name is Trunks and I am here on a mission from...a far away place," Trunks introduced, not sure how much information he should reveal to the princess. "I'm here because-"

"You are investigating the deaths and disappearances of those that came before you, are you not?" Luna butt in, getting Trunks eyes to widen. "Yes, you are not the first alien we have had in this land. Berts was the first to arrive. We were wary at first, but over time he became a good friend of ours. Then he was killed."

"I am sorry. I didn't know that you were friends with him. He was one of us," Trunks said with a sigh.

"Then the other two appeared, each of them telling us that they were here to avenge their friend. Neither of them succeeded," Luna replied before she pointed her hoof down below. Trunks followed her gaze to see a giant palace made of crystal. "That is where Princess Twilight lives. She has been collecting information on both the time distortions and those that have been struck down. She will have then information that you seek."

"I see. Thank you," Trunks said before he turned to fly away.

"And Trunks? A word of warning," Luna said to Trunks, who turned around to face her. "Whoever is striking down your comrades is clearing trying to hide something. Watch your back."

With that word of warning, Luna rolled over and went back to sleep on her cloud. Trunks didn't know what he found stranger: how she wasn't at all surprised about him or the fact that the ponies of the land were aware of what was going on as well. But with no other leads at the moment, Trunks angled himself towards the crystal tree and took off.