//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Paradox // by FluttershyButterfly //------------------------------// I was floating in a sea of purple. I twisted around wildly, but all I managed to do was make myself float upside down. Panicking, I cried out, "What the buck?!" I heard an amused chuckle. "You are in a dream, my dear Paradox." I attempted to see who was talking, but to no avail. I recognized that voice, though.... "Discord?" I said. I heard the chuckle again. "Ever so observant, aren't you? Yes, I am Discord, Lord of Chaos. In case you were wondering, I trapped you, using my strong connection to Miasma's magic, inside Equestria. The way I figure it, without its care-taker, Equestria will have nothing to prevent it from falling prey to my rulership." I groaned audibly. "Great. Just great. You do realize that without me to take care of it, Equis will be destroyed?!" "Wrong, Paradox. Without you to take care of it, Equis will not be destroyed, but will instead be completely under my control. I have grown even stronger now that I have gained the trust of the ponies, and without you to stop me, it will be quite easy for me to take all of Equis under my chaotic reign." I sighed. Just what I needed, not only was I trapped in another plane, I had no connection to Miasma, and Equis was without its care-taker, I ALSO had a lunatic draconequus trying to take over! As these glum thoughts ran through my mind, I became aware of a tapping on my shoulder. The purple faded, and, stretching, I opened my eyes. "Gosh, do ya reckon he's okay?" A yellow filly with a red mane and an oversized pink bow, who was sitting in front of my bed, asked. "Course he is! He's just napping!," cried an orange pegasus filly, tapping my shoulder again. "HEY MISTER! WAKE UP!" she yelled in my ear. I jolted upright. "I was awake! I'm up! I'm up!" I cried. "See? Told you!" The pegasus grinned at the yellow filly, as she trotted over to sit beside her. Another filly, this one a white unicorn with a curly pink-and-purple mane, walked up to the bed. "Are you okay, mister?" The white one said. "Er...yes," I told her. "Well, except for my hearing..." The pegasus blushed. "Uh, sorry about that..." "Meh, it's okay. My name's Paradox, by the way. What are your names?" I asked them, trying to distract myself from the conversation I'd had with Discord. "Muh name's Apple Bloom!" The yellow one cried. "I'm Sweetie Belle, and this here's Scootaloo." The white filly said, pointing to the orange one. "Why are you named Paradox?" "I'm not sure, actually." I grinned slightly. "Not sure?! NOT SURE?! But a name's the second-best indicator of your special talent, aside from your cutie mark!" Scootaloo cried in disbelief. "Hmm..." I mumbled to myself, momentarily distracted. "I wonder what my cutie mark is?" I hadn't bothered to create one, so I doubted I even had one. Rolling down the sheets, I stared at my flank. Yep, it was blank. The three fillies collectively gasped, and were silent for a minute. "Er, hello?" I said, waving my hoof in front of their faces. They seemed to be in shock, though why, I'm not sure. Their eyes grew almost impossibly wide, before they all sprang up at the same time, and cried out so loudly that the walls literally rattled, "YOU'RE A BLANK FLANK!!!!!" "I..is that a problem?" I said, rubbing my ears to get the hearing back. The three fillies turned to each other and grinned widely. "Problem? PROBLEM?! Are you kidding me? This is the best thing EVER!" Sweetie Belle cried. "Yeah! Y'all are practically one of us!" Apple Bloom said, trotting closer. "This. Is. So. Awesome!" Scootaloo cried. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Standing in one of the hospital hallways, Healing Potion glanced up from her pile of papers. She had thought she heard a noise..Oh well, she isn't hear anything now. She bent to write on a sheet of paper, before she quickly straightened up. There it was again...funny, it sounded almost like... "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The blue stallion from earlier cried as he raced frantically down the hallway, skidding to a stop right in front of Healing Potion. "You...you've got to save me!" He told her in a frantic tone. "Er..from what?" Healing Potion said, confused. "THEM!" The blue stallion cried as three small fillies rounded the corner. The stallion crouched behind Healing Potion, trying to make himself as small as possible. The three fillies had a manic look on their faces. "COME HE-ERE!" The orange one shouted, grinning as she raced towards Paradox. "YEAH! WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN T' THE FUN PART YET!" The yellow one yelled as she skidded to a stop in front of Healing Potion. "UH-HUH! WE'RE GOING TO MAKE YOU A CRUTIE MARK CRUSADER JUST LIKE US!" The white one shouted. "....run?" Paradox said quietly, looking up at Healing Potion. The mare glanced at the three fillies, who were trotting closer with the same manic, happy look on their faces. She gulped. "Good idea." Healing Potion said. The pair took off running down the hallway. Trying to ignore the sound of six pairs of determined hooves behind them, they ran for their lives, rushing outside the hospital. "You...*pant* have any idea where we're going?" Paradox said to Healing Potion, gasping for breath as they raced down the cobblestone streets of Ponyville, dodging past surprised ponies. "Yeah...*gasp* we...can go to the*pant* library, they'd never venture in there willingly." The tan mare told him, panting. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Twilight Sparkle looked up from her book. She heard a frantic pounding sound on the door, and scrambling to her hooves, she ran to answer it. Outside stood two bedraggled-looking ponies. One was a medium blue stallion, and the other was a mare named "Healing Potion" that she recognized as a nurse from the hospital. The pair rushed inside, slamming the door behind them. "Um..hello?" Twilight said, confused. "That was TOO close of a call!" The stallion said, gasping for breath. "I completely agree!" Healing Potion said, also panting. "Excuse me? Why did you come running in like Cereberus himself was after you?!" Twilight said. "Yeah...why did they come running after you like that?" Healing Potion turned to the stallion. "Two sentences. One, I'm a blank-flank. Two, Cutie Mark Crusaders." He replied. The two mares both gasped. Twilight started giggling, saying, "Yeah, I can see why you would be running." The blue one started laughing, too, then Healing Potion joined in, and soon all three of them were laughing loudly. As Healing Potion finished laughing, she stood up again. "I need to get back to the hospital, but since you seem to be in fine condition, why don't you stay here until the Crusaders give up looking? If it's okay with Miss Twilight, that is," Healing Potion said to the stallion. "Sounds good, if it's okay with her." The stallion chuckled, turning to Twilight. "I'd be happy to help out." Twilight smiled as Healing Potion stepped outside, waved goodbye, then closed the door behind her. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I (Paradox) regarded the purple mare thoughtfully, as she sat down in a chair and opened up a book. "You're welcome to browse among the books if you like." She said. Twilight, Healing Potion had called her. I wasn't familiar with many of the inhabitants of Equis, choosing to look at the overall picture instead. However, this was one of the ponies that had captured my attention. After all, Twilight Sparkle was a personal student of the Princess of the Sun, and was the bearer for the Element of Magic. As I studied the mare, who was now absorbed in her book, I came to a conclusion. This pony might be able to help me. "Twilight?" I said to her, as she looked up from her book. "Hmm? What is it?" She asked, putting her book back on it's shelf. "Are you familiar with Miasma?" Twilight immediately gasped. "How do you know about it? Only a very few ponies know about it, and the only way I knew was because Celestia told me!" She asked, extremely surprised. "First thing's first. How much do you know about it?" I questioned her. "Er...not much. All anypony knows is that it's some sort of inter-dimensional plane that has some sort of power over the other planes." She said in confusion. I then quickly explained Miasma, using the explanation from the previous chapter. She looked extremely surprised, but seemed to slightly understand. "But how do you know all this?"she said to me in an incredulous tone. "Simple," I grinned, "I'm from there." Twilight fainted.