When a visitor from the future appears out of nowhere in Twilight's new castle, he triggers a series of events that sends Twilight back and forth through history...
For other takes on the same prompt, see Stopped Clock, by Carabas, and From Forever, With Love by Monokeras
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Well, this looks like it's going to be enjoyably peculiar. I'm guessing Pinkie's already encountered a Twilight today. I look forward to finding out where you're going with this.
Chapters with less than 1000 words are generally frowned upon. Just keep this in mind.
5512542
I can certainly manage peculiar, This is a story where I'm actually having to keep notes about what's been happening off-stage - and about what's going to happen that's going to affect what's currently happening. Time travel can get convoluted.
5512914
Chapter lengths may be highly variable. I've got a certain amount of things I want to happen in each chapter, and when it's all happened, the chapter ends... this chapter, for example, had to end with Time Turner opening the watch.
(Checks for "Crossover" tag)
Ah, well then. That certainly explains Mr. Turner's authorial predilections.
I don't know about that "maybe a week" limitation. After all, Twilight specifically targeted that time to tell herself not to worry (and thus closing the time loop.) Still, that's in a more general sense. This is your story, so you're free to declare that the maximum range.
Definitely looking forward to more.
5515392
I made it a week because it wasn't important. That spell isn't how they'll be time travelling through the rest of the story...
I am loving this so far. Just going to wait a bit longer...
Hm. Hoof polish from the future remains in the past even after the time spell expires.
What I would do knowing this, is create a rubber stamp with the entire message I want to deliver to the past embossed on it, and then as soon as I'm in the past stamp that sucker on the nearest accessible surface. :)
Heh! Should have caught up before commenting, Time Turner noticed the oddity about the hoof polish remaining behind too. :)
Awesome!!! The Doctor is now back in action. Can't wait for the next chapter!
After reading the next chapter. this statement is ironic.
5521111 5524788
Well, the new chapter's here, so enjoy!
5522524
Indeed. Time Turner is a fellow who notices that sort of thing
.
5524815
It is rather, isn't it?
So, the "Valeyard" returns in the form of "Paradox", and this time he's invincibile.
5528491
Aaaaand it's in.
5530881
...I had to look up "Valeyard".
There's a few minor differences - for one thing, Paradox isn't a future regeneration of the Doctor - but the answer to your question is more "yes" than "no".
5544425
In? In wh-
...oooooh.
Paradox kind of sealed his fate with his name. After all, the only way to defeat a truly immutable being is to prevent him from ever coming into existence. To name yourself your one weakness... yeah, bad idea right there. Furthermore, given both Twilight's continued existence and the number of loops that are closing in her wake, Paradox seems doomed not only to fail, but to succeed in creating that which he meant to destroy.
Hmm. Maybe they should let him rampage a bit longer.
Still, that's assuming a single immutable timeline, as opposed to a wibbly-wobbly ball of timey-wimey stuff. I'm sure Paradox has nastier tricks up his lack of sleeves. I look forward to seeing them.
5545544
But if you assume one immutable timeline - then is it even possible for Twilight to prevent Paradox from ever existing, considering that she's met him already?
And if it's wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, then if Twilight manages to prevent Paradox's existence, then he won't try to kill her, so she won't go through time to try to stop him, so she won't prevent his existence, so he'll still exist and try to kill her, so she will go through time to try to stop him, and prevent his existence, so he won't exist, and, well, then things start getting complicated...
There's something truly bizarre about an avatar of capital-C Chaos creating an utterly immutable point in the timeline.
In any case, this just got a whole lot more complicated. I have absolutely no idea how Paradox may have come about, but I'm definitely looking forward to further information.
You glorious, glorious person.
5556818
There are clues here and there as to where Paradox comes from. They're somewhat hidden, but I think it is possible to work it out from the clues provided...
The Doctor's worked it out already, but hey, he's the Doctor, he knows all sorts of things.
5556822
5556822
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to catch that! I do, however, hope that a Vogon Deconstructor Fleet won't show up anytime soon. (Discord would probably just vworp them away if they did, though. If anything's the natural enemy of Chaos, it's Bureaucracy.)
I suspect that I may need to know more Doctor Who lore than I do to piece together Paradox's origin. Never really got into the series, sadly.
In any case, this was certainly interesting, especially Discord foiling his own plans. It is interesting to see how much he's grown, especially after being defeated. More than an millennium trapped in stone gives you plenty of time to go over your mistakes.
Looking forward to more.
5571057
No Vogon deconstructor fleets. Not this time, at least.
5571424
No
Paradox's origin has nothing to do with Doctor Who lore.
It's always hard to tell when I've given enough clues for people to work it out; because I'm making a puzzle, in short, to which I already know the answer. And any puzzle is easier when you know the answer. So I try to make it not completely obvious, and sometimes end up with it being really obscure...
Writing both Discord chapters one after the other was certainly interesting, as well
.
Hmm. I'm sure sending the Crusaders through time will make sense somehow. Somehow.
Also, good job with Twilight closing another loop. She's really getting the hang of this.
I'm sure Paradox's true origin will be completely obvious when you reveal it. As it is, I'm going to assume you've done an excellent job of hiding the clues in plain sight.
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...
Cutie Mark Crusaders Time Travelers is still the scariest phrase ever. Of all time.
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...
And that's another loop closed. Really, if I didn't know any better, I'd think Paradox was trying to make sure everything that needs to happen does. Of course, given his foaming-at-the-mouth insanity, he may not know any better. Hmm...
But wouldn't history have remembered Celestia's backup?
Well, no, not if the Doctor asked her to make sure it didn't.
Paradox's nature is really flummoxing me. I can understand a causal loop, with effects leading to their own causes, but not a living loop with no true beginning. I want to ask how Paradox got into this mess, but that's obviously the wrong kind of question... and yet it just doesn't click. When did he become unchanging? Why is he convinced that he is the Doctor? And would the changes that the Doctor lists really have been that simple? After all, an unchanging digestive tract means that the Element of Laughter would be stuck in Paradox's gut, and without that, the Tree of Harmony would've been in dire straits in a millennium or so.
5712553
Wow, you're fast.
At about the same time as he got into this mess; or, in other words, he's always been unchanging.
I never said he's sane. But on some level, he recognises that he's trapped in a loop, which is why he goes absolutely ballistic if the Doctor so much as hints at them not being the same person.
No
. To be fair, Paradox's unchanging digestive tract would have been erased from time, so that at least wouldn't have been a problem...
...you know, the most annoying thing about being an occasional Doctor Who fan is that any time the series does something incomprehensible, "wibbly wobbly timey wimey" is brought out. This fic fits right in there next to one of Eleven's nonsensical season finales. A closed time loop without an originating event. The logical part of my brain needs ice cream. Lots of ice cream.
Hm. I'm not sure why the Doctor is so upset, if everything he says is true the problem with Paradox is resolved now. Sure, it was a hassle dealing with his various assassination attempts, but since he's a time-looped ontological paradox he can never try anything other than those assassination attempts and Twilight survived them all.
5712620
This is definitely a story that could only be written with time travel.
I hope you find your ice cream...
5713010
The Doctor's upset because he wants to save everyone. It is now (probably) impossible for the Doctor to save Paradox. Moreover, Paradox is going to be spending an infinite amount of time going through horrible torture at the mismatched limbs of a pre-reformation Discord.
Sure, he's a killer and a villain and an all-round bad guy, but nopony deserves that.
5713060 Hm. I wouldn't say Paradox is spending an infinite amount of time experiencing that. Those memories and events only exist once, it's a finite amount of time. No worse than just experiencing it once IMO. The only downside is that Paradox can never experience anything else, but that's no different than if Twilight had simply killed him. I guess this is one of those philosophical puzzlers on which reasonable people can differ. :)
5713060
Because it's a time loop, he already has. (Assuming everything is as it appears to be right now)
Ooo, good idea! Yeah, or, ya know, write a note? Or plan out what you're going to say so you can say it really fast, accounting for a few interruptions, and then wen your arrive sayitreallyfast so you can deliver the whole message
5714708
If Equestria had modern technology, you could send a device that connects to the nearest cellphone tower (or unsecured wireless network), immediately logs on to gmail (or some other free email provider) and sends an email to your intended contact. The plus side is, you don't even need to land all that close to the right place - virtually anywhere on land will do.
The downside is, people would get a lot of messages starting out like this:
Huh. Discord does tend to be the ultimate architect of his own defeat. This sort of thing feels entirely appropriate.
Also, a two week delay? Yikes. Did the TARDIS have a reasoon, or was that just sloppy targeting on the Doctor's part?
5857782
Sloppy targeting. Hey, it's better than the year that Rose Tyler missed under similar circumstances...
This is still marked incomplete. Any reason for that?
5904413
...no, none at all.
Fixed now.
Yeah, Star Swirl probably put in anti-paradox buffers into that time spell. That, or Twilight got really lucky.
An enjoyable puzzle story. Thank you for it.
5904487
I think she was just really lucky...
5556822 Ooo, I noticed that as well
Registered just to respond here -- oh, and by the way, I loved the Erfworld story (that's what brings me here).
So, Paradox is why The Doctor's TARDIS got messed up in the first place.
The "Discord creates a fixed point" is interesting. If Discord's "I won't do it" was that strong, to the point that he has to make that promise, which in turn means that Paradox has to exist, which in turn means that The Doctor's TARDIS has to be damaged, then the best place to confront Paradox will be right after he damages the Doctor's TARDIS -- he just now has said that he will try to hit the TARDIS at that point in time.
Going after the eternal night? That can only be a "testing" gambit, a "learning" thing. One attempt that will not work, but will show them what can and cannot work; followed by the real thing where they know what to do.