Paradox's Prodigy(Cancelled.....for now.)

by TheDimensionRift

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Main 6, Romance, Drama, Original Character, Fluttershy, Adventure
Length: 14711

After being banished to another dimension by Discord, Paradox returns with an apprentice to seek vengeance upon him and all of Equestria. However, Paradox's plans are changed when his pupil devolops amnesia and falls for a certain gentle pony.

After being banished by Discord for his treachery, Paradox has returned for revenge. Howwever he's not alone in his quest for Equestria's throne, Paradox has manipulated a pony who is able to wield a powerful amount of magic and has donned him as his apprentice. During his attempt to carry out his teacher's mission, Blaze devolops amnesia and is befriended by the loving and gentle Fluttershy. After seeing his student fall to the power of friendship, Paradox appears before his apprentice and restores his memories. With his old memories restored and new ones made, Blaze is stricken with a difficult decision: Stand by the side of his new friends he's made and confront his former teacher or carry out his teacher's orders and claim all of Equestria with him.

Published 2016-01-20 03:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-04-18 13:59:09 UTC

Chapter 1: Unfortunate Event

Discord flew weaving in and out a group of trees, flying as fast as his wings could take him. He then took a sharp turn up, appearing to soar to the heavens before making a u-turn and descending back down to the peak of a mountain.

          He slowly made his descent and perched himself at a cliff overlooking a small village. It had been some time since he had actually last flown, so doing so now brought a feeling of satisfaction to him.

          From the mountain top he looked out and admired what was staring back at him, chaos and disharmony as far as the eye can see. He had been ruling over Equeastria for a few years now and was glad to see how much had changed in such a short time. He would hope to rule for another millennia to come, however, he had a strange feeling deep down inside him that made him question his own thoughts. Discord shrugged it off and decided to head back to his throne.

           But as he turn to leave the mountain top he was greeted with a familiar face, one he hadn't seen in quite some time. A large dark purple Alicorn with eyes bright red; a mane and tail which seemed to be set ablaze by flames of dark lavender and silver; and wings which resembled those of a dragon.

          "Do my eyes deceive me? It can't be?" Discord popped his eyes off like a pair of glasses in a cartoonish manner and rubbed them against his fur, as if cleaning them and then popped them in. "It IS you! Why it's been quite sometime since we last crossed, wouldn't you say Paradox?

          “Discord my dearest, dearest friend,” began Paradox with a touch of sympathy in his voice “I just wanted to apologize to you for our last encounter. I’m understand my power of reasoning and persuasion didn’t work on you last time” Paradox chuckled softly to himself.

          “Persuasion?” Discord lost his smile and replaced it with a look of irritation “You tried to convince me to give up my rule over Equestria and relinquish my throne so you could subjugate as you see fit. You really think I’d give up all this chaos?” Discord outstretched his paw to illustrate his point.

          “Which is why I’m apologizing, I mean, who am I to question your rule?” Paradox teleported next to Discord and put his arm around him “You can forgive me, can’t you friend?” Paradox’s horn began glowing as he spoke.

          Discord quickly moved away from Paradox and looked him in the eye as though to intimidate him.

“First off we’re not friends and secondly as the spirit of manipulation I know when your trying to use your magic on me. But since you feel it’s necessary,” Discord snap his fingers and a dimensional hole opened up “I guess I’ll have to respond with my magic as well” said Discord as he laughed to himself.

          Paradox knew he wasn’t yet strong enough to face Discord so he started to retreat. Discord snapped his fingers again and effortlessly retrieved the Alicorn and levitated him over the opening to the dimension.

          “I can’t have you trying to usurp my position again so I’ll send you to a dimension where there’s nothing and you can rule there,” Discord said with a smile on as his face his eyes lit up “Oh I almost forgot, there’s one more teensy weensy thing,” Discord started laughing as he snapped his fingers and reverted Paradox to his origin form, a small shadow like figure, drained and devoid of magic.

          “Discord wait!” the small shadow now pleading not to be banished to another dimension “I know we’ve had our differences, but I’ve actually come to warn you about a premonition I had,” Paradox made a small sack appear out of thin air “In 3 years time, you will be overthrown by 2 regal sisters wielding the Elements of Harmony. If you plant these seeds they will sprout roots which will drain magic from the Tree of Harmony and the 2 which appose you” Discord took the seeds in hand and grinned.

          “Thanks, but I think I’ve had enough of your tricks Paradox,” with that said Discord threw Paradox into the dimensional rip and sealed it shut. The last Discord had ever heard from Paradox was his screams of anger and rage which decreased in volume, the farther he fell.

The young filly trotted down the dirt path behind a pair of grown ponies with a large smile on his face. Blaze loved it when he and his parents went for their walks in the afternoon sun. He couldn’t explain why but he loved the way the sun’s rays hit his body and engulfed him in the heat, it was as though he and the sun were one; as though the very power of Celestia was coursing through his very being. Blaze also loved how both his parents would take time away from their daily activities of working on their land to walk with the young filly every Sunday afternoon. Blaze loved to stretch his wings and soar into the sky, almost as though it was his only purpose and all he wanted to do. When he ascended above his usual height, he noticed something in the distance beginning to form.

          Blaze was interested in the strange object because while it appeared to rotated violently, there was a bit of grace to be admired in the formation. Blaze hovered in fascination, however, that fascination quickly turned to fear as he realized he couldn’t resist the twisters pull. Blaze screamed and cried out for help feeling himself being pulled with the wind, shutting his eyes he feared for the worst. However, within seconds Blaze no longer felt any wind pulling him, instead he felt the wind moving against him. He opened his eyes to see him and his father moving away from the tornado and back to their home where his mother already waited.

          “Don’t worry Blaze,” his father spoke in a calming tone “As long as your mother and I are around you’ll always be-“

          Blaze's father’s speech was cut short when the roar of the twister’s winds spoke over him, it had caught up within only a few seconds and was inching its way toward the two pegasi. Blaze’s father resisted the winds as hard as he could holding his son so as not to let him get pulled in. The tornado was practically on top of them now, Blaze closed his eyes and prepared for the worst knowing only one outcome was left. His eyes quickly shot open when he realized that he no longer felt the pull of the wind, instead, he noticed he was inside the safety and comfort of his home his mother’s hooves caressing him. He scanned the room with his eyes and noticed something or better yet somepony was missing.

          “Mommy, where’s daddy?” asked Blaze in a weak and trembling voice “Didn’t he come inside with me too?” tears began forming in his eyes.

          Blaze still looked around the house, his eyes analyzing every corner and shadow of the room hoping that he might catch even a glimpse of his father. As he looked around something hit the top of his head, it gave off a sudden warmth and he could tell it was a liquid. His mother only held him tighter when her son began to notice the tears coming down her face and streaming down the side of her cheeks; afraid to lose the only other pony in her life she held him so that even if the tornado broke through the walls, it would not separate her from her child. As she felt another wave of tears building up inside her, she heard something which made hear cry even more heavily than before.

          “Mommy?” said Blaze with tears in his eyes and a false smile which he tried to use to comfort his mother “Mommy, please don’t cry daddy wouldn’t want to see you cry”

          With that said, Blaze's mother burst into tears and held her offspring so close to her cheat it was as though their hearts beated as one.

Chapter 3: Escalation

Chapter 3: Escalation

“Hey I got a question, well actually it’s more like 2 questions,” Pinkie said as she held her arm over her head like a young pony waiting to be called on in school “Who was that? And what just happened?” Twilight turned to Discord who was the only one who could provide anything close to an answer at the time. When he noticed this Discord began teasing the young princess “You mean there’s something I know that the great Twilight Sparkle doesn’t?” Discord was gonna continue until he noticed every ponies expressions were all serious. He let out a sigh of defeat before he continued.

“Well your all no fun,” Discord cleared his throat as he pulled out a what looked like a giant resource book and put on reading glasses “Paradox is a variation of the Spirit of Chaos, he is known as the Spirit of Manipulation,” Twilight’s eyes opened wide at the phrase Discord just read. “Variation!? You mean, there is more then ONE Spirit of Chaos?” Discord put his paw over her mouth while using his claw to form a silence gesture “Shhhh darling it’s story time, not show and tell,” he cleared his throat again and continued “Since Paradox is a variation of the Spirit of Chaos, he retains all abilities of the original with the only drawback being that these abilities are a weaker variation and consume more magic than the original,” Discord closed the book and tossed it out a open window.

“That doesn’t sound all that bad,” said Applejack as she tried to lift the others spirits “It sounds like we’re just dealing with a weaker version of Discord and considering all the stuff he did while he was here I’m sure he’s even weaker now,” Discord had a bit of a more serious look on his face “What that textbook failed to mention was that since manipulation is his specialty he can often manipulate others with just his words alone and any manipulation spell he casts would be about 10x harder to break than mine. Furthermore, he can replenish his magic supply by feeding off the negative emotions of others” Twilight seemed more composed but a bigger question remained on her mind.

“We still never found out were he took Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?” Twilight exclaimed.

“No one took us anywhere,” Twilight turned around to be faced by her fellow princesses presence.  “After they snuck in Paradox had a unicorn put up an anti magic barrier. It blocked both Luna and my magic which means whoever that unicorn is, has a powerful amount of magic within them” Twilight was surprised to hear this, a unicorn who has stronger magic then both of the princesses? “While we don’t have much information on him, Paradox did call him Blaze. He also referred to him as his apprentice” Twilight continued with a confused look once again but this time she turned to Discord “If Paradox is his teacher, is it possible for him to teach Blaze chaos magic?” Discord began laughing slightly “No, not possible, only a spirit of chaos may wield chaos magic,” he dropped his laugh and put his paw under his chin making a thinking gesture “At least I don’t think so, as far as I know it’s never been done”

“Um, everyone”

“What do you mean it’s never been done?” Twilight annoyed with his response.

“I mean, it’s never been done, I mean I’ve never met any creature who could handle that much magic aside from another spirit,”

“Um”

“So there is still a possibility that it can be done?”

“Well if I’m being completely honest here, than I’d have to say I don’t know”

“Everyone!”

As Fluttershy yelled she could see that she now had everyone’s eyes on her “Oh, I’m sorry,” she whimpered. She cleared her throat before she continued to speak, “Discord, is it possible for Paradox to manipulate somepony without them knowing?” Discord scratch the top of his head “Yes something like that would be child’s play to him,” Discord looked at Fluttershy with a puzzled look “What exactly are you implying my dear?” Fluttershy shifted nervously where she stood “What if that unicorn is being controlled by Paradox, I mean then he wouldn’t know any better, right?”

“That does seem very likely, but I know Paradox he tries to conserve as much magic as possible and since he’s attempting to take over Equestria he’s going to try to keep twice as much in reserve. And if he was manipulating him, then why waste time teaching him as an apprentice?” Rainbow Dash seemed to interject with a comment of her own “I’m not sure about the rest of you but it seemed to me like that unicorn held a bit of grudge over Discord,” everyone seemed to nod and look at Discord.

“What? I didn’t do anything, aside from right now I’ve never seen that unicorn in my lifetime” said Discord with an innocent look. “Paradox’s student has unique magic capabilities as he demonstrated today. Manipulated or not, as it stands he’s a threat to Equestria and us all,” Discord laughed a bit wickedly “I guess there’s no other choice, he must be destroyed” Fluttershy gasped as Discord said this “Or at least captured” he finished. Celestia summoned a group of guards who appeared in moments.

“I want you and your ponies to begin a search party,” Pinkie Pie gasped as Celestia said this “A party?” a look of excitement on her face. “Not that kind of party darling,” Rarity said as she laughed softly at her friend. Celestia turned to Discord with a stern look, the draconaquus already knew what it meant. “Oh fine, I’ll help look as well,” Discord snapped his fingers and was now wearing a police uniform “Besides, I have a feeling I know where he’s hiding anyway,” having said that Discord disappeared in a cartoon style poof.

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand,” Twilight turned to Celestia with a lost gaze “If he didn’t really kidnap you or Princess Luna, then wasn’t Paradox’s coming here pointless?” It was at this point that Luna began to speak “Do not underestimate him, if Paradox is anything like Discord we must assume nothing he does is without reason”

Paradox clapped his hooves together and released his student from his magic spherical prison, upon doing so he was met with a rather ill tempered unicorn. “You coward! The opportunity of a lifetime and you let it slip away!” Blaze’s heat pressure was now rising “We could’ve had Discord and claimed Equestria like you said we would but instead you chose to run, we accomplished nothing!” Paradox wrapped his hoof around Blaze “My precious student, you have much to learn. The timing is off as I am not at my 100% best,” Paradox met Blaze's gaze with a look of anger of his own “And if I am not at my best than we will stand no chance at all against Discord and your thirst for revenge would go unquenched” Blaze still had a look of irritation on his face but Paradox knew how to fix that “Its time you got what you’ve always asked for, my apprentice” Blaze's hateful stare was now an awestruck one.

“You…you mean?” Blaze had trouble making the words out of his mouth, he was practically trembling with excitement “I’ll finally get to be-?” Blaze was interrupted as his teacher shot a condensed  bolt of dark magic at him, it knocked him back violently and sent him flying towards a tree. Blaze cried out for the first few moments, but, as the pain faded his cry of harm turned into a laughter of insanity. “I know it’s a lot to take in but you must gain control of it,” Paradox yelled at his student “If you let it consume you I’ll be left but with no choice to destroy you here and then you’ll never get your revenge on Discord for what he did to your parents!” Blaze's laughter died down as his body underwent the transformation. His whole body’s color began to darken and a pair of wings which resembled those of Paradox formed on his spine and a forked tail appeared at his rear end, his horn gained a fine sharp point and his eyes became a dark violet. He slowly stood up and outstretched his new wings staring at them in pure awe.

“I’m rather impressed my boy,” Paradox wore a look of astonishment “I wasn’t sure if your body could contain this much magic” Paradox had a smile creep across his face “Why, your almost as powerful as I am now” Blaze took to the sky and within seconds he could see all of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. His eyes then locked on the groups of royal guards which were heading his direction, he descended rather quick to inform his teacher only to see Paradox smiling back at him. “You planned this all along,” Blaze said as he looked Paradox in the eye “Your plan wasn’t a failure, you knew by revealing yourself Celestia would send out search parties to locate us. Your plan was to thin out the numbers of resistance at Canterlot and then return with a counter attack,” Paradox nodded at him.

“You learn quick my boy, who knows, maybe soon I shall be the one calling you master?” the two laughed together before Paradox cleared his throat “Anyways, I still have to gather more magic before the day is up; in the meantime why don’t you try out your new abilities?” Blaze stared at his horn glowing with chaos magic as Paradox spoke “When your finished meet me back at the hideout, oh and Blaze, do try not to overdue it and bring attention to yourself” With that said, Paradox disappeared in a bright flash of light, leaving Blaze alone with several groups of guards approaching him from all sides. The guards surrounded Blaze and prepared for anything “By order of Princess Celestia, I hereby place you under royal arrest,” said a unicorn in a commanding tone. Blaze cracked his neck with his hooves and began to stretch out his wings and tail.

“Let’s see what the power of a Chaos Spirit can do” an evil smile appeared on Blaze’s face.

“What’s wrong sugar cube? You haven’t been the same since earlier” Applejack said as her and Fluttershy stopped in front of her cottage “Does it have to do with that Paradox and Blaze feller?” Fluttershy had a saddened expression “Oh I know he seems bad but, I think Blaze is just brainwashed by Paradox” Applejack put a hoof on her friend “I know you try see the good in everypony Fluttershy but, he crashed the Gala, threatened all of us, and more importantly he wants to take over Equestria” Fluttershy trusted Applejack, she wanted to tell her how she noticed the look of sadness she saw in the unicorn’s eyes. But as she was about a boom of thunder interrupted her, “Huh that’s funny, I don’t remember rain being scheduled this late I better get home before I get caught in that. I’ll see ya later Fluttershy,” and with that the pegasus was left standing where her friend left her. She didn’t know why but she questioned the storms creator to be a pegasus, just as she was about to go in a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and a crash could be seen in the distance.

“Goodness, that poor pegasus might be hurt,” she paused for a moment before taking in a deep breath and charging to the crash site.

Blaze cackled with evil laughter as he looked around and marveled at what he had done. The guards who once surrounded him now all lay unconscious around him,  some had their horns turned into carrots, others were turned into oranges. Blaze looked at his hooves and then at his horn as he slowly ascended to sky, “This is the power of a Spirit of Chaos? The power of Discord? It feels almost limitless” without even trying Blaze summoned up a storm of chocolate milk “Though it could take some getting use to, why, with this power I could claim Canterlot for master Paradox and then he’d know I’m ready to face Discord” as his smile began to grow, Blaze started flying towards the city. As he took off he narrowly dodged a bolt lf lightning, he stopped for a moment to laugh at how he was almost hit when he felt  a sharp pain surge through his entire body. His wing had been struck, fearing the inevitable, Blaze braced himself for impact. He smashed into a tree hard nearly breaking it in half, as he attempted to recover himself and sit up, another bolt lightning hit the tree branch above him causing it to fall and hit Blaze hard on the head. The unicorn blacked out.

Fluttershy ran through the forest weaving between tree’s and bushes attempting to reach the crash site to aid whatever creature was unfortunate enough to be caught up in this terrible storm. Though the storm frightened her she couldn’t even bear the thought of some poor animal being caught in it. When she stumbled upon a few broken tree’s and one that was on fire, she knew she was in the right place. She could see make out a figure being crushed under the large branch which had fallen on them, “Oh hang on, I’ll get you out of there you poor animal” As she lifted the branch she let out a gasp to see that what she saved or better yet, who she saved was no forest animal after all, it was Blaze. Fluttershy was confused, the storm was getting worse now, would he be alright if she left him her? She began to turn to leave as she remembered the anger that she saw in his eyes, it frightened her. Then she remembered the other thing she had seen in his eyes, the sadness. She stood in the rain for a moment before silently nodding to herself, she knew what she had to do.

Chapter 4: What's a Paradox?

As Paradox returned back to his hideout, he found himself greeted by a face he knew all too well. “Oh no you found me” Paradox threw a hoof over his head imitating a fainting gesture “I guess I have no choice but to surrender myself to you and your pony friends,” he then stuck both hooves out and made a string tie around them so as to restrain his movement. Discord had his arms crossed and just raised an eyebrow at him. “I knew it was a matter of time before you would eventually escape,” said Discord as he turned his back to the Alicorn “But what I wanna know is what’s the deal with that Blaze kid? I mean it’s not like you to partner up with someone, especially someone weaker than you?”

“He’s got exceptional magic abilities, once I found that out I knew he was destined for great things; why, even from the day I first rescued him as a little colt he demonstrated such potential” Discord looked confused as he listened to what Paradox said “Oh? I had not told you yet?” Paradox pushed Discord into a recliner and gave him a bag of popcorn “Set back and relax my friend, the story I’m about to tell is actually quite a long one”

“Tell me why we’re heading to Fluttershy’s so earlier in the morning?” Rainbow Dash spoke with a yawn as she asked the question. “Fluttershy said she had something very important to show us,” said Twilight. “I know that but I don’t see why we had to get up sooo early” replied Rainbow. “I agree with Rainbow Dash, I do hope whatever it is, it’s important,” Rarity chimed in “A pony needs every moment of beauty sleep she can get,” When the five ponies reached the cottage, Twilight knocked a hoof on the door only to be greeted by the eye of their friend.

“Fluttershy? What’s the matter?” asked Twilight. “Oh, uh, hi girls” Fluttershy stepped outside of the door in a swift, quick motion. She carried a nervous smile on her face, “You wanted to show us somethin sugar cube?” asked Applejack when she noticed how nervous her friend looked “Before I do, you all have to promise me that you all won’t flip out” Fluttershy said in a bit of a commanding tone. All the friends looked to each other before replying in unison: “We promise”

“You Pinkie promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” all the ponies repeated in unison once more. Fluttershy took a deep breath “Okay…here goes” Fluttershy opened the door and stepped aside so her friends could view what she had been hiding. Everypony gasped as their eyes locked to one area in the living room. Laying on the couch in a state of unconsciousness was the unicorn who had crashed the Gala the night before, Blaze, Paradox's apprentice. Rainbow Dash flew to Fluttershy and was face to face with her “Are you nuts!? What is he doing here!?” Applejack pulled the pegasus back by her tail “Calm down there Rainbow Dash” Rainbow sat down and crossed her hooves with a frown on her face. Twilight looked at Fluttershy with a puzzled look.

“Oh I’m sorry Twilight, but he was hurt and it was raining and I couldn’t just leave him and-“ Twilight put a hoof on her friends chest “It’s okay Fluttershy, at least your heart was in the right place” Twilight glanced over to where Blaze rested, “Unfortunately Discords right, he’s a threat to Equestria and to all us. I’m afraid he’ll have to be imprisoned when he wakes up”

“Isn’t there anything else we can do?, uh, I mean” Fluttershy stuttered nervously as she spoke. Twilight gave her a surprised look, “What exactly are you asking Fluttershy?”  Fluttershy looked at the ground trying to hide the fact that she was now blushing, “What…what if I reformed him and got him to use his magic for good?” Everypony had a look of astonishment on their face “Darling is that really what you want?” Rarity asked as she walked over to were Blaze lay, “I mean this is the same pony who ruined the Gala and threatened all of us” Everypony now walked over to where the unicorn lay, “Still, he’s not that bad to look at” Rarity looked over to notice her friends except Fluttershy had a face of disgust. Rarity grinned blushing “What? I was only joking, doesn’t anypony have a sense of humor around here?” All of the six jumped back when they heard a moan coming from Blaze, “He’s waking up” said Rainbow Dash with a surprised expression “What do we do?” Twilight gave all of her friends a serious look “All right girls be ready for anything”

Blaze felt himself regaining consciousness and attempted to open his eyes, upon doing so he found that he was in a place he did not recognize and six mares staring at him with looks of hostility.  “Don’t try anything funny” said Rainbow Dash as she brought her face closer to his. Blaze didn’t know what to do, he panicked and chose the best choice of action that he could think of: run. He jumped off the couch and made a run for the door, when she noticed this Pinkie ran to the door and shut it before he could make it. When he saw Pinkie blocking the way, Blaze leapt into the air and flew towards the nearest open window.

“He can fly?” Pinkie asked as she wore a look of confusion, “Rainbow Dash get him!” yelled Twilight. She gave Twilight a nod and shot off towards Blaze, being the more experienced flyer, Rainbow was able to out fly him and tackle him to the ground. “I thought I told you not to try anything funny,” said Rainbow Dash as she stood over the unicorn holding both of his arms down with her's. “I don’t know who you are but I’ll give you anything. What do you want? Bits? Gems? Jewels?” Blaze paused for a moment with a scared face “Are you going to eat me?” Rainbow Dash looked over at her friends with a confused look, “Uh are we sure this is the same pony from last night?” Blaze had a look of confusion himself “Last night? What do you mean last night? I don’t remember last night” Rainbow Dash looked back at him, “Don’t you play dumb! Last night! The Grand Galloping Gala! You and that Paradox or whatever his name is ruined it!” With every word she got out Rainbow unknowingly moved her face closer to his until they were only inches apart. Blaze looked away when he realized she was so close to him.

“First off, what’s a Grand Galloping Gala? Secondly, who in the wide world of Equestria is Paradox? And thirdly-“ Blaze stopped when he turned to face the pegasus who was on top of him “Huh, you know I never realized it till now but, your pretty cute” Rainbow Dash blushed and got off Blaze when he said this. She stood up and forced his back against the wall “What the hay are you trying to say!?” she yelled as she held him with her hoof. “What? I was just trying to pay you a compliment, that’s all I swear!” Blaze said as he put his hooves up in a gesture of surrender. Rainbow Dash growled at him though she was still blushing after his comment, “Alright Rainbow that’s enough” said Twilight as she and everypony else walked over to where they stood. She let him go with a shove and backed off with the others.

“What do you mean you don’t remember last night?” asked Twilight as she studied the unicorn. “I mean what I say I don’t remember last night, or least I don’t remember the part your friend described” Blaze spoke calmly but still held a nervous expression “Can you tell me what part you remember?” asked Twilight as she drew closer to him. Blaze put a hoof under his chin, “The last thing I remember from last night was me flying and getting struck by lightning” Rainbow Dash began to laugh but a nudge from Fluttershy made her stop, “I remember crashing through a couple of trees in a forest and than something hit me on the head and knocked me out” Blaze put his hoof on his head, “Actually now that I think about it my head does hurt pretty bad” Twilight looked at him trying to locate any hints that he might be lying but couldn’t find any, could he possibly be telling the truth. She turned to face Fluttershy, “Where exactly did you find him again?” asked Twilight. “In the Everfree Forest, a large branch had fallen on him and he was unconscious. It was raining pretty badly out so I carried him back her and patched up his wing” Blaze hadn’t noticed it until she said something but his wing was covered in a bandage, he turned and looked at Fluttershy. “You saved me?” Fluttershy responded with a nervous smile and a nod, “Thanks, I mean really, I don’t know if I’d be here if it wasn’t for you” Fluttershy began to blush as she heard his gratitude “Oh, um, it was nothing, really” Twilight walked around Blaze examining him, “Hmmm, if you were struck in the head it’s possible your suffering from a loss of memory” Twilight turned to face him “Give us a moment please” she then turned to face her friends “Girls, huddle up”

“Are we really gonna believe what he says after what he did at the Gala?” asked Rainbow Dash with an annoyed look “His story seems to check out alright, and besides,” Twilight glanced at Blaze before she continued “You remember how powerful he is, there would be no reason for him to lie to us if he remembered who we are or who he is for that matter” Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a defeated sigh, “Your right Twilight” this time she glanced at Blaze “But what I really wanna know is where he got those wings and that tail?” Each pony looked at each other for a moment before Applejack spoke, “Ah reckon we ask Princess Celestia about this one” the group nodded in agreement and turned to face Blaze. “Um Blaze, we’d like for you to speak with Princess Celestia in Canterlot” said Twilight nervously. Blaze shrugged “I see no harm in that, lets go everypony” Blaze said as he pointed and raised a hoof at the door. He stayed in this pose for a moment before he turned back with a nervous smile, “I have no idea where that is” he laughed.

“He says he can’t remember anything, and we all have a strong feeling he’s telling the truth” said Twilight as she and Blaze stood in front of Celestia. Princess Celestia was staring hard at the pony that stood before her, she took notice of the draconic wings which he now had, “At first I sensed a strong presence heading this way and assumed it was just Discord, but these wings and tail confirm it; he’s been endowed with Chaos Magic” Twilight had a look of concern, “Is that bad?” Celestia stood up from her throne “It depends,” the princess made her way over to Blaze and looked him in the eyes “Do you swear to use your new abilities for the sake of good and not evil?” Blaze bowed his head as he kneeled before the great alicorn “Yes your Highness, I swear” Celestia put a hoof on his head and brushed his mane with a smile “Then you are free to go” Blaze and the others turned to leave but Celestia asked Twilight to stay.

She turned to face her teacher as she began to speak, “Though he doesn’t remember now, he is still a very dangerous individual and now that he’s practically a Spirit of Chaos himself, Blaze is even more of threat then ever before” Twilight’s face held a worried expression “What do you want me to do?” Celestia closed her eyes and thought for a moment before she replied, “If Fluttershy is intent on reforming him then allow her to do so, if she could befriend Discord then this won’t be a difficult task for her. Plus, under all his anger and rage I sense good in him and if anypony can trigger that goodness to come out it’s Fluttershy” Twilight nodded in recognition to her teacher’s words when another question came into her mind, “And what if he recovers his memories?” Celestia also had an answer to this question, “We will hope that Fluttershy has befriended before that happens, but if it does and he turns back to the side of evil” Celestia sighed sadly, “Then we’ll have no choice but use the Elements of Harmony against him” Twilight gasped a bit shocked but then Celestia  gave her student a reassuring look, “But as long as we have confidence in Fluttershy than it won’t come to that” Twilight nodded nervously to her, “I sure hope your right” she said as she turned to leave.

Chapter 5: First Friend

As the seven ponies walked through town square, Blaze felt other ponies around staring at him. It wasn’t normal staring though, he could sense the emotions that were coming off of the glares. He felt eyes of disgust piercing through his very being. He stopped for a moment and looked at his reflection in a mirror and thought to himself, ‘Who am I? What did I do to get these stares of hate?' It wasn’t until Twilight spoke up that he regained his focus, “Hey, you okay?”

Blaze turned away from his reflection to see the others were looking at him with worried expressions.  “Me? Oh yeah, I’m fine” he lied as he put on a fake smile, “Just not used to having everypony stare at me” he laughed but the they could all tell it was fake. Blaze turned back to his reflection with a saddened expression on his face, “Do I really look that bad?” The six friends now surrounded him and attempted to cheer him up. They all gave each other glances but it was Rarity who finally broke the silence, “Heavens no darling, you just look, oh what’s the word I’m looking for?”

“Different?” asked Applejack

“Unique?” asked Twilight

“Weird?” asked Pinkie, her friends glared at her “What? What’d I say?” Blaze turned back and faced them “No, don’t get annoyed with her because she speaks the truth” he cleared his throat before continuing to speak, “Anyways, who cares what other ponies think of my wings, having the ability to fly is so much better than casting a spell with a horn” Rainbow Dash flew next to him and spoke excitedly, “You bet it is! I mean, sure you can use magic and all but nothing beats soaring through the sky blowing through clouds and feeling the wind rush on your face! Hey you know what? How about I give you a couple flying lessons sometime? It’ll be fun” Her friends looked at her surprised, she then coughed and regained her composure. “I mean, if you want, it doesn’t make a difference to me” she said in a mellow cool tone. Blaze faked a smile at her, “Well at least there are still some ponies who treat me equal”

“Oh my gosh! I almost forgot we still have to throw you a welcome party!” Pinkie Pie screamed with excitement.  “That’s not really necessary Pinkie, but thank you” Blaze turned away only to see the Pink mare inches away from his face with a huge grin on her face. “You don’t understand I throw welcome parties for everypony!” Twilight walked next to Blaze with a small “And when she says everypony, she means everypony” all six friends began laughing. Blaze couldn’t explain it but he felt something overcome him, he wasn’t sure what it was, what was wrong with him? He faked another smile before replying “Well, I guess” with that said, Pinkie jumped into the air throwing confetti everywhere.

“And since that horrible day, I swore I would take the poor orphaned unicorn and raise him as though he were my own” Paradox looked over to see Discord sleeping in the recliner with the now empty popcorn bag resting on his head. “Discord!” yelled the alicorn at the top of his lungs, causing the draconaquus to wake with a fright. “Oh your story’s over? That’s unfortunate I was really into it” said Discord as he stretched and yawned “Yes, I took notice” replied Paradox in a sarcastic tone. “Anyways, now to the task at hand” Discord snapped his fingers as he said this causing a cage to appear around Paradox trapping him where he stood. “Sorry about this, old friend, just doing what was asked of me”

Paradox looked at Discord “You must get very bored being reformed and all now, don’t you?” asked Paradox as he sat down in his cage. “I could provide you with some entertainment so your not as bored with those ponies. Let’s face it, not a lot of others are in the same league as us” Discord moved closer to the cage, “What are you implying?” asked Discord with an interested look on his face.

“Right now, you can capture me whenever you want. But give me time to get back my magic and I’ll battle you and prove that I am a worthy adversary. You could hunt me down the proper way, we’ll make a game of cat and mouse of it. All I’m asking is you let me do what I do, and then come for me when I’m at my best, what do you say?” Discord stopped for a moment to think before releasing Paradox, “Sounds fun,” said Discord as he turned to leave “I’m heading back home to get some rest and I’ll continue my ˝search˝ for you again tomorrow” and with that Discord left the cave, leaving Paradox smiling evilly knowing he had bought himself some time.

Blaze stood in a corner as he watched the residents of Ponyville converse amongst each other, as he watched them smile and laugh together, he felt as if he didn’t belong. He crept his way over to the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner but was stopped by a familiar shade of pink.

“There you are mister, I’ve been looking all over for you!” Pinkie noticed the pony’s saddened expression “Hey come on Blazey, this is a party! Turn that frownie upside downie” she took hold of Blaze's face and attempted to form a smile which came out crooked. “Oh I know what’ll cheer you up, cake time!” Pinkie pushed Blaze with her head across the room to a table in the center, the table held a large cake with different layers of frosting and mixed toppings piled on top.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked so I went ahead and threw in as many toppings and frostings as I had! I hope you like it!”

Blaze stared at the cake with an open mouth, he had to admit it did look good. He attempted to take a bite until something made him stop.

‘Is that thing really gonna take a bite of the cake?’

‘Why would the princess let that monster out of her sight?’

Blaze lowered his head slowly and backed his head away from the cake, he couldn’t believe what these ponies were saying. He looked up slightly and had his eyes scan the room, he was surprised at what he saw. No ponies mouths were moving but he could still hear what they were saying, what was going on?

‘I can’t believe Pinkie Pie would throw a party for that monster’

‘He doesn’t belong here, he’s nothing like us'

Blaze had tears stream down his cheeks as his mouth closed and his teeth gritted, his once normal teeth now resembled fangs. The temperature in the room began to rise, many ponies began to sweat and the icing on the cake started melting away. Twilight was the first to notice this as she drew closer to him, she could feel the intensity of the heat radiating off Blaze.

“Blaze, are you okay?” she asked with a worried expression. She couldn’t see his eyes directly but she noticed the tear streams beginning to dry under his eyes.

Blaze jumped in the air and hovered over the now half melted cake, his facial expression was now viewable by everypony in the room. It was filled with anger, though mostly pain.

“Your all silently judging me, you try to hide it but I know what you all truly think! None of you know me! I don’t even know myself! I seek a place to belong and turn to you all of you, hoping anypony can offer guidance! But instead all I get is resentment and hate, if I’m the monster you all think I am than how about I start acting like IT!?” Blaze flew over the heads of the groups of ponies and flew out the entrance leaving behind him a faint stream of flames and the smell of ash. Everypony now had a frightened look on their faces.

“Geez what was that all about?” asked Pinkie as she continued to eat the now burnt cake.

“I’m not sure but we can’t have him roaming around when he’s emotionally unstable, he could burn down the town” as Twilight said this everypony went into a state of panic and ran about each other attempting to leave.

“I’ll catch him, there’s no way he can outfly me” said Rainbow Dash as she flew towards the exit.

“No Rainbow!” Twilight intervened as she hovered in her path, “We can’t bring him back with brute force, we have to get him to comeback willingly” Twilight looked over at Fluttershy as she cowered behind a curtain. “Fluttershy, it’s up to you”

“Oh, I don’t know Twilight. He seemed really upset and I don’t know if he’ll listen to me” as Fluttershy said this Twilight walked over to where she hid with a worried face.

“You have to do this, if you can’t…” Twilight paused before she continued “I’ve been given orders to have us use our Elements of Harmony on him”

“No we can’t!” Fluttershy was now out from behind the curtain “Its not his fault he’s just confused and lonely, that’s all”

“Then go comfort him, out of the six of us you’re the one he’s bound to listen to the most,” Twilight locked eyes with her “We have confidence in you, all of us” Fluttershy’s worried face was now replaced by a confident one.

“Okay, I’ll do it” she said to her friends as she took off after Blaze.

Blaze sat in a cave sobbing to himself, he couldn’t help but sense a feeling of familiarity.

‘Why? Why does this feeling of emptiness feel so familiar’ Just as he thought about it, an image appeared in his mind and he knew what it was.

“That’s right, I’ve always been alone”

“But your not alone anymore” Blaze turned after he heard the familiar voice and was greeted by a face that seemed to comfort him. “I’m here with you,” said Fluttershy as she began to walk towards him.

“Why aren’t you running like everypony else? They weren’t saying it out loud but I could still hear them” Blaze looked at his wings as he outstretched them, “They all think I’m a monster. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, everypony is afraid of me” Blaze attempted to look at Fluttershy but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“I don’t think you’re a monster,” Fluttershy was now standing behind him “I mean you can be a bit scary at sometimes, but so can everypony. All of us have our scary sides, including me” Blaze gave a faint laugh as he found this hard to believe. He wiped away his tears and faced the pegasus.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice to me? If what everypony says I did on the night of the Gala is true, than why would you even bother wasting your time with me?” Blaze tried to look Fluttershy in the eyes but he couldn’t find the strength, just as he began to look away Fluttershy put a hoof under his chin and locked eyes with him.

“Because, I can tell better than anypony that your lonely. Maybe all you really need is some friends” she kept her eyes locked with his as she slowly lowered her hoof, she then noticed more tears forming in his eyes as he looked away. “Oh, did I say the wrong thing? I’m sorry” Blaze refocused his eyes back on her, willingly this time.

“Its just, I don’t really remember having any friends at all. I remember always feeling empty inside, and I was always so sad and alone…” Blaze sat for a moment staring at her eyes before he chose to look away, but as he went to turn something stopped him. He stood with a shocked expression as Fluttershy embraced him with a hug.

“You don’t have to say that anymore, because now you do have friends” Blaze felt her grip around him tighten “So please, don’t ever say that again” as Fluttershy said this, Blaze could make out her voice getting weaker and it only took him a few seconds before he realized she was now the one crying. Fluttershy gasped as she felt Blaze's hooves wrap around her and return a hug.

“Thank you Fluttershy” They held each other in silence for awhile before both ponies released their grips and dried their eyes. Blaze noticed the sun was beginning to set, “Its getting late we should head back” Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement.

“Um, you can stay at my cottage, that is if you want to,” said Fluttershy as the two walked to the cave entrance. Blaze looked at her one last time before, they left.

“Yeah, I’d like that”

Chapter 6: Bitter Sweet Memories

Blaze found himself on a dirt road next to a large stretch of land. On the land was a beautiful castle which seemed to be made of a glass material. He wasn’t sure why but the place he was at had a sense of familiar, from the castle to the dirt road, something about it seemed to bring him comfort. As he looked around with awe something caught his eye, two adult sized ponies walking in his direction.

The pegasus looked strong, his wings seemed capable of flying for extremely long distances and his physique had a tone of slender and muscle to it. The pegasus was a bright red with dark orange hair and tail to match while his eyes were golden brown. The mare was beautiful, she was a hot pink unicorn with a bright yellow and orange mane and eyes of a bright red. He could have sworn for a moment she seemed to have wings like those of a pegasus, but as he rubbed his eyes Blaze noticed she was only a unicorn.

As they had finally made their way to him, Blaze just stared at the two ponies before him. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he knew who they were.

“I…I know you, don’t I?” he asked as he had a confused expression. It was at this point that the pegasus began laughing loudly, the unicorn just blushed and giggled along quietly.

“You better know us,” said the pegaus as he gave Blaze a shove. “Or did you forget all those times I gave you rides when you were little?”

Hearing this, an image flashed through Blaze's mind of him when he was younger. He remembered the walks on the dirt path, the rides he was given, everything he did with the only two ponies in his life.

“My….my...?” he couldn’t get the word out as tears began forming in his eyes and his voice began to break. The unicorn smiled warmly as she began to speak.,

“That’s right, we’re your”- she was interrupted abruptly as she felt something embrace her. Blaze was sobbing as he held a hoof around both of his parents, hugging them with a bit of intensity.

“I can’t explain it…but it feels like you’ve both been gone for a really long time and this is the first time I’ve seen you…” Blaze spoke through tears as he struggled to keep his voice calm. “I’m just so glad you’re both here”

“I can’t allow this”

Blaze turned around when he heard an evil voice bellow behind him. He was face with a large shadowy dark purple figure with piercing red eyes. It’s presence made Blaze shudder as it appeared before him,  he looked around only to see that he was now alone.

Where the castle once stood lay only rubble, and the beautiful landscape was now in a state of devastation. The figure fired a dark sphere of condensed energy at him, Blaze collapsed as he felt his ears ringing and a burst of pain shoot through his head. Seeing this, the figure began laughing at him.

“You told me to make it stop, you told me to help you,” the figure spoke in a deep, raspy, tone as it moved closer to Blaze. “And now….your mine”

“The likes of you are not welcome here, begone!”

With a flash of light and a quick cry of pain, the figure was gone. Blaze looked up to see a dark blue alicorn standing over him, her face carried a smile, one that resembled his mother’s. She helped him up as he struggled to stand back up, he felt weaker all of a sudden but couldn’t explain why.

“I trust that your not hurt,” she said once Blaze finally managed to stand.

“Yeah I’m fine,” he paused for a moment as a sudden rush of energy overcame him. His orange became gray, his hair and tail became a dark purple with streaks of white. “Actually, I feel great or at least better than I was before. Thanks for the help uh…” Blaze chuckled nervously, though she seemed familiar he had forgotten her name.

“Luna, Princess Luna”

“Oh y-your Highness,” he bowed his head realizing the error he just made, how could he had forgotten she was a princess? “Please forgive my negligence”

“Its quite alright,” Luna giggled as she saw his nervous attempt to bow. “I can see your not very good with formalities anyway. Moreover, why did you change color?” Blaze shrugged as he stared back at her with a confused look. “Well I suppose anything is possible, this is your dream after all”

“You mean to tell me I’m dreaming?” Blaze donned a look of disappointment, “I knew it was too good to be true, I don’t remember what happened but my parents aren’t with me anymore” he stared at the ground but a hoof placed under his chin and he found himself with his eyes locked onto Luna's.

“Though you say they aren’t with you anymore, I think your heart says otherwise,” she smiled at him, the same smile he once saw on his mother’s face, and it seemed to comfort him. “The important thing to remember is what you stand for”

“What do you mean? What is it that I stand for?” as he asked the young princess giggled slightly.

“Don’t you see? You are the physical representation of the love between your parents. You were birthed from their love, an eternal connection between you three will always remain” Blaze couldn’t help but wipe away tears which tried to form as Luna spoke. All of a sudden, a giant ripple began to shift across the landscape.

“Worry not, your just beginning to wake up,” Luna reassured him. “I must be going now, take care young Blaze,” with those final words Luna disappeared along with the rest of Blaze's fantasy.

Blaze awoke to a worried pair of eyes staring back at him. It didn’t take him long before he recognized who they belong to.

“Thank goodness your finally awake, I was beginning to worry,” Fluttershy said as she sighed with relief. She placed a hoof on Blaze's head, as though checking his temperature. “You don’t see to have a fever, how do you feel?”

Blaze shrugged as he sat up from the couch, he stretched his hooves out behind his head as he yawned.

“I feel normal, actually, I feel great. Why do you ask?”

“Well, when I came down here you were crying in your dream and seemed to be acting strange. I tried to wake you but you just wouldn’t, and than this dark energy surrounded you, and now you…” Fluttershy stopped as she held up a small mirror for Blaze to see.

He saw his hair was a dark purple with streaks of white, he jumped in the air and hovered taking notice of his now gray hooves, wings, and body.

“I thought this only happened in my dream, I guess whatever happened took effect on my real body. I feel amazing, its hard to explain, but it feels like I’m surging with magic. Its like I’m a new more powerful version of my former self ” Blaze glanced over at Fluttershy as she looked concerned. He lowered himself down to her until they were at eye level.

“I mean, I’m alright. Thanks for caring Fluttershy, but don’t worry, even if I have a different outlook I’m still the same pony on the inside,” as he finished speaking, Blaze's stomach seemed to speak as well.

“Oh, you must be hungry right?” asked Fluttershy as she walked to the door. “Why don’t we head to Sugar Cube Corner for breakfast? I already fed the animals so they should be good until later” she opened the door and Blaze shot out leaving behind a faint stream of dark purple flames. She watched as he flew all around the clouds at amazing speed, he had only flown three times in his life and he appeared to be as fast as Rainbow Dash.

He came rushing towards her but came to a hard stop as he seen her flinch. He stood in front of her with a grin.

“I guess that feeling of power wasn’t just a feeling,” said Blaze with a happy expression. “Hey I just thought of something, wanna fly to Sugar Cube Corner?” Fluttershy made a bit of a disapproving sound when he asked.

“Oh come on, we don’t even have to go fast we can just take it slow if you want?” hearing this, Fluttershy nodded as the two went airborne.

“Hey Fluttershy!” screamed Pinkie when she saw her friend walk in. “I didn’t really expect to see you here in the morning and…” Pinkie paused as she looked at the gray pony behind her. He opened his mouth to explain but was interrupted by her.

“You had a dream and in that dream a giant shadowy figure shot a dark ball of Chaos Magic at you which changed your appearance to what it is now and than you woke up only to find that your looks didn’t change just in your dream but also in real life!?”

“How did you-”

“Just a hunch, hey Fluttershy can you help me in the back real quick?” she interrupted again, “Have a seat and I’ll be with you in a minute” Pinkie smiled before bouncing off somewhere in the back of the store with Fluttershy following after her.

As he sat at a booth Blaze found himself rather more bored than hungry, so bored in fact, that he stared at a salt shaker on the table. He quickly jumped back as it began to sprout legs and began to dance, he then noticed the pepper and ketchup bottle began to fight each other with straws.

“What in wide, wide, world of Equestria is happening?” Blaze chased after the creatures but they were just too fast, it didn’t help neither when other strange things began happening.

Pink clouds filled with chocolate milk began appearing inside, floor tiles began spinning in place, and chairs and tables were hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Blaze tried his hardest to focus on stopping it all, but the harder he tried the worse it got. As he ran about the room chasing the objects, he slipped and landed in a chocolate milk puddle.

“Not easy being a Spirit of Chaos is it?”

Blaze sat up with a shocked expression when he heard a familiar voice, hearing the voice made Blaze feel a bit angry. He spun around to see where it came from only to be greeted by the Master of Chaos himself, Discord.

“It’s been awhile my boy, I sense you have even more Chaos Magic inside you than when we originally met,” Discord snapped his fingers and everything returned to normal as though nothing had ever happened.

“I don’t know where or how you got so much power from but it doesn’t matter now, because I’m going to relinquish it from you” Discord giggled to himself as he said this.

“Yes, something’s coming back to me,” said Blaze as he turned to face the Discord. Discord noticed he had a certain look in his eye, it was the same look he had the night they had first me: a look of rage.

“I may not remember much from my past but there is one thing I do remember and know well. I may not remember why, but there is something I wont deny and that is,” the air around Blaze now became heavy as purple flames formed around him.

“I hate you with a burning passion!”

Chapter 7: Blaze vs Discord....and plot.

          “Oh how cute, when you get made your little flames come out,” teased Discord as he approached Blaze.

          “I’m sure Paradox will forgive me if I were to banish you to another dimension,” said Discord with a evil smile forming on his face.

          “You make that sound easy, and besides, I don’t know anypony by that name” said Blaze with a cocky smile.

           “So we gonna talk all day or are we gonna fight?”

          “Well somepony sure is eager to be beat, I suppose-“

Discord was interrupted by a bolt of energy which sent him crashing out a window. Blaze quickly followed his attack up with a fireball spell which burned the draconoquus and covered him in ash. Blaze met Discord in mid air as he shook off the ash and soot from his body in his usual cartoonish manner.

          “As much as I’d like to continue this, I can’t risk anypony getting hurt because of me; come on,” said Blaze as he flew past Discord and to an open field away from town.

Discord was confused, since when would a student of Paradox care about anypony else’s well being except his own. In any case, Discord followed him so they may continue their battle.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie rushed out of the kitchen when they heard a crash only to be greeted with a shattered window with burn marks all over the floors.

          “Oh dear, this doesn’t look good,” said Fluttershy as she and Pinkie looked around.

          “Doesn’t look good!?” yelled Pinkie with a worried look.

          “If the Cakes come home to this than I’ll be out of a job, or even worse, I won't be able to come to Sugar Cube Corner anymore! Like ever! Ever! EVER!” she rushed to the back to grab supplies from the back to clean up the mess.

          “Blaze, please don’t tell me your behind this,” whimpered Fluttershy as she lowered her head.

          “I’m afraid he is,”

Fluttershy looked up to see her friend Twilight looking back at her with a concerned face.

          “But he’s not the only one at fault here, follow me”

Discord snapped his fingers and made a tree come to life and wrap around the pony, holding him in place tight. Blaze shot him a look of irritation as he let out a yell and emitted a flaming aura which burned the tree to ash. He shot another ball of fire at Discord who spun around quickly as he now wore a matador uniform with a red cape on his arms.

          “Olé,” said Discord as he waved the cape past the fireball at the last second. He pulled out a mirror as he looked at himself.

          “Oh my, this outfit really brings out the color of my eyes,”

Blaze shot yet another fireball at him, this one larger in size.

          “Incoming,” said Discord’s reflection as the flames approached quickly. Discord put up the mirror and reflected the spell sending it hurdling back towards Blaze who flew back as it hit him in the face. He shook his head as he recovered from the hit and gave Discord a cocky smile.

          “I may have underestimated your powers, and while at first I did come at you the intent to harm you, I think I’m actually beginning to enjoy myself”

          “So, you enjoy a fight? That’s rather odd, but I expect no less from a student of Paradox,” said Discord as he sipped on a cup of tea while seated on a chair in mid air.

          “You possess magic as powerful as mine my boy, why not give it a shot?” asked Discord as he poured himself another cup of tea from a kettle.

          “Oh that’s right, you don’t have control over your chaos powers like I do,” Discord knew he was playing devil’s advocate but he wanted to toy with his opponent a bit more before his victory. Annoyed at his remark, Blaze ran toward Discord’s direction gaining speed along the way.

          Discord finished his tea and waved at Blaze, teasing him. Discord was about to cast another spell when something caught his paw, he looked to see that the grass he was floating above had now come to life and wrapped around him tightly, restraining his movement.

          Discord couldn’t seem to get free, every time he moved the grass’s grip only grew stronger, all the while, Blaze drew closer to him with his horn glowing.

Discord had a look of surprise as he realized that it was chaos magic which bound him, he may not have full control but Blaze could still use it if he focused hard enough. Before he launched a large fireball, Blaze stopped running when a familiar face appeared before him.

          “Blaze, what are you doing?” asked Fluttershy as she stared at Blaze who stopped dead in his tracks with a confused expression.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?”

          “I was preparing breakfast for us until you shattered a window and burned Sugar Cube Corner,”

Blaze hung his head low with guilt, it was true, though Discord was involved he wasn’t the one who caused damage to Sugar Cube Corner. Blaze was about to apologize, but before he could open his mouth he was pulled by the tail and was dangling over an open portal.

          “Congrats Blaze, you win this round. As promised, you win one all expense paid vacation to the chaos realm for all of eternity,” said Discord as he wore a Hawaiian red shirt and a pair of sunglasses.

          “Oh I’m so jealous, it’s a shame I can’t join you but I have things to do right now”

          “Discord!”

Discord turned when he heard the high pitch scream to see Fluttershy staring back at him angrily.

          “Put him down this instance!” the yellow pegasus yelled.

Discord had a confused look on his face at the request she had. Why would she care about this pony, who once threatened her and his friends? He knew better than to argue with Fluttershy because he never won, so he did as she asked and closed the portal with a snap and let go of Blaze who fell on his face.

Twilight now appeared with Rainbow Dash who had a shocked look on her face as she noticed the scorched land and trees. Twilight, on the other hand, had a face of irritation.

          “Sorry Twilight,” said Blaze with guilt as he walked over to the young princess.

          “I just kinda lost control when we started to fight”

Discord stared for awhile as he saw Blaze bow his head honorably before Twilight. This couldn’t have been the same unicorn from the night at the gala, could it?

          “Can somepony please explain to me why everypony is all buddy-buddy with the biggest threat in Equeastria?” asked Discord with a dumbfounded look.

        “Fluttershy and I will catch Discord up on what he’s missed so far,” said Twilight ad she shot a glare in Discords direction.

          “In the meantime, Rainbow Dash will escort Blaze back to Ponyville and he’s gonna help fix the damage he caused at Sugar Cube Corner before the Cakes get back”

Blaze no longer had a look of sadness and  instead now had a determined grin on his face as he saluted Twilight with a hoof.

          “You can count on me!” said Blaze as he turned to face the town. He than gave a glance towards Rainbow Dash’s direction.

          “Race ya back to Sugar Cube Corner?” he  asked with his grin of determination still locked firmly on his face.

          “Your on!” said Rainbow Dash as she she smiled back at him.

          “Winner buys the loser breakfast, deal?”

Blaze nodded his head in agreement as he trotted over and grabbed a stick which was lying nearby to mark a line in front of the two. They both took starting positions behind the line as they bent their hind legs and spread their wings apart.

“On your mark, get set…” started Rainbow Dash.

          “You two can’t be –“

“Go!”

The two ponies took off, the cyan pegasus leaving behind a bolt of rainbows; blaze a trail of flames; following to their destination. Twilight sighed as she couldn’t believe they could have a race of all times.

“I sometimes wonder if what he’s got is passion or just recklessness,” said Twilight as she put a hoof over her  face.

It was then that she turned her gaze toward Discord.

          “Due to unfortunate accident, Blaze has suffered from amnesia and doesn’t recall much of what he did at the gala as well as his past,” she began. Discord put a paw under his chin as he recalled how his personality was different.

          “That explains why he was acting so strange. First off he didn’t know who Paradox was; secondly he seemed more caring to others; and lastly, his appearance has changed significantly,” replied Discord

          “But your right about one thing, he is still the greatest threat to Equeastria at the moment. However, if we can keep him from remembering his past, then maybe we could get him to use his powers for good instead,” Twilight continued.

           “Though with Paradox still roaming about I guess not all out problems are solved. But Blaze is top priority at the moment”

Discord had a puzzled expression as he listened on to what Twilight said.

          “So what exactly is being done about Blaze,” he asked curious of the princesses’ answer.

          “I’m in charge of reforming him just like I did with you,” Fluttershy cut in as she stared up at Discord.

          “He’s not bad once you get to know him, in fact his quite sweet”

          “And what’s that supposed to mean?” asked Discord with a annoyed look.

          “Are you saying you spend time with him?”

          “Well of course, you have to spend time with somepony if you want to be their friend. And besides, he stays with me”

Unlike Fluttershy, Twilight could see the obvious signs of Discord’s uncomfortableness  with this situation. Seeing the master of chaos jealous made her let out a laugh.

       “What’s so funny?” Discord snapped.

“Oh nothing, just taking notice of your jealousy,” Twilight teased.

          “Me!? Discord the lord of chaos threatened by somepony like him? Preposterous!” he crossed his arms as his face began to turn slightly red.

Seeing this, Fluttershy laughed thinking of how cute he was when he tried to hide his feelings.

          “On a more serious note though, there is still a problem currently developing with Blaze,” said Twilight as she used her horn to project a small screen with a diagram on it of a pony.

          “As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, Blaze’s body has absorbed even more chaos magic, though I’m not exactly sure from where. As well as changing his appearance, he received a slight increase in his base magic power. However his body can only hold so much before it reaches his limit which is why I’ve been monitoring his magic levels,”

The diagram then began to change as 1/4th of its body became shaded in by a dark violet while the rest remained clear.

          “This is how much chaos magic that is within his body now and already the power is a bit too much for him to control. This isn’t a huge concern at the moment as he can get it under control if he tries hard enough,”

          “So than what? He gains a little bit of chaos magic, big deal,” remarked Discord with a yawn as he purposely acted bored.

Twilight rolled her eyes at his comment before continuing.

          “Actually, it’s a very big deal,” she said with a combination of annoyance and concern in her tone.

          “If his magic rises past the 2/4th mark of what his bodies recommended magic level is than his body won’t be able to contain it all. The magic will be uncontrollable by than unless he has a good bearing on it now and learns how to properly wield its power,” Twilight paused for a moment as she looked over at Discord with a nervous smile.

          “So what I’m saying is, he needs somepony who has experience in chaos magic to teach him how to use it”

          “Well that does sound like a rather unfortunate circumstance, where in the world are you gonna find somepony who can do that?” asked Discord as he looked at his paw as he filed his claws.

          It wasn’t until Fluttershy cleared her throat and gave him a nudge that he realized what Twilight had said.

          “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooo thank you,” said Discord as he closed his eyes and turned his back to Twilight in protest.

          “I’m sorry but I don’t think I could teach somepony who has a grudge against me for reasons unknown and who tries to destroy me every time I so much as glance in his direction. Sorry but I guess young Blaze is done for,” Discord said in a bit of a triumphant tone of voice. He opened his eyes only to be met by the wide eyes; beautiful eyes; eyes he knew all too well.

       “Discord please, he really is a nice pony. Actually, he reminds me a lot of you,” said Fluttershy in a sweet soft voice.

          “Oh, how so?” asked Discord sarcastically as he turned away in attempt to hide his anger.

          “Well, just like you, he’s never really had a friend; he’s always been alone. And just like you,” Fluttershy turned his head to have Discord meet her gaze before she continued.

          “He’s my friend, and I’d do anything to help my friends when their in need,” she said as she wrapped her hooves around his long neck for a hug.

Discord stood for a moment speechless for a few moments before he looked down at the pony who had embraced him.

'Even now, I can't bring myself to say no to her' he thought to himself before returning a hug back to Fluttershy. Twilight cleared her throat causing the two to let go of each other as she just stared back at them.

“So?” she asked with a bit of irritation.

Discord looked over at Fluttershy as he thought for a moment, then, he gave a defeated sigh and turned towards Twilight.

          “I never could say no to her, no matter what she asked,” said Discord with a smile on his face.

Chapter 8: Teacher and Student

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My Apologies.

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2: Make a scene

Blaze woke up in a cold sweat breathing heavy, attempting to catch a grip on reality he used his horn to spark a small flame to light the room. His breathing began to slow as he scanned the room realizing he was home, or at least, it’s where his home used to be. “Why do I still suffer from these painful memories?” Blaze thought to himself, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. Blaze was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice the dark figure beginning to form in the corner of his bedroom until a voice echoed from it’s direction.

“Another nightmare about your parents?” the unicorn sat in his bed and replied without even looking at the figure “Yes, about that day,” Blaze shut his eyes tight and allowed even more tears to fall “Why does it hurt so much?”

“It is because they loved you that it hurts so much” the figure began to take form of another being “Embrace the pain, turn their love into hate and don’t forget who’s responsible for the chaos which took away your parents,” The colts tears quickly evaporated as heat enveloped the unicorn, and once where his face held a painful expression, was now replaced with a look of rage. His anger only increased when he noticed the dark figure in the corner was replaced by the creature that had ruined his life.

“DISCORD!” Blaze screamed at the top of his lungs and tackled the draconequus to the ground, as he did the draconequus began erupting with laughter “Oh how adorable, is this supposed to frighten me? Please, I still see the same fear in your eyes as your parents once had,” having heard the taunt, Blaze exploded with a bright light as blinding as the sun. His cry seemed to echo all across Equestria, and once where his home stood, a giant crater which held wisps of flames remained. Blaze collapsed on the ground having used too much magic, all the while, a large Alicorn loomed over him.

“You hold exceptional magic capabilities my boy,” the alicorn used its magic to lift the unicorn off the ground and brought him close until the two were face to face “However, if you waste all your magic on a single risk shot then you are left drained. If this was to happen then the enemy would triumph over you in a battle, that is, if they survive” the alicorn shot a small beam of dark energy into the weak unicorn which seemed to bring him back up on his hooves.

“Do you really think he is that powerful?”

“You mustn’t forget who we’re dealing with,” the alicorn's  horn glowed brightly and within seconds, fixed the damage done to the land “This is the Lord of Chaos himself, one whose magic surpasses even my own”

“If what your saying is true then how can we ever hope to defeat him? And if we can’t beat him, how can we hope to rule all of Equestria?”

The alicorn leaned in close to the colts face and spoke in a soft tone “By doing it the way we’ve always done it my dear boy, together” Paradox’s horn began emitting a glow and in a quick flash of light, Blaze noticed he had teleported them to another location. It took him a few moments before he recognized where his teacher had brought them: Canterlot.

Twilight stood with Celestia at the main entrance to the building and greeted each mare and gentlecolt which came through the door. In the past, she had enjoyed attending the Grand Galloping Gala with her friends. However, now as a princess she was to greet each guest who was attending the event, and even she had to admit it was pretty boring.

“Why the long face Twilight?” Celestia could tell her student didn’t have high spirits “I thought you liked attending the Gala?”

“I do like attending the Gala,” she began “But it doesn’t seem like I’m really attending much,” Twilight knew that these were one of the few drawbacks of being a princess, having to put royal duties before your own interests.

Celestia couldn’t bear to see the look on the young princess’ face. “Twilight, go have fun with your friends,” hearing this Twilight looked up in a sight of shock “But I couldn’t possibly abandon my-“

“Its alright’ today is a special night, and besides I’ve done this alone in the past so don’t worry” Twilight was about to protest but one reassured look from Celestia made her feel better. “You and your friends try to liven up the mood, these things do tend to get boring sometimes” Celestia and Twilight  laughed as she spoke this because both of them knew it to be true.

“Cant I just-“

“No”

“Not even-“

“No”

“Perhaps I could just-“

“No, Discord I said I’d bring you but only if you promised not to cause any trouble” Fluttershy was staring at him with an annoyed look. “I know I know its just, things have been boring since my reform. I’m just used to making chaos, that’s all” Discord slumped himself in a chair as Fluttershy took a seat next to him. “I know its hard for you,” she said as she put her hoof on his paw “but just this night do it for me” Discord looked into her eyes after she said this and found himself mesmerized by her stare “But of course dear Fluttershy,” as he said this he got an idea in his head and prepared to snap his paw, however, the sound of Fluttershy clearing her throat made him slowly lower his paw down to the table.

“So are you just gonna sit there all night or are you gonna come party with your friends?” Fluttershy and Discord both looked up to see Rainbow Dash staring back at them. Discord and Fluttershy exchanged a look at each other before he spoke “Oh you go ahead I’ll catch up with you later,” Fluttershy gave him a quick hug before heading off to where her friends were seated. Discord felt the need to create mischief no matter how small. Even if it was changing the punch to grape soda or making somepony's cup dance, any amount of chaos would satisfy him at this point. As Discord was lost in thought he was unaware that a male unicorn had approached him and now was staring at him.

“Can I help you?” Discord asked as the unicorn just stared at him, not even breaking his concentration. Just as Discord was about to yell at the strange mare, the lights went out and flashes of lightning struck inside the building. Wind began to blow strong as several windows were forced open and a dark cloud hovered over the center of the stage. Everypony had a worried look on their face not knowing what was going on. Fluttershy and the rest of the group ran over to Discord, assuming he was the cause, Twilight then began to glare at him. “Care to explain as to what your doing?” asked Twilight as she approached him “I don’t think I’m the one you should be asking,” Discord said as he pointed to a large Violet alicorn who has now appeared on stage. Twilight and everyone else turned around to see what he was pointing at.  The alicorn erupted into an evil laughter which reverberated all over the room, if he didn’t have everyone’s attention, he did now.

“Always with the dramatic entrance,” said Discord as he hovered above the table he was sitting at “You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you, eh Paradox?”

“Discord? Of all the places to begin my conquest of Equestria, who would’ve known that you’d be here?” Paradox chuckled to himself “Such a touching reunion this is,” Paradox pulled out a tissue from a box and began to wipe away his fake tears “No, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry” he said as he began to toss out the tissue.

“Is he for real?” asked Rainbow Dash who was trying to keep from laughing, her laughter quickly disappeared when she felt somepony put their hoof around her “You must be Rainbow Dash, you represent loyalty right?” Rainbow Dash had a shocked look on her face when she had seen Paradox was right next to her in seconds.

“But- how did-?“

Before she could even ask, Paradox left as quick as he came. He was now floating above the rest of her friends pointing them out one by one.

“Rarity, you represent generosity”

“Applejack, Honesty”

“Pinkie Pie, laughter and-“ he stopped when he pointed to Fluttershy who was cowering behind Discord “And you my dear Fluttershy are kindness, though with your looks you should represent beauty” Discord attempted to lunge at Paradox after his remark but upon making contact with him, Discord passed through Paradox who was now laughing hysterically.

“Did you really think I would show my physical self to you?” Paradox acted to wipe away a tear “Oh Discord, how you have fallen. Clearly hanging out with ponies has made you forget that I share the same bag of tricks as you do” Twilight stepped forward with an angered face as she glared at Paradox.

“What is it that you want?”

Paradox looked at Twilight with a confused look “Why, my dear Twilight” Paradox lifted her head with his hoof “I already have everything that I want thanks to you all allowing me to ramble on about my plans” Paradox clapped his hooves together and an image of a trapped Celestia and Luna appeared in front of them. Several ponies gasped while others fainted.

“What have you done with them!?” Twilight yelled as she stomped her hoof the ground “If you even think of-“

Discord began howling with laughter which only made Twilight more annoyed, Paradox also held a look of confusion.

“Why are you laughing!? This is serious!” Twilight bellowed.

“I reckon not causing chaos anymore might’ve knocked a couple of his screws loose” said Applejack with a look of concern. Discord soon stopped laughing to explain himself “Still up to your old tricks I see Paradox. So, where are Luna and Celestia really?”

“What are you saying?” Paradox appeared to carry a worried look “Of course I have them”

“Do you really?” Discord was at eye level with Paradox now “I see straight through you” said Discord as he put on a pair of glasses.

“Enough!”

Everyone in the room turned there heads to the entrance, standing in the doorway was a Orange unicorn whose mane and tail seemed to look like flames. Discord recognized him immediately, because he was the one who was staring at Discord before the lights went out. His eyes still pierced Discord, it was almost as though they burned.

“I will put an end to this monster and conquer Equestria with or without you” the unicorn began to approach where Discord and Paradox were “If you wanna conquer Equestria then you’ll have to go through me,” said Rainbow Dash as she flew towards the unicorn. Before she made contact with him she noticed that her flight had stopped and realized he was using his magic to hold her in place.

“I have only come for Discord and wish to do no harm to any pony,” as he said this Discord began to laugh “however, any who should so choose to interfere will be dealt with” the unicorn kept walking towards Discord slowly lowering the pegasus on to the ground. As he inched his way closer no pony crossed his path, except for one. Fluttershy stood in front of the unicorn and didn’t move.

“I…I wont let you hurt him,” she said, her voice barely releasing enough volume for the unicorn to hear.

“Why do you attempt to protect a monster?”

Fluttershy looked at Discord then back to the unicorn “Because...he…he’s my friend” Twilight trotted over to Fluttershy and stood by her, then Applejack, then Rarity and eventually Rainbow Dash as well.

“Ooo, Ooo, I wanna join the group hug!” said Pinkie as she rushed to her friends. The unicorn now irritated, began to glow and heat began to radiate off his very presence. Fluttershy doesn’t know why, but she had the urge to look into his eyes. Then she remembered when she had to deal with troubled animals, she could always look them the eye and tell how they feel. Fluttershy looked up and glanced into his eyes, however, she had wished she hadn’t. The unicorn’s eyes held nothing but pure, unadulterated  rage which made her wince at the intensity of it all. Just as he was about to reach his maximum heat state, Paradox interfered and cooled down the unicorn by sealing him in a sphere of his magic.

“Have you no manners boy?” Paradox said as he rolled the sphere back and forth like a ball “I must apologize for Blaze's rudeness you know how apprentices are,” as Paradox began to laugh, an alarm clock began ringing next to his head.

“Oh look at the time, we really must be going. Sorry to have to conclude our reunion on short notice Discord” Paradox mocked. Just moments before he was gone, Fluttershy locked eyes with the unicorn again and gasped. She didn’t gasp because of the hate in his eyes, ahe gasped because that hate was now replaced by something else, something far worse: sadness.