The Chronicle of Paradox

The Chronicle of Paradox

Ch# 1

Arrival of the stranger

    “Strange? I was sure I saw something fall near the old palace.” the alabaster alicorn thought aloud, while re-entering her quarters.

     Sending one of the royal guards to get the captain, her mind wandered back to what she'd seen, the darkness over the Everfree forest.  If her sleep hadn't been interrupted by troubling dreams, she would've missed the foreboding sight, this made her anxious.

    “The timing just seems too coincidental.” a sudden knock on the chamber doors broke her concentration as Strong Armor’s arrival was announced

  "Let him enter"

  Entering in full celestial guard armor, the blue unicorn gave a bow to her.  Armor had become a trusted adviser and friend to her, since becoming captain.  When his wife, Stellar Sparkle, had left the guard five years prior to raise their family, he had started to mention retiring to spend time with his wife during these peaceful times.  The fact he could outsmart and outfight most stallions younger than him, made it a difficult decision to decide.

  "Princess Celestia, I arrived as fast as I could when you summoned." He said formally, remaining on one knee

  "Rise old friend.  I would like you to assemble a search party.  Darkness appeared over the Everfree forest and something about it worries me."

  "Yes Princess Celestia, my ponies and I shall be assembled at the break of dawn to set out for the Everfree forest." Armor said standing straight.

  With a wave of her hoof, the stallion turned and quickly trotted out of her chambers.  Giving a yawn she returned to her bed to try and sleep.  As she settled into the bed, her thoughts kept returning to the darkness and the dream of a black and a white pony that had awoken her.

“This is an interesting experience...” the being thought after finding itself in a crater.  Placing a hoof on the ground to get up, he tried to get up.  The result was quite different than expected.

"Ow! Real smooth move tripping over my own hooves." He hissed through gritted teeth.

  While nursing his tender muzzle, he noticed just how tired he truly felt.  Gripping some nearby roots, electric blue runes shone from the ankh on his forehead creating the shape of a horn.  As a similar glow surrounding the roots, they began to wither.  Slowly his clear,unkempt mane took on the appearance of vines, while the roots turned to dust.  Feeling re-energized the glow receded back into the ankh and he tried to stand again.

    With a successful second attempt, he climbed out of the crater for a better view.  He quickly noticed the trail of destruction leading to the crater.

“I should probably get out of here.” he thought sheepishly, hoping that no pony was hurt by his collision with the forest.

    Quickly trotted away in the opposite direction, an overgrown path came into sight.  Following the path instead of wandering aimlessly, his mind started flitting over the same question;  How did he end up in that crater and lose all his strength? Trying to make sense of it, he tried to recount the facts.  “I seem to have landed in  the Everfree Forest from the looks of it.  I also managed not to break every bone in my body from a head on collision with the earth, some good news... Still doesn’t tell me how in the hay I got here!?” he thought, stomping a forehoof in frustration.

    Feeling the ground under him start to wobble, the pony stood stock still.  That’s when he noticed he’d made it halfway across a rickety old bridge.  Cautiously he slowly lifted a forehoof from the rotting bridge planks surprised he hadn’t fallen through already.

    Giving a sigh of relief when the bridge stopped creaking, he continued onwards.  “That could’ve ended badly.” he thought with a smile, as one of the support ropes

snapped.

    Quickly  trying to grab onto the remaining rope support he plunged into the gorge.

“Oh Crabapples!  Come on wings, Wings!”

Forcing the  infinitias symbol on his back to activate, he created  two translucent red wings with a bright flash.  With hardly any movement the frail looking wings reversed his momentum  and propelled him out onto the cliff edge.  Landing in a heap, he tried to calm his nerves with deep breaths.

Can’t remember where you're from and almost fall to your death... keep up the great work foal,he thought before looking up and seeing the remains of a castle ruin.

  It looked like the site of a war. The keeps’ roof was demolished and only one of the spires remained.

Forgetting about his near death experience he slowly got up and walked closer to investigate, with a look of wonder on his face.

  Each step he took towards the doorway seemed more difficult than the last, as  the mental fatigue finally started to set in.  Getting only a few steps through the entranceway, he sprawled in front of 5 gems in an unconscious heap.

    Hearing the sound of distant flapping and voices calling out, brought him out of his slumber, some time later.  The sunlight streaming through a nearby window told him he'd been asleep for hours.

    Placing his hooves beneath himself, he got up and walked over to one of the destroyed windows and peeked out, looking for the disturbance.  It had been three pegasi drawn chariots coming in for a landing on a small strip of land nearby.  Guess I made quite the commotion last night he thought seeing  a familiar white alicorn dismounting the largest chariot.

    While a blue unicorn began  organizing the other armored pegasi, he backed away from the window starting to understand the situation.

Maybe being clothed would be for the best he thought looking over his abnormal appearance.  Turning from the window he headed deeper into the keep, taking the passageway to the side of the gem-supporting statue.

    As he exited the keep, the gems gave a faint flash.

Seems to link to the remaining spire he noticed, as a door bearing a crescent moon decal came into view.  With a loud creak  the door opened to reveal a strange sight.  The bed was made, pictures of midnight scenery adorned the walls and a pony sized mirror lay cracked upon the wall. It seemed the occupants had just left.  Walking into the room, the door closed silently behind him.

It feels wrong to be here, almost like being joyful at a funeral.

    Seeing the closet beside the bed, he tentatively walked over and peered inside.  Quickly sorting through the clothes, he figured the occupant had been a bit of a tomcolt from the amount of casual, mare sized outfits hanging from the walls.  That's when he saw the perfect  article of clothing; a dark blue hooded cloak.  Quickly donning it, he exited the closet and  checked himself out in the cracked mirror.

It'll suffice for now, pushing the hood down with a fore hoof, he walked back towards the main keep as a symbol briefly glowed through the fabric.

  Heading down the spire’s staircase, Strong Armor headed back to the main chamber of the ancient castle.  After the search party had found the crater and broken bridge, he'd gotten the unicorn and pegasus knights to scout the area surrounding the castle ruins.  Celestia and him had entered the main chamber of the castle to check-up on the Elements of Harmony.  When he'd seen her pained expression, he'd left to search the interior of the ruin alone.  Reaching the bottom of the steps, his ears perked up.

    "Who are you? What have you done with Strong Armor!"

Hearing Celestia's shout, he broke into a gallop until a cloaked pony came into view.  Focusing magic in the tip of his horn, he quickly closed the distance to the pony.

    “So we meet earlier than expected, Princess Celestia.  I am...”

    Releasing the magic, the blue ray flashed forward and hit the pony full on;  Or would have if an aura of strange glowing runes hadn't stopped the magic.

    “...Paradox?" the pony said perplexed, turning towards Armor.

    Giving a glance toward Celestia, Armor verified she was safe before striding out of the passage, spear leveled and magic ready.

   “Back away from the princess and surrender!”

   “Do you believe you can hinder me, unicorn?” Paradox retorted, the runes fading.

   “It doesn't matter, as the captain of the guards, I’ll stake my life on protecting the princess.”

  Glancing towards the entrance, Armor wondered if the rest of the guards were alright.

   With a chuckle, the cloaked  pony sat on the floor, seeming to read his mind.

     “An honest and loyal stallion you are captain. I mean no harm to your Princess Celestia or your ponies-in-arms.  I concede surrender...but only if Celestia will allow me in Equestria.”  apparently finished the pony turned it's head toward Celestia.

   Seeing an opening, he lunged forward hoping to overpower the possible threat in hoof-to-hoof combat.

   “Stop Strong Armor!”  Celestia shouted while creating a barrier between Strong Armor and the stranger.  “Your opponent isn’t to be taken lightly."

    Turning to face the interloper, she looked him over carefully.

“You are not of our realm are you, Paradox.  If you were you would know of the importance of this place.” she said, trying  to hide the five Elements of Harmony behind her extended wings and body.

    “I only came by following an old path.  I ended up here by following that path." Paradox replied seemingly oblivious to her effort.

   “How can we trust you?  Maybe I should drag you back and find out the truth if you pose a threat to Equestria or not"  Strong Armor remarked as he motioned for her to play along.

   “I do not wish harm on my kingdom, just as much as you, Strong Armor.  We have yet to know if we are met by ally or enemy.  I believe we should let him remain.” She said, walking toward Paradox, hoping to be close enough to incapacitate him with magic is he became violent.

   “Thank you for your hospitality Princess.” Paradox exclaimed cheerfully while bowing to her.

   Surprised a bit by the passive reaction, she changed tactics. “Yes you may remain in Equestria but you will stay at the Canterlot castle.  I cannot let you wander

free with the ponies of this realm until it has been confirmed that your intentions are as benevolent as you claim.”

Surrounded by contingent of guards, Paradox was escorted in a separate chariot, flying ahead of the two containing Armor and Celestia.

   “Paradox seemed sincere when he said he meant no harm to Equestria, but it was smart to keep him confined to the castle.  At least until his intentions are known."  Armor replied, breaking the silence.

   “I thought of that as well but I'm more concerned about where he came from.  It should be impossible for an earth pony to use magic of any sort.” Celestia said, as her gaze shifted forward.

    Following her gaze, he saw that Paradox was trying to start a conversation with the pegasi guards surrounding his chariot.

   "Well Celestia, a wise pony once told me that mistrust has averted more disasters than trust ever will.  With that I'd like to volunteer to monitor Paradox during his stay."

   With a nod of acceptance Celestia agreed and the remainder of the trip was spent discussing how to accommodate Paradox at the castle.

    Finally landing in the  palace grounds, Princess Celestia disembarked from the  pegasi drawn chariot and confronted Paradox, as the stallion exited his own.

   “Hope you enjoyed the trip Paradox. This is to be where you shall be staying until we decide on letting you walk among the pony folk of my kingdom or not.  Strong Armor, will be in charge of monitoring you.  If you can manage to convince this stubborn unicorn, you’ll earn your freedom to roam the land of Equestria unimpeded.  For the time being he will locate some shelter for you and ensure you are treated well during your stay.”  Having finished her speech, Celestia left the herd of ponies and flew off.

   “So it appears we’ll be spending a lot of time together, Armor.”  Paradox remarked, extending a hoof in friendship.

   "I'd like you to remember Paradox that I'm not your 'friend' here.  I'm your warden!  As such I'll ensure your treated well, but remember my duty is foremost to Equestria and Princess Celestia.  Do I make myself clear..."

   "I guess so?" Paradox replied a bit dejectedly.

   “Good!  Follow me, I'll give you a quick tour of the castle so you know where you're allowed to roam.”

    Ordering some free guards to prepare accommodations for the unexpected guest, he started off at a trot with Paradox in tow.

   As the sun neared the horizon Armor ended the tour at an old shack with a weed filled garden and scraggly oak tree.

     “Welcome to your abode during the duration of your stay." Armor stated.

       A little surprised by the condition, he walked over to the shed for a better look.

     "It was originally used by our gardener, before an increase in duties.  I've had some of the guards bring some furniture and food for your convenience." Armor said, before adding, "the princess thought it would be comfier than a cell in the dungeon”

After looking over the garden, tree and finally the shed itself he gave a satisfied nod.

    “Armor these accommodations are more than generous.  Maybe eating some food will be good for me.  Please accept my thanks for this kindness and pass along my regards for the princess’s generous request."

Giving a quick wave of farewell, he entered the shed leaving Armor outside.  Finally alone, he opened his hoof and looked through the seeds he'd picked up during the inspection.

Time to get to work, placing a seed against the shed wall.

     "He seems rather benign and easy to please" Armor said with a chuckle,  trotting off to notify the lunar guard of their additional duties.away.

     As he rounded a corner, he missed the glow of magic slowly surrounding the shed.